#ho lee fuck I survived

[siraleppik]

I'll be having fireworks and stuff here pretty soon so here's my art summary

Happy New ye

[lenorenevermore99]

Why 457 is actually valid af and not just a "joke" ship

I wanna start this by saying that I'm in no way, shape or form convinced 457 is canon nor I think there will be anything remotely romantic between the two of them in season 3. But people seem to think it's just a joke inside the fandom, while actually, their dynamic is pretty fucking valid and I want to analyze that in this post.

One of the most discussed things (if not the most) when it comes to this ship is the stares.

Some think this is the stare of love, others think In-ho just enjoys seeing him suffer. Well, let me tell you it is neither.

But before we delve into the way In-ho stares at Gi-hun, we first have to go back to talk about Hwang In-ho as a character.

As we know, Hwang In-ho is the Winner of the 2015 Squid Game. He went into the games so he could have the money to treat his sick, pregnant wife, much like Gi-hun who did the same for his sick mother. Both of them won the game, but both of them were too late to save the person they loved from a sad fate.

This lead to In-ho becoming the Frontman. We don't know exactly what happened in the timeframe between him winning and him becoming the Frontman, but we can safely assume that after loosing his wife, In-ho lost faith in humanity. The games have destroyed him, they turned him into the villain he is today.

And the thing is, when he looks at Gi-hun, he sees his past self in him. This was confirmed by both Lee Byung Hun (In-ho's actor) and the director of the show himself.

Or to be more precise, he sees his past self. He sees who he was before the games changed him. And this is what led to his fascination and obsession with Gi-hun, because here's the thing; the games traumatized Gi-hun, but they didn't break his faith and hope in humanity, like they did with In-ho himself.

And this is the thing that, in my view, both fascinates and deeply angers In-ho. Deep inside, subconsciously, he is thinking, "Why were YOU able to retain your hope in humanity? Why were you able to remain a good person when I couldn't?"

In-ho was genuine when he told Gi-hun he wished he'd try to be happy after winning (or to better say, surviving) the games. I find it especially interesting when he tells him "Just pretend it was all a dream."

In-ho wishes he could pretend it was all a dream, but he couldn't. Think about it: he's a billionaire, but he lives in a shitty, small apartment. He doesn't talk to his mother, he doesn't talk to his brother, he doesn't even go visit his wife at the cemetery. Pardon me for borrowing the phrase from The Hunger Games, but he's not living the life of a victor. whether it's because he feels guilty or something else, I guess we'll find out in the next season, but that's not the point. The point is, that In-ho wants Gi-hun to do what he wasn't able to do after he won. He wants him to be happy because he sees himself in Gi-hun.

This is the most important point in this post.

Now I wanna focus on these moments. During the second game, during mingle, and during the lights-out massacre, we see Gi-hun being absolutely destroyed over the players that were killed. He's undoubtedly blaming himself for it. And here we see In-ho staring at him, not with the look of love, not with joy at his suffering, but with sorrow. He's sad for Gi-hun, because he could have spared himself further suffering if he didn't stubbornly decide to go back into the games.

What In-ho is thinking right here, in my view, is; "See? There is no hope. There is nothing you can do. Stop torturing yourself, just give it up already. How much more pain do you have to go through before you give up? Accept you can do nothing and go on with your life. Try to be happy."

Now you might be asking, okay, but what does that have to do with romantic love?

Well let me tell you that these feelings I just described can easily and quickly turn into love.

Many philosophers over the centuries have come to the same conclusion; we see part of ourselves in the people we fall in love with.

"The Front Man believes that Gi-hun is wrong in his way of thinking, but perhaps, he reflects on himself through Gi-hun. He does want to destroy Gi-hun's belief. I felt that a small part of him, unknowingly, might be hoping for Gi-hun's thoughts to be right. And rooting for him in some way."

These words Lee Byung Hun said about In-ho, makes me think of Jacques Lacan's theory in particular (which is a rather complex topic and I will try to summarize as shortly and as simply as I can).

For Lacan, love, at least in the beginning, is essentially a form of narcissism. When we fall in love, we're also falling in love with ourselves. We see ourselves in the other person, but we also see in the other what we subconsciously think we are lacking in ourselves. Which doesn't mean the other person will fix us because, at least according to Lacan, this lack is something that can never actually be "fixed".

And I think that's exactly was is happening with In-ho. He sees in Gi-hun what he's lacking in himself. They were traumatized the same way, but reacted in two completely different manners. In-ho became cruel and disillusioned with humanity, while Gi-hun still believes in humanity and wants to save everyone.

I know that this way, 457 seems like a one-sided kind of love, but that's honestly my personal interpretation of the ship. I think Gi-hun could have fallen for Young-il, for the person In-ho was before the games, if they had more time. But the Frontman In-ho? The person he became after becoming the Frontman? There's no way.

Not all loves are meant to happen, not all lovers get to be lovers. Some are meant to just leave us wondering what could have been. Which is what makes transformative works so fun and interesting! From the canonverse toxic fics to the wholesome alternative universe flower shop fics, I think their dynamic is valid as fuck.

I rest my case.

[kiss-me-muchoo]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐬𝐬 || 𝐢𝐧-𝐡𝐨 / 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟎𝟏 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

summary_ short scenes of how in-ho thought he didn’t care about you, but he realized he actually did after seeing you almost overdose for doing drugs with Thanos and Namgyu.

warnings_ AGE GAP! (not specified), lots of restroom scenes lol, protective! in-ho, mild brat!reader, brat tamer!in-ho, reader ingests Thanos’ pills, blood, angst, fluff, slight canon divergence, NOT PROOFREAD

Notes_ I wish I had added more details to this one but I have been busy and I’m slightly drunk rn, sorry

♫ ♪ the worst playlist 4 lee byung-hun

✰ Index (+ fics here)

ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

Ride or die, you heard once.

Even when you think you have it all, there’s still more to get.

Five days ago you were partying hard at some elite club, three days ago some asshole tried to poison you and now you were playing Korean children's games to death.

Player 153, you got. The green tracksuit unintentionally made your eyes highlight, as you had noticed the first time you visited the restrooms.

You knew what and where you were getting into. After all, your father was more than a big sponsor of the games. He wanted you to marry an asshole, and you flew away. He tried to kill you, the only option left was death or death. It was dramatic, but sadly the truth. Nobody was waiting for you outside of the deadly games.

Your gelish nails were surviving the whole thing. The bright burnt orange color matched the dress of the big doll of the first game. The cheeky asshole of Thanos befriended you because of that. Then you met Nam-gyu and there was some odd connection.

It never occurred to you that you would be recognized. Even when you were the only foreigner in the games of that year.

It was on your way back to bed when you met him.

Hwang In-ho melted into the crowds of players, ready to assume the role of player 001. He was alert to every single movement and was trying to hear everything that was said when he heard some annoying voices.

“And did you see how that asshole started screaming? Dude that was crazy!” When In-ho turned, he saw the mediocre rapper with purple hair shouting and moving like a little kid through the maze of pink stairs at his other assholes friends.

“STOP!” Namgyu mocked player 456, making Thanos initiate a horrendous rap verse about the first game.

And then a female laugh joined them.

“Say he’s telling the truth, Wouldn’t that be crazy?” In-ho gently dodged some people to get closer, and he ended up walking literally behind you.

All he could see was the back of a short woman, with nice legs and an attractive silhouette; In-ho almost rolled his eyes at the thought, already feeling stressed because he had lost sight of Gi-hun.

“You’re already on a trip, y/n-su” Thanos took you and Namgyu by the shoulders and the three of you started cackling like idiots.

Player 153, y/n….

In-ho couldn’t remember who exactly was said player. But there was something about your name that resulted oddly familiar to him. You were definitely a foreigner.

In-ho was almost convinced there was no report of a foreign player being recruited.

A bad omen settled in him.

…

The cold lights of the room make your head feel disoriented, but it’s an appealing feeling since you feel like you are lying in a big puffy cloud. Instead, you are actually laying your head in Nam-gyu’s lap while Thanos is seated on the other side of the bed, whispering and gossiping about the players.

“That fucking asshole over there is not going to last,” he said pointing at an old man who looked like he was in shock after the first game. And it’s not like you were insensible but everyone with a number embroidered on their tracksuit was supposed to read the agreement policies before playing. “Just look at him”

“More money for us!” Nam-gyu adds.

You didn’t need the money, you just wanted to make your father angry, to escape, to feel the rush of something that wasn’t running away while living in neglect.

“Nam-nam, don’t be like that!” You say, chuckling and nudging him in the stomach. He joins you and then Thanos and is just the three of you high as fuck. “I need a cig…”

“Me fucking too” Thanos agrees then looks back at the crowds. When he sees Lee Myung-gi, you know it’s over, Thanos will likely go to argue and Nam-gyu would follow and subsequently you.

And indeed, that’s exactly what happened.

You roll your eyes, following the pair to the other side of the room.

“Guys! Leave him alone. He’ll likely die in the next game…” you argue, trying to get their attention. But the males are so invested in their stupid fight and you are so disoriented thanks to the drugs that you don’t see a man coming to separate them.

You only see the number 001 in the green jacket and soon the man ends up punching your friends.

“Hey, stop!” You try to interfere but it’s useless.

That’s when you identify the man, it was the man who outcasted the votes in favor of keeping playing.

“ENOUGH!” You yell, loud enough to stop the fight.

The man turns to look a you and he finally sees your face.

In-ho’s face turned pale. It couldn’t be you, it made no sense.

But he remembered very well the family portrait of your family resting in your father’s office in London.

You miss the way he sees you because you hurry to tend to your friends.

‘Fucking asshole…” In-house hears you whispering as you help Thanos and Nam-gyu to stand up.

In-ho felt himself getting extremely curious and irritated. Now his plans would get more complicated.

…

It’s almost time for lights out when every player is allowed to use the restrooms before bed. In-ho finally made contact with Gi-hun and he felt slightly under control of the situation. But you were still on his to-do list. So he rushed to wait the moment you separated from your assholes companions.

And when you started moving away with a bunch of female players, he made his move.

He grabbed from the forearm and ushered you to walk a few steps away, both of you passed to pink guards and let him yank you inside an empty hallway, near the stairs maze.

He heard you mumbling curses and trying to go back until In-ho lost his patience and pushed you against the wall.

“How did you get here?” He harshly asks, making you gasp at the sudden pressure in your forearm.

“Who the fuck are you?” You ask, trying to get out of the man’s grasp. “Let me go!”

You are pushed inside the restroom and you are about to yell but you finally face your captor.

Player 001, is a handsome old man. Still, you didn’t know who the fuck he was and what he had to do with you.

“How did you get here?” He repeats his initial question, looking extremely serious.

“Who the fuck are you?” His grip softened but the pressure remained, keeping you between him and the wall.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” His English is very good, but it isn’t his pronunciation that makes you almost gasp in surprise.

You can his tired eyes, fine nose, his hair. The vague memory of your father meeting with a man in your home, talking about expenses and finances, gives you enough answers.

“Congratulations, frontman. You just exposed yourself to me…” he seemed surprised, but hid it very quickly.

“You are no threat to me. Now speak…” He wasn’t expecting you to take very long to discover who he was given his approach to you.

“I met your salesman. He was very cute…”

“He must have recognized you. He wouldn’t give you a card…”

Your father was more than a generous sponsor. The island was also to his name. Everyone knew your name and who you were despite never being seen. For your father, it had been a disappointment your arrival. He always wished for an heir. And you resented him for that. You were useless to his eyes, an heir with no regard.

“He wasn’t as smart as you thought he was, dear. One glimpse of my cunt and I had him twirled around my finger…” his eyes lock with yours in a deep gaze, he wasn’t happy. “I miss him. I wish he wasn’t dead…”

“You think this is a game?” You chuckle, looking around the empty restroom.

“I think it is…” your finger points around the room. “I won’t tell a soul anything about you. Promise, Mr. Young-il”

“Listen because I won’t repeat myself. You’ll have no special treatment. If you mess this up, you die like everyone else” he says, leaning closer, intimidating you. But you don’t flinch. “It really is true that money can’t buy happiness, right?”

“Dying in the middle of this horror is better than dying at the hands of my own father” In-ho almost pitted you. He wasn’t a good person but there was still humanity inside him. You were not innocent, but you were so full of life, you were gorgeous. And he couldn’t believe your father despised you so much.

“I don’t care. Just don’t interfere with my task…” he says, looking you up and down before letting you go and urging you to get out of the restroom.

He said you wouldn’t get any special treatment. But he already felt feeling doubtful.

…

You can’t sleep. It’s completely dark and you can hear soft snores. The memory of you playing ddakji and seeing player 001 cheering for you repeated over and over in your head.

He was the leader. He knew your father and yet, it seemed like he was trying to protect you. So many questions popped into your mind, almost making it impossible for you to conceal sleep.

And suddenly, a hand touched your hip bone.

You scream but the hand covers your mouth.

“Come with me…” you know his voice. The frontman disguised as 001 was right there next to you.

Maybe your questions were about to be answered.

Carefully, you take the hand he offered you and follow him outside.

There are only two pink guards, everything else is empty.

It was unclear if it was day or night. The bright hallways changed from purple to bubblegum pink and then, green.

“Where are we going?” You ask, feeling your hand starting to sweat, but he doesn’t leave the embrace.

“To take a breath…” he simply says.

At the end of the green hallway, he opens a door and it’s dark, barely illuminated by warm bulbs. Is a stair and when you reach the end, it leads to the outside.

“I always forget this is under the island,” you say, out of breath, looking at the beautiful fawn and the sun peaking.

You don’t see the way the man beside you is looking in awe at you.

He doesn’t even know how invested he was in you.

“Why are you such a burden for your father?” He went straight to the point.

“He wanted a boy, I was born a girl” you admit, looking at the barely visible sea in the distance. “The only thing I could’ve been useful for him was to marry another wealthy man. But I refused…”

“That’s why you entered the games?” You nod, walking through the dirt and grass.

