#Tak’s episode is one of the best episodes in the entire show

[random-iz-stuff]

I absolutely love the bit of your newest post about Zim just casually *walking* back towards Tak in the rain. I can just imagine the scene and it's fucking amazing. I love Zim just being causally terrifying to others (intentional or not) in ways that aren't just him being a bit crazy or destructive.

I also love all your stuff that actually uses Zim's background, and all that comes with that.

I wonder what it would be like for Tak if she managed to genuinely piss him off (another thing that I love your headcanons of)

Tak absolutely refuses to admit it, but she’s the underdog in this situation. She’s an ex-soldier with plenty of engineering experience from her time on Dirt, and has access to a holographic disguise that’s more advanced than any other disguise in the empire, but her opponent is a fully trained ex-invader with an extensive scientific background that knows earth better than any other irken.

Plus, she fell HARD for Zim’s dumb act.

Tak came from Dirt, knowing nothing about Zim other than the fact that he’s a complete idiot and that he ruined her life. Then, upon arriving on Earth and revealing herself to Zim, that information is seemingly proven to be true, with Zim acting like a complete idiot, interrupting her multiple times and even after explaining everything to him, he STILL doesn’t understand, immediately believing that Tak is after his robot bee. She meets Zim face to face and he’s a complete idiot that doesn’t deserve the time of day from her.

But what if I told you that that was exactly what Zim WANTED her to think. Zim puts on a dumb persona specifically so people underestimate him and/or are manipulated easier by him. So upon another Irken showing up on his doorstep, clearly wanting him dead, he plays dumb. He successfully gets Tak to believe that he’s a complete moron that’s not worth killing, since there’s no way this idiot could ever come close to stopping her plan…. ..right?

The base-disabling nanobots were a surprise, but Zim still managed to minimize the damage, since he got Tak to deploy them on the upper floor where none of his important equipment is. His base was still temporarily disabled, but imagine the damage that would have been caused if Tak released them in his proper base, where all of his actual equipment and computers are.

Plus, Zim is a complete enigma, not just to Tak, but to the entire irken race.

I already mentioned how Zim figured out how to waterproof himself using paste, while no sane irken would even consider using that stuff as waterproofing. And it’s a well kept secret of Zim’s, with not even Dib knowing how he does it, or why Zim’s waterproofing is so inconsistent (he frequently forgets to apply the stuff, so he only really consistently has waterproofing on days when it’s expected to rain).

But that’s not all. Zim has one thing that puts him above the average irken. He’s extremely adaptable. He can change his plans on the fly, he will go against what he’s been taught in the military if it benefits him and most importantly of all, he doesn’t care about efficiency.

For all irkens, efficiency is the most important thing. You must be effective and efficient to succeed. But Zim doesn’t care about that. As long as it works, he’ll use it. For example, waterproofing. Most irkens would never use paste because, well, it’s a primitive arts and crafts material that doesn’t last forever on the invader’s skin, losing effectiveness over time. They’d instead spend days searching for or creating their own solution that is effective as possible, perfect waterproofing or bust. Zim on the other hand, doesn’t care. Paste does it’s job just fine, so he uses it. No sense trying to fix something that’s not broken.

Even his Voot Cruiser is an example of this. Zim’s Voot is obviously an old model. It uses a propulsion system instead of whatever thrustless system modern ships use and doesn’t have an onboard computer like modern ships, and yet he refuses to get rid of it. It’s a perfectly good ship that’s served him well in the past, so he’s not getting rid of it for the sake of efficiency.

And speaking of Zim’s Voot, his dogfight with Tak is a perfect demonstration of Zim’s military skill against Tak, because the thing is, even with an outdated ship, in his dogfight with Tak, he pilots it with masterful skill, managing to outmaneuver Tak throughout the entire fight. Keep in mind that Zim managed to remain directly behind Tak for the entire dogfight (which is a very important and central part of dogfighting), with her and her modified modern ship unable to shake him. During the entire dogfight, ZIM is the only one that fires any weapons. Tak can’t even get into a position that would let her shoot back. Even when flying through the lava around them, she is unable to get Zim off her tail. Zim was winning that dogfight even before Gaz and Gir started helping.

Tak has to resort to physically ramming him to do any damage. And even that does minimal damage as Zim simply ejects the cockpit window and replaces it, which in of itself could be an example of Zim being adaptable and going against his traditional military training.

And the final nail in the coffin during the whole dogfight, Zim is completely silent during the entire thing. He isn’t putting up a persona or trying to make himself seem dumber or smarter than he really is. Zim is completely focused on the task at hand, which is a terrifying thing for Tak to be up against. The only time he speaks is after he wins, when he claims that Tak’s piloting is worse than his, indicating that despite Zim being able to pretty much run circles around Tak in his ship, he doesn’t even view himself as that good of a pilot.

But then there’s this scene that single handily adds a whole new layer to Zim’s character:

Tak’s ship is destroyed and is spinning out in front of Zim. Zim proceeds to joke about Tak’s piloting skills, but then has a realization of some kind and then proceeds to ram Tak’s ship. It seems a bit strange, but it actually shows us something very important about Zim.

First of all, his realization. What was he referring to when he said “Wait”? Well, Tak’s ship is spinning out in front of him and although she does have an escape pod, I’ve played enough Kerbal Space Program to know that deploying something while the main ship is uncontrollably spinning like that will result in the pod getting destroyed or at least heavily damaged. And since her ship is damaged and disabled, Tak can’t just stop the spin with a few button presses. She has no control.

And judging by Zim’s face when he says “Wait”, he knows that.

That’s the look of a concerned Zim. Despite just fighting with her, Zim almost seems worried about Tak’s safety as her ship is stuck spinning with no safe way of ejecting. Even his tone of voice indicates this, as the insulting tone he was just using while making fun of Tak’s piloting skills INSTANTLY disappears upon his realization.

And then, when Zim rams Tak, think about what he just did. He knocked Tak into a bubble of lava. Irken ships have been shown to be extremely heatproof, given how the massive was able to fly through a star and how Zim and Tak’s own ships have been fine zipping around the lava in the dogfight a few seconds ago, and lava is a liquid, not a solid object, so Tak’s ship isn’t going to be very damaged by crashing into it. The most crashing into the lava will do is slow her ship down since that’s what happens when you submerge a moving object in a liquid.

So by knocking Tak’s ship into that lava bubble, Zim slowed the spinning of Tak’s ship, making it safe for her to eject. The fact that Tak only ejects after Zim rams her and not while she’s spinning out adds more evidence to this.

Zim had no reason to do this. He could have very easily left Tak spinning and unable to eject from her damaged ship or even just shot Tak while she was defenceless, but he didn’t. So Zim actively chose to spare Tak by giving her a safe chance to eject from her ship.

So despite Tak wanting him dead and Zim being fully aware of this, he chooses to spare her, fully knowing that she won’t do the same. This pretty much goes against the entire mindset of irkens, especially invaders, who, valuing efficiency over everything else, will remove any threat that they get even the slightest chance to remove.

This part of Zim’s character where he spares those that definitely won’t spare him can be seen with one other character, Dib, who Zim is fully capable of killing with minimal effort, but chooses to keep alive, only attempting to kill him in certain elaborate schemes, and even seeming to go easy on him, not using weapons or his PAK in most fights.

There are two different reasons that Zim may do this. The first is that he may purposely spare people that he considers “worthy adversaries”, despite the fact that they definitely will not do the same to him. If this is true, then Dib and Tak both seem to be considered worthy adversaries by Zim, but since Tak is an irken and much more of a threat than Dib, he doesn’t go easy on her like he does with Dib, but still chooses to spare her after the fight is over.

The second reason is that Zim may fight dirty, but he has his limits. Killing Tak in a dogfight? Sure. But letting Tak die in a broken ship she can’t control or shooting her while she’s in no condition to fight? Hell no. Same goes for Dib. Elaborate scheme where you turn him into a sausage or throw him into a dimension containing a room with a moose? Sure. Just straight up shooting him because he’s a human child and you’re an alien soldier with technology more advanced than he will ever know? Hell no.

It’s probably a mix of the two options, but the final point is that Zim has a weird relationship with killing, and will spare people that won’t do the same.

That being said, Tak hasn’t seen Zim get angry enough to go quiet, although she did witness Zim being focused enough to go quiet during the entire dogfight, which is very close to the same thing. She’s never seen Zim properly drop the dumb persona either, as she herself fell for it and still believes that Zim is an idiot now.

However, if she ever did see Zim’s quiet and competent persona that he gains when he’s extremely angry, she’d never want to see it again. Especially since Zim is very likely to forgo his usual rules with sparing in this situation, and he already doesn’t go easy on her like he does with Dib.

[This post is a continuation of these two posts: https://random-iz-stuff.tumblr.com/post/691450114671296512/write-some-ideas-for-a-fake-invader-zim-episode, https://random-iz-stuff.tumblr.com/post/680570994898894848/headcanon]

#invader zim #headcanons #analysis #zim #tak #Tak’s episode is one of the best episodes in the entire show #especially when you look closely and see the smaller details #like Zim choosing to spare Tak for unknown reasons #and Zim’s competence in general #just imagine the dogfight from Tak’s perspective #you’re going up against a person that as far as you know is a complete idiot that can barely do anything properly #and then he manages to maneuver himself behind you (which is how you win most dogfights) #and you just cannot shake him off #you can’t even get close to landing a hit on him as he trails behind you with masterful precision #you need to resort to physically ramming him to do damage #which does next to nothing as he literally removes his cockpit window and replaces it mid-fight #and then your Sir unit starts going crazy #and oh god it has the same eye colour as Zim’s insane defective unit #what has he done?

[hedgethemaze]

I stumbled upon this meme, a couple of days ago and I thought, since it's been quite a while since I posted anything LoK related reblogs don't count it would be cool to give it a go, while also freshen up some of my views on the series and... *he he he* while I was hoping for some of them to have changed over time, I see that most of them didn't🤣

Original template done by: purfectprincessgirl on deviantart

A bit of analysis is under 'keep reading', plus, some silver medals because like half of these weren't as easy to sort out as I thought 😅​

WARNING: Long post ahead!

Favorite Character

Asami is no silver medal, she's the gold for me! Honestly, she should be the one in the image above (my n°1 favorite character in the series). The main reason I chose Korra for it was for the sake of not having repeats (she's my 2nd most fav character) 'cause Asami is unarguably my number one pick in another category (more on that way below)

Least Favorite Character

The author of the meme describes this category as follows: "LoK character you dislike the most, and they either annoy/bore you too much to ever enjoy their presence whenever they're on-screen"

Runner-up

Raiko embodies this definition to a tee, yet what Zaheer does to Korra during their confrontation in the Book 3 finale is plain torture and really painful to watch. I don't just dislike Zaheer, I hate the guy!

If it wasn't for the airbenders' intervention, he could and would have killed her - something Raiko would never be capable of, or even think of doing. Basically, he gets a pass for being harmless lol

Favorite Episode

This one may have been the hardest I had to consider. The runner-ups are too many to count, so I had to resort to the author's meaning yet again, to decide.

Long Live The Queen is an exciting episode with a lot going on - some of it being quite serious and grave, but with enough lightheartedness to not be an agonizing watch.

Watching Korra and Asami working as a well-oiled machine to escape not only imprisonment by the Earth Queen's men but also the dangers of the desert is a blast (plus, the more Asami gets to show off her skills and have relevancy in an episode, the better). Meanwhile, Mako's struggle and failure at getting Bolin to metalbend, Lin finding Naga and Pabu, and Korra getting to meet Zuko for the first time on screen are moments that lift off some of the tension from the fact that the Red Lotus are rapidly gaining on their hunt for the Avatar the on-screen assassination of the Earth Queen.

It's because of the balance between these elements that I chose this episode over the one I consider to be the best episode in the entire series.

Runner-up (among many!)

Korra Alone is a masterpiece of animated media and one of the best written episode in all of the avatar-verse.

To me, it cemented the titular character as one of the most significant, ground-breaking and inspiring protagonist of all time - I could go on and on about how great of an episode this is but I don't think I need to - yet, it's because of the heavy topics it deals with that I don't prefer it over many others...I love the episode immensely, but to see Korra go through such despair and torment is not exactly my idea of a good time😅

Least Favorite Episode

Quite the opposite to choosing a favorite episode, my least favorite episode has always been clear, no runner-ups needed.

In short, Beginnings is my least favorite episode because it is the answer to a question I never asked, as I stated at the end of this post of mine almost two years ago (see n°34). It is really hard to sit through these episodes for me.

Now, if you want a more fleshed out explanation - which, in turn, touches on some of the reasons why I picked my least favorite season as well - I encourage you to watch THIS video on youtube by Hello Future Me, if you're interested.

Favorite Season

I made this choice easier by counting how many episodes I love from each season, against how many I just like, otherwise it'd take me more than a day to make up my mind. As a result, Change won with me favoring 10 out of its 13 episodes, giving it a score of 77%.

With that in mind, the runner-up is...

Me loving 9 out of its 13 episodes gives it a score of 69%.

Looks like I'm on the boat that considers the second half of the series to be the "better" half, huh. I still would've placed Book 1 as the runner-up, thought - for two reasons only: Asami's untapped potential in that particular season and having more screen-time and dialogue than in Book 4, and me liking the main antagonist more (despite some issues I ultimately have with his execution).

*ehem* Anyway, Balance also has a far better finale in its favor, so it wins its silver medal fair and square!😁

Least Favorite Season

Even without giving it a score - which I still did, 43%, 6 out of 14 episodes - Spirits is my least favorite season, bar none.

Though, much quicker than talking about what I didn't like about this season (again, you can watch THIS video by Hello Future Me), is to talk about what I did like:

Delving into Korra, Tonraq and Senna's family dynamic (Unalaq gets included here but only for the first 4 episodes of the season), the introduction of Bumi and Kya, and their sibling dynamic with Tenzin and the appearance of Uncle Iroh! - these are the aspects, I think, the season touches on perfectly.

Then there's the not-so-perfect bits I still enjoyed, even though they went nowhere or got resolved in an unsatisfying way, like: Mako's detective work on the bombing of the SWT Cultural Center and finding out who's stealing Future Industries goods, which pushes Asami to having to sell a controlling portion of her company to no other than the one making profit out of the civil war between the tribes😱 Speaking of, Varrick's partnership with Bolin and the introduction of movers war propaganda, was fun but.....well, this is on the not-so-perfect stuff that I liked about Spirits so, yeah.

Most Overrated Character

One of the reasons for me to choose Kuvira is because I never shared other's fascination about her (which in most cases I've seen, it boils down to be either because of her looks, her fighting/bending skills, or both), nor did I ever bought into the parallelism they tried to draw between her and Korra.

But the one thing that could never get me on the Kuvira-train is the show going out of its way to try and give her the Avatar equivalent of Hitler seemingly redeeming qualities. Nothing Kuvira did since her raising to power across the EK, up to the end of the series, is justifiable or excusable.

Even so, I can't ignore the one thing I do like about her and that is Zelda Williams' flawless performance. I especially remember her speech in The Coronation, her delivery gave me chills! Throughout the season, honestly, there's like a haunting quality to her voice - it's like, I don't like the stuff she's saying, yet I still wanna listen lol Truly, she did incredible.

Oh! Almost forgot about the runner-up:

Originally, it was going to be Meelo (a petty choice on my part, I know) I can't believe I'm still salty about Patterns in Time

But I'll give the silver fairly to Zaheer because I seriously cannot get the hype for this guy. Even if he's my first exposure to an airbender actually murdering someone...even if he unlocked the ability to fly.

He may be a skillful martial artist, but if it weren't for the other members of the Red Lotus, Zaheer wouldn't be half as terrifying, imo. And he's also a coward.

Most Underrated Character

*sigh* Asami Sato, my beloved...do I need to elaborate on why this category (in my eyes) goes to no one but her? No matter, I've done it already: here (see n° 25)

It's also quite masterfully, and better explained here by Unicorn of War.

Ironically, I gave this category not one, but two runner-ups

Technically, Mako should be the runner-up.

To me, Korra is just as deserving of being the most underrated, underappreciated, and underestimated character in the whole series as Asami (then again, no repeats) - yet, Miss Sato is also mistreated (no pun intended) not only by others within the series but its creators, as well.

First thought of as one of the bad guys, Mike and Bryan created such an extraordinary character - with a killer design to boot! - who in spite of having less appearances and fewer lines than other 'main' characters, spoke loudly enough to write her own narrative. From the very first time we see her in Book 1, Asami pulled all the stops: She could've been a rival to Korra, an enemy to her friends, an ally to her hateful father...still, she ended up being one of the most compassionate, kindhearted and loyal characters in the series...despite all that, more often than not, the creators simply didn't know what to do with her💔

Now, imagine I didn't write all of that. That I don't put Asami above anyone else here.

Korra is the most underrated character in her own series, everybody knows this. The amount of complaints and criticism she gets to this day, unfairly so, is insane!

As for Mako, let's check the autho's definition of this category: "LoK character that you think doesn't get enough attention, as they're usually almost always forgotten about/bashed-on for the lamest of reasons in your eyes"

Well, in my opinion Mako does get a fair amount of attention, and while he does get forgotten from time to time, so are Asami and Bolin, so that doesn't bother me much. It's the last bit that gets me...

For the most part, he's hated because of the love triangle fiasco - a mess of a plot line that happened literally a decade ago. If to hold that sort of thing over one character isn't lame, I don't know what is - and I say this as a Korrasami shipper, an Asami simp and a Korra stan.

Moreover, these people easily gloss over the fact that both Korra and Asami moved on from that rather quickly, forgave Mako and still are good friends with him. More than underrated, I feel like he's misjudged - because those who complain about him don't take into account why he is the way he is, or rather, was.

They forget that, pretty much like almost everyone in LoK, he had a struggling childhood and went through his own share of trauma (like witnessing the murder of both your parents at the age of eight is no big deal) not to mention he had to be a parental figure and look after his little brother from a very young age, while fending for themselves on the streets...but besides all that, Mako was a 18 y/o teenager putting up a brooding front when the triangle happened, he should be expected to make stupid decisions, jeez!

If I had to blame someone for that mess, even today, it'd be the writers. To those who still shame and bash Mako for it, I'd tell you to either grow up or move on (if you're dumb enough that can't do both)

Favorite Villain

[I feel like, at this point, I've held anyone that's still reading this at gun point for too long. Let's speed up!]

Amon is my favorite villain of the series because of how entertaining he is to watch, maybe part of it has to do with the way he kind of resembles a classic horror movie baddy - he's definitely got the best design out of Korra's main antagonists (and I'm talking about masked Amon, not paint-faced Noatak). Steve Blum's performance is also a hook.

One of the first things I remembered when having to pick this one is how incredible I thought it was, back in the day, to have the first season's main threat be a waterbender. I know they did it first with Hamma in ATLA but she wasn't exactly a main villain.

Anyway, I'm aware Book 1 is quite contrived and it has lots of issues going on and off screen that I don't care to unpack. At the end, Amon is a fraud and, as a thread, he falls flat rather quickly. Despite being wasted potential, he had a good run. At least, he had one thing over Korra no other antagonist has and that's a frightening first impression.

Runner-up?

I don't think I have one...

Least Favorite Villain

Well, I already got Zaheer and Kuvira up there, and there's my 'no repeat' self-imposed rule. Btw, did you notice that it's a rule now? XD

I think it's fitting that my least favorite season has my least favorite villain. Give it up for UnaVaatu! One of the most bonkers concepts this show ever came up with is the 'Dark Avatar' ugh! because an Avatar shouldn't be either pure Light or Dark, sorry, not sorry. Also, spirit energy shouldn't be equal to laser beams - at least Kuvira had crazy engineering and mad science to make it so. UnaVaatu just...did it😂

Runner-up

I had to give Varrick the silver medal, simply because he isn't even a villain (ultimately, that is)...talk about wasted potential, this guy is frustrating in this regard, because he could've been a good one.

But...he had to conveniently spring a conscience in the middle of the last season, he had to turn good (sort of) and have a wedding. Well, at least he's a fun character *shrug*

Favorite Couple

It's all been said before - Korrasami belong together. Their relationship is supportive, caring and loving, and their characters fought against all odds to make it happen. Even if Korra is to answer a bigger calling as the Avatar, and Asami has to be at the helm of the largest company in Republic City, I just know, these two will always be there and committed to each other.

Runner-up

I almost didn't pick a runner-up, because I noticed that besides Korrasami, I don't give too much mind to shipping in this series. Then again, I can't deny that Tenzin and Pema's marriage is refreshing. I love how their personalities gel so well together and how she brings out the best in him.

Least Favorite Couple

When the description for this category said that non-canon ships can apply, well that is it...First, let me say that I never cared what other people ship and I still don't. You ship whatever you want! But I'll be damned if I don't find this revolting...and if there's even the tiniest need for me to explain my distaste for this pairing then there's something very wrong here.

How could anyone ship someone with the murderer of their last living relative - the one they were starting to rekindle their relationship with?! (*sigh* I explained it anyway) Not only Kuvira did it in cold blood, but even after the fact and wanting to atone for her other crimes, she never showed Asami any remorse for it.

(Feel free to correct me if it did happen in the comics, I honestly don't remember)

Runner-up

I know I sound like an hypocrite, I'm sorry. But shipping Amorra should be illegal. Ugh, I hate that I know what their ship name is.

#legend of korra #lok #nickelodeon #the legend of korra #korrasami #asami sato #avatar korra #mako #beginnings #avatar wan #lok tenzin #lok pema #lok zaheer #lok kuvira #amon #pemzin #I got one hell of a headache writing all this #controversy meme

[irkendogma]

tak is the main antagonist for this crossover fic im writing and due to the lack of canon content beyond literally that one episode and some of etf, sometimes i worry im not doing her any justice or it’s too ooc. what do you think would be the best way to write tak in your opinion? (if you happen to have any advice on the matter. just wondering! byeeee💃)

i'm genuinely so relieved at the specification of "in your opinion" because i have such a strange long-lasting attachment to tak that i think i would second-guess my thoughts on her in an objective vacuum to the point of just saying "she should be purple". but as it is i now have the freedom to go stupid crazy about it

i think there's a number of crucial elements to tak, but i think the one that people miss most in writing her is that she isn't just meant to be a more competent counterpart to zim - she's a direct parallel in terms of her ego, motivation, and backstory (the latter particularly as a result of treatment by irken society)

like zim, tak has an enormous ego and an audacity that places herself above anyone else, even the empire itself (see: her custom invader insignia. that's like drawing a crucifix but substituting yourself for jesus after being refused by the church), and like zim, in spite of her disregard for the empire's rulings she's striving for recognition both by it and within it (to quote her: "the plan i have in store for this nasty rock will so impress the tallest that they'll have no choice but to make me an invader"). the same way zim "quit being banished", tak "escaped" from the janitorial squad she was placed under as a stopgap job until the next elite test in seventy years

i've seen some people write her as tall, but in my opinion her being only very, very slightly taller than zim is not just a stylistic choice but an essential part of her character that draws her backstory together: technically that janitorial job wasn't even a punishment, it was just deemed the most suitable position for her in the absence of official imperial proof that she was capable of anything "better" or "higher" that would've been afforded to a taller more easily

that she made it so far in the elite course at all in spite of her height gives context and precedent to the competence and sheer refusal to admit defeat she exhibits in her attempt to destroy earth, a planet she initially believes is already undergoing an officially-sanctioned invasion judging from how bitterly she tells zim about what should've been "rightfully hers", down to specifically mentioning the great assigning - loops back to her audacity, in that she has zimlike degrees of ego regardless of how hard the circumstances logistically are aligned to stomp her back down (see again her quote where she confidently states her plan to hijack an official invasion will impress the tallest to the point they won't mind her flagrantly flaunting the rules). she would've spent so much of her life striving to meet her own exceedingly high expectations, not the exceedingly low ones assumed of someone her height, that this likely isn't far from her standard procedure of "show them i can do it better than the rules say"

what sets her apart from zim, i think, is in how much she's allowed herself to let those miserable expectations get to her and leave her pettier, more vindictive, less grandstanding speeches like zim than showing off everything she's capable of as often as possible, no matter how necessary (ALL the stupid parkour she does for no reason) - which i think is admittedly less her fault than partially being the result of her having actually experienced her confidence failing her when the entire future she'd set up for herself was pulled out from underneath her

unlike zim, who experiences failure regularly but never has it truly sink in, tak had the entirety of her progress wiped off the board in a single moment as a result of circumstances entirely beyond her control: i think a large part of the reason she resents zim so deeply and sincerely isn't solely because of the practical consequences of her missing her test (though it is in no way insignificant to it) but because he was the one who broke her streak - he was the one who made her brutally aware that no matter how she built herself up, no matter what proof she offered, she could still fail and be crushed into exactly the nobody she was expected to be

and she just cannot abide that, no matter what, because even if the memory of helplessness and humiliation will never go away (not that she'd acknowledge it wouldn't), if she can make him hurt the same way maybe that will give back to her some of the power and control over her life and her identity that she lost in losing her potential status as a real, sanctioned invader

also, i do think she should be purple. she seems to have a great attachment to aesthetics and individual style, given her custom pseudo-elite uniform (which we see her wearing even in training, on her test day), the fact she designed and programmed her hologram specifically to have the distinguishing marking of a beauty spot in the same place she has one on her actual face, and her penchant for making nearly every damn piece of her tech purple some way (minus mimi, who while being her own bootleg SIR unit still follows the same red color scheme as a functional one) - even the cockpit of the spittle runner she pilots is initially purple before it's ejected as an escape pod, and the magma pump's interior looks like this:

girl likes giving things her own little touches whether that's in terms of her trademark color, her near-blasphemous custom imperial logo, or her doing a tactical slide between bars of a railing instead of just stepping normally onto the floor

#i am so sorry this post turned out this damn long. i really like her #also i'll admit here i think tak's ego is more impressive because she doesn't even have the arguable delusions that zim can use a shortcut #she just developed that thing through sheer force of will and trained her skills to support her claims

[kdramaxoxo]

‘Doom At Your Service’ - A Review

About This Drama: 'Doom At Your Service’ is both a fantasy romance about a women with a terminal illness and a deity who brings about “Doom,” and a writer who is torn between two men.

