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skeilig · 2 years ago

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Ranking every Lalo episode by how sexy he is, or: I was in the car for hours today and had to write a listicle to entertain myself.

5.06 “Wexler v. Goodman”

Lalo only has one short scene in this episode, and no dialogue, so this is basically a default choice for least sexy. However, it’s still pretty sexy that he was ready to exchange fire with up to three cops in broad daylight and only decided to surrender when a fourth cop car showed up. LOL.

5.02 “50% Off”

While this is the seminal Lacho episode, it is not, in my opinion, a very notable Lalo episode. However, he still has great moments including: giggling and eating snacks while watching Nacho risk his life, cooking lunch for himself and Nacho, and going all dead shark eyes on Nacho until he offers to kill his childhood friend.

6.05 “Black and Blue”

I’m sure this is a controversially low rating. You can send me anon hate about it, but first, hear me out. The thing is, I love LALO and he’s not LALO in this episode, is he? He’s Ben from America, complete with a standard American accent and fluffy Marvel hair and a personality-devoid suit. However, this episode gets some points for buenos días, Osito :-) I’ve never wanted to be a dog so bad— [gunshots]

5.01 “Magic Man”

His outfit in the Wernerrrr Zieglerrrr scene is actually one of my least favorites but the outfit he wears to his cartel chicken farm meeting is one of my all-time faves so it balances out. He shows a lot of ankle in this episode and makes an insane homophobic crack about Gus. Solid episode, lots of screen time.

6.01 “Wine and Roses”

Que se chingue Bolsa, que se chingue Eladio!! Lo voy a lastimar, lo voy a lastimar como usted me dijo y después lo voy a matar, tío! I’ve been repeating that to myself for months, sorry. Solid episode, he got to kill 4 people which was probably a nice release of pent-up emotion for him.

5.08 “Bagman”

Out of his two prison-arc episodes, this one is slightly less sexy, but it’s still pretty good. The way he gives Jimmy a hard time about asking for $100k payment for bringing the bail, and the whole scene with Kim is insane, he’s such a creep and a weirdo but that's Not a turn-off for me.

4.09 “Wiedersehen”

It’s about the softly-lit and softly-spoken monologue to Hector fondly recounting spine-chilling violence. His other scene this episode, at Pollos, is more funny than sexy—with the notable exception of, “I’m just shitting you. You would be crazy to go up against Eladio.” I know that line drips with dramatic irony since Gus ultimately wins but STILL, it’s so hot. I’m docking some points for his disaster ‘fit of a wrinkled untucked pale pink shirt, brown pants and blue loafers. Actually, no, adding the points back in because it’s so funny that he threw that together. Net zero points for the ‘fit.

6.06 “Axe and Grind”

I’m trying to maintain SOME integrity with this list, and Lalo has less screentime in this episode than in most of the higher ranked episodes. But you guys get it. His five-or-so minute scene in this episode features: being a dick about the German language, wheezing on the ground, carajo I think you broke one of my ribs, and the infamous one-handed belt removal. The only reason this isn’t higher on the list is because Lalo is always SO sexy that this is like, pretty standard stuff for him. It just happens to be super concentrated, 100% strength here, all packed into one short scene.

5.07 “JMM”

It’s partially the framing of these scenes, isn’t it? Right after Jimmy’s cute courthouse wedding he’s called in for surprise cartel lawyer duties, and Lalo—sorry, Jorge de Guzman—enters the room in his sexy orange jumpsuit and you can feel his narrative weight in each heavy, handcuff-clinking step. And that’s sexy, okay? Plot relevance is sexy. The line “time to get yourself a new motto: just. make. money.” is almost TOO good, TOO clever and on-the-nose, but the delivery sells it I think.

4.08 “Coushatta”

Lalo’s intro scene is just… so fucking good. He crashes into the narrative at the best-worst time and enters by singing, cooking, and telling Nacho he’s going to die. Hilarious. Also he looks so good in this scene: the waist apron, the hair, his diabolical winking and smiling, his level of comfort with how visibly terrified everyone else is of him. I love that in a man.

5.03 “The Guy for This”

I will never get tired of watching Lalo torture Jimmy, sorry, it’s the funniest/hottest thing in the world. Jimmy must be really FUN to torture, too, because he gets so nervous and squirmy and runs his mouth a lot. This isn’t meant to sound sexual but if it does, that’s… fine. Anyway. Uh. Yeah, this episode is good. Klah!

4.10 “Winner”

This is the culmination of Lalo’s season 4 three-episode introduction arc and it’s so fun and really cements him as a member of the cast. The singing, the stakeout, the left-handedness, the road rage, the murder, the arson (in the deleted scene), and of course, “Michael? Is that you?” 🔥 🔥 🔥

5.10 “Something Unforgivable”

Is this episode a Lalo cringe compilation? Undoubtedly. Is it also in his top three sexiest episodes? Obviously. I love when he exhibits some emotional range and these last three episodes definitely have that. His insecurity as he works so hard to impress Eladio, and how he tries to open up to Nacho only to be immediately sent to gay super hell… He does his best thinking when everyone else is asleep. What on earth is he talking about? I’d love to find out.

6.07 “Plan and Execution”

Let me just copy-paste what I wrote immediately after watching this episode. Ahem *clears throat* — this was the #1 sexiest lalo episode ever, and it’s because it had the most RANGE: his sewer rat truck stop lifestyle, flip flops, SHOWER SCENE, insane-girl-vlogging, perfectly styled hair while sitting in a storm drain for the 4th day in a row, gnawing on snacks like a little rat, getting sad and calling his uncle, temper tantrum, getting played by gus and then immediately playing gus back, the fly-fishing OVERALLS?, and that JACKET is such a good look for him… also, murder–

5.09 “Bad Choice Road”

This is still the premier Lalo episode imo… I had some recency bias when I wrote the above description and upon reflection I’m bumping 607 to the #2 slot—for now. But Schnauz really tried to outdo himself and I respect that. Patron saint of Lalo girls. Cut shower scene aside, 509 has a lot of Lalo pathos, both in his goodbye to Hector and in his genuine compliment to Nacho. Of course, though, this list is about sexiness, and the Jimmy/Kim/Lalo confrontation is soooo sexy. I’m sorry women, but Lalo shushing Kim without even looking at her… 🥵 and the sound of his boots on the floor when he takes slow-deliberate steps toward Jimmy 😵‍💫 and when Jimmy says “I already told you what happened” and Lalo snaps, “Did you?” 🥴

OKAY, that’s it, that’s the list, thanks for coming everybody. I’m still in the car.

#better call saul

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justmypartner · 3 years ago

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Still Breathing: Chapter 4

Summary: AU | When a case goes sideways, Hailey wakes up in the hospital with a revelation that leaves her evaluating her life. While she recovers at Med, she meets Jay, an aloof, yet intriguing patient that catches her by surprise. The two get to know one another as they take on the task of rediscovering what it’s like to truly live, and eventually learn their lives intersect in more ways than one.

Writer’s Note: Hello all! I hope you are enjoying this story so far! I don't have much to say other than I so appreciate the kind comments I've gotten thus far! I really enjoy the feedback and discord after posting a chapter, so keep it coming - I love to hear your thoughts. Enjoy!!

Read on AO3 or below

A glow of sunlight filtering in through her curtains pulled Hailey out of a deep sleep the next morning. As her eyes fluttered open, part of her was waiting for the other shoe to drop. For it to be just another dream that would morph into a nightmare and leave her waking with tacky, sweat-covered skin and an irregular pulse. It took her a moment, but she eventually realized it wasn’t another dream. She was awake, and she had just slept fully through the night, unobstructed by her haunting memories. A naive thought credited it to Jay’s text from the night before, but the cynic in her figured it was just her many nights of restlessness finally catching up with her. Whatever it was, she was glad for that one night of freedom. It wasn’t enough to convince her the nightmares were gone completely, but she was willing to take what she could get.

When she checked the clock on her bedside table, it read 15 minutes before her alarm was due to go off. She climbed out of bed then, figuring she could use the extra time with how much longer getting ready took with one arm still out of commission. Showering was a hassle, doing her hair was nearly impossible, and getting dressed required a specific strategy she hadn’t quite perfected yet. By the time she had gathered the last of her things to stuff into her duffle, it was time to go.

The final thing she did was pull her sidearm from the safe in her bedroom and secure it in the side of the bag. She found it strange to wear her star without her weapon. It left a misplaced feeling in the back of her mind like she was forgetting something, but it was a feeling she knew she’d have to get used to over the next few weeks.

As unexciting as desk duty sounded, she was glad in a way that she’d be able to ease back into things. She wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but after everything that happened, the thought of going into the field was unsettling. Physically she was feeling 100%, with exception of her arm still being in a sling, but mentally she wasn’t prepared for the field again. She was more than ready to be back at work. She hated being out, leaving the team short-handed after only two weeks of joining them to solve just that, so she was eager to get back to them. She was just glad that the shooting’s effects on her body provided a reason to disguise the mental ones that left her hesitant to get back on the streets.

When she finally made it to work, she took a deep breath before climbing the steps into the district. She wasn’t sure what to expect. She warned the team against any sort of welcome back. At her old district, it was a tradition to greet cops who were injured on the job with a grand welcoming, but she always hated the idea of it. The attention was bad enough, but she always thought it was strange to celebrate someone almost dying for simply doing their job. Immediately as she reached the top of the steps, her shoulders relaxed to see the lobby empty. Not even the ever so illustrious desk sergeant was at her post, so she took the opportunity to sneak upstairs.

She was surprised to be greeted with a vacant bullpen. She wasn’t sure who she was expecting, but she imagined at least someone would have beaten her there. As she moved through the space towards the locker room, a low wince behind the desks stopped her in her tracks. She then heard what sounded like someone falling over, followed by a murmur of suppressed laughter.

“Okay, what the hell is going on?” she finally questioned, both amused and muddled by the unsourced noises.

“This is officially the last time I include Ruz in a surprise,” Kim said, shaking her head with an enlivened grin as she and the other two Intelligence members climbed out from behind the desks.

“You stepped on my foot, what’d you expect me to do?” Adam bridled, causing Hailey and the others to let out stifled snickers.

God, did she miss those idiots.

“Sorry, Upton. This was supposed to be a fun little welcome back, but I guess it’s a bit anticlimactic now so uh, here,” Kevin said, extending the cup of coffee in his hand out to her. “Welcome back,” he smiled, his contagious smile enough to get her grinning from ear to ear.

“Thanks, guys,” she said quietly. “You didn’t have to do anything, but I appreciate it, and I’m just glad to be back.”

“We’re glad you’re back,” Kim said, the two guys nodding in agreement. Hailey smiled, dipping her head sheepishly before cutting the sudden silence with a sigh.

“Well, I still need to hit the locker room, but I fully expect a rundown of what I’ve missed while I was gone when I come back,” she told them before turning on her heels and heading down the hall.

As she was putting the last of her things into her locker, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She sat on the bench behind her as she retrieved the phone, tapping the screen to read the message that had just come in. Her face instantly lit up when she saw who it was from.

Happy first day back! Kick ass!

Her fingers tapped out a response quickly.

Kinda hard to do that from a desk, but I’m sure I’ll find a way lol

She settled on it before pocketing the phone and making her way back into the bullpen. The team caught her up on what she’d missed, and she told them about how uneventful her recovery was, leaving out the part where she met a new friend. They dished out all of their details, work-related and non-work-related until Voight eventually showed. He took only a brief moment to check up on Hailey and welcome her back before they dove into the day’s case.

Hailey spent the rest of the day combing through pod footage, making phone calls, and digging up any other information she could to relay back to the team. It wasn’t the most glamorous part of the job, but it kept her busy and it helped her to find her groove again.

By the end of the day, they were unofficially able to close up the case. They still had batches of paperwork to fill out, but other than that it was pretty cut and dry, so Voight sent them home.

As they exited the district, her three fellow officers expressed how happy they were to have her back for the last time that day. It gave her the warmest feeling as she realized she got to work with some of the best people she’d ever met, but it also made her happy to have been so clearly missed by them. Walking out with them she took in every smile and every laugh. It was such a trivial moment, but it was the kind of memory her new outlook on life made her want to cherish.

When she pulled up outside of her place, a car she’d never seen along her street before caught her eye. It was a baby blue, vintage, convertible of some sort. She wasn’t much of a car person, but it was just one of those cars no person could refuse to appreciate. After one last glance at it, she hopped out of her own car and made her way up to her front door. She froze when she saw a friendly figure perched on her small stoop. A confused smile crept across her face as Jay stood, shoving his hands in his pockets as he sauntered towards her.

“Hi?” She greeted, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Hey, how was your day? Did you kick ass?” he asked casually, now standing only but a few feet in front of her.

“Good, and I guess as best as I could behind a desk… what are you doing here?” she asked, her eyes darting around in confusion.

“In honor of your first day back, we are going to cross something off my list,” he told her. His words coming out slowly, and she noted the way they came out as a statement rather than a question.

“It better not be the one where you jump in the Chicago River,” she challenged, pointing a finger out with her words. He let out a chuckle, his mouth twisting into a sinister smile.

“No…” she muttered, a sudden bout of fear rising in her.

“I’m kidding, come on,” he instructed, brushing past her as he nonchalantly headed out toward the street.

It was only when he stopped at the driver’s side of the car that she realized the connection.

“Wait, that’s yours?” she questioned, a look of disbelief on her face.

“Don’t look so surprised,” he replied, the rise in his voice’s pitch revealing to her that he was bluffing. All it took was one raised brow, and he immediately caved.

“Okay fine, it’s a loaner. I’ve got a lot of friends in high places,” he shrugged, steadying a hand against the top of the door as he jumped over it and into the driver’s seat.

Since they’d met, she’d tried to keep her thoughts about him purely platonic. For the most part, she’d been fairly successful, but there was something about the way he jumped into that seat so smoothly that was so damn hot. That, the green beanie he wore that brought out the forest color of his eyes, and the way he looked so confident in that car had her questioning her feelings for a moment. She stood on the sidewalk looking over at him, slightly lost in a lingering gaze as butterflies danced about in her stomach. It was only when he cleared his throat that she was snapped out of it.

“So, you coming or what?”

“Coming where?”

“It’s item number seven on my list, rent a convertible and drive down Lake Shore late at night,” he smirked, one arm propped against the headrest of the passenger seat and the other draped over the steering wheel.

“Okay, that actually does sound pretty fun. Let me put my bag up,” she told him, lightly jogging to her front door before haphazardly tossing the bag into the dark space and locking up again. As she approached the car, he leaned over and pushed the door open for her, and she slipped into the passenger seat.

“Ready?” he asked, and she confirmed the question with a nod.

When he started the car, the roar of the engine was loud enough to send a judder through her bones. When he sped off down the street, she found herself instinctively clutching at the sides of the car for stability. She was filled with equal parts fear and exhilaration as they raced up and down half-empty streets.

By the time they reached Lake Shore, the sun had already set, but twilight brought out a deep blue tinge that stood out against the city lights. It was like she was seeing the city for the first time. Like she was falling in love with it all over again. That view, with the roar of the engine, wind blowing through her hair, and the 70s roadtrip music he’d put on playing through the old stereo made her feel like she was in a movie. He drove the road until they reached just about the outskirts of the city. He pulled the car off somewhere near Montrose beach and got out, quickly running over to her side to open her door.

“And they say chivalry’s dead,” she teased, masking the way the simple act had her stomach doing flips. He rolled his eyes at her, a slightly embarrassed smile on his face as she stepped out and he pushed the door shut behind her.

“So what are we doing here?” she questioned as he led them closer to the shore of the lake.

“I don’t know. We ran out of road, the lake’s pretty in the moonlight, and after a boring day of desk duty, I feel like it’s not a half-bad way to end the night,” he said simply, sitting down on the ledge by the lake.

As she sat down with him, she quickly realized how much colder it was by the water. The brisk wind brushing against her skin through the open top of the car was one thing, but the coolness of the lakefront breeze was almost intolerable. She suddenly wished she’d thought to grab her jacket from her duffle before they left. As she settled down beside him, she clutched her arms tightly against her chest as shivers jumped through her body. Before she knew it, as if he had read her mind, he shimmied off his jacket and held it out to her. She thanked him, a tone of gratitude and hesitation in her voice as she pulled it on over her shoulders. When she did, she noticed him glancing over at her badge still displayed on her hip. His eyes lingered there before he realized she’d caught him looking and he quickly diverted his eyes, holding back whatever question the object had generated.

“What?” she asked in an attempt to pull it out of him.

“Hm? Nothing,” he shrugged off. She knew it wasn’t nothing, but she decided against pressing him for whatever it was. She knew the job was a touchy subject, and she figured it was best to leave it alone.

“So I’ve been meaning to tell you, and I may sound crazy for this, but part of me feels like your text last night actually worked,” she informed him, fidgeting with a loose pebble she found on the ground beside her.

“What text?” his face contorted as he seemed to comb through his memory from the night before. “Oh wait… no nightmares?”

She shook her head.

“First night without them after more than three straight. Maybe you’ve got some sort of magic touch,” she half-joked, her tight-lipped grin growing across her face.

“I don’t know if I can take credit for that, but that’s good. You deserve that peace,” his voice was soft and low, and she didn’t miss the way his cheek dimpled slightly when he flashed her a small smile.

“So what’d you get into today?” she asked him, tucking one of her legs in and twisting so that she could face him.

“Um let’s see, I had a doctor’s appointment this morning, went to the grocery store, had a therapy session this afternoon, you know, all very exciting things,” he said, counting out each activity on his fingers.

“You go to therapy?” she asked, instantly regretful of the almost judgmental tone she carried as the words left her mouth. She just couldn’t help but be surprised that someone like him, a cop, a veteran, a man would be so open about it. She realized the thought only played into the toxic mentalities surrounding mental health and masculinity that she despised so much, but part of her also wondered if it was her own reluctance to start therapy that made her so staggered by the idea.

“Yeah, for a few years now. Based on your reaction, I’m going to assume you don’t?”

“I’ve done the mandatory sessions with the department shrink after shootings before, but never anything consistent. How’d you get started?” she wasn’t even sure if it was an appropriate question to ask, but she was so intent on knowing more that she didn’t take time to second guess it. Though, she was relieved when his face read an expression of musing rather than one of annoyance.

“There’s a bad take we often absorb as cops — as people really, but even more so as cops. We get injured on the job, we do whatever we need to do to heal, and we jump through whatever hoops we gotta jump through just to get back out there. The problem is there’s such a focus on our physical healing that we neglect what needs to be addressed mentally. I went through my whole life doing that. You get to a point where after so many times of telling people you’re fine, you start to convince yourself that you are,” he inhaled deeply, staring out at the lake briefly before he brought his eyes back to her and continued.

“Thing is, you do that for too long and you start to lose sight of what’s real. I was so against getting help, so against the idea that there was anything wrong with me that I began to just accept the fact that I was suffering. Then one day, that sense of reality I’d lost came back and bit me… hard. After that, I started going to therapy, very reluctantly at first, but eventually, I realized it was saving me. Helping me get to a place where I was healing instead of dealing, and I haven’t turned back from it since,” he finished, tightening his lips together as he peered into her eyes with a look of confidence. Like he knew everything he’d said was exactly what she needed to hear.

“Damn,” she whispered, blankly staring out at the lake as she processed his words. She blinked rapidly to recede the tears that had emerged. She’d spent her entire life, best put in his words, dealing rather than healing. She was no stranger to trauma, in fact, she was far from it, but she was a stranger to properly addressing it. She wasn’t against therapy, she just figured she didn’t need it. That she was doing fine on her own, but that one conversation with him was making her think otherwise.

“Well, maybe I should add therapy to my still breathing list,” she quipped, her best attempt at lightening the mood.

“Not a bad thing to add,” he smirked, his face softening as he propped an arm behind him to lean back against.

“Well, my first thing was kinda lame, so I figure it can only go up from here,” she joked, a mischievous grin spouting across her face. He scoffed, clutching at his chest as he feigned hurt by her words.

They talked for maybe longer than they should’ve, falling into an easy rhythm back and forth as they talked about anything and everything that came to mind. Hailey was the type of person who could talk to any and everyone if she had to, but there was something about talking to him that felt like a routine. Like one that she’d memorized by heart and never wanted to go without. After a while, she realized the time, realized she still hadn’t eaten, and that she had work early the next morning.

“God I didn’t realize how late it was, we should probably head back,” she told him, pushing herself up to stand. He nodded, standing with her as he fumbled in his pocket for the keys.

“Now… I know this was for my list but do you wanna drive back?” he asked, rising to stand with her. He dangled the keys in front of her. Her face brightened immediately, and he couldn’t hold in the puff of laughter that came with it.

“I thought you were never going to ask,” she joked, pulling his jacket tight across her body with her free hand before snatching the keys and making her way over to the driver’s side. As he climbed into the passenger seat, she crossed her good arm around the steering wheel to turn the key, and the engine started with a roar. She revved it a few times, looking over at Jay whose fearful expression had laughter escaping her lips.

“Am I going to regret this?” he asked, but instead of answering she just swiveled the steering wheel to pull off the shoulder, gunning the engine down the presently empty street.

Before long they were back at her place, and she shifted the gear into park before turning off the engine. Driving with one arm was harder than she thought it would be, mainly for the fact that the ignition and gear shift were on the right side and her right arm was still in a sling. Yet, it didn’t stop her from having the time of her life driving such a car. She climbed out after she handed him back the keys, making her way around to lean against the back bumper.

“That was incredible,” she told him, digging in her pocket for her own keys.

