#glad he was so whatever about what the “fan” said LMAO

[justjensenanddean]

Jensen Ackles leaving the con | Charlotte (North Carolina) Convention, August 20, 2023

#jensen ackles #dean winchester #jensen in sunglasses #jensen in t shirts #walking!jensen #spnnc2023 #the video has no audio because I removed it #some people really are weird #getting tired of Jensen being made the butt of the joke #glad he was so whatever about what the “fan” said LMAO #*

[shannonsketches]

This interview confirmed

The point of the wilds era games is showcasing mechanics, the 'core' of both games was to build and walk around

There will be no DLC

There will not be another direct sequel

The ultrahand will not continue in future games

The timeline is intentionally unclear to make the game accessible for new fans and the development process (tl;dr All Zelda games are intentionally AUs to a degree)

The producer and director both deny intentional references to prior games in the story, but then say that these similarities represent the soul of the series and the overall myth of The Legend of Zelda (pick a lane)?

The timeline doesn't matter, outside of specific sets of games it's irrelevant on purpose. Whatever you think about the timeline is correct. Continuity is not the point. Maintaining the form while creating something new is the point.

Fujibayashi really only cares about mechanics and Aunoma is totally cool with that

#yikes! #cw negativity #aunoma's answers were better than fujibayashi's but yeeugh what a bad taste in the mouth #'this is the first time i'm hearing the theory that these are direct references to prior games' sir have you spoken to your story departmen #don't answer that i know the answer is no #man these interviews are so bleak lol #Interviewer's like: Hey can you tell us about this story and they're like: (chanting) yeah whatever have you checked out the tech tho #Finding out Fujibayashi literally had No background in storytelling before becoming a director makes SO much sense #he started as an attraction designer for theme parks like his whole skillet is based in how to get people to walk around efficiently #which granted is an important skill in game desing! but GOD it explains EVERYTHING about the last three titles lmao #he literally said his first game job was pitching Other People's Concepts to the director. Then he became the director. #Baffling lol #I'm glad actual fans of story work in the story department or we'd be completely doomed #At least currently there's Some Glimmers now and then #but Aunoma wants to leave the series to him and I hrk--!!

[catcze]

HI CATTE! big fan of ur works!! glad to see another wrio filo fan !!, can I request wrio trying to learn filo for Filipino!reader !! I think it's super cute and I feel like he would probably become fluent in secret to surprise you !!!!!

Reblogs are greatly appreciated !!

「 FEAT : 」  Wriothesley x GN! Filipino! reader

「 ### : 」  Fluff, some swearing, but overall very good vibes ♡ Reader can speak Tagalog! I'll be real this is super cheesy esp the tagalog dialogue but SUE ME I love cheesy shit and this is self indulgent. Written pre-4.1 release.Translation for Tagalog dialogue found at the end!

AAAA HI BABY ♡ I cannot express how happy this made me ?!?!? Like, I'm bumping it up on the prio because it made me sooo kilig when i read it HAHAHAH I hope you like it lots !! (also if any filos have corrections/improvement on the tagalog dialogue pls lmk because I am notttt the best at writing in tagalog dialogue lmao) also ! I changed it and made him, like, not super \ fluent yet at Tagalog, hence why imo some of his dialogue sounds a bit;;; like, practiced? textbook? if that makes sense? HAHAH

Wriothesley doesn't have some big, grand reason for doing any of this. It's not your birthday or your anniversary or anything like that. He's not meeting your parents and he sure isn't planning on proposing just yet.

In all honesty, it all started from a quick kiss you pressed to his cheek and a string of words in a foreign language whispered into his ear.

"What did you say?" he asks when you pull away, a small smile on your face.

"I said mahal kita," you tell him, a hand resting on his arm. Your eyes soften almost imperceptibly when you say the phrase again. You sound so damn fond when you say it, it makes his heart want to skip a beat. "It's one of the most common ways to say 'I love you' in Tagalog."

"Can you say it again?" He asks, and you easily comply.

Mahal kita. Mahal kita. Mahal kita. I love you. He turns the words over and over in his head, then tries to replicate how you pronounce it with his own tongue, but the words come out a bit funny thanks to his fontainese accent. He's not used to the intonation of the language and it shows, if your amused little laugh was anything to go by.

"Like this," you tell him after watching him struggle for a bit and taking mercy on his poor tongue. "Repeat after me." Then you open your mouth wide, so he can see how you do it.

"Ma."

"Ma?"

"-hull."

"-hull."

"Kih."

"Kih?"

"Mhm. Tah."

"Tah."

"Put all that together, and you get mahal kita."

He tries it again, but it still comes out a bit funky. Not at all like how you say it, sounding buttery smooth and practically dripping with charisma. Despite this, you still smile at him like he's given you the world in your palms, or like you're about to cry from happiness. You press your lips against his, stealing the air right from his lungs and making his eyes flutter shut. He can never get tired of kissing you, he thinks, and if messing up a little bit gets him this much affection, he can only imagine what you'd be like if he improved.

"Mahal din kita," you mumble against his lips, breaking away but not straying far.

After that, unbeknownst to you, Wriothesley picked up what is essentially (but not actually the title) a Tagalog for dummies book and hunted down a guard in the fortress who can speak the language enough for him to consult whenever merely reading the words on a page was not enough.

You've also begun to speak Tagalog more and more around him since finding out his interest in the language. You've even managed to correct his pronunciation a little bit, despite how new much of it was new to him.

("You have to roll your r's a bit more, Wrio. Like... like you're purring, i guess?" That, in particular, he heard quite often. Who knew that his mother tongue said their r's differently from yours? Certainly not him.)

He eats up every bit of advice you give him in passing when he tries to replicate whatever word or phrase you just said, quietly taking note in his head and repeating the phrases back to himself even when you're not around. He goes to that one guard he had dubbed as his 'Tagalog tutor' and peppers them with questions so often that he figures it warrants him to hand over a particularly generous bonus later on for letting him as much of a bother as he is.

And finally, after a good long while of giving it his best effort, his tutor deems him able to hold a conversation in Tagalog well enough, and promptly pushes him out the door, telling him to 'go get 'em, boss.' before hastily locking the door behind him.

When Wriothesley wanders back to your living quarters, reassuring himself that he's been practicing for this, for you, and that even if he gets it a little bit wrong, you're probably going to be happy either way. Probably.

"Sweetheart?" He calls, coming inside. He follows your faint 'over here' to find you on your bed in your casuals, relaxing for the day.

When you catch sight of him, you smile, beckoning him close, just to press a kiss to his lips when he leans over. "Hey," you say, grinning up at him.

"Kumusta ka? Namiss kita, mahal. " He says, the words coming out a soft murmur against your lips. You pause for a good while, jaw dropping and brows furrowing in confusion, and Wriothesley fears that he could have messed up somehow. Then a wide smile breaks across your face as you glow with absolute delight.

"Hoy, talaga?! Nagtatagalog ka?" You sit up to be eye-to-eye with him, and you see nothing short of pride in his eyes. One of your hands flies up to cover your mouth as you gasp. "Woah, ang galing mo!"

And oh, it's one of the cutest things you've ever seen from him— Wriothesley smiles, just s little bit, and the slightest hints of a blush dust his face. It's adorable to see how he reacts to your praise.

Wriothesley's eyes dart away from yours, one of the few tells of embarrassment you've ever seen from him. "Pasensya na, di pa ako magaling magtagalog. Nag aaral pa lang ako."

"Kahit na!" You're clearly enthused, happy and grinning and buzzing with energy. "Namiss din kita! Okay naman ako. Ikaw? Kumain ka na ba?" You're wide awake and looking up at him like he hung the stars in the sky for you. Wriothesley is smiling now too. All those hours and late nights trying his best to get the words right, and this was the very reason why.

"Mhm, kanina pa, bago pumunta ko dito." One of his hands reaches up to your face. The callouses and scars of his hand drags a giggle from you as he tries to rub the sleep from your eyes. "Sana nakatulog ka ng maayos."

And compared to when you first told him you love him in your language, his Tagalog has improved by leaps and bounds. Still affected by his accent, yes, but his hard work showed through. It is that and the tenderness in his voice that makes you break this little song and dance between the two of you. Your hand reaches up to hold the one cupping your cheek, letting you lean further into his palm.