–Spoilers Ahead–

The Good Stuff:

Seo In Guk & Park Bo Young! I love Seo In Guk but I didn’t realize just how much I loved him until I watched Doom At Your Service. Even with a minimal script, he is able to capture so much emotion. Park Bo Young is already one of my favorite actors, but she was so good at her part that I legit cried towards the end. And they were super funny together as well as stunning and emotional - 10/10 casting!

The Chemistry: Our main couple is lovely and soft and tender (and hilarious too!) AND fighting against destiny and fate. That’s the perfect recipe for amazing romance and the best kisses. Literally so good. If you didn’t watch that kiss more than once you’re lying.

Fantasy Romance Storyline: I love fantasy dramas, especially when there’s some sort of tragic fate where the mains are fighting desperately for their love. Even when it’s kinda predictable, if the acting is good, it’s one of my favorite tropes to watch.

Tak Dong Kyung‘s Family: Without spoiling too much, Dong Kyung’s family is just the sweetest and most supportive group out there. My favorite moments are when Uncle Kevin who can’t speak Korean, and the mains who don’t speak english, have full conversations based around family and love. So sweet!

The Bad Stuff:

The Script:

Note: This next bit is going to seem like I’m being overly hard on Doom At Your Service. I really did enjoy it, but the script had a variety of issues and I’m just trying to cover them all.

The beginning: Doom At Your Service started off slow and kinda flat emotionally. The banter between the mains felt forced, and the romance was unearned. The show relied on a soundtrack and pretty faces to build the story/romance, when they really needed to work on character development. By episode 4 the script improved and I was sold. But that’s a lot of episodes wasted! If Seo In Guk hadn’t been slaying his role like a king, I’m not sure I would have kept watching.

The middle: At this point there are two completely different romance stories being told and all of us in the fandom are trying to figure out how and when they’d come together. Surely they would be linked in some important way so that both stories made sense together right? Nope.

Towards the end: Many fantasy dramas suffer from putting “rules that cannot be broken” in place by the gods, and then deciding they don’t matter. This drama 100% does that which is just rude because I take them seriously! ;-) By the end I could mostly predict what was doing to happen and also be super annoyed at the deity for teaching the mains “A Lesson.” I mean weird flex, but okay? By then I was in love with the mains so I didn’t care a ton, but throwing the rules in the trash to make the plot resolve is pretty lazy.

The Other Romance (a.k.a the actual problem with Doom At Your Service): 

The thing about Doom At Your Service is that you can ship the mains and find their story lovely, but you cannot forgot that about 40% of the drama is about an entirely different romance not at all related to them. And that romance is boring y’all. Both of Na Ji Na’s possible love interests showed no actual interest in her and mostly fought over her like she was a prop. 

How do you take two gorgeous men with different personalities and make them interact in such a boring way with the woman they like? Seriously where are the fun dates or them trying to get to know her? Na Ji Na is so vibrant and fun with her friends, but is reduced to a sad plank of wood by these guys. Like, the man she chooses is fine, and the romance is fine, but that’s pretty much it.

In conclusion: Doom At Your Service is a pretty-looking romantic fantasy drama with one fun, emotional and interesting story, and one un-fun and boring one... A.K.A Na Ji Na deserves better.

Rating: If Doom At Your Service was just Doom & Dong Kyung’s story, I’d give the Drama an 8/10 earning extra points for chemistry and amazing acting, but since I can’t ignore the rest of the drama...

6.5/10 

#i hope no one hates me #doom at your service #kdrama #listen i know that rating seems low but hear me out #but i think it's a fair rating because the other romance was a HUGE chunk of the show actually #and if that was the show i'd have dropped it right away #review #kdrama review

[sweetestlamb]

Mostrami Amore.

Summary: Cha-young tries to move on from a certain mafia boss. 

Author’s Note: Thank for to everyone who sent in prompts for Chayenzo, it resulted in this mess. I don’t have much to say, I considered making this into a multi- chaptered story but honestly I don’t have time for another ongoing story so if this seems rushed it was a little, I wrote it in one go today. Hope you enjoy this, I stuck in some of my favorite crack ship because I am weak and obsessed. Happy reading! 

p.s takes place after final episode but han seo lives because this is my world and I get to play God. 

Another postcard.

Their delivery becomes sporadic and she’s embarrassed at the giddiness that washes over her each time a new square is sent miles across a wide stretch of ocean, the view on the card most likely lackluster in comparison to the true rendering of Malta. She has spent many hours on her laptop searching for images of the small paradisiac island, yearning to see what he sees and feel just a tad bit closer to him. Most of her life has been spent in solitude with only her work acquaintances filling the void at times, so she expected herself to be more equipped to deal with his disappearance and subsequent absence. But nothing prepares her for those moments at the coffee shop, when she finds herself smiling across a table only to realize there is no miniature espresso cup in the hand of a very dangerous Italian Korean mafia member grinning back at her. 

The smile melts off her face and she swallows the bitter cool sludge in her cup, the beverage tasting exactly as he had described it without him there. 

Nights are the hardest, loneliness coils around her like a snake. 

There was never any other fate for them, she knew that when Vincenzo murdered all their enemies this was their only real outcome. He would always be a fugitive on the run and she an accomplice if he were captured and questioned, it was in both of their best interests if he vanished from the face of the planet. But knowing that does nothing to qualm the ever present feeling of isolation that clings to her skin as she sits alone on her couch, downing makgeolli at a vicious pace. Trying to wash his taste from her mouth, that kiss on loop in her mind and the phantom grip of his hand on her neck. 

It’s those treacherous nights without the plaza members that have become a second family to her and Han Seo following her like the lost puppy he is calling her “Noona” so freely and frequently until she forgets her own name, that she allows herself to feel exactly what she’s feelings. 

Heartbroken. 

Desperate. 

Lonely. 

Rage. 

The last one she hides like a dirty secret in the closet of her heart, she knew what she was signing up for. She has no legitimate reason to be angry, or so she tries to reason with herself. But. This was the same man who had bypassed the security of one of the richest men in Korea and ultimately killed him without leaving a trace. She had watched him do despicable things, blackmailing, threatening, seducing, and murdering others as he saw fit and yet, he hadn’t used any of those dastardly ways to see her. That chance meeting at the art gallery had been the last she had seen of him, Then a few weeks later another postcard with the same message she had boldly uttered at the airport, it feels insufficient after having him in her arms again. She knew in that moment that they would never be enough again. She hadn’t even argued when Mr. Nam claimed he would leave this one on his table instead, she merely nodded and walked away to peruse the new sexual assault case she has taken recently. 

It gets harder and harder to hear Han Seo regaling the wonders of his “hyung”,  her anger boiling deep below the surface like magma waiting to explode and transform into something tangible and destructive. 

“He told me that he has a room for me too. I wonder when he’ll let us visit.” 

She nods absently, staring out the window at the sunlight twinkling in through the blinds but then his words register and the gears in her head churn before running the sentence back through to carefully process them. 

“He---what? You spoke to Vincenzo?” 

The human puppy pouts his lips before tilting his head and dealing a hard blow to her ego and her heart, “Yeah, he sends me letters. I got so scared the first time! He said the letter would self-destruct after I read it and I really thought that was true and I dived across the room to escape but I bumped my head on the table and then...” 

He sent Han Seo letters.  

She had received the same fucking postcard for months on end with the same message she had said to him, and he had time to write Han Seo letters. He hadn’t sent her even one in the time he had been gone. 

“That fucking bastard!”  She explodes interrupting Han Seo’s recount of his near death experience and he looks wide- eyed and taken back by her outburst, she almost soothes him before another wave of anger rushes through her veins. She had accepted the bare minimum because she thought this was all he could give her but it seemed she was being too naïve. He was Vincenzo Cassano after all, he could make anything happen. She had seen it with her own two eyes. If he wasn’t reaching out to her maybe that was a message and she was too blind to see it. 

“Noona? Are you okay?” Han Seo looks absolutely terrified, eyes huge and quivering. She doesn’t bother answering, grabbing her cup of lukewarm coffee and stomping out of the office ignoring Mr. Nam’s calls behind her. She’s tired of being an idiot. 

She throws herself into forgetting him, the same way he seems to have forgotten her despite his words to her that fateful night on the stairs. 

I thought about you everyday. 

Actions speak louder than words and she is done accepting his crumbs. She has never needed anyone, had even accepted when her own father wanted nothing to do with her; she has basically been prepping for this moment her entire life. 

So she goes shopping with Miri, buying gadgets that she has no idea how to use but that the other girl makes sound like things that she definitely needs such as a new home security system, her break in still fresh in her mind. She grins at the pretty smile on the other girl’s round face as she explains the specification of the machines around them and she can see why Han Seo has such a huge crush on the girl, the pretty blush that blossoms on the other girl’s cheek after stating the fact out loud is adorable and she pinches said cheek much to her chagrin. 

“You should worry about your own love life.” Miri teases but the words sting like acid on her skin and she turns away to hide the grimace on her face, but she’s not fast enough and the other girl catches her wrist halting her movement. 

“What? What’s wrong? Did something happen to Mr. Cassano?” Miri whispers the last part, looking around to make sure that nobody overhears them. 

She forces herself to stifle her emotions, trapping them in the back of her mind refusing to let him have this kind of affect on her. 

“I wouldn’t know.” She tries for a emotionless tone but even she can hear the bitterness in her own voice and Miri’s eyes fill with pity and it makes her sick to her stomach, “Don’t. I am going to be fine. Let’s just go.” 

They don’t utter single word in the car ride home. 

After that it becomes painfully obvious that everyone in the plaza thinks something is wrong with her and are teaming up to make her feel better. It’s the packed lunches that keep showing up on her desk without fail, her clothes being steamed and pressed for free, the way that they won’t allow her to be alone and there are countless spontaneous family game nights all ending with her drunk and being carried home. 

Tonight Mr. Tak is the unlucky volunteer, dragging her limp body in her father’s house and she thinks of all the times that they drank here together and a certain person was the one hauling her body to bed complaining and grumbling but that distractingly fond smile on his face that he only ever seemed to shoot her way. Her heart thumped loudly as he loomed over her and leaned in close, getting her hopes up only to brush her hair behind her ears and softly tell her, “Go to sleep now,” and she had never been obedient all her teachers could testify to that but when he looked at her like that she was powerless to do anything else but listen. 

“I miss him.” The traitorous words fall from her lips and vanish into the inky darkness of the night. 

A deep sigh from the left of her, “We know.” 

She feels vulnerable, the worst thing about having a weakness is other’s noticing too. She hates how weak she feels. 

“I am going to forget him.” 

The body supporting most of her weight tenses under her arm and she waits for his response, they all love Vincenzo- he had become their unexpected hero and leader in many ways. They would always take his side, she knows that. 

“If that’s what you need to do to be happy. Then, do it. Loving a man like Vincenzo isn’t easy.” 

She turns to look at him in genuine shock. 

“What? You thought I would tell you to keep waiting with no end in sight? You should know by now, you mean a lot to us too. Your happiness is important to us too, we’re a family.” 

“But we’re the Cassano family,” she challenges unable to accept that they could love her without Vincenzo attached, but Mr. Tak shrugs at the clarification, “We can be the Hong Family too.”

She feels her eyes swimming. 

“I should go inside.” 

She feels sober and more awake than ever, she stays up all night twirling the long strands of her hair in between her fingers. 

Thinking. 

Variety is the spice of life. 

She doesn’t know where she’s heard that but it’s those sage words that are the catalyst for her spontaneous decision. 

“Same as always? Silky with some body?” Her stylist peers into her eyes through the wide mirror and she hears herself say, “No I want a cut and some color.” Yu-jin raises one pretty tweezed brow but nods after a moment’s pause, “Okay. How short are you thinking?” 

And that’s how she starts her day with long thick hair that grazes her lower back and ends it with a short bob that tickles her neck. It feels like a weight has been lifted from her shoulder, metaphorically and literally and she loves the face that she sees in the mirror, her eyes looking brighter than they have in months. She feels more alive, like a snake shedding its skin and becoming a newer and fresher version of itself. 

“Your hair?” That becomes the running theme for her day, shocked gaping mouths and hands reaching out for the hair that was once there.  She merely smirks at their palpable surprise, especially Seol-jin who doesn’t recognize her from behind. 

“I haven’t seen a pretty lady like you aro--Oh Ms. Hong! I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you, I am so sorry please excuse me!” The interpretative dancer bolts away leaving her to watch him bemused, she skips to Jipuragi with a pep in her step laughing loudly when Mr. Nam drops his coffee upon seeing her and the brown liquid goes flying and douses him in a sticky hot mess. 

It’s an entertaining day to say the least. 

Moments later when he’s finished cleaning himself up and changing into the cheetah print track suit that he insisted to keeping in the office, he mentions that a new postcard has arrived. She nods at the information, looking at her laptop and it’s only seconds later that she finally looks up and sees that he’s waiting for her response. She doesn’t have one. 

Forcing a tight smile on her face she replies, “Oh that’s great. Just put it with the others.” 

He does. 

But she can feel his eyes on her, his concern heavy and tangible in the air. 

She pretends not to notice and keeps clicking away on her laptop, only glancing over at the card once or twice. But it’s only out of habit. 

Nothing more. 

She starts going on dates with random men. Men she meets in coffee shops, on the streets, in bars, hell one time even the bookstore. She never meets the same man twice and they never get what they want but it does make her feel desirable and that’s all she’s looking for. 

“Where are you going?” Han Seo asks her curiously, Miri by his side as she struts out the plaza new perfume on her skin. 

“On a date. I’ll see you both later.” They both gape at her and can only watch with wide eyes as she sashays away, heels clicking with every step. 

Word spreads like wildfire and no one takes it harder than Mr. An, who calls her a “jezebel” and cries at the front of the law firm for hours, she has to step over him to go get lunch shaking him off when he latches on to her ankles. 

The others just look at her with sad eyes, filled with both understanding and disappointment. 

Much to her surprise the lunch boxes keep coming and her clothes are still pressed and starched to perfection though. 

She also starts taking self defense classes, Korea is much more dangerous than she had first suspected and she has to be able to protect herself because nobody is coming to save her.  Not anymore. 

It becomes a great outlet for her built up anger and her instructor praises her for being a fast learner. She grins and nods before flipping him and twisting his arm around his own neck in a modified sleeper hold. When he taps on her arm she squeezes tighter instead of letting go and he goes limp for a moment before she comes back to herself and releases him hastily with a quick apology, “Sorry!”

He rubs his neck, panting for air and she feels guilty, there's a tinge of that but most of all she feels powerful, more so than she has for a long time. 

It’s crazy but she finds herself asking him for drinks after class and even crazier is that he agrees even with her marks still there on his skin, the area bruised and red. He looks at her like she’s challenge that he wants to conquer, she lets him believe that’s possible. It’s only a bit of fun anyway, she has no plans for anything serious. 

Drinks turn into a drunken cab ride home with his hand on her thigh, hot through the thin material of her tights and they don’t feel right- too small and not rough enough but she’s moving on and she has no time to reminisce. 

There hasn’t even been a postcard lately. Message, loud and clear. 

When she shoves the keys into her door, he’s glued to her body leaving wet kisses on the long column of her neck and she tries to suppress the nausea that swims in her stomach, everything feels wrong and she hates herself for feeling that way. Why shouldn’t she fuck whoever she wants? He is probably doing the same thing, everyday on his beautiful private island. Kissing women that aren’t her and whispering dirty Italian words into their ears as he rocks back and forth, nary a thought of that Korean woman he knew once upon a time. 

Fuck him. 

She rocks back into the purposeful grind of the hips behind her, feeling the hardness that digs into the soft flesh of her ass and finally the door opens and they both tumble in haphazardly and he thrusts a hand under her loose shirt fingering at her breasts before a dark figure moves far too quickly in her peripheral and she hears her date cry out in pain. 

She almost faints at the familiar sight of the one person she never expected to see, the hard glint of his cold eyes as he twists the same hand that had just been fondling her chest. The grip looks painful, the wrist contorted in an unnatural manner. 

“What the fuck? You have a boyfriend?!” Her instructor cries out, voice high pitched falling to his knees as Vincenzo kicks his feet out from under him. 

She rolls her eyes, of course he would come now when she is trying (and failing) to get over him. 

Vindictively she answers the question, ‘No.” 

But that makes Vincenzo twist the wrist in his grip even tighter and she can see the bones breaking so she takes pity on the poor man, he didn’t sign up for a murderous mafia leader after all. 

“Just let him go. You have no right to do any of this.” 

He doesn’t listen right away and absently she wonders if she’ll need to test out her new moves on him, it would be satisfying to deck him square in the face. She dreams of that as often as she dreams of their reunion. Her feelings are...complicated to say the least. 

Then with a grunt, he throws the other man away like he’s trash and growls out, “Get out of here before I kill you.” 

She tries not be get turned on by that. But it’s a hard sell, her body already getting revved up. He’s telling the truth. 

The man wastes no time, jumping to his feet and bolting out the door without one backwards glance. Asshole, he was really just leaving her with a clearly unstable and dangerous man. 

“We need to talk.” Vincenzo squeezes out between clenched teeth, and her blood runs cold but she stares him dead in the eyes tired of this game they’ve been playing, if he’s here to end things she wants to know. 

“Okay. Then talk.” 

She looks insanely beautiful, with her hair cropped so short bringing his eyes to the tantalizing length of her neck. His eyes close in on a spot of moisture on her neck, he feels his blood boiling imagining that bastard touching any part of her.  She’s glaring right back at him, her chest rising and falling and he can’t help but check her out, it’s been months since he saw her in person the photo of her doing aerial yoga above his bed couldn’t compare to the tempest that is Cha-young in real life. 

The flat plane of her belly is on display under the white crop top loosely stretched across her chest which leads down to her slim hips and legs wrapped in white spandex, leaving very little to the imagination not that he hasn’t imagined her in far less many, many times. Too many times to count. Spilling across the silk adorning his king sized bed with only her name on his lips. 

She looks fucking hot. 

That makes it even more frustrating because he can still clearly see that bastard wrapped around her like a snake and his hands going up her shirt---he has to take a deep breath before he breaks something. Or chases that asshole to break his face. 

There’s so much he wants to say to her, so much he owes her. 

I missed you. 

I love you. 

Come with me. 

“Who the hell was that?” He says this instead then watches her eyes glint over into nothing but pure murderous rage. Wrong move. But he couldn’t help it, green eyed raged taking away his decision making abilities. 

“That’s all you have to say? Get out.” 

He wasn’t expecting rose petals and trumpets when he returned but he definitely wasn’t expecting this, her cold glare or another man in his spot. He thought she would wait for him, just as he had done for her. 

“Are you serious right now?” He counters, flabbergasted. 

“Deadly. Get out.” 

He clenches his fist, and then stomps out. Turning back but only to watch the door slam in his face. 

What the hell. 

It had only taken a letter from Han Seo to get him on boat that would take him to an open field and hours later he was soaring through the skies on a hot air balloon, on his way back to Korea. It was insane and he barely had time to explain to his family but Luca nodded at him like this was the only choice and told him that he would take care of everything, and he trusted those words more than he had ever trusted anything in his life.

“Vai a prendere la tua donna( go get your woman).” 

He had nodded, gruffly patting the other man on his shoulder before hopping over into the waiting boat. 

But he wasn’t so certain anymore that Cha-young was his. 

She seems different. Colder almost, she leaves whenever I mention your name and she goes on dates now. I think she’s moving on hyung, what are you going to do? 

Those words had been the scariest thing he had never seen. Scarier than every gun that had ever been pointed at his head. He thought what they had was something special, something that could stand the test of time and distance. He stared at the huge pile of letters on his bedside, all addressed to her. He had written one everyday since they had been separated, but each time he was too much of a coward to send it. In those letters he could say things that he could never say to her face, things like how much he ached without her by his side and how her smile was the only thing that kept him going. In those letters he could regal the ways he loved her, and how deeply she had been branded into his soul, every atom of his body belonged to her and her alone.  He would kill for her, die for her, anything she needed or merely wanted he would provide it, all she needed to do was ask. 

He could only share those feelings in the letters. 

He walks for hours, until he ends up at his old apartment the familiar door greeting him and he sticks his hand in his pocket before he remembers that he gave the key away, with a sigh he starts to walk away before the door creaks open and he hears a voice he hasn’t heard in months. 

“Hyung!” 

A warmth spreads across his back as a solid weight almost knocks him off his feet. He reaches one arm around his body, awkwardly slapping the face that is pressing into his collar. 

“You really chose to stay here.” 

He feels the nod on his shoulder, “Of course. It made me feel closer to you hyung, I missed you.” 

He grunts in response, before turning around and tugging the younger man into a real hug. He had missed the annoying little leech too, he had missed everyone. 

They are still in each other’s embrace for a moment before Han Seo pulls away, sympathy etched deep on his face. 

“She wasn’t happy to see you.” 

“There was someone else there.” He hates the words even as they leave his mouth and Han Seo winces, looking pained for him before tugging him into the small apartment. Everything is just like he left it.  He looks around in awe. 

“I’m sorry hyung. What are you going to do?”

That’s the golden question, he pondered it all the way here and he’s no closer to knowing the answer to that. Usually she is the one that makes the move, she has always been the brave one between them. He back steps and says things he doesn’t mean and she sees through him and smashes down all his walls. That’s how this has always worked. 

“I don’t know. Maybe I should just leave her alone. Let her be happy.” 

A loud scoff reaches his ears, “Sure. Is that why you sailed across sharked infested waters and trusted a hot air balloon company run my former thugs?”

He smarts at the sarcastic reply and glares before flicking the cheeky brat on his nose, "I liked you better when you were stupid you know. Now you're a little smart ass."

The younger man looks even more youthful as he grins back at him, rubbing at his nose before shrugging.  "I learned from the best."

He has no rebuttal for that so he tries to flick him again, giving chase when he darts off.

It feels good to be home.

He warns Han Seo not to tell anyone that he's here least they give away his location.

So he's not surprised the next day to find the cavalry at his doorstep hands filled to the brim with containers of food. There are tears, mostly from Mr. Nam who won't stop screaming his name and pinching his cheeks to see if he's real and Mr. An who wraps around him like a koala despite his very detailed threats. It's all chaos and so familiar that his heart aches but her absence is like a hole in his chest. Nobody mentions her but they all keep looking at the door, so it's obvious that she was invited but chose not to come.

Because she didn't want to see him.

"You're here to win her back right?" He doesn't know who even utters the words but when he glances up they are all looking at him expectantly.

He didn't know that was what he was indeed here for thought that she would happily welcome him back and they could pick up where they left off but she's made it clear that this won't be the case. This will be the most important fight of his life.

"Yes. I'm here for Cha-young."

He gets enthusiastic thumbs up and a loud giggle from the Yeon-Jin  and Cheol-Wook’s adorable baby, her little hands too uncoordinated to do a thumbs up but she waves excitedly  feeding off the energy around her.

He wonders how Cha-young would look with a baby in her arms, their baby it's a dangerous thought. But one that he can't get out of his mind once he thinks it.

They stay until midnight, forcing him to eat and drink too much soju until he passes out to dreams filled with a round Cha-young, belly swollen and protruding from her body. 

It doesn't take much to learn her schedule(Mr. Nam hands him a laminated copy) and he has to put on a disguise but he enters the shop seconds after her, hearing her order that god awful sewer water she's so fond of.

"An espresso for me." He leans in too close, almost brushing her shoulder and she jolts at the sound of his voice, turning to stare at him as if she's a mirage.