“Anyone ever tell you that you drive like a maniac?” he jabbed, causing her to lightly kick at his leg.

“So what else is on that list of yours?” she inquired, noting the way he shadowed over her.

“Hm, I don’t know. I kind of liked surprising you tonight. If I tell you, it may take the fun away when we get around to the next one,” he admitted, a childlike softness in his voice that made it hard for her to be mad at his obscurity. She cut her eyes at him, and she noticed the way his brow furrowed back innocently.

“Are you always this aloof?”

“Only with you.”

She rolled her eyes at him dramatically, shaking her head at his goading.

“Well, thanks for tonight,” she said, pulling the jacket from her shoulders and offering it back to him.

“Next time we’ll do something from your list,” he told her as she pushed herself from the car and made her way up to her front door.

“Sounds like a plan,” she twirled around to tell him, her lips curling up at the thought of another night like that one.

“And Hailey,” he called out, just as she reached the top of the steps.

“Sleep well. No bad dreams,” he uttered, a small smile creeping across his face as his hands found way to his pockets.

It was the last time that night an action of his had caused an unexpected flutter in her stomach. She was embarrassed and somewhat fearful of the way those simple words had her feeling so dippy. Maybe it was the sentiment behind them, the way he’d said it, or the stupid smile on his face when he said it, but she wondered if the feeling that he’d erupted was more than just a fleeting one. She quickly pushed that thought down, dipping her head before hesitantly meeting his eyes once more.

“Goodnight, Jay,” she told him before making her way inside, shutting the door and locking it behind her as if it would somehow protect her from what had just happened.

She had to blame it on her exhaustion and the slight adrenaline rush she got from the night’s events. She’d also never had a friend like him. Someone who always had the perfect thing to say, whose company felt so natural and necessary, who seemed to relate so much to everything she was feeling. It was admiration more than anything, she told herself. He was just her friend, and he’d stay that way. Yet, as much as she tried to convince herself that all of those times that night that suggested differently were just flukes, she ended the night with a looming thought that wondered otherwise.

#upstead #jay x hailey #hailey x jay #jay halstead #hailey upton #chicago pd #upstead fic #justmypartner fics #collection of Em’s fics

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drivingsideways · 3 years ago

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Hey talk to me about your top three favourite kdrama women. What makes them special? What's a fic you would like to write about any one of them?

Mystery anon! :D What a lovely ask.

I’m going to cheat a bit and divide my answer into characters I loved a lot, but do not want to write fic about, because I think the canon gives me what I need; and characters that I loved a lot but NEED TO BE RESCUED ZOMG. (My fic writing impulses are 50% spite and 50% fix-it )

Caveat being that I’ve still watched only maybe a dozen kdramas, so I’m pretty limited in my knowledge!

Characters that I love a lot, but have very zero fic impulses toward:

Han Yeo-jin from Stranger/Secret Forest: What a delight! What an iconique character! Is there anyone like her? NO. LSY-nim gives us a delightfully complex character, and Bae Doona knocks it out of the park in every single scene, so I’m just happy to be along for the ride. I think what makes Yeo-jin special for me is the intrinsic place of empathy that she operates from. I think “righteous” is a word that often comes with negative connotations (self-righteous, for eg), but I do think she’s one of the most righteous-in-the-good-way characters I’ve watched in kdrama or any drama. I’m tired of stories that portray goodness as “boring” , as unworthy of narrative breadth or depth, and I love that Han Yeo-jin comes to us like a breath of fresh air in our particular dystopian narratives hellscape. She’s good, but never naive. She’s righteous but never cruel in her moral certainties. I think that LSY nim, in the second season especially, gave Yeo-jin the kind of arc that character deserved when she’s forced to really dig deep into herself to figure out how she’s going to live in the world in the face of a deeply cutting, deeply personal disillusionment, and I’m really hoping for an S3 to see how that plays out further.

Goo Hae-ryung from Rookie Historian: Ok, I will admit this may be rose tinted glasses view due to this show being my gateway drug into kdrama, but c’mon! She’s a reader! and a Thinker! And loves her wine! She’s plucky! She’s cute! She’s got a wry sense of humour! She’s got principles! She’s got a solid common sense to her that somehow doesn’t get in the way of her dreaming BIG! Oh dear, doesn’t she sound like the Mary-est of Mary Sues? Good for her.gif, I say! Anyways, Shin Se-kyung is unutterably charming in this (AS IN EVERY SHOW OMG GIRL) and I just have a huge fondness for free-spirited heroines who get to tramp through the narrative changing the world as they do!

Lee Ji-an from My Ahjussi: I’ve never had my heart broken more OR restored by any single character. IU is *phenomenal * in this, I think she really stepped up to what the script demanded from her. Ji-an’s weariness, her fear and vulnerability, her prickliness, her anger and her bitterness, and how, despite everything, she fights : GOD. Just. Again, what I love about the writing in this show is that it’s deeply empathetic without being cloyingly sentimental. I think a less, hmm, imaginative writer/PD might have focused on the Lee Ji-an the victim, and while the show definitely tells you in no uncertain terms that she is one, of both circumstances and a cruel society, I think it refuses to take away her agency over her own life.(Lee Ji-an when we meet her is too busy hanging onto life by tooth and claw to indulge in self-pity, but we also see the toll it takes on her not to be able to say “this is too heavy a burden for me to carry myself and it isn’t my fault”; the show I think approaches Dong-hoon from the opposite side- his emotional isolation is partly a result of his own choices, but he doesn’t see it yet, and so his journey is also about letting people in and sharing the burden, but also recovering his own agency over his life. It’s an interestingly gender-bent arc, which is one of the things I love about this show. )

Ok, can I please add one more?

Hwang Han-joo from Melo is my Nature: She just felt SO real to me. She’s someone who doesn’t have the spectacular brilliance of either Jin-joo or Eun-jung, and struggles with accepting her limitations but not allowing herself to be defeated by them? I love her struggles as a mother, as a working woman in a sexist industry, a woman who’s perhaps having to rethink and reimagine what she wants from romance. I love that she’s a little silly, a lot kind, and an optimist, and just. I just think she’s the bravest of the three, tbh, and I LOVE HER AND I WOULD WATCH A SPIN OFF ABOUT JUST HER (i shouldn’t have faves among the three i know, BUT I DO, IT’S HER, IT’S HER.)

Ok! On to the next section! And I’m going to cheat again because I can’t stop at three. SORRY. NOT SORRY.

Characters I love and SHOULD write fic for if I weren’t such a tired and lazy bunny:

Song Sa-hui from Rookie Historian: Oh, girl, girl, GIRL. I love how she fights to snatch her freedom from the jaws of the patriarchy. I love that she unapologetically centers herself while doing that, because she knows that nobody else will. I love that she’s prickly and calculating. I love that she’s smart and knowledgeable. I am SO HAPPY that she got to carve out a little bit of freedom for herself, even if it also is exile to some degree. She *should * be Emperor Jin’s Prime Minister and steering the ship of state, while also carrying on a tumultous affair with Queen Min Woo-hee, while ALSO commiserating with Emperor Jin about his boyfriend Historian Min Woo-won’s regrettable tendency towards Principles (TM) and masochism-but-not-in-the-fun-way. (This takes up much of his time which is why Song Sa-hui is running the country, of course. It works out well for all concerned, well, except her dad, of course.)

Song Ga-gyeong from Search:WWW: What’s NOT to love about our brilliant, beautiful, emotionally tortured gay icon? Nothing, absolutely nothing. I loved how the show allowed her to be flawed and make bad decisions, and then allowed her to make better decisions and regain control of her life. What I do need to do, of course, is see the CANON LOVE STORY between her and Cha Hyeon through to the end. It must, of course, include at least one baseball game, a lot of tequila and messy beach kisses.

Oh Ji-hwa from Beyond Evil: Oh boy, this year’s runaway hit cleared the extremely low bar for standard crime/ thriller shows by leaving more than one of its female characters breathing and with all limbs intact, and got called feminist for it BUT it didn’t do justice to any of them in any meaningful way and that never hurt more than in the way they sidelined Kim Shin-rok’s talent by not giving Oh Ji-hwa anything much to do. She’s a tough as nails cop, a loving sister, a devoted but unsentimental friend-and by rights SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE HEROINE OF THIS SHOW. My secret fic fantasy is to rewrite the show entirely by making her , and the two other female characters in non-antagonist roles- Yoo Jae-yi and Im Sun-nyeo- as the central characters, as they investigate a serial killer who targets women. It’s the only acceptable version of this done-to-death (ha!) genre, I have no idea what the Baeksang jury and tumblr fandom is smoking when they hype the show so much, I want none of it.

Jung Sun-ah from The Devil Judge: I love her rage, her spite, her passionate defense of women, her style, her sexiness, her rage, her rage, her brilliance, her tenaciousness, her smartness, her clothes, her refusal to hate herself for everything she is and chooses to be, her ambition, her comfort wielding power, her EVERYTHING. Dead, her? NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT. Here’s what *really * happened at the end of canon- she gets out of the building by planting that lady-like but still deadly gun against Kang Yo-han’s temple and making him lead her through his own “secret escape route” or whatever the fuck it was the show wanted us to believe. From there on out, it’s all sunshine and beaches, and scheming and waiting for the right moment to strike again-though of course, this time around, she also has to reckon with vigilant, tenacious cop Soo-hyun -another character who REALLY didn’t die for manpain reasons and had the good sense to leave her gay best friend to follow his psychopath boyfriend to Switzerland or wherever it is that star crossed lovers in kdrama land meet up on the regs these days- anyways, Soo-hyun and her are in this catch-me-if-you-can epic transnational honest and cute cop-and-beautiful sexy villain chase and yes, they WILL kiss (and more) AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS.

*whew *

Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk.

#kdrama #thank you for this ask OMG #[fiona apple voice] ladies ladies ladies ladies

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jeongyunhoed · 4 years ago

Photo

8 Stories, 8 Movies from the Golden Age (1930s to 1960s).

It’s the golden age and 8 men are the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. Ateez, but make them Old Hollywood, basically. Lights, camera, action!

Member: Jongho

Genre: Murder mystery, a little bit of comedy, a little bit of romance

Warnings: Murder (as it is a murder mystery), mentions of it including suicide, death, blackmail

Things to note: Divorce then getting back together, infidelity (don’t cheat, it’s bad), horse racing, set in the 1930s.

Will have OCs

As with the rest of the stories in the AU, there will be other idols mentioned.

Masterlist

Prominent surgeon Choi Jongho is forced to team up with his murder mystery author ex-wife to investigate a murder at a racetrack.

The Ex-Mrs. Choi

tag list: @minervaaaaaaaa , @closer-stars

Part 2

Jongho was pacing back and forth in his office the next day. The rumbling and rummaging he could hear from Miyoung’s bedroom kept him awake half the night. She kept him and Yeosang awake the whole night trying to make herself comfortable in his apartment, which used to be theirs before she moved out after their divorce. On top of trying to get comfortable with the idea of living with his ex-wife again, he also had a mystery in his hands, one of which was the test tube with the sample of the substance he took from the jockey’s body at the morgue and where it was. He was supposed to analyze the substance when he saw it was gone.

“There was a scalpel in a test tube,” He explained to Yeosang, who was busy looking through the chairs and under the tables. “It had a gummy substance on it and I left it on my desk here last night and now it’s gone.”

“Yes sir, so far I’ve seen none,” The butler replied. “It must have disappeared.”

“Alright, never mind, Yeosang I’ll need you to do something else,” Jongho said, and Yeosang stood back up. “Did Hongjoong call yet?”

“No sir.”

“Have you tried reaching Hongjoong?”

“Yes sir, but no one’s been answering.”

“Try again, maybe he’ll pick up today.”

“Did you try all the numbers I gave you?” Jongho asked, remembering that Hongjoong had a few phone numbers where he answered.

“Yes sir. No one’s seen Mr. Kim since early last evening, when he came here,” Yeosang replied, walking up to the phone to dial the list of numbers again. He paused when he heard one pick up. “Mr. Kim Hongjoong? One moment please,” He gestured for Jongho to pick up the receiver.

“Hello, is this Kim Hongjoong?”

“Yes, this is Kim Hongjoong,” said a low voice from the other line until it changed. “Who’s this?”

Jongho exhaled sharply and closed his eyes. If his blood pressure didn’t shoot up before, it probably felt like it was now. “Oh, Kim Miyoung. What are you doing over there? Where’s Hongjoong?”

“It’s Choi Miyoung to you, Jongho, I took your last name, get used to it,” Miyoung replied. “But I don’t know where he is. I do have clues though that might lead to him, it might take me the whole day but I’ll find him.”

“Alright fine, when I see him I’ll tell him you’re looking for him too.”

Evening had set in and Jongho returned from the hospital, still thinking of the day’s events and of the progress he, or well, Miyoung, somehow made in figuring out who killed the jockey. As he entered the front hall of his apartment, taking his hat and coat off to hang it on the side, Miyoung appeared. “Honey, you’re home,” She said. “Any luck today?”

“Consider yourself bust,” Jongho followed her into the living room and sat down on the couch. Miyoung stood behind him, gently massaging his shoulders.

“You look tired.”

“I am, I had six operations in one day,” He closed his eyes, trying to relax as Miyoung’s hands were on his temples. Jongho opened his eyes when he felt her pull away.

“You need to relax, put this on,” She handed him a familiar looking scarlet jacket.

“Hey, that’s my smoking jacket, I was looking everywhere for that!” Jongho looked astounded as he took the piece of clothing from her, smoothing over the fabric.

Miyoung leaned on the armrest of the couch next to him, helping him put the jacket on. “You’re going to dig into my girlish heart,” She chuckled. “That’s been to Honolulu, Bali, China, Japan, it went with me,” She admitted. “I missed you.”

Jongho sighed. “Well, full disclosure between us, I missed you too,” He said. “Hey, we’re on the verge of getting sentimental here.”

She chuckled, gently feeling the material of the jacket on his arm. “I thought so too,” She stood back up. “Well, how about some dinner?”

“Dinner? It’s Yeosang’s day off,” Jongho replied. “If you were the right kind of ex-wife, you’d probably get dinner ready at home, as it is-”

“As it is I am the right kind of ex-wife and I have dinner ready at home,” Miyoung grinned.

“Really?” A smile formed on his lips.

“Anytime I fix dinner at home, you know it’s serious,” She pointed out. “Don’t start acting like you don’t know me, silly.”

A sigh of relief escaped him. “Miyoung, you’re terrific. It’s things like these that make a guy appreciate having a woman around the house. Coming home tired but to a warm meal at the end of the day?” He stood up.

Miyoung took his hand and led him to the dining room, the table already laden with several platters of food, with champagne cooling in the ice bucket. As she brought Jongho closer to the table, he stepped back. “What?” She noticed his confused expression.

“Everything looks like jelly,” He said.

“No, it’s gelatin!” Miyoung pointed out. “Jellied consomme, aspic salad, chicken and jelly-”

“Okay, okay, I get the idea,” Jongho sat down at one end of the table, and she sat at the other end. “It’s all gelatin.”

“Stop complaining and try some of the jellied consomme,” Miyoung pointed to the bowl by Jongho’s plate.

“Did you find Hongjoong?” He stuck his spoon into the soup, watching it wobble before eating it.

“No, but let’s not talk about that for now, let’s have a nice quiet evening for once, the ex-Chois at home,” She said, watching him try more of the soup and cutting into her own. “How do you feel?”

Jongho raised a brow. “I feel fine?”

“That’s funny, I feel fine too,” She said. “Try the chicken in aspic and tell me what you think.”

He obliged, cutting into the savory jelly that had pieces of chicken suspended inside. “It’s not bad, it’s...gelatinous.”

“Feeling sleepy, darling?” She asked.

“No, not particularly.”

“Me neither, I’m not even dizzy.”

“Well that’s something,” Jongho was about to take another bite of the aspic when he noticed Miyoung stand up and take a handful of the jellied consomme to place on her arm. “Kim Miyoung! What on earth are you doing?”

“I always rub gelatin on my arm,” She said, pushing the sleeve of her blouse back some more to rub the rest of the jelly on her skin. “Put some on your face, it feels good,” She broke off one part of the aspic and he ducked away before she could smother some on his cheek. “Do I look okay?”

“You look silly, Miyoungie.”

“Hold out your hand.”

“What for?”

“Just hold it out,” She insisted and he put his spoon down. Miyoung placed the aspic in his hand. “There, some gelatin on the hand does wonders for you.”

Jongho watched her smother more jelly on her arm. “Thanks, thanks a lot.”

“Hang on to it,” She glanced at him.

“I can’t, it slips through my fingers, Miyoungie,” He exhaled sharply, staring at the bits of jelly falling on the table. Jongho knew Yeosang would have his hands full trying to get all of these washed.

“How do you feel now?” Miyoung paused to look at him.

“Kim Miyoung I feel fine, except I’m beginning to get pissed off. What’s the big idea?” Frustration was evident in his tone.

Miyoung frowned and sat back down. “Well, we should be dead by now.”

Now Jongho really couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What? What’s in this stuff?” He said, shaking the jelly out of his hand and onto the plate in front of him.

“Just jelly, but it should’ve killed us!”

“Miyoung, are you crazy? Babies eat this,” Jongho’s brows furrowed at her explanation as he wiped his hands with the table napkin.

“It might have been okay for babies, but it killed Lee Taeyong. That’s what was on the scalpel,” Miyoung explained.

“The scalpel-” Jongho paused at the realization of why the test tube with the scalpel he took from the morgue was missing. “...What do you know about the scalpel?”

“I took it, didn’t you know?” Miyoung said.

“Heaven give me strength,” Jongho closed his eyes. If his hand wasn’t so sticky, it would’ve been at the back of his neck. “Oh, you took the scalpel? I was looking everywhere for that scalpel-” He muttered, trying to stay calm.

“I took the scalpel to the laboratory last night and I had it analyzed already, it was just gelatin,” Miyoung explained, her voice turning into a whisper as she sensed how he was feeling.

“Oh Miyoung, you’re sensational, just sensational,” Jongho was resisting the urge to curl his hands into fists. “For a moment I was already interested in this detecting business, if someone else had stolen the scalpel and oh-” He slowly got up from his chair. “You took the scalpel- Then it proves that there was no poison and it also ruins any help I could give Kim Hongjoong, except finding him,” He padded towards the telephone. “The police will do a better job with that.”

Miyoung quickly followed him. “You’re being a party pooper trying to call the cops,” She pouted, watching him dial the number.

“There’s something strange about Hongjoong though, I want to know what happened to him, he said he’d meet us last night and he never showed,” Jongho waited for the other line to pick up until they heard the doorbell ring. “Who could that be? Wait here,” He said, putting the phone down to approach the door.

“No, no, I want to see-”

“Get out of the way, Miyoung,” Jongho insisted, as the doorbell kept ringing.

“Wait, Jongho, you notice the bell?” She said, following him.

“Yes I did. Just a minute!” He called out the more he walked towards the door, only for Miyoung to hold him back.

“Jongho, don’t open the door, just look in the peephole,” She said, her hold on his arm tightening. “You don’t know who’s behind the door, just look out the peephole.”

“Alright I will. Move out of the way,” Jongho broke free from her grip. “Who is it?” He called out, looking through the peephole.

“What do you see?” She whispered.

Jongho leaned back. The bell kept ringing. “There’s someone against the door. Move, move away, Miyoung,” He said, gently pushing her back.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to open the door,” Jongho said, turning the knob.

Miyoung squealed in surprise as a suited man fell inside and at their feet, motionless. Jongho glanced down the hall before looking back at the body that fell inside. “Who is it? Why is he lying there like that?” She said, almost hiding her face.

Jongho bent down and turned the body over. His eyes widened as he realized who it was. “It’s Hongjoong.”

“Kim Hongjoong?” Miyoung gaped, watching him gently frisk the body, trying to feel for a pulse.

“Yeah, he’s been shot,” Jongho lifted the jacket open to reveal a bullet wound in Hongjoong’s chest.

“Jongho, there’s a note on his sleeve,” Miyoung pointed to the piece of paper pinned to the cuff. “What does it say?”

Jongho gently removed the paper to look at what was scribbled onto it. “This guy wouldn’t turn over the money either,” He read out.

The police had arrived a little while later at Jongho’s call, sealing off the front hall as a crime scene as some officers took photos of the body. Other officers were dusting the outside of his door for fingerprints, some of them even analyzing the note that was found on Hongjoong’s sleeve. Jongho sat on the couch, trying to wrap his head around what he had just seen while Miyoung was in the kitchen, pouring herself a martini. He glanced over at the door upon hearing the chatter amongst the officers grow louder, realizing that the detective in charge had arrived, Lieutenant Jeong Yunho.

“Alright, Dr. Choi, why did you kill him?” Yunho suddenly spoke.

Jongho stopped to stare at him. “Why-” He paused. “That’s ridiculous. What would I kill him for?” He asked.

“Well, if you didn’t, how did his body get here? Outside your door?” Yunho asked this time.

“I don’t know. I just saw someone leaning against the door, I opened the door and his body fell in.”

“Really? That’s pretty good for a man to walk up to the door and ring the doorbell after he’s dead?” Yunho narrowed his gaze at the surgeon.

“Lieutenant, why would I kill Kim Hongjoong?”

“I don’t know, but you’ve become a suspicious character in the last 24 hours, incredibly suspicious,” Yunho explained. “We got a report that you visited the morgue last night, and you found something on Lee Taeyong’s body and took it home with you. What was it?”

“Well, it turned out to be gelatin.”

“Gelatin-” Yunho paused and frowned. “Yeah, that makes as much sense as the coroner’s report. He did an autopsy on the body and said the left ventricle was completely collapsed.”

