#in name card ep kim

[ratedfleur]

a whirlwind of trouble.

ep 6 : curiosity kills who?

— where jiah finds out that jiwoong is around and that he has met hyunwoo already. what happens next?

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“ahyunnie! ahwinnie!” hyunwoo giggled as he ran towards his friends towards the entrance as he exited the small building, making the twins turn their head at the same time before running towards hyunwoo.

the three meet in the middle and giggle as they hold hands, walking back to the entrance where jiwoong stood.

san walks into the parking lot, making a bee line to the entrance once he sees hyunwoo and his bestest friends standing and conversing whilst a tall man stood behind them, guarding the three.

nearing the three kids, san’s eyes lands on jiwoong who stood before him, eyebrows raising in confusion once he sees a familiar man.

“dada!” hyunwoo greeted san and hugged his leg whilst san ruffled the child’s hair, making him giggle before jiwoong spoke.

“san?” jiwoong blurted out once they stood face to face.

san’s mind went blank, immediately thinking that jiah would hate to find this out, that jiwoong is just around the corner with twins, with twins!

“oh hey.” san greeted jiwoong with a slight smile, feeling hyunwoo’s tiny hand hold onto his bigger one.

“living the dad life huh?” jiwoong said as he looked down at hyunwoo, smiling when he and hyunwoo meet eyes.

san smiles uncomfortably, not wanting to say that hyunwoo is his when in fact, hyunwoo is jiwoong’s.

“dada, go home?” hyunwoo asked whilst pulling on san’s hand to catch the man’s attention. this makes the man look down on hyunwoo before crouching down, carrying him in his arms before he answered the kid.

“mhm, gonna go home to mamas and dadas.” san told the kid who smiles cheekily, “have a surprise!” hyunwoo makes a secret motion at him before jiwoong cleared his throat, hands holding ahrin’s and ahyun’s tiny hand.

“well san, the twins actually wanted to know if hyunwoo wanted to go on a playdate with them? it was just a topic, no final decision yet.” jiwoong says to san, trying not to scare the man away since he himself wants to get to know the tiny kid.

san blinks a few times before pursing his lips, he looks over to hyunwoo who also blinked at him.

“hyun-ah, do you want to?” he asked the child carefully.

hyunwoo visibly thinks about it before nodding, “want to, dada!” he says with a dimpled smile.

this has jiwoong and the twins smiling before the two girls cheered in excitement.

“you could set up a date whenever, we can just talk about it over the phone if you’d like.” jiwoong says whilst slipping san his calling card at work.

san’s eyes land on the calling card, eyes running through the name kim jiwoong, executive director.

looks like your dad’s a director, hyun-ah. san thought before smiling and nodding at jiwoong, “i’ll be sure to message you once i ask his mum.” san says to him before hoisting the kid further up his waist when hyunwoo gets a little heavy in his grasp.

“dada, want to go home now.” hyunwoo says clearly, expressing his wants which has jiwoong smiling.

“hyunwoo-yah, ahrin and ahyun needs to go home too.” jiwoong says whilst smiling at him, an endearing one which has san slightly worried.

hyunwoo pats san’s shoulder to put him down, immediately hugging his twin friends with a cheeky smile.

“bye bye! gonna bwing candies tomowwow!” hyunwoo says while giggling, making the two girls giggle back before nodding. “we bring cuppy cakes!” ahyun says excitedly whilst the two cheer.

“owkay, bye bye!” hyunwoo says as san picked him up, waving at ahyun and ahrin before he looked over at jiwoong, bowing his head at the man before waving.

“bye woo!” “bye hyunnie!” the twins said to hyunwoo before jiwoong took them both to his car.

upon reaching san’s car to which he immediately buckled the kid into his carseat that everyone takes turns and uses whenever they pick hyunwoo up.

san questions hyunwoo once he starts driving them out of the parking lot.

“hyun-ah, is that ahyun and ahrin’s dada?” he asked whilst taking a look at the rear view mirror, briefly looking at hyunwoo who nods at him.

jiah’s not going to like this, san thought before nodding at hyunwoo.

“what? what do you mean he has twins and he’s in the city?” jiah said in shock once she and san were alone in the living room whilst hyunwoo ran off after greeting his mama.

“well, he is and he’s pretty successful too.” san says to her whilst reaching into his pocket for jiwoong’s calling card before handing it over to her.

jiah’s eyes rake through the calling card just like how san did when he received the card, “is that really supposed to make me feel better?” jiah exclaimed loudly before she looked back up at san.

“what if he finds out about hyunwoo and i? what if he finds out hyunwoo is his? what if he takes hyunwoo away from me? i don’t think i could handle—“ jiah rambled on and on before san shushed her with a hug, squeezing the lady before he spoke.

“don’t think about that, darling. you have nothing to worry about, and besides, the other are here for you and hyun.” san says to jiah before pulling away right before hyunwoo walked into the living room.

san looks at jiah with knowing eyes before hyunwoo pulled jiah away from him, holding onto his mom’s leg before she took him in her arms, letting things settle in that jiwoong, hyunwoo’s dad, is literally just an arm length away from them.

© RATEDFLEUR — ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

[braemjeorn]

some scrambled thoughts post moving (2023)

i might need to watch the series again to catch some details so excuse me if I'm confused about the obvious. but spoiler alert, to those who haven't watched it.

me when the temporary teacher got stabbed: (blinks)... i mean I don't like you, not that I want you to die either. oh well.

so what was bang kisoo looking for loitering in the school like that? his files to better his report? the files of the ones with powers to verify things? maybe han byul's memory card too? to observe what had happened in the gym? to pick up a fight with kanghoon? man i lost somethings really...

...so kisso wasn't the one to sabotage that jumpboard?

it was that temp teacher/agent?

anyway what is wrong with that tempt teacher honestly - did he sabotage kisoo's ankle just to find out if he has power or just out of sheer distaste like...?

gosh i hate him now, but he died! we'd never know his motives!

(the way this drama have 20 ep but i still have questions)

(it's the flashbacks. too many flashbacks when we could've gotten new scenes. i always hate this abt kdramas)

on the good side, kisoo going soft and protective with han byul when he realized the NK agents aren't here to play

that was a really short and sudden ship but o ma gosh the potential

hyewon too deserved more screen time - like suddenly moving schools too?

like honestly a bummer that they're graduating college - bongseok, huisoo, hyewon, han byul, ganghoon and kisoo would have been such a good friend group (or pairing, if you want it that way. the potential is there, honestly)

anyway about kanghoon - takes-his-duty-seriously class president kanghoon

wanna see him working as an agent/civil servant in the NIS

working under that seagull guy? *rubs hand excitedly* is gonn be fun honestly, man we need a SEQUEL we really do!! the next gen of supers is gonn wreck some stuff, i can feel it!

i came to this show to see mihyun and doosik but ended up being such a fan of guryongpo

mr ryu was the topmost actor in the wikipedia page so i was like, oh he's the main main guy turns out!

he came to any scene and i was like "guryongpo! he's alive! huisoo appa! 희수 아빠 멋있다! 희수 아빠 화이팅!!"

best man, best partner, best husbando, best dad

i thought frank rolling over him with that truck again and again was bad but then he had 200 gang members breaking his bones with their cars like... you've been through a lot sir.

episodes abt his and jaehee's married life was either the cutest or the most heartbreaking like staph, my heart cannot heal itself

unconventional couples are the cutest i swear by it

huisoo >< jaehee: helps lost adult men on the roadsides

juwon >< jaeman: protective dads

on a more depressing note, that useless jo principal might have orchestrated jaehee's accident.

maybe just to see if huisoo has powers. the wife dies as consequence? not my problem, i'm just gonna wait in this car.

his death seemed excruciating. well deserved, i might say.

and Frank still didn't die either lol not even fire stops him

curious as to what he's gonna do next 0.0

(crack suggestion: he can work at the chicken shop and they can rename the shop as immortal chickens)

(i don't know how huisoo got yongdeuk to work at the shop but if she can persuade her dad to take in a defector, she can persuade him to take in an assassin that once wanted to kills him)

(that's jaehee's passion running through her)

is elias gonna be worse or what? also a korean native?...gotta see that episode again to look at the boys

another thing i feel robbed off: reunions.

moonsan and guryongpo needs to meet up I NEED TO SEE IT

code names?? f- that, name's kim doosik. you're my hyung now, let's work well together.

THEY WERE PARTNERS FOLKS, PARTNERS. DOOSIK LEFT JUWON HIS KNIFE GAH

THE KIMS AND THE JANGS NEED TO EAT DONKASS AND CHIKIN TOGETHER!!!

(imagine the conversation abt huisoo and bongseok relationship will go abt lol)

(JW: sunbae, i respect you a lot, i'm glad you're back, but that's my only daughter-- DS: hyung, i just got to know my son again this year-- MH (towards the kids): i knew it, you two are just the sweetest!)

you know, for someone who doesn't know if her husband is alive or dead for 13-14 year but constantly waits for his return by leaving hints, mihyun is very composed at seeing dusik just landing on her rooftop

i don't know if i should credit that to her training as a black agent or toughened up by being a single mum for that long

but she didn't even react at seeing jang juwon at the teacher's office although it's been like, 24 years and suddenly you're here coz your kid's in the same school as mine? coincidence? I think not! this institution is more slippery than fish!

mihyun's really cool like, she's still that sharp and quick even after doing office jobs, farming, single-parenting and managing a restaurant. what a role model. you really don't forget your training huh?

Yellow Man Bongseok - Bunggaeman being his inspiration is just--

oh i also really liked how that NK agent pulled the trigger like you wanna look inside my loose sleves. wepl, surprise bish! the mechanics and how it's shot is just *chef's kiss*

you know for some scenes that we were robbed off, it's a lovely drama

i like action movies a decent amount, and this hits the spot. korean style,especially.

really really REALLY looking forward to that sequel now, gosh just give it to me.

[hils79]

Hils Watches Goblin - Ep 16

Here we go. The final episode.

I love this guy so much. He has the same cool competence that Phil Coulson has (had? IDK I stopped watching Agents of SHIELD)

This is legit what I'm like when I'm in the car and my sister is driving 😅

If only I knew what brand of watch she'd bought for him

This is very sad but didn't Kim Shin have a vision of them together? So it's goodbye for now but not forever

Ooh I want apple that's shaped like a rabbit

Wait, what? The aunt is a ghost??

I love her

Oh lovely they're allowed to share a bed now that they're married

I was literally just wondering how there was another 40 mins left after everything was mostly resolved. I forgot Eun Tak still needs to die or at least get out of this death cycle permanently. I'm kind of expecting her to die and be reborn as someone not cursed but we shall see

Yep, there we go. She gave her life to save a bunch of kids. And I don't mean to make this all about him but god he lost the love of his life and now he has to escort one of his best friends into the afterlife. At what point is he going to stop being punished?

Didn't someone else at the start say they wouldn't drink and it was implied bad things would happen?

Of course she's his final name card. Interesting that it doesn't list the cause of death when every single other card has.

Aww look at them reborn and living their best fic trope life

Ah, joke's on me for saying the previous episode was 'one last trip to Canada'. Of course they're going to reunite there

Well, I basically bawled my way through that entire episode

[bengiyo]

My Universe Ep 1.1: Casanova Begins Stray Thoughts

Let's begin this year's Close Friend, Top Secret Together, or Gen Y variety BL project. The iQIYI naming convention is weird since they're saying 12 episodes about 11 couples. I may adjust my naming along the way.

There are a lot of boys in this. It's so many when you see the scroll of them all.

I'm going to presume that this story is called Casanova Begins for now.

Off to an odd start. Our protagonist was shocked yesterday during an electrical event, and now has lost two years worth of memories.

Wait. Now he's dead and in possession of another body? He can't tell anyone or he has 24 minutes left to live? Oh, Thai BL.

This already feels messy. Kim seems like he was messing around with a brother and a sister, and then was flirting with someone else at a bar?

There are a lot of references to an internal history I am not aware of. Seems like Pleum was with Khao, but has been dead for two years?

Oh, they're explaining. Whew. Kim is a player. Pluem was killed two years ago.

Oh whoa wtf was that with Khao's reaction to the card? What did Kim do to him?

Now Pluem is pursuing his former boyfriend from Kim's body, and Khao has many valid reasons to not be into him at all. Girls, this is messy.

So we're gonna have Kim be a romantic lead in their MV opposite the girl we've convinced he's over?

This concept is very weird. I'm glad this won't be an 8-12 episode affair.

Sounds like Pluem was a jealous boyfriend.

The previews show this is going to get weirder.

My goodness. I hope all of these stories aren't as strange. I felt like I was working hard to keep everyone's perspectives straight the entire episode.

[asahicore]

kim soohyun and kim jiwon (my kimkim couple) are literally such good actors along with the insane face card???? like pls tell me they arent real :D & this amnesia plotline has me STRESSING i was watching it w my aunt and she was so invested in it and she was hating on eunsung with me too 😭😭 but i acc hate him with all my gut like whenever he comes on screen i skip his scenes bc they are so 🤢he makes me so mad all i want is some hyunwoo and haein content PLS

hee anon :3

both of them are insanely talented and good-looking like even if the drama wasnt as good as it was i wouldve kept watching just for them theyre seriously so good😭 cz honestly the last plotline was a little bit wack haha but at least we got to see how truly EVIL eunsung is honestly ur so real for skipping his scenes and so is ur aunt for getting invested loll, i think they ended it really well though like everything wrapped up nicely it was nice to see that woman in JAIL where she should be and OMG dont get me started on dahye and her man.. forgot his name sorry but i loved them together like one thing about me is i will fuck up a side couple in kdramas i always get soo emotionally attached and these two were perfect but yeah all the hyunwoo and haein content in the last ep was so refreshing im so glad they got their happy ending although the last few minutes were unnecessarily sad 😭😭😭 but overall it was such a good kdrama i knew i'd have to fill a void once i was done so i started my lovely runner the other day, the vibe is sooo different but its so so cute if u havent u should def watch it cz i need someone to scream about it with lmao like im only 2 eps in and already obsessed its so good!!!!