"You're still here?" She whispers and then shakes her head and looks away as if she's hadn't meant to say the words aloud.

It hurts him that she thought he would leave without telling her but he can't blame her, he has been anything but consistent. Instead of answering, he leans forward to hand his credit card to the cashier who glances between them suspiciously before accepting the card.

Their orders are ready in seconds and he follows her as she walks to their table, butterflies in his stomach at the familiar sight.

She turns to him with a glare, "It's just the only available table."

He moves to pull out her chair and she starts at him tight lipped before sitting down. She's in a tight black suit today, two long slits on the side of her pants going all the way up to her thighs. He gulps down his drink to get rid of the drool pooling in his mouth.

"You're upset with me."

She stares at him like he's the biggest idiot on the planet, it's not a look he receives often but she's always the outlier in his otherwise organized life.

"Astute observation." She quips back, sucking loudly at her coffee.

"Why?"

He considered how to go about breeching this subject and in the end had decided on going straight to the source, he had been under the impression that this was working for them.

Her face morphs into a person he hasn't seen for a long time, the Cha-young that would berate him and make him angry enough to curse in Italian.

"Do you think this little of me?"

He's completely lost, "What do you mean? What did I do that was so wrong? Wrong enough for you to cheat on me!" He's panting now, his voice has gotten loud enough to catch people's attention he can feel them watching their table, nosy and invested.

"Cheat on you?"

Cold as ice, her voice is. It almost makes him shiver.

"How could I possibly cheat on you? We're not together. You send me the same postcard with the same message every few months. I have no idea what you're doing in Malta, who you're with. You can't even be bothered to send me a letter, do you think this is a relationship? You think it's enough to pop up like this every once in a blue moon? You've told me nothing about how you feel about me but I'm supposed to be satisfied with whatever you throw my way?"

If he wasn't sitting down his legs would have already given out he's certain about that. Her voice is deadly quiet each word landing and chipping away at his confidence.

"I'm doing the best I can! You knew it would be like this after everything was over, why are you blaming me now? How about you, I don't know how you feel either!"

"I love you! Anyone with eyes can see that, I told you that at the airport too. And again when I took a bullet for you, you didn't think that meant I loved you? I was willing to die for you."

Shit.

It's not at all how he expected them to confess their love for each other, it's hard to believe the words that are coming out of her mouth as she bares her teeth at him.

"So why are you doing this? Why are there other men?"

Why aren't I enough? He wants to say but he's scared of her answer, terrified that she'll say that she can't do this anymore. That he just isn’t enough anymore. 

She stares at him long and hard.

Waiting for something. But he doesn't know what.

"You haven't changed at all. You're still a coward, I'm not interested in guessing anymore. I’m done playing this game.” 

She stands up and walks away, leaving her unfinished coffee on the table.

Unwanted just like him.

She doesn't see him for days and she accepts that her words had done their damage, she had cried until she fell asleep that night. Waking up with swollen red eyes that no amount of concealer would save but thankfully no one commented on her state.

She goes through her day on autopilot and before she knows it she's back home, ready to face her night alone  again. She pushes the door open, half praying he'll be waiting for her but her hopes shattered when she turns on the lights and finds no one.

"It's better this way." She lies to herself, pouring herself an obscene glass of soju. She's going to need plenty of alcohol to get through this pain.

Her head is woozy and heavy when she hears a sound, suddenly alert she stills in her chair before rushing over to get a frying pan walking on the tips of her toes she prowls closer to the clicking sound, finding herself at the window peering at a long lost friend. Placing the frying pan on her window sill she pry opens the window, screeching when the audacious bird flies inside landing on her table as if he belongs there.

"Hey Inzaghi! Get your dirty bird feet off my table!"

He looks at her nonchalantly, making himself comfortable on said table and she sighs before shutting the window and drunkenly swaying over to him.

"What are you even doing there? Do you want to be my bird now, I won't be a very good owner. I won't remember to feed you. I barely remember to feed myself."

Despite being a bird he finds a way to roll his eyes at her before standing up and only then does she notice something on his leg. She looks at him cautiously before moving closer and untying the paper on his leg, the pigeon barely reacts before flying over to her couch. She sighs in annoyance, she's going to have to clean everything after this bird leaves.

She unwinds the string holding the paper together, unrolling the paper scroll. There is a message written inside: the rooftop. 9 pm.

Glancing at her clock the time shines at her.

7:34pm.

"This could be a trap."

It very much could be, she has enemies now. It was a small price to pay for taking down Babel but she's always looking over her shoulders now, so this note could easily be someone luring her to hurt her or get back at Vincenzo.

Inzaghi coos loudly at her as if he can hear her thoughts. This time he finds a way to look exasperated.

She stumbles off to her room.

She needs time to think.

"So she told you that she loved you and you didn't say it back?"

"I was shocked. She was growling at me and looked ready to kill me at the same time." He reasons back, trying to show his hyung his point of view. The younger man doesn't look even a little bit convinced by his logic.

"Okay and? That sounds perfectly normal for you too. You should have shot someone and wrote it back in their blood on the table."

He recoils in disgust at the suggestion, "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you actually insane, why the fuck would I do that?"

Han Seo stares deadpan in return.

He puts up a hand trying to stop whatever response he has, "Don't say it."

It doesn't work.

"Pig's blood. Don't forget I saw it all, I've never seen Ms. Hong look so excited before. You're both crazy."

Well, that had been different. It was an old tradition, she simply had an appreciation for the classics.

"And I bet you're defending her right now in your mind. Noona is just like you, that's why you're made for each other. She's the gasoline to your fire."

"You know that would just make an even larger fire right?"

"Yes. I'm smart now remember? I know what I said."

He sighs falling into the comfortable familiarity of the couch, a spring digging into his thigh.

"Why didn't you say it back?" His stills at the barely whispered question, his chest constricting as he recalls the passionate confession. He had frozen, like he'd always known she was the brave one between them. Always doing the unexpected and the time was no different, her words had knocked him off his feet.

"Because I was scared."

Han Seo huffs at his honesty. He doesn't know where the words are coming from but he's tired of keeping it all in.

"Because if anything happens to her it'll break me, I thought it would be better if I kept her at a distance. I thought this was enough. I thought this would be easier. When I think about her I want to drop everything and just be with her and that...was too dangerous. I had to keep my distance."

There's a pregnant pause, just the sound of their breathing filling the void.

"Was it?"

"What?"

"Easier. Is this better? Enough?"

He thinks about Cha-young getting married to a faceless man, exchanging vows and sealing it with a kiss, happy and in love on their honeymoon wanton moans and screams from their room, learning that they're having a baby and her round and glowing with someone else's child smiling brightly as she rubs her belly and it's too much. He wants to smash it all into little pieces.

"No. It's not enough. I need her, without her nothing is enough."

"That's what you should have said to her. Don't glare at me I'm right, but I have an idea. I saw it in an American cartoon."

And that's how he lets his younger brother convince him to send a note to Cha-young using Inzaghi, the pigeon had shown up one night and he'd been so happy he almost kissed the bird.

"How will he know where Cha Young lives?" He asks skeptical even as he ties the note to the birds leg.

"I showed him a picture of her house. According to the cartoon, birds just know.” 

He stares at the younger man, wondering why he's listening to this ridiculous plan.

"This is stupid. I should just text her, Inzaghi is never going to deliver this. He's just a regular pigeon." 

"This is more romantic." He answers matter of fact.

"How is a pigeon delivering a message in anyway romantic?" He challenges already knowing from the shit eating grin he won’t like the response. 

"The same way pig blood was." The brat counters and he doesn't get a chance to respond before Han Seo picks Inzaghi up and throws him out the window, "In the name of love!" He only barely stops himself from bashing his head into the wall, the younger man has to wrestle him to the ground.

It's stupid. They did all of this for nothing the cool breeze makes him pull his coat tighter around his body, exposed to the weather on the open space of the rooftop.

He checks his watch, 9:48.

She's not coming and the worst part is that he doesn't know if it's because that damn bird never delivered his message or if it's because she really doesn't want anything to do with him. The burden of not knowing hurts more than anything.

Expelling the air in his lungs he walks back to the single door that leads off the roof, twisting the doorknob in his hand and pulling it open.

Meeting the shocked face of one Cha-young.

They both just stare at each other before he speaks, "You came."

He can't believe it. Inzaghi had actually delivered the note, somehow the pigeon had found her house and she was here. He almost pinches himself to see if he'd passed out on the roof and this was just a dream.

"I didn't know Inzaghi was a carrier pigeon." She futilely tries to change the subject and he takes a step back, gathering the tattered pieces of his courage. The same courage that had propelled him to kiss her all those months ago on the stairs.

"I'm so happy you're here. I waited for you."

She stares at him like he has two heads before blushing, and avoiding his eyes.

"Come with me." He extends his hands and tries not to be too hurt when she bypasses it and steps around him instead.

At least she was here.

With a quick swipe of his hand he sends the message to his accomplices.

Now.

The lights come on, fairy lights decorating the roof top in a heavenly glow. She spins around in wonder, eyes nearly as bright she's so beautiful it's almost painful to look at her.

Then the music starts.

The soft notes filling the space.

When I walk down a road I don't know well....

She looks around in wonder, staring back at him she can’t believe what’s happening. 

Then the letters start falling from the sky, all the letters he had written to her alone and missing her thousands of miles away. His plaza family smiles down at him, throwing letters from a higher building.

Cha-young stares up at the sky in surprise, hundreds of letters landing all around her.

It had taken a few days for Luca to send them all over and then another day to get the guts to do this, there was no turning back now. He had never willingly made himself vulnerable to anyone else, but according to Han Seo it was the only way he was going to win her back. 

“She just wants to know that you love her too. Show her.” 

He watches anxiously as she picks up a letter, stroking lightly at her own name on the front looking at him with stunned wet eyes. 

“You wrote me a letter.” Her voice is revere and awe that he doesn’t deserve, not after everything he has put her through in the sake of protecting himself but he’s too elated to see her looking at him like that again, like he’s someone important to her. 

“182. For each day we were apart. I told you I thought about you everyday, and every time I did I wrote you a letter.” 

She stares at the letter in her hand, gently ripping it open and devouring the words on the page. Nerves shoot up and down his body as he watches her read his most private thoughts about her, her expressive face for once empty of emotions as she silently reads the letter. 

He waits. 

Breathless and terrified. 

“Why didn’t you ever send them? They were mine so why did you keep them?” He hears an edge in her voice that makes him wonder if she’s only talking about the letters. 

“Cha-young, I don’t think you understand.” 

She breathes out loudly, stomping over to him until they are inches apart and he has no choice but to look into the deep pool of her eyes. 

“I don’t! I don’t understand anything, I thought you had found someone else in Malta and the postcards were just your way of being nice. I thought you didn’t feel the same way I did, you were sending Han Seo letters but you wouldn’t do the same for me. What was I supposed to think? Why didn’t you try to help me understand, you were gone for six months!” 

There’s so much wrong with everything she said, how could he find anyone else when his heart beats for her? How could he forget her when everything he did reminded him of her, he saw her every night in his dreams. But he doesn’t make the same mistake this time, he says what’s important. 

“I feel the same way. I love you Cha-young. I thought this was better for you, that this could be enough. But I was wrong, I missed you every minute of every--” 

“Come home with me.” 

He stops, stares, gapes and then stares some more. 

“What? I wasn’t finished confessing though.” Actually offended that she interrupted his planned speech. He was about to recite one of his favorite Italian love poems for her and then ask her to dance. 

She rolls her eyes dragging him towards the door, “Don’t you think we’ve wasted enough time? It’s been six months and you have been here for too long, you have to go soon.” 

She’s right, he has a flight in two days for an identity he borrowed for his escape. 

“Listen to her, just go back to her place and have a good night!” That sounds like Cheol-Wook and then they all erupt into applause and start cheering and hollering, chanting their names and then to his embarrassment they start chanting, “Go have sex! Go have sex!” complete with the monks banging on their drums and he doesn’t think he will ever live down this moment, especially when he sees Miri capturing it on the new video camera he had gifted her. 

He flips them off as an eager Cha-young pulls him away their laughter following them all the way. 

The car ride is too long on the way over and she wonders how quickly she can undress them both as soon as they reach, there is simply no time to waste. 

But once they get to the doorstep he suddenly freezes, tugging her backwards into his chest. 

“This looks familiar doesn’t it?” His voice is dark and smoky and she immediately knows what he’s referring to, and she refuses to give him any reaction. 

“Are you seriously doing this right now?” 

“You let someone else touch you. Here.” He runs a hand up her neck, briefly squeezing, “And here,” she gasps at his hands suddenly on her breast, squeezing harshly at the tender flesh. 

“So what are you going to do about it?” She knows that she’s playing with fire, but that is their foundation. She has never aimed to cool him off or tone him down, she sees the dark side inside of him and loves it, encourages it and feeds on it herself allowing it to bring her darkness out too. 

He kicks the door open, shoving her side and she delights at the rough treatment. She hopes that she is filled with his bruises tomorrow. 

She doesn’t wait for his next move, pulling her shirt up and over her head before tugging off her skirt leaving herself in a barely there lace panties and a matching lace bra that is translucent, her nipples peeking through the sheer material. He stares at her transfixed, his hunger evident in his eyes and in the tent forming in his tight dress pants. 

“Take those off.” She commands and he smirks before obeying, peeling the pants off his thighs standing in his button down shirt and tight boxer briefs that leave nothing to her imagination, every delicious inch of him visible. She steps forward bringing their bodies in contact, before thrusting her hand inside the opening of his briefs. He feels hard and smooth, liquid pooling at the tip and she twists her hand collecting it to ease her slow strokes up and down. His voice hitches as she fingers his balls and without warning she tugs his boxers off, leaving him bare to her eyes. 

Mesmerized by the unencumbered sight of him, she drops to her knees using her hand to guide him to her eagerly waiting mouth. 

His flavor explodes on her tongue and she swallows more, grabbing his hips to drag him deeper into her mouth until she can feel him in her throat, but even after her eyes start to burn and she feels herself choking she doesn’t stop, bobbing up and down hungrily, sloppy wet sounds filling the room in a filthy symphony. At first he lets her control the movement, pliant in her hands but as she increases her speed and suction he starts groaning and huffing loudly and then she feels his hand on the back of her hand, keeping her in place and when she looks up at him he looks wrecked. Eyes dazed and his face red and flushed, she ingrains that image in her mind, for when he’s gone and all she has are her toys. 

She stares back defiantly before he draws himself out of her mouth, a single line of spit connecting them and then he thrusts back into her mouth roughly and she opens her mouth wider to accept the abuse, loving every second of it even as a her throat aches. He sets a frantic pace, his balls slamming against her chin and she doesn’t realize at first that his grunts have transformed into words, too much blood rushing to her head. 

“Mine. Mine, nobody can---ah fuck! Nobody can see you like this. Only me. You’re mine.” 

He fucks her mouth like it’s his to use and do what he pleases, and she’s wetter than she’s ever been listening to him claim her verbally and with the wet push of his dick in her mouth. 

She starts grinding on the floor like a cat in heat and without preamble he grabs her under her armpits and lifts her like she weighs nothing, his dick sliding free from her hot mouth, “I want to make you scream.” He says this like a declaration of love and she throws herself at him, kissing the words off his lips. His tongue swirls in her mouth and she wonders if he can taste himself in her. It makes her hotter and she grinds her barely covered pussy onto his naked length, groaning at the friction even though the thin layer separating them. 

He tosses her onto the bed and she doesn’t even remember them walking, his tongue and his wondering fingers had completely distracted her. 

She lays sprawled across the bed as he stares at her, like she’s feast he can’t wait to devour. 

“Nobody has been in here.” She doesn’t know if he’s asking a question or making a statement, but she feels that his jealousy is real. Seeing her with someone else had done something to him, guilt washes over her. If she had seen him with someone else she would have lost her mind too. 

“Nobody. I never brought anyone home before, that guy was a mistake. I was just hurt and missing you. I’m sorry.” 

He had abandoned her for six months and she didn’t owe him anything but his pain is her pain and they are stronger now, everything has been said. 

“Good.” 

Then he rips her panties away and buries his face between her legs, prying her wide open with his hands and lapping at her with his searing hot tongue. Immediately he has his wish and she screams, loud enough to fill the entire room. 

“Already screaming amore? It’s going to be a long night, I want to make you hoarse.”  

She doesn’t get a moment to respond before he’s back to licking and sucking at her most sacred part, fingers deep inside her as he thrusts and strokes alongside his tongue, his fingers and tongue moving in tandem and she tries to stifle the scream but a particularly deep fuck makes the sound erupt from her throat and her head feels dizzy from the overwhelming sensation. 

He has boundless energy it seems, as time drags by and she feels her body tightening up as he systemically destroys her, he never takes a break or pauses, slurping up all the liquid that drips from her and the sounds of him swallowing are beyond erotic. When a hand runs up her stomach and squeezes at a bouncing breast she can’t contain her moans of pleasure, crying out as his fingers pinching the tight bud of her nipple. 

“Please.” 

He coos in her, “So pretty when you beg.” Then he sticks his tongue as far as it can go and she hears the rush of blood in her head as her body shakes apart and her release gushes from her body, twitching when he laps it all up her oversensitive body recoiling from the overstimulation. 

She has never come like that before, most men have never put in the work necessary to make her come and she wasn’t one to fake it so her experiences with sex with someone else were few and far in between. 

This feels like nirvana. 

“You still with me amore?” The bastard looks so smug, looming above her naked arms on the side of her head, and she had no idea when he took his shirt off. 

“I can’t feel like my legs.” 

He chuckles loudly at the statement, grinning growing wider. 

“Well I can assure you that they’re still there and they will look great wrapped around my waist.” 

Raising to his challenge, although her body is still buzzing she wraps her legs around his waist, they feel like jelly but she finds the strength to follow through with her movement. 

“I was right they do look great.” 

“Well this would look great in me.” She counters, grabbing at his thick ruddy red dick jutting from his body and he rocks into her hand before knocking her hand away and taking himself in his hand. 

“Do we need a condom?” He asks her, looking like he is ready to stop at nay minute if she tells him that they do. 

“No.” 

She has been on birth control since she was a teen and there’s been no one for her since she met him, and she trusts that it’s been the same for him. 

“Thank goodness, I want to feel everything.” He barely finishes his sentence before he’s easing into her, slow and steady. She lets him continue for a moment before she tightens her legs around his waist and pulls him in roughly, as deep as she can get him in this position. “Fuck, you’re so impatient.” 

“Shut up and fuck me already.” 

He grumbles at her calling her bossy, but she sighs when he draws out and slams back in with a quick snap of his hips. 

“Yes just like that!” 

He takes direction very well, repeating the motion until the bed starts to creak from their movements, he pistons in and out of her gone all semblance of gentle or slow, they have teetered into a speed that can only be defined as “break neck” and she feels her body sliding up the mattress as he pounds into her over and over again, she latches onto his neck eager to leave a branding mark on him and he groans at the suction, grinding harder into her and gripping her ass to force her to meet his vicious thrusts. 

Absently she feels him peeling her bra from her body, the only remaining item of clothing that has survived their coupling and she knows exactly when he sees the scar. The grotesque knitting of skin that had left a permanent scar on her shoulder, she almost covers it up but when she peels her eyes open he is staring at her mesmerized. 

“Don’t look.” 

He leans down to kiss it, the softest more precious kiss she has ever received in her life. 

He peppers more kisses all over, then strokes at it with a single finger. 

“I should have realized, this was your confession. I was an idiot. I will never be that stupid again, I love you so much. I would do anything for you. Anything.” 

He puts her legs on her shoulder, nearly bending her in half before resuming his thrusts but they are less frenzied now, it feels like lovemaking. Her eyes prickle when he kisses her scar with every downward thrust, whispering, “Beautiful, so beautiful. Every inch of you.” 

She cries out. 

With every thrust he kisses her scar, making her feel lightheaded and naked. 

When he moves them into a new position, her back to his front giving him better access to her scar, she loses herself as he whispers sweet nothings into her ears and litters the spot with warm kisses. 

She falls off the edge with his lips on her scar and him deep inside her, warm bursts filling her up before leaking out onto the bed sheets. 

“Today’s our last day.” 

Waking up next to him is torture, she tries not to ingrain that in her mind but it’s too late it’s already there. He blinks away the sleep in his eyes at her words and then nods solemnly in agreement. 

“Yes for this visit. But I’ll always come back for you.” 

She smiles brightly, “Don’t keep me waiting for too long.” 

They don’t leave the bed except to get breakfast and that ends with her laid across the kitchen table getting taken from behind after teasing him. He can’t seem to keep his hands off her new hair, twisting the short strands in his hands and yanking on them. She catches him looking at her heatedly more than once. 

Then they wind up in the shower, trying to clean up and getting dirtier instead, his hands tight in her hair and around her waist as he hoists her up to pound her into the wall. Making up for lost time. 

They get messages from their entire family, Vincenzo showing her a message from Han Seo asking if he’s going to be an uncle soon. She promises to embarrass him in front of Miri very, very soon. 

Both pretend they don’t feel the day fading away, bringing them closer to their goodbye. 

Tomorrow he will be gone again, but there’s no guessing now. She knows what she means to him now and that’s more than enough. 

She wakes up to an empty bed and a ticket to Malta, the ball is in her court. 

#vincenzo #chayenzo #smut #but you know with feelings #romance isn't dead #you can find it in strange places #like pig's blood #han seo has the best wingman #the mafia family

[rims-things]

Lost in Your Arms 

Fanfiction 

Genre : Romance / Fluff / Comfort 

Pairing : Myul Mang ( Kim Saram) / Tak Dong Kyung 

Show : Doom at your Service 

Warning : Do not read if you are not comfortable with a little passion between the couple + wound kissing 

Setup : It takes place right after episode 12 last elevator scene 

Tak Dong Kyung watched him as he stood out of the elevator, with a wrecked look on his face. She was anxious to even think about the fact that this person might be someone she knew. But he, on the other hand, looked confused and afraid at the same time.

She took a step forward to step out of the elevator, but he vanished in thin air. With sheer disappointment, she walked towards her room, blaming everything on her illness.

The next day was a bit hectic for her. She had to go through a lot of tests and some of her initial treatments were getting started. Hardly did she have any time to think of the events of last night. But as the sun went down and midnight approached, she subconsciously waited for him to appear.

She wore her usual hospital dress and an oversized jacket, with her hair loosely tied up in a bun. After unknowingly waiting for him on the terrace, she tried her luck in the parking area.

All she could do was Sigh, looking at all the cars that appeared to be staring at her and asking what exactly was she expecting.

She looked at her bracelet and wondered why it was so precious to her.

I better get back to my room -- she thought.

But just when she was about to head back, she saw the headlights of a car lit up and her eyes instantly fell on a kitten sitting near the tire.

Tak Dong Kyung rushed towards the car and stood right infront, making the person hit the brakes instantly.

She quickly bent down and took the kitten away from the tire.

"Are you okay ? "- she said, caressing the young cat.

"Do you want to die too ??? "  yelled the man who came out of the car.

Dong Kyung let the cat slide away as she stood up to face the man. He looked extremely furious.

"I'm sorry Sir, there was a ..." she tried to give an explanation when she noticed a Knife and blood on his hand.

"Is that blood ? What did you do? " She asked, suspecting that he was some sort of a criminal. 

Her guess was right, and she could hear a buzz in the hospital. But before she could act on it, the man grabbed her by the hair and tried to put her into the car.

"I'll kill you too " he declared as he opened the door to put her inside, but Dong Kyung couldn't give up so easily. She resisted and tried her best to scream but he covered her mouth with his hand.

"Just get inside the car if you want to live " the man shouted, he wanted to run away before the security got to the parking area and he couldn't leave a witness.

He was almost about to put her inside the car when he sensed a weird tension in the air. Everything was strangely silent all of a sudden.

It was then, that Dong Kyung noticed a tall figure standing at a short distance. As he approached them, she could see who it was. He wore a long wine colored coat with a sweater allowing a generous display of his neck.

He walked towards them with his hands in the pockets of his loose trousers. His face looked pale and eyes red with anger. She noticed the lights starting to flicker, the same way it had happened the night before.

"Who are you " the killer asked.

"Myul Mang " He said , tilting his head slightly to dart his eyes at the killer's hand which had grabbed Dong Kyung's hair.

The killer instantly left her and she fell to the ground.

"Aah.." she said, as she hit the surface.

Myul Mang stared at the killer with fury in his eyes.

The criminal picked up his knife again and tried to reach Dong Kyung, but she was quick enough to get up right on time and run towards Myul Mang.

She crashed on him against his chest and grabbed on to him as tightly as possible.

Myul Mang didn't move. He kept staring at the killer.

"He has killed someone " Dong Kyung whispered to him in terror.

He looked down at her and it was then that he noticed a small scratch on her neck because of the force with which the killer might have grabbed her.

He frowned and looked back at the man who was frozen near his car.