“Left ventricle collapsed?” Jongho was even more confused. “That’s a symptom of drowning, or strangulation.”

“Drowning, strangulation, gelatin,” Yunho recounted. “That’s a little absurd, don’t you think? Why did you go down there, Dr. Choi?”

“Because of Kim Hongjoong, he came to me-”

“Yeah, and that brings me to another point that, well, points to you being suspicious,” Yunho said. “We sent someone to Mr. Kim’s hotel and we found this,” He held up a bedazzled blue purse. “Do you recognize this?”

Jongho shook his head. “No.”

“That’s interesting, because it’s your wife’s,” Yunho showed him the detail on the bag. “Dr. Choi, there’s no sense for me to beat around the bush, but you’re in quite a spot.”

Jongho was still staring at the bag. “I’m starting to think you’re right.”

“Yeah, I’d have to agree that you’re in a tough spot, Jongho, you’re now public suspect number one,” Miyoung was sitting next to him on the couch later that night after everyone had gone, patting his hand. “You have to find the murderer to clear your name, darling.”

“Which is exactly what I’m going to do,” Jongho nodded, suddenly realizing that he was holding her hand.

“You won’t find him sitting here and staring at the fire, though.”

Jongho let go of her hand. “Miyoung, I don’t want to tell you your business, but in most murders, the motive is money,” He pointed out. “Who stood to make the most out of yesterday’s race?”

“The owner of the winning horse.”

“Exactly,” He picked up the day’s newspaper and turned over to the sports section. Jongho pointed out the results of the horse races. “See here? Sixth race, winner Wave, the owner is Mr. Song Mingi, odds four to one,” He read.

“Song Mingi? That’s the guy who called Hongjoong last night,” Miyoung sat up, taking a closer look at the paper.

“What?” Jongho stared at her.

“Yeah, I found slips of calls made to Hongjoong at his room last night. Song Mingi, Park Seonghwa, and Choi San,” Miyoung said.

It was moments like these where Jongho felt like he could kiss her. “In case of fire, run, do not walk to the nearest exit,” He got up from the couch and rushed to the nearest closet to put his hat and coat on.

“Where are you going?” Miyoung got up as well.

“I am going to find who killed Lee Taeyong,” He said with a renewed enthusiasm.

“Jongho, you’re working on the wrong murder, it’s Kim Hongjoong they think you killed,” She called out, watching him.

He stopped. “Miyoung, it should be obvious even to you that if Hongjoong was killed, it was because he confirmed his suspicions about yesterday’s race and was close to figuring out who killed the jockey,” He pointed out. “If I can follow Hongjoong’s trail last night-”

“No, no, Jongho, wait a minute,” Miyoung went up to him. “If you find out what he did, you might get killed too!”

“Maybe,” Jongho put on his hat and opened the door. “Tell Lt. Jeong I’ll be back soon!” He said and stepped out of his apartment.

“Jongho!” Miyoung called out, hurriedly putting on her coat as well. “Jongho, come back! If you’re going to get killed, I want to be there!”

With Miyoung’s insistence, Jongho waited for her to catch up as they arrived at Song Mingi’s home, also a penthouse unit in one of the buildings in the city. “You want to marry me now?” She glanced at him, looking playful.

“You’re still on that?”

Before she could answer the door opened, standing by was Song Mingi himself, wearing a maroon velvet suit and a robe. “Hello, who are you?”

“I’m Dr. Choi Jongho, and this is-”

“I’m Mrs. Choi,” Miyoung smiled.

“Oh, Dr. Choi, yes, I’ve heard about you. You got involved in that inquest a few years ago regarding the death of a socialite, right? Come in, come in,” Mingi stepped aside to let them in.

Jongho and Miyoung stepped inside, Mingi’s butler immediately approaching them to take their coats off. “Mr. Song, I’m investigating yesterday’s race,” He figured he had better be direct at this time.

“Investigating for the track officials?”

“Sorry, I can’t really say,” He shook his head. “Tell me, Mr. Song, what kind of a trainer was Kim Hongjoong?”

“Well, one of the reasons why I wanted to buy Park Seonghwa’s stables was because I knew Hongjoong was included,” Mingi replied.

“Oh, then the deal didn’t go through?” He asked this time.

Mingi shook his head. “No. Park Seonghwa wanted an extra twenty million for Illusion and I couldn’t pay. Oh, and this is my wife, Jihye,” He gestured to the woman entering the room with a tray of what looked like cookies. “Jihye, this Dr. Choi Jongho, and Mrs. Choi.”

“Have some cake, they’re very good,” Jihye set down the platter on the table.

Jongho and Miyoung helped themselves to the small slices already cut out for them. “Thank you,” He ate a forkful and turned back to Mingi. “So, uh, is that what you called Hongjoong about last night?”

“Oh, no, Dr. Choi. I saw him at Seonghwa’s house,” Mingi replied.

The two of them nodded. “I see. These cakes are really good, Mrs. Song, what are they?” Jongho asked.

“Just a little idea of my husband’s,” Jihye smiled. “A gelatin filling.”

Jongho and Miyoung coughed in their seats in surprise.

The journey to Park Seonghwa’s mansion took a little longer than Jongho expected, having fully convinced Miyoung to go back home after visiting Song Mingi took even longer. Agreeing to marry her again was the last thing on his mind, not that he had already said yes to her offer. As he arrived, he noticed the stables nearby, with the horses being tended to by the owner himself, his wife next to him.

“That’s a very handsome horse there, Mr. Park,” Jongho said, after greetings and introductions were exchanged. “I can buy him from you right now.”

“Sorry, I’ve never sold any horses, sick or well,” He waved a hand dismissively.

“Oh, I thought you were considering selling your stables.”

“I? Of course not,” Seonghwa stared at him. “I told my trainer Kim Hongjoong not to bother with any offers.”

“Really?”

“Won’t you come in, Dr. Choi?” Seonghwa’s wife suddenly suggested.

“No thank you, I’m perfectly fine out here,” Jongho replied. “You see Mr. Park, I’m investigating yesterday’s race.”

“You mean, Taeyong’s death?” Mrs. Park asked, her expression falling. Jongho nodded. “Oh, I’m sorry. Seonghwa, you explain, excuse me,” She looked crestfallen as she returned to the house.

“We were both very fond of Taeyong, Dr. Choi,” Seonghwa said. “His death came as a great shock to us. To her most especially.”

“I understand. I imagine Hongjoong was upset too.”

“Very.”

“Is that why he came here last night?” Jongho asked.

“Last night? Oh yes, and to pay me some money he owed me.”

“So, he made a lot of money at the track yesterday?”

“Hongjoong couldn’t have done that if Illusion lost,” Seonghwa shook his head.

“He might have placed a bet on Wave,” Jongho pointed out.

Seonghwa’s expression stiffened. “Dr. Choi, I resent that implication. My trainer is an honest man.”

“Sorry, but thank you for your help, Mr. Park.”

“About time you came back,” Miyoung stood up when she saw Jongho appear in the hall looking defeated. “What did you find out from Mr. Park?”

Jongho sighed, allowing her to put his hat and coat away for him. “That I’m not a detective. There are a lot of promising suspects from whom I’ve gathered a lot of misinformation. Which is true, which isn’t, I don’t know.”

“Then, let’s turn that frown upside down because I have an idea,” Miyoung held his hands.

“Which only means that I get into more trouble.”

“Don’t start, but we’ve overlooked our most important clue so far, the note,” She said.

He stared at her. “Miyoungie, you’re right, the note. The threatening note that was sent to Lee Taeyong.”

“All we need to do is figure out who wrote it and we’ve got the murderer,” She said. They heard the doorbell ring again, making them stop and listen. “Who do you think that is?” She murmured.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Jongho said just as softly.

“How?”

“I’ll open the door,” Jongho gave her a look before carefully opening the door. Standing behind was Seonghwa’s wife.

“Oh, Dr. Choi, I’m so sorry to come here at a time like this-” She said, looking worried.

“Hello! Hello again Mrs. Park, come in, come in,” Jongho stepped aside to let her enter, Miyoung standing by.

“I hate to bother you at this hour but-” She stopped when she saw Miyoung. “Oh, excuse me.”

“Not at all, Mrs. Park, this is Mrs. Choi,” Jongho introduced them and they exchanged nods in response.

“Dr. Choi could you- I mean if I could speak to you alone for a moment?” Mrs. Park asked.

“Of course,” Jongho nodded. “In my office?”

“No! No, don’t bother, I’ll leave you two alone,” Miyoung offered, glancing at him as she walked off to the nearest room.

Jongho led her to the living room. “Thank you Miyoungie. So Mrs. Park-”

“Dr. Choi, where is Kim Hongjoong?” She suddenly asked.

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you.”

“I’ve got to find him, Dr. Choi.”

“Mrs. Park, you clearly want me to help you, but how about you help me first?”

“How?”

“Did you talk to Kim Hongjoong last night?”

“Yes,” She nodded. “At my home.”

“What did you talk to him about?”

“A threatening note Taeyong received before the races began,” Mrs. Park replied. “Hongjoong told me he gave it to you and if you think that if Taeyong was killed you probably think that the person who wrote that note-”

“Is the murderer?” Jongho asked.

Mrs. Park nodded. “Yes. You see, Dr. Choi, I wrote that note.”

He stared at her. “Mrs. Park, is this a confession of murder?”

“No, no,” She shook her head. “I promise you that note had nothing to do with the murder.”

“What did the note mean anyway, Mrs. Park?”

Mrs. Park looked down, unable to look him in the eye. “This isn’t very easy for me to say Dr. Choi, but I’ve been a very stupid woman. Seonghwa was suspicious. Taeyong knew that there was someone else,” She sighed. “Taeyong thought of Seonghwa as a brother and out of loyalty to him threatened to tell him. I wrote Taeyong that note and then he died,” She looked up at him again. “So you see the note has to be destroyed, please give it to me, I promise you-”

“Don’t be a sap, Jongho,” Miyoung appeared before he could answer, having overheard them.

“Miyoungie, will you please-”

“Give me the note,” She said. Jongho took out the piece of paper from the coat pocket and handed it over.

“What do you want it for?”

“Shush, darling,” She turned back to the other woman. “Mrs. Park, will you please write on this notepad, ‘you do as I tell you, keep your mouth shut’” Miyoung handed her a pen. Mrs. Park did as she was told and gave the notepad back. She held up both notes. “Mhmm, yes the handwriting’s the same. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t covering for someone else.”

“Good girl,” He said, looking impressed.

“Here’s your note,” She said, handing Mrs. Park the slip of paper.

“Bless you both,” Mrs. Park looked relieved. “Thank you very much.”

“Don’t mention it, Jongho was glad to do it” Miyoung glanced at him with a small smile.

“Good night Dr. Choi, Mrs. Choi,” Mrs. Park said before closing the door behind her.

Jongho and Miyoung turned to each other. “That got us a long way,” An exasperated sigh escaped him. “I can feel the noose around my neck already.”

Miyoung shook her head. “Jongho, what’s the name of that bookkeeper you used to know? His name was San, right?”

“Choi San?”

“That’s it, Choi San,” She said.

“What does he have to do with this?”

“Oh, nothing, it’s just that Mrs. Park mentioned something about her husband being suspicious,” Miyoung recalled. “Because this afternoon, I saw her and Choi San together at the Inception bar.”

Jongho stared at her. “...You did?” He said. “Mrs. Park and Choi San?”

“Mhmm,” Miyoung nodded. “They sat next to me, and San was yelling about losing a lot of money when Wave won.”

“Which means someone placed a bet with him,” Jongho felt the wheels in his head turning. He turned to take his hat and coat off the rack to put it back on. “Bye, Miyoungie,” He said.

“What? Wait, where are you going now?” Miyoung gaped at him.

“I’m going to pay Mr. Choi San a visit and I hope he’s not around when I do,” He slipped on his coat. “I’d like to take a look at his records in his safe.”

Just as he had hoped, Choi San wasn’t in his office. Jongho crept inside, keeping his steps as quiet as possible as he tried to look into his cabinets. Mrs. Park was cheating on Seonghwa with Choi San, he realized, making him just as suspicious.

“Get away from that safe.”

Jongho froze and slowly turned around, his hands immediately up. San was standing by the door, holding a gun. “Oh, hello, San. I didn’t expect to see you at this time.”

“Yeah, I hardly thought you would,” San kept the gun pointed at him. “I didn’t think you were one for opening safes, Dr. Choi.”

“Well, we surgeons open anything.”

“Very funny,” San stared at him. “Keep your hands up. You really thought you’d find Kim Hongjoong in there, did you?”

“I found him, San,” Jongho replied. “Not here. Hongjoong’s dead.”

“Well, that figures. You start double crossing and you know what you’re going to get-” San threatened. “Did they find out who did it?”

“The police think I killed him, San.”

A chuckle escaped his lips, followed by a satisfied grin. “No kidding, you’ve found yourself between a rock and a hard place.”

“Look, San, you know full well what happens to people charged with murder, and I have no intention of suffering that if I can avoid it,” Jongho said. “The only way out for me is if I can prove that someone else killed Hongjoong and I plan on doing just that.”

“You can’t be faulted for trying.”

“I can do better than try, San. I have an appointment with Lt. Jeong Yunho in the morning, and I can tell him a lot of interesting things.”

“Funny, what makes you sure you’re going to see Lt. Jeong in the morning? Or anyone else?”

“Well yes, there’s that to consider,” Jongho replied. The phone on the desk suddenly rang, making the two men look. “Well, San? Should I answer the phone?”

“Go over there,” San gestured to the other side of the room, keeping him at gunpoint while he picked up the receiver. “Hello? Oh yeah,” He glanced at Jongho. “Yeah, wait a minute,” San looked over at him, handing over the receiver. “It’s Lt. Jeong, for you.”

“Lt. Jeong?” Jongho tried not to look surprised.

“Yeah, and you tell him everything is fine, Dr. Choi,” San warned, stepping back to let him talk.

“Is it?”

“Yeah, tell Lt. Jeong that everything is alright.”

Jongho calmly put the receiver to his ear. “Hello lieutenant?”

“Hello Dr. Choi, I’ve got everything under control here,” He heard a cough on the other line until he realized who was really speaking. “How are you doing, darling?”

“Damn-” Jongho cleared his throat. “Thanks, Lt. Jeong, everything is fine. Yes, I’ll be there,” and he hung up.

“Alright Dr. Choi, you win, for the time being,” San put his gun down. “You can thank your friend Lt. Jeong over there, and now that you’ve seen my books you understand how I felt about Kim Hongjoong, rest in peace.”

“Sure, sure, but I’m still a little puzzled about that.”

“Can’t you read?” San flipped over one of the record books towards him. “Look, Kim Hongjoong, he bet twenty five million on Wave to win and paid off four to one. And I’m stuck for one hundred million, every single cent.”

“That’s what I’m confused about, San,” Jongho looked over the record again. “You knew Hongjooong was betting on Wave, you must have known that Illusion would lose.”

“Hongjoong didn’t make the bet himself, he was too smart for that. He had someone else place the bet instead.”

“Who was he?”

“Beats me, some guy with a mole under his eye,” San replied. “He was going to call me after the race to tell me where to send the winnings.”

“And did he?”

“Yeah, he said to send it to Kim Hongjoong. Apartment A, 1024 Powell street,” San recalled.

Jongho raised a brow. “Hongjoong lived at the Treasure Hotel.”

“Of course I knew that, he was using the other address as a decoy, and I wanted to give Hongjoong a piece of my mind, tell him what I thought of him, so I called him at his hotel and he came over here,” San explained.

“What did Hongjoong say?”

“What do you think? He said he never made the bet,” San frowned.

“Why would he do that?”

“Beats me, but when I told him about the guy with the mole under his eye, he came through. Took the money and left.”

Jongho nodded. He picked up the phone again to dial a number. “Hello? Yes, I’d like to send a telegram,” He covered the receiver, turning back to San again. “Where were you supposed to send the money again?”

“Apartment A, 1024 Powell street,” San answered.

“Hello? Yes, to Dr. Choi Jongho, 1117 Arthur street,” Jongho said to the operator. “The message is, meet me at my apartment,” and he repeated the address San gave him. “Signed, Kim Hongjoong. Yes, charge it to Dr. Choi, thank you,” and he hung up.

San looked confused. “What’s the deal?”

“Oh, just in case I won’t be around in the morning. I want Lt. Jeong to know where I am.”

#kdiner #ateez #jongho #choi jongho #ateez scenarios #ateez fanfic #ateez jongho

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kosmosguk · 5 years ago

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Insatiable| Yandere Vampire Jungkook x Reader

Word Count: 2.7K

Fanfic Type: Fic; Angst and Thriller-ish

Description: You never would’ve thought that the boy you rarely talked to would harbor such a sinister secret, and that you’d be the one to suffer from it.

[Warnings: Death, blood, literally anything about vampires, some spooky themes, yandere themes, manipulation]

It's the night before Halloween, and instead of watching horror movies or baking pumpkin bread like you normally would've, you're stuck here, waving around a flashlight in an old clearing before a very large, very abandoned, and very, very haunted mansion.

You didn't want to be here, but when Taehyung flashed his boxy smile and made his eyes into that damned kicked puppy expression, no one could refuse without feeling like a monster. You, despite your many, many years of friendship with him, certainly couldn’t.

The building was old, dilapidated, and looked like it was going to fall apart into pieces if a strong enough wind gusted against it. The bricks’ color was faded, a washed-out shade of brown, and mold crusted its crevices, peeking out of the dark and clinging onto any bits of space in the open air that it could. It creaked, groaned, and protested under its own weight. And you were sure that if the supposed ghost didn’t kill you, something for sure would with the atmosphere of this place.

It was also an awfully cold night, the kind of cold where it sunk deep into your bones and left you miserably paralyzed. You wanted to go home, wanted to sink into your warm covers and feast on the slice of pie you had baked earlier that day. You would’ve done anything but this.

You heard a soft crunch of leaves underfoot, but when you turned the flashlight around to peer at the cracked gravestones lining the courtyard, there was nothing. You shook your head, burrowing your face deeper into your warm scarf. It must’ve been your imagination.

"You look a little dazed," a girl from one of your classes--what was her name again? Jiwoo? Ah, Jisoo--said, coming up from behind you.

"Just feeling a little tired from Professor Kim's boring lecture," you feigned a yawn for exaggeration. Jisoo nodded in agreement before her eyes became glazed, foggy.

"Hey, Y/n," she said next after a brief pause punctuated the air between the two of you, and her next words, ones that you could never ever forget until the day you died, chilled you to the very bone.

"Who do you think will die first?"

You sputtered out, unable to answer properly because what the absolute FUCK was that kind of question. You knew this wasn’t a good idea, and Jiwoo, Jisoo, whatever the fuck her name was was clearly out of her mind. Going into a haunted house with her was, you were completely sure, not going to end well.

"Hey! We're about to head in; don't fall behind!" Taehyung frantically waved from in front of the doorway, three other classmates by his side who you were fairly sure were named Seokjin, Jungkook, and Jennie.

They all turned to stare at you, with three of them including Taehyung smiling brightly down at you, but the new guy, Jungkook, didn’t smile in a friendly manner like they did, choosing instead to stare at you almost unnerved you more than Jisoo's words did. His eyes were intense, almost hypnotizing, and the stare lingered even when everyone's gaze shifted away. You shivered, though this time you were certain that it wasn’t from the cold.

"Coming!" Jisoo waved back before looking back at your frozen self, smiling in a way that could've been interpreted as friendly but, when you peered just a little closer, menacing, like she knew something you didn't.

You tried to calm down your rapid heartbeat as she left, heading up to join the rest of your group.

Taehyung noticed the distress you were in and leaned over, flinging an arm around your shaking--you didn't even know you had been shaking--shoulders and leaning close to you with an inquisitive look in your eyes.

"What's up? Are you scared?" Taehyung asked, his voice soft and full of worry.

"Yeah I'm fucking scared," you hissed out between clenched teeth," Why did we have to come here? Let's just go back, Tae. Forget this ever happened."

Taehyung's eyes flashed with an uncertain emotion before he said," Don't you know? We can never go back."

For a second, Taehyung didn't look like Taehyung, not the one you knew. It was like he was enchanted, spun under some delusional fantasy that he couldn't escape from. But you brushed that thought off. He was still Taehyung. Your Taehyung. Your best friend Taehyung who hogged too much of the blanket and tried to warm up his icy blocks of toes on you.

"What the fuck; that isn't even funny, you dickwad!" you grimaced, sharply shoving your elbow into his side, your lips twisted in a grimace-like frown.

‘’I was just kidding. Lighten up!’’ he laughed, though you noticed with building panic that the emotion didn't reach his eyes. "You can wait outside for us then! We'll be in and out before you know it!"

Your mind spun as you tried to think of an answer. You could stay out here, where at least your phone had a bit of service, or you could go in and possibly die at the hands of some ax-wielding maniac straight from a thriller.

"Fine, I'll stay out here. You better be out in 20 minutes or I'm calling the cops," you said, huffing.

Taehyung smiled at you, reaching to ruffle your head, and for a second, he looked just like your Taehyung," Thanks, Y/n/n."

You walked away, standing by the entrance of the courtyard as you watched them open the door before getting swallowed up by the darkness inside. A sharp chill ran up your skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake.

The door clicked shut. The chill never left.

You bundled tighter in your coat, teeth slightly chattering as you waited, each second feeling a minute and each minute feeling an hour. You heard the sound of creaking wood and flashed your flashlight in the direction. There was nothing that greeted you except for the scampering of a small rat across the boards. You felt your fear rise with every second and you itched to just go in, haul them out, and leave. One more minute, you thought to yourself, one more minute and I'm going in.