[vortcxclub]

。 . * ⠀⠀ ( # ADDY ) ⠀⠀ / ⠀⠀ PROFILE .

addy is a korean soloist who debuted under zephyr entertainment with the single sure thing in 2013. addy’s mostly known for his scandalous track record and even more scandalous music to go along with it. his career has been heavily littered with dating scandals and a less than loyal reputation. given praise for being zephyr’s first successful male artist, his music takes on an overall sensual theme.

FULL NAME : atticus kim

BIRTHDAY : december 8, 1994

ZODIAC : saggitarius

BIRTHPLACE : lyon, france

HOMETOWN : brooklyn, new york

ETHNICITY : korean

HEIGHT : 6’1”

FACECLAIM : choi junghoon

COMPANY : zephyr entertainment

GENRE : indie, r&b, pop, alt

。 . * ⠀⠀ ( # ADDY ) ⠀⠀ / ⠀⠀ MUSIC .

SURE THING 𓏔 DEBUT SINGLE ... 2013

HOUSE OF CARDS 𓏔 MINI ALBUM ... 2013

12:00 𓏔 EP ... 2014

BORDEAUX 𓏔 FULL ALBUM ... 2014

TROUBLEMAKER FT. NATALIA 𓏔 SINGLE ... 2015

C’EST LA VIE 𓏔 FULL ALBUM ... 2017

SLICK 𓏔 EP ... 2018

THE HIGH LIFE 𓏔 MINI ALBUM ... 2019

BABY COME HOME 𓏔 MINI ALBUM ... 2020

PEACHES 𓏔 EP ... 2021

[myezblog]

Things that don’t matter, yet matter

1. This is his going commondo pants from ep 7 handjob scene

2. Priorities!!.. Change shirt first.. i told you Vegas and Kim are similar (both going from white to black)

3. Not a good brand promotion, specially when Apple is known for security

Also, why do you need to loginto the cctv network to run a pen drive on your laptop?? Which idiot would use a new pendrive on server? 

Lol.. and mcbook air as per the annual reports latest quarter earning announcement was one of the highest selling product.. h ehe.. bad promotion

4. The first time he actually utters his name. Just saying! Not that it matters... and its chay, not porschay.. you know chay, as in the guitar pic chay.. because Porschay gave him the right to associate chay with kim

5. Amateur Shot!.. Dear Pond, next time.. the shirt needs to go way way up.. it is all for making better art.. truly :P

6. If you need proof of how well Kim fights ( the guy is still reeling from that ONE punch.. K, V.. take classes)

7. I am very serious about energy conservation.. this is not cool.. Mr. pond.. take notes

8. Liike, all i need to do is pull that ear ring so hard, that the pain will have you on your knees.. How Easy!!..  (kinn needs to go through basics of mafia training, pretty sure daddy paid money to have him pass the exam.. NEPOTISM CARD) .. (chill.. this one really is a joke, nepotism isn’t though)

9. Do you have contact lens to fight in the field..

10. I guess, only lover can call “Chay”

9. 4 moles on this side of the face. it is an exam question. Don’t fight with me on this.

10. Inner monologue “Why am i always stuck with idiots and morons and such stupid beings”

9. Bit of palmistry here.. you see the two prominent lines around the thumb, running as parallel .. a lot of people have these intersect or converge at some point (you can check yours)

Simply means, this person is very strong willed and minded and opinionated.. he/she will do what he/she wants to do.. which includes personal and romantic relationship.. so ya.. not the one you can control..

Yes, its build hand, so build’s psyche.. but you know.. pete ain’t so far off

11. Either you are a bad actor, or Pond has some weird comic taste :P . how am i to buy this “in love with you, obsessed with you, insecured that you might actually like porsche” face

but then you look like a villain with that constant smug look

12. lol.. this relationship.. who is manipulating whom?.. Tawan has his own bodyguards who will willingly go against Vegas

13. inner monologue 2 -> we got tired of pointing guns at each other.. these guys are taking too many takes to get this scene done.. 

13. Told you, not important yet important.. there is a mole there

14. There was no need to try so hard to prove this point. Even his dad knows it.. everyone does

14. Take lessons Kinn.. take out your ear ring when going to battlefield.. otherwise.. very easy to get you on your knees.. fighting 101

15. Personally, want to see what acting prowess will he show to differentiate this scene from when he kisses pete..

16. The guy on the right, in blue.. lol.. he changed his position after dying. .and i guess watching the show from heaven.. sorry dude.. shooting still going on

17. Bad shooting skills. None of the main characters can kill right by shooting

18. 3 moles on this side of the face. Told you it is an exam question (4 , if you count the one in the ear)

19. Not perked up, he is not excited.. lol..now i need to compare it when he is with pete ( in some alternate universe because BOC ain’t giving more than 2 min of VP in this season for sure)

20. it ain’t gold.. that’s all i am saying

21. And this too

22. This timestamp, i didn’t realize the first time round.. vegas kissed tawan on the neck.. and there is the voice for it...

Dude real trust issues.. when you pull this off with pete.. i am going to second guess

23. ok, fine.. he calls him chay too

24. Allow me to complete the sentence again

“... give him time, just as I gave my little brother time.. we haven’t spoken in eternity, and see we are doing just fine! “

26. 3 brothers but really not similar

26. you lied to me.. my entire timeline is thrown out of the window.. you said you will appear in ep 12

27. Inner monologue:

Chess is a game of finesses. Why am I stuck amongst these goons. Should really just put out a job notice on looking for a heir for an age old mafia corporate

28. half leg waxed, half not.. is that a style?

[myladyofmercy]

young royals rewatch

episode 6

i love this opening montage so much

right until the credits come up over wille screaming

wish we got that scream scene without the credits for edits tho

the little girl looks at simon as if she personally has seen the video

it must be so weird to see your face on a magazine cover. i wonder what the article says

he's wearing purple (in solidarity with simon)

you have nothing to apologize for wille baby

did simon go to the police tho?

love the little detail of clothes we seen on the show already laying folded up on the washing machine

is the floor of the library so clean that they can lie and sit on it? aren't there any chairs?

august just listening to the theories like the little bitch he is

I'm calling the cops if you don't leave

i love stellas clothing style so much

sara putting 1 and 2 together

rosh and ayub are back!!!

i have not seen kim ks sex tape and i don't intend to watch it

I really hope simon doesn't change schools in s2. I'm with rosh on that one

why is the sky so yellow? light pollution?

willes pajama pants from ep 2 are back

august you little shit stop spitting live lessons and spill the truth

fish scene flashback

the looney tunes shirt is back

first kiss fit

yellow tshirt, yellow shirt, yellow backpack. i know you're the center of willes universe but do you really have to look like the sun?

footsies

wille matches the blue background but simon sticks out like a sore thumb

this scene is so poweful even without a kiss

oh no i know what's coming

sara pls don't do this

she's wearing purple (in solidarity with simon)

wilhelm doesn't have everything he has nothing you piece of shit

and he will lose simon because of you too

oh doobidoo i wanna be like you u u

why does sara look kinda sad when august kisses her neck tho?

as someone who rarely sits at the dining table for dinner and watches tv during 99% of meals i relate to simon and his mom

how does felice dress fit sara so well tho?

simon you are not her father

linda you are her mother. pls act like that more often or i will have to rewoke your best mom card

the star behind simons head looks very pretty

simon saying annan and dum in this conversation makes me think of certain songs by a certain artist

sara and wilhelm both called simon fin

why do felice and maddie have their own bathroom and wille the crown prince has to share with the other guys on his floor?

the mirror shot of them on the floor

i don't think simon really believes wille will tell the truth

it's their last kiss and it breaks my heart

the sad scarf is back

why do the subtitles say how do you do??? simon says good day. that is way more formal than how do you do! simon isn't joey from friends

this car conversation is so frustratingly sad

love how many words i understand bc they sound so similar to the german word in this conversation

let wille and simon have sex in his royal bed in s2 petition

willes tie looks very yellow (simon anyone?)

why is rosh never included in eriksson family time?

poor simon

(love his sweater tho)

who put the name joakim for willes second bodyguard out there? is it canon?

i hate this scene so much

simon did the right thing even though it breaks his (and willes AND MY) heart

hemlighet

love how we see simon leaving blurry in the background

felice being the best detective

also she calls the guy she asks where willes room is edvin

why isn't there a bodyguard in front of willes room?

willes little flinch when he sees simon on the screen

yes the confrontation scene!!!

august is working out again. of course.

why didn't wille mention erik in this scene tho? something like erik told me i could trust you

edvins acting is so good in this scene. rising star award winner indeed.

this phone call hurts so much

love how him hanging up stops the background music and we are left with silence until the match strikes and the choir begins singing

wille and simon are wearing so much more hair product than they did during the whole rest of the season

god jul

the sad scarf is back again

is simon talking with sime choir kids?

falling

we are falling now

förlåt

jag älskar dig

hoppas du fan en fin jul

tack simon

running with a crown on your head

he wants to run bad so badly

city's on fire but it's beautiful

chills literal chills

i hope they continue with the 4th wall breaks in s2

i love this show

i hate this show

[ladyc0312]

A Jikook Guide to RunBTS: 112-121

Yes, I'm still doing these! It's just happening more slowly than I'd like because writing for work + writing fic + trying to go to bed before midnight + so much amazing content being released that clearly must be poured over and dissected = less time to make guides. For anyone still with me, he's the next section!

Ep 112 “Dalbang School Part 1” (Ep: 5 / KM: 4)

The ones with BTS in a classroom driving Teacher Jin insane

5:58 - JM declares that he and Taehyung will pair up (by being the first to hug each other in a game), but then when Hobi blows the whistle at 6:38, JK runs over to hug JM before Tae can get to him.

6:58 - Jin asks why JM said he wanted Tae and then hugged JK. JM explains that he didn't hug him, he just found himself in JK's hug as JK cackles in the background.

7:24 - When Jin blows his whistle at the class, JK and JM mirror each other in putting a finger in one of their ears.

7:35 - Teammates JK and JM are immediately on the same page about wanting their team name to be Kim Seokjin. When they have to change it, JM quickly picks up JK's suggestion that they call their team Bang Sihyuk. These don't sound like particularly unique moments, but when you watch it, it just really strikes you how in sync the two of them are in terms of physicality, ideas, and sense of humor.

9:52 - After Jin comments that he heard JM did very well in school, JK adds that JM was the top student. When someone else asks if JM was the best or second-best, JK forcefully reiterates that he was the best student.

12:45 - When they get a question right, JK and JM clasp hands and bump their shoulders together.

13:10 - JM and JK both goof around, speaking in satoori and challenging JHope to a fight of sorts.

13:27 - When Jin repeats that they got the question right, JK and JM do exactly the same as 12:45, but seated this time.

14:22, 14:36, 15:13 - In all three of these moments, JM nearly falls over laughing at something JK did that no one else found anywhere near as funny.

23:36 - When JK says he's good at this game, JM laughs and pokes JK in the chest with a marker.

BEHIND 2:30 - JM takes a selfie of him and JK with his personal phone while they're supposed to be paying attention to Jin.

6:35 - JK cheers on JM and calls him Jimin-ssi when JM announces he's doing well on this spot-the-difference round. When Jimin modifies the brag to say he only found four, JK says "that's still quite impressive."

Ep 113 “Dalbang School Part 2” (Ep: 5 / KM: 4)

4:50 - We all know how JK is when he gets into his "focus" zone, especially in a competitive environment. But here, when JM rather rudely interrupts JK's melodica practice, JK just starts playing around with him and giggles.

7:41 - As RM & JH take their turn, jikook are whispering to each other in the back row.

11:42 - After quickly agreeing on a lunch option, jikook do a high five / handshake thing and then JM says "we think alike" and "we get along pretty well." JK responds "that's exactly it" and the on-screen captions tells us they are a "good match."

22:20 - This is where JK and JM start switching back and forth carrying each other on their backs to get under a limbo stick.

They go again at 23:35, 26:11, and 28:13.

And again at 30:22 and 32:16 and 34:30 because, even though they lost, they want to try to do it again to show that they can as a "matter of pride."

25:00 - JK points something out to JM and then pats his butt.

33:33 - JM announces they lost, and then jikook do another handshake / high five thing.

34:33 - JM does an... interesting pose for the camera where he puts his hand on a bent-over JK's back and smirks.

34:56 - Yet another handshake and JM pats JK on the back when they finally pass the limbo challenge.

BEHIND 5:55 - While examining the limbo setup, JM comments that JK is good at this. JK comes over to give a demonstration and JM watches him be silly with it and says "he's a strange kid" fondly.

6:21 - Another jikook limbo attempt - this one was cut because they did it too easily.

Ep 114 “League of Number One Part 1” (Ep: 3 / KM: 1)

The ones where BTS play games with League of Legends world champions

3:55 - After Jimin protests that he shouldn't be out, JK tells his hyung to turn around and face the back.

14:40 - JK fake-boxes JM after losing the hammer game.

18:18 - JK mimics Jimin's BWL intro.

Ep 115 “League of Number One Part 2” (Ep: 2 / KM: .5)

BEHIND

7:05 - JK comes over to check on Jimin's phone to make sure he's actually visible in the selfie the teams take.