"I would have simply handed you over to the Police, if you had not done that to her " Myul Mang informed before blinking his eyes which was enough to bring doom on the killer.

His neck suddenly tilted and with the sound of a bone crack, he fell to the ground.

Tak Dong Kyung shut her eyes and hugged Myul Mang tightly, scared to imagine what was happening at her back. He gently put one of his hand on her head.

"Are you okay ? " He asked in a whisper, to which she nodded.

When she lifted her head up to look at him, she felt something change around her. When she looked towards her right, she found herself in an entirely different place.

It was a large mysterious hall, with lamps lit with fire. She could see a large circular window behind him which had a dark shade of blue.

Her eyes widened and she looked at him in confusion.

"Where are we ?" She asked.

"It's my home " he said with a straight face.

She walked away from him and looked around. The place felt familiar but she couldn't remember anything.

"Have I been here before?" She asked.

"I hope not. " he said nervously.

She gave him a scared look and went ahead to sit next to the large window. She could see the night sky and twinkling stars.

"It's beautiful.." she exclaimed.

Myul Mang walked up to her which made her stand up instantly. She guessed he was there to say something, but he stood merely inches away from her.

She coughed slightly and looked away, feeling his intense gaze on her.

"Where did he hurt you? " He asked, taking his hand near her neck where he had seen the injury.

But she instantly grabbed his hand and looked back at him.

"What did you mean back then? "

Myul Mang raised his brow.

".. when you said, you would have simply handed the killer to the police if he had not done this to me "  she questioned.

He instantly took his hand off from her grip and moved back. He sighed and looked away. Obviously, he had no answer.

" Did you kill him ? " She asked, swallowing a lump in her throat.

Myul Mang stared back at her.

"Would you hate me if I did ? " He asked.

"No." She replied, without giving it a second thought. She herself was clueless how she was so confident that she wouldn't hate him.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because I'm sure you might have done it for a reason. You're that kind of being." She answered in a go, as if it was already there in her subconscious.

He felt he had heard that before, but when? He couldn't recall.

It made him anxious and he walked back to her, raising his hand towards her neck again.

"Let me see please.. " he pleaded, but she backed off.

"Keep your hands away until you answer me " she said.

"What ? " He asked.

Tak Dong Kyung sighed.

"I think.. I know you..  but I dont remember, have we met before ?" She said, searching for answers.

Her questions made him confused, as he already had his doubts. He gulped in and looked away,  unable to understand what to say.

"I don't know " he said.

Tak Dong Kyung took a deep breath before continuing.

"I don't remember anything, but I feel, I was happy with you..I feel....

.. I.. loved you" she spoke.

What she said, made him restless and he walked to her staring deep into her eyes which were welling up.

He pursed his lips and tried not to react to what she just said. He wanted to escape the situation as soon as possible, but he was concerned for her as well. And somehow, he knew what she was saying might even be true.

He sighed and gulped in before speaking up.

"Let. Me. See." He said sternly, clearly trying to avoid what she was saying.

She shook her head for a No.

"Keep your hands off. Answer me first."

It was enough to make him loose patience and he instantly pulled her towards him, encircling his hands around her waist.

She was taken aback as she immediately grabbed his coat to prevent herself from falling.

"What are you doing? " She asked, trying to catch her breath.

His gaze pierced her soul. It was just a little scratch she had on her neck, but he wanted it gone as soon as possible. Even he didn't know why he felt that way, given that he already knew she was going to die soon.

"You want me to keep my hands off. Fine."

She looked at him, confused about what he exactly meant.

To her surprise, he suddenly tilted his head, leaned down to her neck, and planted a soft kiss on the scratch.

Her stomach twisted as she felt his lips on her skin. She inhaled sharply and clenched the collar of his coat tighter.

He lifted his head up and looked at the scratch disappear. But he soon realized that he had escalated the tension between them. She had shut her eyes and was gasping for air.

"It's gone now" he said, looking at her intently.

She opened her eyes slowly and gathered courage to look up at him.

She felt a strange comfort when their eyes met.

"It was just a scratch" she whispered.

"Then just thank me " he said, his voice cracking.

She swallowed and gasped, but her mind wasn't working well at all. Without much control on herself , she let her feelings take over and she stood on her toes to reach his lips and cover the gap between them.

He did not know she would do something like that all of a sudden, but given the situation, he surely was expecting it to happen.

He shut his eyes as he felt her lips move against his. It took him few seconds to let his guard down and let his heart decide what was to be done.

She inhaled rigorously when she felt him responding to the kiss. His grip around her waist tightened and he pulled her closer into his himself.

She wrapped her hands around his neck and deepened the kiss. She felt giddy with the rising heat within her. For some reason, his lips felt familiar, she knew she had kissed him before, but she couldn't remember.

He played with her lips as if they belonged to him, and suddenly felt a slight touch of her tongue in his mouth.

She wanted more. Subconsciously.

He gasped and let her enter his mouth, pushing her back against the wall next to the window, without leaving her lips for even a second.

She winced as she felt her back hit the wall and his strong chest pressed against her tiny physique.

He pulled her up a little by her waist so she could stand on his feet, making it easier for her to kiss him back.

He explored her mouth, sending shivers down her spine. She moaned and struggled to breath. He passionately delved into her mouth, making her dig her fingers in his hair and pull it gently.

He groaned and kissed her fervently, feeling her tiny fingers tugging on to his hair.

She felt his hands kneading the soft skin on her waist.

Her hands instinctively grabbed the colar of his coat and with a little effort, she pushed it back. He made a slight movement of his arms to let the coat slip off his body and fall on the ground.

He gave her little time to catch her breath before cupping her face and kissing her back.

She slid her hand to his waist and clenched his sweater. She felt her toes curl with each movement of his tongue in her mouth.

He slipped his hand in her soft hair and opened the loose bun she had, letting her hair flow open.

He carressed her neck as he kissed her more.

After a while, he stopped and looked at her, his face was crimson red with the rush of blood and lips slightly swollen.

Both of them struggled to breathe as he spoke.

"Tak Dong Kyung.. " he panted.

She gasped and felt nervous with the way he took her name. His eyes were filled with passion.

"I don't remember why.. I don't remember how and I don't remember since when.. but.. I love you..."

She smiled a little and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I feel I Love you too.. Kim Saram" she whispered, before kissing him back.

A/N : Thank you so much reading! This is my first work on the doom couple! :) Sorry if there were any mistakes :( Please leave your reaction here :) I will write more if you all liked it <3 

#dong kyung #doom at your service #doomatyourservice #doommates #myeol mang #myul mang #park bo young #seo in guk #kdrama #seo in gook #tak dong kyung #fanfic #fanfiction #romance

[twilightofthejedi]

fic: this city screams your name

written for the 2021 chayenzo community fanfic challenge by @the-chayenzo-community (again)!!!

dialogue prompt:

"happy birthday"

read on ao3: here

episode 16 spoilers!

It has been a long day.

Vincenzo stands in front of his unit in Geumga Plaza, the faded numbers 606 the only thing written on the dark wooden door. It’s nearly midnight, and he is exhausted. He could go inside and decompress the way he usually does, alone, with comfortable clothes, cheap food, and relaxing music.

Or, he could use the key in his hand, and go to Cha-young’s house.

After they had started dating, on that day a few weeks ago when she had disappeared and made him go mad with worry only to show up later and give him a gift so meaningful that it had cut right to his heart, she had pushed a key into his hand. It was a night when they were sitting on the roof and staring out at the city laid out in front of them. They had been sitting on the edge of the roof, bottles of beer held loosely in their hands, when she had reached to her side to rummage in her bag. He had watched her with mild curiosity, but his mind had been too hazy to do anything other than take another drink from his bottle, and wait for her. Then, she had put the cool metal in his hand, and told him to come over whenever he wanted. He had been taken back, and even more so when she pulled him close and kissed him.

The rest of the night had been slightly blurry after that.

Now, he stares at the key, and thinks of the cozy house on the quiet residential street filled with pictures and memories and the very essence of the woman he loves. He turns around, and smiles to himself. He loves her, doesn’t he? Somehow, through the relentless legal battles and late night subterfuge and the devastating grief of losing his mother, he has fallen in love with Hong Cha-young. The realization fills him with something light, something he cannot remember ever feeling.

He makes it all the way to his car in the parking garage before he realizes that he has smiled the entire way there. Huh. So that was why Mr. Tak had looked at him strangely when he passed him in the hallway.

As he starts the car and pulls out of the garage, he thinks of a conversation that he had had with Cha-young. After unwrapping the record player and eating the salvaged ramyeon (after he had nearly burned it) at the low table in his living room, they had laid back on cushions to stare up at the faintly glowing stars on the ceiling, La Traviata’s first act playing softly from the record player in the background. She had seized his hand, bringing their entwined hands up, and pressed her lips to his knuckles. The simple gesture had ran a jolt through his body, and he had turned to look at her.

In that moment, there had been a thousand things that he had wanted to say, but what he had ended up saying was, “I haven’t been entirely honest with you.”

She had looked sideways at him, and had only raised her eyebrows.

“I have killed. Many times, in fact. I know I told you that I didn’t, that I was only a lawyer, but in Italy, I-”

She had cut him off by raising a hand. “Of course you have killed. Did you think I didn’t know what being second in command in a mob family meant?”

“Then what-”

“Do you think that you’re some fallen angel, and I have no idea? I can assure you that it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve done questionable things, too. Before Choi came to Wusang, I was the best out of all of them, and I didn’t exactly get that title through any righteous means.” Cha-young had shrugged then, an elegant, half-raise of her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done. All we can do is move forward. Right now, we can use our considerable talents in subterfuge, manipulation and trickery and who knows what else you have in your arsenal to bring down people like Babel, Shinkwang Bank, and Wusang.”

He had nodded mutely because he had no clue what to say to that. How could he tell her that her seemingly casual words had lifted a huge weight off of his shoulders?

Now, he pulls onto her street, and as usual, it is dark and quiet. He thinks he may prefer the silence of her residential neighborhood to the nosiness and loudness of Geumga Plaza. As he gets down from the carlocking it absently, he realizes that her driveway is empty; she isn’t home yet. This isn’t abnormal; she had announced that she was going to be talking to one of her old contacts for information.

He opens the gate and lets himself in through the front door, tossing his suit jacket onto the low couch underneath the pictures that she hated but could not bring herself to take down. He sets his briefcase down on the kitchen counter, next to her own, and switches on the television to the news, watching absently as he prepares a cup of coffee. Before, she had drank instant coffee almost exclusively and kept nothing else at her house, but too many mornings at her house spent staring blearily into a cheap-smelling mug of instant coffee had driven him to go out and buy her a proper coffee machine with his favorite beans that had the entire house smelling amazing in the morning before they both had to rush out to the firm.

He watches the drops fall into the cup, and wonders absently about the barista that had made his coffee in Rome most mornings. The man had been excellent, so skilled at his art that Vincenzo had returned there day after day to the point that there was always a cup waiting for him by the time that he walked through the door. But then he had left the city he had grown up in, pursued by the family in which he had never quite belonged.

He looks around and realizes that he fits in perfectly in this house. It’s messy, and cluttered, and there are a ridiculous number of blankets on the couch, but it’s no longer just Mr. Hong’s house where he learned to treat hangovers the Korean way. It feels so intimately familiar that he could probably navigate through it in the dark (he probably has). Everything, from the outdated calendar (from three months ago) to the clock that chimes five minutes late, to the wall where there are now two hooks, for both of their car keys, feels like home, a home that has shifted, just a little, to accommodate him, like someone moving over on a worn couch and patting the seat next to them and saying come on in and make yourself at home.

He pads upstairs to her (their) bedroom where he has stashed a few changes of comfortable clothes for nights exactly like this one. He pulls on the soft cotton shirt and pants, and goes back downstairs to where the coffee is ready. While he drinks the coffee, he sends off a quick text to her asking if she has eaten yet. It’s a truly ungodly hour and any sane person would have had dinner ages ago, but once his Cha-young had a goal, she would stop at nothing to achieve it, and she would have probably eschewed eating to accomplish her goal for the night. Sure enough, she responds with of course not jagiya, who do you think i am, and he laughs quietly to himself as he gets up to rummage through her pantry for ingredients. He sees spaghetti in her pantry, tomatoes in her fridge, and a sweet basil plant on the windowsill, and immediately knows what he’s going to make her.

He’s stirring the simmering sauce when she walks through the door.

“Jagiya? Are you cooking?”

“Yes,” he says, turning around to look at her. She’s wearing dark blue today, with dark makeup and jewelry, and she looks like some sort of shadow wraith. He smiles at her, and she raises her eyebrows high, like she is mocking him.

“Are you cooking for me?” He laughs again, and turns back around to keep the sauce stirring. It’s truly strange how much more he seems to laugh around her. He’s set the spaghetti to drain, so all he needs to do once the sauce is done is to add the pasta. She comes up from behind him and wraps her arms around his torso, clasping her hands together. She puts her chin on his shoulder, and he leans into her.

They stand in silence for several minutes until he judges the sauce to be done. She wriggles her fingers at it, and he dutifully feeds her a spoon to taste, at which point she suggests, very seriously, for him to add ginger. He laughs, and moves to get the pasta from the sink, but she holds him fast.

“What is it?”

She puts her hand on the side of his face and turns it to the clock that runs late. It reads 12:33.

“It’s your birthday, jagiya. Wow, can’t believe the famous mafia lawyer forgot about his own birthday-”

“How did you know?”

He pulls her around to hold her looking into her eyes, a curious replication of that night they had drank into the night and she had hugged him to test if she had feelings for him. Her eyes dance and she turns her face up to his.

“I had Luca tell me. Turns out he can get by in English, which means you-” she pokes him in the chest- “are not going to have any secrets anymore! I will find them all out.”

“I’m not keeping any secrets from you, Cha-young-ah. Just ask me whatever you want to know. I will answer all eighty of your questions.”

She blinks at him. “Yah, why do you have to get all sentimental on me?”

“You were the one who conspired with Luca to find out my birthday, of all the things.”

She rolls her eyes at him. “I am going to faint with hunger. Feed me before I collapse on you.”

“As you say,” he says, leaning in to drop a kiss on her forehead.

Later, as he watches her inhale the food, food that he had made because it reminded him of the only home he had ever known before coming here, he wonders about his life. They still have so much work to do. They have to achieve the impossible against an entire system of corruption and injustice, but with her and the home that they have built for themselves, he thinks… no he knows, that they can do anything.

#vincenzo kdrama #vincenzo x cha young #vincenzo cassano #hong cha young #tvn vincenzo #my fic #my writing #i go feral for them

[dappercritter]

Invader Zim: Taller Tales of Terror - The First Fic That Wasn’t

This was going to be my first fanfiction that I ever published, but things came up and I found other story ideas and fandoms to get into. However, because there’s nothing I hate more than leaving a story untold and forgotten.

 So like a writer jilted by a big name studio working on a big superhero movie that went terribly wrong after they left, I’m going to share it with you good folks to see if you still think there’s hope for it in some capacity. If so maybe I’ll choose to revive it in some capacity, or one of you kind folks can adopt it. Whatever you think of the once untold tale I’m about tell you, I hope you enjoy it.

The fic would have been either a mini-series/anthology or a movie-esque sequel—or two—to Enter the Florpus.

It would have followed the stranger further misadventures the kids would go on as teenagers, all of which have at least something to do with getting taller, literally or metaphorically.

 Although I'd do my best to recreate the series' darkly comic tone, there'd be more to the story than just that. I'd like to do a sort of character study with my fanfics and explore what they would do as they got older, how they would change if they could change, if they'd mature and try to connect with each other more, or if they really do just hate each other. It'd be like a coming-of-age story but done in the style of Invader Zim.

 But don’t be fooled, folks! It's not going to be one of those big dramatic fanfics with high stakes (nor any smut) thrown in. At it's core it's still just a fun, dumb, mildly disturbed "What if?" sort of fic. There would be a bit more emphasis on character and plot than normal, because I do love me a good character-driven plot, but still plenty of room for (what I hoped would feel like) the usual weird dumb creepy fun that original series excelled at.

 The story is set in basically the same continuity (or at least the closest thing to a continuity that can exist in Invader Zim) as the show and comics. The only difference is that the Battle of Meekrob actually happened—but not really.

 Long backstory short, there was a big showdown between the Irken Armada and the Meekrob-allied Resisty, but Zim and Dib missed it because a food fight got them stuck in detention. Zim tried to get Skoodge (who was rooming with him at the time because the scrapped Season 2 episodes were sorta canon here) to cover for him until her got there, while Dib tried to get Gaz to take Tak’s ship to provide support against the Irken. By the time they got out, however, the battle was over, Gaz blew the whole thing off to get a new game, Skoodge and some other Invader became the war hero Zim always aspired to be, and The Almighty Tallest decided to cancel Operation Impending Doom 2 because after the big exciting space battle they felt like they couldn’t top anything after that. Suffice to say, Zim took it pretty hard. Dib however would have seen this as something of a win since Zim still failed in a sense. Albeit it was a very anticlimactic win, even to him.

The actual story would have taken place about 5 years after the Battle of Meekrob, where Zim, Dib, and Gaz have made it to high school (or “hi-skool” as this is the Invader Zim universe, after all). Setting wise, things haven't changed much but the characters have made a few surprising or not-so-surprising developments. The most important of all, so important that it would be the focus of the entire story, in fact! would have been Zim developing a brand-new disguise utilizing an exoskeleton, based partially on the Almighty Tallest, in attempt to make him look like a normal teenager AND impress superiors. Naturally, things go horribly yet amusingly wrong for everyone involved.

 Now just where and what has everyone been up to/going through in those five years? Here’s a rundown:

-Zim spent those 5 years obsessing over his crushing failure, begging the Tallest to give him another chance, which they refused every time. Being stuck on a planet of smelly, stupid, and increasingly annoying creatures for so long without any real victories has left him bitter and frantic with more shmoopiness than usual. Even the little "VICTORY FOR ZIM!" moments he used to have got harder and harder to come by. By the time he reached high school, he was so messed up he didn’t realize his classmates had all had growth spurts until Dib easily overpowered him in one of their petty fights and points it out to the whole school. Thus, leading to the new exoskeleton and subsequent schemes to redeem himself in the eyes of the Tallest while looking normal in the eyes of his human classmates. Unfortunately, due to his desperation and general lack of understanding about the human body, the exoskeleton comes out looking like a lanky robotic nightmare with clawed fingers that jerks around like a big cybernetic marionette.

-Dib meanwhile has been doing slightly better. He and his paranormal research are still looked down upon, but he's persevered through the hope that someday he'll prove he's right. After (indirectly) stopping Zim from joining the Battle of Meekrob, Dib got a small confidence boost, thinking of it as a big step to exposing for Zim real now that he’s effectively trapped on Earth with him now. Although, following a rather blunt intervention from his family, he's started thinking about what he’ll do with himself once Zim is gone. He still hates his guts and he's still hellbent on beating him, but he's also started getting out more and trying to socialize more—however awkward his attempts may be. That he's also gotten taller and his head isn't quite as big compared to the rest of his body has been good for his self-esteem too. But make no mistake—when he's not going for runs, working shifts at his dad’s lab, or looking into a “totally normal” science major, he's toiling away on improving his array of anti-Zim strategies and defenses.

-Gaz is doing pretty good but she is totally done with Zim and Dib's junk. Although she's still her old apathetic self, she's doing everything in her power to broaden her horizons so she doesn't end up in the same, stupid rut that they ended up in. She would have gotten into indie art and game development; although her work is still fairly obscure, it's quickly gaining attention for it's macabre, edgy, punishing and geeky nature. (Imagine the works of Jhonen Vasquez, Toby Fox, Hidetaka Miyazaki, and Hideki Kamiya mashed together.) She also participates in e-sports tournaments on occasion, if only because crushing countless so-called “gamers” brings her amusement. Her psychic powers have also gotten stronger with her age, and she likes to experiment with them whenever she can—usually when somebody really annoys her. She's doing fine in the story until, after a run-in with a certain unkillable spoiled brat at an e-sports tournament, sends her over the edge and she trashes the place in a Carrie-esque episode. This gets her sent to anger management therapy, and now she's trying to find a way out to avoid sitting through an endless slog of "sappy" sessions.

-Gir would still be insane.

-Minimoose would still be the ultimate techno-lifeform Minimoose.

-Zim's Computer is still tired.

 -Prof. Membrane is still the greatest and most powerful scientist who ever lived but he’s also trying to make time for his family more and mentoring Dib to be the successor to his legacy he always thinks he was meant to be. That is if is experimental new immortality machine doesn’t work out. May or may not have to fend off Clembrane whenever he comes to visit.

-The Almighty Tallest are still living content, tyrannical lives. They didn't take canceling Operation Impending Doom 2 very hard because, as it turns out, they just got bored with it after a while. (Of course, Zim's repeated interference didn't help keep their spirits up either). However, they'd come up with the perfect plan to obtain absolute control of the universe AND get the feeling back: by making Operation Impending Doom 3 a thing and setting up a huge hype campaign for it. Thing go pretty well for them until Zim calls them and tells them about his new exosuit. They believe that Zim is trying to make himself look like a Tallest so he can lead a rebellion against them and get revenge for treating him like garbage. (He's not, obviously, but they're too dumb and paranoid to realize this.) So, they pretend that they're ok with it and let him carry on his merry way while they figure out how to dispose of him without making him look like a martyr figure of some sort, thus giving the other Irkens they mistreated any ideas.

-Tak would show up again in the second half and this is where it gets spoiler-y. She would come to Earth on the Tallest’s orders with a squad consisting of a reformatted Mimi, rogue SIR units, as well as Tenn and Skoodge who she had recruited to aid in her vendetta against Zim. She would subsequently reveal that after drifting through space in an escape pod, she crashed landed on Meekrob just as the battle was about to begin, and using the element of surprise, rescued Tenn from captivity and assisted Skoodge and the Tallest in devising a battle strategy so brilliant that it crushed the Resisty and Meekrob’s alliance and earned her the status of Irken Elite. She grew comfortable in her new position but could never get over her fear that Zim would eventually ruin it all again, so she waited and prepared for the day she would strike back. I don’t know how or if she would adopt an updated disguise (perhaps a hologram of her older humansona projected over her, Tenn, and Skoodge standing on top of her shoulders?) or hide in the shadows while Tenn, Skoodge, Mimi and the berserk SIR squad did her dirty work.

 -Skoodge would have gone from aspiring to be Zim’s friend to being his worst enemy after Tak turned him to her side by digging into his past with him, making him realize how little his supposed old friend cared about him. Despite this he still keeps an unusually cheerful disposition—even repeatedly apologizing to Zim whenever he attacks him—and acts as the heart of Tak’s squad. He thinks of them as his real friends, so he always goes out of his way to help them out or keep the energy up. Even though Tak looks down on him because of his size, she appreciates his gullibility and unquestioning loyalty. Tenn just thinks he’s nice, especially since he’s good at keeping the SIRs in check.

 -Tenn has recovered from the traumatic escapades she endured on Meekrob at the hands of the rogue SIR units and imprisonment under the enemy, returning to her usual competant Invader self—something Tak values quite a bit in an armada largely composed of egomaniacs and morons. Tenn values Tak’s companionship even more, viewing her as a conquering hero who not only won the most important battle of Irken history, but also, her heart. …Not she’ll ever act on her feelings. That would inconveniance the mission! (Although Skoodge has picked up on this and gladly supports her, thinking they’d make an adorable couple.) After investation revealed that Zim was supposed to receive the rogue SIR units instead of her while he trashed the Megadoomer that was rightfully assigned to her, she bought into Tak’s view that Zim’s very existence was a threat to all Irkenkind, gladly assisting her efforts to eradicate him.

 -Mimi and the rogue SIR units have been reprogrammed to be less insane and follow orders again thanks to Tak and Skoodge’s efforts. However, Tak also had a berserk mode installed specfically for eradicating targets with optimal, brutal efficiency. Mimi still tends to glitch though. In addition to Mimi retaining her cat holo-disguise, the berserker SIRs would gain new disguises resembling either feral cats or rabid teacup poodles. (I hadn’t decided yet.) Tenn still gets anxious around them.

 -Gretchen might show up again and would possibly get to reconnect with Dib, maybe even finally be honest with him about her feelings for him when she surprises him with her surprising new position at Membrane Labs: the janitor.

 -Keef will… er, uh… actually, don’t get your hopes up.

 Well, I think that’s everyone important. Okay back to the plot now!

 So, right up front, the biggest part of the plot as well as the biggest reason why I got uncomfortable with the whole thing was there wiould be some romance in here between a few couples and that it would have figured into the plot. The most significant of all: ZAGR (a.k.a. Zim and Gaz Relationship). But I wanted to make it feel organic and even sweet without sacrificing the feel of sardonic madness but also keeping it in the wholesome zone.