A scream shattered the night air, and you noticed that it sounded an awful lot like Seokjin with the way it flawlessly rang out. After all, there was a reason why he was the lead actor in the musical at your University. You just didn’t think that you were going to experience his full vocal capabilities in this kind of situation.

You dropped your flashlight in panic and scrambled to pick it up, taking out your phone and trying to dial in the emergency number.

The call didn't go through and with a look at your bars, you realized that the service had cut out.

What were you going to do? Try to run back and get someone to help but it might be too late or run inside and find out what was happening?

Your mind flashed with each thought as your panic built up in your throat, choking you. You saw images of Taehyung, small child Taehyung handing you a bandaid when you first met, Taehyung setting off the fire alarm because hell he couldn't cook, Taehyung when you had a nightmare and he had run to your side even though he lived an hour away and it was 3 in the morning. Hell, you had to go in. Not just for your own sanity, but for the boy you watched grow up, the boy who never left your side. You couldn’t leave his side now.

You got up, running towards the building, your shoes slapping against the cobblestones, and rushing inside the building.

Without you even needing to, the door swayed behind you and shut, sealing you inside.

"Taehyung?" You looked around, wandering in the direction that you were sure the scream came from. You felt a cool breath wisp against the back of your neck and fingertips slowly sliding up your side in a sensual sweep. You whirled around. There was no one behind you.

You pressed on, calling out Taehyung's name until you saw a brief glow of a flashlight. You exhaled in relief as you hurried towards the light.

You got closer and closer, your fingers shaking.

Taehyung, Jennie, and a shaking Seokjin greeted you, three out of the original five. You let out a breath you hadn't known you were holding at the sight of Taehyung, intact.

"Didn't mean to scare you!" Taehyung grinned, like you hadn't been sent to the ends of hell," Jisoo and Jungkook went missing and we went to find them but Seokjin got scared because there was a big spider in the doorway."

You sighed, smacking your forehead in a sign of complete exasperation and relief before your frustration set in, hot and melded with the intense fear you were suffocating in.

"God fucking dammit, Kim Taehyung. I thought something had happened!" you weren’t even fully aware of this but tears had built up in your eyes, threatening to drip down your cheeks," I thought something bad happened and I lost your dumb ass."

"Hey, hey," Taehyung panicked at the sight of your tears, reaching over to wipe them away," Don't cry! You won't lose me without a fight."

You sniffled before crossing your arms resolutely. "I better not, you asshole. Now let's find Jisoo and Jungkook and leave this shithole."

Taehyung's eyes shifted slightly at your words, a brief flash of intense emotions, fear and panic, glowing in them before his eyes cleared, and he was back to your easy-going, loving Taehyung.

"Let's check the hallways! Maybe Jisoo wanted to check out the rooms and wandered off!" Jennie said, pointing away.

Your group started to walk in that direction, getting closer and closer when a movement in the corner of your eye caught you off guard.

"What's that?" you whispered loudly," Did you see that?"

Everyone else looked at you, curiosity and confusion written all over their faces and you shook your head. "Nevermind, probably imagined it or something," you said, clearing your voice," It's probably my nerves."

You reached out for the doorknob of the nearest room and watched, in stupefied fear as it creakingly swung open. Jennie let out a bloodcurdling shriek as the door slammed against the molding wall, making a loud dull thud as it hit, before bolting.

"Jennie!" Seokjin's teeth practically chattered together in fear as he bolted after the girl," Stop!"

You called out Seokjin's name, turning around to call for Taehyung to follow you because everyone knew that you didn't want to get separated in a horror movie. And everyone also knew that getting yourself stuck in an old creepy clearly haunted house was also not the smartest idea. But clearly, your group wasn't the smartest and you were fucking stupid for going along with them.

And when you turned around, just like what would happen in a horror movie, Taehyung wasn't there.

"Taehyung?" Your voice was a soft gust at first, meek and trembling as the first wave of pure animalistic fear finally hit," Taehyung! TAEHYUNG!"

The only reply that greeted you was stone-cold silence. You didn't hear Seokjin calling after Jennie anymore or Jennie running frantically to the doorman. The only sound you could hear was the rushing of your blood through your veins and the rapid way your heart thudded against your ribcage. You sucked in a deep breath and pushed it out before scrambling after the direction Seokjin and Jennie went in. You were going to find them both, and then you were going to find Taehyung. You just had to.

You weren't expecting to find them like this though. You stumbled into the main hall and noticed two dark figures hidden in the shadowy dimness of the mansion, swinging your flashlight to whom you hoped were Seokjin and Jennie.

Jisoo greeted you, her eyes flashing crimson and she grinned, the kind where all her teeth showed, and you noticed how sharp and white and bloody they were. Her skin, which was already usually pale, glowed translucent under your flashlight's yellowy artificial light.

You noticed the second figure next, the one that had been tenderly scooped in Jisoo's arms. Jennie, still and pale, looked terrified, her mouth stretched open as if she had been prepared to scream when Jisoo attacked her. You noticed the two neat puncture marks, oozing a trail of vermillion, in the crook of Jennie's neck and felt like you were going to hurl.

Jisoo bared her teeth at you, dropping Jennie's body onto the ground, and your stomach turned and churned when you heard the dull thud.

Jisoo took a step forward, licking the blood trail dribbling from her mouth, and she met your eyes, the predatory glint that had been washed over them shining brilliantly.

"You know," Jisoo practically sneered, and she looked, illuminated by your flashlight, like an avenging angel, both beautiful but oh so terrible and merciless," If you weren't his beloved, you would be replacing her next. But he wouldn't mind if I had just a little taste, right?"

Your chest constricted as Jisoo took another step closer, looking like she was ready to launch herself at you, and you couldn't move, couldn't breathe as her body tensed and...

"Jisoo.”

Her neck snapped to look behind you, and your head slowly craned to look behind you, feeling almost robotic with the level of fear and panic that you were drowning in.

Jungkook stood behind you by the window, his beautiful features glowing underneath the waxy glow of the moon. Even when you had to squint to properly see him, he already mesmerized you. He had a sharp jaw, soft pink lips, and slightly round intense dark eyes. His features were inhumanely perfect, and even the steeper slope of his nose added to his allure. You were transfixed, your mind occupied with thoughts about Jungkook. His eyes wouldn't stop looking at you, their eyes burrowing deep into your soul as he waved dismissively. You heard a soft rustle of fabric behind you and when you dared to look back, Jisoo was gone. His voice was breathless as he shifted slightly, a blur of black, and then he was in front of you so uncomfortably close.

"You know," he cupped your cheek, his touch cold, lacking the warmth of life," I knew from the very moment that I saw you that you were my destiny."

You didn't move a hair despite how much you wanted to. You heard of the way vampires could enchant someone and force them to comply with their demands. You just never thought that vampires were real and that, if they were, you'd be a witness to them.

"I saw you in passing and the way I felt, that is the only way I could ever feel with my mate. I wanted to steal you away, take you away, but that's quite suspicious in the human world apparently. But it wouldn't be that suspicious if you went into a bad place and ended up gone, now would it?" Jungkook pressed you further against him, burying his nose into the crook of your neck," Taehyung was difficult to control, but humans are malleable, no matter how strong they think they are."

Your throat freed and you managed to finally speak, although you still couldn't move.

"Why did you have to kill Seokjin and Jennie and," you sobbed," What happened to Taehyung?!"

You couldn't see his smile, how innocent and bright it was like a little boy opening up a big present and finding out that it was exactly what he had wanted all along, but you could feel it pressing into your warm flesh, almost mocking.

"We got hungry," you felt his teeth prod at your flesh as he pressed even further against you," And with the way you're so close to me, I'm getting a little hungry too."

"You don't mind if I take a bite?" his voice was raspy, animalistic almost.

You didn't reply. You couldn't reply. Even as tears dribbled down your cheeks and splattered onto him, salty, you couldn't say a word.

Jungkook played with the hem of your jacket, gentle like a lover would, and then his teeth sunk in, sharp like needles.

Really, even if you could answer, with the way he desperately curled into your warmth, Jungkook would never take your refusal for an answer.

After all, Jungkook, the boy who barely spoke to you before except to ask for a pencil and the boy now who refused to let you go, was absolutely insatiable.

[HAPPY HALLOWEEN BABES! I wanted to release something for this spooktastic holiday so my writing is messy :( Be safe and take care of yourself on this spooky day! Part 2 of my reactions will be posted soon, but I wanted to focus on writing this today! Love you <3]

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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10 Best Fighting Game Movies

https://ift.tt/31CS0wp

Once upon a time, Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly, and John Saxon visited a crime boss’ private island to compete in a fighting tournament and it was awesome. The 1973 movie Enter the Dragon is basically the prototype for the fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. And when those fighting games became popular, they inspired their own movies that either tried to emulate Enter the Dragon or do something completely new.

The ‘90s gave us the cheesy live-action fighting game movies from Hollywood and the animated movies from Japan. There have been several live-action Mortal Kombat movies as well as a few animated ones. There have also been multiple Street Fighter movies, four attempts at Tekken, a trilogy of Fatal Fury films, and more.

Are most of them bad? Yes. But did we pick our 10 favorite fighting game movies anyway? You bet. Here are our picks:

10. ART OF FIGHTING (1993)

Eh…it’s harmless.

The Art of Fighting series is mostly defined by the twist that the first game’s final boss is the main character’s father and the second game’s final boss is a younger incarnation of the villain from Fatal Fury. Take away those aspects and you’re left with a rather lowkey storyline for a fighting game where a teenage girl is kidnapped by a mobster and is rescued by her brother and her boyfriend.

Wait, I said that weird. It’s two different people, I swear! Except in Capcom, where Dan Hibiki is literally both of them merged into one character.

In the 45-minute Art of Fighting movie about Ryo and Robert, who are like chiller and dopier versions of Ryu and Ken, we watch as the duo gets sucked into a plot about stolen diamonds, martial arts criminals, and angry police lieutenants. It doesn’t take itself seriously and it’s a fine, breezy watch.

Ryo’s incorrect hair color kind of irks me, though.

9. STREET FIGHTER ALPHA: THE ANIMATION (1999)

This movie suffers from the same problem as Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture. It features a cast of heroes from a fighting game taking on a villain created for the movie instead of the villains we actually give a shit about. But the movie does also have some brief but awesome cameos (Kim Kaphwan and Geese Howard from Fatal Fury and Dan Hibiki and Akuma from Street Fighter Alpha) to brighten up a less-than-stellar plot.

Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation does at least get by because the original characters play up Ryu’s whole fear about being overcome by “the Dark Hadou.” This leads to some cool animations where Evil Ryu looks like a mindless, shambling zombie but also an unstoppable fighting machine.

The movie’s main storyline is about a kid named Shun who claims that he’s Ryu’s long-lost brother. He too is a fighter cursed with an inner dark side, which is used as a red herring to suggest that Shun’s father (and presumably Ryu’s father) is actually Akuma. That ends up being bupkis and Shun is just linked to some scheme by a mad scientist or whatever.

Probably the funniest thing about this movie is the directors’ infatuation with Chun-Li’s midsection. She’s wearing her form-fitting Street Fighter Alpha costume and there are dozens upon dozens of random close-ups to her lower torso from the front and back. If this were a drinking game, it would kill you.

8. FATAL FURY 2: THE NEW BATTLE (1993)

Of the Fatal Fury movie trilogy, this one is easily the best, even if it makes all the good guys seem like a bunch of overly-serious crybabies. The basic story is that after having avenged his father’s death, Terry hits rock bottom, dusts himself off, and comes out the other end stronger. Good, good. Going Rocky III is the perfect direction for a follow-up.

The problem is that Terry comes off as a bit of a whiner and the other heroes try way too hard to vilify the movie’s main antagonist, who hasn’t actually done anything that terrible. Krauser shows up one day, challenges Terry to a fight, wins, and says, “Okay, when you get better, train and fight me again.” Krauser isn’t trying to take over the world or murder orphans or whatever. He’s just a dude with huge shoulder armor who wants a good fight.

But everyone acts like Krauser’s the absolute worst. Terry starts drinking and falls to pieces while his buddies hope to get revenge. What a bunch of jerks.

While a fun romp, the worst thing about this sequel is how they redesigned Krauser. Gone is his mustache and forehead scar for the sake of making him seem younger. Kind of a bullshit move, considering he’s supposed to be the half-brother to middle-aged Geese Howard.

7. TEKKEN: THE MOTION PICTURE (1998)

This hour-long anime is almost great but just can’t stick the landing. It runs into the same problem as Mortal Kombat: Annihilation where the game series tells a specific overall story but the movie cuts corners to tell the same story. Tekken: The Motion Picture covers the first Tekken while setting up Tekken 3 and skipping Tekken 2 completely.

It means that everything’s well and good until the confusing and rushed finale. Otherwise, the movie is a fine use of the Enter the Dragon formula. Heihachi Mishima has a special island fighting tournament and the entrants include his vengeful son, a couple of cops investigating the situation, a gigantic robot, an angry Native American girl, two feuding assassin sisters, and a bunch of awesome characters who only get about three full frames of appearances each. Really would have liked to see something from Paul, King, and Yoshimitsu, though.

Other than Kazuya being pissed at everything, the best scenes are the over-the-top ones. When Jack does crazy robot stuff, when dinosaurs show up and start eating people, and that memorable sequence where Heihachi catches a hatchet with his mouth and then shatters it with his jaw.

6. STREET FIGHTER (1994)

I know this movie is just a GI Joe script with Street Fighter names pasted over it. I know it’s a cheesefest of dopey ideas and Belgian accents. I’ve long accepted that. Thing is, the movie is still a total blast to watch. What it lacks in faithfulness to the source material, it makes up for with pure camp and ham.

The 16 characters from Super Street Fighter II are represented here, except Fei Long is replaced with the forgettable Captain Sawada. How ironic that the movie star character isn’t even in the movie!

In general, the movie features some head-scratching depictions of classic Street Fighter characters. All-American Guile is played by Jean Claude Van Damme, Charlie Nash and Blanka are the same character, Dee Jay is an evil hacker, Ryu and Ken are comedic conmen, and Dhalsim is a frumpy scientist.

It’s Raul Julia’s M. Bison who keeps this guilty pleasure afloat. He’s to Street Fighter what Frank Langella’s Skeletor was to Masters of the Universe. He gives 110% and his performance is easily the best reason to watch this movie. It’s truly a wonder to behold.

Games

The Forgotten Fighting Games of the 1990s

By Gavin Jasper

Games

King of Fighters: Ranking All the Characters

By Gavin Jasper

The movie is infamous for inspiring a fighting game based on it, but you know what nobody ever talks about? The Double Dragon movie also had a fighting game based on it made by Technos and released on the Neo Geo. And Double Dragon wasn’t even a one-on-one fighter to begin with!

Anyway, if you intend to sit back and watch Street Fighter, make sure to add in the RiffTrax commentary.

5. DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE (2006)

Enter the Dragon meets Charlie’s Angels is a heck of a concept, but DOA: Dead or Alive is so confidently tongue-in-cheek that it succeeds as an action comedy that’s way better than it has any right to be. Part of why it works is that Dead or Alive has never had much of an overarching storyline, but is more defined by the individual characters (plus, you know, all the cheesecake). Enough of those characters appear in what’s your regular “fighting tournament on a mysterious island” setup.

The whole thing moves with such energy that it’s easy to get sucked in. It’s the opposite of the live-action Tekken movie, where even though the film features accurate versions of all the characters, everything is so drab and lifeless that you just can’t wait for it to be over. In DOA, the combatants spend their downtime playing cartoony action volleyball with Fake Dennis Rodman on commentary, while in Tekken everyone mopes about dystopian capitalism.

Other than Helena’s character being “important dead guy’s daughter,” most of the main characters are charismatic enough to keep your attention during the 3% of the movie when fights aren’t happening. It must suck for Ninja Gaiden fans that Hayabusa is depicted as a total dweeb, but he at least gets to do some cool stuff here and there.

The movie also has Kevin Nash playing a character based on Hollywood Hogan and he’s so likeable that I’m genuinely bummed that he peaces out about halfway into the movie. Luckily, the movie is entertaining enough that I didn’t even notice until after it was over. It helps that during that time, we get more of Eric Roberts, his amazing hair, and his special sunglasses that turn him into the ultimate martial arts master.

Spoiler alert, but the secret to defeating him is, get this, removing his sunglasses!

4. MORTAL KOMBAT LEGENDS: SCORPION’S REVENGE (2020)

It took a while, but Warner Bros. Animation is on fire these days. After that Batman vs. TMNT movie and Teen Titans Go vs. Teen Titans, the studio appears to be hitting more than they miss. That’s exactly the kind of team needed to put together the latest animated Mortal Kombat movie.

This is the umpteenth retelling of the first game’s story. Not only does it have to compete with the first live-action movie, but also the events of Mortal Kombat 9, which depicts the tournament in cutscene format. Fortunately, Scorpion’s Revenge has a few tricks up its sleeve. First, it puts Scorpion in the forefront as the protagonist. He was barely a character in the original movie and the game just had him kill Sub-Zero and feel bad about it for the rest of the story mode. Now he feels like a character in a crossover, making a mark on the original story instead of being put in the sidelines.

We also have the wonderful stunt casting of Joel McHale as Johnny Cage. More importantly, Jennifer Carpenter plays Sonya Blade, which is such a step up from Ronda Rousey’s voice acting in Mortal Kombat 11.

This cartoon has a very hard R when it comes to violence. From the very beginning, Scorpion’s origins are gruesome and grisly. Once Jax is introduced, it doesn’t take long until we realize, “Oh, that’s how they’re dealing with THAT plot point in this continuity.” Then there’s a surprise villain death late in the movie that not only comes as a shocking development, but it’s so graphic and nasty that you can’t help but be taken aback.

Scorpion’s Revenge is a fantastic first chapter of what is hopefully a series of animated movies, but it does have its pacing issues. Scorpion being the protagonist may be a welcome change, but at times it does feel like a square peg being crammed into a round hole.

3. TEKKEN: BLOOD VENGEANCE (2011)

One of the best things about the Tekken series is the endings. While the cutscenes from the first couple games haven’t exactly aged well, these CGI epilogues have become a staple in nearly every installment. What better reward for your time and success than watching a rocking action sequence with Yoshimitsu and Bryan Fury killing each other in the jungle?

And so, to play to the series’ strengths, Bandai Entertainment released a Tekken movie that’s really just one big ending cutscene. It’s not canon, but it feels at home with the games.

Since Tekken’s main conflict is with two ruthless megalomaniacs (Heihachi and Kazuya) and a disgruntled nihilist (Jin), it’s hard to treat any of them as a real protagonist here. Instead, they go with Ling Xiaoyu, who is portrayed as the person who sees the good in Jin and wants him to see the light. She’s given a robotic BFF in Alisa Bosconovitch because Xiaoyu is kind of a tame character and needs someone with chainsaw arms and a jetpack to liven things up.

The first hour or so is good enough to keep your attention and its lightened up by a couple appearances by Tekken’s best character, Lee. But once it gets to the third act, it just becomes a completely awesome Heihachi vs. Kazuya vs. Jin fight, with Xiaoyu taking a backseat to watch all the crazy shit going on. It’s a full-on fireworks factory, as we not only see Devil forms of Kazuya and Jin but a very special final form for Heihachi that’s a true delight for Tekken fans.

2. STREET FIGHTER II: THE ANIMATED MOVIE (1994)

Let it be said that for someone who grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, finding a faithful cartoon adaptation of a video game property was not easy. Link and Simon Belmont were unlikable sexual harassers. Mega Man was a more annoying sidekick than Scrappy Doo. Mario and Luigi teamed up with Milli Vanilli. Power Team was…a thing. When we got an animated movie based on Street Fighter II, it was mind-blowing. This was a movie where the very first scene was Ryu tearing Sagat’s chest into a bloody gash thanks to a well-animated Shoryuken.

There’s a lot going on in this movie, but at the same time, nothing is going on. By this point, there were 17 characters in the various Street Fighter II games, and outside of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Akuma cameo, it feels the need to include every single one of them. Some get minor roles, like Cammy and Dee Jay. Then there’s Zangief and Blanka, who fight each other for no reason other than for the sake of giving them something to do. Even Ryu vanishes for a huge chunk of the runtime.

Once everything funnels into the third act, this movie is great. And the earlier fight scenes are straight fire too, including the memorable Chun-Li vs. Vega brawl. Even though the movie already feels true to Street Fighter II, it’s even better when you realize that it’s all supposed to be a prequel to the game itself.

Or at least I hope so. Otherwise, all Sagat gets to do is get his ass kicked by Ryu and get chewed out by Bison.

1. MORTAL KOMBAT (1995)

The stars truly aligned for this one. Mortal Kombat Mania was at its peak, so it makes sense that this movie was a retelling of the first game’s story with added aspects from the second game, all while hyping up the arcade release of the third game. CGI was such a novelty in Hollywood in the ’90s that even if it looked primitive, it still looked cutting edge at the time. It was the perfect time to release this movie.

But Mortal Kombat isn’t perfect. Reptile is embarrassing. Scorpion and Sub-Zero being relegated to goons still stings. I still roll my eyes at the part towards the end where Sonya is suddenly the damsel in distress and Raiden flat-out verbally buries her by saying she couldn’t beat Shang Tsung in a million years. Otherwise, it’s the perfect storm of ‘90s action garbage.