Ep 116 “Team-Building Special Part 1” (Ep: 4 / KM: 1)

The ones with random games in that rec room-looking place that are a lot more fun than they sound

22:14 - JM and JK play around with the jump rope during breaktime.

22:26 - JM and JK play around like they're boxing with each other.

BEHIND 5:15 - JK appears to take an interest in watching JM's... back as he moves around acting out potential poses.

Ep 117 “Team-Building Special Part 1” (Ep: 4 / KM: 2)

5:30 - Despite showing pretty much everyone else touching everyone else in the pose guessing game, we don't get a single shot here or in the behind of JK feeling up Jimin. The above photo proves that it happened, though, so definitely side-eyeing the editors, here.

BEHIND 5:35 - JK keeps throwing water bottles when they're supposed to be taking a group photo. Jimin pulls him back next to him and puts an arm around his neck. JK puts an arm around Jimin's shoulders in return.

7:51 - After it's explained that JK is staying late to watch Jin do his penalty, a packed-up Jimin comes over and stands next to JK, waiting until they're done to leave.

Ep 118 “Photo Story Part 1” (Ep: 3 / KM: 3)

The ones where BTS play a Samsung-sponsored game involving getting specific pictures while a spy tries to ruin the fun

4:22 - JM appears to direct JK to go punish Tae and pats JK's back when he starts to obey. Something happens that we don't see when the angle changes - next thing we see, JM seems to be pushing JK? JM then giggles at JK pretending to beat up Tae. (After this, JK spins around like a ballerina. Not jikook-related, just adorable.)

29:51 - JK calls Jimin twice without adding "hyung."

32:28 - JM pulls JK along by the wrist. Meanwhile, J-Hope once again mixes up their names.

32:44 - Though there is now a group walking slowly together and he doesn't need to pull him along anymore, Jimin takes JK's hand again.

37:02 - There are a bunch of seats open in the room, but Jimin walks over to sit right next to JK.

BEHIND 5:40 - When JM tries to steal a post-it from JK, JK scolds him in satoori banmal. JM calls him out for not calling him with hyung and JK quickly apologizes (in a way some k-army jikookers have said is like how a married person would respond to their nagging spouse!).

6:09 - JK and JM meet up and JK tells JM he's exhausted. There's a kind of weird moment that I fully admit I may be reading too much into where JK seems to be walking right towards JM, then abruptly stops and turns, looking at the camera, before walking with Jimin in a different direction than he had been heading. Then, JM says he thinks their matching shirts are hilarious and that it's funny they're wearing them for the show.

Ep 119 “Photo Story Part 2” (Ep: 4 / KM: 3)

8:21 - "You are me, I am you" moment: Jimin does a ballet spin the same way JK did in part one.

11:18 - JK is the only one to vote for JM to be able to keep a picture in other than Jin (who has nefarious reasons for doing so).

29:40 - JM goes over to help JK see how many of his photos the spy ruined and almost falls over laughing when it becomes clear it's nearly all of them.

34:21 - JM puts his hand on JK's shaking leg to help calm him (see above photo), but JK is so irritated that it doesn't work like it usually does. Poor bunny!

35:17 - JM pulls at JK's shirt and hand, then folds over his back while trying to get him to confess that he actually lost.

38:24 - JM has a comforting hand on JK's neck when he's acting upset about losing.

38:32 - When it seems like JK is struggling to come up with an ending statement, JM helps prompt him.

BEHIND

0:55 - JK talks about how amazing it is that Jimin found so many cards.

3:51 - When JK is playing with the sequin art on the front of his shirt, JM leans over and starts rubbing on them, too.

5:11 - Jimin tells JK that, if he wins, he's going to make the loser hike Mt. Achasan. JK asks why he's looking at him when he says that and they both laugh. Jimin pats JK's chest and they laugh even harder. Jin and Tae both have "omg, these two" looks on their faces.

Ep 120 “Reply BTS Village Part 1” (Ep: 3 / KM: 2)

The ones with a real-life Mafia game inexplicably set in a 1970s village. It's... fairly difficult to follow, but the guys are into it and the outfits are great!

24:40 - Jimin breaks character and laughs when asking JK if he's the culprit.

29:40 - Caption: "The air is undeniably tense between Gamer Jeon and Chief Park." Not explicitly jikook, I just find it funny that the writers seem to be playing with some real life relationships, making sope best friends and jikook have tension that leads to banter...

BEHIND

5:34 - When Jimin is playing with the yo-yo, JK expresses concern that he's going to hurt his fingers (caption: Kook is just worrying for his hyung). Then, JK asks poutily and in banmal if he can play with the yo-yo multiple times and Jimins says no. Like, JK straight-up gives his hyung a command ("let me try that") using informal speech and no one bats an eye!

5:58 - Jimin starts singing a song about an ants. JK watches him. JK initially says to Hobi "look, he's a fool/dummy!" (in banmal again), then starts singing along. He jokes that JM doesn't know all the lyrics and Jimin says back "quiet, you."

Ep 121 “Reply BTS Village Part 2” (Ep: 3 / KM: 2)

38:48 - After having asked for it a bunch in the Behind of the previous episode, JK now has Jimin's yoyo.

non-jikook note: At the end of this one, they "time travel" to solve a mystery in Joseon-era Korea and I can't express how badly I want to see that. Please come back to that, Run!

BEHIND 0:58 - Jimin and JK play around accusing each other with exaggerated accents and formality. Jimin comes up behind JK and reaches out to touch his shoulder, but stops when Tae joins them and accuses them of plotting together.

9:05 - When JK says everyone else is so good at acting, Jimin compliments him that he was very funny towards the end.

[becomewings]

BTS Universe Timeline

» next 

INTRODUCTION

The goal of this guide is to chronologically map the major plot points of BTS Universe (BU), a fictional transmedia narrative centered on the lives of seven young men who share names with the members portraying them. The complexity of the timeline is magnified by the time loops that begin and reset on 11 April Year 22, so careful attention will be given to tracing how the loops diverge from one another after that date. The guide will be published over multiple posts.

Most of the information in the timeline is drawn from the official English-version publications of The Notes: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life 1 and The Notes: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life 2 (hereafter shortened to Notes 1 and Notes 2). Other resources are referenced as necessary, including the Notes released with certain physical albums, the Save Me webtoon, the official BU content in the BTS Universe Story mobile game, and BU music videos/short films. Summaries from the album Notes are based on translations by twitter user @/origamifirefly. Character names are abbreviated in parentheses next to the print sources to indicate the perspective from which the original entries are written.

Dates are presented as they appear in the texts. The single or double-digit year number most likely corresponds with SeokJin’s age rather than a calendar year. (In Korea’s age-calculating system, everyone’s age increases by one year on January 1st regardless of when their birthday falls in the calendar.) There are enough clues scattered throughout the text to suggest that the characters’ ages reflect the real-life age differences of the members. For example, JungKook is five years younger than SeokJin; they overlap in high school because SeokJin is held back a grade after returning from the American school system. Ages that are explicitly stated in official sources will be included in the timeline whenever possible.

BTS Universe deals with many difficult and potentially triggering themes, so please read the content warning in the Timeline Guide before proceeding. The Guide section will be included on all future posts for quick reference.

TIMELINE GUIDE

Content warning: contains references to death, suicide, suicidal ideation, child abuse, domestic violence, blood, homicide, depression, trauma, PTSD

This guide contains major spoilers from all BU media

Revisions and additions will be made as necessary, so please visit the original post for the most up-to-date version (update log is included at bottom of post)

All names are provided as fully as known

Bracketed dates are inferred or calculated from references in the text

While the timeline is presented here as objectively as possible, I acknowledge that there is a level of subjectivity in choosing which information is significant enough for inclusion and in certain connections drawn between entries

Please inform me of any suspected errors; I will investigate and correct them

Do not repost, copy, or quote without permission

Shadows of Our Childhoods

     - Beginning through Year 18 -

[Year 9]

Jung HoSeok (age 7) is abandoned by his mother at an amusement park and moves into an orphanage. His age is referenced in his 31 May Year 22 entry from Notes: Her.

The earliest entry of the Notes published so far is HoSeok’s 30 August Year 9 (Notes: 7). Some older boys wake him up at night, and he reluctantly sneaks up to the rooftop with them. Fireworks explode in the sky. HoSeok is shocked at first and then entranced. The older boys tease him for crying, but he can’t stop the tears.

Note: It’s reasonable to assume that this unidentified rooftop location is the orphanage HoSeok grows up in. Therefore, his mother left him sometime before 30 August—possibly that summer, due to his unexplained tears. 

10 October Year 9 Notes 1 (SJ)

Kim SeokJin (age 9) runs away from school with a friend to protect him from men who want to use him as leverage to get money from his father, Mr. Choi, who disappeared after his company shut down. SeokJin tries to hide the friend in his room at home, but his father, Kim ChangJun, arrives with one of the men and allows him to take the boy away. ChangJun tells SeokJin to be a “good kid.” The friend never returns to school.

Note: SeokJin’s age is specified in BTS Universe Story: The Boy on the Threshold, ep.3.

28 February Year 10 Notes: 7 (TH)

Kim TaeHyung encounters an older boy feeding the dog that he frequently plays with outside of the supermarket. He tells the boy that when his father earns a lot of money and moves their family into a big house, he can take the dog and raise him. After TaeHyung presses him a second time, the boy reveals that his name is Kim SeokJin.

23 July Year 10 Notes 1 (HS)

While counting in front of his class, HoSeok recalls the day at the amusement park when his mother handed him a chocolate bar and told him to close his eyes and count to ten. He feels like she will never come looking for him if he finishes counting to ten, and then he collapses.

Note: His mother abandoned him at the amusement park when he was seven (Year 9).

29 December Year 10 Notes 1 (TH)

TaeHyung’s father returns home drunk and disheveled after an absence and abuses him for the first time.

6 April Year 11 Related post: The Arboretum Notes 1 (JM)

Park JiMin (age 8) visits the Grass Flower Arboretum on a school picnic day. While his classmates are all accompanied by their mothers, his own parents are too busy to make it. At the end of the trip, he ignores his teacher’s call to wait and tries to walk home alone. With only his backpack in hand, he is caught in a torrential downpour and seeks shelter in a small warehouse near the back gate. JiMin wakes up in a hospital after he is found unconscious in the arboretum with no memory of what happened. He develops seizures as a result of this unnamed trauma and is frequently hospitalized as he grows up.

Note: This day is also referenced in his entries for 11 May, 19 May, and 4 July of Year 22; the lattermost specifies his age.

Notes 2 (JM)

JiMin reflects on what really transpired at the arboretum in his 12 August Year 22 entry, which also reveals that his memory returned due to a chance encounter on 15 September Year 20. Inside the dark and cluttered warehouse, young JiMin falls asleep and is awoken by an iron door clanging shut and the sound of someone breathing. He discovers an interior room and creeps closer. A small, pale hand appears on the other side, startling him. Someone whistles outside and opens the warehouse door. He hides under a desk and watches a man enter the interior room. Through the man’s legs, JiMin can see a small boy lying on the floor with bruised arms and legs and scars on his wrists from being tied up too long. Their eyes briefly meet. JiMin senses that he is asking for help. The man turns around, and the boy stabs his thigh with a boxcutter before he notices JiMin hiding. The man disarms the boy and slams the door shut. JiMin escapes the warehouse under the cover of the violent noises within. No one is around to help. He runs through the pouring rain and mud, frequently falling and scraping his knees. He collapses at the back gate with an image of the boy’s bleeding hand in his mind. He wakes up at the hospital surrounded by his parents, a doctor, and a nurse. They question him about what happened, but JiMin does not remember.

Note: In the same 12 August Year 22 entry, JiMin explains that he conducted research online into the incident. He learned that the boy’s family name is Choi, he was five at the time, and he was discovered near Hwayong Mountain on April 10 suffering from temporary amnesia caused by shock. JiMin could not find any follow-up articles on the police investigation. Additionally, he reveals the real cause of his seizure at the bus stop on 15 September Year 20: he saw the same boy in the window of the Grass Flower Arboretum shuttle bus. “His empty eyes no longer spoke” to JiMin.

21 July Year 12 Notes 1 (SJ)

After his mother’s death, SeokJin is sent by his father to live with his maternal grandmother in the U.S. (The city is specified as Los Angeles in his 1 February Year 22 entry from Notes: 7.) His father breaks his promise to see him off at the airport.

30 September Year 12 Notes: 7 (JK)

Jeon JungKook (age 7) slips through a crowd of people surrounding a massive sinkhole, wanting to see what’s inside of it. Dirt crumbles beneath his sneaker and he almost loses his balance at the edge. When he steps back, he sees something that is both like a light and another hole inside the hole.

Note: Compare to his Notes 2 Epilogue, XX XX Year XX, when he sees a bottomless hole below and the moon (or “a big hole in the sky”) above where he floats.

[Winter Year 12] Notes 1 (JK)

JungKook (age 7) overhears his father telling his mother that the world “was too heavy for him to bear” and that “there’s nothing he can do for JungKook.” He leaves their family forever.

Note: I calculated this season/year from his 11 September Year 17 entry, in which JungKook has waited ten days to receive a birthday card from his father; he has four cards saved in a drawer. (This also matches his real-life age difference with Jin.) He reflects on his father leaving him during the winter when he was 7 years old. He believes: “I was the world that was too heavy for him to bear—that world that he gave up on. A child who can never be the reason to endure it all. That was me.”

21 May Year 15 Notes: 7 (NJ)

Kim NamJoon returns home late from playing with his friends. The house is unusually dark and empty, giving him a chilling sense of foreboding. The phone rings and he senses that if he answers it, his life will forever change.