 I always felt like Zim and Gaz were a natural fit for each other (like quite a few other people, admittedly) because I always felt like their personalities were a good fit and they could have a lot in common. The story would follow them as they unexpectedly developed a romantic friendship, bonding over their resentment of the Earth and humanity, their absent family members, a love of technology of questionable intent, and subjugating those who anger them. It would all start with Gaz agreeing to help Zim improve his suit and his unassuming human act just to get back at Dib for annoying her. At first they’d be acting entirely out of spite and necessity, but as they spent more time together, they’d start to enjoy each other’s company more.

 Gaz would be the first develop feelings, since she voluntarily rejected the concept of love instead of being programmed to reject it like Zim, as she slowly realizes how much they have in common—much to her horror. Zim would take more time but when he begins to understand how he feels about and just what these DISGUST feelings are, he’d handle it just as poorly. (e.g. I pictured a scene where Zim has such a hard time admitting his feelings for Gaz that he ends up vomiting black goo like he’s possessed or something. For comedy of course.) But they’d both start to open up to each other in the end, if only because they’re the only two people in the universe they can stand. Gaz would try to help him overcome his anxiety and stop caring as much about what humans think of him, while he would be someone that she can actually relate to.

 Dib, however, would take sincerest offense to it. He’d be totally freaking out, nearly diving off the deep end to put his plans to defeat Zim into action and expose him before he could be exposed. He’d also make a point of demanding what Gaz could see in a monster like him, even reminding her of everything that Zim had done. Probably in an exchange like this:

 DIB: He stole our organs! He tried to crush the planet with Mars! He kidnapped me and threatened to turn me inside out! He tricked me into helping him teleport Earth into outer space so his rulers could destroy it! He turned me into bologna, Gaz! (*holding back tears*) BOLOGNE!

 GAZ: I thought you got over that.

 DIB: Well, physically I did, yes, but not mentally.

 Gir would be pretty on board with it though.

The other biggest plot of the series would have been Tak’s return and the reveal of her and the Tallest’s master plan to destroy Zim once and for all: kick off Operation Impending Doom 3 by placing Zim on trial, executing him, and completing Tak’s plan to turn the planet Earth into a snack bowl for the Tallest (which she still insists is a good plan, she just never got to complete it) big enough to feed them while they watch the conquest of the rest of the universe in style. Zim and the Membranes get through to her and her squad, and possibly the other Irkens, by turning them against the Tallest to stop the Irkens once and for all. Maybe.

Finally to wrap this little nightmare up, here’s a vague outline of the stories I had planned for this wannabe whopper:  

 -A Whole New Nightmare – Following an amusing prologue about how Zim and Dib ended up missing the battle of Meekrob, Zim finally realizes that his natural Irken height threatens to expose his façade to all the classmates who have reached proper adolescent human height. He creates his exosuit then proceeds to cause a scene when he calls the Tallest and goes to hi-skool. Meanwhile, Gaz bugs Dib about still wasting his time bullying Zim. Zim then challenges Dib to a contest of normalcy: a series of challenges that are just overhyped normal teenage things like loitering, hanging out with friends, and finally a dance-off. Whoever loses has to admit they’re a complete weirdo and admit they’re most embarrassing secret. Dib wins the first round, but after he blows off Gaz to hang out with the other kids, she and Zim strike up a nice conversation and he wins the second round. The final dance-off ends in a draw when Zim and Dib both end up looking like total dorks. The story ends with Dib and Zim standing up for themselves against their judgemental peers, but Zim ends up overtaking his big speech and convincing his classmates to completely forget about his bizarre new appearance.

-Gaz the Befriended - Zim and Gaz make a deal: Gaz helps him fine tune his suit while posing as his "NORMAL HUMAN!" friend, and in return he helps her figure out how to control her powers while posing as her friend so she won't have to go to anger management counselling. While they do drive each other nuts, they eventually learn they have a lot in common and start acting like real friends. Dib grows suspicious of their "friendship," sets out to uncover the truth.

 -They Follow - Dib goes on social media to share his findings on Zim with the world in an attempt to verify all his evidence via wisdom of the crowd. Zim finds out and retaliates by joining social media as well to make himself look like a hard luck case in an effort to gain sympathy from the (basically ignorant) public. As their war of words escalate and their follower bases grow, they end up starting a flame war that threatens to destroy society itself.

-Star Dib - Hoping to find some real help, Dib sends a message to outer space looking for reinforcements. He ends up with what remains of the Resisty, who dissolved after their crushing defeat on The Battle of Meekrob. Taking pity on them, he volunteers to become their new leader. Shenanigans ensue on a galactic level.

 -C for Conspiracy - Dib stumbles across a mysterious conspiracy involving Earth tech being backwards compatible with alien tech. He wants to take it on himself, but realizes that he might actually need Zim’s help. So he has to swallow his pride and ask him for help, and as if that weren’t enough he has to put up with his and Gir’s (who tagged along) antics.

 -Night of the Living Prom-goers - Prom night comes along and all the hormonally-imbalanced kids are ready to go, except for Zim, Dib, and Gaz. Until Gaz works up the nerve to ask Zim out, which he actually accepts. While Gaz prepares for her perfect tolerable evening, Dib desperately tries to convince her that Zim’s up to something while trying uncover his true motives, only for her to snap at him and challenge his views on Zim. Little do either of them know, Zim plans to use the prom as an experiment to harness Gaz’s power for his own ends. But at the same time, he ponders whether his friendship with Gaz is just a means to an end or something more. Either way it will be a night they will never forget. Or survive! Probably.

 -The Return of Tak’s Revenge Rises - Tak finally returns to take her revenge on Zim and the Membrane siblings. Striking them when they least expect with the aid of an upgraded MiMi, a squad of berserk SIR units, and two fellow invaders Zim had wronged in the past.

 -Doomed Together - Following Tak’s strike, the Almighty Tallest kick off Operation Impending Doom 3 with a mission of utmost importance: sending in the Irken Armada to ensure Zim is destroyed once for all so they can finally proceed with absolute universal domination. Now, Gaz, Dib, and some unlikely allies must come up with a plan to save their even more unlikely new friend and the rest of the universe from the most fearsome force in the universe! It’s basically the grand finale.

 And that is all there is, or was, to Taller Tales of Terror. I can’t guarantee I’ll ever revisit it, what with all the other stuff on my plate right now, but I’m glad to have finally shared the story of my first fanfic with y’all.

 So, tell me, my filthy monkey maggot mutual friends. After all that horrible rambling, what did you think?

#invader zim #taller tales of terror #iz fanfiction #iz fanfic #iz zim #zim #iz dib #dib #iz gaz #gaz #prof membrane #dib membrane #gaz membrane #iz tak #tak #iz tenn #tenn #iz skoodge #skoodge #iz gir #iz minimoose #gir #minimoose #iz gretchen #zagr #writings of the critter #critter fics #ramblings of the critter

[wongyuuu]

Let's talk I-Land | episode 5

In this week's episode we start right off where we left last time: the voting between i-landers and grounders for the vocal performances. It surprised no one that i-landers won, they had the song was truly a ballad; because they've been on i-land since the start they have more confidence. Daniel and Sunoo did great, I really liked it. However it was a producer choice.

Like I said before, I-land is very well served when it comes to dancers. Both performances where really great but I have to agree with the mentors choice. I-landers where all in for the performance, all three of them took in equal parts to make a great performance to assure their stay in i-land. As for the grounders I feel like only Niki and Nicholas pulled their weight on it, they tried their best and did great but Jaeho sort of just there pushing them, in a good way. There was the entire problem with lineup changes, for both i-landers and grounders but it seems that grounders took the change harder. I-landers had a lineup change because there was someone, Sunghoon, who could do a move that the other, Jay, couldn't. If I'm not mistaken grounders had more than one change, that can make one unstable and nervous about the performance.

I thought that the final team would be with 12 trainees but apparently not. I'm guessing that it will be either 7 or 9 trainees. Personally I think that even numbered groups are a bit unfair because there's always going to be that one member who stays at the back the most and doesn't really shine. In this episode especially Kyungmin got position 12 and so he stayed at the back throughout most of the performance and didn't have many chances to shine.

Now, if I understood it correctly i-landers will be cut in half, three will be vote out by the mentors and three by i-landers themselves and so 6 grounders will go up through public voting. Is this it? Really, I can't understand. But maybe only half of my brain works because voting system these shows always seem to be way too complicated for me.

Here's is my prediction on who will stay on i-land, based on what I have seen so far:

Heesung: hello, he's our winner, center, number one, main character of this whole thing (who oddly enough didn’t have a whole lot of screen time during this episode)

K: the best dancer amongst the i-landers, adored by all i-landers.

Geonu: I don't see i-landers voting him out, he should be safe unless he makes a huge mistake and gets voted out by the mentors

Jay: I think he has proven his worth and people are starting to warm up to him. He works really hard. (I thought it was really cute how the kids who were on the ground with him kept going to him for help during the mission)

Jake: the mentors seem to like him, or at least appreciate his development inside the show. Though the i-landers vote concerns me I think he'll get to stay.

Sunghoon: everyone loves him, he is talented and I don't seem him getting voted out by the trainees or the mentors

The variant, Jungwon: he was going to get voted out last time by the trainees, however he was saved by K. He did a great job at the dance performance. I guess we'll have to wait (if it comes down to it, I think it would be between him and Jake, considering only the trainees I mentioned)

As to those who will go up from the ground.

Niki: he failed in the chances he had to go through the mentors, however he seems to be a fan favorite. If I'm right and the public will vote for grounders I think his chance of going up to i-land is huge

Sunwoo: in my opinion, he was unfairly voted out from i-land. He seems to be a fan favorite as well, I can see him going up

Daniel: another one who was unfairly voted out from i-land. Whenever I look into something i-land related he is someone that's always mentioned (I just looked up his profile and he is legit 14 and niki will turn 15 in december, taki is older than both of them what the hell)

Hanbin: he was mentioned a lot during the live broadcast of the episode in the comments so I think he has a change as well.

Taki: now I'm just saying what I think, but he is a good dancer and has room to grow a lot. From where I see it he has a chance

I don't know who can be the sixth member, being honest the lines sort of get blurrier after Hanbin.

We already have a spoiler of one of the i-landers who got eliminated and that was Seon. I can’t really say that I’m surprised... All the kids really liked him and he worked sort of as the person everyone went to when they wanted to talk or had a lot on their mind (a position that I sort of see the eldest or the leader doing) however his skills aren’t as sharp, if we compare him to the other kids. I can’t see i-landers voting him out but I can see the mentors do. He said that this was his last change to be idol and I’m honestly really sorry for him, it was his dream and he worked hard for it but it didn’t turn out as he wished it would do.

But all of this, most of what I said is basically speculation, and we’ll have to wait and see what really happens. 

This was a long ass post, so if you reached the end of it thank you very much hahahaha

#i-land #iland #bighit #big hit

[random-iz-stuff]

Analyzing Zim in Tak; The Hideous New Girl:

Here is Tak’s first real encounter with Zim along with Tak and Zim’s dogfight in one video:

First off, the first encounter.

Zim has a tendency to manipulate people by playing dumb and/or crazy, putting on an act to get what he wants. We see him use that act here, and Tak falls for it HARD.

The entire time, Zim acts stupid, crazy and annoying towards Tak, interrupting her multiple times and never seeming to understand what Tak is saying to him.

But there’s also this detail.

Tak’s plan with Zim has three parts. Part one is crippling Zim’s base with nanobots, which Tak does accomplish, but she also releases the nanobots on the top floor, far away from the actually sensitive parts of Zim’s base, meaning that Zim’s base is able to recover by the end of the episode and be used to hack into Mimi’s memory chip, and part three is the whole “fill the Earth with snacks” thing.

But Tak leaves before she can even explain what part two is, getting annoyed with Zim and giving up on trying to do anything else to him.

I fully believe that the unknown part two of Tak’s plan would have been harming or crippling Zim himself to make sure that he couldn’t get in Tak’s way, a feat made easier by the numerous injuries that Zim has at this point.

But Tak never goes through with part 2 because she deems it to be unnecessary. After all, Zim just spent the past few minutes proving that he is in no way a threat to her mission. He’s a complete idiot.

She also releases the nanobots on the top floor instead of breaking into his proper base for the exact same reason. Zim is a completely incompetent moron, so it would be a waste of time and energy to break into his proper base and use the nanobots there. Even if the nanobots aren’t as effective on the top floor, Zim is so incompetent that it shouldn’t matter.

But that’s exactly what Zim wants her to do. By playing dumb, he managed to:

Get Tak to leave without harming him, giving him time to heal his injuries

Get Tak to release the nanobots on the top floor (although this was more of a bonus since Zim was unaware that the nanobots existed until now)

He wasn’t able to get Tak to tell him her plan, but considering that part 2 involving harming him and Tak probably wouldn’t reveal part 3 until part 2 was complete (assuming that they even revealed it at all), that might have been for the best.

And we KNOW that Zim is putting on an act because in all scenes prior to this and in all scenes after, Zim doesn’t act like this. In fact, after Tak leaves, Zim acts almost completely serious, even when he encounters Tak again. He just needed to put on this act once to make Tak leave without a fight, and it worked. After that, he has no reason to keep up the act.

The second encounter in Tak’s base isn’t in the video, but I want to bring it up as proof of Zim putting on an act when Tak first confronts him.

Zim shows up by blasting a hole straight through Tak’s base with his Voot Cruiser and confronts Tak directly, having healed from all of his injuries. And he’s completely serious this entire time, with no room for interrupting Tak or yelling nonsense. The only reason Zim gets defeated here is because he didn’t account for Mimi being a MODIFIED SIR Unit, displaying panic and confusion when Mimi attacks him. He came prepared to fight a regular SIR Unit, and Mimi was the exact opposite of what he was expecting, taking Zim by surprise and kicking him out of Tak’s base.

Tak doesn’t even realize how lucky they are that this happened either. If Mimi hadn’t been there or if Mimi had been a regular SIR Unit, Zim would have gone straight for Tak. And if the differences in their piloting skills and anything to go by, a fight between the two of them is slanted at least slightly in Zim’s favour and at most heavily in Zim’s favour. (Which makes sense considering that Zim is a trained invader while Tak never actually became an elite). Tak could have easily harmed or even killed Zim in their first encounter since Zim was injured, but the same can’t be said for Zim in full condition.

Moving onto the dogfight, Zim practically runs circles around Tak the entire time. I want to point out that not only is Zim the only one that shoots anything at Tak, but Zim spends the entire dogfight right on Tak’s tail with Tak unable to shake him, which is a central part of winning dogfights. You get behind your enemy and stay there because that’s the perfect position to shoot them from without being shot yourself.

Tak has to resort to physically ramming Zim to do any damage and that still doesn’t do anything, with the first hit doing no damage and the second hit breaking Zim’s cockpit window, only for Zim to eject his window mid fight and replace it, getting back on Tak’s tail immediately after.

And the real kicker: During the entire dogfight, Zim is completely silent.

The show even directs our attention to this with shots of Zim being completely silent.

Even when Tak taunts him, she gets no reaction. Something that you wouldn’t expect from Zim and a far cry from the dumb and loud persona Zim put on when Tak originally showed up at his base. Zim is laser focused on his task of fighting Tak, and doesn’t give two shits about taunts or small talk.

The only time Zim speaks is after he wins with his line of “you’re a worse pilot than I am!”, indicating that despite the fact that Zim all but wiped the floor with Tak in that dogfight, he doesn’t view himself as a very good pilot and isn’t above making fun of himself for it (probably just as long as HE’S the one making the joke).

But then after Zim wins, this happens:

Zim says “you’re a worse pilot than I am!”

Zim has a realization of some kind

Zim rams Tak’s ship into a lava bubble

Tak’s escape pod ejects

I’ve gone over this before, but I think Zim’s realization and actions are in relation to Tak’s ship and it’s current condition.

In space, there’s no gravity or air resistance to slow you down. Tak’s ship in that moment is spinning rapidly out of control with no way to stop the spin. Tak can’t use her ship’s systems to slow down because they’ve been disabled by Mimi and she can’t eject her escape pod because of that spinning. Releasing the escape pod in that situation would destroy it with Tak inside.

And Zim seems to know that. Look at Zim’s face when he has that realization:

That is a look of extreme concern or even fear. Zim can see Tak’s ship spinning and disabled in front of him and he knows the danger that Tak is in. Hell, he and Tak have probably been taught all about this sort of thing as Smeets.

And then think about what Zim did by ramming Tak. He knocked Tak’s ship into a lava bubble. Both Zim and Tak’s ships seem to be immune to the heat of lava, as they’ve been flying around and even straight though it this entire time, and it’s been shown in the dogfight that both Zim and Tak’s ships don’t do much damage by ramming things. If Zim wanted to kill Tak in that moment, why would Zim ram Tak (does basically no damage) into a lava bubble (does literally no damage) when he has access to laser cannons and is in the perfect position to shoot Tak?

Because he didn’t want to kill Tak in that moment. He was sparing her. By knocking Tak into lava, the liquid slowed down the spinning of her ship and made it safe for her to eject. The fact that Tak only ejects after Zim rams her into the lava adds some more proof to this.

As for WHY Zim decided to spare Tak when he had spent the entire dogfight trying to kill her, it’s the same reason he doesn’t use weapons or the fact that he can lift four times his body weight against Dib. He views them as a worthy opponent.

Zim views Dib as a worthy opponent and fights (mostly) fairly against him, not using his PAK legs, weapons, or superhuman strength when fighting him and putting purposeful flaws in his plans so Dib has an equal chance when going against him.

Zim has no problems with killing Dib, but he refuses to do so in a way that’s unfitting of a worthy opponent or unfair. No shooting Dib with alien weapons or throwing a knife at him with 99.7% accuracy or using his full strength against Dib. He’ll still try to kill him, just in ways where he can safely say that Dib has a chance at fighting back. If Dib dies, Zim needs to be able to say that Dib had an equal chance of winning, but simply failed to do so.

The only exceptions to this are situations where Zim either wants revenge for something or believes that he or his mission are in genuine danger (and also Big Bad Rubber Piggy for some reason, but we can probably assume that it falls under the umbrella of Zim wanting revenge or believing that he’s in danger as we don’t know the full content of that plan), at which point Zim briefly shows just how powerful he really is.

For Tak, Zim views her as a worthy opponent, but doesn’t go easy on her because Tak is an Irken just like him. Dib poses no physical threat to Zim unless just the right things line up for him. He’s a threat to Zim’s mission and not his well-being, so Zim brings himself down to Dib’s level when fighting him to even the odds.

But with Tak, even if Zim has slightly more training and the fight is slanted in his favour, Tak is still close enough in terms of fighting skill and general strength that Zim doesn’t bother with trying to bring himself down to Tak’s level.

Plus, even though Zim is the one winning the dogfight, Tak still can and does try to fight back, managing to dodge Zim’s laser shots, doing their best to shake him off (even if these attempts prove to be ineffective) and doing some damage by physically ramming him. So the dogfight up until that point can still mostly be considered a fair fight by Zim’s standards.

Now Zim has no problem with killing Tak, but refuses to kill a worthy opponent in an unfair way. Killing Tak in a dogfight is fine, but shooting her while her ship is disabled or leaving her to die in a disabled ship that’s spinning out of control in low earth orbit (where as seen later, it will eventually crash down to earth like a meteor)? Definitely not. So Zim gives Tak a chance to eject and spares her, knowing that she isn’t able to fight him in that condition.

But Tak isn’t content to just disappear like that, coming back one final time in their escape pod.

Tak rants about how she doesn’t know how Zim managed to beat her (probably because she still believes that Zim is a complete moron) and tells him the truth about his mission, but Zim doesn’t seem to care, sending her escape pod away with a single button press and not a single word.

In my opinion, Zim did this because from his perspective, Tak is trying to goad him into another fight by lying about the Tallest to try and provoke him (which is probably half true, with Tak trying to provoke him into another fight, but not actually lying about the Tallest). But since Zim already spared Tak and she’s currently in an escape pod while he’s in an actual ship, he doesn’t even entertain her with the idea of a fight as it simply wouldn’t be fair.

Zim forced Tak’s escape pod away without a fight and refused to pursue her as a way of saying “come back when you’re in an actual condition to fight”. Basically sparing Tak a second time after she refused to accept the first one.

This scene also contrasts Tak’s first encounter with Zim. In the first encounter, Tak plans on crippling or even killing Zim when he’s injured and in no condition to properly fight, only not doing so when Zim tricks her into leaving him alone. In the final encounter, Tak’s ship is crippled and in no condition to fight, and Zim refuses to take advantage of that, not only sparing Tak by letting her safely eject, but refusing to fight her when she comes back at him in her escape pod.

This scene also shows a contrast between Zim and Tak’s personalities. In the first encounter, Zim recognizes on his own that he’s injured and won’t be able to fight properly and manipulates Tak into leaving without harming him because of that. In the final encounter, Tak makes a beeline for Zim immediately after ejecting, not caring that she’s in an escape pod that stands no chance against a Voot Cruiser, with Zim needing to fire Tak away himself to stop her from trying to fight him again.

#invader zim #analysis #headcanons #zim #Tak #Tak’s episode is one of my all time favourite episodes #especially when talking about Zim’s competence and morals #because there’s a lot to talk about #this was originally going to be a part of my ‘Zim uses his mind instead of his fists’ post #but I decided that it was better as it’s own post

[rinasthoughts]

Kdramas I’ve watched (part 1)

Hello! This is my first post ever! I wanted to create a list of kdramas that I’ve watched, and what I would rate them. I hope you enjoy this list and maybe find some shows to watch!

The Producers (2015)

13 episodes

Synopsis: “A tireless group of young TV producers and a pop star work around the clock in the entertainment department of a major network” (Wikipedia). The show revolves around Seung-Chan (Kim Soo Hyun), a young man who begins his career for the KBS televisions network. He struggles to get along with his boss, Joon-mo (cha Tae-Hyun), who also happens to be a long time friend of Seung-Chan’s work crush, the music program producer Ye-Jin (Kang Hyo-Jin). Cindy (IU) a k-pop idol who has become rude, selfish, and narcissistic to protect herself from her adoptive mother/CEO and the constant stream of hate she receives meets Seung-Chan during a music show and begins to fall for him. Will Seung-Chan end up with Ye-Jin or Cindy?

Rating: 7/10

This was the first Kdrama I watched, and it was only because of my love for IU. Watching the show for IU quickly turned into watching the show for the plot and character development in general, especially Cindy’s and Ye-Jin’s. This show had plenty of funny, badass, heartfelt, and frustrating moments that always kept me interested. I especially liked watching the interactions between Cindy and her manager! I wasn’t a huge fan of the sort of love triangle between the three producers, but it wasn’t over-the top or annoying.

Oh My Ghostess (2016)

16 episodes

Synopsis: “Timid Na Bong Sun gets possessed by the ghost of a confident young woman who seeks to solve her unfinished business by hooking up with Bong Sun's boss, famous chef Kang Sun Woo.” (Wikipedia)

Rating: 10/10

This is definitely a must see if you enjoy kdramas, especially ones that have lots of romance along with supernatural elements (and a bit of mystery)! I loved the character development of Bong Sun, going from an incredibly introverted girl who was terrified of the ghost she could see to being a talkative woman who refused to run away from her problems. The chemistry between the two leads was amazing, Kim Seulgi did a great job of playing a feisty and headstrong ghost, the chefs were hilarious to watch, and the plot of a murderer who had been possessed for years was interesting. I have zero bad things to say about this show, it’s too good.

You’re the Best! Lee Soon Shin (2013)

50 episodes

Synopsis: “Lee Soon Shin (IU) goes through hardships after the death of her father. Soon Shin and her mother struggle to find happiness. Her love story continues in the mist of ups and downs of her life. Lee Soon Shin is the youngest member of a successful family. Despite her family′s successes, however, she seems to have failed to inherit any talent, and is marked as an oddball though she remains a bright, lively and courageous girl. She then meets the head of an agency named Shin Joon Ho (Jo Jung-Suk), and he turns her life around. Shin Joon Ho is a confident, cold and competitive man who changes later after he begins to understand the real meaning of success through Lee Soon Shin” (my drama list).

Rating: 5/10

This is another show I watched because of IU. It was incredibly hard to pay attention to a show that had 50 1-hour long episodes, so honestly I skipped through most of the parts that didn’t involve Soon-Shin. Yoo In-na plays one of Soon-Shin’s sisters in the show, but I didn’t particularly like her role. This show revolves around Soon-Shin being conned right around the time her father dies, and then actually becoming an actress with the help of CEO Shin Joon-Ho. She gains attention and eventually discovers that she was adopted and that her real mother is a popular actress who works under the same company. This whole show is very dramatic but has good intentions. I’m not a fan of the length of the show and I wasn’t really interested in most of the characters, but there were lots of lighthearted moments and I really liked seeing the relationship develop between Soon-Shin and the CEO.

Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016-2017)

16 episodes

Synopsis: “In ancient times, Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) is an unbeatable general in wars, but the young King (Kim Min-Jae) is jealous of Kim Shin and kills him. Kim Shin becomes Dokkaebi (Goblin), possessing an immortal life. At first he thinks that he is blessed, but he realizes that he is cursed. Closer to the present day, Kim Shin has waited 900 years for a human bride to end his immortal life. One night, he saves a dying pregnant woman (Park Hee-Von) who is destined to die. Meanwhile, the Grim Reaper (Lee Dong-Wook) is unable to find the dead pregnant woman. The woman gives birth to a baby girl named Ji Eun-Tak (later played by Kim Go-Eun). In the present day, Eun-Tak is a high school student. She still sees ghosts and hears their whisper of “Dokkaebi’s bride.” On her birthday, Eun-Tak sits by the sea with a lighted birthday cake. At that time, Kim Shin suddenly appears in front of her. Kim Shin does not know why, but he can hear her voice and appears in front of her against his will. Coincidentally, Kim Shin lives with the Grim Reaper at the same house. Eun-Tak and Kim Shin slowly get to know each other, and Eun-Tak soon figures out that he is the Goblin and she is his bride”(Asianwiki).

Rating: 10/10

This is another show that you NEED to watch if you’re getting into Kdramas. The concept of the show was very unique, and the entire cast consists of talented actors who pulled off their characters incredibly well. The romance between the two leads is great, the romance between the second leads is great, literally everything about this show is wonderful- there’s even some straight up bromance between the Grim reaper and the Goblin. I loved how they tied everything back to past lives and the consequences of each person’s actions. The ending is incredibly sad and I most definitely cried several times throughout the show.

Abyss (2019)

16 episodes

“Go Se-yeon is a beautiful prosecution lawyer at the top of her game, and Cha Min is her friend, an unattractive but rich heir to a cosmetics empire. They are both revived into different bodies by supernatural beings using an "Abyss" after their deaths in separate incidents. The "Abyss" is a celestial object which has the power to revive anything that has died; the reincarnated bodies take on the appearance of that person's soul. Go Se-yeon takes on a plainer appearance, whilst Cha Min becomes very attractive and young; virtually the opposite of before. They start working together to find out the reason for their revival and who caused Go Se-yeon's death” (Wikipedia).

Rating: 6/10

This show took me a really long time to finish watching. Like several months long. The plot seemed to fast paced at times and too slow at others, and it was overall fairly predictable. The concept was great but the portrayal was meh. Both leads were wonderful and did a great job of playing their characters, but the show was lacking in characters development and the development of romance between them. Honestly I don’t even remember how the show ended. I also didn’t really like Cha Mum’s girlfriend that much, her story didn’t intrigue me and she never really seemed to have any development, but maybe that’s just me.

I hope you enjoyed this! I really love kdramas but I didn’t really have anyone to talk to about them, so this is the next best thing. Most of these shows are frequently recommended, but I thought I’d just put out my own thoughts for the world to see. Peace out homies!

#kdrama #kdramas #abyss #you’re the best! #kpop #guardian: the lonely and great god #oh my ghostess #the producers

[odanurr87]

2019: My year in K-Dramas - Part 1

I’ve been getting into kdramas for a few years now, but I usually only watch one or two at a time. This year I watched a lot more (and that’s not counting The Bride of Habaek, which I dropped when it became clear it was a very bad adaptation of the manhwa; Crash Landing on You, which started airing a couple of weeks ago; nor Tomorrow With You, which I haven’t yet finished, what’s probably not a good sign), a few being rewatchs of old shows that I like. Seeing as it’s unlikely I’ll ever write up full reviews for each like I did for Goblin (you can read my review here), I decided to compile this list to tell you what I liked and didn’t like about each, what I feel worked and what didn’t. I’m also including a qualitative metric (Rewatch meter) that tries to gauge how likely it is that I’ll find myself returning to the show in the future (Low, Medium, High). Naturally, your very own meter may differ from mine.

For future reference, these are the shows I watched in 2019 and that I aim to cover in this series of posts:

While You Were Sleeping (2017)

W (2016)

My Strange Hero (2018)

The Secret Life of my Secretary (2019)

Angel’s Last Mission: Love (2019)

Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon (2017)

When the Camellia Blooms (2019)

Bring it on, Ghost (2016)

One More Time (2016)

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho (2010)

My Love From The Star (2014)

Descendants of the Sun (2016)

Regardless of which show did better, overall, I find myself drifting more and more towards Korean dramas than your run-of-the-mill American TV show, save for a few bright exceptions, such as The Expanse. Heck, they’re better than most Hollywood movies nowadays.

Since I’ll probably end up writing a lot, I’ve decided to split this review list into two parts. Let’s start with the last kdrama I watched and work my way backwards... if I can remember, that is.

WARNING! There will be spoilers so read at your own risk.

While You Were Sleeping (2017)

Bae Suzy as Nam Hong-Joo, and Lee Jong-Suk as Jung Jae-Chan.

Release Date: September 27 - November 16, 2017

Episodes: 16

Available on: Viki

Summary: Nam Hong-Joo is a young journalist who has had bad dreams about the future since she was a kid, but she has never been able to change the outcome. Jung Jae-Chan is a rookie prosecutor who moves in across the street with his younger brother. When Jae-Chan has a prophetic dream of his own about Hong-Joo being involved in a car accident, and the tragic events that follow, he makes an impulsive decision to interfere, changing Hong-Joo’s fate and that of police officer Han Woo-Tak in the process. When the three of them start having dreams of one another, they realize their lives are somehow entwined. Together, they decide to use their knowledge of the future for good, but changing someone’s fate is never straightforward, and the consequences for doing so may be more than they can handle.

What I liked:

The concept and writing. This is the second show I’ve watched, in chronological order, with Lee Jong-Suk as a lead where I’m really attracted by the concept. Imagine if you could take the precogs from Minority Report and give them (relatively) normal lives inside a kdrama. This is the result. Even better, having Hong-Joo and Woo-Tak have different and often contradicting dreams about the future makes for an interesting twist, as we see prosecutor Jae-Chan struggling to navigate these prophetic waters in search for the best outcome. Curiously, the show makes a point early on about how Jae-Chan’s the variable upon which their dreams diverge, but nothing really comes off it. Naturally, the concept of multiple diverging futures gives the show’s cinematography a chance to play around a bit, often comparing the same event in alternative timelines, or in the same timeline but at different moments in time. It may sound complicated, but it’s pretty to grasp once you start watching. Furthermore, the writing’s pretty tight all around, what’s not a mean feat when you’re juggling multiple realities, with some very emotional payoffs as the show draws to a close. Perhaps its weakest point is exactly how this prophetic dream ability is transferred from person to person (a theory is put forward which doesn’t entirely convince me), and the unnerving (and unexplored, fortunately) implications should someone less honourable were to have these dreams.

When The Nightmares Started. This is the best track in the entire show and if it’s not the main theme, it damn well should be. It has moments of calm, a hint of romance and hope, and that awesome shit-is-about-to-get-real cue starting at 1:38 that never fails to make a scene tons more epic. Your dish-washing experience will be 100% more epic playing to this track, guaranteed!

The Justice League (and friends). This show could’ve probably gotten on my bad side real fast if it had created a villain with the same superpower as the heroes (depends on the execution to be honest) and, indeed, I thought that was the direction it would inevitably take, revealing at some point that (evil) defense attorney Lee Yoo-Beom also had prophetic dreams and had been using them for his benefit all along, muahahaha! Instead, the show gave us three average people, connected by their prophetic dreams, who decide to team up and use these visions for good. It’s not always easy to change the future, as it has many ramifications, and therein lies the show’s narrative potential that it manages to exploit, perchance to its fullest. Even in the very last episode there’s a hint that maybe the people they’ve helped throughout also have dreams of their own that they use to help others, sort of a pay-it-forward chain. It may be somewhat unrealistic, but it’s a good note to end the show on all the same.

Kim Won-Hae as Choi Dam-Dong. Easily the best supporting character in the show, delivering a stronger and more rewarding performance than in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, where he played two characters (he was pretty funny as the over-the-top head of development planning at Ainsoft), veering towards the more serious/dramatic/emotional end of the spectrum, although with some comedic elements mixed in. I was surprised by how strong his arc turned out to be, and my respect for his character went up by several points when his arc comes to a close and we finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together. This man can do both comedy and drama, so kudos to him.

What I didn’t like:

Mr. Perfect (also known as Han Woo-Tak). It’s not that I dislike him, far from it. Woo-Tak is so good, smart, selfless, and even good-looking, that he kinda undermines the OTP just by existing. He’s really setting unreasonable standards for any man to compete against. I mean, he even plays Cupid for the OTP... while also being in love with Hong-Joo! On the plus side, the show doesn’t really try to push the romantic triangle angle, what usually has mixed results. The one thing I did mind is how the show hints at him potentially being a better attorney/prosecutor than the main lead since that’s kind of Jae-Chan’s thing. I mean, if you take everything that makes the lead special and give it to someone else, is he still the lead?

OTP: A stronger performance from Lee Jong-Suk than in W, complemented by a relatively (and I cannot stress this word enough) weaker performance by Suzy in some aspects (I think Han Hyo-Joon’s Oh Yeon-Joo in W does sad love better than Suzy as Nam Hong-Joo, but it’s a matter of preference), results in a better pairing with more chemistry. Suzy is great and lovable at being the quirky Nam Hong-Joo (watch the video below if you’re unconvinced) and Jung Jae-Chan is a lot more vulnerable than Kang Chul ever was, but I was left wondering at times whether this couple would’ve gotten as much traction were it not for the strength of their past connection (especially with Mr. Perfect around).

Verdict: What can I say? While You Were Sleeping was an excellent show from beginning to end. If I were to nitpick, I would’ve chosen the end wedding to be the one between Jae-Chan and Hong-Joo since that honestly makes more sense, and maybe I would’ve made Woo-Tak more of a bro than a somewhat-but-not-entirely romantic rival (think Seo Dae-Young in Descendants of the Sun).

Rewatch meter: High

W (2016)

Han Hyo-Joo as Oh Yeon-Joo, and Lee Jong-Suk as Kang Chul.

Release Date: July 20 - September 14, 2016

Episodes: 16

Available on: Viki

Summary: W is a bestselling webtoon by cartoonist Oh Seong-Moo that follows the adventures of Kang Chul, an Olympic gold medalist framed for the murder of his family, who’s eventually acquitted and becomes a multi-millionaire who fights crime (think Bruce Wayne but without the costume). Tired of his creation, Seong-Moo decides it’s time to kill the protagonist and put an end to the series (much like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle decided to kill Sherlock Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls). Oh Yeon-Joo is Seong-Moo’s daughter, a doctor and passionate fan of W, who is one day mysteriously transported to the world of the manhwa, where she sees a dying Kang Chul and saves his life. Intrigued by his mysterious saviour, Kang Chul decides to learn out more about her and Yeon-Joo finds herself constantly returning to the world of the manhwa. Will Kang Chul learn the truth about her and his world? And if so, what will be the consequences?

What I liked:

The concept. It’s not an altogether original concept, and I’m reminded of Schwarzenegger’s Last Action Hero (Who Framed Roger Rabbit before that), but it’s also not one that you see often on the screen, big or small. The idea of being able to enter the world you’re reading about and meeting the characters you know and love is extremely appealing and there is some fangirling from our protagonist initially. Naturally, since she knows everything about this world, it’s good fun to see her inadvertedly reveal something that she couldn’t possibly know and deal with the reactions/consequences. What’s better is how Yeon-Joo tries to figure out the laws of the manhwa world by applying the real-world concepts of cliffhangers and dramatic revelations, often to hilarious effect. Seeing how the manhwa continues to write itself to reflect events in W’s world, and the reactions by readers (and by Yeon-Joo) in the real world is really entertaining, especially those from the more passionate W fans.

The transition between animation and live-action. I love the blend between animation and live action, as in the example below. There are more subtle transitions, like when a character’s hand oscillates between the real world and the cartoon world. Perhaps it’s a very simple filter but it looks good. Also, what little we see of the manhwa is very well drawn.

Han Hyo-Joo as Oh Yeon-Joo. Despite the fact that Yeon-Joo’s character becomes less proactive in the second half of the series (as I will discuss below), she was the one who really carried the show for me, certainly on the emotional side of the spectrum, where Kang Chul felt a little flat throughout (to be fair, he’s more the analytical type and he’s a manhwa character). She was also able to convey humour quite well, especially in the earlier, funnier, episodes.

The execution (of the first half). The first episode doesn’t waste a second setting up the story and there is never a dull moment. Watching Yeon-Joo read the latest episode of the manhwa and witness her reaction as she sees herself in the comic was gripping and I was eager to see what the next episode would bring. The show was also fairly consistent with the rules of travelling back and forth and what one could and couldn’t do in the cartoon world. We were witnessing an epic struggle between the cartoonist who wanted to kill his creation with his stylus and the daughter who wanted to protect him so much that she had willed herself into his world (if that’s not a good setup for a love story, I don’t know what is). And all the while, Kang Chul was putting the pieces of the puzzle together in his universal and unrelenting search for truth. Every episode brought something new to the table and, much like the manhwa, ended with some revelation or cliffhanger that kept you on the edge of your seat asking for more. Unfortunately, I think that was also its downfall.

What I didn’t like:

The execution (of the second half) and the overall pacing. I think the (relative) downfall of this series was trying to do too much too early. It worked for the first half because the show had a lot of material it could burn through and, in a way, it was refreshing that it was willing to do so. Sadly, my thoughts eventually turned from, “What’s going to happen next?” to “What can even happen next?” The story was moving so fast that I began to wonder where exactly it was going, and that’s when some of the flaws started to seep through. Episode 9 focused on the aftermath of Yeon-Joo resetting events, thus making Kang Chul forget all about her. While I certainly felt for her when she met her amnesiac husband, this was largely thanks to Han Hyo-Joo’s performance (and good track selection), for Kang Chul had been her husband in name only. Had we previously seen more episodes of their life together, this scene would’ve been a lot more impactful, and her desperate crying outside the operating room more heartfelt. Then, the plot thickens as we move into the (overly) dramatic second half of the show, with the introduction of a villain who knows about the real world and starts manipulating events in the manhwa for his benefit... by possessing cartoonist Oh Seong-Moo! What? This was never established as even remotely possible! (not to mention it doesn’t make sense) As you can imagine, this is whereabouts the rules of this universe start to break down and anything goes. Furthermore, when this villain is defeated in Episode 13, the show suddenly remembered it already had an antagonist perfectly cast for the part and finally decided to put him to use, although too little too late for my taste. As if that weren’t enough, a character is killed because drama, since any other explanation would make no fucking sense. This death is entirely nonsensical and I was beginning to conclude the show should have ended a lot sooner.

The amount of flashbacks/dreams/recaps/plans. I don’t mind a good recap or a flashback every now and then, but there came a point where the show started abusing this narrative device a little too much. The show spent a lot of time either: going over things we already know; featuring lengthy dream sequences that are very transparent and serve no purpose (although, incidentally, would make for a better ending); or laying out how events are supposed to go only for them to go in a completely different direction. While they are sometimes necessary, most of the time they were just padding that actually detracted from the story.

How secondary the supporting characters in the manhwa truly are. I know Kang Chul is supposed to be the protagonist but his bodyguard and secretary aren’t given a whole lot to work with throughout the show. I wish they had been active participants in learning the truth of their world rather than passive bystanders.

How Yeon-Joo becomes less proactive in the second half. Maybe it’s just a feeling, but I think our female protagonist became more reactive and less proactive in the second half, with Kang Chul being the one who mostly directed the course of events. It didn’t help that she kept fainting every now and then, what meant she had to spend some time in bed, what was a shame since she was the more interesting character. To be honest, I think the whole father arc should’ve been over and done with in the first half, with Yeon-Joo stepping up to be the new cartoonist.

OTP: Undercooked, but Han Hyo-Joo manages to almost convince me.

Verdict: It’s hard not to say W is one of the most refreshing shows I’ve seen in a while, even despite its more prominent flaws in the second half. I don’t like how powerful the drawing tablet became, especially after it was established that the manhwa could, at times, overrule the will of the real world, as clearly depicted when Kang Chul refuses to commit suicide. I’d rather the manhwa characters had resolved things on their own, aided by Yeon-Joo, without having to resort to some ultra-powerful plot device. Furthermore, I think the show should’ve taken things a bit more slowly rather than try to surprise us every episode, and use that time to build the relationship between Yeon-Joo and Kang Chul. Another thing I feel the show didn’t exploit to its fullest was the fact that Yeon-Joo knows just about everything that’s transpired in W’s world, what maybe could’ve aided Kang Chul in his investigation (sadly, this is undermined by the fact that the murderer really has no identity, what I find odd). Last but not least, Kang Chul never remembering his “past life” was a missed opportunity.

Rewatch meter: Medium

My Strange Hero (2018)

From left to right: Jo Bo-Ah as Son Soo-Jung; Yoo Seung-Ho as Kang Bok-Soo; and Kwak Dong-Yeon as Oh Se-Ho.

Release Date: December 10, 2018 - February 4, 2019

Episodes: 32

Available on: Viki

Summary: When Kang Bok-Soo was a high school student, he was falsely accused of committing acts of violence and ended up expelled from school. Those who brought the accusations against him were his first love, Son Soo-Jung, and a fellow student, Oh Se-Ho. Nine years later, Bok-Soo saves Soo-Jung’s life and suddenly finds himself a mediatic sensation. In order to improve the school’s somewhat tarnished image, he’s invited back to finish his studies. Bok-Soo hesitates, but when he learns Soo-Jung is a teacher there and Se-Ho is the new director, a latent desire to get revenge surfaces. Will Bok-Soo finally get his revenge on the people who wronged him nine years ago? Or will he spend most of his time doing anything but? The latter.

What I liked:

Teacher Park. He’s the kind of teacher everyone would like to have in high school and an example of moral rectitude that Soo-Jung tries to follow. You can tell he really cares for all the students and always tries to be fair and just, no matter the personal cost.

Soo-Jung’s arc. Probably the character who experiences the most growth throughout the show, in no small part thanks to her starting point. She’s the only teacher who stands up for her students, is willing to expose the corruption in the school, and goes so far as to quit her job because she feels she didn’t earn her spot fair and square (despite Oh Se-Ho telling her she was hired because of her qualifications). It is worth noting that when Mr Park gives the other teachers the chance to own up and resign honourably nobody does.

What I didn’t like:

The series meanders a lot early on. Initially, I watched till Episode 14 and dropped it because nothing was really going on. Bok-Soo says he wants to get revenge but his heart really isn’t into it. He certainly doesn’t have a plan like, say, Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo, or Emily Thorne in Revenge. In fact, for those first 14 episodes, it only seemed he went there to suffer some more at the hands of the same people who wronged him all those years ago. What leads me to...

Son Soo-Jung isn’t a very likable protagonist initially. I don’t know if this is done on purpose to get us to side with Bok-Soo, but it doesn’t seem like a very smart strategy to have us dislike the lead’s main love interest for almost half the length of the series. I mean, that’s what the antagonist is for. It seems like at every opportunity she twists the knife on Bok-Soo’s back a little more, so much so that a hurt Bok-Soo outright demands, “Why don’t you just ask me what happened instead of constantly making assumptions?” (I’m paraphrasing) Her response, basically telling him to fuck off, didn’t win her any points in my book. That’s about when the writers probably realized their mistake and started filling us in on how Soo-Jung’s life was also miserable after Bok-Soo was expelled so please don’t hate her. They also pull a 180 when she stands up for Bok-Soo during a disciplinary hearing, what I thought was quite out of character for her at the time. The two seem to patch up their relationship awfully fast, what struck me as odd as they didn’t seem to have much chemistry. Having said that, Soo-Jung’s character certainly grows after Episode 14 and has a very satisfying arc, ultimately being the only teacher worth a damn in this school, other than Mr Park.

“Is Kang Bok-Soo’s revenge finally starting?” After I initially dropped this show at the Episode 14 mark, a video popped up in my YT feed with that title (only they used the actor’s name instead of the character’s). It was a scene where Bok-Soo went about exposing the many deeds of corruption within the school. Great, I thought, shit is finally hitting the fan... in Episode 26. I resumed watching from that mark until the end. The series had finally managed to get me invested, almost as it was over, and I decided to watch the episodes I’d missed.

OTP: There are some cute moments but I still didn’t feel the chemistry (what, ultimately, is my entirely subjective take).

Verdict: I don’t feel this is a true romance drama like others on this list, if ever it tried to be, what’s decidedly strange because there are many episodes dedicated to exploring the relationship between Bok-Soo and Soo-Jung with little else going on. Instead, I see it as more of a critique on the Korean education system and the immense pressures students are subjected to in order to meet unreasonable standards, with some romance elements sprinkled on it so that it’s not too depressing. That’s my take on it anyway. As such, it has some enjoyable aspects to it, like seeing Bok-Soo share nuggets of wisdom every now and then, or the students standing up for Bok-Soo and their school, or the revenge/investigation finally kicking into high gear. It’s just unfortunate it took so long to get there and didn’t really encourage me to do so.

Rewatch meter: Low

The Secret Life of my Secretary (2019)

From left to right: Koo Ja-Sung as Ki Dae-Joo; Kim Young-Kwang as Do Min-Ik; Jin Ki-Joo as Jung Gal-Hee; and Kim Jae-Kyung as Veronica Park/Park Ok-Sun.

Release Date: May 6 - June 25, 2019

Episodes: 32

Available on: Viki

Summary: The story follows Do Min-Ik, a prominent director at T&T Mobile Media, and his secretary, Jung Gal-Hee, as together they deal with the onset of an illness that prevents Do Min-Ik from seeing faces, the result of a possible attempt on Min-Ik’s life by some unknown party. On the corporate drama side, this undermines his shot to succeed his (jerk of an) uncle as Chairman of the company, and we see Min-Ik and Gal-Hee struggling to hide the truth of his illness and overcome the many obstacles set on their way to chairmanship. On the romance side, his inability to recognize faces causes him to mistake his secretary for Veronica Park, a rich heiress and leading figure in the film industry, whom he eventually falls in love with... what is kind of a problem since the real Veronica Park develops a crush on Min-Ik’s best friend, Ki Dae-Joo (also a director at T&T), while Gal-Hee falls in love with her boss. And, just in case we didn’t have enough corporate drama, we learn early on that someone may be embezzling from T&T and all the signs point to Dae-Joo. How will this all turn out?

What I liked:

Do Min-Ik and Jung Gal-Hee working together. Min-Ik is one sharp boss, and the moment he’s unable to recognize faces, he starts devising other strategies to recognize people, such as identifying them by their height. Gal-Hee pitches in with the different directors’ hairstyles, and eventually Min-Ik is even able to recognize them by their specific tics. Another example is the first stockholders’ meeting where they team up to prevent Min-Ik’s dismissal. Everything goes so smoothly that it prompts Veronica Park to ask Gal-Hee, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Did you write the script to this play?”

What I didn’t like:

The deceit lasting so long. Min-Ik doesn’t start as the best of bosses, we see that in the first episode, but that very same episode opens the door for him caring for Gal-Hee more than he’s willing to let on. The show does a good enough job of explaining his rather rude behaviour towards his secretaries and why he always fires them within a year, what makes the deceit all the more hurtful. However, the problem I have with Min-Ik not realizing Gal-Hee was pretending to be Veronica Park, is that this happens for 24 episodes! That means we only have 8 episodes left for him to feel betrayed about the whole thing yet also recover in time to start dating Gal-Hee. I don’t feel this was enough time to successfully explore their relationship.

How weak/bland every other story is. The attempt on Min-Ik’s life and the police’s investigation of it is handled abysmally, with the detectives only appearing from time to time to create what some writer thinks is drama. They’re so useless that the perpetrator actually has to turn himself in! I thought Dae-Joo was a bland character throughout, so I had zero interest in his relationship with Veronica Park. The same goes for Gal-Hee’s family. Even Min-Ik’s mother somehow pulls a 180 out of the blue. The only other plot thread that caught my eye was the possible embezzlement and that was wrapped up horribly, what leads me to...

No one facing the consequences of their actions. No matter how much the writers want to frame this secret organisation within T&T as Robin-Hood-like, the fact remains that they were stealing. Not only that, but they can be directly tied to the assault and attempted murder of Do Min-Ik, among other crimes. Sure, they’re all fired at some point, but they all get hired back thanks to Min-Ik. Nobody faces any jail time except for the guy directly responsible for Min-Ik’s accident who actually apologizes to him and turns himself in. The leader of this shadowy organisation comes out unscathed and has her machinations to see Dae-Joo become chairman of T&T rewarded when...

Dae-Joo becoming the chairman of T&T. What a payoff. The blandest and most uninterested character in the entire show becomes the chairman when the character we’ve been rooting for throughout, the only one who’s willing to put everything on the line to help the downtrodden secretaries, gets the short end of the stick. I guess it’s true when they say no good deed goes unpunished.