There are so many over-the-top and charismatic performances here. Johnny Cage, Raiden, Shang Tsung, Kano, and even Goro are a blast to watch. All 10 characters from the original game are given something to do and, most importantly, they realize how uniquely weird the game’s story is and actually dive headfirst into it. The movie isn’t embarrassed to be a Mortal Kombat movie but handles itself well enough that we aren’t embarrassed to be watching a Mortal Kombat movie.

Even with a PG-13 rating, the movie was violent enough. Kano talked up seeing a pile of frozen guts in the wake of a Sub-Zero fight, Scorpion got his skull sliced apart with demon brain goo spewing all over the place, and Shang Tsung got impaled to death.

With the reboot being rated R, going for the gore could very well be the right route to go, but for the love of the Elder Gods, don’t forget to have FUN. All I’m saying is, if even Johnny Cage isn’t hamming it up, then what’s the point?

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graykaren333 · 5 years ago

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Dramas I’ve Rewatched

So I’ve been watching kdramas since 2012. We’re talking compulsively, obsessively at times, usually exclusively, consistently watching kdramas. (Because they are way better than American/Western TV shows/entertainment but that’s another post for another day; besides, if you’re reading this I’m sure you already agree with me on that point). So bottom line is I’ve watched over 175 kdramas (I’m not quite at the 200 mark yet) and I’ve kept accurate lists of which dramas I’ve finished and liked or finished and didn’t like (or in this case finished, and then eventually went back and rewatched). When your sites are always set on trying to watch new dramas that are coming out or trying to make sure you’ve watched old classic ones for the first time, it can be hard to convince yourself to take the time to rewatch ones you’ve already seen.

That being said, the following 20 kdramas are ones that I have gone back and rewatched at least once, in some cases multiple times. These dramas either had fantastic plotlines that were so tight and consistently moving that it was just fantastic to see all the pieces fit together even when rewatching OR there were anywhere from one to four characters who I became so invested in that I loved watching their character development. Do the characters create the plot or does the plot create the characters? Sometimes it’s hard to know which is more prominent but I will try to highlight which stood out for me.

NO SPOILERS: the following are reviews have no spoilers as to specific details, they just contain an assessment as to why I believe I could go back to them and rewatch them.

WARNING: for some of these dramas I have skipped watching some subplots, even when I went back and rewatched it, because I was either too obsessed with the main characters’ interaction or else I was so minimally invested in the characters in the subplot that I just didn’t care to watch. I will let you know with a WARNING message as to which dramas that happened for.

Everyone has their own opinions on what kdramas are good or not and everyone has their own thoughts on what constitutes a good kdrama and why, but for me, here is the crème de la crème of the kdrama world:

Shut Up Flower Boy Band (slice of life/coming of age)

Unique elements: In my opinion this is hands-down the golden standard of slice-of-life/school age dramas (and I’ve seen most that have been made in the kdrama world!). The plotline basically follows a group of high school age guys and if you look at them from the first episode to the last episode, there is no doubt that it is a coming of age drama but without year-long jumps in each of the last six episodes (*cough, cough* Reply/Answer Me series *cough*). The plotline is fantastic in that it gets us to invest in every one of the group of guys and then the plotline keeps up a brisk pace and never gets bogged down in any one plotline. Plus, the male lead does have a love interest which is so adorable and I get particularly obsessed with that plotline but I really love the whole entire plotline. Because the male lead, especially as portrayed by Sung Joon, is simply fantastic.

Reasons why I rewatch it: fantastic plotline! The characters are really great too, let’s be honest.

Assessment: should be a cult classic but isn’t

Heartless City (action)

Unique elements: This drama originally aired on a cable channel in Korea so it is really unparalleled in its hard-hitting action and suspense as well as its willingness to show, well, violence. But the violence always serves a purpose and moves the plotline forward, it’s not just meaningless violence (I’m looking at you, Mr. and Mrs. Smith movie). It is filmed a la film noir and pulls it off to a “t”. Literally all of the characters have so much moral ambiguity as to their decisions and behaviors. So many twists and turns, the bad guys turn out to be good and the good guys turn out to be bad that is there really even a line between the two anymore? And this is much more highlighted than with any other kdrama I’ve ever seen. Think 24 in intensity meets the mafia. It’s kind of my guilty pleasure.

Reasons why I rewatch it: Other than the fantastic plotline as detailed above, the male and female leads are so fantastic!! Jung Kyung Ho’s character is so dark and brooding yet fantastic and smart and calculating, yet not always, especially around the female lead’s character. While their scenes together are few and far between, the scenes are always electric (we’re talking sparks coming off the computer screen). The way Jung Kyung Ho acted out this complicated character with all the character’s nuances is just a delight to watch and the character is easily in my top five favorite characters of all time. I am convinced that no one else could have played the character so well. Plus, we slowly get more and more of the various characters’ backstory as the plotline progresses and I always love that kind of plotline. How obsessed with this drama do I get? When I rewatch it, it usually only takes me three days to watch it. And it’s 20 episodes long.

Assessment: should be a cult classic but isn’t

Mrs. Cop 2 (action)

Unique elements: Nothing particularly unique except for Kim Bum’s character.

Reasons why I rewatch it: Kim Bum’s performance is one of my all-time favorite performances and his character is one of my all-time favorite characters. His female foil is moderately appealing at best in general but she is always able to hold her own as a character in her scenes with Kim Bum’s character. Kim Bum’s character makes this drama and on that reason alone it is a good enough performance to watch the drama. He inherited his family’s business but he is the first kdrama CEO that I’ve seen who hasn’t acted all entitled when facing the police…but he might also be a serial killer? This drama is another guilty pleasure of mine.

WARNING: there are numerous subplots that I did not watch (female lead’s home life interactions) or rewatch (all of the rest of the scenes that Kim Bum wasn’t in, lol, even including other police scenes)

Assessment: stunning performance by one of the actors

Two Weeks (action)

Unique elements: Nothing except for the incredibly tightly written plotline.

Reasons why I rewatch it: The reason for this one is plotline, all the way. I love the characters and am invested in them but I am invested in them because of the particular situations that they are thrown into because of the premise of the plotline. Jang Tae San is a small-time gangster who more or less grew up on the streets and has had to figure out life on his own. He is set up for murder and has to survive without getting killed (by either the police or the people who set him up) for two weeks until he can give lifesaving surgery for his daughter. Every episode is a day except for the first and last episodes. Let me tell you, this drama is so tightly written that no scene is wasted. There are a surprising amount of characters and they are connected in often surprising ways. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Also, we more or less get thrown right into the plotline and slowly get the backstory as the drama progresses.

Assessment: terribly underrated

Suspicious Partner (action and romance)

Unique elements: Nothing overly notable

Reasons why I rewatch it: I’m a sucker for kdramas that blend both action/suspense and romance. And this drama does that to a “t”. So the first couple of episodes are rather crazy and you’re just sitting there wondering where in the heck the plotline is going but then it finally settles in to a bit of a procedural courtroom drama with the male and female leads both being lawyers. But wait, there’s a serial killer who is after them so they are trying to figure out who it is and bring the person to justice before he, you know, kills them. There is also a consistently developed romance plotline between the male and female leads that is very intense at times and the characters just have fantastic chemistry. The plotline rarely drags even during the procedural courtroom episodes, the plotline swiftly moves through the cases and doesn’t get bogged down. Ji Chang Wook plays the male lead and is stellar. I absolutely love the character.

Assessment: terribly underrated

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (action and romance)

Unique elements: Nothing overly much; action and rom-com with a slight twist of sci-fi

Reasons why I rewatch it: So, Do Bong Soon comes from a long lineage of incredibly strong women (we are talking she can lift a car as though it were a paper clip) and her strength cannot be lost as long as she doesn’t use it for evil ends. Along comes the male lead, a CEO of a company, and when he finds out about her powers she becomes his bodyguard and hilarity ensues, as does a serial killer which is decidedly less funny. The scenes between the two of them are absolutely fantastic and it is simply a great romance plotline with gradually less comedy and more thriller/suspense, but just as much romance if not more, as the plotline progresses. The male lead is also quite a complex character as the storyline unfolds.

WARNING: there were some workplace subplots that I just didn’t care enough to watch as well as scenes between the female lead and the second male lead (he’s as interesting as a pile of snow if you ask me).

Assessment: terribly underrated

Oh My Ghostess (action and romance)

Unique elements: This is the only drama I’ve seen that starts out almost completely as a rom-com and then slowly ombre’s into an action/thriller (with decidedly romance elements) by the end.

Reasons why I rewatch it: The premise of this show involves ghosts (surprising I know, based on the title) and it’s different in that most dramas that are supernatural like that either progress on the premise that ghosts are more or less harmless and it’s just comical with inhabiting people OR all ghosts are purely evil and we should be terrified at the thought of what they can do. Well this drama said, “You are going to force us to choose one premise over the other? No thanks, we’ll take both” which is how you can start with a rom-com and end with a suspense/thriller. The overall plotline is fantastic. No particular character overly stands out in my mind.

Assessment: it was not what I was expecting going into the drama but I absolutely loved it and it is terribly underrated

Healer (action and romance)

Unique elements: Not really anything in particular

Reasons why I rewatch it: Ji Chang Wook is at it again! He plays yet another fantastic character as the male lead and the audience becomes very invested in seeing him accomplish his goals. The female lead is sweet and adorable but also bad-ass in some aspects. The romance elements between them are consistently developed throughout each episode in parallel to the action elements.

WARNING: There is a really intricate and complicated and interrelated backstory of several of the characters that feels very melodrama-ie and really bogs down the plotline at times including many subplots that I’ve never bothered to rewatch after the first watching.

Assessment: accurately rated very high by many people, and maybe even slightly overrated at times given how it gets bogged down at times, but still well worth watching

Descendants of the Sun (action and romance)

Unique elements: a special ops guy as the male lead and a doctor as the female lead? Yeah, that’s pretty unique!

Reasons why I rewatch it: I honestly kind of want to marry the male lead. He’s so bad-ass at his job, yet so down-to-earth yet suave in his personal life; his job gives him this aura of secrecy and danger yet he is honest-to-goodness a fantastic guy. The female lead character is good but doesn’t always hold her own in her scenes with him. It is rather fascinating to see them work things out as a couple when they are so obviously attracted to each other and really have fantastic chemistry together but view the idea of helping people from very different ideological viewpoints based on their respective jobs. The action elements come from the missions it shows him doing but the plotline focuses much more on the progression of the romance.

WARNING: I was so obsessed with the leads’ romance story that I had a really hard time not skipping over all other subplots.

Assessment: accurately rated very high by many

City Hunter (action and romance)

Unique elements: not too many except that it is perhaps the oldest action drama that has consistent and good action scenes throughout the plotline.

Reasons why I rewatch it: Lee Minho’s character is SO fantastic and he gives an excellent performance of it (his eyes are so expressive); it’s a complex character and he really does it justice. The action and romance plotlines are developed nicely in parallel but through most of the drama are separated by a thin veil that is Lee Minho’s character’s mask. The female lead is adorable though a bit ridiculous at times given her job as a bodyguard, but her chemistry with Lee Minho’s character is still quite good.

WARNING: Upon rewatching this kdrama, the plotline does really drag at times when it gets into all the politics of the specific men that he’s going after. Still, a must-watch.

Assessment: accurately rated very high by many

The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry (romance)

Unique elements: Minimal if any

Reasons why I rewatch it: Kim Bum. Kim Bum. Kim Bum. His character is fantastic and of course he is fantastic in how he portrays it. His character is in his early 20’s and he’s a musician who plays the guitar and piano and the character just has a fantastic presence about him especially in his scenes with the female lead who is easily one of my favorite female leads of all time. She is in her mid to late 30’s single, and rocking out her career, but she’s been through some pretty rough stuff on and off the job, too. Their chemistry is fantastic.

WARNING: An oversized amount of screen time is devoted to exploring her on-the-job struggles and strife and I really don’t care about all those details especially when there’s a fantastic romance story to be told.

Assessment: rewatchable even if you have 30 kdramas on your list to watch that you haven’t even seen once yet

Personal Taste (romance)

Unique elements: Nothing much

Reasons why I rewatch it: Lee Minho. Enough said. I constantly go back and forth as to whether or not my favorite character of his is in City Hunter or this drama. This is one of those dramas that I first watched years ago and every time I go back to it I think, “it can’t possibly be as good as I remember, especially with all the dramas I’ve watched since then,” and then I watch it and am reminded of just why and how it is so good! Lee Minho’s character is just so fantastic. The female lead is kind of cliché and dopy at times but they have really great chemistry together, they both have really good backstories that make you invest in the characters, and it has so many funny elements.

WARNING: No matter how many times I rewatch this drama, there are some characters that I just can’t get invested in so there are a few subplots that I have never watched

Assessment: while it is a classic kdrama and gets mentioned on lists fairly often, it doesn’t get nearly the recognition it should

One More Happy Ending (romance)

Unique elements: nothing in particular

Reasons why I rewatch it: Jung Kyung Ho is at it again! This is kind of a slice-of-life/romance about a group of people in their mid-30’s who are killing it at their jobs but not so much in their personal lives. The romance plotline between Jung Kyung Ho’s character as the male lead and the female lead is really riveting and fantastic. I just end up getting obsessed with their plotline. It was one of those dramas where you look back on it at the end and you can’t really remember anything specific or noteworthy that happened yet it was all just so fantastic; you can’t really remember why you were so obsessed with it yet every time you go back to rewatch it, it is just as fantastic.

WARNING: There are a lot of secondary leads with the female lead’s group of friends and I can never get really invested in her friend’s subplots.

Assessment: rewatchable even if you have 30 kdramas on your list to watch that you haven’t even seen once yet

My Secret Romance (romance)

Unique elements: Even though the leads have a one night stand in the first episode, the female lead is able to act cool like it didn’t affect her but the male lead character can’t really get over it and it’s obvious to everyone who’s close to him

Reasons why I rewatch it: At 14 total episodes, this kdrama is almost exclusively focused on the main leads’ romance plotline – and what a plotline it is! The whole dynamics of him ending up being her CEO are just so much fun – it’s such a good premise. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, I always get obsessed with this drama when I watch it.

Assessment: terribly underrated

Legend of the Blue Sea (romance)

Unique elements: The premise itself is highly unique. (Also, Lee Minho! Lee Minho!) Each episode begins with a few minutes of a storyline of a relationship between a magistrate and a mermaid in the Joseon era. Then it jumps to present day and we end up meeting a lot of the same actors from the Joseon era plotline and basically everyone is reincarnated from that era and are very similar to who they used to be in their past lives. The male lead (Lee Minho’s character) starts learning more and more about his Joseon era self after he finds out just how much they look alike and he also starts having dreams from his past life in the Joseon era. Does history have to repeat itself entirely or can he change his fate for himself and the woman he loves?

Reasons why I rewatch it: The characters of ok on this one, but it is the plotline and the premise that really carries this one.

Assessment: terribly underrated

High Society (romance)

Unique elements: First of all, the female lead has all the sociopolitical clout and backing coming from a very rich family while the male lead grew up in a very poor family and he has always strived to make great gains in the business world. I especially love the ambiguity and mystery found in the male lead (who is fantastically portrayed by Sung Joon). Second, it follows the romance journey of two couples: for the male and female leads, their characters focus on internal strife, conflict, and angst – internal difficulties as they both wish to be raised as the other had; the secondary male and female leads are both simpler and less ambiguous characters but there romance plotline is no less compelling as they face mostly external, not internal, pressures regarding their relationship.

Reasons why I rewatch it: The plotline is fantastic and I am obsessed with all four characters’ relationships to each other.

Assessment: terribly underrated

Coffee Prince (romance)

Unique elements: nothing in particular

Reasons why I rewatch it: Another drama that is a classic drama because of how old it is, Coffee Prince has strong comedic elements, especially towards the beginning, and also has a slice-of-life feel with following subplots for several of the workers at the coffee shop, but presents them in a slow enough way that we are invested in all of the characters. With the female lead pretending to be male for most of the drama, this is certainly a gender-bender drama. I usually find myself questioning if it really is as good as I remember it to be and then when I rewatch it, it confirms itself to me that, yes, it has stood the test of time. Plus, Gong Yoo’s performance as the male lead is impeccable – he’s not just acting the character, in those moments he IS the character.

WARNING: Some of the subplots with the various supporting characters can slow the drama down at times so I have been known to skip some of these scenes, especially when I’m feeling particularly obsessed over the male and female leads’ interaction.

Assessment: accurately rated very high by many

Boys Over Flowers (romance)

Unique elements: literally zero, haha, but it is one of the most classic and well-known kdramas of all time.

Reasons why I rewatch it: Before you roll your eyes, let me just say two words: Kim Bum. The reason why I’ve rewatched this drama multiple times is to solely watch only the scenes that Kim Bum is in, because I’m kind of obsessed with his performance in this drama, honestly. He was the original “bad boy” character I became obsessed with and was the first character that went on my favorite characters list. I love seeing his character development, especially in regards to his female love interest (I honestly think his character has more character development than the male lead, or at least just as much, and he has a forth as much time devoted to his subplot).

WARNING: Because it is such a freaking long drama, it can tend to easily drag, even for scenes pertaining to the male and female leads.

Assessment: stunning performance by one of the actors

Cinderella and the Four Knights (romance)

Unique elements: not too many, really, if any at all

Reasons why I rewatch it: In some ways it feels similar to Boys over Flowers in that there’s one female lead who is interacting with several male leads, all of whom have significant screen time. But unlike Boys over Flowers, the plotline rarely if ever drags and I pretty much feel equally invested in all the characters and especially with the romance triangle between the female lead and the male lead and secondary lead. It’s one of those dramas that at the end of the drama you just think, “what was the plotline even about? I don’t know, but I was obsessed about it!”

Assessment: terribly underrated

Another Oh Hae Young (romance)

Unique elements: very unique premise. Basically, the male lead keeps having sudden, short visions of the future that all revolve around chance interactions with the female lead and he’s trying to figure out if he has the ability to have an alternative future from what he sees, especially when he sees a vision of himself getting violently hit by a car! But the female lead has struggles of her own: her life continually gets thrown into chaos over mix-ups with another person named Oh Hae Young.

Reasons why I rewatch it: the plotline is so fantastic. I also really love the chemistry and tension between the male and female leads.

WARNING: there are a surprising amount of scenes dealing with the male lead’s, and especially the female lead’s, work environments that can really bog down the plotline at times – I’ve never bothered watching these scenes.

Assessment: terribly underrated

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fictionalarsonist · 6 years ago

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inconspicuous bad apples - ch.02 (revamped)

pairing ›_taekwoon ⨯ reader ⨯ hakyeon feat. ›_ vixx wonshik ; got7 jinyoung ; cha minjoo (child oc) content ›_angst ; murder ; police au ; serial killer au ; mature language ; smoking ; drinking ; violence ; blood ; age gap relationship ; divorce rating ›_pg-13 word count ›_ 3k

a/n ›_ i decided to review this. is not quite all different, but i took off some unnecessary things from it.

「 ao3 | mobile m.list | inconspicuous bad apples m.list」

[ ch.01 | ch.02 | ch.03 | ch.04 | work in progress ]

“Okay, Lieutenant. We got it.”,Jinyoung approaches you as you stand beside the autopsy table, you take a folder from his hand and he stops next to you, “Not to rain on your parade, but the girl is… I mean was– the daughter of Daeun Trading Corporation’s CEO”, Jinyoung sounds amused and you sigh, looking up at him disappointed, “Her name is Kim Da Eun”

“Of course she was”, you droned, earning a chuckle from Jinyoung.

You take a quick look at the files inside before looking at the girl again, squinting your eyes just the slightest to concentrate at the sight before you. Jinyoung’s focuses on his notes for a moment, oblivious to your antics.

“Something wrong”, you speculate, loud enough to get Jinyoung looking up at you with one raise eyebrow.

“Wh-What? Lieutenant–”, he faltered, letting his hands fall beside his body.

“Just a feeling. An instinct–”, you mutter vaguely, offering him a shrug.

Jinyoung breathes out tiredly.

“Lieutenant…”, he starts, “I used to think only I hated when you said things like this, but I’ve noticed it’s a unanimous feeling. People hate when you say something about this instinct of yours, it’s scary!”

“Me included”, you reply vaguely, adding a strangled sigh as you try to put the pieces together, making sure you’re not missing anything, “What do we have so far?”

Jinyoung dutifully walks you through the information gathered, the doctor adds more facts.. It feels like a promising day, alright.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

You look up when someone knocks on your table.

“We’re going out for lunch”, your Captain announces, walking around your table to take a better look at the files you have scattered before you, “Obsessive as always”

Although his words are a reprimand you can hear the compliment undertone he applies to them. He shifted his weight on his feet, taking a closer look at the files you have on your table.

“What are those?”

You slide one of the file to him and leans back on your seat, massaging your closed eyelids.

“Someone I know owned me a favor”, you confess while opening your eyes.

You see him flipping the file to look at the department’s name, not minding his troubled and rather upset expression, you show him the photos and your Captain snaps his eyes to look at you, inspecualting.

“This case belongs to narcotics, what are you up to?”

“Daeun’s case.” You starts, “Something seems off.”

“Y/n, you can’t compare the daughter of CEO Kim Shin Il with those druggies!”