Note: It is likely that this is one of the times, if not the first time, his father is hospitalized due to a serious illness. About a year later, in his 21 June Year 16 entry of Notes 1, NamJoon describes how he coaxed his boss to hire a middle school student to post flyers. His family struggles financially with his father’s hospital bills and their overdue utilities.

19 September Year 16 Notes 1 (YG)

Min YoonGi arrives home and finds it devoured by flames. Frozen, he thinks of his mom and watches the house collapse. A neighbor asks him if his mom is inside, and he answers “no” without thinking. YoonGi’s mother dies in the fire.

Note: Some people suspect that YoonGi’s mother set the fire deliberately. In episode 6 of the Save Me webtoon, YoonGi recalls his father warning him against pursuing music unless he wants to “go crazy and kill [himself] like [his] mom did.”

2 May Year 18 Notes: Persona (NJ)

NamJoon and his father return home from the hospital to see the family’s belongings piled outside. They were evicted after his younger brother NamHyeon got in a fight with the landlord’s son who came to collect their overdue rent. The owner of the local supermarket allows them to move into its storage room. Exhausted, NamJoon snaps when his mother frets and asks where his brother is. The supermarket owner gives him a can of beer. In a later Notes 2 entry, he reflects that he was probably 16 at the time.

Note: On 18 June Year 22 in the Notes 2 timeline, NamJoon recounts this story to SeokJin at a street pub as a preface to asking when SeokJin drank alcohol for the first time, testing his memory.

----------------------------------------------------------

Update Log

Posted January 13, 2021

Linked to next part added May 5, 2021

Do not repost.

[dinamakan]

New

“So now you’re a K-popper?”

Newbie

This unexpected preference surprised some of my friends. Here’s the backstory: It all started last year when I discovered DKDKTV on YouTube. I enjoyed their non K-pop videos like vlogs and explanations on anything in South Korea. AFAIK, they’ve never been pretentious. The moment I realized that I’ve seen almost all of them (I guess), I started to watch their K-pop reactions as well, then I was more certain I wasn’t a K-popper. Songs from this genre are typically either too cute or too badass, which I think is totally okay but not my cup of tea. Nonetheless, YouTube keeps suggesting me K-pop stuff because of it.

NewJeans

An hour after their debut, YouTube algorithm showed me Attention MV (performance ver). Started by Hyein at the intro, I was smitten with it right away. She resembled Friday Night Plans in appearance and voice at first glance yet still unique. Music-wise, Attention was excellent up until the very end. I then liked this girl group instantly, which is obviously a part of K-pop. They caught my attention! Oh, I only like NewJeans in K-pop thus far. Danny Kim recently shared his opinion while hosting DK NEWS, “NewJeans is really providing something that K-pop was missing, which was good clean music that’s easy listening,” and I couldn’t agree more. Furthermore, ADOR released NewJeans fandom app named Phoning a couple days later and I fell in love with every single thing on it easily.

New(s)

I’ve read all the controversies including the latest statement from ADOR. My point is, I enjoyed their songs and visual concepts without sexualizing them— that’s all. I wish that all members are always safe and content.

New EP

What I’ve been waiting for a month has finally arrived. I decided to buy Weverse ver album, considering my unwillingness to pile up more bulky stuff. Apparently, it’s smaller than playing cards, too cute to be true. It consists of greeting card from NewJeans, lyrics book, digital album QR code, and 10 photocards. Weverse audio quality is top-notch! The bass is heavier, but I could hear more details that I wasn’t able to catch from other services. I wish Paramore could release their albums on Weverse, LOL. Unfortunately, I dislike the cover material. I understand the purpose of being eco-friendly (this one has no plastic coat like a paper cup), but knowing that it’s a collectible item, I expect something more durable. Why don’t they use tin case like Butter - BTS? Because of this flimsy cover, I’m thinking about buying a photocard binder or storage box— more plastic, more carbon footprint.

[dailyexo]

[SCHEDULE] EXO’s Schedule for December (2021)

[RELEASE] - Musical release; [BIRTHDAY] - Birthday; [PERF]️ - Performance evens [SIGN] - Fan-signing event; [MEET] - Fan-meeting event; [BROADCAST] - Live or pre-recorded televised broadcast; [RADIO] - Radio broadcast; [REC] - Programme pre-recording; [LIVE] - Online live stream; [AWARD] - Award ceremonies [OTHER] - Other.

This schedule will be kept updated. Only confirmed schedules are included. The number of entries will grow as further schedules are announced.

(Last updated: 211230)

December 1

[RADIO] MBC-R FM4U Kim Shinyoung’s Hope Song at Noon (MBC-R FM4U 정오의 희망곡 김신영입니다) - 12:00 KST - (Kai)

December 2

[RADIO] SBS-R Power FM Wendy's Young Street (SBS-R 파워FM 웬디의 영스트리트) - 20:00 KST - (Kai)

December 3

[OTHER] Votiz Project Vol.2 'Prayer' Showcase - 17:30 KST - (Sehun)

[PERF] Musical 'Hadestown' (뮤지컬 '하데스타운') - 19:30 KST - (Xiumin)

[BROADCAST] SBS 'Now, We Are Breaking Up' Ep.7 (SBS '지금, 헤어지는 중입니다' 제7회) - 22:00 KST - (Sehun)

December 4

[BROADCAST] MBC Show! Music Core (MBC 쇼! 음악중심) - 15:40 KST - (Kai)

[BROADCAST] Netflix New World (넷플릭스 신세계로 부터) - (Kai) - 17:00 KST

[BROADCAST] To You, My New Name Card Ep.3 (给你我的新名片第三集) - 18:00 CST - (Lay)

[BROADCAST] JTBC Knowing Brothers (JTBC 아는 형님) - 20:40 KST - (Kai)

[BROADCAST] SBS 'Now, We Are Breaking Up' Ep.8 (SBS '지금, 헤어지는 중입니다' 제8회) - 22:00 KST - (Sehun)

[BROADCAST] BTV-1 The Most Beautiful Chinese Opera (北京卫视最美中国戏) - 21:00 CST - (Lay)

December 5

[BROADCAST] SBS Inkigayo (SBS 인기가) - 15:50 KST - (Kai)

[PERF] Musical 'Hadestown' (뮤지컬 '하데스타운') - 19:30 KST - (Xiumin)

December 6

[RADIO] KBS-R Cool FM Station Z (KBS-R 쿨FM 스테이션 제트) - 24:00 KST - (Kai)

December 7

[RADIO] MBC-R Pyojun FM Kim Eana’s Starry Night (MBC-R 표준FM 김이나의 별이 빛나는 밤에) - 22:00 KST - (Kai)

December 8

[RADIO] SBS Power FM Choi Hwa Jung’s Power Time (SBS-R 파워FM 최화정의 파워타임) - 12:00 KST - (Kai)

December 10

[PERF] Musical 'Hadestown' (뮤지컬 '하데스타운') - 19:30 KST - (Xiumin)

[BROADCAST] SBS 'Now, We Are Breaking Up' Ep.9 (SBS '지금, 헤어지는 중입니다' 제9회) - 22:00 KST - (Sehun)

December 11

[BROADCAST] Netflix New World (넷플릭스 신세계로 부터) - (Kai) - 17:00 KST

[BROADCAST] To You, My New Name Card Ep.4 (给你我的新名片第四集) - 18:00 CST - (Lay)

[BROADCAST] SBS 'Now, We Are Breaking Up' Ep.10 (SBS '지금, 헤어지는 중입니다' 제10회) - 22:00 KST - (Sehun)

December 12

[PERF] KAI : KLoor Concert - (Kai)

December 14

[RADIO] KBS-R Cool FM Station Z (KBS-R 쿨FM 스테이션 제트) - 24:00 KST - (Kai)

December 15

[OTHER] SM Super Idol League (SM超级偶像联赛) - 19:00 CST - (Sehun)

December 16

[PERF] Musical 'Hadestown' (뮤지컬 '하데스타운') - 19:30 KST - (Xiumin)

December 17

[BROADCAST] Baekhyun’s Monthly Youtube Broadcast - 19:00 KST

[BROADCAST] SBS 'Now, We Are Breaking Up' Ep.11 (SBS '지금, 헤어지는 중입니다' 제11회) - 22:00 KST - (Sehun)

December 18

[PERF] Musical 'A Song of Meissa' (뮤지컬 '메이사의 노래') - 14:00 KST - (Chanyeol)

[BROADCAST] Netflix New World (넷플릭스 신세계로 부터) - (Kai) - 17:00 KST

[PERF] Musical 'Hadestown' (뮤지컬 '하데스타운') - 19:00 KST - (Xiumin)

[PERF] Musical 'A Song of Meissa' (뮤지컬 '메이사의 노래') - 19:00 KST - (Chanyeol)

December 19

[PERF] Musical 'A Song of Meissa' (뮤지컬 '메이사의 노래') - 14:00 KST - (Chanyeol)

[PERF] Musical 'A Song of Meissa' (뮤지컬 '메이사의 노래') - 19:00 KST - (Chanyeol)

December 22

[OTHER] SM Super Idol League (SM超级偶像联赛) - 19:00 CST - (Sehun)

December 23

[PERF] Musical 'Hadestown' (뮤지컬 '하데스타운') - 19:30 KST - (Xiumin)

December 24

[PERF] Musical 'A Song of Meissa' (뮤지컬 '메이사의 노래') - 15:00 KST - (Chanyeol)

[PERF] Musical 'A Song of Meissa' (뮤지컬 '메이사의 노래') - 19:30 KST - (Chanyeol)

[BROADCAST] SBS 'Now, We Are Breaking Up' Ep.12 (SBS '지금, 헤어지는 중입니다' 제12회) - 22:00 KST - (Sehun)

December 25

[BROADCAST] Netflix New World (넷플릭스 신세계로 부터) - 17:00 KST - (Kai)

[BROADCAST] SBS 'Now, We Are Breaking Up' Ep.13 (SBS '지금, 헤어지는 중입니다' 제13회) - 22:00 KST - (Sehun)

December 29

[OTHER] 'The Pirates: Goblin Flag’ Online Production Briefing ('해적: 도깨비 깃발' 제작보고회) - 11:00 KST - (Sehun)

December 30

[OTHER] ED LIVE Artist Class - 'Peaches' choreography lesson - 12:00 KST - (Kai)

December 31

[PERF] Musical 'Hadestown' (뮤지컬 '하데스타운') - 19:30 KST - (Xiumin)

[BROADCAST] Dragon TV New Year’s Countdown (东方卫视跨年) - 19:30 CST - (Lay)

[BROADCAST] Bilibili New Year's Countdown - 20:30 CST - (Lay)

[BROADCAST] SBS 'Now, We Are Breaking Up' Ep.14 (SBS '지금, 헤어지는 중입니다' 제14회) - 22:00 KST - (Sehun)

[BROADCAST] 2022 CCTV New Year’s Gala (2022央视跨年晚会) - (Lay)

Credit: dailyexo.tumblr.com. Material not to be redistributed in part or whole without prior permission.

[fishylife]

Spoilers for Hyena Ep 8

- I really like Ji-eun’s character. She’s not dumb, she’s not just a mindless sidekick. She knows her job involves toeing the line, and she knows that her boss works in mob boss ways. But her boss is also a good boss, and gives her opportunities to shine. I love seeing the little scenes when Geum-ja indulges her, like letting her order something fancy for dinner. At the very least, Geum-ja is a good boss.

- Geum-ja and Yu-mi....interesting. Listen, Yu-mi is annoying, but she’s not a completely illogical character. She’s just very dramatic, and she is being chased down by scary loan sharks, so the theatrics get blown up. She may have made some mistakes along the way too (i.e. accidentally letting someone else know that Geum-ja and Hee-jae dated), but I don’t think any of this was like, illogical. Though Choo Dong-sik, rude. Just walks into someone’s office while they’re with a client without knocking? Though he might’ve also done it on purpose. Who knows.

- Anyway, I thought it was interesting that Geum-ja did initially try to talk to Yu-mi calmly. She did trick Yu-mi and so Yu-mi does deserve an explanation. It did get annoying when she spam called Geum-ja and Ji-eun so then Geum-ja was like aight gonna brute force this. But she didn’t do this because she’s friends with Yu-mi, she did this to stop Yu-mi from pestering her forever and ever lol.

- Kim Min-joo returns and we see that she’s put some blame of her sister’s accident on Song Pil-jung. What’s the story? We’ll find out eventually, but in any case, we know what’s between them is both personal and political.

- Let’s talk about the team dinner. Sang-mi has no idea how to read the atmosphere, yikes. After getting drunk, I-jun said that Hee-jae and Geum-ja were like hyenas because they were too busy fighting each other. That got me thinking though, maybe fighting each other is a distraction for both of them. To distract them from their own problems, and to distract them from their attraction to each other. That, or they fight each other because that is the only thing they can fight, the only thing they can fight for. The only thing that Geum-ja really fears is her dad and she couldn’t fight him (because she thought she was still in prison), and now she has a steady income from Song & Kim, so she doesn’t have to fight for survival anymore. So maybe she channels that survival instinct into her legal work. As for Hee-jae, as a descendant of a prominent family, he also has his hands tied. He makes one wrong move and his world comes crashing down. He’s already the black sheep of the family for being a lawyer and not a judge, so if he’s going to be a black sheep, he might as well do it well and show his family that he can. And though they are attracted to each other, they both have lots of pride in being independent. Their first relationship ended poorly, and I think that to both of them, they’d feel that giving in to their feelings would be surrendering to the other and showing weakness. This might be bordering on BS though lol. Just me trying to fit pegs in holes.