The sunrise was just starting, with orange, pink, and yellow, it was a beautiful sight that almost made you forget where you were.

“Don’t do anything stupid, other than what you already did. If you do, I won’t be able to protect you…”

“I appreciate your concern for my safety” you admit, locking your eyes with his. “But my life is not a priority for me anymore, Mr. Young-il,” you say and he almost smiled at you mocking him.

“In-ho…” he says.

“What?”

“My real name is In-ho” You couldn’t deny his revelation surprised you. “Young-il is just a facade”

You weren’t expecting him to trust you enough to share that. But once again, you were surprised.

“You really think you can keep 456 in place?” You ask him incredulously. “Prevent the voting to withdraw the games and convince my father to leave me alone?”

“I can negotiate with your father so he can leave you alone” Your eyes snap open at his words.

“No. You must know what he’s capable of” he smirks, eyeing you briefly before returning to look at the sunset.

“Don’t tell me you are growing fond of me” You turn to look at him and it’s your turn to smirk.

He meets your eyes and for some reason, you don’t erase the smile on your face.

“Never, Mr. Young-il” Your mocking is obvious, making him smile as he admires your profile. “I’d love to stay here, but we must go back before the music starts playing…”

When you turn to look at him, you see he had been eyeing you previously, making you unconsciously blush. Thankfully it was still dark enough to cover your embarrassment.

He nods and walks past you.

And there’s an odd feeling lingering in the air. Both of you conclude it’s odd but pleasing.

…

A carrousel, How bad it could go?

You are locking arms with Se-mi, your only female friend. Thanos, Nam-gyu, and Min-su are a little far away from you.

“Are you nervous?” She asks.

“Not really. And you?” She shrugs, looking around.

When you turn back, you see In-ho and other players talking around. He spots you and tells you to move away, probably to talk.

“Let me see if I can see some clue around, to give us an advantage” Se-mi nods, walking away.

You move close to the door where many players are still entering the room and soon In-ho joins you.

“Run as fast as you can, it doesn’t if you end up alone in a room,” he says whispering in your ear.

“That would be cheating” you whisper back, checking around if Thanos and Namgyu were looking, but they weren’t.

“Then stick around me, especially if pairs are announced…” you know what he means. Thanos and Namgyu had been loyal to you. But they would likely team up and leave you alone at any time. “Okay”

He nods at you and watches you go back with Se-mi and Thanos.

“Pick your pill,” Thanos says smiling at you, handing his pendant and taking a pill for himself.

That’s the last thing you remember. Vague flashes of you running with your friends. And then you saw In-ho grabbing your hand and urging you to get inside a room. You believe he killed a man.

You don’t know what is happening. Each step you take makes you feel more and more dizzy. Your head feels heavy and the memory of you laughing in the male restrooms only to fade into the image of Thanos lying dead while Nam-gyu looks as shocked and under the effects of the drugs as you. A man accidentally pushing you and blood covering your hand after touching your arm.

You could still hear the mess inside the room. You cursed being the only woman inside there. And you somehow feel pity for Thanos. Making you realize nobody deserved to die inside the damn island.

One of the pink guards opened the door for you but could not recall it. A lot of people started looking at you.

“Young woman, What the hell happened inside the male restroom?” Player 100 asks you impatiently, but you don’t even look at him, you can’t hear him. “I’m talking to you, little brat!”

Gi-hun points at you and the group turns to see the scene. It’s In-ho the first one to step up, slowly walking towards you.

He hears Player 100 yelling at you and he cringes.

“It’s enough!” In-ho yells back in the distance.

Your hair is a mess, there’s blood all over your tracksuit. Your jacket is in your hand, barely grasping it, making an irritating sound with the zipper against the floor.

And your arm is bleeding.

Before In-ho can reach you, you faint.

A lot of people gasp and he runs towards you.

“BRING A DOCTOR!” he ordered to the pair of pink guards standing in a door.

They hesitated a couple of seconds, then quietly left. Nobody would know it was because player 001 was their leader. Everyone thought it was because someone was hurt outside of a game.

“What happened?” Gi-hun asked, kneeling beside In-ho. Both tried tapping in your cheeks but you seemed to be extremely disoriented.

People started gathering around and In-ho was tremendously trying not to look panicked.

“Hypotension and low blood pressure,” Jun-hee says, standing right next to Gi-hun and holding her belly. Gi-hun and In-ho turn to look at her.

“I took two semesters of nursing training,” the young woman says, trying to see the wound in your arm. “She needs stitches and something sugary or an IV”

In-ho takes your jacket and makes an improvised tourniquet in your arm, he breathes carefully, moving your head slowly, hoping to see you regaining consciousness.

The pink guards arrive and take you away, indicating no one else can follow.

Soon a crowd enters the room making a bloody mess.

…

You open your eyes, and every single thing you look at is green. Green like the room leading outside that In-house took you. The bed, the blanket covering your lower body, the little couch. Everything is green.

“Where did you get the drugs?” You almost jump, startled. A hand of yours ends on top of your chest and the heart rate monitor indicates an increase in your beatings.

“You’re safe here” In-ho is there, seated next to you. “But you kept doing stupid things outside…”

You stand your arm and see the stitches and dry blood. Your head throbs but it isn’t as bad as you thought it would be.

“The drugs were from… Thanos” You can’t believe he’s dead. Half of you expected him to leave and get out alive.

“You were so close to overdosing” he failed to not sound worried.

“Don’t tell me you are growing fond of me” You say the same thing he told you two nights ago, but he doesn’t smile. “I’m not playing, y/n”

“I’m sorry” you admit, looking at your hands. Finally feeling the weight of your actions.

“I’m convinced Seong Gi-hun will try to lead a rebellion” the man beside you adds, trying to soothe the tension. “He will try to stop the games”

“And would it be so bad? To end the games?” You ask surprising him. “There’s enough money to disappear from the country”

In-ho had thought about it but never did anything to make it true. However, now that had been growing fond of you, he could see himself running away. Almost…

“I would… but I can’t” You only nod, ignoring the tiny ache in your heart. You start trying to seat and he helps you.

You point at your dirty tracksuit and In-ho hands it, helping you to stand up at the same time.

“Seong Gi-hun will try to disarm the guards. If they are lucky they’ll succeed. Probably will recruit players to advance. You will volunteer and grab a gun” he sounds very serious, saying each word delicately as if he was scared you wouldn’t pay attention. “I know you can shoot and have good aiming. Your family used to take you to hunt deer in Scotland…”

“Damn well, you really know everything about me…” he rolled his eyes, making you realize he was indeed being serious. But his soft touch makes you feel weak. “Help me take off this thing, please”

“I’m not playing, y/n. That’s the only way I will be able to get you out of this if things turn against us. That’s the only way to save you…”

Your heart beats faster, and your hands feel numb. Even worse when you turn around and he untangles the laces in your patient gown. Your naked body flashes him and it takes all his strength to not touch you.

You take his vulnerability to ask what you had been trying to hide from yourself.

“Tell me why…” you say with your eyes lost, knowing he was staring at your soul. “Say those three words I’m desperately thinking and I’ll do anything you ask me to”

In-ho sighs, throwing his head back, he looks at his own feet, wondering what he should say.

You grow disappointed at his silence. And when you’re ready to leave, he stops you.

“I lov-“

You kiss him. You kiss him so deeply that it takes him by surprise.

His hands don’t know where to go but even with your eyes closed, you grab them and place them in your hips.

Soon, he takes control, just like you expected. Of course, he had to have experience. His lips expertly move against yours, and then his tongue perfectly melts with yours, leaving you made a mess.

“You didn’t let me say the three words…” he says, whispering in your lips as you pant for air.

“I thought you weren’t saying anything. It took me by surprise…” you admit, offering him a shy smile that he tries to mimic.

He wasn’t completely evil. He still had some humanity inside of him. He was conscious of his feelings and knew he wanted to protect you, to know you better, and see you alive, outside of the island.

“In-ho…”

“Hmm?” He asks as you lay your head on his chest. “Don’t hurt them…”

“That’s not on me, darling” Your wounded hand caresses his cheek and it makes him close his eyes. “Please, In-ho”

“You are going to go back with me. If Gi-hun succeeds, I won’t be able to protect you from this side of the island” he explains. “You’ll take a gun and stick with me. You don’t move away from me. You heard me?”

You nod, accepting his strong gaze on you.

“Promise me, y/n”

“I swear I’ll stick to you, In-ho,” you say, kissing him again. “I promise”

______________________

Salesman Valentine’s Day fic coming next Friday <3

[xx3bvvx]

“What is the name of that thing?” Lee Soo Hyuk was asking about the monster’s name. Cale pulled its name out from his memories. “Electric Eel.” “…Ho.” Lee Soo Hyuk let out a short gasp. “A scary monster that is unranked has such a stupid name?” “Yes, sir. That’s its name.” “Did you give it that name?” ‘No. Team leader, you came up with the name later after you survived the attack.’ Cale held back those words. Lee Soo Hyuk interpreted that short duration of silence as he pleased. “You must have come up with that name since your foresight probably only let you see or hear the monster. Your naming sense is terrible.” “No-” “I understand.” Cale felt wronged.

Lol, Cale feels wronged because Lee Soo Hyuk told him that his sense of naming is terrible. But I mean, Lee Soo Hyuk is right - who the fuck would name an inn "Hope and adventure loving Inn"? Both of them have a terrible sense of naming. :)

[boxoftheskyking]

A League Of Their Own fic recs (mostly Lupe/Jess)

Seems like a decent time to go through my bookmarks and share my favorites so far. There are some killer writers in this fandom. No particular order.

(If you haven’t watched the show yet WHAT ARE YOU DOING)

But first!

Shameless self-promotion:

God’s Sorrier Creatures, M, 11,832 Lupe/Carson Carson finds Lupe coaching high school in Vermont. They are lonely together. Some talk of vague Lupe/Jess

Now, on with the recs!

relief next to me by meyeri, E, 24,489, not finished Lupe/Jess This is the hottest shit I ever read. Also with angst.

Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy by thereforebucket, T, 10,678 Lupe/Jess Lovely post-season adventures on a boat. My favorite part of their dynamic is Lupe having genuine freakouts while Jess is entirely amused, thank you for continuing that into your fic.

Softened Stone by RobinWritesChirps, E, 14,637 Lupe/Jess Really good complicated, traumatized romance. Also road trips.

i’ve got better things to do than survive by hypotheticalfanfic, M, 3,239 Lupe/Jess Gender stuff and one of my favorite lines ever: ““When I get your attention on me, when you’re looking at me enough to talk shit to me, it’s like a night game. I get spots in my eyes. “

Hot Stove Season by dannyPURO, E, 22,843 Lupe/Jess I love how difficult Lupe makes everything for herself all of the time. It’s very appealing.

and I think we’re alone now by beepbedeep, M, 7,068 Lupe/Jess It’s about kissing. Also locker room hookup

no place like by firstaudrina, G, 4,128 Lupe & Jess Lupe goes home to see her family, really well done

May I Impress Upon You by summerdrive, T, 4,023 Lupe/Jess Jess meets Lupe’s family and it is a Very Bad Time for everyone

what lovers learn to do by elizaunfiltered, E, 14,635 Lupe/Jess I’m not always into daemon AUs but you’ve really mined it for all the terrible intimacy inherent in the thing and it works.

tax problems by firstaudrina, E, 2,038 Lupe/Jess The last night in Rockford. It’s very hot.

to the victor, the spoils by andrealyn, T, 3,304 Lupe/Jess Jess likes a challenge, you see where this is going

It’s Rotten Work by poorlittlegreenie, E, 10,349 Lupe/Jess You know that part in Attorney Woo where she starts doing nice things for Lee Jun-Ho and he has a breakdown about it. basically that.

wild by FingertipsofRose, M, 6,938 Lupe/Jess Jess POV throughout the season. She’s great and will eat you whole

with a grin of salt by charactershoes, T, 7,184 Lupe/Jess The whole team dynamic is great here. really good dialogue. 

Keep Your Electric Eye on Me, Babe by poorlittlegreenie, E, 3,873 Lupe/Jess It’s hot! 

Psychosomatic by summerdrive, T, 4,391 Lupe/Jess Lupe can’t pitch and Jess is going to fix it.

Sing Me To Sleep by poorlittlegreenie, G, 5,444 Lupe/Jess Lupe has a breakdown in New York, and she has earned it

Turn The Light Off, Come Find Me by somebodytoundress, E, 5,561 Lupe/Jess AU where they meet working on Jess’s farm

Being Good Isn’t Always Easy by poorlittlegreenie, E, 20,230, not finished yet Lupe/Jess You’ve probably read this one, the Lupe’s a church girl and Jess is in love with her story

proclivities by robokittens, M, 4,173 Lupe/Jess It’s a cute li’l makeout

got me dirty and sweet by getmean, T, 2,076 Lupe/Jess Cuts & bruises & apologies

Room Service (Top) by RobinWritesChirps, E, 1,599 Lupe/Jess It’s fucking!

Our Secret Moments (In A Crowded Room) by somebodytoundress, M, 3,682 Lupe/Jess scenes throughout the season

Off Season by peaktotheocean, T, 2,934 Lupe/Jess Cute lil piece where they kidnap Esti.

And some bonus ones:

you got a fastball (maybe together we can get somewhere) by allapplesfall, G, 9,943 Lupe & Max AU where it’s Lupe that meets Max instead of Carson. great dynamic.

It’s Not the Pale Moon That Excites Me, That Thrills and Delights Me, by Bluebluebaby, T, 4,114 Jess/Sgt Beverly Thank you for your service and writing this pairing, it is excellent and I support it wholeheartedly

[shinysobi]

i came in from the outside, burnt out from the joyride

this was born out of a conversation with @akinosakiya, so all credits go to her >.<

chapter i | chapter 2 (coming soon)

Han Joon Hwi and Kang Sol, years after graduation. post-canon fix it, idiots to lovers.

ao3

a/n : i got this idea as i feverishly dm'd my friend about a solhwi prompt,,, i took it too far i think >.<

please tell me if you like it!!

a/n: title taken from Hozier's Almost (sweet music) which i recommend while reading this.

chapter 1: you and i are lovers in the dark

There has got to be another way of doing this. I can’t be doing this all my life.