OTP: There is some chemistry there and I wish we had seen more of it, but sadly the (official) relationship between Gal-Hee and Min-Ik takes place a little too late.

Verdict: Usually, most of the kdramas I’ve watched and liked, to some extent, have some scenes that are imprinted on your mind (much like Gal-Hee’s face is imprinted on Min-Ik) and that you find yourself returning to from time to time. With this show, I honestly had to struggle to recall any such scenes, even with the aid of YouTube playlists. This is not helped by the fact that I can recall none of the music used, and that’s not a good sign. Memorable scenes and songs usually go together, as the next show in my list will prove. Ultimately, The Secret Life of my Secretary, while entertaining enough, didn’t live up to my expectations and, as such, it’s unlikely I’ll be rewatching it any time soon.

Rewatch meter: Low

Angel’s Last Mission: Love (2019)

Shin Hye-Sun as Lee Yeon-Seo, and Kim Myung-Soo (Infinite L) as Kim Dan.

Release Date: May 22 - July 11, 2019

Episodes: 32

Available on: Viki

Summary: Kim Dan, a troublemaking angel with a kind heart, is 24 hours away from Heaven when he meets the beautiful, talented, yet cynical and arrogant, prima ballerina Lee Yeon-Seo. Recently blinded by an accident during a performance, Yeon-Seo somehow manages to spot Kim Dan, who should be invisible to any human. His curiosity sparked, he follows Yeon-Seo around and eventually, in a fit of impulsiveness, saves her life in a car accident. However, for having interfered and saved a human’s life, Kim Dan is fated to turn to dust... unless he’s willing to undertake one final task. His mission? He must help Yeon-Seo find true love, but will he be able to keep from falling in love himself? Obviously not. And, naturally, Yeon-Seo has some evil relatives who are out to get her, because it wouldn’t be a kdrama otherwise.

What I liked:

The songs. I can’t vouch for the entire OST for I haven’t listened to it all yet (Correction: I’ve now since listened to all of it and it really has a lot of good tracks), but there are at least a handful of songs that will stick with you like glue. I can’t say if I like the songs more because of the scenes in which they play, or if I like the scenes more because of the songs that are used, but I can say the songs play an important role in engraving these scenes into my mind. Songs like ‘Sweeter’, by Jess Penner, that play when we’re playfully exploring the relationship between Yeon-Seo and Kim Dan; or ‘Pray’, by KLANG, when some important relevation or dramatic scene is about to transpire; or ‘Oh My Angel’, by Chai, that plays during the more romantic moments; these songs have made it into my Spotify list and are a must-listen on a daily basis for now.

The humor. Beyond the interactions between Kim Dan and Yeon-Seo, which sometimes make for very humorous situations, my hat’s off to the characters of Archangel Hoo, Dan’s senior (played by Kim In-Kwon) and Chung Yu-Mi, Yeon-Seo’s butler (played by Woo Hee-Jin). The former has dozens of opportunities for humor as he’s able to take the form of any human and keeps surprising Kim Dan by keeping tabs on him. The latter is probably the closest thing Yeon-Seo has to a mother (or maybe an older sister), and can be playfully mischievous when she starts noticing our leads may have feelings for each other. There are two scenes that perfectly embody the show’s humor that I would be remiss if I didn’t direct you to. Be aware they contain spoilers.

The leads and their chemistry. You cannot make a kdrama work if the leads don’t have some sort of chemistry (well, I suppose you could but it would be a bit of an uphill battle) and Shin Hye-Sun and Kim Myung-Soo have that in spades. This shows not only during the more romantic scenes, what’s expected, but also during their fights, what’s even better (if that makes any sense). This isn’t the first time I’ve seen L acting, in fact, he played the character of Yoo Tan in the short kdrama One More Time, with actress Yoon So-Hee playing his love interest, Moon Da-In. He sold me on that show then, as did Yoon So-Hee, but I feel his acting’s improved in this, or maybe the script and length of the show allows him to flesh out his character more, showing us more sides of his personality as the show draws to its end. And it’s really amazing to see how effortlessly Shin Hye-Sun can don the skin of the strong, cold, and harsh Yeon-Seo in one scene, and then swap it for the playful, romantic, and vulnerable Yeon-Seo that Kim Dan falls in love with in the next. Just watch more of those KBS World TV clips if you don’t believe me. These two steal every scene they’re in, but I feel Shin Hye-Sun is really the standout here. (At the time of this posting, Shin Hye-Sun has won the Top Excellence Award (Female) in KBS’s 2019 Drama Awards for her role in this show, so congratulations to her on an award well deserved!)

What I didn’t like:

How the show meanders towards the end. I laid out the plot in the most succinct way possible, but it’s hardly that straightforward. Dan’s mission should, in theory, be over when Yeon-Seo learns to love again, but then the show would then be over a lot sooner than Episode 32. The writers know that so they move the goalpost, at some point revealing that Dan also had to learn to love for the mission to be truly over. Not only that, but they both had to be willing to sacrifice everything for their loved one in order for God to believe their love was sincere or something, what leads one to think they need to commit suicide and the other to think they need to commit murder. I don’t know, by this point the show’s either stretching things out to reach the 32-episode mark or they’re milking each scene for every ounce of drama they can get, probably both. This problem gets compounded by the fact that...

Some (other) things don’t make a whole lot of sense. To start with, the theology and consistency on this show is all over the place. The same God that apparently ordered a couple of angels to shoot someone, gangsta style, because an angel broke the rules and fell in love with a human, is moved by our lead couple’s Romeo-and-Juliet love story and by Yeon-Seo’s ballet performance. Oh, and by the way, shooting someone is not how unruly angels are dealt with, God can simply pull a Thanos and have them vanish into mist, so why did he decide to use a gun that one time? Because drama! God also decides that the best time to send Dan to Heaven is when Yeon-Seo is lying commatose in the hospital (what a dick), to which Dan says, “Fuck it, I’m staying here,” and God lets him return as an angel so he can help Yeon-Seo wake up, interfering once again and thereby ceasing to exist... except he’s still an angel an episode later! What the f*** is going on here?! Archangel Hoo broke the rules once and he got the Thanos treatment, so how come Kim Dan gets so many second chances?

Some characters are either superfluous or their arcs are unclear. As an example of the latter, there’s the character of Ji Kang-Woo (played by Lee Dong-Gun), Yeon-Seo’s ballet instructor and Kim Dan’s rival for Yeon Seo’s affection. It’s revealed early on that he’s an angel-turned-human after breaking the rules and falling in love with a human himself... whom the gangster angels promptly killed. It’s never explained why she had to die while Yeon-Seo and Kim Dan are allowed to stay together, but apparently Kang-Woo is satisfied that his pain was necessary so he could help them trick God or something. I’ve no idea. But the award for the most superfluous character has to go to Ni-Na’s secret ballet instructor who only appears when the script dictates and is not developed at all. I can’t even remember if she had a name! What was her point even?

OTP: Probably one of the best pairings of the year (says the guy who’s watched maybe 4-5 2019 shows out of who knows how many).

Verdict: This is a case of the pros outweighing the cons. There’s simply too much that works for me, so many scenes and songs that stayed with me thanks to the strong performances of our leads and some of the supporting cast. I was never unaware of its more glaring flaws, what prevents this show from reaching Goblin levels of quality, but I could easily find myself rewatching it from time to time.

Rewatch meter: High

Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon (2017)

From left to right: Park Bo-Young as Do Bong-Soon; Ji Soo as In Guk-Doo; and Park Hyung-Sik as Ahn Min-Hyuk.

Release Date: February 24 - April 15, 2017

Episodes: 16

Available on: Viki, Netflix

Summary: Do Bong-Soon has a secret: she is insanely strong, a superhuman ability that has been passed down to the women in her family for generations. She also aspires to create a video game with herself as the main character. When Ahn Min-Hyuk, the CEO of gaming company Ainsoft, chances by her as she’s beating up half a dozen thugs, he’s instantly mesmerized by both her beauty and strength. The recent target of anonymous threats, Min-Hyuk decides to hire Bong-Soon as a bodyguard (she ends up being more of a secretary) and she accepts with the promise of joining the planning department of Ainsoft once the culprit is caught. Meanwhile, detective In Guk-Doo, Bong-Soon’s secret crush and childhood friend, investigates a series of strange kidnappings and murders in Bong-Soon’s neighbourhood. When the culprit targets Bong-Soon’s best friend, Bong-Soon and Min-Hyuk find themselves involved in the hunt for the criminal.

What I liked:

Gangster Bong-Soon. Okay, maybe saying she’s a gangster is a bit too much, but after beating a bunch of school bullies into submission, they soon look up to her as their new boss, taking orders from her and even looking out for her so that her secret isn’t exposed. It’s pretty funny then that Bong-Soon has to save her crew from being harassed by the new neighbourhood bullies, acting the part of a gangster for a short while.

The need for training. I appreciate the fact that Min-Hyuk foresaw the need to help Bong-Soon have full control of her strength, although he also created routines to bolster up her endurance, not to mention some of the moves she learned could have come in handy when she was depowered (sadly, she doesn’t use them). And all of this training does indeed pay off, as we see Bong-Soon fight smartly and using only as much strength as is needed to get the job done, as opposed to her Episode 1 self who used way too much strength with hilarious results. You can witness the results of Min-Hyuk’s training in the fight with the “new bullies” I mentioned previously, as well as the one at the beginning of Episode 9. Beyond fighting, her training also had positive results in her everyday life, like now being able to hug people without worrying about choking them.

The leads and their chemistry. The chemistry of these two is off the charts (it’s over 9000!!!). Everything about Park Bo-Young as Do Bong-Soon screams cute, from her short height to the way she talks, and even her glares of disapproval when Min-Hyuk does something he shouldn’t have. She’s also confident when she needs to, but not afraid to show vulnerability around the people she loves. I could shower similar praise on Park Hyung-Sik as Ahn Min-Hyuk, especially where the vulnerability department is concerned. Male leads tend to be more stoic (like In Guk-Doo), so it was quite refreshing to see how devastated Min-Hyuk was when he learned the identity of the one threatening him, or how crazy-in-love he is around Bong-Soon (she’s his kryptonite). Min-Hyuk is never afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve and it shows in every single scene. These two can just stare at each other in silence and convey more emotion than any spoken word.

The humor. I’m not talking about the dumb hospital scenes that feature humor more similar to what you’d find in a crappy Hollywood “comedy” (peeing jokes, really?), but things like Hyung-Sik’s ad-libbing throughout the show (he’s having a blast), or the more funny interactions between Min-Hyuk and Bong-Soon, even the ever-changing Romeo and Juliet scenes as Bong-Soon’s feelings for the different characters evolve.

What I didn’t like:

The sudden disappearance of Min-Hyuk’s family. Initially, the show has two distinct storylines: the string of kidnappings/murders, on the one hand; and the threats to Min-Hyuk, likely related to the question of who in his family will become the new Chairman of Ohsung Group. As expected, Min-Hyuk has several brothers who are a bit jealous of his success with Ainsoft and intuit their father will name him the Chairman, so it makes sense one of them is behind the threats. Once the storyline is resolved however, Min-Hyuk’s family is completely out of the picture, even during his marriage, what I find extremely odd.

The randomness of the depowering rule. Very early on the show explains that, while the women of the Bong-Soon family are blessed with superhuman strength from birth, they can easily lose this ability should they try to use it for less than honorable pursuits. It can be something as simple, and apparently harmless, as using this strength to become an Olympic weightlifting champion, as Bong-Soon’s mother soon found out, but it’s usually tied to using this ability to hurt innocent people. Naturally, once this rule was made known, it was only a matter of time before Bong-Soon would lose her powers as well, and this did indeed happen towards the end of the show. The problem I have with it is two-fold: its execution and its consistency. Bong-Soon doesn’t purposefully hurt an innocent man, she’s tricked into doing so by the villain. One could argue that whatever higher power granted this ability can’t tell the difference, except that argument falls apart entirely when you realize Bong-Soon has already purposefully used her power to hurt innocent people, like that one time she crushed Min-Hyuk’s foot to keep him silent (among multiple examples). That this event is played for laughs should have no bearing on the outcome. Furthermore, we later see Bong-Soon pleading for her strength to return so she can save Min-Hyuk, so it would appear that whatever higher power was listening is intelligent. At the end of the day, we all know this happened because the writers didn’t want to limit the fun possibilities of Bong-Soon abusing her power a little bit, saving it for the right moment to amp the drama. So, in reality, I was aware of it, and decided to roll with it.

OTP: Cuteness overload.

Verdict: This is one of the strongest shows in this list (no pun intended), more so given how much it’s able to pull off in 16 episodes as opposed to other shows’ 32, which is why I’m more lenient in terms of its writing. This is simply a good, fun, show, easily rewatchable thanks to the cute OTP. While its soundtrack may not be on par overall with the one from Angel’s Last Mission: Love, it still features some solid, memorable, songs (’Heartbeat’ by SURAN being the most obvious, but also ‘Double Trouble Couple’ by MAMAMOO, or ‘Super Power Girl’ by Every Single Day), not to mention a highly effective and comedic use of sound effects. Definitely one of my favourite shows.

Rewatch meter: High

And that brings us to the end of Part 1. I hope you had a good time reading through this post, maybe even found a show to your liking. What were some of your favourite shows in 2019? Stay tuned for Part 2!

#kdrama #while you were sleeping #kdrama w #my strange hero #the secret life of my secretary #angel's last mission: love #angel's last mission #strong woman do bong soon #strong girl bong soon #netflix #viki #kdramas

[gateau-chocolat]

who wants another the king: eternal monarch reaction post

This is after watching though ep 4, but it’s not hugely spoilerly because not a ton is happening!  Also I’m still pretty meh-to-negative about this show, so don’t read below if you don’t want to see that.

Some positives first: It’s still a very pretty-looking show!  And I’m still someone who will watch a show w/ weaker writing if it’s extremely pretty lol.

Also I think Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun are....fine? Like, I don’t think this show is going to be either of their best roles, and I think there are other actors who could probably sell the same roles a bit more, but I also think that they aren’t anywhere near what’s wrong w/ this show. 

Anyway, by ep 4 I was kind of falling into a vicious cycle w/ this show where I didn’t really understand things, so I’d start losing interest, so I’d get distracted while watching it, so I almost certainly ended up missing some things, so I still don’t understand it. 🤦‍♀️  So I’m not going to nitpick small plot points here very much for that reason, but lmk if I get anything completely wrong w/ this commentary. 

I’ve seen some people comparing this show to Goblin a lot, which I get b/c Goblin had a similar “Kim Go Eun has a fated connection w/ a mysterious fantasy man” premise, and I’d also agree that similar to how TK:EM is shaping up, Goblin involved a ton of different plot points and didn’t really know what to do with all of them.  That said: Maybe I am just being influenced by nostalgia, but I really think Goblin’s first few episodes were stronger than this?  Like, by the first few episodes of Goblin I feel like we had a basically interesting and comprehensible set up w/ “Eun Tak and Kim Shin are magically connected b/c he has been cursed with immortality and she is the only one who can finally let him die, the conflict is that they both have kind of ambivalent feelings about that and also Eun Tak herself is fated to die so the Grim Reaper wants to collect her” .....LMAO that sounds kind of convoluted when I write it out like that, but I really do feel like it was a more solid beginning than what we’ve gotten so far w/ this show? 

Likewise Mr. Sunshine also introduced all kinds of things in the first few episodes, but imho it was all pretty cohesive just b/c all of the different characters were being impacted by the same thing (=Japanese colonialism)? And w/ both of those shows, idk if it’s the writing or the acting or my personal tastes or what, but there was just a little more interest there for me than TK:EM has so far. 

Ok I’ll try to do shorter takes now lol:

- Imho the basic arc of “Lee Gon goes to normal Korea, meets Tae Eul, goes back to Corea, and then goes back to Korea to see Tae Eul again” could totally have been covered in the space of just 2 episodes, even allowing for some time to establish side characters and set up the backstory w/ the uncle? 

- I feel like at the start of ep 1 we got hit with a TON of the uncle plotline and ever since then we’ve gotten too little of the uncle plotline lol. 

-I sort of touched on this in my reaction to ep 3, but the differences between the Korea world and the Corea world are very interesting to me, and i wonder if they’ll ever be explored more?  So far it seems like literally the only thing different about Lee Gon’s world that Korea has continued to have a king, but wouldn’t that result in other changes that would lead to more differences between Korea and Corea than what we’ve seen so far?  It’s probably Not That Deep, but I’m curious lol.

-Btw, I say “Lee Gon’s world” but more than being an entirely separate world, I think it’s literally just our world that somehow split into 2 timelines around 1910 (or earlier if it’s been established that there are earlier differences, idr) and Corea is the timeline in which Korea was never colonized by Japan?  In any case, I feel like that would lead to some significant differences. 

- Maybe I missed something, but like....why is Lee Gon so chill about going to an alternate world??

- The plotline that’s the most compelling to me is the mysterious connection between Lee Gon and Tae Eul and whatever happened in Lee Gon’s childhood, and I also have absolutely no problem with “I just met you but I love you” stuff in kdramas, but all their interactions in eps 2 and 3 were still a little ?? for me? Like, why is Tae Eul spending so much time with him?  Is he really in love with her?  Is it just b/c she (maybe?) saved him as a child? What does he think about the fact that her age doesn’t seem to line up with that?  (...Some of this may come down to acting a bit, lol.)

-Anyway ALL THAT SAID I will probably just continue to watch w/ my brain off lol.  And this is probably going to be the last post I make about this show (certainly the last post as long as this orz;;;) bc I don’t predict that I’ll have anything different to say, and also it’s not like that show is SUCH a trainwreck or anything?? KES just bit off a bit more than she could chew imho. 

But in the meantime if anyone would like to discuss this show please hit me up!  Especially how you think it compares positively or negatively to KES’s other work, I’m very interested in hearing people’s thoughts about that.  :)

#the king eternal monarch #kdrama #this is so long jfc

[chenoehi]

I have read your rant and I agree with most of them, but there is one thing I disagree with. As we know, Jin will go to the military next year. This means Big Hit can start release duet singles. Just like the artists of other companies do.(eyeing EXO) I think pairs must at least be popular to do that. Before Kookmin became popular, they only had TK, but since last year they've been promoting KM, make them get more fans. So they will have more pairs, more money. It's just buisness.

Hello 💜

Thank you for the ask. I don't want to harp/rant on this subject, but I'll answer some asks about it if that can help clarify my point of view (and hopefully this will be a healthy discussion). I don't get many asks anyway so I have fewer opportunities to air my opinions. That's probably why these rants are turning into dissertations. Sorry anon 🤷‍♀️🤐

If you don't want to suffer through all of this, just skip to SALIENT POINTS down below. I have no idea how to use the read more on mobile.

I have a different perspective on a few things you mentioned, but first, I agree that in a business sense BH have recently and will continue to promote subunits (with exceptions, more on this). They have to prepare for the next stages of the boys' careers as an incomplete Bangtan once Seokjin and Yoongi go into the military. I don't think that the company hasn't been doing what any business does which is capitalize on what's popular and give fans what they want (BTS World game anyone? It gave the y/n people what they wanted, and everyone else got a fun little game out of it).

What I don't think is that BH has necessarily pushed KM in front of people's faces to *make* them popular any more than they've done with other pairings. At some point in time, all of the boys have each had photoshoots with one or two members. All have been paired up visually or for a game or for hotel rooms or whatever rooms they're on for the Run! episodes and what the fans get is to see the different members interact with each other. It's not always the rapline and the vocal line hanging out together, or the hyung line and the maknae line hanging out together.

I didn't agree that some things lately have been done to bait KM fans. That's not the same as me saying I don't think that BH is a business that acts like a business and capitalizes on what they can. I'm also not a blind defender of BH. I've been disappointed with some things, mostly with the lack of control over antis and the lack of defense for their artists (I'm thinking of Jimin's two t-shirt *scandals*). But all of that is off topic and not related to KM in the slightest.

Is BH responsible for KM's popularity?

You mentioned that you feel like BH has helped make KM popular (paraphrasing). I don't see it that way. I think people of all types are seeing how close they are and reacting accordingly. If anything, KM have made themselves popular (loudness on tour, GCFs, vlives, spending time together, etc.). Or at least that's how I see it.

With how obvious they've made their affection for each other (platonic or romantic), Jimin and Jungkook themselves have, over the years, inadvertently alerted everyone to how close they are and they naturally make a good pairing. They spend a lot of time together and so the documentaries, docuseries, Bangtan Bombs, and variety shows just reflect their bond. The fans get a ton of moments and some begin to notice this pairing whereas they may not have before. I think this process has been natural. More and more people 'see' them each day and it's mostly because of how they act around each other. When you're in love, people notice.

I don't think KM's popularity has been fabricated; what I mean by that is, I don't think they've become popular because of BH. Let's not forget about what happened with the Black and White performance video, or how long it took to get a Bangtan Bomb of behind the scenes. People began to think we'd never get it and it was obvious that KM was being isolated for whatever reason. Who knows why it took so long or what went on behind the scenes. Did they acquiesce to the fans' demands for the video when they published it or was it always planned but just delayed? We'll never know. But if BH really wanted to play up the pairing to help it gain popularity I'm not sure they handled it the best way; all they really did was irritate fans, and only the people who attended muster and filmed it really got to enjoy it.

Would BH or have BH promoted shipworthy subunits? Does this make total sense, considering both a business and artistic perspective? Bangtan's creative agency (past, present, future)?

Putting aside rapline and vocal line units and any songs released on SoundCloud, Jamais Vu and the OST are really the first times we've got an official series of Bangtan subunits to listen to (Jungkook, Jimin, Namjoon, Taehyung, and Seokjin have collaborated with various arrangements but only on songs they've released on SoundCloud, done for Festa, for dramas, etc.).

These subunits were a surprise to most people, especially the Jamais Vu and Brand New Day subunits. So far we've gotten subunits that a lot of us probably weren't thinking of or asking for. I know a lot of people want to see Yoongi and Jimin do something or Jimin and Namjoon (minjoon is gaining popularity real fast, but more on ships in a minute) and people have been asking for a Taehyung and Jungkook subunit for who knows how long. <- these observations are based on what I've seen people say since I became a fan. I haven't even touched on Sope and Otsukare because frankly, that is a very popular pairing, ship, and both Yoongi and Hoseok know it and they have fun with it. Ships aside, pretty much everyone agrees that Otsukare is hype and it's a travesty it's not on SoundCloud. (It just makes me smile, ilovethemsomuch).

I said all that ^^^ to say this:

I have no idea how SM decided on their subunit pairings for EXO (insert other applicable idol group and agency).

I have no idea if other companies pair their artists for subunits based solely on their popularity in the fandom.

^ This seems unrealistic for various reasons. That's a cash grab. There's no consideration of the artists voices, how they fit stylistically, their range, etc. etc. Please, no one bring up SuperM. We haven't even seen them in action yet so we literally can't judge anything (not to mention it's a whole group, not a subunit, and we all know how different Bangtan's individual styles are).

I have to assume from the randomness of the MOTS/OST album subunits we've gotten from Bangtan so far that they haven't been thrown together just because they're popular pairings; if anything these were unusual choices and not really anything I've seen people asking for (I don't mean that they aren't good pairings, only that I'm not sure anyone saw those subunits coming).

When it comes to subunits on albums I would think Bangtan has a say in who does a song with who. They have, after all, had creative license to write and produce their own music this whole time. I don't see them being forced into doing a subunit song they don't want to do. If anything, we know at least once they were told not to do a specific song with a specific member (vmin/Christmas duet) and that was an issue of content.

Subunits have to make sense.

-> -> -> In order for a subunit to be successful and make sense, the 2 or 3 (or 4) individuals have to have vocal chemistry. Their voices and styles have to compliment each other and they have to sound good together. Rappers can get away with this a little bit but they still have to flow. Vocalists have it harder because in a duet or small subunit they'll be harmonizing, etc. etc. A company can't just throw two vocalists against a wall like spaghetti and see if they stick.

-> -> -> -> -> Subunits based on looks or to satisfy shippers et al. don't make much sense unless the subunit makes sense without those factors.

Since you mentioned EXO, I'll use the recent Chanyeol/Sehun EXO subunit as an example:

I'm not that well-versed in the EXO fandoms shipping culture, however, I do know some of the popular ships. And I'm not entirely sure if C/S are one of those (Chanyeol/Baekhyun? Huge.). The subunit makes sense since they're both rappers and the song is a rap song (I haven't actually heard the song but I saw the promotions). I have no idea if people were asking for that pairing or not. Likewise, I have no idea if they're a really popular pairing. They may be, either because of shipping or because they're rappers.