“Captain–”, you insist, pulling the files for comparison, “Most injuries match and the disposal location as well and the prostitutes aren’t the only ones–”, he interrupts you in a hurry

“Forget this”, he snaps and starts closing the files, putting them in a pile, “I’m retiring, and you will be promoted soon, we don’t need to stir shit up, Y/n”, he leaves only the CEO’s daughter file open on top of the others and taps the photo of the girl’s ID attached to he files, “After lunch we’ll have the warrant for her boyfriend’s house. It’ll be over before you know it”

“But, Captain! Something is definitely wrong here”, you try dissuading him and pulls out Kim Da Eun’s boyfriend mugshot, “I doesn’t make sense!” You hand him the paper, tapping it energetically as you speak on, “How can a narcissistic girl like Da Eun date a penniless man who walks around like a homeless–”, he interrupts you

“How would I know? It could be another trend, who knows?”

“Captain, do you really believe that?” You defy him, staring into his eyes with your hands on your waist and the two of you simply stare at each other for a moment, “Captain–”, you try again once both of you calm down, “I know something’s off about this.”

“Y/n-ah~”, he calls your attention in a rather affectionate way that comes out as bothersome, “I told you before. You can’t solve every case trusting your guts”, he insists, “Sometimes it doesn’t work and when that happens–”, he sighs

He steps closer, placing his hands on your shoulders, shaking you a little, but still looking in your eyes.

“Y/n! Don’t do this”, he warns you, “Think about Minjoo~, huh?” He tries in a dissuading tone and pats your shoulders before letting go of you, “Let’s go eat something, it’s my treat”

It’s not that you don’t understand his mindset. You want this to be that simple, you want it to be just a simple case of an abusive boyfriend jealousy as much as your Captain. This way the case you would be off your hands and you could move on to the next one on the pile resting on the other side of your table.

There isn’t much time left for your Captain’s retirement and your promotion to take his place and both of you are excited for this for different reasons. He has his business planned to stay alongside his family and enjoy his supposed old age papering his grandkids. As a side effect of being taken under your captain’s wings is knowing his family very closely as if you’re part of it, Seungho is his eldest grandkid, only a year older than Minjoo and they go to the same daycare, you’re friends with his mother, your captain’s oldest daughter.

So, yeah, you know everything you need to about him wanting to settle down and he knows all your reasons too. Keeping a low profile is a must in such a crucial moment in this career, but you just can’t look away from what’s in front of you, not when you have such a golden chance in your hands to make this work not just for the CEO’s daughter, but for the others too.

***

Your phone buzzes on your desk and the screen displays Hakyeon’s ID along with his picture, one that has him holding Minjoo during her last birthday party, and although the sound is subdued in the noisy room you’re not completely alienated to it, however you decide to ignore it, focusing on the files you have in hand, instead. Trying to connect the dots, because you know something off about this case, you know there must be a connection somewhere and if there is, you better find it fast before it’s too late to do anything about it.

“Lieutenant?” You look up to see Wonshik waiting for you expectantly by your desk, “They got Kim Da Eun’s boyfriend. They’re taking him to the interrogation room right now”, he pants

You jump on your feet and make sure to lock the files you’ve been reading in the lowest drawer on your desk before scooping your phone from your desk and walking hurried steps with Wonshik by your side.

“Who’s with him?”

“Detective Park”, he speaks respectfully

“Jinyoung?”

“Yes”, he nods

“Good”, you mutter more to yourself, then to him, “Did he say anything?”

“Aside from pleading innocence? No, sir.”

“Of course.”

He follows you into the room next to the interrogation room where some of the other detectives are gathered along with the Captain.

“How is it going?” You ask, moving to stand right in front of the two way mirror

“They gave us an alibi”, you Captain speaks, “We’re checking on it”, he adds with eyes glued on the scene unfolding behind the two-way mirror

“Brand named clothes and shoes. Limited edition, artesanal wrist watch…”, Jinyoung clicks his tongue, “You certainly is a high maintenance man”

“Why? Jealous?”, Jongup provokes, “I heard a cop’s pay off is real shit”, he adds, squinting his nose in disgust

“Still better than being a prostitute”

“Wow-wow-wow! Where did that came from?”

“Well, let me see–”, Jinyoung starts sarcastically, leaning back on his chair with arms crossed over his chest, “You’re unemployed and a complete nobody that ran errands for a low-life thug a few weeks ago, then out of nowhere you meet Kim Da Eun. Rich girl with a powerful father. Then, suddenly, you move to a better apartment and starts dressing like a well-bred bastard, except–”, this time Jinyoung’s the one who squints in disgust, “You have a horrible taste”

“I’m not a prostitute! What the fuck?”, Jongup replies outraged, “I’m a personal assistant, ‘lright?”

Jinyoung scoffs much like you on the other side of that mirror, most of the other detectives shake their heads in incredulity.

“Yeah, sure”, you hear someone say, somewhere behind you

“A personal assistant? You?”, Jongup nods insistently

Jinyoung keeps his eyes on Jongup as he opens the file on the table and only looks down to read.

“Moon Jong Up. 23 years old. Barely concluded middle school in a countryside town, the middle of nowhere–”, Jinyoung nudges the file away and looks up again, “How are you a personal assistant for people like Kim Da Eun and her friends?”

“I’m very good at what I do”, Jongup smirks with a careless shrug

“Two people testified that you were Kim Da Eun’s boyfriend, Jongup. Now–”, Jinyoung leans forward again, with his elbows on the table, “You can’t blame me for assuming you’re a prostitute. It’s the best case scenario for you to date a girl like her, even though we both know she could do much better. We understand her friends didn’t want to taint her memory by saying that, but still–”

“Alright, man. Just– stop right there”, Jongup asks in annoyed, raising both hands before dropping them loudly on his lap, “I wasn’t dating her or anything. She was a spoiled, manipulative, annoying bitch. Not exactly my type of fuck, no”

“Then why were you have pointing fingers saying that you were her boyfriend”

Jongup sighs in exasperation, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

“The fuck should I know? All I do is fixing parties for these crazy rich kids, man”

“Then, how come Kim Da Eun spent three days in your apartment?”, Jinyoung doesn’t lose a beat and Jongup takes a deep breathe, tonguing the teeth at the back of his mouth and rolling his head with eyes closed.

There’s a silent in the room and Jinyoung nudges his chair closer to the table in between them and smacks his hand very loudly on top of the files, regaining Jongup’s attention in a instant.

“Hey!”, Jinyoung speaks on the top of his lungs and Jongup stares at him, but it’s obvious he wants to look away, “You’re about to be charged with murder.”, Jongup looks away, “Look at me!”

“He definitely knows something”, your captain speaks up

“C’mon.”, you mutter more to yourself than to anyone else in the room, “C’mon, speak up.”

There’s a silence in the room for a moment. Jinyoung watches the Jongup very closely, while Jongup looks everywhere but Jinyoung.

“Jongup”, Jinyoung calls, “Why did you murdered Kim Da Eun?”

“What the–”, Jongup protests comes out as a groan, “I didn’t murder anyone!”

Jinyoung starts talking again, but your attention is robbed by Wonshik, who walks in and hands you a file. You scan the file, reading the report as fast as you can before handing over to you Captain. Dong Il reads and curses under his breath.

“His alibi checks out”, you say in deception before speaking into the microphone, to Jinyoung, “Come over”

Jinyoung leaves Jongup alone in the room with a threatening remark and meets you with the rest of the team inside the two-way mirror room.

“What is it?” He asks as soon as he steps in.

“His alibi checks out”, you repeat and your captain pushes the file on Jinyoung’s chest while you lean on the table behind you with your arms crossed over your chest in annoyance.

“We confirmed he was arrested two days ago for fighting a VVIP member of the Lotus nightclub.”

“How did he got in a place like that?” Jinyoung asks in annoyance

“Even if he worked for Golden Tiger himself he’d need a high status in the syndicate to get in that club”, you comment

“He was a guest for a private party”, the detective makes a pause, “For Kim Da Eun”

“Apparently Jongup and the other guy was hurt pretty bad. They all went to the hospital, Kim Da Eun too. Kim Da Eun and her friend pressed charges against Jongup”, Wonshik explains, “They left and not too long after he was taken into custody by the Department of Organized Crimes, he stayed with them for two days”

“So, we’re back to square one?” Jinyoung asks

“This Kim Da Eun’s friend is the son of one of Kim Shin Il’s associates. I’ll call the judge, he won’t show up unless we summon him”, you add, “Go back there and try to find something about this other guy and that fight. If he didn’t mention anything about it, then he’s definitely hiding something”

Jinyoung motions his head before leaving the room and you watch him start the interrogation again before leaving the room with your phone in hand. You don’t notice your Captain following you.

“I’m relieved”, he speaks up with a smile and you raise your eyebrows in confusion, “The next Captain is competent”

He doesn’t wait for you to say anything, just walks away. Whistling his favorite tune with his hands in his pockets and it’s only when he’s quite far that you let it sink in and smiles to yourself at the thought before going back to what you were doing.

It takes some talk and some convincing, but once you get the okay from the judge, you go back to the room, to watch the interrogation.

“We confirmed it was your blood on Kim Da Eun’s hands… literally. So, I’m pretty sure we can hold you here”, Jinyoung states

“Are you fucking kidding me?”, Jongup protests, “I already told you!”, he speaks loud in frustration looking at Jinyoung, before looking at you, “There was a fight at the club, I got hurt and she got… dirty. That crazy bitch”

He whispers the last part to himself and abruptly stands up to lift his shirt up his torso to show the cut, the blood on the wound soaking the bandages.

“Sit down!” Jinyoung commands, stepping further into the room and slamming the file on the table, but he stays standing up

“You see this?” Jongup points at the wound, “It was two days ago and it’s bleeding again because you people keep assaulting me”

“You’re the one getting worked up”, Jinyoung clarifies in a low, threatening tone, “Now, sit. Down.”

If it was either Jinyoung’s piercing glare or the way he spoke in a yet darker tone, hissing the words with jaw tightened that made Jongup swallow hard and obey, you don’t know. But it works quite a lot.

“I was in jail! I was in a cell for almost two days”, he starts again, more quiet this time

“We already know that part. Tell why you fought with that other guy”, Jinyoung presses and Jongup goes silent again, “Are you scared of losing your sponsor or something?”

“Look. You don’t mess with people like him, okay?”

“Why? Why is so scary about him? Huh?”, Jinyoung smiles, leaning further on the table and closer Jongup, “I’ll make this clear. We won’t have nothing to hold against you if you just say what you know about this guy”

Jinyoung slides a printed screencap from a CCTV from the file, towards Jongup. Keeping his eyes locked with the other’s.

“Just tell me what you know about the guy and we can let you go”

Jongup hesitates before looking at the photo other table, his eyes shift between the photo and Jinyoung. He presses his lips and looks away, lost in thoughts for a moment.

“I’m–”, Jongup hesitates, “I’m not saying he killed her, ‘lright?”, the fear and hesitation is more than clear as he speaks, stealing glances at Jinyoung

“Why? Do you think he could murder Kim Da Eun?”

“I don’t know, man…”

“Hey, Moon Jongup!” Jinyoung calls, loud and clear, “Look at me. Speak clearly.”, he commands

Jongup does as he’s told. When he starts speaking again he’s still hesitating and biting down on his lips, but at least he’s looking back at Jinyoung.

“All I know is that he’s a twisted bastard”, Jongup speaks up, “Mr. Kim wanted his daughter to date this dude, but Da Eun came to me–”

“To you?” Jinyoung asked skeptically

“All I know is that she wanted someone to protect her from this crazy-ass dude. She was scared of him”

“Did she tell you why?” Jongup hesitates to answer, “Jongup!”

“I told you, he’s crazy”, Jongup halts

“How?”

“He’s a controlling freak. A total psycho, I’m telling you”

Sometimes comes to your mind and you reach for the microphone again.

“Jinyoung, ask if Kim Da Eun was being abused by her boyfriend”, there a pause while you stand back and Jinyoung asks

“You bet. Just ask anyone, if you make sure he won’t do anything to them, they might speak up too. Or just check on his ex-girlfriend.”

“So why did Kim Da Eun choose you?”

“Because she knows I’m good at what I do”

“You were a low-life thug.”

“Exactly–”, Jongup motions his head with a shrug, “I’m good at what I do”, he repeats himself

“Then, what happened?” Jinyoung presses in urgency

“The guy is like a vicious dog”, Jongup stresses clearly, tapping his index finger on the table to make the gravity of his words worth, “He came to the club and tried to take her away, calling her all kinds of stuff, trying to drag her away– He was high on something. I tried protecting her–my job, remember? But the crazy son of a bitch cut me open with a fucking broken bottle”

“You said he was high–”, Jinyoung insists, “Is he addicted to any illicit drug?”

Jongup scoffs. “Why? Do I get extra points if I answer that one?”

“It doesn’t matter. We have what we need to get the playboy over”, you say out loud to the others, “Wonshik, go check on the summon the judge is supposed to send. I’ll be on my desk.”

This is heading down the same path, only now the person to have fingers pointed at is different. You know quite well, how this might end, but you can’t take those files locked in a drawer out of your head. You know there’s something about it that connects everything.

⇽ chapter 01 | chapter 03 ⇾

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kpopgerapitico · 6 years ago

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End of Year Review 2018: K-dramas Part 1

A/N: I had to break this into two parts, hence this being the starting point, and being posted today.

This year was a year of dropped dramas this year. I dropped more shows than I watched to completion, and more than you would expect. I think I finished maybe a total of 10 shows over the course of the year (9 of which are on this list), and most of the ones I dropped I will be leaving abandoned (except for the 1 that finished up this list). Suffice to say, I was underwhelmed by this years taking. And honestly, my top 10 only has like 3 or 4 shows that I don’t have major problems with, mostly in the back half of the shows.

My format takes a page from the very good Josei Next Door (if you like anime, her end of year lists are a must read, and hold many of my current favorites), and then follows my own loose commentary structure, because I can’t be bothered to organize half the time. So, anyways, here we go with the bottom half (i.e. good shows I enjoyed but I don’t love)!

Bottom 5: These shows are unordered, because I honestly had no clue of what order to put them in. So, alphabetical it is!

Come and Hug Me

Episodes: 32

Station: MBC

Director/Writer: Choi Joon Bae (The Sons), Lee A Ram

This is the only show on this list I haven’t finished. And that is in no way a comment on the show, because I really loved this show. It is the most dramatic show that I watched this year, and I was strung along for the whole damn ride. I cried, multiple times on this show, in the same episode.

Chang Ki Yong is someone I have known since his first ever role on It’s Okay That’s Love. And 4 years later, he has grown into a totally different actor. The first few episodes, I was pretty sure he was a really bad actor who had managed to get the lead role of a show on a big channel. Instead, he had his character so integrated that took a long time to reveal the layers of that character. Jin Ki Joo is beautiful and delicate and wonderful. She was completely believable from moment one, and carries tragedy so well. She also has one of my favorite clapbacks of all time (that I gifed way back when).

This show is a heart wrenching and does not let up. And I don’t usually go for shows that are quite that sad. But dammit all if this show didn’t draw me in and refuse to let me leave.

Fox Bride Star

Episodes: 32

Station: SBS

Director/Writer: Shin Woo Cheol (Gentleman’s Dignity), Kang Eun Kyung (Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim)

In A Sentence: The trials and tribulations of the daily life of airport employees.

Okay, I will talk a bit about the main characters in the show. I love Lee Je Hoon, even if I don’t like any of the projects he has chosen since Signal. And I love Chae Soo Bin, ever since I’m Not A Robot. And they sort of mostly totally have chemistry. And the whole robot arm/leg thing is something interesting I guess.

Can you tell that the leads weren’t the reason I watched this show? Well, now that that is out of the way, let’s talk about the part of this show you should love. The Security Couple. Kim Kyung Nam and Lee Soo Kyung have enough chemistry to run the whole show, and they have the cutest storyline by a lot. I was rooting for them throughout, especially since Lee Soo Kyung’s character felt a lot like Lee Min Ki in Because This Is My First Life. Also, I need Kim Kyung Nam in a drama as the leading man in a sort of mob boss in a rom com sort of show. Because he would kill it.

The machinations of the show were often weird and didn’t fit. But the security couple. The whole asshole brother plot line was unneeded. But the security couple. Now maybe you know why I included this show.

Judge vs. Judge

Episodes: 32

Station: SBS

Director/Writer: Lee Kwang Young, Seo In

In A Sentence: The trials and tribulations of the daily life of judges.

The first half of this show is something special, and the second half is not the worst, so it deserves to be mentioned. I love the case of the week style, and more importantly the whole mentor-mentee relationship of the judges. And Yeon Woo Jin is adorable as a serious judge who plays by the book, and across from Park Eun Bin’s emotional judging. It is so redeeming after the crap that Yeon Woo Jin had to fight through last year.

Also, the whole plot line with the assistant and the judge friend was adorable, and made me giggle every time I saw their interactions.

This show is nothing to write home about, but it does well as a whole, and has a few shining moments that make it noteworthy for me this year.

My Secret Terrius

Episodes: 32

Station: MBC

Director/Writer: Park Sang Hun (Romance Full of Life), Oh Ji Young (Shopping King Louis)

In A Sentence: He is in hiding, as a nanny, because reasons.

This show was mostly a vessel to have So Ji Sub be endearingly cute the whole time. And I for one am not complaining, because that is wonderful. So Ji Sub needs to be in rom coms for the rest of his life, and I will accept nothing less.

The plot of this show mirrors that of the writer’s previous work, with quirky characters who do weird things with almost no reason and a ton of heart. And it again brings a lot of heart to a show that has no right to have any. From nose kisses with the kids, to cops that are incapable while the neighborhood moms group can catch a kidnapper, no problems. Kang Ki Young is a scene stealer when So Ji Sub isn’t on screen, and brings out some of Terrius’ funniest moments when they are together.

This show has no depth, nor should it. Enjoy it for the silly pleasure it is, as the spiritual if not actual successor as Shopping King Louis.

What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim

Episodes: 16

Station: tvn

Director/Writer: Park Joon Hwa (Because This Is My First Life), Jung Eun Young

In A Sentence: His secretary quits to live her life, and he fights to keep her.

I love the idea of this shows plot. The whole ‘my secretary quit because I’m a dick and she realized that she is worth more’. I love the adjustment to the plot that the show makes over the course of its show to ‘my secretary quit even though she realized I’m not a dick because she wants different things now’. Did the love line make sense from the start? For him sure, but definitely not for her. But once the show got past that initial weirdness, it settled into a much cuter place.

Park Seo Joon is great, because he always is, and Park Min Young is equally great in hers. They play off of each other so well, which is incredibly important for a show that is all about 1 relationship.

Do I wish that they dropped the second lead? Do I get confused by why Chansung doesn’t get more screen time as a hilarious side romance? Yes and Yes. But there is great stuff in the middle, and a solid cast in most of the roles who do great work. Don’t expect depth, but expect a nice ride.

#eoyr2018 #kdrama p1 #here we go y'all

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someguyscaliforniavoterguide · 4 years ago

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My Guide to Select East Valley/California/National Races on November 3, 2020

It’s me again!

I admit that much of my work is cribbed from/aligns with other progressive voter guides out there, but we don’t all agree so here’s my voice for good luck. This time I’ve listed other guides at the bottom of this monster of a page. Check them out if you think my answer is wrong or wishy washy!

Remember you can vote by mail, drop off your ballot at a drop box, or vote in person if you want this year. More info on the literal mechanics of voting can be found at this excellent guide from Knock-L.A.

As always, I don’t expect or want anybody to send me a thank you gift, but if this guide is helpful and you want to say thanks, just throw a few bucks to the September 21st fundraiser - www.sept21st.com - where internet notable Demi Adejuyigbe is raising money for five grassroots progressive groups.

And without ado, let’s get to my East Valley voter guide!

EAST VALLEY CITY RACES

L.A. City Council District 4: Nithya Raman

Nithya Raman was the executive director for Time’s Up and is the founder of the indispensable SELAH homeless advocacy organization. She’s been endorsed by DSA-LA, League of Conservation Voters, Bike The Vote L.A., and Sunrise Movement, and is an inspiring candidate with an exceptional policy platform. I donated money to her campaign and I wish I lived a few blocks over so I could vote for her as well.

L.A. City Council District 10: Mark Ridley Thomas

Neither option is great, but Mark Ridley-Thomas is the best of two bad choices here, since Grace Yoo’s approach to homelessness lacks empathy and she is dismissive of the reality of racial profiling.

Burbank City Council (2 seats available): Konstantine Anthony, Tamala Takahashi

Burbank City Council has two seats on the ballot. 1) Konstantine Anthony is endorsed by just about every local progressive organization, including Ground Game LA, DSA-LA, and Sunrise Movement LA. 2) Tamala Takahashi has fewer institutional endorsements but the transportation platform alone that she outlined to MyBurbank.com is enough to show that she would make an outstanding councilmember.

Burbank City Treasurer: Lindsey Francois

LACCD RACES

L.A. Community College District Board of Trustees Seat 1: Charné Tunson

Charné Tunson is running as a challenger to incumbent Community College Board President, Dr. Andra Hoffman. Tunson is a former high school assistant principal at Crenshaw High School and, more recently, a former principal at a charter high school in Watts. Tunson has pledged to remove LASD from the LACCD, has educational experience and is a black woman: she will bring perspectives that are lacking to the LACCD Board.

L.A. Community College District Board of Trustees Seat 3: David Vela*

Vela is well connected within the LA Democratic Party. Endorsed by UTLA but nobody else.

L.A. Community College District Board of Trustees Seat 5: Dr. Cynthia Gonzalez

Dr. Gonzalez has an impressive and thorough policy platform for improving student experience at LACCD and a plan to reorient education to meet the workforce needs of a region in which we reimagine public safety and reorient services towards non-violent responders. Dr. Gonzalez is endorsed by Jackie Goldberg, one of the best educational advocates in the County.