“You know,” the words from Yeseul makes her look up, “you didn’t have to do this to yourself. You could have not taken the case, eonni. I told you not to take the case.”

Sol doesn’t say anything, just hangs her head in shame. The soju burns as she tips her head back, draining the last dregs of it, “I knew I shouldn’t have asked you for help. You’re being insufferable now that you’re dating Bok-gi.”

Yeseul laughs, reaching for the soda can, “eonni, I think you’re thinking about it too much.”

“I am, aren’t I?” she looks at the other girl, clearly panicked, “does it show? Oh, it shows, doesn’t it? Oh, what am I going to do—”

“Ah, noona, you shouldn’t have taken this case on, then,” Bok-gi says as he enters the room and take in the sight of a dishevelled Sol and a grinning Yeseul, “oh, Yeseul noona, I was looking all over for you!”

Sol scowls, “haven’t the two of you been dating forever? Why do you still have the honorific? And for your information, I took the case before I knew it was going to be him that I would have to go up against.”

Bok-gi looks affronted, and Yeseul comes to her boyfriend’s rescue, “ah, I like it, eonni.”

“Of course, you like it, you’re just as gone for him as he is,” she grumbles, “so, Bok-gi, Yeseul’s been telling you everything now, has she?”

“Ah, eonni, leave him out of it,” Yeseul soothes her, rubbing circles into her back, “do you want me to take the case? Instead of you—”

“The client won’t agree on it,” Sol whines, “and just when I thought I had got rid of him.”

“Rid of who?” so Bok-gi doesn’t know, Sol notes with some amount of pleasure, good. At least Yeseul didn’t tell him about the fact that—

“Oh, eonni might have to work with Joon-hwi oppa,” Yeseul chirps, looking entirely too pleased for Sol’s liking, “she’s the public defender for Joon-hwi oppa’s case.”

“The attempted murder one?” Bok-gi sounds as perplexed as Sol is, “but I thought hyung only dealt with financial cases, what happened? Didn’t you say you had some other prosecutor to deal with, noona?”

Sol groans, “apparently he’s taking criminal cases too, and the first one he chose to take was mine,” she stands up, “can’t I ever get rid of him?”

Yeseul blinks, “why did you have to get rid of him in the first place?”

Sol groans, sitting down on the chair with a thump. This was becoming a frighteningly regular occurrence, groaning at the mere mention of his name, “I told you, you wouldn’t understand.”

“You sound like a sixteen-year-old right now, noona,” Bok-gi giggles, and she scowls at him. How dare they find happiness in my misery. Just because she loved them didn’t mean she would put up with everything that they did.

Liar. You’ll always put up with whatever they do.

Wait, why did that sound like him? Did he finally manage to get inside her head?

No. no, calm down, Kang Sol. Joon-Hwi is not inside your brain. Your brain is filled with statutes of law, precedents, your grocery list, the things you need to buy Byeol for her birthday—

You have too many things on your mind.

Ah, fuck.

She stands up again, taking a look at Bok-gi and Yeseul’s surprised faces, and sits back down, “never mind. It’s just him. how bad could it be? We just lost touch over the years, and I specifically made sure to not keep in touch with him after we graduated—I’m going to die, Yeseul-ah.”

“No, eonni, you won’t,” Yeseul props her up gently, pushing the bowl of bibimbap towards her, “at least eat something before you cry.”

“No, you’re right,” Bok-gi agrees, although Sol knows he’s laughing at her internally, the little shit, “it’s wrong to cry and not eat. I’ll be dehydrated.”

The food tastes bland in her mouth, although she knows she’s made it spicy, but Sol works her way through it with tears in her eyes (she passes it off as due to the spice) and promptly starts sobbing again, lamenting her crappy life.

“Eonni, the trial isn’t until next month, you have enough time to prepare,” Yeseul tries to placate her, but it only increases the volume of her groans.  A whole month spent dreading the presence of Han Joon-Hwi as she prepared for the trial. “You’ll win it, right?”

There. That was what had been bugging her. The fact that he hadn’t lost a single case since he’d become prosecutor. It isn’t like she hadn’t expected this from him, coming first in her class, but—

“Is this even fair?” she wails, “the attempted murder case doesn’t even have to have him as the prosecutor, it is going to be easy for me to win, the client was framed, and there is no evidence—”

“Noona,” Bok-gi peers at her, his eyes going wide, “you’re scared, aren’t you?”

“Ah, it isn’t like that!” she tries to defend herself. But Yeseul just stares, “fine. You caught me. I’m scared of losing to him, he hasn’t even lost a single case since he made prosecutor, he’s on his way to becoming head prosecutor in less than a decade, and I’m—I’m barely surviving as it is, so why did Attorney Geun-Tae give this case to me?”

Both Bok-gi and Yeseul look shocked, and Sol isn’t surprised. They should be. She was the one who cut off contact with Joon-Hwi after graduation, claiming he didn’t need her to weigh him down, and she was the person who did everything without a single glance backwards, so why was she being so defensive? “It’s not like I don’t want to whine all the fucking time, it’s just that—”

“Whoa, noona swears a lot when it comes to Joon-Hwi hyung, who knew.” Bok-gi says, clapping a hand over his mouth, “have you always been this way, or did this just happen after you found out that you were going up against him?”

Sol scowls, “you’ve been trying to act cute, don’t try that with me, Min Bok-gi.”

Yeseul nods at Bok-gi. Sol scowls again. Traitor.

--

The truth is, she should have known this was coming. Their field doesn’t leave much for anonymity, and even if it did, why did she think it would be so easy to avoid Joon-Hwi? The boy—sorry, man, she supposes she should give him at least that much, they were both in their thirties now—the man was everywhere, the newest rising star in the prosecution. Even her boss, the clueless Park Geun-Tae knew about it, and had requested her to work in a case against him. her, the person who barely passed her law school course at Hankuk. Who has a sister far smarter than her, better than her at all aspects, who really isn’t cut out to be in this profession, something which she’s heard all too often from everyone, and all she wants to do is yell I know, I know, she knows it all.

Which is why, when Han Joon-Hwi approached her after the graduation ceremony, a determined look on his face, she dreaded the words that would come out of his mouth, and instead chose to flee. In retrospect, it wasn’t the best decision, but Kang Sol A isn’t known for making the best decisions.

She still lives with her mother and Byeol in that same house, where Joon had once installed a CCTV camera, which Lee Man-Ho had broken with a well-aimed rock, but the camera is still there, and while Byeol is in middle school now, a big girl, who doesn’t like Sol picking her up from school every day and who is already getting into trouble with that big mouth of hers, and certainly doesn’t need protecting, the camera is still there, and every once in a while, she likes to take a look at it, sipping beer after a long day at work. It’s obviously dysfunctional, but she likes to imagine that Joon-Hwi still takes a look at the camera feed, doing whatever “top secret” things he did.

She sighs, opening the door to their home. I have work to do if I need to beat Joon-Hwi.

--

“Why was I assigned to this case?” Joon-Hwi asks, surprise evident on his face, “I usually take financial dispute cases, this is an attempted murder, and the evidence doesn’t even look solid. Why am I being given this?”

He’s speaking to the wall in his office, and his paralegals are out on break, but he feels as though he should at least vent about this to something, if not someone. He’s supposed to be a star prosecutor, someone who hasn’t lost a single case since they stepped foot into the District Prosecutor’s office. And it’s true, he hasn’t lost a single case since he began working here, spurred on by a desire to both step out from under his uncle’s shadow and to prove himself.

The cases he has handled until now, have all been financial, catching the people who use money to get their way in the world, much like Ko Hyeong-Su, people so entitled to the world that they didn’t consider the rest of them as human beings. He liked bring them down to their level. Hell, he loved it.

But his specialty is not criminal law, and that too, a case that would be difficult for him to win, given that there was very little evidence and whatever he had, would never fly in a court of law. He’s kind of pissed at Prosecutor Lee for giving him the case. No, scratch that, he is pissed at Lee for giving him the case.

Defending lawyer—

Defending lawyer, Kang Sol.

Could it be?

He turns to his computer, and contemplates for a second if he should ask the police officer about the defending counsel, but decides against it. I don’t want to seem like a fool. Which—is correct. He is a fool.

So, he calls up the person who had the case before him, Prosecutor Shin, and tries not to hide the excitement in his words when he asks, “did you meet the defence counsel when you arrested the defendant, Prosecutor?”

“She didn’t have one,” the prosecutor replies, voice scratchy, and he wonders of he did the right thing by disturbing someone who was in the hospital, “we’ve indicted her, but the defence counsel was changed at the last moment, something about the public defender dropping the case. Her new counsel is some young lawyer, although she has a lot of experience.”

A lot of experience. “A lot of experience?”

“Yes,” the voice on the other side cracks, and there’s some commotion in the background, “I remember meeting her in the courthouse once. People call her crazy, the lengths she goes to defend her clients are insane. She’s a good egg though, doesn’t take on cases that she doesn’t like.”

“Hmm, thank you, Prosecutor,” he mumbles, hanging up the phone. So that’s what you’ve been doing all this time, Kang Sol. how long has it been, four-five years? And we’ve never met once, impressive.

He’s suddenly very excited for the initial hearing, even if he knows its going to be nearly impossible to win. But at least he can see her for the first time in years, even if its on the opposite side in a court of law. At least he has that.

—

“You’re being stupid,” Jiho says without much in the way of context, but Joon knows what he’s talking about, “you had to take a case just to meet her? A case you are most likely going to lose? What kind of person does that?”

Joon-Hwi rolls his eyes. Jiho was a good man, but sometimes, he really didn’t know the reason behind things. Or to be more specific, why Joon-Hwi did some things. Still, it was understandable as to why he would behave like this. Neither of them has had any connections with each other over the past five years, missing each other by mere moments at times, and yet, he’s still enamoured by her memory, of the way she used to look at her law books and the way she used to stick her highlighters in her hair, her triumphant smile after she answered something correctly; he remembers everything, and he gets nostalgic sometimes, but such is human nature, one supposes.

“It’s been five years, hyung,” Jiho mutters, pushing the bowl of soup towards him, “isn’t it time you gave up on Sol noona?”

He raises an eyebrow, “I didn’t think you addressed anyone as noona.”

Jiho shrugs, “she’s older than me, so it’s only right. And I did work with her on a case about three—two years ago, and she’s really become good. Or is it all the experience that she has had now, working as a partner at Attorney Park Geun-Tae’s firm, which is unheard of, at her age, but she’s far more competent than him—”

He’s talking, but Joon-Hwi doesn’t register anything anymore, “you’ve worked with her? Together?”

“Hmm?” Jiho mumbles, thrown off his track, “yes, I literally just said that I did, what are you thinking about?”

“No. no, back up a little,” he insists, and Jiho’s confused expression clears when he realises what exactly is Joon-Hwi implying.

“Really? You’re jealous over the fact that I worked with Sol noona? That’s how petty you’ve become now, hyung?” Jiho rolls his eyes, and Joon has the incessant need to just—bury his face in his hands, “you could just give her a call, you know.”

He glares. Jiho nods, “guess not,” and resumes eating. He takes another look at the case file, and sets it down, proceeding to shove food into his mouth. The Japanese restaurant has good food, he does agree, but nothing beats eating too-hot ramyeon at three in the morning with your best friend after you’ve finished reviewing three lectures’ worth of notes together. Crap. He still remembers her as his best friend, even though they haven't had any contact over the past years now. Pathetic.

But self-deprecation isn’t his forte, and he shakes his head at Jiho, who’s determinedly eating, “how’s Sol B doing? Isn’t she going to be a judge?”

“She’s still practicing,” Jiho replies, “her mother wants her to be a judge, although I don’t think Sol wants to do it. She’s happy being a legal scholar. Wants to become a professor at Hankuk later on, if the constitutional law position opens up.” His face has a curiously fond look when he’s talking about her, Joon notices, or perhaps it’s a trick of the light, because Jiho straightens up, “who gave you the case, though?”

“My superior sent it to me because the prosecutor in charge had fallen ill, and had to be taken to the hospital,” Joon-Hwi replies, “it isn’t east for me to win this one, even though—”

“Even though you’ve never lost a single case?” Bok-Gi’s voice almost makes the two of them jump, and Jiho sends a well-aimed smack his way, “so you’re taking noona’s case, are you, hyung?”

Jiho snorts, “he’s losing sleep here.”

“When did I say I was losing sleep?” Joon-Hwi begins to say indignantly, but Bok-gi is still grinning as he slides in beside Jiho, “who told you that, Seo Jiho?”

Jiho doesn’t say anything, so Bok-Gi fills in for him, “hyung, you look terrible. Haven’t you been eating properly?”

Joon-Hwi squints at the other boy, how did he know I haven’t been sleeping well? Does it show on my face? Is it that bad?

“It is that bad, hyung,” Jiho pipes up, “you look like death warmed over.”

“It isn’t that bad, honestly,” Bok-gi says, and promptly shuts up under Jiho’s glare, “jeez, all right, all right, he looks bad. Very bad. Bad with a capital B.”

Joon-Hwi groans. He was supposed to have been handling another financial scam by this time, but he’s now talking to two of his classmates, preparing for a case that he was sure of losing, just to see the girl of his dreams.

Pathetic.

--

It had been two weeks since she had found out that Han Joon-Hwi was going to be the prosecutor for her newly-assigned case, and Sol already felt like she was going to drown amidst a sea of precedents, case studies, and more cases that she needed to read just once, in order to keep her client from getting a guilty verdict. She would have to work harder if she needed to beat him, and had even contemplated asking Professor Yang for help, not that the man would do anything to make her life any easier.