"Were you intending to surprise me? Because you certainly did. In a good way, I mean."

Wriothesley chuckles. "I'm glad. Been trying to learn it since that first time, and I think I'm making some progress. Though anything more than a simple conversation is still a bit much for me."

"Kahit na," you repeat yourself, "You're amazing! You got so good! Oh, we are going to have so much fun having secret conversations that no one else can understand."

He playfully quirks an eyebrow at that. "While that's definitely going to be some fun, I really wanted to learn how to, ah, tell you that I love you back."

"Oh." Again, you pause. "Well. Here's your chance, I guess." And you smile at him again, the one that has his heart skipping a beat. Wrapping your arms around his shoulders to pull him into your space, you press your forehead against his and close your eyes. He can feel your breath tickle against his lips, and he almost sighs in response.

"Mahal kita, Wriothesley."

"Mahal din kita, my love."

Translation:

"Kumusta ka? Namiss kita, mahal. " — "How are you? I missed you, love."

"Hoy, talaga?! Nagtatagalog ka? — "Hey, really?! You're actually speaking Tagalog?"

"Pasensya na, di pa ako magaling magtagalog. Nag aaral pa lang ako." — (spoken sorta formally) "Sorry, I'm not very good at speaking Tagalog yet. I'm still learning."

"Kahit na!" "Namiss din kita! Okay naman ako. Ikaw? Kumain ka na ba?" — "Even so!" "I missed you too! I'm fine. What about you? Have you eaten yet?"

"Mhm, kanina pa, bago pumunta ko dito." "Sana nakatulog ka ng maayos." — "Mhm, I did earlier, just before I came here." "Hopefully you had a good nap."

"Mahal kita, Wriothesley." — "I love you, Wriothesley."

"Mahal din kita, my love." — "I love you too, my love."

#「 🐈‍⬛ 」 catcze.desserts #Wriothesley x reader #genshin impact x reader #Wriothesley #Genshin Impact #cw gn reader #If the dialogue is cringe I am so sorry the furthest i go in writing in tagalog is essays and papers HAHDKJANS

[vettelsdarling]

hi i love your instagram aus!!!

i was wondering if you could do an instagram au private relationship between charles x singer! reader (face claim blackpink rose) on their summer break but they get caught by fans and paparazzi?

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮

Lissie note… Really great idea!!! Love it! I’m not too into k-pop, so please excuse me if anything seems wrong with the pictures in terms of timeline stuff. Thank you, and I’m glad you enjoy the aus<3

Things to note:

I’m into rock/indie, so I don’t know much about the K-pop industry. Please don’t come for me :)

Reader is an up-and-coming but popular K-Popstar.

Reader and Charles have been dating since the beginning of the season (set in 2023)

Races are NOT in order

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x Singer!Fem!Reader

Warnings: Slight cursing?

Playlist recommendations: 𝐂𝐋𝟏𝟔, 𝐅𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟💗

Taglist: @drugged-kitkat, @allwaysallyway

yourusername

Liked by carmenmmundt, lilymhe, francisca.cgomes and 5,488,926 others

yourusername Merci, Paris🌻💛

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user1 OHMOFMFNS HERRRR❤️❤️❤️

user2 Felt😩🙏

user3 Are you coming to the UK soon?🥰

user4 MOTHER❤️

user5 ILYSM PLSSS😭❤️

user6 So so so gorgeousss💕

user7 She’s so couquette but sophisticated and I love it

user8 AHHHH agreed❤️

user9 Please come to the US soon🤍🤍

user10 She’s been there before

user11 Yeah, I saw her last year🥰

user9 Aw no… I missed it.

yourusername

Liked by lilymhe, francisca.cgomes, pierregasly and 4,827,293 others

yourusername Thanks for another great time @ voguemagazine

Tagged: voguemagazine

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user1 How can anyone be THIS gorgeous.

user2 Exactly. How do people actually have the nerve to call her a gold digger…

user3 Wait what???

user4 People did WHAT?!

user1 ummm wtf?

user5 @ user2 is right. Fans of this boy group keep bashing her because they were seen together at a literal K-pop event…

user6 Doesn’t it make sense for her to be at the same expo though…💀 like she didn’t come for that one guy. She came for us…😭😭😭

user5 literally

user7 idk what all this drama in the comments is, but you’re so pretty❤️

user8 Vogue better feature her again😩🤍

user9 Did anyone see her interview with cosmo? She’s literally so polite and cute🥰

user10 I SAW IT🫶

user11 I don’t believe all the rumours that she’s dating some random boy group guy… she’s clearly ours.

user12 Agreed🙏

user13 I can’t wait for her to go on Jimmy Fallon🥳

user14 It’s actually gonna be so fun

charles_leclerc

Liked by yourusername, pierregasly, maxverstappen1 and 648,272 others

charles_leclerc It’s race week again❤️🤍

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user1 Let’s goooo #tifosi❤️🤍

user2 Please no Monaco curse again😭😭😭

user3 It won’t happen this year❤️

user4 I’m a max fan but I actually hope Leclerc wins this one

user5 same

user6 ANY K-POP FANS HERE???

user7 I thought I was the only one who noticed

user8 Guys it’s so clearly just her following him cause he’s famous or whatever. Besides, he has a lot of followers who are in the K-pop industry lol

user9 @ user8 has a point lmao

user10 yeah, @ otherkpopuser also follows him. You guys gotta calm down💀

user11 Home race let’s gooo❤️

yourusername

Liked by charles_leclerc, francisca.cgomes, lilymhe and 4,384,256 others

yourusername Break👒🧸

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francisca.cgomes Gorgeous🤍

yourusername ❤️❤️❤️

user1 Okay so nobody is going to question why an f1 wag is in the comments…

user2 because it’s not that deep

user3 The break she deserves❤️❤️❤️ HAVE FUN🥰

user4 I can’t wait for more summer posts from her🥳

user5 I loved your set in Paris❤️ Please come back soon🫶

user6 Come to Spain pleaseeeee🙏

user7 Oooo where is this???

user8 I think she said on her story that she was in Monaco

user9 Ugh I would love to go there just to see her😭❤️

user10 Monaco is so great😩 I wanna go

user11 This is the break she deserves after her hard work❤️

user12 I thought she’d maybe go back to Korea for a little over break

user13 It’s her own choice… she doesn’t have to

user14 Sooo pretty

user15 I desperately NEED her to come to Australia😭😭😭

sportsgoscentral

3,729 likes

sportsgoscentral Famous Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc, was caught with a girl this week… who might that be👀

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user1 Wait WHAT🧍‍♀️

user2 idk… that could literally be anyone. It doesn’t look like Charles…

user3 It’s definitely him. Look at his hair.

user4 I’m slowly waving goodbye to my parasocial relationship😭

user5 STOPPP WHAT IS THIS

user6 Aw that’s cute🥰 Wish we knew who it was though!!

user7 wait… isn’t that… @ yourusername

user8 who?

user7 pretty famous K-pop idol

user8 Ohhh, she’s really pretty though

user9 so all blonde girls are suddenly her?

user7 no, I’m just saying it seems like her bc she’s in Monaco rn

user10 Whoever she is, she’s so lucky ughhh

user11 For real

user12 What happened to giving people personal space😃

charles_leclerc

Liked by yourusername and 366,282 others

charles_leclerc Next stop: Japan✈️🇯🇵

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user1 such a random vacation spot but I dig it

user2 I bet Yuki is his tour guide

user3 that’d be funny

user4 Wait what’s in Japan?

user5 Idk, he’s just on break somewhere new ig?

user6 Can’t wait for a Japan photo dump🥰

user7 Not everyone thinking he’s going cause of @ yourusername 😭😭😭

user8 OMGGGG I FORGOT SHE’S BACK FROM HER BREAK AND IN JAPAN RNNN

user9 I am flabbergasted

user10 guys it’s a coincidence chill pls

user11 idk… doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me👀

yourusername

Liked by francisca.cgomes, carmenmmundt, lilymhe and 6,028,379 others

yourusername Thank you so much for all the chants! I love you all in Japan❤️ Can’t wait to come again🧸