Popularizing/Monetizing/Exploiting/Fabricating

Saying that BH monetizes KM implies that they're deliberately trying to make money off of their bond and their popularity as a ship (more on this next). This can imply many things but one thing it implies that has a very negative connotation is that BH would fabricate things or deliberately mislead fans to make money (I've already explained that I don't see either the 2018 Memories or the Bring the Soul docuseries episode as KM bait, and I'll just have to agree to disagree with those who feel that way). Saying that BH can capitalize or make money off of KM implies to me that KM are popular, BH sees that, and BH may give us more moments of them together on film, etc.

In order to do that though, BH has to advertise the KM content. Are they actually doing that? I'm not convinced.

But this all still goes back to my point in the other post that BH actively promoting KM content in the interest of *winning* KM fans popularizes the ship and that's dangerous if they are actually together. It's dangerous because it opens them up to more scrutiny and puts them at risk of being outed. This would be devastating from a business sense unless the fandom culture changes (not going to happen) or they ease us into it. Maybe they are trying to do that now, I don't know how I feel about that, sometimes it seems that way but the reality of that is unrealistic. Before they could even remotely come out Bangtan and BH would have to take an obvious step toward supporting the LGBT+ community. They can't just skip over that to letting their artists come out.

KM are popularizing themselves with the way they act, and the video content we get continues to show how they interact. There's little BH can do at this point to avoid aiding KM in coming off as couplely. I mean, Seokjin deadass asked them if they were dating without a care in the world and teased their giggly asses on a Run! episode; he said it to tease them and everyone kind of brushed over it so it ended up not being very *dangerous*. It can't get much worse than that unless they were caught doing. . . something even remotely naughty and it got included in a show or film. We can infer things from their moments together and everything can seem couplely to us but each moment watched in isolation (with notable exceptions *cough*Rosebowl*cough*) isn't all that bad. They don't seem to be backing down in the slightest.

The only thing that I would think of as recent deliberate KM content (disregarding the *hearts* in their captions on episodes, photoshoots, etc. etc. because ALL members get that treatment) would be the VCR for 5th Muster. KM were in several scenes alone and Jimin was hella flirty. But that's just the thing: Jimin was flirty and Jimin is always flirty. He laid it on thick for the VCR but it's not unusual in and of itself. There's also the fact that they went to Busan this muster, and along with the KM being in the VCR they also did a photoshoot and even had photocards if I'm not mistaken. We know from the reaction of the city of Busan that people were pumped. Jimin was all over buses, etc. Busan got hyped. I don't doubt that BH may have done that deliberately because they were going to Busan. Could they have done it to deliberately excite KM shippers/fans? Sure. Did they capitalize off it? Well, the VCR was only available to people who'd already bought their tickets and no one was 'allowed' to film anything because muster would be available on vlive+, but they can never stop people from filming and within no time we already had the VCR or at least we had the KM bits immediately. So people don't really have to buy access to watch the VCR to satisfy their KM craving.

Basically, I'm neutral on that topic, I don't agree with the comments about 2018 Memories or Bring the Soul, and I'm not sure what else has been *done* recently to give off the impression that BH is trying to either exploit, capitalize from, or fabricate KM content. I could be proved wrong tomorrow but it seems like business as usual to me.

If BH wants to increase the popularity of certain pairings for subunit opportunities later, from a business perspective, why are they not capitalizing even more on already popular pairings?

I think we can all agree that taekook seems to be the most popular ship. Other popular ships I notice are sope, taegi, yoonmin, and taejin, with minjoon increasing in popularity; I see vmin mostly discussed in friendship terms with relatively little discourse on the 'realness' of the ship. My impression from this fandom has been that kookmin's popularity has been largely in the background until mid to late 2017 and really unleashed in 2018 when everything exploded.

And we all know this was partly because of two things: KM's increasing *loudness* and GCF:t. Neither of which had much to do with BH or any intention to make them an even more popular pairing for subunit/etc. purposes.

The way I see it, GCF:t was the straw that broke the camel's back for this fandom and at that point people *really* began to voice their opinions about this ship. After GCF:t people really began to question in earnest whether something was going on with them. The people who already suspected #jikookisreal were just cemented in their belief.

It seems to me that Jungkook's video (and his subsequent favoritism of #mainmodel Jimin) was the catalyst for this ships burst in popularity to where it is now.

But that being said, KM are still either less popular or soon to be on equal ground with TK. And yet, despite years of intense support for this pairing, Jungkook and Taehyung have yet to do anything creative together. Vmin is popular as a ship and in platonic terms, but Taehyung was told not to do a song with Jimin because of the content. If they'd done the song BH could have boosted the popularity of the pairing and capitalized on that subunit. Yoongi and Hoseok did Otsukare, and while it's a fun song it has never to this day made it officially to SoundCloud, despite the popularity of sope pairing as a ship.

More importantly, Jimin and Jungkook already are a subunit. They've done "Christmas Day" and a cover of "We don't Talk Anymore" together. Albeit, these were offerings for SoundCloud and Festa, but the two have already worked together of their own accord and established themselves as one of the 2-singer subunits in Bangtan. The fandom hardly hypes them as a subunit save for jikookers, and we already got a dance subunit performance so the fandom at large doesn't really push for them to perform together again at the moment. Yes, people might be noticing them more and they may be gaining in popularity as a ship and a pairing, but the amount of fans who see them as #busanbrothers as opposed to #busanboyfriends, a.k.a. the non-shippers who think the mere idea is crazy, is still large.

Salient points:

1. TK is still more popular than KM no matter how much of a bubble some of us are in,

2. TK fans (shippers or otherwise) are very vocal about wanting a TK subunit,

3. we still don't have it,

4. BH promoting KM for the purposes of officially debuting their subunit actually makes sense and doesn't come off to me as exploitation or monetization because they are already a subunit.

5. not many of the album subunit pairings so far have been very expected and/or made up of popular pairings or ships [jinjikook, vhope, and yoonmon aren't obscure by any means, but uber popular ships on the level of TK/KM/yoonmin/sope/taegi they are not (I would say that vhope would be the most popular ship out of these three, but that's just my observation)].

My general thoughts are that as far as music goes BH has neither made a concerted effort to push pairings that have a large, dedicated fanbase nor have they made strides to popularize subunits well in advance of the impending military enlistment of two members.

Yes, we now have 4 new album subunits between MOTS and OST and that's a lot, but only because we didn't have any before this year. Using the example of EXO again, they've had subunits for a while now and their group members only started to complete their service in the last few months (I know Xiumin/Minseok was in a subunit with 2 other members I believe, maybe Chen and. . Kai or Baekhyun, idk). Seokjin and Yoongi may be enlisting late next year, who really knows, and we still have to wait for two more albums to get the Namjoon/Jimin/Yoongi/Taehyung unit/s and these are only songs on an album. These aren't actual subunits that have been promoted separately from the group like Xiumin et al., Chanyeol/Sehun, and any of their other subunits.

From a business perspective, looking to capitalize on ship/pairing popularity, BH should be doing what exactly?

With how popular ships like TK and yoonmin are, to me it would make sense for BH to monetize and pair together the members that are already popular and who already have a very large fanbase practically begging for a subunit. When I say beg, I mean I see TKers really begging for a subunit on the daily. And other major ships like yoonmin are really desired subunits too; people still freak out over rapper Jimin and want a recycle of Tony Montana, and that compared with their *ship power* means it's pretty desired.

From a business perspective, wouldn't it make the most sense to capitalize even further on these popular pairings and satisfy fans who are just waiting to spend their money to see or hear their favorite members together?

I think it was obvious that BH was capitalizing on the ship popularity thing when they did the Hyundai ads. They paired sope and taekook together for those. It seems kind of clear. But other things like giving fancafe members a taekook selca among the other photos--I'm not exactly sure if the fans got all of that content as part of their perks of being a member or how that works, or if they had to purchase that content, I'm not really sure. But it seemed to me that they got all of those selcas and photos because they were members. When that happened I saw the KM community commenting and making fun of TKers for "having to pay for their ship's selcas" (which, honestly, is just fucking childish and rude and I'm kind of tired of hypocrisy--what do you say to jikookers who would "pay" for content if they thought they would get something KM related? Do you mock them for "paying" for their ship's content? Pot -> kettle -> black). But that's a rant for another day.

My point is, BH has done things along the way to capitalize from ships or to make fans happy by giving them content with their favorite pairings, of course they have. I think that's just idol culture and the industry they're in, and it can't be helped. They pretty much pander to fans when it suits them and it's all tied into the toxic culture where idols can't date and a bunch of bullshit I'm not interested in talking about rn.

What I don't think is that BH has queerbaited us with KM. I'm familiar with being queerbaited, both when it's deliberate baiting and when it's not and people just get offended because they're ship wasn't real.

As for subunits, if KM are debuted as a subunit the last thing I want to hear is that BH pushed that and helped them become popular. BH can absolutely still capitalize on a KM subunit with or without interference because we all know KM do the work themselves.

More importantly though, KM are already a subunit. So I don't even see BH debuting them as a move to capitalize on their relationship or their popularity with fans. They've worked together and fans like them together vocally. It makes total sense for them to be a subunit and frankly, that has nothing to do with whether or not they're together. The subunit would make sense without BH doing it to pander or monetize.

Rant = over.

💜

#jikook #kookmin #rant #anonymous ask #anonymous #ask #anon ask #anon #personal post #personal #bighit #bts ships

[regular-lord-reckoner]

i was doing pretty okay for a few days there despite the world being even more on fire than it usually is, but yesterday i just started feeling really down and overwhelmed by everything. 

on the one hand, i’m glad that to some degree at least this whole virus situation is being taken seriously and there are least some things being done to try to prevent the spread, but on the other i’m seeing a lot of people getting laid off from work or who just aren’t able to make money doing what they normally do because now everyone’s strapped for cash and it feels like any day the whole thing’s just gonna topple over 

and on the one hand it’s like...okay, good. the system sucks, it’s needed to change, something was gonna have to give but on the other it shouldn’t have been something like this where people are going to get hurt and potentially even die. 

for myself personally, my work has decided to remain open which on the one hand is good because i still need to make money, but on the other hand they are just...absolutely dropping the ball. 

i think so far the only measure they’ve put in place that’s actually good is i think i’d heard something about having either front desk or switchboard call some of these patients ahead of time like, “hey, it looks like your visit is just a refill for medication, your provider will go ahead and refill that and we can spare you a trip coming in to the office”, but i dunno how widespread that is or if it was just a one time thing or if it’s still been going on. 

a lot of patients i think are just going ahead and cancelling their appointments which is good, appreciate that, but then there are some who are still showing up for shit that really could have waited. 

and the bright idea now is to have front desk do a questionnaire thing with every single fucking patient that comes in basically just going over a checklist of shit that is supposed to help determine whether or not they can still stay for their visit or if they need to immediately leave and just give us a call to figure out what to do from there. 

so tomorrow i’m going to have to do that since it’s my day to go in and do front desk for one of the providers and like...yeah, i see way, way less patients there than regular front desk, but it still sucks that it’s like, “you, front desk person, you get to be exposed to people who could very well be sick but didn’t have better sense to stay home and you have to decide if this person is okay to stay, hope you don’t get yelled at!!” 

i already get shit from these patients over other shit (i don’t remember if i posted about it or not, but i had a dude get mad at ME because he was 30 minutes late for his visit and i said we might have to reschedule, but that i would check with the doctor to see if it was okay...dude stood there and gave me attitude and went on about how the way we run things is all wrong....all because again, mind you, HE was late for HIS appointment. and he thought i should just squeeze him in before people who were on time for their appointments because y’know...that’s fair!!) so i can’t imagine how much fun it’s going to be or the back and forth i’m gonna get into with people over whether or not a cough they’ve had warrants their visit being cancelled. 

but hey, it’s cool because they gave me a face mask so...i should be fine, i guess. it’s not like when i come down with shit it really wipes me the fuck out because i’m already disabled, but no that’s cool. we definitely need to keep our specialty office up and running and use medical supplies we might be needing down the road all so money can keep pouring in!!! 

especially in this day and age where things like office visits over skype or just regular phone are possible. obviously it’s not going to catch every single patient because i know not everyone has access, but here again...we’re a specialty office. we’re not a hospital, we’re not a regular doctor’s office. i could see at least running in a limited capacity for those patients that do have serious shit going on and really do need to be seen, like fine we’ll work that out, but people coming in for shit that can at least wait a few more weeks just...sucks. 

we also do infusions at one office and the nurse that runs that whole thing tried to tell my manager like, “hey, according to the cdc we really shouldn’t have more than 10 people at a time back here” and my manager honest to god said, “that only applies to social situations!!!” 

oh!!! well fuck me, then, i didn’t realize the virus could tell the goddamn difference, wow!!! 

also...it’s not at ALL like we have patients who come in for this one thing but who have compromised immune systems or who have cancer or COPD or anything else like...fuck ��em!! we’ll make sure you sit in the waiting room while we have our already overworked front desk people doing questionnaire after questionnaire with every person that comes in and stands close to you, good luck!! 

to make things even BETTER one of the MAs showed up to work the other day sick!!! like...coughing a lot, feeling cruddy sick!!! 

but oh no, she doesn’t have any more pto so rather than like...i dunno, either have someone donate some of their own pto at least for the day or rest of the week or even send her home with a laptop and some basic task she could do from home she stayed!!! 

sure do hope there isn’t a boom of fucking people who end up getting it (if that’s what she has, i hope to god it was just sinuses or even the regular flu) because it’s gonna look reeeeeeal bad if they trace it back and are like, “so you guys knew this employee was sick and works in a medical office around vulnerable patients and you just...let her stay?” 

neat!!! 

again, like...i know i should just be grateful my work is still open and i’m still able to have some income, especially since i already mostly work from home, but it’s just so frustrating to see how badly they’re handling this and how the number one priority is making money but then again...why am i fucking surprised? that’s capitalism, babey!!!! 

on top of that, i also finally heard back from my tax guy what that whole situation is gonna be and hoooo boy. 

i get...14 some odd dollars for one (probably state) and 75 some odd dollars for the other (federal, i’m assuming) 

i’m getting...less than $100 in tax return this year.................

bro

on the one hand like...my biggest fear was that i was going to end up owing money and wouldn’t be getting shit, but on the other i guess i had just...hope maybe i’d still manage to get something?? 

i know with my work situation being what it was (and with the government being what it is right now) it wasn’t going to be stellar, i wasn’t expecting $1,000 or anything but uh...i was hoping maybe for a few hundreds?? was hoping i could put a dent in some of these bills?? but uh...that’s fine. 

the frustration of that is compounded by the fact that i’m pretty sure a big part of why it’s that way is because A. my last job was only a 10 month contract so i was SOL for two months and B. to try to cover for that i started back at this job but in a limited capacity so i wasn’t getting enough hours to really compensate and in the process of trying to get hired full time here they kept me on work contract for MONTHS to the point where i thought i’d just have to give up and find something else entirely. 

i had tried when i did finally start full time to set my tax deduction on my checks up so that i was taking out more than enough to try to compensate, but by that point it was so late in the year i guess it didn’t really do a whole lot other than keep me out of the negative so...that’s fine, i guess. 

ultimately i should have known, but i guess with everything else i had just gotten my hopes up that i’d at least have a nice check headed my way and i’m not trying to sneeze at what i am getting because i do still appreciate it i just...was really looking forward to dropping a chunk of that money on some of the shit hanging over my head but okay 

at least at this point one of my credit card bills should be easy to pay off because i’m pretty sure the bts concert i was gonna go to in may is gonna be cancelled at this rate, so i’ll be getting that money back. obviously that’a a real first world problem compared to everything else going on, but it was something i was really looking forward to, one of those “just hang on until this if shit gets rough” kind of deals but with how shit’s been going i don’t feel very optimistic about it. it’s in mid-may and i’m already seeing stuff from other events being pushed to fall so like...neato. it was also kind of like...hey, this time last year you were in the hospital and about to go septic and then had months of bullshit to deal with after that and your personal life got really rough and shit was just BAD, so here’s something special for getting through all of that and now it’s probably not gonna happen and there’s no telling when it will because that’s not an easy thing to reschedule at the last minute so that’s...cool. i completely understand why and i’m not mad about it, i just can’t help but feel disappointed. 

i dunno. i feel like in the past year i’ve really tried to work on myself in terms of not letting myself fall into these horrible depressive episodes and let my anxiety just completely overrun everything and for the most part i’ve been fairly successful although i know i still need to finally make that leap of actually getting into therapy and really getting into the hard work, but the past few days it’s becoming harder and harder to maintain that and there’s a big part of me that just wants to be like, “dude, what’s the point, the world’s ending, who cares if you’re sad and you haven’t fixed your shit yet, it’s not going to matter for you or for anybody, it’s all pointless” so like...that sucks. 

i’m hoping it’s just something i need to go through for a little bit and if i try my best i can come out of it with my head up but for months now i’ve felt one of those really bad depressive episodes breathing down my neck just...waiting for an excuse to take me down and i guess with everything going on i just don’t feel like i have the strength to fight it the way i’ve been trying to. 

i won’t give up, though. not yet anyway. all of this is frustrating, but there’s still a lot i have to be grateful for so i’m going to try my best to just focus on those things, hold on to them, and hope that there’s good news just on the horizon and that better days really are on the way. 

i know still that turning over a new year doesn’t really mean shit and time is fake, but i hope anyway that since this is only the third month out of the year that there’s still time for things to get better. i hope by even thinking that i’m not ensuring that things will in fact get much, much worse but i guess we’ll just have to see. 

in any case, even though i’m dreading going to work tomorrow i guess it’ll be nice to get out of the house. it’s weird, because normally i don’t mind spending a lot of time at home. i work from home and i don’t have any friends that live close by so i tend to just kind of stay put unless i’m going to the store for something or going to pick up food, but the fact that now it’s like...hey, you need to stay put it’s getting to me a little bit. if i’m not feeling better by this weekend i might if nothing else just...go for a drive. 

i won’t go anywhere and interact with anyone or make any stops, i’ll just...get out of the house for a minute before i sink even further into whatever this is. idk. 

if you’ve read all this mess i thank you, i know it sucks to read someone else’s whining while you’ve got problems of your own and shit’s bad just in general, so i appreciate it and i hope that wherever you are and whatever your situation that you’re doing as best as you can be and hanging in there. 

#just a ramblin' #you know this style

[immortalbutonlybyname]

Reviewing the Drama’s I Have Watched Pt 1

I have seen a few people do this and got the inspiration to do so myself. My rating system goes like this: 1- Did not like, 2- Enjoyed but probably wouldn't watch again, 3- Enjoyed and would watch some episodes again, 4- Enjoyed and would watch again, 5- Loved 

Korean Dramas

Bad Family: 3/5

Bad Family is about a little girl who, after a bad accident, loses her entire family and her memory. In order to help her regain her memory, an ex-gangster is hired to create a family of actors to pretend to be her family. I thought the story of this show was interesting and it was really enjoyable to watch. The main couple choice was a little questionable for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed this show. The only reason it gets a 3 is because I see myself re-watching a few episodes but not watching the whole thing over again.

Doctors: 4/5

Doctors is about a woman with a troubled past who grows up to become a doctor to find out the truth behind a medical tragedy in her past. It follows her story as she begins to fall in love with her mentor who helps her open up and become a more compassionate person and doctor. There are many doctors and interns dealing with their own problems as they try to make it in the medical world. It was really interesting and fun to watch, though it can be frustrating at times which is expected from a romance drama. I was telling my little sister about it and she said it reminded her of Grey’s Anatomy so if you enjoy that show you would probably enjoy this one as well.

Flower Grandpa Investigation Unit: 5/5

This was my first Korean drama if my memory is correct. It is about a group of policemen who, while investigating a string of kidnappings, stumble upon an experimental drug which makes a person age years in an instant. It follows the policemen as they try to find who is behind this drug, the cure, and the reason one of their men didn't change. I love investigative shows as you can see from some of the dramas I've watched and this one had that bit of a goofy side that was really great. I have seen this drama quite a few times and still love it so much. It has a wacky storyline and dirtier humor but it was so enjoyable.

Goblin, the Lonely and Great God: 4/5

             Goblin is about, well, a goblin who is trying to find his bride so he can finally pass away and move on. He finds himself living with an amnesiac grim reaper and his slightly ditzy nephew who has a few secrets of his own. It follows the Goblin as well as a high school student Ji Eun-Tak, who may just be the bride he was looking for. This show is like a roller coaster with emotional highs and lows, one second you are laughing and the next second you are crying. I really did enjoy this show, the acting was great, the humor was amazing. I guess the couple could be controversial as she is a high school student and he is an adult, but immortal relationships are always so strange to figure out, so I didn’t think much about it and just enjoyed the show. I would definitely watch this show again and still enjoy it.

Golden Bride: 2/5

Golden Bride is about a half Korean, half Vietnamese woman who marries a Korean man and moves to Korea to find her biological father. Meanwhile, many other characters are dealing with their own problems and finding out how they are all connected in this very soapy drama. While I did enjoy this series, I really don't see myself watching it again. Usually, when I fall in love with one drama or an actor, I will look up that actor and check out their other performances. That was the case with this show and I am not a soapy drama type of person. It was good for what it was, and I really did enjoy a few episodes and storylines, but a little too dramatic for my tastes. I knew what I was getting into before I watched it so I wasn't shocked nor do I hate it, I just probably won't watch it again.

Loving You A Thousand Times: 2/5

Loving You A Thousand Time is about a woman who becomes a surrogate mother for a healthy family, she then falls in love with the younger brother of the baby’s father. It's about the struggles of forbidden romance and how much one will fight for love. Like with Golden Bride, I enjoyed the series and watched it because the same actor in Golden Bride and Flower Grandpa Investigative Unit was in this one. I'm not sure which one comes first, but the character for the actor is pretty much the same in Golden Bride as it is in this one, just less interesting storyline wise. It was still pretty good for what it is but I don't feel like I would ever watch it again.

Mad Dog: 4/5

             Mad Dog follows a group of five misfits, Kang-woo an ex-cop who lost his family during a plane crash, Ha-ri a former gymnast who is skilled in disguising herself, Soon-jung an ex-thug with a soft side, Nu-ri a computer genius with an allergy to the sun, and Min-joon a former swindler who seems to be somehow connected to the death of the main characters family. The five of them work together to investigate insurance fraud schemes and find the truth behind the devastating plane crash. This show is really great, I found it through a recommended video on Youtube and I’m so glad I did. All the characters are memorable with their own specialties and quirks, a few episodes had me sobbing like a baby and others had me at the edge of my seat. Also, I feel like the ex-thugs nickname is a multilingual pun or a translation error, which would be amazing, but I may be wrong (his nickname is Cheetah and from my studies of Korean, though I’m still very new to the subject, ‘to hit’ is pronounced Chi-Da).

Moorim School: 5/5  (Possible epilepsy trigger below)

             Moorim School is about an idol with hearing loss and the son of a rich and powerful man who finds themselves going to a school full of secrets to uncover. They have to learn to get along not only with each other but with their new schools’ curriculum. It includes magic, mystery, and romance. I loved this show so much and the bromance between the two main characters is amazing, I am a sucker for really close friendships. It also has a love square, I am not a huge fan of this but if you enjoy love squares, there you go. I really liked the secrets, the magic, and all the plot twists through some I was able to guess. My main problem with this show is that the ending was super rushed, which is understandable as the series was shortened by four one-hour long episodes from its original length. Because of this, the show has a lot of plot holes, I really wish it had more episodes or maybe a second season but unfortunately that it highly unlikely. I’m actually going to re-watch this show with one of my friends soon and I am so excited.

Shopping King Louie: 5/5

             Shopping King Louie is about a rich heir named Louie to a company who, after an accident of mysterious origin, loses all of his memories. He meets a girl, Go Bok-Shil, who comes from a rural town to the city in search of her brother. Bok-Shil believes he knew where her brother is and takes him in, in the hopes that once Louie regains his memory, he would be able to find her brother. This show is definitely on the goofy side and keeps you smiling. I usually am not a fan of romance, but the main couple is so cute and raised my expectations in relationships way too high. Super cute show with a sad undertone. It will make you hungry though, very hungry, you have been warned. Loved this one so much and I’m also about to re-watch this one with one of my friends.

Squad 38: 4/5

             Squad 38 is about a tax collector who becomes angry at wealthy and powerful people evading their taxes without consequence, so he hires a young con artist to help him con the wealthy into paying their taxes. This show was really interesting with a lot of twists and turns to keep you drawn in. The dynamics between the character were interesting to watch and the main love triangle was probably one of the best handled main love triangles I have seen in dramas. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will watch again.

Part 2 

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

#K-Drama #Review #Bad Family #Doctors #Flower Grandpa Investigation Unit #Goblin #goblin the lonely and great god #golden bride #loving you a thousand times #mad dog #moorim school #shopping king louie #shopaholic louie #squad 38 #tw: epilepsy #epilepsy warning #flashing lights #flashing gif