Instead, she settles for the next best thing, calls over Sol B and Yeseul for help, and while Sol B grumbles, Yeseul agrees enthusiastically, even offering to bring over Bok-gi for an extra pair of eyes. Not one to be outdone in anything, Sol B offered to bring over Jiho, who grumbled more than Sol B (if that was possible), but agreed to come along nevertheless, and they all sat in her tiny living room, looking as though they had lived there all their lives, and had helped her with the case, although the boys were more interested in devising ways to make Joon-Hwi lose, as Jiho put it, “noona is our best bet, and he owes me food if he loses.” No one could argue with that, honestly.

Except she feels like drowning, and the trial was only two weeks away.

Stupid Joon-Hwi. Why did he have to take my case? Why couldn’t he just remain in civil law? Why did he have to do this? Why, why, why?

She knew that she was being irrational. He didn’t have much control over the cases he was assigned to, and given the fact that the prosecutor in charge had been admitted to the hospital, she doesn’t think he had any sort of control over what cases he would be assigned to. Still.

You’re being irrational now, a voice that sounds surprisingly like Professor Yang’s pipes up in her mind, you’re being distracted right now, Kang Sol. You won’t win if you’re distracted.

Right. She turns back to her papers, trying her best to push the thoughts out of her mind.

I can’t be distracted.

—

He was distracted.

It wasn’t his fault, perhaps, but Joon-Hwi feels guilty nevertheless, especially as he stares at his two paralegals who are stuck alongside him, working into the night.

He’s been staring at the same picture for the past thirty minutes. In his mind, it qualifies as work, but what sort, he isn’t sure. It’s a picture from their graduation day, the seven of them (Seung-Jae hyung was behind the camera) and Professors Kim and Yang, Yangcrates even had a rare smile, something which he hadn’t ever imagined witnessing, at least not sober. Him with his arm around Jiho, who clearly didn’t want to be dragged into a conversation then, his attention focused on someone else. Sol B, staring straight into the camera, grinning ear to ear. Bok-gi and Ye-beom, the latter gesticulating wildly and Bok-gi just laughing at him, Yeseul with her head thrown back in laughter, and Sol—Sol was radiant, (he laughs at that, radiant, the Greek meaning fitting her like a glove, Sol, the Sun) the way she smiled at the camera, her hand held up in a peace sign. It was an imperfect picture, and he has the final, proper version hung on his living room wall, but it’s the warmest picture he has ever been in.

The trial is the next day, and he should be getting some sleep, but he finds himself staying awake even after his two paralegals have gone home, apologising profusely for leaving him alone, and then he takes out his phone, which has been blowing up with messages from Bok-gi and Jiho, asking to come out with them for dinner. He knows it’s a bad idea, that they would try and get him drunk, or worse, that he would voluntarily get drunk, and showing up hungover at the courthouse isn’t a great idea.

Except… he really wants to do so. It’s like he’s back in university again, trying to find ways to rile Kang Sol up, teasing her, to revel in the way she would get angry with him for cutting short her study times, even though she should have been in bed three hours prior. She would always look at him with that strange sort of expression in her eyes, Joon-Hwi remembers, as if she couldn’t decide whether to hit him or to just kiss him and shut him up.

His phone pings, and it’s a text from Jiho, telling him that hyung, do you want to come out for dinner? Sol’s buying.

He really shouldn’t. even if it had taken him a moment to know which Kang Sol Jiho had been talking about and even then, he couldn’t stop his heart from skipping a beat at the mention of her name, he shouldn’t.

Oi, Han Joon-Hwi, aren’t you a little too old and a little too responsible to be drinking before the day of an important trial?

The voice in his head sounds suspiciously like Sol, not Sol B—Sol A, although he doesn’t know how anyone could confuse themselves between the two—they were as different as light and day, and the one on his mind was not the one who was offering to buy him drinks and dinner. He sighs, texting Jiho a quick apology before he heads out of the office. He needs to be alone tonight, trying to get his thoughts in order before he faced Kang Sol in the courthouse the next day.

Even though he’s sure to lose, he just might win.

--

[11quillen11]

Thoughts on Bulgasal Episode 14

Things I liked this episode:

- MIN SI HO!! Look at her!! She is so brave, so strong, so kind!! Her and Doyoon continue to be my undisputed faves and I am so happy we got to see more of them this episode!!

- I was really racking my brain trying to figure out why Hwal would have stolen Eul Tae's soul while also asking Eul Tae to turn him back into bulgasal later. Originally I thought maybe Sangwoon had found another way to become human so he wanted to join her, or maybe Sangwoon really wanted to become human so he was going to offer Eul Tae's soul to her as a fucked up gift or something. Turns out that no, Hwal was just a dick. He was dying (I thought bulgasal couldn't die? Also, that neither could die as long as the other survived and stuff? So why was he dying?) and since he didn't have a soul, he wouldn't have had been reincarnated, he would have just disappeared. Hwal, being too petty to die however, stole OET's soul just to fuck the system and survive. What a piece of shit.

- This might come as a surprise, but I really liked Sangwoon this episode. See, I like her when she's willing to give Hwal a chance because she needs him and because they've been spending so much time together, but she still understands that he is dangerous and acts accordingly. Before she got her (blessed) flashback, Sangwoon was idioticly completely disregarding all the red flags because...? Idk why, she was just dumb I guess.

- That last scene. Hwal was mad at himself for Haesok's death, but couldn't process that anger so he redirected it at any and everyone. But when he was left completely alone, with no one to redirect his anger towards, and without even the benefit of a visual distraction, forced to confront his own thoughts, at last, he grieved. I still think it kinda sucks that our protagonist is getting this major character evolution so close to the end, but by itself, this whole sequence was excellent and the acting was amazing.

- Overall, this episode was very tense and suspensful. I was on the edge of my seat all throughout, I was invested in what was happening rather than just impatiently waiting for crumbs of information.

What I didn't like:

- They really won't let my girl Siho use her powers will they? They better have a fucking good reason to hold back on her discovering the truth until the last two episodes, because right now I just feel robbed of the amazing character growth and angst and tension that could have arisen from her learning the truth about everything.

- Those would be nitpicks if they weren't consistent with Sangwoon's characterisation up to this point: 1) why didn't she tell Hwal when she spotted/felt the monster? Girl knows she can't fight for shit but decides to just go for it alone? With her sister's life on the line as well? Sangwoon, please, use your brain for once!. 2) I really, sincerely, do appreciate that she was so concerned about Ms Lee and what to do with her body, but I wish she would still have expressed a greater sense of urgency as well. Like, Siho and Doyoon were in mortal danger and she didn't seem concerned enough imo. 3) Why does she never ask about Hwal's dead wife? He keeps talking about his family and this episode he litteraly called Siho "Dan Sol", and Sangwoon is just never curious. This whole thing is so weird. If the writers didn't want to deal with the awkardness of Hwal falling for the person he initially thought had murdered his wife and son while the reincarnation of his wife was right there, then by god just make Sangwoon the protagonist!!

- We still didn't get as much in the way of reveals as I would have liked, which continues to make me think that this show only needed 12 to 14 episodes, not 16.

I think that's all :)

After this episode, I have hope now that the last two episodes might be satisfying, at least.

[katierosefun]

i originally had a september wrap-up post queued but then tumblr fucking ate it, which made me very angry because i didn’t want to re-type the whole thing, but i’m procrastinating, so here i am, re-typing the whole thing of all the things i watched/consumed over the month of september, even if it’s a little late: (it’s fine, i didn’t watch a whole ton of stuff except...a lot of kdramas lmao. oh, and visions.) 

k-dramas: 

beyond evil 

okay, so i think this has been on my rec list for literally forever now, but...besties, i’m on my fifth watch of this goddamn show in the span of maybe two months, so if that doesn’t tell you how much this show has been a comfort/eating my brain lately, idk what will. 

i literally never shut up about this show, but if you’ve somehow been missing from my blog for a little bit, a quick summary: lee dong sik (played by the ever-wonderful shin ha kyun) was accused of murder + kidnapping a few young women, including his own twin sister 20 years ago. he’s lived a pretty quiet life on his own, and now 20 years later, his whole world is turned upside down again when hotshot new inspector han joo won (played by the talented yeo jin goo) comes into this little town. when the murders start up again, these two are thrown into a hellishly complex mystery. will throw you in for a hellish loop. i think my thoughts best summarize this show as come for the murder mystery, stay for whatever the hell joo won and dong sik have. 

okay, but all joking aside about how much i love joo won and dong sik (because...i truly do love them), this show was incredibly healing. once again: this show has quickly become a comfort show, basically to the point where i just watch it whenever i feel down (which happens to be a lot these days). idk man. humans aren’t meant to carry burdens on their own and all that stuff. sometimes u just need to remind yourself that. 

the crowned clown 

so, after watching beyond evil the fourth time, i realized that maybe i wanted to watch some of the actors’ other works. that was how i found myself watching the crowned clown, which...is an excellent kdrama now available on netflix (also on viki for free, just as beyond evil is). honestly, it’s been a hot second since i’ve watched historical dramas (saeguks), so i was a little unsure what to expect, but this show. bro. this show reminded me just how much i love historical dramas, because the court politics? the costumes? the music? the acting? fantastic. 

basically, this show is about the young clown (ie. performer) ha seon (played by yeo jin goo) who now has to replace the king, who might be like...two seconds away from snapping (if he hasn’t already). the reason they’re able to do this is because they look exactly identical despite not being related. 

this story is honestly wonderful. i loved it, and it’s an interesting way to look at the story behind the actual king (because. apparently this king was a real person, and i think his story has inspired quite a few other korean movies/shows). i thought yeo jin goo was brilliant in this show, and it’s really no surprise he became the youngest person ever nominated for a baeksang award because of this series. i was truly blown away by just how versatile he proved to be of an actor, and his dynamics with the other characters (the queen, the secretary being my fave, as well as the old eunuch jo), i just...bro. i’ll admit i wasn’t the biggest fan of the romance (don’t get me wrong! it was sweet!), but i think that might have been because this was so court politics heavy, and i adored it for that. if you’ve never watched a historical drama but want to and just don’t know where to start, i highly recommend this. 

d.p. 

bro....this show was dark. i watched it all in 2 days (pretty easy to do, considering it’s 6 episodes and maybe 40-50 minutes long per episode), and i needed to lie down. this is just one of those shows that i feel is...very important to watch, even if the content matter isn’t very bright. 

basically, dp is about two deserter pursuit officers: ahn jun ho (played by jung hae in) and han ho yul (played by koo kyo hwan). deserter pursuit officers are basically people who chase after people who deserted their military post--and for those who don’t know, being in the military is mandatory for men in south korea. this is the result of the armistice between the north and the south--basically, since north korea never agreed to an actual peace treaty, south korea is constantly under threat of war, which is why men need to serve at least a few years. (this is why a lot of actors + kpop band members often take breaks from their careers--to fulfill their military service time. because yup, even celebrities aren’t exempt from service!) 

anyways, this show really doesn’t pull back their punches. major trigger warnings for things like intense harrassment, suicide, domestic violence...it really does capture just how dark life can be, and also how toxic the military can be for men. because of that, i felt this show was incredibly well-crafted, incredibly nuanced, and in the end, i just felt sad. that said though, there was a hopeful ending, and i’m glad that this show was renewed for a second season, as i think this show is just...really important. 

squid game 

okay, so i don’t want to be that person, but your girl was watching squid game right after it came out, so i was here before the hype train--but okay, okay, i digress. (i am glad that this show is getting hype. i feel it’s very important that people watch this show.) 

if you haven’t noticed how squid game’s climbed to #1 on netflix worldwide (i think, anyways), well, then...buddy. squid game is about a bunch of people who have the chance to earn lots of money by playing what seems like innocent children’s games. (spoilers: they are far from innocent.) 

this show scarred me, to be honest. i needed to watch something lighthearted after this, just because it was so intense. lots of trigger warnings for blood and gore, as well as just. losing faith in humanity. but also, like dp, i felt this show was necessary. it was incredibly well-constructed in that it showed just what desperate people will do in order to survive, as well as exactly what a terrible capitalistic society will do to the working class. it’s depressing and sad, but also incredibly chilling because like. you can’t help but watch the characters and think, but would i do the same thing? i just want to pay off my own debt and take care of my family. wouldn’t i do the same thing? 

i won’t say more of this show for fear of spoilers, but. let me just say. that i really am glad this show exists. i hope people actually notice what the fuck it’s saying about our current system too, because hm, maybe i just want to suck the fun out of things, but there’s something very disturbing about how people are already cute-ifying this show (ie. “this is what i would wear to the squid games! :D” and “look at these squid-game inspired cookies! :D”, as if this show didn’t just deliver a heart-crushing message about capitalism + how the wealthy fuck over anyone who isn’t the 1% BUT ANYWAYS) 

tv 

star wars: visions 

lately i’ve been feeling weird about star wars for lots of different reasons which i don’t particularly feel like addressing today, but. visions really reminded me why i fell in love with star wars in the first place. i think for starters, well. it’s no surprise when i say that i felt an intense amount of joy of seeing east asian cultures so beautifully incorporated and respected in this show (no surprise seeing that this show was literally crafted by japanese anime studios), but like. it really was. a beautiful thing. i cried at least once per episode, either because i was so in awe of the animation and the themes or because i was just in awe that this thing exists. 

i think my favorite episode had to be the village bride--there was something so incredibly powerful about seeing someone who looked a bit like me say i am a jedi. what an iconic line. what an iconic story about a sad traumatized gal deciding to step up and fight, actually. peak star wars. 

but besides all that...i really did feel like...this show captured the beauty and essence of what makes star wars actually good. the themes of good versus evil, a lot of stuff between siblings (bro....the twins and lop and ocho FUCKED ME UP), choosing to have brighter and better days ahead (the village bride, the ninth jedi, the duel, tatooine rhapsody)...like, i really loved how each episode really took everything that was good about star wars and just turned it into something even more beautiful. this series will stay with me for a long time, i think--and i am very grateful for the people involved in this project for reminding me why i fell in love with this universe in the first place. :”)

[the-fairy-thief]

Lee Jeno

The City of Darkness | pt. 1

TW: mentions of death, prostitution, rape, very sensitive story just warning y’all

(A/n) This is based off of any cliche zombie movie ever made

This is the City of Darkness, once downtown Seoul. The bustling city where Korean dreams came true.