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francisca.cgomes Loved it❤️ Will go to your next🫶

yourusername Can’t wait to see you again🥰❤️

user1 MOTHER😩❤️

user2 SHE ONLY RESTED FOR 2 WEEKS AND IS ALREADY BACK😭😭😭

user3 She’s so amazing🤍 I love her so much😭

user4 I LOVED THE SHOWWW COME BACK SOON~

user5 She’s so mother😩🙏

user6 ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS🥰

user7 I literally love everything abt her

user8 Where’s she going next?

user9 The US I think?

user10 Wait what???

user11 No she isn’t. That’s next month.

user12 Yeah, she’s going to Korea next and then the US

charles_leclerc

Liked by yourusername, francisca.cgomes, pierregasly and 1,292,358 others

charles_leclerc Japan was amazing❤️🇯🇵

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user1 A GIRL A GIRL A GIRL

user2 OMG THE SECOND PIC

user3 CHARLES WHO IS THATTTT

user4 New wag alert?

user5 Every K-pop fan KNOWS that the rumours are true and that’s @ yourusername

user6 New fav wag🥰

user7 I need to see them togetherrrr

user8 Omg that’s her?! She is BEAUTIFUL😩

user9 She’s literally my fav<3

user8 I’m gonna start listening to her

user9 If he’s going to the states next, it’s definitely @ yourusername

user10 It’s so convenient though, because he has the Miami gp next month🥳

user11 Isn’t she going to NYC though???

user12 Yeah she is

wagsf1

20,378 likes

wagsf1 @ yourusername in the paddock today in Miami✨

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user1 IT’S OFFICIAL🥰

user2 She is SO PRETTY AND CUTEEEE

user3 Her and Charles make the cutest couple on the grid by a HUMONGOUS margin.

user4 Literally

user5 Wait… but wasn’t she spotted in Formula 2???!

user6 Leclerc watches Arthur and she probably tagged along

user5 Oh yeah that makes sense

user7 I can’t believe she’s juggling her career and supporting Charles at the same time😭 What a gem🤍

user8 He literally hit the jackpot with this one

user9 I’m so jealous of him but also jealous of her😭😭😭

user10 You’re literally so real for that

yourusername

Liked by charles_leclerc,francisca.cgomes, carmenmmundt and 6,387,289 others

yourusername Since the secret is out…🤍

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charles_leclerc ❤️

Liked by yourusername

francisca.cgomes You guysss🫶

Liked by yourusername

user1 ARE YOU FOR REAL????

user2 Wait the rumours are true?!!!😭😭

user3 We lost her💔

user4 This is pain.

user5 Can’t you just be happy for her?

user6 It’s not that deep and she doesn’t know you exist💀

user7 If my future relationship isn’t like theirs… I don’t want it..

user8 IKR😩 Look at those shadow picssss

user9 Okay but when is she actually revealing him?

user10 We literally know it’s Charles💀 He even commented😭😭😭

charles_leclerc

Liked by yourusername, pierregasly, maxverstappen1 and 738,839 others

charles_leclerc It’s official. She’s a procrastinator…

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yourusername I’m not…

charles_leclerc Did you pack for Italy yet? We leave tomorrow.

yourusername …

Liked by charles_leclerc

pierregasly Get in there mate!

Liked by charles_leclerc

user1 I love their banter already😩

user2 They’re so cute what😭❤️

user3 She looks like a literal angel

user4 My fav singer and my fav driver… dating?! This is an actual dream come true wtaf

user5 People who oppose this will have to go through me first

user6 Nobody will be dense enough💀

user7 Nah I just know someone will be pressed about this

user8 Agreed lmao💀

user6 I mean ig😭💀

user9 I can’t wait to see all of her paddock outfits!!!

user10 Same! She's already so stylish, I bet she’s gonna go all in!!!

user11 I can’t wait to see Charles at her concerts lol

user12 Somehow I can actually imagine it

user13 My fav couple❤️

REQUESTS ARE CLOSED

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩! (𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙣, 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨, 𝙙𝙢𝙨, 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙨: 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧(𝙨) 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚(𝙨) 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣.)

#fanfiction #fanfic #f1 #formula 1 #formula one #x reader #f1 fanfic #f1 fanfiction #reader insert #fluff #instagram fanfic #insta au #f1 instagram au #formula one fanfiction #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc fanfic #scuderia ferrari #charles leclerc ferrari #ferrari #ferrari f1 #f1 imagine #f1 x reader #f1 fic #one shot #f1 au

[evilgaygothgf]

Hello!! Hope you’re doing well and having a great day <3 just wanted to send in a request in case you’re up for it! Maybe a scenario of Quackity and streamer!reader sitting together at a small party/streamer get together (like the ESLAND after party lmao), spending the whole time talking, then him walking back reader to their hotel room where it ends with a small makeout sesh or them inviting him to their room to continue hanging out for the night (they’re kinda friends prior to all this who had very silent crushes on each other so the lovers tension is definitely in the air lmao)? Hope this is ok!

Thank you for the request! I hope this fits what you had in mind ◡̈

Quackity x streamer!reader (any pronouns)

You were at a small outdoor party one of your other streamer friends had invited you to. You hadn’t been a streamer for very long, so you weren’t as close with the other people at the party besides Karl, who had invited you. You saw Sapnap, George, and Tina, who you had met at the streamer events earlier in the day, but they were in the middle of their own conversation and you didn’t feel like you were close enough to them yet to go and join in. When you went over to grab a drink and head to an unoccupied seat, you heard a familiar voice behind you.

“Hey, y/n. I didn’t know you were gonna be at this party.”

You turned around to see Alex standing behind you with a grin. You were more than glad to see that he was here and you suddenly felt a wave of comfort come over you. He was someone who always made you feel welcome as you started out in the streaming community, especially since he’s the entire reason you were doing this. Alex was the person who encouraged you to start your channel on twitch in the first place.

“Y/n, I think you’ll be really good at it and you’ll be glad you started your own streaming channel.”

“I don’t know. I just don’t think I’m entertaining enough for people to want to actually watch me.”

“I’d watch you. You’re entertaining to me. You should just try it, really. Trust me.”

You had taken his advice to start streaming and hadn’t regretted it one bit. Your channel was growing, you actually had fans, and you were even being invited to streamer events like the one you had attended today. All of this was because of the support Alex had been giving you from the start and helping you along the way. He had become a place of comfort and warmth for you.

You smiled back at Alex. “Yeah, Karl actually invited me kinda last minute. I thought maybe it could be fun,” you said as you shrugged your shoulders.

“Well, are you? Having fun?,” he questioned.

“I am now that you’re here,” you said as you threw a wink his way.

He laughed and placed a hand on your shoulder. “Okay, Mr. Rizzington,” he said as he rolled his eyes, “Let’s go sit down somewhere.”

You followed him as he led you over to a bench that faced away from the party and out towards the ocean. The entire event had been an amazing time and you had enjoyed it all, but the night view of the ocean was 10 out of 10 compared to the rest. You both sat down and while the bench was small, you wished it was smaller so you had an excuse to sit closer to Alex.

“Sorry, I feel like I haven’t really been able to catch up with you much. I’ve just been so busy with the event all day and haven’t had a chance to check up on how you’ve been doing with everything going on.” He rubbed his hands on his lap as he talked.

“No, Alex, it’s okay,” you turned your body towards him on the bench as you spoke, “you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be fine, just do whatever you need to do and enjoy your time with all your friends here.”

“I’m not worried. I just care about you and want to spend time with you, dummy,” he said lightly shoving your shoulder with his.

Even his playful touch made your skin feel electric and you couldn’t help but feel a shiver as the sparks ran through you.

Your shiver caught his attention. “Oh, are you cold? It is a little chilly now that the sun has gone down. We can head inside if you want?”

Before you could answer, Alex was already standing to his feet and motioning for you to stand with him. You stood up from your spot and walked with him toward the hotel everyone was staying at for the event. Now that it was dark outside, the path to the hotel was lit by tiny lights along the side of the walkway. The two of you matched each other’s pace as you slowly made your way back to the hotel and you told him about the people you had met a the streaming event that day. You finished talking as the two of you approached the entrance of the hotel and you looked up at Alex to see that he was just staring and grinning at you at you spoke.

You laughed nervously under his stare. “Why are you just staring at me like that?” You tried to sound annoyed to distract him from the blush that you knew was creeping up on your face.