- Before, I had suspected that Geum-ja’s informant was maybe a brother, because she cares for him, but not in like, a mushy way, but more in a family way. And in this episode, I guess we can assume that they’re at least childhood friends. Anyway, I think he was a police officer but he got fired for leaking info to Geum-ja, but I think they’re still tight. The dude accepted Geum-ja’s money, so I don’t think that he hates Geum-ja, he knew what he was getting into.

- We got more backstory on Geum-ja. Her name was Jung Eun-yong. Her dad had “drunkenly” killed her mom and gotten off light for it, so she studied law to try to get her dad in jail. Then she set things up so that it would look like he’d stabbed her, which would get him in jail for 30 years. Makes sense in terms of why Geum-ja grew to be the kind of person that she is.

- When Jung Chun-su, Geum-ja’s dad, visited Geum-ja, she showed behaviour that indicated that she was afraid of him. When he tried to give her his business card, she stepped back, and she was very hung up over that. Why? Well, all along Geum-ja has showed that she fears nothing. Death literally does not scare her, as we saw when she had to fight that dude in the alleyway. And it’s because she was already prepared to die once, when she was planning to put her dad in jail. But when she was with her dad, that’s when we first saw signs of Geum-ja actually being afraid. Geum-ja is annoyed at this probably because she thought she’d moved past fearing him, but in front of him, she returns to being that young girl. Again, makes tons of sense.

- The other thing is that to Geum-ja’s annoyance, her dad is now supposedly a changed man. Now that Chun-su’s a religious man, he’d like Geum-ja’s forgiveness. Well, it’s a bit soon for that because Geum-ja has seen him for two seconds and he hasn’t proved to her that he’s changed. But also, sometimes people just don’t want apologies. I think Geum-ja would rather never see her dad ever again than to open old wounds. Sometimes apologies are only for the perpetrators and sometimes do nothing for the victims. Geum-ja is probably still reconciling this pastor with the dad that she remembered. To her, her dad will always be the one that hurt her. I half expect Geum-ja to forgive her father, but I sure hope the writers don’t make it easy for him, because he needs to have done way more than just “be a changed man.” If I were Geum-ja I’d honestly just want to...never see him ever again, regardless of whether he was repentant or not.

- So it looks like Hee-jae and Geum-ja really only talk when they’re drinking. They got into a slight argument at the team dinner, then Hee-jae sought out Geum-ja at that food place where her friend told her that he got fired, and then they were drinking at the end when Geum-ja was in her office after her dad left. Only when they’ve drunk do they ever even acknowledge what happened between them.

- After working together on their last case, I do think that Hee-jae has started to respect Geum-ja more as a person, and even though they did have a spat at the team dinner, he understands that Geum-ja is really upset. At the very least, Hee-jae sees Geum-ja as a peer who is in need. And Geum-ja reacted to his attention, telling him a bit about how she was feeling when she was talking to her dad. I think Hee-jae appreciated Geum-ja opening up at least a little. Geum-ja drew a line insisting that they weren’t going to start dating again, but accepted Hee-jae’s offer (?) and they probably had adult relations in that office (yuck, think of the cleaners). But in any case, their relationship has taken a step in a new direction. Now they are no longer just rivals. They also share a sort of intimacy that they wouldn’t share with anyone else. Geum-ja has probably never shared how she felt with anyone. Her childhood friend the informant already knew what was going on, and Geum-ja is professional enough that she wouldn’t share this information with Ji-eun either. And as for Hee-jae, I think he was taking a risk. I think earlier in the show Hee-jae said he’d never been in love, so like, him trying to cheer Geum-ja up and being there for her is probably kind of new for him too, and I feel like he’s probably pleased that Geum-ja was receptive to his offer of just being a comfort to her.

- I don’t think that the two of them will become awkward after this. I think they both knew what they were doing when Hee-jae offered to be a shoulder to lean on and Geum-ja accepted. Geum-ja said to forget what they were going to do. I don’t think they will, but I also don’t think it’d interfere with their work. Instead, I think that Geum-ja and Hee-jae will be...sort of more attentive to each other, now that they’ve seen each other in a different light, if that makes sense.

- When Yu-mi and Gi-hyeok were on their date, Yu-mi said how she was trying to change her memories. She’d visited that locale with her ex-husband, but now she was going to make new memories there by going on a date with Gi-hyeok. As for Geum-ja, she is still haunted by her old memories of her father. I brought this up because Geum-ja specifically said that the memories hadn’t escaped her, because even though her dad looked and behaved differently, her instinctive reaction toward him was to recoil. So we’ll see if/how she rewrites her memories towards him.

- So this was an episode that focused more on Geum-ja. We got a lot of questions answered, which is neat, and we’re introduced to her dad, who might be the only challenge in her life that she worries about. Literally nothing else in her life has ever worried her besides this guy.

[clementineesotsm]

THE KING: ETERNAL MONARCH EP 16, My Appreciation and How It Made Me Feel

JTE now back to Korea after the reset. You know i loved thought out small detail right? We can see the photo on JTE id card is back to the origin, no tied hair and navy jacket. Please see it.

Everything was back in order, she lives in a same old world with a same old activities but where Gon and KSJ doesnt exist. This was so heartbreaking. Esp when she remembers how Gon was always there to come to her.

And next we got a glimpse of her team leader story about his loneliness. Many people think this scene was unnecessary but since the writer wants to make closure for everyone she need to made this. Also to clear some misunderstanding. Because for me i thought he is one of LR minion before 🤣 and also maybe to show that our leads live in a world full of people who practice kindness. Hence why all of them has this stoic quality. Im fine though. They are kind of cute.

Also the side effect of the reset was JTE see Gon doppelganger on the street walking pass through her just like that.

And also they shows us Gon WAS ON THE WAY TO CROSS ALL UNIVERSE TO SEE JTE. But since there are so many universe he need to open many door before finding his way to her. I can say, JEONG TAE RA was mood! Im a tera byte!

Then suddenly on 1 night in 2021, a year later. Nari calls JTE to inform her that her father buys a horse and that someone was standing next to it. JTE are rushing home to see HIM. This is so emotional. I loved how they make the meeting also parallel to eps 1. With JTE put on the sirene - the rest was history. The disbelief in JTE face, the relief in Gon face, the words, the music, the KISS! Im glad they find each other again 🥺🥺

Back to Corea, apparently JY also has his memory. So at the end yoyo boy keep the memory of 3 person involved in making things right. I suppose as a gift? Thank you yoyo boy. I almost had heart attack when Gon said to JY about twins haha i thought it was Gon’s, but no its JY siblings and he name it after Eunbi Kkabi. Im so soft for him. And we can see Luna and KHM also the revelation of cctv record that Gon saw in eps 9(?), 27 May 2022. Also Luna future is to become police/good guy because she is adopted by GSR mom. So both are siblings 🤣🤣 i like that. Also i like we got to see Kim Biso becoming guard of GSR in prison. Fate it is. Like what the whole story was all about.

So the flute when in a whole, had a lot more fun. It allows our couple to travel through time and universe. They choose always universe that did not have them as doppelganger. So most of the time they travel to past. But since there are no rule now inside the gate, they cannot choose where they may end up and just follow the fate. How i really loved this insight. Relating it to real life, we never knew where we go and which door led us to. But if we just follow the destiny it definitely bring us to the right time and place. Eventually.

At 1 time they got back to Kingdom of Corea at the same time, dates. I loved Lady Noh now, very sneaky 🤣 also JY and MSA actually flirting/dating 💕💕 and the iconic cctv room KISS!!!

I appreciate they show us how both lovers still pretty much doing a good job in their respective universe. JTE with her team and Gon doing his King work. Its shows how equal they are. And we got to see Secretary Mo as the new PM. And the fact they touches the working mother issue was everything i want to see!

And to hear Gon iconic line for the last time makes me emotional. It was the last time we can hear him introducing himself 😭 the cinematography was amazing and can make you feel the sadness of saying goodbye to this characters. Not only Gon but also JTE.

Then last scene! Both arrive in the past i think around 1960(?). Both travel together, doing all the things they skipped, just smiling, laughing, be happy, until they old. Seriously this ending was great. Quoted their last words “no matter what kind of a door opens before us in life and even if the moments we share makes us sad at times, i wish to love tirelessly. Just like that, we decides to love the fate that chose us. Just today and only today. Forever” then we got to see them hands still holding until they got old and DREAM song!! It was all just to beautiful. So apparently this series was touching much about being stoic and carpediem - brb crying until years after -

How it made me feel:

What a roller coaster ride. This series made me laugh, cry, grin, angry and warm. At first 1-6 episode it will left you uncertain about what they want to do with it, but 7-16 all become darker and darker, better and better. Im impressed by the script, the characters, the development, the acting, the cinematography, the directing, the editing (it has it flaws but it gets better anyway), everything. Im a bit emotional in writing this because it feels like im saying goodbye to them when i dont feel like it yet. Also i need to thank them because of them i saw something beautiful and they basically save me from a devastated year of 2020. No matter how this world treated this art badly, this remains masterpiece.

“Those who judge will never understand, and those who understand will never judge”

[ry-ra]

Re-Watch: Goblin; The Lonely and Great God Ep. 1

The best drama ever! It’s still my favorite after 4 years. I cried loads and laughed a lot at this heartwarming tale of love and friendship.

The drama had a high budget production, from the set, props and CGI and along with the great casting, made this drama into the favorite it was. It became the highest rating drama for tvN with the last episode reaching 20% viewership.

I will review only episode 1, but will add additional information for context (I binged the whole series and watched the 2 episode special again XD). 

Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) is a General, betrayed by his king and killed by his own sword, became a Goblin as a punishment from God, left to wander the earth, immortal and lonely. Only the Goblin’s bride can take out the sword and return him to nothingness. He saw his sister being killed in front of him and all his men slain by the King, the King whom he considered his friend and whom he protected on many battlefields. 

Jin Eun Tak’s mother visits an old lady (Lee El) everyday on a bridge. The old lady tells her the story of the Goblin and that she’s the Goblin’s bride, she laughs it off and the old lady tells her, when she finds herself on the brink of dead, to pray and plead with all her might, that a kind God might be listening to her plea. She leaves the crazy old lady and gets hit by a car and left for dead (when you find out who’s responsible, it’s just heartbreaking). She pleads with all her might and the Goblin, a drunk Goblin hears her plea and goes to her. She begs for him to save her baby and he saves her life and the baby’s. The Goblin’s Bride was born and named, Jin Eun Tak. Jin Eun Tak (Kim Go Eun) lived with her mother until the age of 9 and she could see ghosts and grim reapers. It was her 9th birthday and she arrived home to her mother with a birthday cake, but her mother was a ghost. This scene was so heartbreaking. The old lady appears to save her from the grim reaper and tells her to go live with her aunt.

The Grimp Reaper (Lee Dong Wook) was assigned to collect the mother and baby’s soul, but since the Goblin saved her, they became special cases and when Jin Eun Tak turned 9, he saw her again when he went to collect her mother’s soul, but since she was a baby, had no name and therefore he could not collect her soul that day. The old lady told him to bring a name card with her name, if not, he needed to leave. They consider these cases as Special Cases. Also, after re-watching this drama and special again, I still did not catch on to the subtle hint at his wardrobe and I feel stupid.

Jin Euk Tak did not have a good childhood. Her aunt abused her and tormented her for her mother’s bank books (she doesn’t know about this, but she will find them later in the drama and the how is so heartbreaking, but also pure) and at school she was an outcast, but a good student, but instead of having a good teacher, the teacher was also mean to her (she gets scolded later on, don’t worry). Since she can see ghosts, they surround her all the time and she can’t have peace. One ghosts stays with her until she’s 29 and every chance she gets, tries to get Jin Eun Tak to leave with her, it’s funny, but she was a good ghost, but all the ghosts feared Kim Shin and would apologize whenever he would show up or hide in fear, super funny.

On her 19th birthday she goes to the beach with a birthday cake and starts wishing hard for a job, to leave her aunt and find a boyfriend. The Goblin who is in the field of buckwheat (The place where he was laid to rest and cursed, he visits there regularly), hears her wish and when she blows out the candles, he sees smoke around him and he appears behind her. She summoned him and he wants to know how. They have locked eyes before when she was going home from school and she thinks he’s a ghost and then asks him for the flowers he’s holding, since it’s her birthday (the meaning is “lovers”). She wants him to grant her wishes and he tells her to find a job at a chicken place and leaves her. She tries to find a job, but they all reject her and she’s angry, she figures that when she blows out a fire (candle and a lighter is most used in the drama), he appears and professes his love to him (super cute), he dismisses her, but she is persistent. She knows now how to summon him.

The Grimp Reaper moves into the Goblin’s house, since the nephew (Yook Sung Jae) did this behind his grandpa’s back and Kim Shin’s back. The family has taken care of the Kim Shin after he became a Goblin for generations now. The grandpa still overseas things, but the nephew takes care of Kim Shin’s house and whatever he may need. He calls them Uncle and Uncle Reaper, so cute. Kim Shin recently came back to Korea and finds a Grim Reaper in his house. They fight like cats and dogs, but they also have the best bromance ever and each episode they had so many funny scenes. I recommend to watch The Goblin Special, they have so many behind the scenes of them and even dedicate a montage with a romantic song (super cute), Lee Dong Wook who was the narrator for the special even mentioned why it’s a romantic song (super cute!). The 3 of them had the best scenes and improvised a lot of scenes. Lee Dong Wook is the best at ad libs and his smile and laugh makes me feel so happy. I think I’ve professed my love for him every time I can <3 Hahahaha. In the end their friendship was the most special.