It’s now named City of Darkness for its lack of light and infestation of human beings who enjoy eating others, the infected. Zombies.

Flashback

“Eomma!” I screamed for the woman who raised me as she cradled my father. My screaming, shifting father.

His eyes were glassy, filled with haze. His blue veins stood out against his sun tanned skin from the years of working outside. He was gone. Even I knew it.

She sobbed, she just wouldn’t let him go. “Eomma! He’s gone! We need to leave, EOMMA! EOMMA NO!”

Flashback over

“Soyeonie. Come to oppa.” I swallowed the glob of spit in the back of my throat as the dirty man held his hands out to me. I was disgusted with myself, this is my life. Number 20.

Jeno POV

“Now when this thing started, we were all there. Don’t forget that, those people are our people down there.” The sergeant preached.

I was getting ready to be sent back to South Korea for recovery of survivors and to check out the area, the damage, the zombies.

I was 16 when it started, I still remember Sung-ho’s body being turned to the tv as it told us a mysterious case of the flu was discovered in downtown Seoul.

He was so scared he cried, his eyes were swollen for hours. He’s always had some anxiety.

...

“Jeno, you know you don’t have to go. You don’t have to be this soldier.”

“But eomma, you know what happens if I don’t do this, this could pay for us to finally be comfortable. You realize that? I’ll be fine.” I hugged her, my brilliant mother.

She was a nurse when this whole thing happened, she saw the first case with her own eyes. She didn’t believe it either. Nobody did.

...

“Lee Jeno!” “Here, sir”

“This is exciting huh?” the guy next to me smiled. War junkies rose from this predicament. Trigger happy guys.

“Yeah. It sure is.” I leaned back trying to soothe my anxiety.

Flashback

“I love you, Jeno.” she whispered as we laid in her bed. Tame Impala played over her speaker as we just held one another.

“My dad is suspected to have it.” Miyah whispered.

“Hey, don’t think like that, he could be completely fine, just a seasonal thing.”

Little did I know, her dad worked at the plant where it started.

Flashback over.

The boat rocked on the waters on our way to South Korea. When all of this went down my mom secured us a spot in Hong Kong, one for me, one for her, and one for Sung-Ho.

I pulled the picture out of my pocket of my family, and stroked my dear mother’s face.

“Ok boys! We’re coming up on the shore. Remember the mission, scope the areas and return in 2 days. That’s the only hard part, you got this jackasses!”

God I hope so.

Soyeon POV

“That was great wasn’t it hun.” He stroked my arm with his calloused hands. “Yeah.”

This was the agreement with Infantry 102. I get protection in exchange for ownership. Free food, clothes, everything I need.

The giant 20 on my shoulder was a reminder of my deal with the devils themselves.

“Soyeon, what’d you get? 50?” I stayed with Jisung as an agreement that if I share profits, he’ll keep me safe.

“40. That’s 90 today.” Better than most days. Most days I’m lucky to finish with 50.

“Goddamnit, I thought the idiot would’ve handed over everything he got. These men are desperate.” Jisung sighed.

“I need to lie down, long day.” I went to the cot on the floor of our one room flat. The one room we pay 80 a month for.

...

“Soyeon, wake up! Did you hear that?” It was maybe 2 am and I was in no position to hear anything.

“Fucking no, what is it?”

“They’re coming.”

“Who?”

“The military. I overheard one of the guys on the last working radio. They intercepted a signal of some guys from Hong Kong. This is our chance.” He was so excited, I forget Jisung is 17 sometimes. He was a year younger than me but looked 25 at least.

“Shut up, they’re not going to get us. You know what the infantry will do to them. They don’t take help kindly.”

“Yeah and? This is our chance.” He was right, but it was a tiny chance.

Jeno POV

“I FOUND A CAR OVER HERE.” a guy yelled.

“Yo, shut the fuck up we’re gonna get caught.” We snuck to the SUV and hopped in looking to patrol.

“You got this.” I whispered.

“Fuck yeah you do, we aren’t letting you be a pussy.” One of the guys overheard my inner monologue.

Flashback

“Jeno stoppp!” she giggled as I had her pinned down. My hands were relentlessly poking at her sides, making her squirm.

“Make me.”

“Okay,” she kissed me, one of our very many shared moments. “Love you, Jeno.”

“I love you too, Miyah.”

Flashback over.

“YO WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT.” I was shaken from my daydream to see hands all over the windows.

“Fucking zombies, step on the gas and run them down!” I yelled. “For fucks sake.”

I swear to god if I go out to these cannibals, I’m gladly going to hell.

Jihoon did what he was told and stepped on the gas, tossing me to the side making me hit my head off of the side of the shitty SUV.

“KEEP GOING.” “OH MY GOD.” Screams filled the car.

“SHIT THE CAR IS OUT OF GAS” as we were surrounded by zombies, great timing.

“Bust out the windows and start shooting boys.” That plan went well until someone decided to get their gun taken by the zombie. Good thing I’m surrounded by fucking idiots.

“We need to get out, get a better angle for shooting.” I opened the sun roof and hopped through the top, shooting at every direction until they were no longer surrounding us.

“Shit man, that was close.”

“You all are fucking stupid assholes.”

“Look we need to stay a team if we want to survive.”

“Well we should get out of here,” I remarked.

We got out and started walking.

“Yo man, is that a compound?” I glanced up from the ground. A fence surrounded a group of buildings. Survivors.

“We should be careful, we don’t want them to think we’re a threat.” I warned.

“Yeah, man.”

Soyeon POV

I heard laughing from outside of my window, they probably found them. A group of scavengers.

When the infantry finds scavs they have a tendency of making them feel less than welcome.

“HELP, LOOK WE’RE HERE TO HELP YOU GUYS.”

“Could it be, the military? Who Jisung was talking about.” I thought out loud.

Jeno POV

We said we came in peace but this is what we got, stripped naked with numbers burned onto our backs. I’m 97.

“Jeno, I don’t wanna die.” It was Jihoon.

“We don’t know what they’re doing but we probably aren’t being killed.”

“It’s your boys’ lucky day. Commander wants to meet with you personally before the fun begins.

...

“Boys, welcome to Infantry 102. We hope we’ve made our good impressions. We got ladies, guns, and a black market in case you were wondering. We got it all, and you can stay for a price. How’s that sound.”

“Just let us leave! We won’t bother you anymore we promise.” Jihoon begged.

“HAha, no. You see, how do we know you won’t deliver our location to your bosses and they won’t send in people to exterminate us. You’re staying here, or at least your corpse is.”

I sighed. This is going to be a long night.

[A/N: this is my first ever piece of writing pls go easy on her.]

[thegreymoon]

Squid Game

Wait, episode 8 is only 30 minutes? 🤔 I’m going to try and finish this tonight. 

***

Aww, my miserable babies 😢 Only three left.

I want her to win but I know she won’t. 

***

LMAO, the dystopian absurdity of it all.

***

Oh no 😢

***

Hell. 

***

Well, shit.

They have machine guns and they are on an island. 

***

Please, please, please 🙏🙏

***

Need to take a break. This is too stressful. 

***

Look at this shit. No. Why?

I REFUSE.

I’d been hoping he’d escape, but nope. Nobody gets to have good things with this drama. 

***

Smh, they left them a steak knife to kill each other with. 

There is no such thing as a well-intentioned meal in this hell. 

***

OH FUCK THIS. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

HIS BROTHER? THE BROTHER HE CRAWLED INTO THIS HELLHOLE TO FIND? I AM ENRAGED 🤬🤬🤬🤬

***

ALSO, WHY THE HELL DID I NOT SEE THIS COMING? 

***

I knew the brother was working for them since he won a Squid Game years ago and survived but his family knew nothing about the money. Also, this asshole still has a moral foundation he does not compromise on, twisted as he fucking is. Looking back, the two of them are clearly cut from the same cloth. I hate everything. 

***

HE SHOT HIM. THE FUCKER SHOT HIM. I WILL PERSONALLY TRANSMIGRATE INTO YOUR STUPID GAME SPECIFICALLY TO KILL YOU. 

***

YES, BROTHER. WHY?

***

Okay, so now that I’ve calmed down a bit (BUT JUST A BIT) and went back and rewatched this scene, he may have shot him but maybe he didn’t kill him (and intentionally at that). I very much doubt this evildoer cannot aim, yet he shot him in the shoulder, very far from any vital points. Plus, he hit the water underneath. 

He’s not dead. I refuse to believe he’s dead until they show me his RECOGNISABLE dead body. 

***

ALSO, IS THIS  LEE BYUNG-HUN? ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS IS LEE BYUNG-HUN??? 

OMG, I don’t know whether to fangirl or to haaaaaaate 😭😭 A Bittersweet Life is one of my favourite things I ever watched! I cried a river over that movie. 

***

Looking back some more, Jun-ho also clearly sensed something because he intentionally shot him in the shoulder too. I wondered at the moment why he didn’t shoot him dead, there is no chance he could have missed, and here is our answer. He sensed. He knew in that moment before he took off the mask. 

***

She is definitely dying and knows it 😢

***

What kind of help is he expecting? 

They gave them knives to kill each other with! Them dying is THE POINT. 

***

I... I am speechless. 

[365days365movies]

May 4, 2021: The Host (2006) (Recap)

NO NOT THAT ONE

Stephanie Meyer goddamn sucks. I realize that I’m not exactly the first person to say that, but she’s terrible. Not only is she not a good writer, but she also has some very disparaging views about science fiction and its fans, which led her to make her own science fiction book and film. ANd yeah...it’s terrible! No surprise there.

So, no, not the 2013 critical and commercial flop known as The Host. No, this post is about 2006′s The Host, AKA Gwoemul, AKA 괴물. I haven’t ventured to far into the world of Korean cinema, and with this film, my repertoire includes only the films of director Bong Joon-Ho. And if that name sounds familiar...it should.

Bong Joon-ho DESERVEDLY made headlines last year when his film became the first non-English language film to win for Best Picture, and the first time Asian writers won for best screenplay! His Oscar speech in accepting best director is genuinely one of the best and most sincere speeches I’ve ever heard from a director, and I love the dude.

Oh, and if you’re wondering which film it was, then, like me, you also really need to watch Parasite. And because I’m terrified of spoilers, I’m not gonna look for GIFs of that movie. Instead, I’ll put in a GIF of one of my favorite sci-fi films, and the only other Bong Joon-ho film I’ve seen.

God, I love Snowpiercer. And if this is anything like that, I’m probably going to love this movie. Now, I don’t really know much about this film, other than the fact that it’s a monster film. And if there’s any science-fiction subgenre more iconic than monster films, I don’t know it. Well...OK, aliens, robots, and more, but monster films are still a big part of the genre. But where does that begin? Is it here?

Definitely an argument you can make, since Frankenstein’s Monster is a creation of science gone wrong, from the book to the movie. Fun fact, Mary Shelley based it on a real-world experiment by Italian physiologist Giovanni Aldini, who used a corpse to illustrate the connection between electricity and muscles. Neat, huh? So, yeah, that’s a solid launching point.

But that’s more of a horror story. What about something a little more monster-y? Well, from the UK to Japan we go!

OHHHHHH YEAH, THAT’S THE GOOD STUFF

Toho’s 1954 film Gojira is one of the most classic monster films ever made, and singlehandedly launched the kaiju genre in Japan. And it’s really well-known that it was made as a response to post-World War II tensions about nuclear warfare. Which, in Japan, is kind of understandable, no? But nothing demonstrated the destructive power of science more than that moment in history. 

So, Godzilla arrives. And the US also makes more monster movies, most of which take place in contemporary settings, making many of them lo-fi sci-fi. Now, some dipped into horror or fantasy, but the science fiction roots were there. Which eventually would bring us full circle to films where monsters were made and go loose. You know, like this:

It’s a franchise that defines the ‘90s, and lab-grown monster movies exploded around that time as well. At the same time, environmental concerns REALLY started to build by this point, and those concerns leaked profusely into film all over the world. And by the time we get to 2006...well, let’s get into it, huh?

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

In a mortuary, a U.S. military doctor (Scott Wilson) instructs his assistant (Brian Lee) to dump bottles of formaldehyde down the drain of the facility, which goes directly into the Han River. The assistant protests, but the doctor insists, despite the risk of polluting the river. AAAAAmericans.

In the river about two years later, two fisherman see something strange looking in the river. Then, four years later, in 2006, a suicidal man is about to jump into the river, when he sees something dark in the water below.

Later that year, we meet Park Hee-bong (Byun Hee-Bong) and his son Park Gang-du (Song Kang-ho), who run a food truck and snack bar near the river. Gang-du’s not exactly a hard worker, to his father’s chagrin. His daughter, Hyun-seo (Go Ah-sung), is a student who comes home from school, where her drunken uncle Nam-il (Park Hae-il) comes to her chagrin. She and her father watch TV, where his sister Nam-joo (Bar Doona) can be seen competing in archery.

As he’s bringing food out to customers, he joins them in observing something strange and massive hanging off of the bridge. And at this point, I would be running the fuck away. Literally, the news just said that there was a body found with the legs missing, and these people are throing cans at it after it plunges into the water. One girl asks if it’s a dolphin. Mother...HAVE YOU SEEN A DOLPHIN BEFORE?

NOT THIS

Yeah, this thing just comes bounding along the shore, slapping people into the water with its tail, and batting aside others. Doesn’t look like its actively killing anybody yet, but it’s definitely hurting people at least. That is, until it goes into a trailer where a bunch of people have gathered, and appears to eat a bunch of them. So, yeah, dangerous.