L.A. Community College District Board of Trustees Seat 7: Mike Fong*

Fong is widely supported for re-election including UTLA.

LAUSD RACES

LAUSD Board Member District 3: Scott Schmerelson*

LAUSD Board Member District 7: Patricia Castellanos

Both candidates enjoy the endorsement of UTLA and Jackie Goldberg against charter advocates, and they have my support.

STATE SENATE

CA Senate District 21: Kipp Mueller

Mueller is a progressive attorney who has fought ICE pro bono, and is endorsed by DSA-LA and CalBike.

CA Senate District 23: Abigail Medina

Abigail Medina has support from progressive organizations, environmental groups, and more of the unions.

CA Senate District 25: Nobody

Incumbent Anthony Portantino is running unopposed. He’s a terrible person who singlehandedly set back housing reform in the state by years. Write in Mickey Mouse.

CA Senate District 27: Henry Stern*

Stern has been a disappointment; but his opponent is a Republican who says his priority is to address the “vagrent (sic) crisis.”

CA Senate District 29: Josh Newman

Newman won this seat 4 years ago, only to be recalled by a Republican campaign after his vote in favor of SB1, which helps fund transit and transportation projects across the state. He deserves to be back in Sacramento.

CA Senate District 33: Elizabeth Castillo

Castillo's campaign is a long-shot but progressive challenge focused on equity, social justice, rent control, and single-payer healthcare.

CA Senate District 35: Steven Bradford*

STATE ASSEMBLY

CA Assembly District 38: Nobody

This is the seat that Christy Smith is giving up to run for Congress. Democrats split their votes in the Primary and both candidates in the runoff are conservatives. Whoever wins, we lose.

CA Assembly District 39: Luz Rivas*

CA Assembly District 41: Chris Holden*

CA Assembly District 43: Laura Friedman*

CA Assembly District 45: Jess Gabriel*

CA Assembly District 46: Adrin Nazarian*

Nazarian has kowtowed to NIMBYs and was a loud voice opposing SB1120, and has ties to LAPPL . His opponent is worse. I’m glad I don’t have to hold my nose to vote for Nazarian, but I probably would.

CA Assembly District 49: Edwin Chau*

CA Assembly District 50: Richard Bloom*

CA Assembly District 51: Wendy Carrillo*

CA Assembly District 53: Godfrey Santos Plata

CA Assembly District 54: Tracy Bernard Jones

CA Assembly District 58: Margaret Villa

Villa is challenging a NIMBY legislator as a progressive who supports rent control, Medicare for All, and a Green New Deal.

CA Assembly District 59: Reggie Jones-Sawyer*

CA Assembly District 62: Autumn Burke*

CA Assembly District 63: No Recommendation

Speaker of the Assembly Anthony Rendon is the assemblymember responsible for shelving California’s attempt at single-payer healthcare in 2018. This year, Rendon killed multiple important bills through delay, including SB731, which would have decertified police who kill, and SB1120, which would have allowed duplex housing in single family zones. He made headlines by doing so while forcing Assembly Member Buffy Wicks to show up in person with her 36 day old baby in order to vote. UNFORTUNATELY, his challenger has a history of making anti-Semitic statements that are too much for me to endorse. We deserved two better candidates in this race.

CA Assembly District 64: Fatima Iqbal-Zubair

Incumbent Mike Gipson has accepted money from oil and police interests. He’s a former police officer who was appointed to chair an Assembly Committee on Police Reform, which seems like a bad idea. Iqbal-Zubair is a better choice.

CA Assembly District 66: Al Muratsuchi*

CA Assembly District 70: Patrick O’Donnell*

US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

U.S. House District 23: Kim Mangone

Long-shot Democratic challenger to the awful Republican leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy.

U.S. House District 25: Christy Smith

Assemblywoman Christy Smith is on the ballot to retake this seat that was held by Democrat Katie Hill until she resigned and a Republican, Mike Garcia, won a special election in March. I expect that a November General Election will give Democrats the edge they need to win back this seat.

U.S. House District 27: Judy Chu*

U.S. House District 28: Adam Schiff*

U.S. House District 29: Angelica Maria Dueñas

This is my district and I have gone back and forth, but I think this year I will vote for Dueñas. The incumbent, Tony Cārdenas, is a solid backbench Democrat who has been good enough on the issues, but maintains membership in the centrist New Democrat Coalition. I don’t like that Dueñas most recently ran as a Green Party candidate before coming to the Democrats, but I am willing to overlook that to get a progressive voice in Congress from my side of town. I think Cārdenas will win though, he has solid name recognition and good constituent services.

U.S. House District 30: Brad Sherman*

U.S. House District 32: Grace Napolitano*

U.S. House District 33: Ted Lieu*

U.S. House District 34: Jimmy Gomez*

A lot of other progressives are supporting David Kim. He’s great. So is Gomez. Either vote is good.

U.S. House District 37: Karen Bass*

U.S. House District 38: Michael Tolar

U.S. House District 39: Gil Cisneros*

U.S. House District 40: Lucille Roybal-Allard*

U.S. House District 43: Maxine Waters*

U.S. House District 44: Nanette Barragan*

U.S. House District 45: Katie Porter*

U.S. House District 47: Alan Lowenthal*

LAUSD MEASURE

LAUSD Measure RR - $7B Bond for School Upgrades: Yes

Measure RR would extend a current property tax assessment to fund school capital projects that was initiated through 2008’s Measure Q up to 2055.

COUNTY STUFF

L.A. County District Attorney: George Gascón

TLDR: Jackie Lacey has got to go. She has failed to prosecute killer cops, she has overaggressively prosecuted defendants, she refused to proactively dismiss marijuana sentences until it was an election year. Her husband pulled a gun on BLM protestors in March! George Gascon has a track record as a progressive prosecutor (once an oxymoron, now a chic branding statement) in San Francisco - he was the only DA to support Prop 47, he has promised to prosecute bad cops, he supports AB 392 (The Use of Force bill), and he has pledged to end the use of the Death Penalty in L.A. County. He’s endorsed by the L.A. Democratic Party and basically everybody in town now because the writing is on the wall: he’s gonna win.

L.A. County Supervisor 2: Holly Mitchell

I have some beefs with Holly Mitchell’s voting in the Senate on housing issues, but she’s a better choice than Herb Wesson, who is currently the Chair of the L.A. City Council. Look at L.A. in the past 8 or so years and ask: has Herb Wesson done a good job? Do you want him as one of the FIVE County Supervisors? Vote accordingly.

L.A. Judge Seat 72: Myanna Dellinger

L.A. Judge Seat 80: Klint James McKay

L.A. Judge Seat 162: David Diamond

L.A. County Measure J - "Re-Imagine L.A.": Big Yes

County Measure J will divert a minimum of 10% of the County budget (about $400M annually from the Sheriff's Department) to housing, employment, and rehabilitation programs. Thanks to Black Lives Matter-LA and their allies for this golden opportunity. Vote yes, then tell your friends to vote yes.

BURBANK INITATIVE

Burbank Measure RC - Rent Control: Yes

Measure RC would create rent control for Burbank multi-family housing built prior to 1995. Affected housing would see annual rent increases limited to 7%, require just cause for evictions, revert rents to 2019 levels, and create a rent control board to administrate.

CALIFORNIA PROPOSITIONS

CA Prop 14 - Funds for Stem Cell Research: No

In 2004 California created a bond issue to fund stem cell research at the height of the Bush Administration’s attack on scientific research. Today stem cell use is far less controversial. I believe in funding this research, but I don’t think we should be giving $7.8B in funding for research without checks in place to make sure that a California investment results in treatments that are accessible and affordable. If there were more here to guarantee affordability for research funded by our taxes, I’d vote yes. Otherwise I’m saying make it a no.

CA Prop 15 - Commercial Property Tax Split Roll/Schools & Communities First: Emphatically Yes!

In 1978, a much different California passed Prop 13, giving property owners enormous tax breaks and massively underfunding education and local services as a result. This year’s Prop 15 would end the tax break for commercial property owners, raising as much as $12.5 billion to help fund schools and local services. Vote yes, then tell your friends to vote yes.

CA Prop 16 - Restore Affirmative Action: Yes

In 1996, a much different California passed Proposition 209 to end affirmative action in higher education through an amendment to the California Constitution. Prop 16 would undo this by repealing Prop 209. Affirmative action’s absence has hurt people of color’s chances of getting better education and higher paying contracts. The existing law prevents government institutions from doing what is needed to ensure hiring takes history into account. Recent protests demanding racial equity make it clear that reinstating affirmative action is the right way to go.

CA Prop 17 - Allow Parolees To Vote: Yes

Prop 17 would let residents who have already served their time and are on parole the ability to participate in the democratic process that shapes their lives, and is absolutely necessary considering the racist nature of the criminal justice system. To be clear, NOBODY SHOULD EVER LOSE THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE. But that’s not on the ballot this year. Vote yes.

CA Prop 18 - Allow Some 17 Year Olds To Vote In Primaries: Yes

Prop 18 would allow residents who will turn 18 before a general election to participate in the primary election in order to help determine the options they will be voting on. This is an easy yes.

CA Prop 19 - Let Retirees Transfer Their Low Property Taxes: No

Prop 19 closes one Prop 13 tax loophole while opening another - in this case allowing homeowners to take their artificially low tax rates to move to new homes while closing a loophole that allows heirs to keep a low tax rate on properties that are not used as a primary residence (google “Big Lebowski Tax” for more on this). Some people think this is a bargain worth striking: the idea that homeowners would free up existing housing in cities to retire to cheaper parts of the state while sticking it to people who pay insanely low taxes on what are rental properties. I don’t begrudge that analysis, but I think in the end the bargain isn’t one worth striking and I am encouraging a no vote.

CA Prop 20 - Repeal Criminal Justice Reforms: No

A proposition being pushed by LA police unions that needs to be handily rejected by the voters as we talk about the carceral state and racial equity. Prop 20 seeks to undo 2014’s decriminalization effort (Prop 47) and 2016’s expansion of parole opportunities for non-violent crimes (Prop 57). If nothing else, the implementation of this would cost us millions of dollars a year to throw more people in prison. Just a hard no.

CA Prop 21 - Allow Limited Rent Control: Yes

Why is rent control on the ballot again? 1) because the state legislature keeps fucking up on housing and 2) because one very wealthy man wants the law to change. Prop 21 would allow cities to enact rent control on properties that are over 15 years old if they chose to modify their existing rent control laws. An easy yes if you’re concerned about renters in one of the worst housing markets in the nation.

CA Prop 22 - Modify AB5 to Remove Protections for Gig Workers: No

$181M is being spent on this by Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other “sharing economy” companies to carve out an exception to AB5 through this proposition. You’ve probably gotten texts, mailers, etc from drivers who support the amendment. Don’t buy it: this is about preserving their employers’ (I USE THAT WORD DELIBERATELY) shady abuse of the independent contractor status to keep their bottom lines artificially low. On top of all that, the law adds a 7/8 supermajority requirement to modify in the legislature. Look, even if you think AB5 is flawed, this isn’t the answer. Vote no.

CA Prop 23 - Regulate Dialysis Centers As Medical Facilities: Yes

Kidney Dialysis Centers have long operated in a grey area outside of the kind of regulations that medical facilities do. Getting medical professionals who are bound by the Hippocratic Oath on hand and requiring reporting is necessary and overdue.

CA Prop 24 - Consumer Privacy Rules: No

California already has strict existing privacy rules for Internet companies; this proposition would expand them because one wealthy person decided they don’t go far enough. The ACLU has raised concerns about some of the loopholes in the bill (notably allowing companies to use loyalty programs to get tracking permissions). This isn’t a bad one, and I have a lot of friend and allies encouraging a yes vote on it; for me the fact that it could be addressed in the legislature means we should look to that avenue before taking it to the initiative process.

CA Prop 25 - Approve Reform of Bail Industry: No

This pains me. I want to end cash bail, and I fear that defeating this proposition will strangle any hope of doing so in the legislature. That said, the reform that this would enshrine is problematic and is opposed by too many groups (ACLU, Knock L.A.) that I trust on the issue to make me comfortable voting yes. Vote no, then organize for real bail reform.

THE BIG CHEESE

President & Vice President: Joe Biden & Kamala Harris

If you don’t want to vote for Joe Biden you’re reading the wrong guide. Trump is a monster, the third party candidates aren’t worth your time. This is the second most consequential presidential election of our lives (the most consequential election was 2016 and WE FUCKED THAT ONE UP BOY HOWDY). Don’t be an ass. Vote for Biden, then keep writing letters and making calls to hold him to his promises.

* = Denotes incumbent

Thanks for reading! Here’s a list of voter info, other voter guides, and comments on ballot initiatives I recommend you check out. I am indebted to many of these guides for shaping my own thinking, and feel that my guide is kind of redundant these days - but I’ve been asked about it a few times so I will keep on doing it.

Voting Info:

LA County Registrar/Recorder Voting Info: https://lavote.net/home/voting-elections

Voter’s Edge ballot info: https://votersedge.org/ca/

Non-mail ballot drop-off options: https://www.democracydocket.com/2020/08/usps-delays/

Voter Guides:

Michael MacDonald’s Voter Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DP1rWZNR5ymOOxArGJm-abs7CGIN9-HluH_TduMAn0Y

KNOCK.LA: https://knock-la.com/los-angeles-progressive-voter-guide-november-general-election-2020-fe6e286b3feb

LA Podcast: https://thelapod.com/posts/la-podcast-voter-guide-2020-general-election/

TheLAnd Magazine: https://thelandmag.com/voter-guide/voter-guide-2020-california-los-angeles/

Amélie Cherlin’s guide: http://yeskelsey.com/lavoterguide/

Bike The Vote L.A: https://www.bikethevote.com/voter-guide/

Sunrise Movement endorsements: https://twitter.com/RamblingCameron/status/1313012830992441344/

LA League of Conservation Voters: http://lalcv.org/current-endorsements/

California League of Conservation Voters: https://www.ecovote.org/elections/current-endorsements/

Calbike: https://www.calbike.org/take_action/bike-the-vote/

DSA-LA: https://dsa-la.org/2020voterguide

Niall Huffman’s guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M6IJyLpoS9P6rMIiZtcd8dHHPR4MdbSB68Bdc-frjsk/

Two Evils (Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal): https://voterguide.la

Hector Huezo’s guide (propositions only): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dUMLL50Ic-2pFEruYKR4vd_ExoJlRvZ5V9PJiD7V9a0/

Guides to Propositions:

LA Voice proposition endorsements (bilingual): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pQBoKJL3RKmJ-Rjex77s1UOc481P9n5la_-Y9Zvdqd8/

Courage Campaign guide to propositions: https://progressivevotersguide.com/california

Streetsblog proposition endorsements: https://cal.streetsblog.org/2020/09/30/streetsblog-endorsements-for-the-november-2020-election-statewide-propositions-and-local-measures/

Better Institutions (Shane Phillips) breaks down Prop 15: http://www.betterinstitutions.com/blog/2020/9/20/yes-on-proposition-15-common-concerns-and-responses

Alfred Twu shows who is paying for propositions: https://twitter.com/alfred_twu/status/1312298651390103552

Black Women for Wellness guide to propositions (pdf): https://bwwactionproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Propositions-2020-BWWAP-small-file-size.pdf

JusticeLA Coalition guide to propositions (pdf): https://justicelanow.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Coalition-Voting-Guide-2020-9-21.pdf

CalMatters guide to propositions: https://calmatters.org/election-2020-guide/

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ahnsael · 7 years ago

Text

Woke up yesterday to a call from my boss, asking me to work graveyard last night/this morning instead of swing yesterday.

I happily agreed -- I stayed up too late last night and was dreading that 1:00pm alarm.

After talking with him, I got to go back to bed and sleep until 6:30pm Now I have two days to get my sleep schedule back on swing shift.

Overall a dead night -- for almost an hour and a half we had no guests. But at around midnight, a lady (probably in her mid-20s -- she was carded, but not by me, so I don’t know) went into the bathroom, came out a few seconds later, grabbed a straw, and went back in. Then she came out a few minutes later, grabbed another straw, and went back in.

One of my security guards thought, “huh, that’s weird.” But this security guard used to do drugs, and after the second time he walked up to the entrance of the womens’ room and took a sniff, and recognized the smell of burning heroin.

He explained to me what was going on, and once she left the restroom we made sure it was empty and went in to see if we could find any evidence. In one of the handicapped stalls, we found two melted straws which she used to suck in the smoke from the burning heroin. I called the sheriff’s department and explained what was going on.

Unfortunately, the lady and the man she was with left while I was on the phone with dispatch. The deputies came and confirmed what the security guard had told me, but said that, since it happened in the restroom (no cameras in there for obvious reasons), even if they found her they wouldn’t have a case, no matter how obvious it was to both the deputies and us what had happened.

All they could do was remove the straws from the premises so we wouldn’t have to handle them (as there may have been residue on them).

A local Native American casino has had a big problem with drug users, and Tribal police have been banning people from that casino left and right. Which...good on them for doing so. But that means they’re now coming here (after midnight, we’re the closest casino to that one, just a couple miles down the road). And I don’t know if county sheriffs have more restrictions on the burden of proof, or whether the Tribal police have been overstepping their bounds as far as assuming guilt without enough evidence, or if the users were more open about it there and got caught.

But, on the plus side, the deputies are making their presence known much more often in our casino. There are a few specific people they’re looking for (apparently one of our regulars, who we’ve long-suspected of dealing, is having a pretty good case built against him with the use of undercover officers, and one of our other regulars has a warrant out, but I have not been able to find out which one so I could call the sheriffs department when I see them), but mostly they just want it known that they are watching. They may catch some people. They may just spook them enough to keep them from frequenting the casino (none of them play much, usually, and even if they did, we don’t need them or their money, as the druggies could turn off our other regulars to where THEY stop coming in).

There have been a LOT of shenanigans lately (unlike about a year ago, when it was a manager and a couple of employees doing the shenanigans, which led to quite the tongue-lashing from our owner, this time it’s not anything WE’RE doing wrong -- in fact, every manager we have is on board with trying to fight this, but understanding that there’s a high burden of proof, but...with this new security guard who has a past, we’re all learning, as he’s filling us in on his old tricks and people he knows are still involved in that world.

Usually it’s tweakers (people on meth). Heroin is even worse. I don’t want either one in my casino, but...wow. I hope we get them out of our hair soon. Let them move to the NEXT casino down the road.

I’m told we scared the druggies away before (they came back after we were off the sheriffs department radar for a while), so hopefully we can do it again.

It’s still weird to me to have a good relationship with (most of) the deputies here. I’ve only ever had bad experience with cops before this (I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating for those of you who are new -- I have no arrest or criminal record, my worst transgression is a speeding ticket that I got in Illinois, and I once got a parking ticket in California because I forgot it was street sweeping day). But most cops I’ve dealt with before I moved here (with ONE exception, a Los Angeles Airport Police officer who helped me out when I ran out of gas literally right next to an LAX runway -- I actually called his superior officer to compliment him, that’s how helpful he was; I actually had an Anaheim police officer, after my roommates locked me out with no notice and not only kept, but then SOLD everything I owned that was in the apartment, ask if I had receipts for the things I’d owned for years, and said “I don’t have a special ‘cop-knock’ that will make them answer the door and give your stuff back”).

But here, with two exceptions that I can think of (out of dozens of deputies with which I’ve interacted), I get along with the force. We’re on the same side. And, yes, sometimes they do talk down to me. The guy tonight kept asking “What do you want me to do about this? You have no video of her actually using.” Which I understood, given the fact we have no video of her using, and told him so, but HE JUST KEPT ASKING as if I hadn’t just fully agreed that there wasn’t enough proof to arrest or prosecute. But while that rubbed me the wrong way, he was overall decent to us (including the security guard who has the past, that this officer is WELL aware of, as my security guard told me that this particular officer had arrested him multiple times, but tonight, he told that security guard “I’m glad to see you’re doing well”).

The casino world is a trip, y’all. I mean, I’ve dealt with SOME (but not all) of this stuff before at other jobs, including Disneyland and the movie theater, but...never this frequently. It’s truly something else. This is, overall, a decent small town where people either look out for each other or just ignore each other. But...there’s DEFINITELY a criminal underbelly here. Not as bad as L.A. or Chicago, probably on par with where I lived in Washington (there it was mostly shoplifting, though, as far as what I dealt with -- here, nobody can steal a slot machine).

The world is often a strange place.

I mean, I saw Fox News last night at work (in between watching Olympic curling, and educating my security guards about the game [I LOVE curling, and I’d never seen a curling controversy before last night, and I saw TWO of them in different matches] -- the opening ceremony is tonight, but some events have already started) praise Donald Trump’s request for a military parade with tanks and marching soldiers and missiles going down Pennsylvania Avenue for his pleasure, and chastise Kim Jon-Un for holding one in North Korea yesterday, calling the actions of a dictator. Wait...what? The cognitave dissonance is strong with them.

#work things #also a little bit of politics #but that's just the last paragraph

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somaybeimbiased · 7 years ago

Photo

Listen to this while reading c;

SHINee 5- Mafia

“ Can I get a shinee mafia au (You should throw in some backstory in there) (also could you mybe add 2min and jongkey in the backstory too??) thanks! also I love your blog “ -Anon

Seoul, South Korea; a place over-run with organized crime, the most powerful being the SHINee Mafia. The 5 men known to be in charge of this mafia are known as the SHINee Five.

Lee Jinki ‘Onew’- The Boss

Born into the family business

Definitely knows what he is doing

Goes by the alias ‘Onew’ because is sounds more menacing than ‘Jinki’

Really dedicated to his business

Willing to do anything to keep them at the top

Including agreeing to an arranged marriage with this girl from another group.