The Grim Reaper is happy that Ji Eun Tak appeared, since that means the Goblin can leave and give him peace. He has a peculiar sleeping habit (but it’s cute) and Kim Shin always disturbs him. Ji Eun Tak summoned him again and tells him she knows he’s a Goblin and that she’s his bride and shows him the Goblin’s Bride birthmark, but he says some harsh words to her, since he doesn’t believer her and leaves through a door (one of his powers is, he can travel through doors to places he wants to go to) into Canada and Jin Eun Tak follows him through the door and finds herself with him in Canada and he’s surprised and caught off guard that she managed to follow him.

So concludes episode 1.

I can not stress enough how beautifully told this drama is. It’s from the same writer that wrote Secret Garden, Heirs, Descendants of the Sun and Mr. Sunshine (these are all her drama’s I’ve watched). I see a pattern in her writings. Heirs, who was sad and did not have a happy ending for the older brother, she then wrote Descendants of the Sun who had the lead nearly die and at the end nearly killed him off for good, in Goblin killed off the Goblin first and when he comes back and he and Jin Euk Tak marry each other, he kills Jin Euk Tak (sorry for this spoiler, but she’s fine) and in Mr. Sunshine, kills off Mr. Sunshine after everything they went through together! She’s good at writing a sad love story, but for me Goblin is the best written one. All the souls The Grim Reaper had to lead to the afterlife, the love story between the Goblin and his bride, the grim reaper and Sunny. I’ve had many battles with tvN, but they also had some of my favorite dramas and this is my Number 1 drama.

I can keep on going on and on, but I will only recap episode 1.

This drama is A+

[charmedseoull]

Interview with sugamins about her work House of Cards (Ao3′s second most hit English work and most hit BTS work)

Before You Read the Interview

Archive of Our Own Transcript

Reddit Transcript Part 1 / Part 2

House of Cards is documented within the Top 50 Most Hit BTS Works on Archive of Our Own Project, otherwise known as T50BTS, by Charmedseoul. It is the second most hit English work on the Archive of Our Own platform, most hit BTS work, and 16th most hit work overall. It centers around the internationally popular K-Pop idol group BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) with the main characters being Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, and Jeon Jungkook. This work is being documented for historical purposes for the Fanlore website with its own page. Charmedseoul is a BTS-focused anonymous historian who plans to eventually document each of the top 50 most hit BTS work on Ao3 as in depth as this one. If you are in contact with any of the authors of these works, please contact her on Twitter @charmedseoul or on Tumblr @charmedseoull.

Parts of this interview have been edited with links to Fanlore and Wikipedia pages for understanding. Any information in [brackets] serves for further clarity for readers and elaboration of information.

Disclaimers: This interview contains spoilers for the BTS Archive of Our Own work House of Cards. The story’s Archive of Our Own tags contain violence and gangster activity, along with discussion of prostitution and drug use. The full tag list is:

Alternate Universe - Gangsters

Gang Violence

Violence

Drugs

Drug Use

Explicit Sexual Content

Explicit Language

Blood and Gore

Blood and Torture

Gambling

Gunplay

Undercover

Disturbing Themes

Homophobic Language

Attempted Rape/Non-Con

Xenophobia

Dom/sub

Threesome - M/M/M

Drug Addiction

Dubious Consent

This interview discusses an 18+ mature work and Not Safe for Work topics. Please read this interview at your own discretion. You are responsible for the content you consume.

House of Cards by sugamins is a multi-chapter Archive of Our Own fanfiction that follows police officer Kim Taehyung’s undercover operation into the gangster world of Haedogje Pa. Jeon Jungkook, shrouded in an air of mystery and dubbed “The Boy,” is the heir to this crime empire. Park Jimin lives with him, acting as a lover of sorts in a high, pristine penthouse apartment. The story follows the three and their complicated relationship where sex, violence, and drugs surround them. Kim Taehyung tries to take down the empire as his moral lines of black and white begin blurring into gray. In this crime-ridden alternate reality to Seoul, everything from the structure of the gangster world to the trust between three lovers is as fragile as a house of cards.

Now presenting the interview with sugamins, author of Archive of Our Own’s second most hit English work and most hit BTS work, House of Cards:

How did you start writing?

How did you get into fanfiction?

How much writing experience did you have prior to House of Cards?

Do you have any literary or artistic inspirations? Any other authors or works that have inspired you to create anytime before or after House of Cards?

How did you become an ARMY [ARMY stands for Adorable Representative MC for the Youth. It is the fandom name for fans of BTS, otherwise known as Bangtan Sonyeondan]?

I started writing fanfiction in 2012. But before then, I used to enjoy writing stories as a child and young teenager. I used to write and illustrate my own stories. I even had a sketchbook filled with my own comic book, which was terrible! But I've always been creative. It started with art and then I moved onto writing when I discovered I was able to be much more creative with my words rather than my pencil.

I first got into fanfiction through my years spent on Tumblr. I had always known that it had existed, but I had never really gone looking for it because I hadn't belonged to a fandom at that point in my life. It was back in 2012 when I stumbled upon an EXO fanfic that a lot of people were talking about (Arbitrage, you can find it on Livejournal.) I read it and then thought...wow, so this is fanfiction! From that point, I started reading more and more, mostly Infinite fanfiction. And then I decided to start writing with the encouragement of an old online friend, and here I am!

In terms of writing experience, I have never formally received education. I stopped studying English Language and Literature when I was 16, instead focusing on Art, History, and Religious Education (purely because I wanted to learn about philosophy and quantum mechanics) for my final two years at high-school. The only experience I have is through writing fanfiction. I started back in 2012, and I've developed a lot since then. I started off small, writing horror short stories and little collections. Brotherhood was the first 'long fic' I created. I was shocked that it managed to get so big because I had never created a story of that size before. Writing helped me gain experience and figure out what worked and what didn't work, what I was good at writing, and where I was lacking and needed to learn. I don't think you can really experience an art form until you start doing it. You can learn all about the techniques and the conventions, but until you pick up a pen and start writing or drawing, you won't ever know what it means to create.

My literary inspiration has always been Stephen King. Which is funny, as he has described himself as 'having diarrhea of the typewriter.' I think that applies to me sometimes. I am a bit of a wordy writer, though I've started honing it down for certain stories. Sometimes, a story needs to be floral and descriptive, sometimes, it needs to be punchy and direct. So, King was my major inspiration, especially with horror. I also enjoy the works of Poe and Lovecraft (I acknowledge the problematic themes in the work of Lovercraft and seek not to praise him as a person. He was a terrible person for sure, but sadly, he had a way with cosmic horror that is hard to find.) I also enjoy Chuck Palahniuk and the dark, seedy and overall zany stories that he has created. I like his style a lot!

In terms of inspirations for House of Cards, I was obviously inspired by the films Infernal Affairs/The Departed. American Gangster and Training Day were also major inspirations (and also because I love Denzel Washington's performances in both films. I mean, who doesn't love him?) But I also drew inspiration from other sources that were less focused on gangs, more focused on the dark, nihilistic state of the world around us. I couldn't recommend the TV series True Detective hard enough. It is one of the best series I have ever watched. It handles dark and disturbing content so well, and its fractured, unreliable story-telling and philosophical musing is some of the best I've ever seen on screen. I highly recommend checking it out, but be sure to check the content warning and triggers because it certainly isn't suitable for younger audiences and those with triggers. In terms of real-life content, I think Ross Kemps' docu-series are very good. Particularly Extreme World and On Gangs. His docu-series show the dark and disturbing side of criminal activity, the drug trade and more. 

I became a fan of BTS [Bangtan Sonyeondan] back in 2013. I had already been a fan of K-Pop for some time by then, as I had started listening to various K-Pop and K-Rock artists back in 2009. I knew of their debut, but I had seen hundreds of new acts debut by the time that they broke into the scene, and so I didn't pay much heed. Someone I followed on Tumblr at the time kept posting about how much she loved them, especially Taehyung [BTS V/Kim Taehyung]. One day, I stumbled upon a gifset of Yoongi [BTS Suga/Min Yoongi] being sarcastic in one of their first interviews. I thought he was funny, so I decided to check them out. At the time, they had recently released We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2 [BTS’s second music video release with their debut album 2 Kool 4 Skool]. I followed them from that point, and their first comeback [A “comeback” refers to when a K-Pop idol group releases new music, usually done twice a year.] was also my first comeback. I liked their music [BTS released Boy In Luv and Just One Day in 2014, both music videos of songs from their Skool Luv Affair EP.], but I liked them even more as individuals. I loved watching their shows [Here is a link to BTS’s schedule during 2014 when they had their first comeback. You can find the shows and interviews they were on there.], even though they are incredibly embarrassing to look back on now. They just had so much energy and looked to be having so much fun that I was having fun just watching them. I was a fan, I liked a lot of their songs and followed their activities. But it wasn't until they released HYYH Part One [Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa Part 1 (Korean) = The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 1 (This is the title in English), released with the I Need U and Dope music videos.] that I really became a fan of their music. I had already created a couple of small horror stories for the fandom at that point. HYYH Part One [The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 1] inspired me so much that I created Brotherhood, my first 'long fic.' I joined AO3 [Archive of Our Own] and started posting there. I received so much support from fellow fans that I carried on writing, and the rest is history!

How has your experience being an ARMY [Adorable Representative MCs of the Youth, BTS’s global fan base name.] been? Did you ever leave the fandom then come back? How did you interact with others when you first got into the fandom and as you grew up?

How have you been since you wrote House of Cards? What have you been working on? 

Are you okay with talking about how old you are now and how old you were when you wrote House of Cards?

Before you even wrote House of Cards, what inspired it? Any TV shows? Music? Movies? Books? Ideas? It could be anything.

How did you start writing House of Cards? Did you finish the entire story then publish it or did you write it as you went? What was the writing process like?

Did you have any beta readers or editors? If you did, are you still in contact with them now? How did they feel about your work?

My experience being a fan has mostly been positive over the years. In the earlier days, back around when I first started writing for the fandom, it was certainly much more positive. I've received so much support over the years, not only in my writing but in my personal life from readers and fellow fans that being a fan of the boys [The members of BTS] really has changed my life. That's not an exaggeration. I doubt I would even be here now without those years having such a positive effect on my mental health. I've never really been the kind to interact with others and form cliques within the fandom, I just like being in my own space and interacting with everyone that comes my way, I guess?

These days, I'm not as active as a writer or in fandom spaces however. I feel like my time in the fandom has started to come up and I don't know how I feel about it just yet. I feel nostalgic for the time when I was first starting out in the fandom and I didn't really know much, but everything was fun. It doesn't feel so fun now, but I mostly contribute that to the effect that Twitter has had on shaping the fandom's growth. Twitter has never been a good place for creatives within fandoms because of issues with algorithms and such. Tumblr was always the better website for hosting artistic content for a variety of reasons. So, I think the fact that everything is on Twitter now has been partly responsible for my decline in engagement and overall enjoyment. I'm currently taking a break from Twitter. The next couple of months will be what makes me either stay or leave the fandom.

Since writing House of Cards, I've been an active writer in the fandom. Over the years, I've added quite a lot of stories to my AO3 accounts and various pseuds. My largest ongoing story is another gang story, set in the 1980s, called Valentino Summers. I actually started writing and publishing it on Ao3 just four or so months after I finished House of Cards—which is wild to think about. Finally finishing House of Cards seems like such a long time ago in my mind, and yet I'm still working on a story I created that same year! I like contributing horror stories to the fandom, especially in the Halloween period. I like publishing series in the month/upcoming weeks before Halloween—though I won't be doing so this year [2020].

When I started writing House of Cards, I would have just turned 22. It was inspired by the song 'Wires' by The Neighbourhood. I might be mistaken, but I believe that Jungkook [BTS Jungkook/Jeon Jungkook] posted a tweet with the song in it. [Jungkook did tweet about this song. Here is the English translation.] I had never heard of the band before, but my partner was a fan of their music. She sent the song to me and I was very interested in the lyrics, so I started discussing them with her. One thing led to the next, and then we had basically come up with the entire plot of the story. We just needed to create the characters. We spent a little while doing so, and then I started doing some research and started writing the story. There really isn't a grand backstory to House of Cards, it just happened so fast. We often come up with story ideas like that, and my partner is responsible for a huge amount of my stories. She has the creative visions, which I then turn into words. We make quite the team, haha~ The inspirations, I mentioned those in my previous answer regarding films and TV shows.

I published the story as I went, though I staggered the updates because I didn't want to post too frequently. I had the entire story planned out from the start——I didn't change a single aspect of the story no matter what I received in terms of feedback. I think a lot of readers assume that writers might tweak things if they sense the audience wants something to happen in terms of plot or relationships. Personally, I don't like doing that. I like sticking to my plans even if I know my vision might not be what the readers want. I think it's important for the story to be created the way I see it because my vision is what made me create it, if that makes sense.

The writing process was surprisingly smooth! You might not think it because the story is big and there are a lot of characters and plot threads to keep on top of, but it went smoothly for me. It flowed just as smoothly from start to finish as Brotherhood did. I never struggled once with writing the chapters, nor did I ever get stuck and wonder if I should change the content in order to make it easier to write. I'm surprised that I managed to complete it so easily because that's not the case with writing now! I tend to be a lot slower now, more deliberate and more open to changes in order to ease the process and the overall flow of the story. In a way, this change has been for the best. I do wonder what House of Cards would be like if I were to write it now, with my different approach to planning and writing. It would probably have a quicker flow, and the word count would either go down as a result of cuts, or go up because of additional scenes I would have likely included.