“Mmm I don’t know,” he shrugged his shoulders, “You seem happy. I just like seeing you happy.” As he finished his sentence, the two of you had stepped into the elevator. “What floor are you?”

“I’m on 6th.” You watched as he pushed the button to your floor and put his hand back in his pocket. “Oh, are you on the same floor as me?”

“Nope. I was gonna come hang out with you in your room if that’s fine? Damn, trying to get rid of me already,” he joked.

You taunted back at him, “I guess it’s fine with me. You just can’t get enough of me, yeah, yeah.”

“Something like that.”

The door to the elevator opened and the two of you stepped off. You walked him to your hotel room and tapped your card to enter the room. You turned to Alex as the door shut behind both of you.

“So, do you want to watch a movie or something?” You hoped he said yes because you couldn’t handle being alone in this room with him without something to distract you from the butterflies that bang around in your stomach whenever he’s around.

“Sounds good to me,” he said as he flopped onto your bed and grabbed the remote. He patted the spot next to him on the bed. “C’mon and sit. It’s your bed.”

You really didn’t want to sit next to him because you might evaporate into thin air the second you do, but reluctantly, you kicked off your shoes and made yourself comfy on the bed. He flipped through the channels and found a movie that had already started not too long ago, so you two hadn’t missed much of it. The movie played on and you felt like you had done well to hide your nerves so far. Well, until you felt his eyes on you. You tried to pretend you didn’t notice him stealing glances at you here and there. Maybe he could tell he made you nervous. Maybe there was something stuck in your hair. Maybe-

Your thoughts were cut off by his whisper. “Can I kiss you?”

You almost jumped out of your skin at his question and you couldn’t even think of how to respond. “I- what did you say?” You couldn’t even look at him when you spoke.

“Sorry, I don’t know why I asked like that. It’s just all I can think about right now honestly. Wait that sounds bad. Like I’m not just thinking about kissing you, but like, I’m thinking about you, all the time, including now, and right now, that includes kissing you,” he blurted out.

He thinks about you? All the time? You finally looked back to him and his eyes were locked on yours. He thinks about kissing you? You had to admit you had thought about the same a fair share of times. You had imaged what it would feel like when his lips touched yours. Your gaze traveled from his eyes to his lips and back up.

He shifted closer and whispered again, “Can I?”

You opened your mouth to respond but no noise came out, so you just nodded your head. Your heart was thumping out of your chest, but you wanted this so bad.

He slowly leaned in, cupping your face. His hands felt so warm and comforting on your cheeks, his thumb lightly rubbing your skin. His lips landed on yours and it felt like the world around you went silent. He pulled his face back from yours slightly and ran a thumb over your lips. You reached your hands up and threaded your fingers into his hair pulling him back in for another kiss. The kiss that followed was more needy than the first. You tilted your head to deepen the kiss and felt his tongue running across your lower lip. His tongue entered your mouth and you felt his hands release from your face and fall to your sides, lightly squeezing you as they reached your waist. You gently tugged his hair and he released a shaky breath you didn’t realize he was holding.

The two you broke apart from the kiss and Alex rested his forehead on yours. Your hands continued to play with his hair, twirling the ends with your fingers. Your lips still tingled from the contact with his. There was so much on your mind you wanted to say to him in this moment, but you felt breathless and the words wouldn’t come up. He stayed silent as well, just staring into your eyes and rubbing his thumb on your hip. You were fine staying like this for as long as you could, enjoying his warmth and his touch. Words could come later.

#mcyt #mcyt x reader #dtqk #dtqk x reader #evilgaygothgf #mcyt fanfiction #mcyt imagine #mcyt scenarios #alex quackity #mcyt fandom #quackity fanfic #quackity blurb #quackity x y/n #qsmp quackity #quackity x reader #quackity #quackity x you #quackity imagine #quackity scenario

[onesidedradiostatic]

helluva boss s2e3-5 reaction

wow the episodes are actually maintaining the 20ish minute length unlike season 1

episode 3

oh my god WHAT

ah I see he's moxxie's dad

LMAOOO him being both their exes is hilarious

OH MY GOD and that's what led him to meeting blitzo LMAO

oh geez

NOT THE FUCKING DILDOS???????

also verbal "I'm bisexual" that's neat!!!

OH MY GOD was that his mum???? oh man....

oh my god

man....

NOT BLITZO AND CHAZ GETTING IT ON?????? LMAO????

awww

oh?????

DAAAAAMN moxxie

millie's very cool

"now we aaaall fucked the same guy" oh my fucking god blitzo

episode 4

okay cool! I get to hear her have some semblance of calmness LMAO

OKAY NEVERMIND THAT DID NOT LAST AT ALL

"what does he look like your highness?" "sexy?" "that's STRIKER sir" I'M CRYING????

and got to a scene I've seen a clip of already, can't say I'm a fan of the ableism here but I'm sure it's been criticised to death by others already, I'll move on

daaaaaamn

well. I'm glad I get to see stella with another character that she's not shouting at

yeah I'm glad we're getting something more than a pompous laugh and anger from her

"harder" oh my god

oh yeah um the "he can get hurt?" scene is something I've already seen

saw it on a clip on twitter before, figured it had to do with injury via angelic weapons, cool to see the context now though (even though I was somewhat able to guess the more I learnt about the show)

it's cool that you can see stolas is giving blitzo some space and suggesting not doing sex stuff

awwwww

really nice to see blitzo showing concern for him

episode 5

this one is seeming a lot more lighthearted but I wanna put 6 and 7 together so I'm just gonna put this here

A SING-ALONG LMAO????

THE KEYSMASH??????

NOT THE FUCKING SING-ALONG LYRICS MOCKING HIM NOW TOO?????

woah what's that

something that's not the grimoire opening a portal???

is "the voice of an angel" really a compliment when you live in hell?

okay I thought the "barbie" person might've been blitzo's sister

OH GOD NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

WHY DID THEY EVEN PRETEND TO BE SIBLINGS THEY SHOULD'VE JUST SAID THEY WERE DATING.

well then! I've been fighting with the 30 image limit probably was a mistake to put 5 together with 3 and 4 after all but whatever!! anyways

first two in the set, pretty good character moments, last one although was more lighthearted but definitely had its serious moments with moxxie and millie

I see fizzarolli in the thumbnail for the next 2 episodes, I have been WAITING for this, gonna be very very promising

#osrs.helluva

[emiliosandozsequence]

what scifi media do you like?

OH ANON I HAVE SO MANY. i'm so glad you asked 💕💕💕 (tagging @gorydean too so she sees 💕💕💕)

gotta start first and foremost with the sparrow series by mary doria russell as my blog is basically just a shrine to it at this point. amazing book and definitely recommend it if you love found family, first contact, trauma, tragedy, and the abandonment of the faithful by g-d. huge massive trigger warning tho. everyone says the second book isn't as good as the first, but i completely disagree. i think they're bitg equally as good as each other; the second book just takes awhile to get to the most insanity inducing parts whereas the first one starts out strong with that and keeps going until the end of the story.

i would have more books to recommend, but i've only just started REALLY getting back into reading after several years of not reading as much due to a variety of reasons (mostly trauma and chronic and mental illness). that being said, i have an insane amount of films to give you to watch instead of books.

gotta recommend my all time fav film (or one of the two anyway), the fountain. most people...don't like this movie because they think it's hard to understand and doesn't make sense towards the end (i had to watch it several times to get it), but please please please watch it. it's a beautiful film both visually and plotwise as long as you give it a chance 💕

sound of my voice is softer in terms of scifi, but still definitely scifi. it's another film that lets you decide what to believe. it's also another film people tend not to like for whatever reason, but i think it's extremely well done and the ending is so 💕💕💕💕💕💕

cloud atlas. very much a story in the same vein as the fountain taking place over different timelines. another beautifully done story about how everything and everyone is connected throughout space and time. ofc my fav timelines are the ones with robert frobisher and sonmi-451. i do also recommend the book, but i liked the film better because of a few of the changes they made.

sunshine is one of my fav films ever and i've loved it since i was in high school and first saw it. it reminds me a lot of three body problem in the sense that antagonist (idk if i would exactly call him a villain even tbh) is using g-d as a reason for the things he's doing. there's a few deleted scenes i wish they'd kept in because it really emphasizes this, but even so, this film is gorgeous in so many ways.

i origins. if u can't tell already i'm a huge brit marling fan and i think this is one of her best stories. again: you get to choose what to believe and you really have to watch the whole film for the pay off, but it is so very much worth it. i think i've actually only ever watched this film once, tho idk why bc it's genuinely one of my favs.

looper is another film that idk why more people weren't into it. the setting is dystopian. i was trying to think of a way to explain it in a few short sentences like i have the rest of the films here, but it's one of those films also that i think going into it knowing nothing is better. the kid who plays the rainmaker is so fucking good too. he's not even 10, but he played that role perfectly.

elysium. EVERYONE KNOWS DISTRICT 9 BUT NO ONE KNOWS ELYSIUM. i stand by my opinion that this film would be infinitely better if diego luna were the main character instead of matt damon, but even so i really love this film. the score is gorgeous. also lmao we for real might be living in this universe soon if elon fixes up that space hotel he wants to do fucking rip

ender's game. the author is a homophobic and transphobic dickwad who actively gives his money to anti-lgbt organizations, so watch this for free if you can (and buy the books second hand), but i actually really enjoyed what they did with this film. a lot of people thought it was too rushed, but also like....ender's game is a very Dense book, so i understand why they did it the way they did it. also the score is amazing.

signs. another film involving g-d and religion seen through the lens of scifi and first contact. this film gets shit on a ton for reasons i do not know, but it's actually really well done. it scared the ever living shit out of me the first few times i saw it tho bc i did Not grow up watching horror.

knowing. another film involving g-d and religion seen through the lens of scifi and first contact (can you tell i have a type of film/media i like???). this film also scared the ever living shit out of me when i first saw it to the point i had to sleep with the lights on, but in all actuality it isn't scary at all (i was just 14 and had never seen a thriller before lol). i really love disaster films tbh, but this is one of my all time favs (next to greenland).

another earth i did not like when i first saw it. i thought the whole thing was kind of pointless and didn't make very much sense, but the more i've thought about it since then, the more i've understood it. funnily enough, i never watched it a second time, but it's brit marling, so i probably will eventually. again: definitely recommend.

lucy. listen i know this has scarlett johansson in it and none of us like her, but this film is good despite her. i thought it was going to be dumb as hell when i first saw it, but i actually ended up liking it so much that it's heavily inspired the next novel i'm planning on writing (a scifi space opera about a girl becoming g-d).

origami. okay this one is difficult to find and you WILL have to buy it if you want to watch it (trust me: i have searched FAR and wide for this film in any other place and vimeo is the ONLY place i found it; it's only $5 to rent on there tho), but it's so worth it. it's worth it. it's one of my fav films and i watched it purely because of francois arnaud and i'm glad i did. this literally is his best work imo.

ink is my all time hands down favorite film. idk if you would even call it scifi, but i love it so much i just wanted to talk about it. it very obviously had zero budget, but they used what little money they had VERY wisely and the result was this beautiful film. the story makes me sob every single time. actually it's quite similar to origami, so if you like one, you'll probably like the other.

tron: legacy is another film that people shit on and idk why. it has The Best religious imagery. like how are you going to top one of the programs falling to their knees in prayer as flynn passes by????? the whole thing seems to be a jesus/judas metaphor anyway and i'm crazy for that shit. gotta mention the score as always because daft punk knocked it out of the park (people shit on the score too and i really don't get why).

thelma. i watched this one a whim with a friend and i cannot recommend it enough. i feel like it was kind of popular on here when it first came out bc it's a sapphic film, but it's also just very good in general. i've seen people get super upset about it also bc their interpretation makes it lesbophobic (which is crazy to me but whatever.

melancholia. i did Not like this movie for the longest time, but then i watched it recently and finally Got it. i guess you really do have to be a certain level of depressed to understand this film, so if you're insanely suicidal and can barely function like me, then i recommend it. you will probably get some catharsis out of it like i did. it is a very Strange film tho.

the creator came out at the end of last year and it was so good. definitely my fav film to come out in the last few years and involves g-d, religion, and AI. the score also in this is great (everybody say thank you hans zimmer. again.). the ending makes me sob so much.

more that i love a lot, but not as much (apparently there's a character limit, so i can't explain why these are my favs too, but it's for similar reasons as above).

the matrix trilogy

the fifth element

snowpiercer

blade runner 2049

as for tv shows, i don't have as many, but i do have a few that i would highly recommend if you like any of the films above:

halo. again: everyone shits on this show, but the absolute TRAGEDY of it is the fanboys hate it bc they suck and are bigots and everyone else who would like it (LIKE MY MUTUALS) refuses to give it a chance because of its overall reputation, so i'm BEGGING YOU GUYS TO GIVE IT A CHANCE.

foundation. genuinely fucking good. so much of what the creators of this show have done to change the story has been for the better. i read the books and they were okay, but the show is so so good. idk when season 3 will be coming out, but hopefully soon (same for halo, which i actually like better than this show).

the oa. i will forever mourn what we could've had with this show. i can't even talk about it without getting choked up. this getting canceled really truly fucked me up.

castle rock season 1. technically a horror series, but this season is more scifi than horror, i think. everything really comes to a head in episode 9 iirc and that episode still makes me crazy when i think about it. i definitely need to do a rewatch.

firefly/serenity. you've probably heard this one recommended before, but there's a reason for that. it's really so good, but g-d and jesus hate me because it too was canceled before it could even finish ONE SEASON. thankfully there's a film that kind of ties everything together, but WE COULD'VE HAD SO MUCH MORE.

i tried to put in some movies that aren't talked about as much on here!! i also have several letterboxd lists dedicated purely to scifi, which you can find below.

holy holy holy (scifi (and other films) involving religious imagery or straight up just about theology

the sparrow cinematic universe (films that are either discussed in the sparrow or remind me of it or that i could see the main characters watching)

but it was my body. it was my blood. and it was my love. (films that i either genuinely believe could be based off of the sparrow or just remind me of it in some way)

per aspera ad astra (scifi films i have seen or heard of. this literally is every single scifi film i remember ever in existence so it's quite long)

also mainstream scifi that i recommend/am obsessed with

interstellar

dune series (wer'e talking about the books here; not whatever the fuck denis villenueve pulled with the films lmao)

district 9

annihilation/southern reach trilogy

ex machina

prometheus

pacific rim

arrival

event horizon

mad max: fury road

nope

mobile suit gundam series (mostly hathaway and g-witch tho)

star wars (mostly the prequel and sequel trilogies)

nausicaa of the valley of the wind

castle in the sky

inception

tenet

high life

aldnoah zero

hanna

real steel

86: eighty-six

this is so much longer than i meant it to be omg. anyway people do not call me the scifi queen for no reason.

#ask #anonymous #long post cw

[melonteee]

More opla talk sorry but I would be reallllyyyy curious to know about the extent of Odas involvement. Like he has been saying the same stuff to the press but also like he is a professional and I really do doubt he'd just tank the entire production that's already started even if they did stuff he didn't like and of course he can hardly be critical of it in interviews either. I mean it seems he has a pretty good relationship with the staff at least and it has brought in a lot of new fans which I think was the ultimate goal at the end of the day. Whatever way it turns out I would love to be able to see all that behind the scene info.

lmao I mean it's why I take EVERYTHING anyone is saying with a grain of salt, they've all signed contracts and also all put their names on this production. If someone says "Oh yeah Oda approved THIS SPECIFICALLY" would Oda really just come outta nowhere to say "Um...no I didn't" like JKHFGJKD we wouldn't have even KNOWN that he was COMPLETELY against adding Garp if that one producer didn't let it slip cause he seemed proud of it ?? Oda said in a letter that there were "No compromises!" but now we know that is 100% not true due to the Garp thing so it's like...who told him to say that LMAO unless he means Netflix gave HIM no compromises since he didn't specify, which would've been funny.

But yeah I'm unsure why people are throwing Oda's name everywhere like he was in charge of EVERYTHING as if this wasn't a million dollar production run by Netflix producers HHH I'm glad Oda seems to like the cast and crew though! But I will say, people acting like this live action is what Oda 'wanted the east blue to be' is just downright offensive since that was the beginning of his whole series and he has not once expressed he's dissatisfied with anything he's done for that arc. Imagine creating something original from your own heart, just for people to say a western made production "fixed" what was wrong with it ??? Apart from there being nothing 'wrong' with the original east blue saga from an objective standpoint, it's just mad discouraging to the creator.

#ask #oplatalk

[half-truths-and-hyperbole-louk]

Louk's Bad Batch rewatch part 26 !!!

bwaaaaa dum 🥁🥁🥁🥁

(that's my version of the intro you're welcome)

The Bad Batch 2x06

Tech is a pro at creating chain codes at this point 💅

"there's something off about this place" bc you can sense it in the force??

GUNGI GUNGI GUNGI 😭💕🤲

Gungi hearing Echo's voice 💔

Echo's turn for the dramatic sigh count lol

lmao Hunter saying "problem?" like its nbd like he can't probably hear/feel them running around out there 💀

"they're with us" Hunter you dropped this 👑

WHO BOUGHT GUNGI 😡

LIGHTSABER !!! 👀

their reactions to him being a jedi 🥲

Gungi's hesitation to get on the ship with them 😭

the batch understanding he's traumatised- I'm 🖐😭

Hunter in dad mode 👌

"my wookiee is a little rusty" Hunter ilysm 💕💕

Hunter says "you catch that?" to Tech... but when they get to Kashyyyk Wrecker is speaking shyriiwook ... 🤔

Hunter's hand on Echo's shoulder while they're discussing what to do with Gungi 🥲

"I say this as a star wars fan but can we stop going to kashyyyk" ~ Zanny - go check out his youtube !!!

Wrecker sharing his food with Gungi !!! 🤲😭

Hunter telling Gungi to hide his "laser sword" and putting his hand on his shoulder 🥺

Wrecker's "woah" seeing the bug things real !!

Gungi teaching them about the animals 💕

Gungi's toof 💕

I wonder if Hunter's senses is a bit like psychometry 🤔

trandoshans are always the bad guys in this show why did I ever question cid ???

Gungi runs out and Hunter's dad mode kicks in and immediately follows him 🥺

Omega checking on Gungi 🤲

the batch really worked through the whole night to save the planet from burning 👑👑👑👑

I WANT ONE OF THE BIG EAR MONKEY DOGS

Yanna 💕👑 welcoming Gungi 😭

every word Hunter understands of Shyriiwook makes my life 🤲🥲

"Jedi or not he's still a child, he needs his people" I'm not crying you're crying

regs ily 😘

the difference in Echo and Wrecker seeing the wookiee water 🤭

are the wookiees all force sensitive or its more like in blue avatar where they can talk to the trees? absolutely love this either way 💕

"they're talking to the trees?" Omega is so fascinated about everything 🥺🤲

"the... trees have a plan? Alright whatever they say" Hunter love your work as always

Wrecker doing the wookiee roar 👌👑

these bug guys make me itchy but they're heroes fr 🙌

"where did the kids go" Hunter was born to have multiple kids 💕

the fire animation has come so far fr one of the biggest animation glow ups 💅

Wrecker speaking shyriiwook !!! 👀

Echo tasting the wookiee water !! and him cheers-ing with the wookiee 🥺 so proud of him

Tech getting up to translate for Hunter 💕

Omega and Gungi talking to the trees together 🥺😭

"perhaps one day we all will find a new path" ~ Yanna said this but Tech translated and hearing him say it just kinda hits different 🥲

"hopefully one far away from war" ~ Hunter but this one also hits different, because me, a star wars fan, knows what is coming and it haunts me every day 💔😭

I love this episode so much I'm so glad Gungi is safe 🤲 I really hope his other little youngling/padawan friends are too, my girl Katooni 💕

huge thanks to everyone who is still following along with my ilysm 🥰 y'alls are the best 🙏

#louk’s bad batch rewatch #star wars #the bad batch #hunter bad batch #tbb wrecker #bad batch tech #tech bad batch #bad batch hunter #tbb tech #wrecker bad batch #hunter the bad batch #the bad batch hunter #hunter tbb #tbb echo #echo tbb #echo bad batch #bad batch echo #clone trooper echo #bad batch wrecker #wrecker tbb #the bad batch tech #tech the bad batch #tech tbb #clone trooper tech #omega tbb #omega bad batch #bad batch omega #wookiee #kashyyyk #jedi

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

i love when the subject of modern au for the arcana comes up cause my only metric of judgement for it is What are you gonna do with Muriel. is he still. you know. practically homeless

cause it can be done well i believe it!! but i mean its interesting to me cause theres so many um. cultural differences i guess i can call it, and ramifications and implications and fucking more thesaurus words we get it to consider in comparing our "everyone has to have a document about *Everything*, whats your assigned number at birth, let me record you with 50 cameras at all times just in case, gimme your PapERS HOW OLD ARE YOU WHATS YOUR GRANDMAS MAIDEN NAME NO IM NOT SELLING YOU THIS CARTON OF EGGS UNTIL YOU TELL ME" society (Admittedly! not every single place in the world today is like this necessarily!!! so you can just put them someplace else and work from there!!! but youd have to know how life there actually looks like And also wait whats the point of this au if everything ends up the same lmao i wanted asra to have tiktok and work at starbucks what are we doing here) vs the old timey fantasy world presented in the game where its just "yeah sure you can go live in a forest theres no fences here lol bye dont get dysentery" which is how the world used to be i guess and thats so fun to ponder for me lol we really were just monkeys fucking about with sticks huh. good times

man this is why i dont actually write fanfics i get too lost in four different trains of thought and dont finish any of them lmao and i guess also cause of the "i Cant POSSIBLY write this story about kissing a dude if i cant describe the sociopolitical climate in this neighbourhood in the netherlands after the Batavian Rebellion and how it influenced the contemporaneous fauvistic arT MOVEMENT with UTMOST ACCURACY cause THATS WHAT HIS FAVOURITE PAINTING WAS THE ONE THAT SHOWS UP IN THIS THREE SECOND BLURRY BACKGROUND CLIP OF THIS SCENE IN HIS APARTMENT AND IS CRUCIAL TO HIS CHARACTER AND I HAVE TO NAIL IT WHAT DONT YOU GET" type personality i got going which i guess writers deal with by just going full "lol whatever i am god here and i make law" mode

i just started thinking about this cause of the new story on dorian in a modern au i got pretty hype about it teehee but yeah muriel hasnt shown up yet so i got into that whole spiral about wHERE ARE THEY GONNA PUT ME BOYE AAAGJHFN i hope he gets a good outfit lmao i love jules' vibe but i looked at asra n went aw Hell naw hed be way better dripped out you done my boy dirty cmon man. pashas hawaiian shirt tho fucking we're so back lets go lesbians hkdyyifulj Anyway they made lucio a wholeass bilionaire which had me shook a lil for some reason but i can see him as a total ~Musk-esque~ archetype lmaooo like that is literally so him, just barges in and makes people have good ideas for him gikgststnv oh god i hope theres not any elon fans reading this cause theyre not gonna appreciate that oh fudge ok lets get back to the point which was uuuuhhhhhhhhhh oh yeah i liked your muriel lives in a van concept i thought its good! yeah thats what i wanted to say. what a tumultuous journey i just had to invent to arrive here.

Oh yeah, I've been seeing a lot more posts and questions about the arcana's modern au, and it's why I was so happy to dig up all those old ask arcana posts! I'm so glad we have all that canon content from way back when, it was so sad that I could only put ten images in one post T~T

And Muriel definitely lives off the grid - I also remember another ask arcana that said in modern times he'd wear a cable knit sweater on top and leather pants and demonias on bottom and that works so well for him XD

Here's the screenshots since the links haven't been working:

#ask arcana brainrot #the arcana #ask arcana #muriel of the kokhuri #muriel the arcana #the arcana game

[sat0sugu-angst]

Uninteresting (A Fortunate Misunderstanding Part 1)

pairing: prohero!bkg x journalist!reader

summary: you've been misquoted referring to Dynamite as "uninteresting," and the explosive number two hero confronts you about it.

wc: 3.6k

cw: prohero!au, afab!reader, sexual tension lmao (smut to follow in upcoming chapters hehe), bkg uses pet names for reader (doll)

characters aged up +25

MDNI

—————————————————

Hero Critic Y/n of the Daily Post says number two hero Dynamite is "not interesting enough" to write about

It's a splashy headline from your interview with your longtime friend and colleague Shawn Collins, and you roll your eyes when you read the tweet. "That's not even what the interview is focused on. You're misleading your audience." You scolded over the phone, even though you're trying to quell the rush of anxiety in the pit of your stomach.

"It's not my fault Dynamite's fan base is so easily exploited. My editor said it would get views." You don't bother hiding your eye roll, not like he could see it anyway. "Besides, the interview was on your opinions of Japan's top heroes, and the only time you mentioned him was to say that. He's the number two hero, I have to point out the irony."

You scoff, but you're glad Shawn couldn't see the blush on your cheeks. Well, you think dryly, it's not like I could've put on the record why I really don't write about him.

"Still, you didn't have to insinuate that I thought Dynamite was uninteresting. That's not what I said."

It wasn't because you didn't see his flaws, didn't think he wasn't a hot-headed jackass, but you didn’t like feeling misrepresented. Because at the end of the day, no matter his downfalls, you felt nothing but adoration for the hero.

Well, adoration and a little bit horny, but either way, despite your reputation as a merciless hero critic, you didn't want any criticism about the number two hero to be published with your name attached. And you couldn't write praise about him either, not when you built your career on criticizing the hero industry.

"Well, people will see that when they watch the interview."

If they even bother, you think irritably. You could tell no matter what you said, he didn’t and wouldn't care enough about your qualms with the headline to change it. "Whatever. You're welcome for the interview." You said, and picked at your takeout.

"You still coming tomorrow?"

You sigh. You weren't entirely sure you wanted to get dressed up to go to the office party tomorrow, but you figured it'd be better than not going and being anti social. "Yeah, at eight, right?"

"I can pick you up, it's on my way." He offered.

"Better not, if I have a ride I'll just get too messed up."

He laughed on the other end. "That's true. Though, last time was fun."

You flushed a deep red in embarrassment, recalling the night you and Shawn had gone out, had the time of your lives, only to throw up on yourself when you were still ten blocks from your house. "Shut up. It wasn't fun for me."

He laughed again. "Yeah, helping you clean vomit from your hair wasn't the best way to end the night."

You glared. "I'll see you tomorrow." You hung up, but not before you heard his laugh on the other end.

You pulled away, looking at the tweet on your feed, groaning audibly in frustration, hoping the explosive hero wouldn't see the article, or at least the headline.

—————————————————

"Oi, Bakugo, did you see what that journalist said about you?" Denki said, approaching the bar with his phone raised.

Katsuki grunted, annoyed at his friend's obnoxious behavior. "I don't care what some extra has to say about me. Should be fucking grateful I'm so good at my job."

"Well, you may be good at it, but apparently, you're not very interesting." Mina said with a smirk a few seats down, having already seen the interview.

That caught Katsuki’s attention. A lot of words had been lobbed at him throughout his nearly ten year career, but uninteresting wasn't one of them. He was quiet as he took the phone from Denki, reading the headline. There it was in black and white, some journalist did think he was uninteresting. He wasn't sure why it pissed him off, that word, more than any of the other things he'd been called. No, he knew exactly why it pissed him off.

"S'not fuckin' true. What an idiot. Can't believe he gets paid to write garbage like this."

"Well, it was the woman who got interviewed that said it." Kirishima corrected. Katsuki grunted.

"Who'd care to interview some idiot with this opinion?"

"Don't take it so personally, Bakugo," Kirishima said with an easy smile, clapping him on the shoulder. Katsuki made a face. "She burns all of us way more than she does you."

"Yeah, that stuff kinda hurts sometimes. I'd take uninteresting over incompetent." Denki said with a sigh.

Mina laughed. "Except everything she writes about you is true."

The two proceeded to bicker, but Bakugo was still pouting, swirling the amber liquor in his glass before finishing it off. "Whatever. If I ever see that damn journalist I'll chew her head off." He grumbled.

Kirishima let out a nervous laugh. "Watch what you say in public, Bakugo. Some people don't know when you're joking."

He was about to say he wasn't joking, that he would confront the extra who thought she was better than him, when Sero on his other side held up a picture of a woman.

"Well, this is her, if you're curious. I'd leave her alone if I were you, though. She may be a hero critic, but she has a pretty big following."

When he zeroed in on your face, it only took him a second to remember where he knew you from. His crimson eyes narrowed.

Interesting.

—————————————————

You took a sip of wine as you turned from the bar, surveying the ballroom, windows dressed in heavy golden curtains, adding a touch of extravagance that was too overstated for the office party. Though, you couldn’t turn your nose down at the open bar. Even though the event was to wine and dine Japan’s heroes, you were still surprised by how many pro heroes were here. You thought you’d even spotted Red Riot’s fiery hair on your way over to the bar, probably the highest-ranking hero here.

“You know, standing over here with that look on your face isn’t going to convince any of the guests that you’re not some hero-hating bitch.”

You slid a narrowed look over to Shawn, who was leaning against the bar with a smirk. “I don’t have a face.” You shrugged. “Unless I’m looking at you, that is.”

He grinned. “Ouch.”

“You’ll get over it.” You look into your wine glass, then back at him. “Cara couldn’t make it?”

He shrugged. “She’s got some deadline on a commission. She had crazy eyes when I left, I just let her do her thing.”

Nodding, you raise your glass. “She’ll do great.”

He smiled, and he clinked his glass against yours. “Of course, she will. I’m only a reporter, someone’s gotta pay the bills.”

You rolled your eyes, grinning and taking a swig. “Can’t say you’re wrong about that.”

He moved away from the bar, and you followed. It was probably not a great idea to lurk near the bar the whole night.

After painfully dry conversation with some coworkers, you and Shawn broke off, standing at a table and, as discreetly as possible, you shoved every hors d'oeuvres in sight into your mouth. “Skip dinner?” Shawn asked, brow raised as you inhaled your sixth cheese cube and ham combo.

You shrugged. “Had a salad. Should’ve known it wouldn’t be enough. I just didn’t wanna look bloated in this friggin’ dress.” You ended the sentence on a bitter note.

He pat you consolably on the back. “I’ll flag down any waiters I see.”

“How long do you think we have to stay before it’s okay to leave?” You wondered after a beat. Office parties weren’t really your thing. It was awkward, toeing the line of the you at the office and the you outside the office. You didn’t want people think that you were stiff, but one glass of wine too much and you’d end up fodder for workplace gossip.

Shawn laughed beside you. “You’ve been here less than an hour. At least put some mileage on that dress.”

You sighed, looking down at the navy evening dress. You suppose he had a point; it was expensive. “Fine, but then let’s make it interesting.”

He raised his brow. “Yeah? What do you propose?”

You glanced over the sea of coworkers and heroes mingling. “Well, it seems like Jessica is on her fourth glass of wine, and since she already barely has a filter, I’ll bet you twenty bucks she asks at least one hero for their autograph.”

Shawn laughed at that. “Make it thirty and I’ll bet she asks within the next fifteen minutes.”

You grinned, opening your mouth to agree, when your eyes zeroed in on a hulking figure walking in your direction, crimson eyes narrowed. Your stomach dropped as Dynamite, the number two hero, approached you.

—————————————————

“I’ll owe you one.” Kirishima offers on the other end of the phone.

Bakugo grunts. “You already owe me. Why can’t you take Sparky?”

He’s in his living room, just returned from patrol, and he’s ready to shower and hit the hay. He couldn’t care less about some party Kirishima wanted to take him to. Kirishima had told him about the event weeks ago, but Bakugo had avoided giving him a response.

“Denki doesn’t know how to behave at events like that.”

Bakugo smirked, a little smug about it, even if he was annoyed that it made him Kirishima’s next best option. “You think I’m any better?”

Kirishima sighed. “C’mon, Bakugo, it’s open bar. Besides, your reputation could use it.”

Bakugo made another noise in the back of his throat, irritated because Kirishima wasn’t wrong. It had been months since he made a public appearance, and last time he was recorded calling the chief of police an incompetent jackass. He wasn’t wrong, but still.

“Fine. But I’m only stayin’ ‘til nine.”

And that’s how he ended up at the party. He’d made himself comfortable at the bar after shaking a few hands and enduring half an hour of semi-polite conversation. He swirled the whiskey around his glass, trying not to pay attention to the sideway glances and whispered comments about him being there. He should’ve just stayed home.

