#spoilers it doesnt have a happy end il

[burnheartmusic]

Spent the evening trying to ignore my ear infection by publishing the ebook for the novella I wrote this year through KDP

It should be live in 72 hours or so?

[hometownrockstar]

one time i got this youtube vid recommended to me that was titled smth like "How to write a good twist" and it compared the story twists in Invincible and Squid Games (spoilers for just Squid Games in this post, in case you havent seen it for some reason) and i was like yeah i'll bite bc i like both those shows. so i watched it and boiling down the difference between these twists is: rewatching while knowing Invincible's twist recontextualizes many off-hand moments and lines in a satisfying way, while knowing Squid Game's twist makes those moments worse on a rewatch. and watching this i agreed with the way he explained it, i think he made good points as to why squid game's twist is bad in a typical storywriting way especially compared to invincible which does those typical ways well, but i ended the video disagreeing based on my own experience when i first watched squid game.

I dont think the twist in Squid Game is genius or anything, but the reaction other people had to it caught me off-guard, as they seemed to think it was for shock, or just dumb, or like how that video guy said, ruined the "touching" moments with Oh Il-nam in hindsight. but for me, while watching the scene in the room with the clock, i tried to think abt how it fits into the anticapitalist metaphor the entire show is based and themed around. Contrasting Gi-hun's refusal to use his newly gained wealth to better himself or anything around him with Il-nam's selfish desires to simply have fun in spite of how many die because of it and how he knows his money cushions him from responsibility or any risk in the games unlike the other contestants. and Gi-hun realizing that he isnt like Il-nam, and that he has to move past his survivor's guilt to help others with what he has, the same way he helped Il-nam during the games despite it being a much greater risk to him with no reward.

Taking these thoughts and keeping them in mind during a rewatch, i dont believe it ruins any of those moments for me. it doesnt make them happier or more optimistic, but it recontextualizes this character and his actions and roles into a new metaphor for people under capitalism (as i believe every character represents a different facet of how people navigate through it, whether it be through force, deception, or kindness and community). Before the twist, Il-nam is an elderly man with no family, healthcare or social programs to properly take care of him. he is also seen as a burden on others by those also in the games, refusing to compromise themselves to help him. thus, Gi-hun's actions have always felt like the centerpiece of this relationship to me, showing that you need to stand by one another and protect the most vulnerable, and how this isnt naiveté but bravery. its also strategic, as his kindness and ideas had helped him and others many times throughout the games. brute force and deception arent the only ways to make it.

but when the twist is realized, it shows that Il-nam was never at risk. his money and power as well as his knowledge of the games beforehand always protected him from facing consequences and gave him an undue advantage, one that is overlooked by the floormaster despite stating previously that the fairness in the game is the most important element. Gi-hun going out of his way to help him and this directly leading him surviving several of the games and finally winning, only to find out the seemingly pathetic old man everybody avoided had played a hand in his victory in the end, this sounds like a happy ending to a fable about teaching kindness. but it obviously isnt, as its supposed to be a souring twist, one meant to make you feel like Gi-hun: cheated and just as guilty as Il-nam is. but Gi-hun is able to refuse to go along with his selfish games or concede that it was all worth it in the end, and return to his kind ways he had lost after the game.

this is why i dont think its a bad twist solely based on whether it makes the touching moments between Il-nam and Gi-hun feel bad in hindsight. rather, it emphasizes Gi-hun's uncompromising morals and reasserts them in the end when he confronts Il-nam. and i think a twist isnt bad or good based on whether those moments feel "ruined" again, but instead if they recontextualize it and fit the broader themes of the story in a satisfying way. but i dont like saying this or that trope or rule of writing is THE way to write things, thats the whole reason i wrote this post actually, to show why i disagree with that single view of how a twist "should" be written.