Gang-du, to his infinite credit, actually attempts to confront and hurt the creature, with the help of Donald White (David Joseph Anselmo). And it works, but at the cost of the creature aggro-ing onto him. Back at the snack truck, his sister’s lost the title, much to the chagrin of Gang-du’s daughter and father. She goes outside in frustration, only to be thrown into the midst of the chaos with her dad. He grabs a girls hand in the chaos, only to find that it’s a different child entirely. And...unfortunately...

The creature grabs her with its tail, and leaps back into the river, disappearing. Fuck. Poor Hyun-seo, and poor Gang-du. Gang-du IMMEDIATELY goes to get her back, jumping into the river, but the creature takes her across to an island, out of reach. That night, an impromptu funeral is held for the victims, at which Hyun-seo is being honored as well. There, both Gang-du’s sister and brother also attend, and all four of the break down dramatically and publicly.

Nam-il blames his brother for letting her die, which is unfair, but understandable. The family eventually calms down and discusses the circumstances of Hyun-Seo’s birth and death, both of which were accidental. As they do, a man in a protective suit comes out, and asks who was at the river incident. Nam-il protests this, and asks what’s going on. The man doesn’t explain, and the room is instead gassed, as everyone is ushered towards the entrance.

In the process, Gang-du (stupidly) reveals that he was hit by some blood splatter. He’s immediately stuffed in a bag and kidnapped by the authorities. Meanwhile, the news reveals that the creature is carrying a virus, and anyone who has been in contact with it has been infected. Because of this, the entire family is taken to a quarantine hospital, which oddly has very few actual quarantine procedures in place. And additionally, Gang-du is feeling a bit itchy.

That night, in the hospital, Gang-du gets a call on his cell phone! It’s Hyun-seo! She’s alive! And she’s trapped, in a sewer somewhere near the river. Meanwhile, a group of men in protectve suits are outside patrolling the river. One man finds money on the side of the road, and goes to pick it up, only for the men to be attacked by the creature. But it’s then that we discover that the creature is not killing or eating people, but simply taking them own to its lair. Also in said lair is Hyun-seo, trapped and with a now dead phone.

The next day, the family tries to get an officer to look into the call, only for the officer to be, frankly, an absolute piece of shit to this grieving family. Gang-du tries to explain, and his explanation is ENTIRELY RATIONAL, but the officer and doctors are absolutely terrible about it.

Because nobody’s listening, the family manages to escape from the hospital in order to try and save Hyun-Seo, and they hop into a van, taking it and running. This is a good place to mention that, despite this being a monster movie, it's also...weirly funny sometimes. Like, that whole scene is pretty great. After bartering with a group of gangsters for supplies (and after Hee-bong basically gives away all of his credit cards), the group manages to get a map and a new car. But they pretty quickly get stopped at a checkpoint into the city, and are nearly caught, but manage to escape and get to the riverfront. Once there, they begin searching the sewers to find Hyun-seo. And I gotta say; this may be an extremely dysfunctional family, but they’re a devoted family all the same.

Of course, that eventually gives way to arguments within the sewer itself, but that’s interrupted by a noise heard somewhere around them. They fire at it, using weapons obtained from the gangster but conclude that it was nothing. What it actually is is two brothers, older Se-jin (Lee Jae-eung) and younger Se-joo (Lee Dong-ho), homeless kids who are foraging the sewers in the abandoned city. But, of course, they eventually run into the creature, which attacks them. Meanwhile, an asleep Hyun-Seo dreams of dinner with her family, only to be woken up by the arrival of the creature, who deposits the bodies of the two boys in the sewer with her. Se-joo has survived, but Se-jin hasn’t, sadly.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family is gathered at their snack bar for the night, and prepares to set out or the morning. The to younger siblings appear to not give a single shit about Gang-du, but Hee-bong attempts to set them straight, talking about how he blames himself for the way Gang-du is now. However, the two just fall asleep during his speech. Poor Hee-bong. Also, he can apparently identify Gang-du’s health condition based on his farts because they spend so much time together, it’s dumb, and funny.

Also, poor the rest of them, because Gang-du wakes up to see the creature just waiting outside, watching them. Hee-bong fires at it, but the creature attacks and knocks over the bar. However, Hee-bong manages to hit it directly in the head, knocking it off, but not killing it. The family goes out to finish the job, but it runs away before they can kill it. They run after it, and are almost completely out of bullets. Hee-bong volunteers to go after it himself, but in the process...

Hee-bong doesn’t make it. The creature kills him, and the commotion attracts the military to their location. Gang-du is again captured, while Nam-il and Nam-joo escape, only to later be separated regardless. Meanwhile, the virus kills Donald White, the sergeant from earlier, and it continues to spread across Korea. To kill the creature, the government plans to release a chemical into the river called Agent Yellow, which feels...controversial.

Nam-il meats a colleague, “Fat Guevara” (Yam Pil-sung), who is easily able to provide a location for Hyun-seo using the number, which the cop earlier insisted was nearly impossible to do. Plus, both the sergeant and Gang-du encountered the creature together, and he seems to be just fine. Which probably means that something very wrong is happening now. Even worse, though, is the fact that Guevara’s appeared to trap Nam-il, as a massive reward is sought for his arrest. A gang of people surround hi, with the plan to capture him, but he VERY cleverly escapes by causing an electrical short, and AFTER having found Hyun-seo’s location! Nice, man! He takes off, now knowing exactly where his niece is.

Nam-joo, meanwhile, is literally living inside of the snack bar, and she gets a text from Nam-il with her location. He tags out, and she tags in, running to the location where the call came from. But she immediately runs into the creature, which knocks her down and unconscious. She manages to call Gang-du, who is currently about to be sedated. Now knowing where his daughter is, he tries to escape, only to be tackled by the doctors. He tells them where she is, but they don’t appear to listen. More importantly, the anesthetic doesn’t appear to work, much to the confusion of the doctors. Something is verrrrrrrry wrong here.

An American doctor (Paul Lazar) comes, and asks what’s wrong, and he tells him exactly what’s wrong. However, despite his words SEEMING to be heard, they once again call him crazy and delusional, and decide to give him a lobotomy to isolate the virus once and for all, like FUCKING ASSHOLES. Turns out that the virus? Yeah, it doesn’t exist whatsoever! It doesn’t exist even a little bit! Which means that this entire thing is a wild goddamn goose chase for a virus that DOESN’T FUCKING EXIST!!!

And the best thing is that Gang-du, despite not actually knowing English, still understands the words “no virus”, and know he fucking knows! However, because he knows, they now have to give him a lobotomy. Fuck me, man. Panicking, he cries for them to stop, and cries for his daughter, who’s still alive in the sewer.

Speaking of, Hyun-seo and Se-joo are bonding in the sewer, as they work to make a rope from things they find there. But in the process, they’re attacked by the creature, who know is actively eating the bodies, and presumably other people. Whoof. They manage to escape, but barely.

Back with Gang-du, who’s just gone through the lobotomy, which...hasn’t worked at all. Holy SHIT. Not sure what the hel is UP with this dude, but that’s a question in and of itself. He escapes by taking a nurse hostage, threatening them with a syringe of his blood, full of a virus that doesn’t exist!

Nam-il wakes up at the same time, not accompanied by a homeless man (Yoon Je-moon), who agrees to take him to the bridge to find Hyun-seo. In the sewer, the two kids have survived, and the creature appears to be asleep. Like a GODDAMN BOSS, she runs up the creatures back, and jumps onto a rope that she had made, and that was hanging far out of her reach. Unfortunately...the creature catches her with its tail. Fuck. It sets her down, and...lets her go? But as soon as she runs, it attacks bother her and Se-joo.

Just then, Gang-du gets to the lair, and uses the rope to climb down. Below him is a pile of bones, and no kids to be seen. The creature goes by, and Hyun-seo’s hand is dangling out of its mouth. And once again by coincidence, that’s when Nam-joo wakes up and reunites with her brother. The creature runs to the waterfront, only to be greeted by...a crowd? They’re gathered there to protest the release of the dangerous chemical into the river.

It all collides at once. The creature swims towards the crowd, Gang-du runs towards the creature, Agent Yellow is released over them both, causing the creature to faint. Gan-du runs up and grabs the bodies of his daughter and See-joo from its mouth, apparently too fucking late. Shit, man. This would’ve been avoided if they just HELPED him. Fuck. He carries her body away as more chemical is released onto the flailing creature, and the chemical causes everyone else in the area to violently hemorrhage as well. Meanwhile, Nam-il and Nam-joo arrive to see their deceased niece, grieving all over again. It’s...fuck, man, it sucks.

And Gang-du is fucking PISSED NOW. He grabs a street sign and attacks the injured creature, fueled by pure rage. Nam-il joins in with Molotov cocktails as it runs away. The homeless man douses it with gasoline, and that makes it easier for Nam-il to set it on fire...until he drops the bottle. And then, Nam-joo uses it to light an arrow on fire, hitting the creature with it, and setting it ablaze. It runs to the water, only for Gang-du to stab it through the head with the street sign, finally killing it in revenge for his father and his daughter. Fucking bad-ASS. And also quite tragic, given the circumstances.

And despite the tragedy, there is one happy circumstance: Se-joo lives! In fact, Hyun-seo died saving his life, like the real goddamn hero of this story that she is. Fuck. That’s terrible, but I’m happy that her sacrifice wasn’t in vain. From here, we fast-forward to the winter, where a clean-shaven and well-kept Gang-du is is now caring for Se-joo. The news is on in the background, but the two ignore it, happily eating together after the ordeal they’ve been through.

Whoof. That’s The Host, or Gwoemul! And yeah, that’s one hell of a movie, I tell you what. For a monster movie, it’s quite dramatic, and they don’t try to humanize the monster AT ALL. And honestly, I really like it! A Pyrrhic victory at the end, but nothing wrong with that! I’ll elaorate a bit in the review! See you there!

[trashy-slashy]

HOLY FUCK SOMEONE WHO WILL WRITE FOR KRAMER HO LEE F U C K hmm what shoulda i ask maybe ehh he randomly stays alive after all and becomes the boss i dunno this is so weird like this man's intelligence attracts me like tell me Important Shit on friend level bro FILOSOPHIZE AT ME

Saw was my first intro into horror as a teen so Kramer has a special place in my heart, I 110% understand the attraction ajkdkedf. I know that a lot of his work is individual to each person so I had to take some liberties. Hope you enjoy!

John Kramer HC’s

“You are still here. Curious” John peered up from his makeshift plans, catching you offguard. You thought you had infiltrated his workshop unnoticed, but nothing went over Kramer’s head. Blood stained the makeshift rag you’d strung around your fingers; or rather what was left of them. You’d escaped your own game, playing into the serial killers hands.

“How are you feeling?” His words caught you off guard, rage building in your throat. “I just stuck my fucking hand into a fucking paper shredder you sicko, how do you think I feel?” You spat venously, cradling your affliction. “But you did it to survive. You have a greater instinct than most. A purpose.” John was unfazed by your outburst, watching you with dark, calculating eyes.

“A... purpose?” You winced as your hand throbbed painfully against your chest. “I know your past.” The Jigsaw killer recited what he knew about you, every deep, dark secret uncovered. “I know what drives the mind to such things. It may not seem simple to you, as it does to me.” He stood, approaching you slowly. “But I have given you a gift.” You knew you should fight back, run, call the police, something. But his words resonated with you. “Repentence for your actions.” John placed his hand on your shoulder and you weren’t quite sure if he was trying to comfort you or not.

“I’ve helped you. Now I want you to help me.” He seemed to stare at your soul, the invasive gaze making you squirm a little. You nodded meekly. It didn’t really seem you had much of a choice either way. He beckoned to someone behind you. Turning your attention, a blond man stepped from the shadows, his expression skeptical. “Doctor Gordon will tend to you.” The door beside him creaked open, revealing a small medical suite, ushering you inside.

“I’m sure you have a great deal of questions” The doctor had deflected a lot of your attempts at conversation whilst he delt with what was left with your hand. Well, if you call putting you under anaesthetic deflecting conversation. Kramer sat across from you when you came to, his fingers laced in his lap. You were heavily bandaged up to your elbow, which made propping yourself up harder than it needed to be. Your throat burned from being unconcious for God knows how long, opting to nod in response. “Then let us begin.”

[tellywoodtrash]

immj2 20.11.20

new title card! everyone looking hottttttttttttttttt af!

no for real though, this chick needs to fucking insure her feet or something. itne disaster-prone pair maine zindagi mein nahi dekhe.

this idiot. honestly, he needs to know to pick his battles. he used to be soooooooo smart and shaatir. now he’s just dumb as fuckkkkkkk, the way he’s playing the game. i really don’t understand. i just don’t.

“riddhima tumhe pata hai tumhari problem kya hai? tum khud aage badhke apne bure waqt ki ghadi set karti ho.” lmaooooooo that’s a brilliant line and exactly what she does!

standard DON’T YOU DARE LOOK AT MY FAMILY WRONG blah blah from riddhima.

trollolololololololololol i honestly just put up with this character just to see vishal play himmmmmmm

blah blah tell dadi that i should get the business, then the property, then the family, and then this room of his....... ew, gross implication of that room thing aside, bro slow your rolllllllllllll. also why are you tellling her all this??? why the fuckkkkk would you give her a heads-up?!?!!?!?

sweetheart bhi bola. ugh. i hate when any man calls any woman that. it sounds patronizing and condescending as fuckkkk. also i just don’t get why he wants to be like vansh so muchhhhhhhhh when HIS PERSONALITY IS OBJECTIVELY BETTER THAN VANSH’S WAS?!!?!?!!?

ok i’m bored with this scene now and fwding.

pls sis, don’t say wohiiiiiiiii shakal and all. new shakal is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> old shakal. like, i have no words to describe the improvement.

here aryan be making some stupid shady deals and he’s like mwahahahahaha now that vansh is gone, there’s no one to stop me!!!!!! dude, he literally used to do that to prevent you from going to fucking jail, lmao. you are so fuckingggggggg dumb istg.