I didn't have any betas, which you can probably tell from the work. My stories are so big that I never wanted to put the burden of fixing them onto someone else. I know they are imperfect, oftentimes bloated things, but that's just what they are. I did try creating a story with another writer in the past, but it didn't go very well. She would often have conflicting opinions on things and would not have any leeway for anything I suggested, whereas I always had leeway to allow her to change things. Even to the point of completely changing the plot of the story that I had already started writing, and then allowing her to add graphic sexual content she didn't even want to be in the story. She actually stopped writing fanfiction randomly in the middle of us creating the story! She made a post about it being disgusting and nasty and then bowed out. I have no clue if she ever came back! So, my negative experience with attempting to work with someone else when creating a story kind of made me not want to have a beta. It's a wild story, I know!

House of Cards is praised for its realism and accuracy with weaponry, torture, sex, and violence. How did you research these things?

How did you come up with the gangster universe in House of Cards? How did you develop Haedogje Pa?

How did you name the original characters in House of Cards? Did any characters in particular take inspiration from existing characters in TV shows, anime, books, any type of media?

How did you decide on Vminkook as your main characters for the story? What do you see in their dynamic and them as characters?

Jimin is claimed to be one of the best written characters in the entire story. What was your thought process when characterizing him and developing him?

Taehyung is an especially dynamic character whose morals get tested time and time again in House of Cards. What was your thought process when characterizing him and developing him?

Jungkook is one of the characters that the readers spend the least amount of time getting a perspective from, but is incredibly well written in his character progression. What was your thought process when characterizing him and developing him?

When it came to various aspects in the story, I did do research. Most of it never really had an impact on the story itself. For example, I would be looking up gun models that are used by law enforcement agencies around the world and trying to find specs of them so I could learn how many bullets each gun held, or how much a magazine could hold. In action scenes, I didn't want my characters firing off 20+ bullets for a gun that—in reality—holds far less. That's a fact that doesn't really mean much to the average reader, but it meant something to me! I've always hated how many bullets fly through the air in action scenes in films and TV shows because I'm always wondering if it's possible with the firearms featured in the scene haha~ In terms of torture, I've come across the subject through various documentaries and TV shows about gangs, crime and serial killers. I didn't really do much additional research into the topic, beyond reading up on what I had come across to make sure it wasn't fictionalised for drama purposes. Obviously, there will be some lack of realism in my story because I couldn't possibly write a realistic portrayal of gang violence and torture when I have zero personal experience with it. My aim wasn't to give the story 'full' realism (I'll explain more about that in the next question) but to simply create a world that felt real, even if there were little aspects that had to be exaggerated for the sake of the story. Taehyung's behaviour when undercover certainly broke many procedures. The only thing working in his favour that allowed him to get away with it is that the crimes he committed couldn't be directly traced to him. But a real undercover agent would never do the things that he did on behalf of the gang. Basically, this means that the entire story is unrealistic! But of course, it wouldn't be very entertaining if Taehyung simply observed from the background and didn't dirty his hands. So, I had to bend and break the rules a little!

For the universe, I knew that I couldn't base it too much in reality. Because of basic Korean law, it would have been impossible for me to write the gang operating in the way they did in the story—especially with guns. Most Korean gangs tend to use other forms of violence and weapons in order to control their respective areas, rather than guns. My other story, Taste of Ink, has what I would consider a more realistic approach to gang activity—with the main weapons being knives, baseball bats, etc. and the main forms of violence being assault instead of flat-out murder. So, for the sake of allowing guns to appear in the story, I had to create a Neo-Seoul, so to speak. I took inspiration from Korean gangs, and mixed it with influences from other gang cultures in order to create 'Haedogje Pa.'

When it comes to naming original characters, I honestly don't put much thought into it. I like to use real names for inspiration. I often Google various Korean films I've watched and read the cast list in order to find interesting character and actor names. This is because I have a habit of reusing names sometimes. For example, readers of my stories might have come across a couple of Daesu and Goohee characters. Do you know where I got these names from? I picked Daesu from Oh Daesu - Choi Minsik's character in Oldboy. Goohee comes from the manhwa 'Let Dai' - he is the stubborn gang leader that actually has a good heart beneath his rough exterior. I ended up liking him the most by the end of the story, so his name is one that often comes to mind when I need to pick an original character name.

I never really consider real life dynamics when I'm writing because my stories are so detached from reality that it seems pointless including any inspiration from reality. I chose the three main characters simply because, at the time, they seemed to fit the character moulds the best. The other characters fit their respective characters so well (especially Namjoon [BTS RM/Kim Namjoon] and Yoongi) that I simply thought it was best to have Taehyung, Jimin [BTS Jimin/Park Jimin] and Jungkook as the three lead roles. I chose them more based on how I thought they could personally fit the characters, rather than focus on the dynamic. To use Taehyung as an example, I thought that he would fit the character of the informant in my story because in reality, he is intelligent and seemed like he would suit the role. For Jimin, I thought he would be a good choice for a character that some might think is vulnerable or even weak. He is actually very strong and the most important character for the plot progression. For Jungkook, I liked the thought of someone with such an innocent outer appearance hiding a dark secret.

I'm so glad that readers took to Jimin so positively on a whole. I know there are some that hated him, or that hated the fact I chose him for such a role (a 'negative' sex worker role). But Jimin is the most important character for the plot progression. It is through him that the entire plan finally culminates in the explosive finish. I wanted to treat him with care because I understood that his character could go very wrong if not handled correctly. It would have been easy for him to simply become nothing more than a sexual prop, should the story have focused too much on Taehyung and Jungkook as the key players. So, I decided to subvert it by giving Jimin the ultimate hand in the story and allowing him to have more control than Jungkook in the end. If Jimin had not decided to follow through with the plan, if he had decided to snitch or had simply refused to do his part in exposing the gang, the story would've ended drastically differently. But I also didn't want to write Jimin taking control of the entire situation at the end because it would've felt ingenuine. He is a character that has been deeply affected by a lifetime of trauma. I was worried that some might take my portrayal of his trauma the wrong way, and see him not as a character that has suffered immense mental damage but rather as an annoying, weak character that gets in the way of more 'interesting' dynamics. I'm sure there will be readers that think that. Mentally traumatized individuals are often seen in such negative light, be they fictional characters or real people. When writing his character, especially in the later scenes, I wanted to make sure the trauma he experienced would shape his behaviour. Writing the scene of him getting ready to leave, when he is taking his pills and he doesn't think he can do it, it was hard. It was hard getting into that headspace of feeling so powerless in the moment and knowing that freedom is in reach, but not knowing how to achieve it. He was a difficult character to write, but I think he turned out just right in the end.

Taehyung was probably the best character to write. I love characters that start off so morally upright and pristine, and by the end of the story, their backs are bending and close to breaking from the weight of their conscience and misdeeds. His character has many facets to him that made his perspectives so interesting to tackle. From his green days in the gang, where he is horrified by the violence he sees, to the changes in his psyche as he starts to become desensitized to it all. Fundamentally, Taehyung begins the story as a good man, a hero, but by the end, there is no black and white thinking. He has become grey, muddied from his time spent in the gang. Is he a hero for bringing them down? Would a hero do the things that he did in order to bring down the gang? He killed people. He tortured people. He threatened a man with a gun, a man he knew had a deepset fear of guns that would severely trigger him. I think it all depends on how the reader sees it. The hardest thing to write for his character was his troubled descent into the relationship between him, Jungkook and Jimin, and how it affects his thought processes and emotions. I didn't want House of Cards to be seen as a romantic story when I created it. If readers see it that way, they are more than entitled to their own interpretations. I cannot tell them how they can interpret my art, that is not my role as the creator. I don't know if I effectively portrayed the co-dependency between the three main characters as well as I would've liked. But I had never tackled such a story and themes before, and so it was all new to me.

I didn't know that Jungkook had the least perspective from the three main characters. Similarly, I never really put that much effort into creating and developing his character! Jungkook simply 'happened' in the moment. He would appear in the chapter, and then his character would basically take control of the scene. I never really knew what he was going to say or do beyond my rough plans for each scene. I just waited until he appeared and let the creative spirit flow through me. That's how he came to be! I've had that happen many times in the past with characters—they have a life of their own and I've no control over them. In my story, Brotherhood, Taehyung happened the same way. It was impossible to write his character in that story because he was so wild and free-spirited that it didn't feel right unless his behaviour was a total spur-of-the-moment reaction to the other characters and new plot points. But with Jungkook in House of Cards, I don't know why I didn't have him planned out like the others. It's interesting to think that he might've had a good progression when I never planned any of it in detail!

Were there any original characters you particularly liked writing or enjoyed?

When you wrote for the BTS hyung line, how did you determine their roles in the story and characterize each of them?

Is there a reason behind Namjoon saying “brother” or was it a consciously written character quirk?

When you handled more serious subject matter in House of Cards, how did you feel when writing it? Were you ever startled by your own work?

Was there any type of purposeful titling for the fanfiction chapters?

What was your reason for House of Cards’ open ending?

I liked writing Lim, the original informant that helped Taehyung join the gang. I like writing characters that come across as sleazy. In his case, the sleaze was all an act and wasn't true to his character; he was affecting it for the sake of creating a persona. But I enjoy writing absolute sleaze balls too—the kind of guys that have chest hair and wear gold chains and thick watches, who practically ooze oil. I just find them fun! Lim was a good teacher, even when he was rough around the edges. It was sad doing what I had to do to him for the sake of the plot. But I feel like Lim understood the game as well as everyone else, and so he knew he was running on borrowed time. 

Of course, I loved writing Bae Goohee too! He was an absolute bastard! I loved writing this figure that is spoken about throughout the story as a frightening man, one so brutal that the readers are already wary of him before he even appears in the story. I believe that Taehyung refers to him as a 'guard dog' at some point. I think Bae is the scariest character in the story for me because he is so ruthless and willing to do any order that the Jeon clan give to him. That kind of blind and unwavering devotion is frightening!

I also enjoyed writing Sungah and Jangmi. I think they're the only female characters in the story that have dialogue? Sungah has a great backstory that I unfortunately couldn't go into too much in the story, but it shaped her character a lot. I like how frank and intelligent she is—she holds her own even in a department filled with men that receive far more praise than she does simply because she is a woman. She also allowed me to add an angle about the unfair treatment of women in jobs that have power, drawing parallels with how Taehyung faces discrimination from his fellow officers when his sexuality is abruptly revealed during the investigation. As for Jangmi, I just liked writing about the wife of a mob boss! And not one that is simply a trophy wife, but actually has a lot of power and influence across the city. I wish I had been able to feature her more, alongside her husband, Jeon himself. But I like the scenes they appear in and I enjoyed writing them.

For the rest of the members, I had Namjoon and Hoseok [BTS J-Hope/Jung Hoseok]'s characters planned right from the start. I had also created plans for Yoongi and Seokjin [BTS Jin/Kim Seokjin], but I wasn't sure how much of a role they would play in the overall story. As I started writing them, I realised that Yoongi would play an important role in both Taehyung and Jimin's character development, and so he ended up featuring a lot more than I had expected. I planned their jobs and then let them influence how I would write them. Namjoon and Hoseok's characters came naturally. Yoongi's character completely took over his job role and basic description and became a really strong character that I'm proud of. Seokjin was a little trickier because he doesn't appear in too many scenes—but the scenes he does are integral to the plot. I needed to make sure that his character said everything he needed to in his limited scenes. He has quite the bombshell to drop after all! Seokjin was also tricky because I wanted him to have an air of mystery around him. I wanted him to be the kind of guy that not even Taehyung and his police connections would be able to unearth much about; a ghost in the system. I would've also liked for him to feature more in the story, but I feel like his character appeared in the essential scenes that the story needed. He was going to feature more in the planned sequel, being one of the first characters to appear alongside Yoongi. He was going to serve an important role, so I'm disappointed that I didn't get to show those scenes to readers.

With Namjoon, I wanted to portray him as a mature character, but not one that was conservative and stiff. I thought about having him say things like 'man' but that seemed too casual and didn't suit his character. 'Man' made him seem more like a surfer than a police officer. But when he said 'brother' in one of the scenes, I realised the word suited him better. It was fraternal, and it allowed him to show some affection towards the other characters without having to have physical contact with them. It's not the only Namjoon I've written that says 'brother' a lot. In Valentino Summers, Namjoon has experience with hippies in the neighbourhood that he lives in, so he also refers to other characters like Jimin as 'brother.' It just seems to suit him! I guess it's because I like creating Namjoon characters that are intelligent and mature, but still have a gentle and warm presence. I could picture him saying it in real life (I'm certain he already has!)

When writing serious subject matter, I'm surprised to admit that I was never shocked by what I was writing! I guess it's because I already knew that I was going to be handling dark themes. I wouldn't have tackled such subjects had I not felt comfortable doing so. Dark content isn't for everyone, and by that I don't simply mean consuming it. Creating it can be very difficult for some writers, and can even cause distress. It's not easy diving into a world that is filled with crime, pain and fear. It's even harder putting yourself into the shoes of a character that is suffering/has suffered. I was never writing in a desensitised state though. Far from it. I'm actually very sensitive to violence in reality. In fiction, it depends on the violence—but I'm usually not too affected by it. I've been a fan of horror since I was a child, and so I've seen a lot of nasty films filled with gore and 'shocking' deaths that never really had much of an effect on me. Unrealistic violence doesn't scare me. But when it comes to personal violence, that is always frightening to me. It's far scarier writing a scene where a character feels threatened by another character and doesn't know what is going to happen to them then, say, writing a scene of a character dying a bloody, ridiculous death in a horror story. Personal violence is much more realistic, therefore it is more unsettling to write. In House of Cards, the violence is very personal. It's in your face, it's inescapable for the characters that are involved in it. But at no point did I ever feel like I needed to stop writing because I was uncomfortable or scared by the content. If I had been uncomfortable, it would have been very reckless of me to continue writing the story.

My word of advice to fellow dark content writers: it's always important to recognise your own boundaries. There's nothing wrong with removing dark content from a story if you get a bad vibe or feel strange when writing/reviewing it. Always follow your gut instincts and never put out work that you don't like.

When writing stories, I vary between titling the chapters and leaving them blank. For House of Cards, I cannot remember the exact method for naming the chapters. Sometimes, the title comes to me when I am writing the plans and I have an idea that just suits the mood of the chapter. Other times, I have finished the entire chapter and I have to spend some time reviewing the content to decide that the title will be. In some cases, I have finished most of a whole story and I'm still not certain what to title it! I feel like with House of Cards, the titles came after the chapters were finished, or at least when they were works-in-progress.

There are some titles that really stand out to me. 'Nice Teeth' for example, is a really ridiculous title. Going into the chapter, I don't think many readers would've imagined what it could mean. 'Submachine Sodomy' is even funnier. I really can't believe I chose that as a title! I'll bet a lot of readers saw it and thought, "Oh no! Not another gunplay scene!" Luckily for them, it wasn't a reference to Jungkook's predilection for firearms in bed.

In terms of chapter titles that I really like: 'Delusions of Grandeur,' 'I Own This Fucking City,' 'Sleeping Dogs Bite' and 'Carpe-fucking-Diem.' I just feel like these titles are very well suited to the contents of the chapters. They are the kind of titles that have bite to them, that hint at action or an important plot point.

As for the open ending, there are a couple of reasons. First of all, I had planned to continue the story in a sequel that would pick up after the events of House of Cards, roughly a year on after the investigation. However, I did not pursue this sequel. I wanted House of Cards to end on an open note for the sequel to continue the story. When it comes to certain stories, I just feel that closed endings aren't always necessary. I often enjoy stories with open endings. With House of Cards, it didn't seem right just closing the book and saying it was over. There was still so much that needed to be explored. Unfortunately, I decided to not continue it. But I still think that House of Cards' ending fits the story.

Were there any scenes or moments or lines in House of Cards that you were particularly proud of or want to highlight?

If you were to write the Yoomin sequel to House of Cards, how would’ve that looked like?

How were readers’ reactions to your work in the beginning?

Did any reader comments stick with you in particular?

How did you take the criticisms and hatred towards House of Cards for its serious subject matter? When did those types of comments start appearing? Also, where did the hatred come from? Twitter? Tumblr? Ao3 comments? Did people harass you at all or hurt you? How did you heal from that?

House of Cards has a lot of scenes. I'm proud of most of them and I think I did the best I could when writing them. I do not really like the sex scenes, but that is because I wanted to write them in a dirty, sleazy way. If I could, I would change them. I like the action scenes, especially the Gold Monkey Casino and police raid scenes. Action scenes are hard to write! Fight scenes in particular are so tricky. I often sit there, choreographing the fights so I can describe them! I loved writing Yoongi's introduction to the story, when he walks into the scene wearing nothing but his underpants.

One scene that I really liked writing is the scene where Namjoon and Hoseok investigate the USB stick that Taehyung sends to them. I personally love Namjoon and Hoseok's characters. I always enjoyed writing them. In this scene, I liked getting to write them in a setting that was not the police department office. A scene where they got to relax and banter with each other, even though they were still working. They discover a horrifying crime ring in the city, but they are left with no choice but to keep it secret because they do not want to risk blowing Taehyung's cover. I do not know why I really like this scene, I just do.

In the sequel, which focused primarily on Jimin and Yoongi, the plans were to have them reunite through Seokjin—who has avoided jail time through a plea deal with the SMPA. They undergo a healing process together as they try to come to terms with what happened to them. Yoongi has a lot of unhealed trauma from his childhood, much like Jimin, which I only got to briefly touch upon in House of Cards. They grow closer from bonding over their traumatic experiences, and they become happier and healthier as a result. Taehyung and Seokjin were also going to be main characters, with Jungkook, Namjoon and Hoseok making supporting appearances over the duration of the story. It was going to be drastically different from House of Cards because it would be lacking in action and violence. It would have been much more intimate, with much more scenes of characters talking and discovering things about one another.

I cannot remember early reactions to the story, I just know they were positive. There was a lot of positive support from the start. As I updated and started to get more and more into the story, I received a lot of support on tumblr too. I started posting chapter previews there, as I used to get asks [On Tumblr, users are able to ask bloggers questions through an “Ask” function. This can be done anonymously or with their own blog username associated with the question.] requesting them. I got A LOT of asks on my original Tumblr from readers that wanted to discuss the characters and certain scenes. It was really interesting seeing just how much the readers were interested in the story, so much so that they wanted to learn even more about the characters and the universe I had created.

Through House of Cards, I have received comments and messages from readers that had addictions. They told me about how they recognised their own behaviors through Taehyung, and this helped them realise what was happening to them. Those comments stuck with me for obvious reasons. I have family members with addiction issues, and knowing that I could help some stranger I have never met before come to terms with their own addictive behaviours had a massive impact on me. Funnily enough, a negative comment stuck with me. It was not a bad comment, by no means meant to cause offence. It was a comment that was left on the story when I was posting the early chapters. I recall the reader asking when the story was going to pick up the pace because it was too slow. It stuck with me because, at this point in the story, Taehyung had already trained to become an undercover agent, had enrolled in the gang, had met and interacted with Jungkook, and had murdered a man. I was surprised that this amount of development had been seen as 'slow' by a reader, as I had thought the plot had been moving very fast.

I never really had any hate posted on the story when I was updating it. I got angry reactions when I had finished it. Because the story had not ended the way some readers had wanted, I think that was what caused the negative reactions. On my original Tumblr, I even got an ask about how an anon reader was going to write their own ending because my one was bad. I told them that I did not want them to take my story and change it like that. I have no idea if they ever posted the ending anywhere. The angry reactions were mostly from shippers, who were upset with the story not ending the way they had wanted. To them, I ask: what were you expecting from the story? I thought it was always obvious that Taehyung was going to do what he had set out to do from the start, so I do not think I misled readers at all. It was a story about an undercover agent taking down a gang—and that is what I wrote.

I know there was some animosity towards me on Twitter too. Twitter is a whirlpool of negativity, I am not surprised. Writing House of Cards made me appear problematic. My partner used to follow an author a long time back, who tweeted about me being problematic—despite having never interacted with me or admittedly read my stories. It was shocking to me that people were making assumptions of who I was as a person based on a story I created. I have never created stories with the aims of hurting or upsetting others. I am a very quiet and private person, and I hate the idea of hurting others. It was strange to me that people could assume me to be this cruel or even dangerous individual, intent on hurting others, because I created a fictional story. Do they think the same of script writers for television shows? Or film directors, who create films with dark subject matter? Do they think published authors are problematic people for writing dark and disturbing content? Do they think certain genres should not exist because they do not personally like them?

I do think it is strange that fan fiction writers are placed on these ridiculously high pedestals of moral absolutism. Fan fiction was created to be a space for creative outlet for marginalised individuals, particularly queer individuals. The heavy censorship of dark and unusual content is putting this entire ethos at danger. I understand not wanting to have certain topics included in stories because there is a risk that the content can be used for grooming or can be presented in a way that can negatively affect young consumers' perceptions (like pedophilia for example.) I certainly agree that there needs to be boundaries in place to stop the community from being flooded with such illegal content. But I think there is a difference between wanting to remove dangerous content, and wanting to get rid of content you do not like. Content can be problematic to you, but that does not make it dangerous, illegal, or bad. For some readers, the content they create is their way of dealing with trauma. Maybe this is not healthy for them. But that is their decision to make, not yours.

I orphaned the story because I did not want to handle the potential backlash. To put it simply, I do not handle negative criticism well. Not because I am stuck-up and think I am perfect, but because I am a very anxious person. Just reading angry comments makes me feel very uncomfortable, often nauseous. I know that House of Cards has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from readers, and for that I am thankful. But I had to distance myself for the sake of my own mental health. Since orphaning it, it exploded in popularity. I am thankful that I orphaned it because that amount of attention would frighten me a lot, haha~

What was your reaction to the fanfiction trailer by Sappiamur?

How did you come to the decision to reveal your real name in the end note of House of Cards?

How did you feel when you finished House of Cards?

How did you come to the decision to orphan House of Cards?

Did you ever anticipate the overwhelming fan reaction to House of Cards?

How do you feel knowing that House of Cards is one of the most read fanfictions on Ao3?

What do you want House of Cards to be remembered for?

What do you hope people take away from House of Cards?

Why do you think House of Cards became so popular?

I had to go back and watch it. It's been some time since I last have, and I'm still as amazed by it now as I was back then. The trailer is insane. I cannot imagine how much work went into making it. It's so good and it fits the vibes of the story to perfection. I think the first time I watched it, I was in shock. I must have repeated it at least 10 times in a row, just to make sure it was real and I wasn't imagining it. Then I think I screamed about it on my social media accounts, haha~ If you reading this have not watched the trailer, consider doing so. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Back when I first started posting fanfics, I used to get a lot of asks wanting to know my name, my pronouns, stuff like that. I thought by adding my name at the end of the stories, it would help cut down on these requests. But I also did so because I used to get a lot of asks referring to me as 'author-nim' and I didn't like being addressed by this honorific. I'm not Korean so I have no right to receive that honorific. So, I included my real name so readers could address me with it when sending me asks and interacting with me. I don't add my name at the end of my stories now, but my name is in my Twitter bio for those that want to know.

When I finished it, I felt relieved! I was so calm in the moment! Looking back on it, I can't remember much. But I do remember finishing House of Cards without any issues. The final chapters flowed smoothly, it all clicked into place, and I had a great time writing them.

I came to the decision to orphan the story after several nights of contemplation. I was considering deleting the story, along with a few others, but my partner and some friends told me I shouldn't do so. They suggested orphaning it instead. So, I did so. I didn't want to delete it in case readers that had started it had not gotten to finish it yet. I would've felt very mean robbing them of the opportunity to finish the story like that. I don't regret orphaning it instead of deleting it. I didn't want to destroy the story, I just needed some distance between me and the story.

I didn't anticipate it, and I still don't understand it! I'm shocked that House of Cards got the reaction that it received. Do I think it's a good story? Yes, I think that I worked hard to create a story that is enjoyable to read. But did I ever think it would get the reaction it did? Not in a million years! I thought that it would be one of my more popular stories because a) the pairings and b) the content. Gang stories usually tend to get a lot of attention because it's a popular genre in fanfiction. I just didn't expect it to reach such a vast amount of hits, kudos and comments.

I'm in shock that it is one of the most read stories on AO3. I don't think I will ever be able to create another story that will garner that kind of attention and feedback. It's a once in a lifetime thing, so I'm immensely proud of myself for achieving such a feat. But really, it's all because of the readers that it achieved such a goal. I'm so thankful for every single one of them.

I just want it to be remembered for being enjoyable, I think. I don't have any grand and lofty ambitions for the story. I think so long as the readers enjoyed it, that is all that matters.

I'm not sure what I would like readers to take away from House of Cards. I guess I want them to reflect on the idea of morality and that not everything is black-and-white. Good people can do bad things, and bad things can happen to good people. It's hard to answer this question because House of Cards isn't a story that I consider to have deep messages in it? There are no messages about acceptance and love and healthy relationships and such, like some of my other stories.

Honestly? I don't know what made it get so popular. I assume it's because of the pairings or the setting of the story. I know that a lot of readers say they love the story because of how well it's written, but I can't comment on that as the creator, haha~ I can't say my story is well-written as I'm not consuming it from an outside perspective. What I can say is that I do think I created a story that has a lot of twists and turns and betrayals, which I think adds to the enjoyment factor.

How are you now in 2020? Are you writing professionally in real life at all? 

How do you feel BTS fanfiction has changed over time? Since you’ve been writing for it for so long. 

Do you have any messages for people who may read this interview in the future?

I'm not writing professionally. I have self-published two books via Amazon and Lulu. One was a basic re-branding of my story babes in the woods. The other was a total rewrite of Brotherhood, which I called 'Brothers,' featuring a whole new setting and roster of characters. I published them as readers showed an interest in reading original stories. I have been considering rewriting House of Cards as an original work in the future, but I can't say for certain that I will do so.

Since I started writing, I think there's been a lot of changes in the fandom—not only in fanfiction but in general. There's been popular trends that have come and gone (I was around for the explosion of social media and text-based AUs, which I personally am not a fan of) but there's also been a lot of push for more inclusive content. I'm really happy by the amount of inclusive content that I see these days. Despite some pushback from non-queer fans that sometimes have an issue with queer subject matter (for example, trans characters) I think it's wonderful that artists of all colours, genders and sexualities are now proudly creating content they want to see, and not simply just what is 'in demand' from the fandom.

The message that I would like to share with readers of this interview is: stay healthy, stay happy, and most importantly, stay you. I also want to take this moment to tell them this - if you are considering becoming a creator, but you are worried about reception to your work, or that it might not be good enough, stop right now! Stop doubting yourself and just give it a shot! I was once like you, scared that my weird and niche interests and writing would be ignored or even mocked by the fandom because no one would like it. Had I not decided to take the plunge, my life would be so drastically different. I've made so many friends, fallen in love, and completely changed my life by creating fan content. It can be scary, but once you take the leap, you will find your feet coming down on solid earth without any danger.

Thank you for reading this interview. Further below are reminders and information about this interview and Charmseoul’s Fanlore project.

sugamins is still writing on her sugamins Archive of Our Own account today if you are looking for her works. Charmedseoul will not be sharing the author’s social media or contact information.

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