Very careful and proud of their reputation

“WE ARE HEARTHLESS”

Definitely isn’t heartless

Tough love on all his underlings (Except Taemin)

Really clumsy though, like sometimes people wonder if he actually does have two left feet

Scary good aim with a shotgun though, like, don’t mess with him and his shotgun

Or his chicken

Loves his job and his friends

Sometimes wonders what it would be like to live a normal life

Kim Jonghyun- Mr.Slick

Met Kibum on Grindr when they were young

He has been with him for a couple years

Got into this business by accident.

Followed his boyfriend to work one day

And Surprise! Hey! Hello There!

He did not know his boyfriend was in the Mafia

They sat him down and asked what he could do.

Mind you, he was like, 20 at this point.

“Umm well, I think I might be good at sneaking around places like a spy kinda, maybe, or stealing things? but I’ve neve-”

“Great! Youre in!”

His only experience were all the video games about spies and grand theft auto.

Surprisingly good?

Like, he can slip in and out of a building without a word.

Has a new love for the jewels he steals. (M: Jong, you can’t name that diamond Jennifer, it’s worht more than you J: Don’t talk to me and Jennifer like that!)

Names them regardless of what Minho says

Glad that that’s all his job consists of becuase he hates blood

Also hates this job.

But he wants to make sure Kibum is safe, so he deals with it

Kim “The Key” Kibum- The Interrogator

Jinki’s childhood best friend

Recruited right after Jinki took over

“Hey, wanna be apart of my Mafia?” ….. “Yeah, okay.”

Got an eyepatch for work, because he thought it would be cooler

“It’s an intimidation factor!”

Sometimes he will switch which eye the patch goes on.

Takes it off in public, becuase he has to keep a low profile (T: Low Profile doesn’t mean wearing gucci everywhere)

Really good with words though.

Always had a knack for getting the gossip and getting the answers he wanted to hear from people

Calls himself the golden tongue

Jonghyun does too

Plays both the good and the bad cop

Lowkey prefers being the bad cop

Really good at using a knife to his advantage

Was pissed when Jonghyun followed him to work

Felt bad bc the poor baby thought he was cheating

Did not approve of Jonghyun joining

“No babe, you’re like a puppy they’ll eat you alive”

They didn’t not eat him alive… yet?

Choi Minho- The Wingman

No, not, the the “Right hand man”, The wingman

Because Jinki loves chicken, and chicken have wings

Bitter about it.

His dad was Mr.Lee’s second in command

He has been training for this job his entire life.

Really excited when he heard Jinki was taking over

“Who cares if I’m still in highschool? I can totally help run a Mafia”

Quit sports for the business

There is a never ending debate among the underlings over who is more dedicated, Minho, or Jinki?

He does everything Jinki doesn’t

So he kind of just stands there, glaring at other people during ‘business’ meetings

He is also pretty persuasive and charming (Can’t beat Key though)

He keeps an unloaded handgun on his belt and shows it to people as a scare tactic when his charm isn’t working

It works

Head over oxfords for Taemin

They almost caused a civil war within the Mafia when they announced they were together

Thank God Taemin is Jinki’s brother

Lee Taemin- The Hitman

Need someone to disappear?

Need something to explode?

Need to have someone lead an ambush?

Call this kid.

Onew’s little brother

The youngest, but also the deadliest

No one actually thought he would be of any use to the family business

The Taemin pulled out a gun and shocked the hell out of everyone

Don’t mess with this kid

He loses guns literally everywhere though (K: Tae, why was one of your guns in my underwear drawer? T:*shrug*)

Also likes setting things on fire?

One time him and Jonghyun got caught in an ambush while they were trying to steal back some money and Taemin made a flash bomb out of some Tequilla, a paperclip, a sock, shoelaces, and a ziplock baggie

How?

We don’t know.

Gets rid of people Jinki needs gone.

Leaves blue roses for the innocent

Business may be business but he still feels bad sometimes

Only stayed in the business because of his boyfriend

Totally in love

Wont admit it though,

“I AM HEARTLESS”

Isn’t

Like brother, Like brother.

A/N I hope this covered everything you wanted! I’m glad I’m getting more requests for these things, becuase I LOVE doing them. And I also really love this Mafia AU, so if you want more, let me know! I might make another post to focus on the relationships in this AU (2min Jongkey, Onchicken Onew and the girl from the other Mafia (idk who yet) Thanks guys!

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somecrazylads-a-blog · 7 years ago

Text

A history of Patrick

Just some brief about’s on Fenris’ incarnations that came BEFORE Patrick (including him), and something brief about important people/influences/connections in each life (if they had any). These are all (except for Cao Heng) also open for interactions, just hit me up if you feel like it.

February 16th, 1988 - Present Day - Patrick Jason Finch

Patrick is a (mostly) illegal informant that travels the world by means both magical and not. He’s quite the loner, made it his new life goal to help people where he can, and even if the information from him is acquired illegaly, he makes sure that hat they’re used for aren’t harmful deeds. He was born and raised in Liverpool, where he stayed until 2013 to complete his studies and fulfill his side of a deal he had with his father (and uncle by extension). He’s mischievous in a harmless way and he doesn’t go out of his way to create lasting relationships of any kind..

IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS

Allen Chapman; reciprocated high-school crush for a total of three years, Allen is the mindful one in Patrick’s life, the responsible, the kind one. He’s studious in a calm way and always ready to lend a hand if the act could cause some good in an otherwise pretty ash-grey world. He’s become someone who looks after Patrick when they’re together, in the sense that he understands his boundaries more than any others, and just wants Patrick to come back home and calm down. He’s a very trustworthy man, but not one who gives trust easily. He is the kind one can always turn to.

---

Kihoon Choi; companion in studies and someone with a deeply rooted dislike for Patrick, Kihoon is the one in Patrick’s life he can turn to when he needs to distract himself - mostly because Kihoon’s dislike for him is so obvious and unshielded, he can mess around with it to his heart’s content. Kihoon is a hater of distractions and what he deems to be ‘useless things’. He never strays away from his studies and is constantly pushing himself towards his mental breaking point. He’s convinced that there is only one way to achieve a happy future, and that is gaining stability now, at the cost of sacrificing his present happiness. He’s very stressed.

---

Shawn Muñoz; as the one being in Patrick’s life who knows of his nature almost more than Patrick himself, he’s someone Patrick interacts with when he needs information and/or help in matters regarding the Aesir or anything supernatural. Nothing is known about him or how exactly he came to know what he knows, but he seems to mean no harm.

---

[Face-claim pending]

Fetuilelagi Walker; closer to Allen then she is to him, a Valkyrie who’s nature is unknown to her, but who proves enough of the strength, attitude, and ability as a warrior to not fool anyone who knows how to look for a Valkyrie. Shawn was the one to confirm her nature, years after Patrick had first befriended her through Allen, and now his connection to her is mostly to her nature than to her as a person, because she’s never quite trusted him enough for them to become more than casual friends.

---

November 1st, 1969 - February 16th, 1988 - Katrina Pedersen (tw abuse)

Katrina was a young woman born in Norway. She was often abused as a child by parents who hadn’t actually wanted her, to the point of neighbours finally noticing the marks around the girl’s neck that would never go away, and calling for people to take her away from that household. But by then a tiny spark of hatred had ignited in the girl’s chest, and when, at 14, a kind couple further in the North finally took her in, Katrina had already started to see every attempt at interaction as aggression. She was paranoid in that aspect, and verbally aggressive as a result. When her new parents started to fear the teenager they’d brought into their home, Katrina snapped. Her aggression became violence and one day, two years after remembering who she was and trying to bury the person she’d become in her life, she set fire to her house. With her and her parents inside.

IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS

None. Katrina didn’t have any friends or people to care about. She pushed away everyone who tried coming closer, like a cornered wounded animal.

---

June 7th, 1924 - November 1st, 1969 - Kim Jungsoo (tw injuries & war)

Jungsoo had a relatively normal life growing up. He was raised much like any Korean boy at the time, the sole difference being the sudden turn for selectiveness he experienced after his 17th birthday. From the kind and inappropriately joking lad he’d been, he turned into someone who shied away from most interactions and only offered his mysteriously playful yet sad smile to those who were really adamant on seeing it. When the Korean War came around, Jungsoo fought alongside many other South Koreans who’s faces he now barely remembers. During it, Jungsoo had his throat damaged to the point of losing his voice, the ability to talk having been taken away from him completely. In the end, though, after the War, he found other ways to get in trouble and was put a bullet right between his eyes as he grinned and watched it coming.

IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS

None. He broke off all his casual friendships when he turned 17, and stayed clear from forming any bonds after that, especially during the war.

---

May 26th, 1897 - June 7th, 1924 - Edward ‘Eddie’ Carlo Wilson aka The Hound (tw mafia)

Now, Edward was the one who sure understood how to have a good time. When World War I began, Edward remembered who he was. After that, it was mostly downhill. When 1917 rolled around, Edward was old enough to participate in the war, and experience that would leave him so numb and scarred to wars, that Jungsoo after him fought mostly through dissociation. The hatred and pain left in him from his prior life didn’t leave even after the Great War was over and he could return to the ‘peaceful’ St. Louis, leaving him restless and ith nresolved issues. Not too shortly after, the Prohibition began, and Eddie jumped headfirst into the first chance he got to become a bloody bootlegger. He felt like a God in the job, growing a reputation on his terrifying voice and way of speaking when he threatened others, and on how terrifyingly harmless he looked when he was sitting in a speakeasy and downing some panther piss. The tilt of his head, the snarl of his lips baring his teeth, and the nature of his personality, earned him the moniker of ‘The Hound’. Deep down, though, he hid the gentleness Patrick still guards today.

IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS

Johnathan ‘Jackie’ Ferriero, aka Mr Jack; the right-hand man of The Hound, a man with a wicked sense of humour and a side to himself so sweet, many wondered how the hell he got into the job. One might refer to him as a medic of sorts, knowledgeable in medicine thanks to God knows what studies he fails to mention to anyone that isn’t Edward. His relationship to The Hound had always been murmured about when the devilish duo wasn’t around, and little did the murmurs know how right they were when they made little innuendos on how ‘Mr Jack would always be there to light Eddie’s cigarette’. Don’t be fooled by the good cop to the bad cop thing he got going on with Eddie because he’s about just as dangerous as his mate is. Even more, considering he dances with the Fenrisulfr.

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October 25, 1871 - May 26th, 1897 - Serafima Kuznetsov

Serafima, the Ice Queen of Russia. She was a dame, an angel, a goddess, with eyes as cold and blue as the ice she skated on in her free time (eyes as pale as Patrick’s). Her voice was rumoured to be so calm and kind, it could even calm the most violent of souls. But she wasn’t always so kind deep down. As a child, she was a doll, sweet, tender, helpful in the household even beyond what she had to do. As an adult, she was the winter breeze carrying snowflakes, beautiful and surreal, but with a knowledge of how the world worked so wide and terrifying, she kept it to herself. Only once in her life was she fooled, when she believed the American man could bring her away from Russia, bring her somewhere where she could feel freer to breathe. But he betrayed her trust, an American man out for her father’s blood, and threw her off a train into the midst of the Russian winter.

IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS

Mr Casper; he’s never told her more than he needed to tell her to gain her trust. He made her believe in freedom, just so he could tear her away from his father, the actual goal of the man being her father’s head on a stick, for reasons Serafima never got to find out. A vile, opportunistic man, with a heart almost as frozen as the pond Serafima used to skate on.

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November 27th, 1832 - October 25, 1871 - Emanuele Picone

Emanuele was a very patriotic child, even though during his childhood, knowing which country to be faithful to was always a confusing matter. He was determined, wanted to live for Italy, wanted to see Italy united. And when he turned 17, for some bizarre reason, even though the dream became laughable to his own ears, he didn’t stop from trying to achieve it. Perhaps he was looking for a meaning, something to do in this life, a purpose, or maybe something to keep him preoccupied, and distract him from the strange blur, the strange fog that would take over his mind every time he tried to think about the life that came before him. He fought for and with Giuseppe Garibaldi, and was later poisoned by a rat who didn’t like the new united Italy.

IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS

I don’t know of any yet, but it seems unlikely that he had any.

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March 31, 1818 - November 27th, 1832 - 曹恒 (Cao Heng)

[No face-claim]

Memories of lives who didn’t get to remember who they were (not turned 17) are much harder to access, so Patrick doesn’t actively remember this kid. There’s a blur where his face should be in his mind, and the memories feel like they’re locked away and he can only access snippets that sneak through cracks. The only thing he remembers are I was pushed; My clothing felt warm; The garden was ours, the pusher was not.

IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS

Unknown.

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- March 31, 1818 - Captain Véréne

[Face claim pending]

Under development. A woman escapes from a life ruled by others by taking over a pirate ship who tried to rob the one she’d been travelling on. With the might of the Fenrisulfr on her side, she takes over the ship and declares herself Captain. Few really oppose the lady with the long dark grey hair that turns to smoke when the wind brushes the ends, with the blood red lock of hair framing the side of her face, and eyes that glow like fire.

IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS

Constance de Lioncourt; first mate of ‘Le Rescapé’ and rumoured to be the lover of Captain Véréne and her advisor. She was ‘rescued’ by Véréne from an aristocratic life that was mostly lived by others for her, and brought onto her ship. At first, meeting a woman of colour as the leader of a pirate ship confused her, but the promise of the new life Véréne offered her cancelled any doubts she might have had of joining the crew. Her slowly acquired open-mindedness, and will for fun and new adventures, as well as her personality mixing well with that of the Captain, quickly made her the first mate of the ship.

Phillip; former first mate of the Captain who used to run the ship before Véréne, with her might as the Fenrisulfr, had him overthrown and claimed the ship and crew as her own. She held a sword to his throat and told the crew, who wanted to leave could leave, who wanted to stay was welcome to, answered all his remarks with a self-confidence so kind he’s never met before, and Phillip stayed. She’d been such a powerful presence, he felt he’d regret not joining her. He became her advisor in the matters of piracy and sailing she wasn’t familiar with, and later her lover, a liaison later joined by Constance as well.

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And this is the bottom. These are the lives I’ve come up with so far. But there’s gonna be many more. I may update this as I go.

#;ooc #[The Wolf];About #[The Wolf's universe]

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scoutshonor56 · 5 years ago

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KWID DOH NO!

Our Kartoon Prezident

Well, as year #3 of this torn and frazzled, circle-the-wagons administration comes to a close, it’s time to look back and reflect on the Little King’s record thus far. After all, “some” say he’s the greatest president since Lincoln, maybe even better! Well, OK, he does anyway… Oh Little Donny, you are one for the history books, you’re certainly right about that!

In the short span of three years in office, due to your ego, stupidity, and gullibility, you’ve made our country a punchline and a bad joke to the rest of the free world. You’ve soured relations with pretty much all the major democratic nations of both hemispheres and it’s become abundantly obvious that you prefer the company of despots and dictators, because they curry your favor and feed your ego while playing you for a sucker and a clueless rube. You play international diplomacy not like a shrewd card shark, but someone who still gets confused when playing “Go Fish”.

While your own top advisors, the CIA, and our National Security team strongly suggested you throw in the 4 and the 7 and take two cards, you said, “But I asked them, and they said they got nothing – I’m betting it all on what I have!”

Did Putin rig the 2016 election? “I asked him, he said no…”

Does Kim Jong-un intend to stop his nuclear proliferation? “I asked him, he said yes…”

Did Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman order the killing, dismemberment and disappearance of Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi? “I asked him, he said no…”

It’s just a theory of mine, but I suspect that you find the intricacies of democracy waaay too complicated; too much reading! Whereas in Russia and N. Korea, it pretty much boils down to “the supreme leader makes the rules, and if you don’t like it, tough shit.” – see? Simple is good!

Fuck it, what do my own hand-picked Intelligence team know anyways? They didn’t write my best seller, “Art of the Deal”! They lack my incredible business insight and my sharply honed negotiating skills; my intuitive judgement of character!

No argument there Mr. Prezident… well, except for the six former associates, cabinet appointees, and campaign advisors now spending their holiday in prison for a few minor offenses like tax evasion, campaign finance violations, lying to Congress under oath, lying to the FBI, conspiracy against the United States, obstruction of Congress, and witness tampering… oh, and your revolving door of high level appointees and cabinet members who pass through the White House like the line at a drive-thru McDonalds, or a frantic, rookie coach trying to stabilize his list of starting players as they drop one game after another on their way to another losing season.

As a matter of fact, you’ve had more turnovers during your first three years at the helm than any other previous first term president during their entire four-year term - many of them replaced multiple times!

Hey, I get it – shit happens when you’re a “stable genius” big-time finance wizard like yourself, who built a huge casino in New Jersey primarily financed with junk bonds, ran it into the ground, stiffed all the construction contractors and workers out of millions, and turned Atlantic City into a ghost town.

Oops, well, and there are those six bankruptcy filings while you were in the private sector… and the bogus Trump “University” scam that you quietly had to settle out of court before taking the oath of office to run the country, paying out $25 million to the students (dupes) who showed up one day only to find the front doors locked and a sign taped to the glass…

Oh, and the Trump “Charity” organization, which was recently sued by the New York Attorney General and found guilty of misuse of funds, funneling millions toward your election campaign and paying off business debts… oh, and the purchase of a huge $60K vanity portrait to hang in one of your exclusive country clubs. The “Charity” foundation was ordered liquidated and $2 million was dispersed among actual, non-affiliated charities… Whadda guy, am I right!? A true philanthropist, with a heart as pure and genuine as his hair!

Well, OK, but that’s all dollars under the bridge, now you’re in the BIG chair, running the whole show – how’s that federal deficit coming, the big hole in our national budget that in your 2016 campaign you promised to fill in eight years? Yikes! Lotta shoveling still needed there, better roll up the sleeves, put down the golf clubs and get to work; looks like the federal deficit for this past year surged 26% from 2018 to $985 billion, and the Congressional Budget Office projects it will top a record breaking $1 trillion next year, primarily due to your 2017 tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the rich and mega-rich.

Speaking of golf, let’s return again to 2016 and your campaign rhetoric:

“If I am president I'm not going to play much golf, because there's a lot of work to be done... Obama went golfing every day. 'Little Obama, go play golf every day.' He's played more than most PGA touring professionals play... I'm going to be working for you. I'm not going to have time to go play golf."

You leave me speechless. There are whoppers and then there are WHOPPERS! And we all know your whoppers are triple beef patty and cheese, hold all the green and tomato, extra bacon! This past weekend, down in Par-a-Lago, you teed up for your 251st game at – of course - one of your own exclusive resorts. Yup, the president of the United States owns twelve courses across the U.S., three in Europe, and one in the Middle East, with three others still under construction. You even wanted to hold the 2020 G7 Summit at your exclusive resort in Miami until your own party members quietly suggested, ahem, this might not go over too well with the rabble… could be seen as gratuitous and self-promoting.

You know, it’s not everyone who can get elected to president of the United States even after tapes are uncovered of him saying ten years prior to running, “Yeah, that’s her. With the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Damb! J.F.K., Bill Clinton, sit down you amateurs! You nervous, pimple-faced freshman at your first high school dance trying to cop a sweaty feel! Donny was putting it to a well-known porn star just a year after his third marriage and just months after the birth of their first child, Barron. His longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to eight federal crimes, including making illegal contributions to the Trump campaign on the same day he admitted cutting a $130,000 to said porn star (AKA Stormy Daniels) to buy her silence before the election.

“I did not have sex with that woman.” Oh, those were such innocent times, the ‘90’s! A little hanky-panky with an intern, a cum stained blue dress… To date, Trump has 25 allegations of sexual misconduct against him, and those are just the women who came forward.

I could go on and on… and on, but let’s stay with the big picture, the broad brush strokes for now, and start to bring this sordid summary to a close. So, you’re the champion of coal and the petrochemical industry, and the chief spokesperson for the nostalgic days of big, gas guzzling cars. You get a hard-on whenever you see a tank, sparking fantasies of military parades down our streets, you’re a climate change denier, think wind energy is produced by windmills that give you cancer, and are the Darth Vader to renewable energy in any shape or form. Your target list also includes endangered wildlife and protected federal land and you are quickly closing in on 100 rollbacks (95) of any current environmental regulations. You’ve essentially turned the EPA into a paper lion with missing teeth, a bunch of token federal workers down the hall who may as well show up whenever they feel like it, take long lunches, spend their days web surfing, and punch out around 3:00 for all the good they can do under your watch.

Wow, what an impressive resume! We haven’t even touched on the constant barrage of lies and fanciful fabrications that spill out of your mouth daily like food spray, the daily policy “briefings” conducted by Fox News, the obsessive tweeting, the complete blurring of truth and fact, the drastic rise of nationalistic, racist hate crimes over the last three years, the rambling conspiracy theories, the child-like pettiness and immaturity, the juvenile name calling and belittling, the paranoia, the preening and neediness of a textbook narcissistic sociopath…

And now, to cement your place in the annals of history you’ve graduated to being only the third sitting U.S. president to face an impeachment hearing - bravo Mr. Prezident, bravo! You sir are indeed one for the books! A true piece of work never before seen, or even imagined, in our 224 years of American politics, and I salute you!

You let him in the game America; you wanted him, you got him! I can’t wait for the next four seasons of everyone’s favorite reality show, “Little Donny’s Playhouse!”. And if his mentally blunt and rabid fans have anything to say about it, afterwards it will go into re-run syndication for years and years to come!

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em!

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