“sivaaye mere!” snort. this i’m gonna enjoyyyyyyyyyyy.

aryan like TU KAUN MAIN KHAMAAKHAAAAN?!!!?!? and quite rightly so.

this is their new thing in the show. they show this angle of kabir jab uski kuch zyaaaada hi khisakkkkk jaati hai. 

AKLSJALKFJSLKDJFLSDKJFLKDSJLFKJDSLKFJDSLKJFLSKJD OMFG HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA

“seedhe mooh baat kii thi. tameez se jawaab dena chahiye tha.”

lmaooooooooooooooo i can’tttttttttt with this fuckerrrrrrr. why is he so fuckingggggg hilarious?????

meanwhile bhaabiji is back at mandir place asking around about vihaan. she’s describing him as “bodybuilder type” which, lol......... ok.

chaiwaala is i know who he is and can give you deets.

she’s like yehiiii haina???? and he’s like yeah kinda, but hotter. way hotter. ok he didn’t say it. i’m saying it. BUT IT’S THE TRUTH, COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!

holy shit she just had to give him 2x my wholeass monthly rentttttttt to get the deets. what the fuckkkkkkkkkkkkk????? ALSO MY GOD WHO JUST CARRIES AROUND THIS MUCH CASH IN THEIR LIL DINKY GOING-TO-THE-MANDIR PURSE???????????

bhaiyyaji very very happy with his loot of the day butttttttttttt.........

lmao this one like I WORKED REALLY HARD AS AN ACCOUNTANT TO EARN THAT WAD OF CASH THAT SHE JUST HANDED TO YOU OK??????? YOU THINK SHE MAKES THIS MUCH AS NO-NAME PHYSIOTHERAPIST WITH A GRAND TOTAL OF ONE CLIENT????? AND NOW I’VE HAD TO SWITCH CAREERS. IN THE MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC. I HAD TO LEARN A WHOLEEEEEEEE NEW SKILLSET. YOU KNOW HOW MANY HOURS I SPENT ON COURSERA AND UDEMY AND GITHUB RIGHT AFTER FALLING OFF A CLIFF?????????? DO YA???????????

sorry shaktimaan.

“virus hoon main. ek baar laga gaya na toh zindagi ka file corrupt kar doonga.” lmaoooooooooo lord the dumbass tech related metaphorsssss.

ok that’s a bit much but mmmmmm baby i love to watch you work. esp. this outfit, unf. it’s really getting me so damn hot for you.

khud ki hi biwi ka phone number score karke itnaaaaaa khush kisi ko hote hue pehli baar dekha hai.

lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

aryan, who is literally tied to a chair is growling at kabir about how this won’t end well for him and kabir’s like..............

snorttttttttt i love this psychopathhhhhh.

kabir is like just use your ickle brain cell lil one. i’m a cop. i have alllll the details of every single shady thing you’ve done. first i’ll show it to the family, then to the authorities. and then there miiiiiiiiiiight be an encounter later.......... lmao yessssssssss, i love it.

“woh kya haina, samajhdaar ko ishaara kaafi hota hai. lekin tum itne samajhdaar nahi ho na, iss liye itne detail mein samjhaana pada!” i really cannot stop laughing at this scene. truly the evil bros dynamic i have been craving for from this show.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaand that is enough for aryan to maarofy palti.

but ooooooooooops. he called him kabir. which we know is this one’s sore spot these days.

“kabir.................... sir?” lmfaooooooooooooo

hahahahahahahahahahahahahhaha

bitch wht you callllllll vansh?????

“kabir...... bhai.”

OMFG THE STRAIGHT UP ORGASM FACE HE MADE AT THAT?!?!!??!?! JESUS KABIR I THINK YOU NEED THERAPY FOR THIS. EVEN FREUD DIDN’T COME UP WITH A THEORY FOR WHATEVER FREAKY “BHAIYYA ISSUES” YOU HAVE GROWN ALL OF A SUDDEN OUTTA NOWHERE.

aryan is literally like...............................

“ab BHAIYYA ki do baat dhyaaaaan sunna, ok????”

ok deal done. do shady fuckers have allied. kaisi ram milaaye usa-uk type jodi hai paapiyon ki.

aryan like but everything belongs to dadi now, and dadi is forsho gonna hand it all over to her laadli riddhima, who hates your guts.

“tum jitna smart mujhe samajhte ho, usse kahinnnnnn zyaada smart hoon main.”

aryan like ok but fr how exactly are you gonna achieve this??????/

“bhagwaan ne pehle hi tumhe dimaag kam diya hai. issi umar mein sab use karloge toh aage kya karoge??? jitna bola gaya hai, utna karo.” LMAO PLS MAN CAN WHOEVER IS WRITING KABIR’S LINES WRITE THEM FOR VIHAAN TOOOOOOOO. COZ THESE ARE GENUINELY SO FUNNY AND HIS ARE SOOOOOOO FUCKING LAME.

riddhima walks in to aryan having already gotten dadi’s ear and having kabir involved in the business. he’s already signing papers and shit! idhar mereko debit card use karte waqt 4 baar sign karna hota hai to prove i’m the actual owner and didn’t just steal it from somewhere, and this guy just got signing authority to a wholeass empire in half an hour.

aryan talking soooooooooooo nicely about kabir and riddhima is like OK FOR SURE THIS FUCKER HAS BEEN THREATENED AND/OR BRIBED.

lmaooooooooo aryan again referred to him as “kabir” and K just cleared his throat all ominously. and promptlyyyyyyy aryan’s like “KABIR BHAI!!!! KABIR BHAI!!!!!!!!!”

uska jhattttt jawaaab bhi mil gaya universe se, hahahahahaha.

kaunsa bhai, kahaan ka bhai, haaaaan??????

oh boy. this angle again.

“isse vansh bhai ki jagah dena, business mein involve karna; kya deal hui hai tumhari, kitne mein becha hai tumne apne aap ko; bolo?!?!?!? ki tumhe yeh achanak se apna bhai lagne laga hai????” DAMN. I LOVE ISHANI. SHE’S SHARP AS A TACK. WHY THE FUCK WON’T DADI JUST GIVE HER THE EMPIRE?????????

dadi talking blah blah anupriya ka beta hai, yeh bhi tumhare bhai haina. god shut upppppppppp dadi.

“jeete-jee toh nahi, dadi. mere liye bhai ka sirf ek matlab tha, vansh bhai.” aw mannnnnnnnnnnn. i really hope we get more ishani/vansh-vihaan when he enters the house. i really wanna see more of their bond. he always was so soft for siya, but it’s so obvious that ishani loves him beyond belief. what a shame to not show us more of that.

“respect earn kii jaati hai, zabardasti lee nahi jaati.” DAMN RIGHT SIS. YOU TELL EMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

ab iss angle mein atke issko yeh kaun samjhaaye???

you know that realllllllllly dumbass cringeworthy song called psycho saiyyaan? they should remake it for this show and call it “aaya mora BHAIYYA psycho!!!”

so apt!

dadi apologizing some more for ishani and giving kabir khulaaaaaaaa rein to handle business. riddhima not happy about this and decides kuchhhhh toh karna hogaaaaaa.

she finally remembers of angre’s existence and that he is the only one who’ll really help her.

ISS GHAR KE SAARE MARD EK SE BADHKAR EK PAAGAL HAIN.

riddhima saying the saaaaaaame thing.

angre se bro ka judaai sahaa nahi jaa raha. brotp ho toh aisa.not that vansh articularly deserves this much love and loyalty, seeing the way he treated angre, but angre’s saying he was my boss, bhai, dost, everythingggggg to meeeee. awwww.

BUT ALSO THIS FUCKER FULLLLLY DOING THIS DRAMA HAVING HELPED VANSH SURVIVE AND CHANGE IDENTITIES, LIKH KE LELO MERE SE.

ishani coming in and is like at least he’s grieving bhai’s death. you toh let some other fucker into the house on bhai’s terhvi itself.

“sab apni life mein aage badh gaye hain. aise behave karr rahe hain jaise kuch hua hi nahi hai! kisi ko koi parvaah hi nahi hai ki vansh bhai humaare beech nahi hain.” aw mannn, i honestly love her the mosttttttttttttttt.

she’s like angre’s trying to take his pain out, usse toh chain paane do.

riddhima got a message from chaiwaala (no, not the one at 7, race course road) and bounces.

meanwhile angre is telling ishani to give the belt back and stop pretending she gives a fuck about him. she’s like i don’t, but i know you loved bhai as much as i do. so i won’t let you do this to yourself.

she’s like if you really want to honour him and give him peace, then we need to make a plan so that the fucker who’s ghusofied into his house can’t take his place. OMG YOU GUYS THEY’RE TEAMING UPPPPPPP?!?!?!??!!?  A GENTLE BREAKTHROUGH!!!!!!!! HONESTLY, VANSH’S DEATH HAS BROUGHT NOTHING BUT GOOD THINGS TO THIS SHOW.

cutiepie is waiting for wifey to show up. has some stupidass tech dialogue to maarofy about it but the less said about that, the better.

“message padha bhi nahi??? kaise pata karoon????” lmao itna bada hacker hai, and he’s at the mercy of whatsapp ka blue tick feature like the rest of us. 

not to worry boo. she’s on her waaaaaay.

WHY THE FUCK DOES HE STILLLLLLLL HAVE ALL THE PICS OF THE FAM LYING OUT IF HE KNOWS SHE’S GONNA SHOW UP?!?!!?!?!?!

“intezaar bhi tab tak cute lagta hai jab tak frustrate na kar de; miss..... pretty raisinghania!” dude, whether he’s vansh or not, he’s simping so hard for her. i fucking love it.

oh shit she walks in as he’s heartttttteyeing over her piccccccc.

oh nope. he’s the flash flying jatt. already disappeared behind his desk.

yeah girl. i know. I KNOW!!!!!!!

[lilaachearts-archived]

( lee chaeyoung / isa , cis woman ) have you seen BORA HO ? i heard SHE is an ASTROPHYSICS MAJOR at EVERGREEN UNIVERSITY and a VOLUNTEER at the SAN VERTO LIBRARY. they’re 21 years old and they’ve been living in san verto for 3 YEARS. they tend to be CALM & CHARISMATIC, but rumor has it they can also be OPINIONATED & UNFORGIVING. [ tally, 25, GMT+4, she/her ] @foolsstarters​

tw // brief mention of abuse

bora ho –– lee chaeyoung / isa fc

nicknames: idk give her nicknames

birthday: january 1st, 2000 - 21 yrs old ; capricorn

cis woman, she/her, bisexual

born in brooklyn, new york.

past !

bora’s mother wanted her youngest child, and only daughter, to be nothing short of prim and proper. and all her life, as much as she hated it, the young girl went along with it; going by her parents’ very traditional and outdated rules for her own personal safety. unlike her oldest brother, she hated every bit of it. and unlike her second oldest brother, yooseung, she knew how to keep it together and go with the flow for her survival in a house where their parents weren’t afraid of using extreme methods behind closed doors. 

bora was calm, collected, and despite being so restricted by rules, she did things her own way. she was a straight A student, especially in subjects that her peers hated. physics and chemistry were things she especially excelled at. although her teachers would accuse her of cheating on her tests because she was skipping classes whenever she felt like it. bora would respond saying that it wasn’t that hard for her to catch up. she had a talent for learning quickly, anyways. 

bora had a hard time being close to anyone in her family. she had a tendency of pretending to like her cousins or other family members just for the sake of keeping her ‘good girl’ reputation going. the only person in her family that she truly got along with was yooseung. the two shared secrets, had a similar sense of humor, and they even talked about how they both wanted to leave and live freely somewhere else. the latter happened for yooseung pretty soon, and he was away in california without taking bora with him. of course, she was upset about it at first, but she understood after a while. especially when he kept in contact and visited brooklyn sometimes. 

behind her polished facade, bora had a plan, and she needed to get on with it as soon as she turned eighteen. she was sick of living like this. she had a lot of money saved up; courtesy of her parents giving her a few bills whenever she said she didn’t have any lunch money. she could admit that as the youngest child, she was a bit spoiled. her dad could barely say no if she pouted. and she was packing up her things slowly but surely, keeping her bags hidden away until the day came for her escape.

no one could’ve seen it coming. bora was seen as the family’s good girl who was always on her best behavior. she was even expected to start working in her family’s business after majoring in one of the best universities in new york. but when everyone woke up, she was nowhere to be found. her things and her car had disappeared as well. her mother insisted on filing her as missing, but nothing could be done, because she was technically an adult now, and it was evident that she deliberately left on her own. 

a few months of driving from city to city, staying with friends and random motels here and there, she finally made her way to san verto, california, where her brother, yooseung, lived. he had no idea she was even coming here, only knowing about her disappearing from home. and since her arrival in town, she never thought she wanted to go live somewhere else. she was used to living in a big city, but she loved the small town. 

hcs !

bora is a good actress. she could lie to you for her own gain, and a lot of the time people didn’t even realize it.

she studies astrophysics, after yooseung decided to pay for her college education, which she didn’t like the idea of at first. 

bora’s definitely the smarter one out of the two siblings LMAO. compared to yooseung, she loved reading and educating herself about new things she was interested in. she’s currently volunteering at the library in her free time. 

speaking of yooseung and lying... this bitch would support any ridiculous lies he was spewing. 

you’ll never catch her slipping! she always wants to look good, even without any makeup on.

she KNOWS she looks good

she’s into astrology, and definitely owns a tarot deck. only because she wanted to learn how to use it, but doesn’t think she could ever use it seriously. she’s lowkey into witchy things. 

the name bora means purple , and you could only imagine how much she loves the color. her wardrobe consists of a lot of lilacs. 

bora started a youtube channel out of boredom, and now posts random videos every week or so. think kennedy walsh type of videos lol 

always seems like she doesn’t have time for anyone’s shit, and... yeah she doesn’t lol 

she’s a bit cold and opinionated, and can hold grudges, but for the most part, she’s pretty chill and doesn’t give a fuck about a lot of things. 

has a soft spot for shyer/quieter ppl :( 

she’d most likely get mad if anyone touched her stuff or walked into her room without permission lol 

connections !

roomies: nico and eunmi 

exes? i love me some good spicy sad plots. maybe someone who broke her heart and she hates their guts now

neighbors ? someone who probably complained about how loud bora’s music is at night lool

idk give me friends ? ppl who see her working at the library perhaps, or maybe ppl from uni? she goes to evergreen 

it would be funny if there was a character who works at the coffee shop and they know her long ass coffee order by heart. or they hear it for the first time and are like ????? can u rewind , damn

someone she tutors! she’s p good at stuff like science and math subjects, and she wouldn’t mind teaching someone if they pay her lol

i feel like im missing some things.... but this is what i got for now. i’ll probably add more later. 

here’s bora’s pinterest if u wanna take a look. 

pls message me for any plots :D 

[hexcaught]

it’s  been  𝐬𝐢𝐱  𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬  since  the  𝐦𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧  witch,  𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘  𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐃  was  sorted  into  𝐠𝐫𝐲𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫  upon  arriving  at  hogwarts.  i  suppose  over  the  years  we’ve  learnt  that  she  is  𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝,  𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭,  𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠  &  𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭,  i  guess  that’s  why  they  were  sorted  where  they  were.  (  𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑎  𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑟.  )

𝐀𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒  !

rose-glossed  lips  sweet  from  peach  schnapps,  wishing  on  a  firefly  when  the  night  is  overcast,  re-organizing  your  room  for  the  third  time  that  week,  the  warm  touch  of  a  hand  when  words  fail,  buttery  croissants  in  a  sun-dappled  cafe,  and  the  realization  you’ve  grown  too  big  for  your childhood  bed.

𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈  𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓  !

i.  MIRROR  BALL  -  taylor  swift.

ii.  A  LITTLE  BIT  ALEXIS  -  schitt’s  creek  /  annie  murphy.

character  inspo  includes:  tahani  al-jamil  (  the  good  place  ),  alexis  rose  (  schitt’s  creek  )  rachel  green  (  friends  ),  vilde  lien  hellerud  (  skam  ),  elle  woods  (  legally  blonde  ),  ty  lee  (  a:tla  ),  amy  march  (  little  women  ),  charlotte  la  bouff  (  princess  and  the  frog  ),  galinda  upland  (  wicked  )

mary  macdonald  was  brought  up  rich.  rich  in  money  and  rich  in  support  &  love.  she  was  the  only  child  of  charles  and  nancy  macdonald,  a  fairly  wealthy  english  couple.  they  weren’t  like,  obscenely  wealthy.  there  were  no  butlers  ironing  the  morning  paper,  or  private  planes.  but  they  were  the  sort  of  wealthy  that  gets  taken  for  granted  –  growing  up,  mary  never  wanted  for  anything.  she’s  used  to  vacationing  somewhere  warm  and  historic  every  summer.  picture  mcmansions,  suburban  pta  meetings,  disney  princess  movies,  dressing  up  nice  for  sundays  at  church.

her  parents  were  very  much  involved  in  her  childhood,  and  always  supported  her  throughout  every  twist  and  turn  in  her  life.  she’s  always  been  very  open  with  her  parents  and  tells  them  everything.  usually.

she  also  did  child  beauty  pageants  when  she  was  little.  adults  adored  her.  the  word  darling  was  frequently  heard  to  describe  mary  macdonald.  it’s  definitely  shaped  who  she  is  as  a  person  –  frequently  competitive,  a  little  desperate  for  validation,  often  too  concerned  about  appearances,  always  knows  how  to  pull  on  a  winning  smile  even  when  you  just  want  to  go  home  and  cry.  #relatable

but  the  love  and  support  in  her  childhood  has  also  shaped  who  she  is.  her  spoiled  upbringing  has  gifted  her  with  an  indefatigable  sense  of  optimism  and  an  inability  to  take  no  for  an  answer.  she  lives  in  a  world  where  everything  can  be  solved  and  everything  has  its  place.  her  parents’  faith  &  religion  has  taught  her  to  believe  in  the  genuine  good  of  humanity,  and  that  if  you  do  good  things,  you  will  be  rewarded.

fast  forward  to  1971,  when  mary  turned  fourteen,  and  learned  she  was  a  witch.  her  parents  almost  didn’t  want  to  send  her  to  hogwarts,  but  mary  was  so  excited  by  the  idea  that  they  couldn’t  possibly  say  no  to  their  little  girl.  so  off  she  went,  bundled  up  in  a  burberry  jacket  and  scarf,  armed  with  the  best  supplies  diagon  alley  had  to  offer.  she  was  definitely  that  obnoxious  kid  with  the  gold  scales.  mary’s  parents  didn’t  mean  to  spoil  her  rotten,  they  were  just  sending  their  daughter  to  this  place  they  knew  nothing  about  for  several  months  and  this  was  the  best  way  they  knew  to  protect  her.  they  also  sent  her  daily  letters  and  weekly  care  packages  for  her  entire  first  term  in  first  year.  wow

she  was  sorted  into  gryffindor  upon  arriving  &  immediately  began  to  make  friends,  thanks  to  her  chatty  &  cheery  nature.  and  also  thanks  to  her  need  to  have  everyone  she  meets  like  her.  they  didn’t,  of  course  –  i’d  like  to  say  most  people  did,  at  least  after  the  initial  mary  shock  wore  off,  but  of  course  there  were  those  who  found  her  overpowering  and  abrasive.  and  there  were  those  who  disliked  her  simply  because  of  the  blood  running  through  her  veins.

she  approached  hogwarts  with  determination  &  optimism.  and  maybe  a  little  bit  of  competitiveness.  fun  fact:  the  sorting  hat  briefly  considered  slytherin  for  her  because  of  her  ambition  and  charm,  but  when it  comes  down  to  it,  she’s  a  gryffindor  through  and  through.  she  joined  clubs,  she  talked  to  professors  after  class,  she  made  neat,  colour-coordinated  notes.  she  made  her  presence  known  from  day  1  and  took  hogwarts  by  storm.  she  wanted  to  be  popular,  she  wanted  to  be  noticed

and  she  was  –  just  also  by  the  wrong  sort  of  people.  in  her  fifth  year,  she  was  attacked  by  mulciber  (  something  i’ll  plot  out  more  once  we  get  a  mulciber  )

but  uh  yeah  this  caused  a  shitload  of  trauma  !  for  one  thing,  she  was  paranoid  as  fuck  for  a  long  while  after  the  attack.  she  was  terrified  of  being  alone,  and  still  is  to  an  extent.  she  was  haunted  by  nightmares  almost  every  night  for  months.  but  most  of  all  –  the  attack  sparked  an  unidentifiable  doubt  and  sadness  as  she  struggled  to  reconcile  her  optimistic  beliefs  with  the  horrors  she  now  knew  existed  in  the  world.

she  kept  it  all  on  the  down-low,  though,  and  a  lot  of  people  who  were  at  hogwarts  at  the  time  don’t  know  how  bad  the  attack  actually  affected  her.  because  she  just  pulled  on  a  pageant-winning  smile,  and  did  what  she  was  best  at  –  pretending  everything  was  okay.  not  a  great  way  of  coping  with  trauma  !

she  didn’t  even  tell  her  parents.  she  knew  how  worried  they  would  be,  and  she  didn’t  want  them  to  feel  like  they  couldn’t  protect  their  daughter.  they  knew  a  boy  named  mulciber  had  cursed  her,  but  they  thought  it  was  just  an  instance  of  schoolyard  bullying,  and  mary  lied  and  told  them  he  was  expelled  because  of  it.

eventually,  she  started  getting  past  it  –  sometimes  she  still  wakes  up  from  nightmares,  sure,  and  she  still  has  her  bad  days,  but  she’s  surviving  and  growing.  for  now.

so  !  what  kind  of  a  person  is  mary  macdonald  ?  controlling.  idealistic.  uncertain.  perfectionistic.  vain.  tender.  materialistic.  flirtatious.  stubborn.  ambitious.  charming.  conflicted.  spoiled.  impulsive.  yearning.  loving.

she  likes  everything  planned  to  a  tee,  jotted  down  neatly  in  her  favourite  pink  leather  planner.  she  colour  codes  all  her  notes.  her  room  is  always  neat  and  tidy  and  her  makeup  is  always  impeccable.

if  this  were  a  muggle  high  school  au,  she  would  be  the  head  of  the  prom  planning  committee  and  it  would  have  a  1950s  theme.

she  will  give  you  way  too  many  second  chances  and  it  will  break  her  heart.  she  believes  in  the  good  of  humanity  with  a  stubbornness  that’s  almost  naive.

she  is  way  too  dependent  on  validation,  i’m  gonna  tell  you  right  now.  a  total  attention  seeker,  but  she  manages  to  be  just  charming  enough  that  it  isn’t  annoying.  her  good  looks  don’t  hurt,  either.

she  can  be  petty  !  she  can  definitely  be  so  petty  !  and  way  too  used  to  getting  what  she  wants.  i  hate  her

she  is  one  of  the  quidditch  commentators  except  uh  …  girl  knows  nothing  about  quidditch.  mostly  just  gossips  into  the  mic  about  the  players  while  her  partner  commentator  (  wc  !!!!!  )  actually  commentates  on  the  gameplay.  but  she’s  managed  to  keep  the  position  cause  it  entertains  the  audience  and  draws  out  students  who  aren’t  as  interested  in  quidditch

loose  connection  ideas:  ima  be  honest  with  you,  mary  is  a  ho.  gimme  fwb,  hookups,  ex-flings.  the  more  drama  the  betterrr.  also,  girl  squad  wya  ??  OR  EX-FRIENDS.  the  dramaaaa.  again,  would  love  another  quidditch  commentator.  i’d  also  love  a  frenemy  plot,   a  bad  influence,  a  good  influence,  a  one-sided  crush  (  on  either  side  ),  study  buddies,  or  just  straight  up  enemies,  a  bickering  relationship  …  anything  tbh

[sparrowsabre7]

Ok, guess it's Higgs murder time. Ah not yet, final connection first. It definitely is quite haunting being in a more urban environment, there's a real smell of death and decay as opposed to the vibrancy of life seen in the greener landscapes. The large dam wall or whatever it is creates an imposing presence too.

Oh what the fuck, giant jellyfish of death. Swell. Well this is horrid. At least a single shot from the rifle seems to see them off and not attract others if they land in my path . Oh goddammit, my climbing anchor is destroyed, gonna be fall damage city I guess. Plenty of cryptobiotes around though thanks to all the piss mushrooms (which is a thing I only recently learned about).

Wow just slicing my way through the regular BTs right now, here's some classic zingers you can feel free to use:

Mind if I cut in?

Would you like to hear the benefits of going cordless?

Do you fancy a slice?

Feel free to leave of your own a-cord.

Slice to see you, to see you slice.

I'm cutting you out. Of life.

Anyway, shoved in the activation key. I do wonder how much longer the game would be if you didn't skip ANY cutscenes. Like the delivery of the package, Sam showering, peeing, pooing, adding something to the Chiral network. It's the same each time but given the frequency it all adds up.

Chiral network complete! I feel like there could have been a bit more fanfare instead of being told "your done now go to your room".

More beach time, wearing clothes this time though Amelie is dressed as Higgs but also is giant. She also says "I am the extinction entity" with a joker grin and violent camera shake zoom and the screen going red as though that's some big reveal like it hasn't been a) theorised for a good hour now and b) she already outright told me at distro.

Now my room is in panic mode so I guess it finally is Higgs murder time.

Just gonna check my mail first though.

Deadman goes full Para Medic on me in an email about films and how My Fair Lady might be about London Bridge and about a living sacrifice built in the foundation which seems like the heaviest foreshadowing ever. Wondering if Amelie can only exist on the beach and essentially stays dead to keep the UCA going or some shit. He also name drops Shape of Water which is funny.

Ok, out we go and ho lee fuck, that's a big BT. This dude is "make my monster grow" size. Higgs is here being all weird and monologuing. I still don't really get why he wants to destroy the world... hopefully he'll explain in his inevitable death monologue.

Amelie is stuck in the chest of the BT like Rita Repulsa from the 2017 Power Rangers movie so unclear how I'm meant to save her. Oh, Higgs just ported her out of the BT. That makes things easier. Hmm he stuck his mask on her and now she's talking creepy. Like... is the mask magic? Is it a truth serum, I really don't get it. It's also electric and stuff just.. anyway, she's saying she will soon emerge all beaches into a single shore which will cause an extinction event.

"Surely you've figured it out by now." I haven't actually, please mansplain for me, Higgs. Amelie is the source of DOOMS, the nightmares and visions of the future - ok, I had sort of had that in my head as one of the options given that Bridget's baby may have been a BT and Amelie said she was born on the beach - oh, and that was the end of the explanation... I was hoping for a little more specificity.

Ok, boss fight now and Amelie is back in the BT but so is Higgs so betting he's the weak point. Ok, seems to be going well, normal firearms work better on Higgs than the BT stuff which, as with normal BTs, is actually quite pathetic damage wise. Glad I made the grenade launcher and rocket launcher to take with me, though already running low.

Damn,switched to shoulder which is more awkward, I guess I'll have to rely on BT weapons. Thanks to all the creepy player mannequins.

BOOM BABY! Big boi is down. Oh ma , all that chiralium just disappearing into the ether...

Ah you prick you're still alive... oh sick, Lou is using the odradek to deflect Higgs' shots. NO! You fucking shit head! You shot at Lou. This is bad, I don't k ow if BBs can survive without their lil jar thing. Oh and after what I said last post about the licking, maybe Higgs is a pervert after all since he's slung Amelie over his shoulder but is unnecessarily holding her by the ass.

Ah shit, now Sam's dying and Higgs says he's going to see me on the beach... ok, so I've repatriated... how do I get to the beach?

Maybe by sleeping? I could get to Amelie in dreams. Nope, that's not the way. Do I... kill myself?

Will have to pause it there as I hear the kittens have woken up.

Obligatory kitten tax: