#no but the chokehold this series has on me is surreal

[ravenboysandcrows]

Today at school I spent too much time drawing little Raven Cycle inspired doodles and giggling while imagining the Gangsey in the silliest situations. It was getting to the point where people were staring.

I have exams coming up and I can’t keep doing this, but the Raven Cycle brainrot is so real…😭🫠

[setsailtomorrow]

Hi, I've really appreciated your fic recs and I wonder if you have any for Beyond Evil?

hello anon! this message made my day <3

i've read some good stuff in the beyond evil fandom. all recs here will be of the han juwon/lee dongsik kind.

chokehold by whir, 5k, M

Contrary to what’s known, their story didn’t start in Manyang. It started at the heart of Seoul, two years ago, with a one night stand.

just what the summary says. but some really good instant attraction and great use of the rating. this writer has the top kudos'd work of the fandom and is well worth a click.

The Reverie of Clouds by DachOsmin, 7k, T+

“What’s your name?” Han Juwon asks, not that he really cares what the answer is.

The man’s face does something complicated, spasms with a series of emotions Juwon can’t name. “Lee Dongsik,” he finally says.

---

Han Juwon wakes up in a hospital bed. The last thing he remembers is driving to Manyang for his first day of work.

this one hurt.

splinters by stickypearls, 9k, E

At night she dreams of dying. It is not just a memory: memories fade, the way she is already forgetting her father’s twitching shoulder or the odd twinkle in his eyes whenever she talked back at him. No, it is like she is back there for real, dirt darkening the world, buried alive in her own backyard.

AU where Kang Min-jeong lives.

listen. Kang Min-jeong deserves to be explored as a character.

i'd suffer hell if you'd tell me what you'd do to me tonight by ltyrell, 10k, E

A police fundraiser puts Han Juwon and Lee Dongsik in the same room at the same time, before everything.

[or: flirting with that handsome stranger at the bar gets a lot more high stakes once you realize he's the son of your boss, technically]

what it says on the tin. a really good too.

crashing in to something safe by little_roo, 11k, T+

Joo Won catches Min Jung’s elbow to the face and pain erupts in his nose. He is able to straighten the falling trio back up despite the pain but not before Min Jung yells out something intelligible and punches him in the lip. 

“Han Joo Won!” He feels Hyuk wrap an arm around him as more pain starts in his mouth, and he feels the coppery taste of blood. It makes his anxiety flare up and he has to take a deep breath to remind himself that it’s just blood and that it would be okay. He manages to take his handkerchief out from his pocket and presses it on his lip, wincing at the pain.

just a little bit of a misunderstanding, and ust...

Resonant Frequency by RC_McLachlan, 13k, E

Lee Dong-sik is an astonishingly good detective. Correction: was.

Ju-won wrestles with the reminder.

"What was your involvement when you were with the RIU?" Ju-won doesn't remember any of the detectives' names attached to the case notes, let alone if Dong-sik's was on the list, but then he hadn't been looking particularly hard. "I was part of the second team that took a crack at the investigation in 2010." "2009," Ju-won corrects. One side of Dong-sik's mouth pulls up. "Which means you were, what, eight?"

i do love competent Lee Dongsik

Emergency Contact by Magnolia822, 15k, E

After Han Joowon is injured in the line of duty, Lee Dongsik brings him back to Manyang for his convalescence.

He's going to get cared for whether he likes it or not.

oh the carefully pushed down emotions. this fic features having to help with baths. what a set up.

look at the fire and think of me by flumes, 25k, M

The wind must have announced his presence, must have alerted her most loyal guardian, for he hasn’t even lifted his hand to knock when the door swings open and there he stands. Hands in pockets, hip slightly cocked, the waves of jet black hair closer to a more familiar length. But it’s the twinkle in those curving eyes that feels the most surreal, a gut punch into a past that feels a lifetime ago from now, on the porch of Dong-sik’s old family home.

“It’s been a while, Inspector Han.”

Joo-won fights a grimace, looks up. “I need your help.”

my only bookmarked Beyond Evil fic, strange. but it's a very good one. intense.

no lost causes by princesskay, 60k, E 🔒

When a prominent Seoul defense attorney passes away unexpectedly, his fortune and his legacy fall to his only son, Han Joo-won, a recent bar graduate still finding his footing in his father’s firm. Included in the inheritance is a dying Japanese Cherry bonsai tree that once belonged to his mother and bears painful memories of her death years ago. Eager to be rid of the tree, Joo-won meets Lee Dong-sik, the owner of a bonsai nursery in the little village of Manyang, who reportedly takes on "lost cause trees." When Dong-sik insists upon keeping in contact about the survival of the tree, Joo-won warily agrees, not anticipating that the unexpected kindness of the strange but compelling man will change his worldview, his future, and his life.

this is a pretty recent one! a lot of the "big" BE fic were written in 2021, as the series was shown and gathered an audience. this fic is from mid 2023 and it was such a good read. as a plant enjoyer i loved the bonsai as something driving the story. in part.

skin the apple (and leave it to rot) by 64907, 67k, E

Mafia AU. In a bid to prove his worth, Han Joowon goes undercover in a rival clan to assassinate their leader.

no glorifying the mafia. this is dirty this it evil this is corrupt. so a lot of what the actual tv series is as well. the shifting dynamic, power and the tension here is excellent. do click on the author as well, they have some other really good ones as well.

and, i've written it in a few places, but click on the writer if you enjoy the fic. most of the fics i've rec'd here are by prolific writers in the fandom. there's lots to discover!

[kendall-coded]

hi guys! i have finished up my last event of the year and i just wanted to take some time to check in and review what i have been able to accomplish!

first and foremost, i would like to say that i will be taking a break from writing and possibly also a break from posting in general. i am not sure for how long, but at least for the rest of the year and maybe into early next year (definitely not for forever!) i am actually going to take a break this time, rather than saying i will take a break and then, you know, not doing it. i am going to be pausing my wips during this time (including all prompt fills that i still have in progress. they’re coming at some point guys, i promise!) the holiday season is not typically kind to me, so i just would like to be able to focus on one thing at a time and avoid any external stressors where i can. i typically write angst and more negatively-charged emotional pieces (as you all probably know by now lolol) and lately they’ve become just a little harder to produce. i would, as a whole, just like to avoid that general headspace during this time haha. regardless, thank you for all the support i have gotten this year, it is hard to wrap my mind around all of the kindness and i just want you all to know that it genuinely means the absolute world to me.

okay anyway sorry about the little feelings dump right off the bat, now for the fun stuff! i published my first (now deleted and buried) teen wolf fic on june 4, 2020 after freshly joining the fandom. over the course of 2020, i wrote 5 fics (then later deleted 4 of them lolol), totaling to about 52,085 words. i also rewrote and replanned my first big piece, which i posted the first two chapters of in december 2020 (i have included the word count of the other 10 chapters in my 2021 wrap up.)

this year gave me so many opportunities to learn and grow, and i feel like this is the best year i have ever had in terms of creative opportunity. this definitely has to do with the fact that i got to meet a handful of other people who have just generally made me better. i also managed to finally hone in on a style that i am proud of and comfortable working with. so, all of that said, i took some time to calculate a few stats for this year and, drumroll please, here’s what we’ve got!!!!

reece’s (sheetghosts) totally legit 2021 ao3 wrap up

this year i managed to:

- write a total of 252,520 words across 21 fics (a very drastic change from 5 fics totaling 52k in 2020 haha!)

- write and delete 15 fics, totaling 73,210 words (which would have put the original count to 325,530 words across 36 fics for the year…may they rest in peace.)

- bookmark 35 fics/series (i have not gotten to read as much as i would have liked this year ):)

- participate in 5 events (sterek big bang // we’ve become trees, hale week // if the moon walks out (the sky will understand), sterek reverse quickie // mark me like a bloodstain and inventing monsters, sterek week // buried like a dog (only posted to tumblr), and sterek secret santa // to be revealed later in the month.)

- write for two fandoms (only one small ficlet for a different fandom…teen wolf has me in a chokehold. but hey, it still counts!)

well, that’s a wrap on 2021!!! thank you to everyone who has supported me. we’ve become trees is almost at 500 kudos which just, like, rocks my world. the responses i’ve received for my works this year have been so unwaveringly kind and supportive. whenever i’m not having a good day, i go through and read my comments. i cannot truly say i’ve ever gotten a nasty one, for which i’m so grateful (also uhhhh knock on wood lolol.) you’re all the best and your engagement/interaction with my content has genuinely made me into a better writer. i have cherished all of your stories where you have shared personal anecdotes with me and how my works have helped you or given you a safe space. it is so surreal and it makes me feel so much bigger than i am. so, thank you all for an absolutely wonderful year and i look forward to what 2022 will bring!! i will see you all on the flipside <3

[realcleargoodtimes]

the mother of an Ohio State basketball player grabbed her purse and keys and headed into the night.

“I didn’t know where I was going,” she said, “but I knew I needed to find my child.”

Melissa Smitherman learned her son might be in danger minutes earlier when she received a disturbing phone call. A friend spotted Seth Towns among the protesters standing their ground against police orders during a Black Lives Matter rally in Columbus.

When Smitherman FaceTimed her son to check on him, an unfamiliar man answered her call. The man told Smitherman that Columbus police had just arrested Towns and taken him away, leaving only his phone behind.

For Smitherman, the uneasiness of the next few hours was the scariest experience of her life. She said she “didn’t know what was going to happen” to her son and she was "afraid of what I might find.”

Smitherman started her search for Towns by placing a handful of calls in hopes of discovering where detained protesters were being held. When that proved a dead end, Smitherman drove to the downtown Columbus police station to seek answers in person.

Barricaded streets did not deter Smitherman, nor did the presence of a horde of police officers standing guard in tactical gear. Eyes red and cheeks tear-stained, Smitherman pulled over her car and approached the nearest cop.

A Columbus police sergeant eventually directed Smitherman to a downtown firehouse a few blocks removed from the protests. When she arrived, Smitherman peered through a chain-link fence at the rear of the station and spied a sight no mother ever wants to see.

“My son was sitting with his hands behind his back and I could see that they were zip-tied,” Smitherman said. “My heart broke into a million pieces to see him like that.”

It may have stung Smitherman to see her son in handcuffs, but it didn’t surprise her that he would make such a sacrifice. In many ways, this day was a long time coming for a kid who has always prided himself on being a leader, daring to be different and standing up for what was right.

An uncommon student There is hardly anything about Seth Towns that’s typical of a basketball player with dreams of making the NBA.

The sweet-shooting 6-foot-7 forward has long been as accomplished a student as he is a basketball prospect.

At Northland High School in Columbus, Towns earned all-state honors twice in basketball yet maintained a GPA of above 4.0. He tutored older students, read voraciously and competed for the school’s nationally renowned math team.

Instead of accepting scholarship offers from the likes of Michigan or Ohio State, Towns opted to take a less common path. He selected Harvard out of high school, gambling that he could fulfill his basketball potential in the Ivy League while also receiving an unparalleled education.

“A lot of people in the basketball world were like, ‘Why would you go there?’ ” Towns recalled. “I told them, “It’s a chance to go to the best school in the world. Why wouldn’t I consider it?’ ”

At first, Towns dreamed of becoming a computer software engineer and developing apps for Google. Then a series of events altered his focus, taught him the power of his own voice and caused him to embrace the fight for racial equality.

The son of a black father and a blonde-haired, green-eyed mother, Towns grew up in a family that was pragmatic about racism. James Towns and Melissa Smitherman taught their son to cherish all humans regardless of race or ethnicity yet to never forget that some strangers will view him differently because of his skin color.

That message didn’t fully resonate with Towns until he took a African-American studies class for college credit his junior year of high school. No longer did Towns underestimate racial injustice in America after studying the high-profile deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and other unarmed blacks during encounters with the police.

“It was late in my adolescence, I was starting to form my own thoughts and that was a very pivotal moment in history,” Towns said. “In many respects, it was an awakening for me.”

In December 2014, amidst a national reckoning on police brutality against minorities, Towns decided he wanted to play a role in fighting for meaningful change. He helped organize a protest that not only fostered discussion at his high school but also drew the national media’s attention.

Just before the end of one school day, Towns and his African-American studies classmates gathered in the school’s common area and laid down as though they were dead. Taped to each of their backs were pieces of paper with the words “I can’t breathe,” a slogan derived from Garner’s last words while in a police officer’s chokehold.

Miceli Peña @_MiceliRoyce Northland High School ✊ #Respect #ICantBreathe

View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter 153 3:44 PM - Dec 12, 2014 Twitter Ads info and privacy 155 people are talking about this “Seth was the kind of student that made you want to be a better educator,” said Kevin Tooson, Northland’s African-American studies teacher at the time. “He was hungry for knowledge, he possessed the intellectual bandwidth to take it all in and if he thought something was wrong, he was willing to stand up and say something about it.”

Seth Town’s inspiration If Towns learned to speak his mind during high school, it was Harvard where he developed his voice. He forged relationships with the kind of people that most college basketball players don’t have on their contact list.

Harvard coach Tommy Amaker organizes a monthly breakfast in Cambridge that exposes his players to leaders from the sports world and beyond. Among the invited guests who Towns now counts as mentors: Best-selling author Mitch Albom, former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and civil rights activist Dr. Harry Edwards.

It also influenced Towns seeing other high-profile athletes use their clout to further important causes. Towns described himself as “monumentally inspired” after Colin Kaepernick came to Harvard in 2018 and spoke about why he was willing to jeopardize his football career to keep fighting for racial justice.

Perhaps Towns’ biggest source of motivation was a tragedy that reminded him how rare it is for an inner-city kid like himself to have the opportunity to mingle with luminaries or to get a world-class education. On Oct. 19, 2018, close friend and former high school teammate Jordan “Kizzzy” Kinchen died in a double shooting in Columbus.

Kinchen’s murder led Towns to focus on creating more opportunities for underprivileged African-American kids. He researched ways to improve test scores, to offer internships and to provide college opportunities where they didn’t previously exist.

“Seth wanted everyone to believe that if he could do it, they could too,” Smitherman said.

Towns had more time than he wanted to focus on making a difference away from basketball at Harvard because injuries limited his impact on the court.

The Ivy League’s 2017-18 player of the year suffered a right knee injury late in a loss to Penn in that season’s conference title game. Lingering pain in both knees sidelined Towns for both the past two seasons and forced him to undergo surgery last December.

That injury history didn’t keep marquee programs from pursuing Towns when he announced his intent to leave Harvard as a graduate transfer this spring. Towns chose hometown Ohio State over a long list of suitors that included Duke, Kansas, Virginia and Syracuse.

On May 28, the day he graduated from Harvard with a sociology degree, Towns celebrated at a rooftop bar in downtown Columbus. He remembers experiencing a twinge of regret when he peered down at the street below and saw a throng of demonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd without him.

“It made me upset that I wasn’t part of that,” Towns said, “so I decided that the next day  my voice was going to be heard.”

‘Say his name!’ Seth Towns continued to shout, "Say his name!" as Columbus police detained him. (Twitter) Seth Towns continued to shout, "Say his name!" as Columbus police detained him. (Twitter) The protest that ended with Towns in handcuffs began with him fighting back tears.

It was emotional for him to see his hometown come together to demand equal rights.

When Towns arrived, he joined dozens of protesters gathered in front of the Columbus police station calling for justice for Floyd. Once the crowd swelled to about 500, protesters marched up and down High and Broad streets while chanting Floyd’s name.

“Standing among them, I felt such deep solidarity and such deep pain from their voices,” Towns said. “It brought tears to my eyes hearing and feeling all that.”

The mood of the protest became more tense later that evening when police officers sought to clear the area. Columbus police allege that protesters were throwing bricks and rocks, setting off fireworks and breaking windows of downtown businesses.

Towns was among the protesters who chose to stand their ground despite verbal warnings. Police then began using their bikes or horses to push the crowd back by force.

Towns said he was standing with his arms around his throat screaming “I can’t breathe” when six police officers surrounded him and forced his hands behind his back. The Ohio State forward described the incident as “a surreal moment to say the least” and said the officers’ decision to detain him “seemed out of the blue.”

In a video that went viral on social media that night, Towns can be seen shouting, “Say his name!” while officers restrain him. “George Floyd!” a group of protesters yell back.

Seth 💤 @seth_towns17 SAY HIS NAME

Embedded video 2,480 4:01 PM - May 30, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 677 people are talking about this “I was standing up for what I believe in,” Towns said. “I wasn’t stopping whether I was being detained, arrested or beaten.”

A fellow protester who witnessed police take Towns confirmed that he did nothing to provoke them besides stand his ground.

“From what I saw, he was simply not moving from the road,” Eric Bailey said. “I'm not sure what he did that was different from what I had done that would make them detain him and not me. He had not acted aggressively. He had not thrown a bottle. He did not yell at the officers. He did nothing but exercise his first amendment [rights].”

Whatever the reason, Columbus police took Towns away by van and held him at the nearby firehouse with four other protesters arrested that night. There he remained until his mother spotted him through the chain-link fence a few hours later.

From Harvard graduation to the back of a police van If Towns was surprised to find himself in police custody, he was just as shocked to have his mother arrive out of nowhere.

Smitherman even talked her way into the firehouse, where police allowed her to sit alongside her son while he was detained.

“I’ll tell you what crossed my mind when I was sitting there,” Smitherman said. “If I was a black mother, would I have been afforded that same opportunity? Would a black mother have been given the same opportunity to keep her child safe?”

Columbus police eventually released Towns without arresting him. Then his mother drove him home and he got a few hours sleep.

By the time Towns awoke the next morning, his story was everywhere. Media outlets across the country picked up the story of a basketball player who graduated from Harvard one day and was detained by the police the next.

Rather than hide from the story, Towns recognized that he “had a unique opportunity to have people listen.” Later that day, he filmed himself reading a powerful statement that made it clear he had no remorse for his detainment.

Seth 💤 @seth_towns17 Embedded video 5,196 3:47 PM - May 30, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 1,427 people are talking about this “In a span of just 24 hours, I walked across a Harvard virtual graduation stage to the back of a police van, both of which I am equally proud of,” he said.

Towns reiterated that sentiment during an interview on SportsCenter that evening. He pledged to continue to use his voice to speak out for “people who are unheard.”

On May 31, two days after his detainment, Towns returned to downtown Columbus to protest again, this time armed with a megaphone. Towns delivered a passionate speech, telling fellow protesters, “We are here, we are peaceful, we are loud and we will do this every day until we get what we demand.”

Seth 💤 @seth_towns17 We will not be silenced https://twitter.com/_niaChanel/status/1267278174624366598 …

Chanel @_niaChanel Embedded video 1,579 10:12 PM - May 31, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 303 people are talking about this The way Towns sees it, this is a historic moment that the Black Lives Matter movement must seize. Americans are more cognizant of the systemic racism the movement insists persists in this country and more open to embracing change.

“This has been the most educational two weeks of my entire life,” he said. “I’ve learned a ton about how the system works and what steps we need to take going forward.

“My biggest takeaway is that having a few things change with police reform wouldn’t be enough. Now is the time that ending institutional racism needs to be pushed to the forefront of our nation’s efforts. Liberty is what this nation is founded on and right now there is a group of people that is not experiencing the same liberty as others.”

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