He was on his third glass when he finally turned from the bar, scanning the room for Kirishima. Instead of finding his red haired friend, his eyes zeroed in on you. You stood across the room, face illuminated with a smile.

He had to admit, you wore the dress well. Even though the cut was modest and a darker color, his eyes traced over your curves. The way you spoke with the man next to you, with the easy expression on your face, he could tell the two of you were close, and it stirred something in Bakugo he couldn’t quite name.

Well, even if you were hot, you had no fucking taste, he thought bitterly, downing the rest of his whiskey. He left the glass at the bar, realizing a second too late that his feet were taking him across the room to you, the liquid courage encouraging him to confront you without a second thought.

—————————————————

You were frozen, staring up at him. His mouth was set in a sneer, and there was a quiet rage in his expression that, while familiar because of his fame as the hot-headed hero, had never been directed at you.

“Don’t think I’m interesting, huh?” He asked, challenge in his eyes.

You hoped your cheeks wouldn’t give away your embarrassment. God, this is exactly what you didn’t want to happen. Well, not that you’d prepared to come face-to-face with him, but now there was no doubt that the interview was taken in exactly the way you hadn’t wanted. You shot a glare at Shawn.

Luckily, Shawn had the good sense to feel a little guilty. “Sorry, man, I was the one who published the interview. My editor made the choice of the headline, but I was the one who put it to print.”

Dynamite’s gaze didn’t even flicker in Shawn’s direction, and you felt the heat of his stare, wishing you could melt into a puddle. “She’s still the one who made the comment.”

“Did you watch the interview, by chance?” When the hero didn’t answer, Shawn continued. “Well, if you had, you’d have realized Y/n said it was uninteresting to write about you. Discourse on the controversial number two hero is an oversaturated market. Surely, you’re aware of that.”

Now he does look at Shawn, a renewed anger flashing in his eyes. You moved to step between the two, hoping to de-escalate the situation.

“Bakugo,” You recognized Red Riot’s voice before you looked over, the hero smiling even though you could tell it was strained. You imagine this wasn’t the first time he’s had to pull Dynamite away from unnecessary conflict before he could make a fool of himself. “Just enjoy the party, no need to stir things up.”

“Hmph.” The number two hero looked angrier than ever, but you guessed by the blush coloring the tops of his ears that even he knew when to be embarrassed. “Whatever. Said I’d only stay until nine, anyway.” And he was turning on his heel, heading toward the exit.

You weren’t sure what possessed you, but you found yourself following him. Maybe you had drank one too many glasses of wine.

He was fast, though, and once you reached the lobby, you had to call out to him before he left the building. “Dynamite, please wait—” you cut off when he stopped, surprised he actually listened to you. Still, you’d take the opportunity to clear the air. “I’m sorry the headline offended you. I did try to convince Shawn to change it, but he’d set his mind to it.” His back was still to you, and you found you almost preferred that. His gaze was too heavy, like you might collapse under the weight of it.

“It’s just funny you’d say something like that, is all.” He was quiet, but you weren’t fool enough to believe he had calmed down. Not yet, anyway.

You feel your cheeks heating up. “Well, as you may recall from what Shawn said—”

“I don’t care what that extra said.” He interjected, turning to face you.

—————————————————

“Well, I didn’t say anything bad about you. I never do.” You’re avoiding his gaze. He can tell you’re nervous, which gives him a sick sense of satisfaction. He can’t deny though, that the way red dusts your cheeks makes him feel oddly protective of you. And he’s pretty sure he wants to keep making you blush like that.

“Is there a way I can make it up to you?”

He’s shocked by the offer, gaze snapping from the way you play with your hands to your face. It’s not in his nature to be trusting, but recalling your last meeting, he’s inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt. He raises a brow, keeping his mouth stiff as he asks. “What’d you have in mind?” The way your eyes widen tell him you were shocked he conceded so quickly. To be fair, he was a little surprised by his behavior, too.

“I—I uh, have tickets. To the game tomorrow night. Great seats, VIP access. Could probably even get you a meeting with the team.”

He wants to roll his eyes. He could get that, and more, easily. He doesn’t care about some stupid game. He was surprised he still didn't want to disappoint you by rejecting it flat out, but he’s realizing quickly that he can’t count on his usually demanding personality when it comes to you, and decides to go with it. He steps closer to you, pride flaring when you suck in a breath, looking up at him through your lashes, nerves, and something else, swimming in your eyes. “I gotta better idea. Dinner, tomorrow night.”

—————————————————

You start listing off the first thing that comes to mind, offering the tickets Shawn had given you in exchange for the interview. You’re watching his expression, hoping he’d be sated by the offer, but you see none. You’re not really sure why it’s important to you that you stay in good standing with him, it’s not like you owed him or anything. He’s a hero, he did what heroes do. He wasn’t the only sexy hero, either, and it wasn’t like you gave a free pass to him, or anyone, just because of a pretty face. And yet, whenever you look into those shadowed red eyes of his, you can’t help but want to please him.

Though, he is quite pretty, you passively think as you search his face for a sign to what he was thinking. You couldn’t recall the last time he’d been photographed in a suit, and seeing him in person was doing something to your brain, but you also had to admit he looked much handsomer the last time you two came face-to-face.

Half a second after you finish thirsting after the hero you register what he said, and then it became nearly impossible to form a coherent thought. Dinner? That was it?

You couldn’t deny the idea didn’t send a thrill through you, but you doubted he had the intentions that dark part of you hoped for. What could he gain from going to dinner with you, though? Did he really care to fix his reputation that much? You couldn’t believe he went to such lengths to sway the perception of the reporters and bloggers who had not-so-forgiving opinions about him, but you could hardly let yourself believe the alternative.

You should refuse. You couldn’t be sure how being seen at dinner with one of Japan’s top heroes would affect your career. Was it a chance you wanted to take? You really shouldn’t.

But you found yourself agreeing before your sense of better judgement could stop you. “Okay. Name the time and place.”

He smirked, and your chest clenched at the mischief in his expression. “I’ll pick you up at eight tomorrow. You’re still at your old place, right?”

You take your bottom lip in your mouth, nodding lightly. Did he really remember where you lived? After all this time? But before you can question him, you hear footsteps echoing in the lobby, signaling the entrance of one, no, two people.

You turn to see Red Riot, followed by Shawn, heading toward you. You look back at the man before you, all humor from before gone from his face. “Tomorrow then, Dynamite.”

His eyes slide back to you, and the corner of his mouth quirks up, so slight you almost miss it. “I’m takin’ you to dinner, doll, might as well call me by my name.”

“Oi, Bakugo.” Red Riot claps his friend on the shoulder. “Everything okay here?”

You almost miss the wink he sends you, face turned enough you were sure neither of the other men caught the gesture, renewing the fading blush in your face. You were hopeful the makeup you wore covered at least a little bit of the red in your cheeks. “Yeah, we worked it out.” His tone and expression were back to being as grumpy as ever, and he turned, heading for the door. “I’m gonna call a cab, Shitty Hair. If you’re not out when it gets here, I’m leaving your ass.”

You shot a sympathetic look at the other hero. You didn’t want to imagine how difficult it was to be close to someone like him. He shot you an equally sympathetic smile. “Sorry for him. His bark is worse than his bite.”

You think of his especially destructive quirk, laughing a little. “I’m sure you could understand my disbelief in that sentiment.”

After exchanging more or less polite farewells, he followed after his friend, leaving you and Shawn alone in the lobby.

“Are you actually okay? I know that guy’s hard to deal with.” You look over at Shawn, his features colored with mild but genuine concern.

You shrug, though you’re not sure if you should tell him about your plans with the explosive hero. “Yeah, we worked it out.”

He raises a brow. “What’d you do? Promise to write a raving review about his hero efforts?” He laughs.

You chew on your lip again. “No. But you should be a little more apologetic. You’re the jackass who got me in that position.” You poke him accusingly in the chest with a finger. “Gonna take more than a couple tickets to get me to forgive you for that one. He’s not exactly an easy man to placate.”

He sighs. “Yeah, you’re right. Though, I will say the interview did get more than fifteen thousand views in the first twenty-four hours. Hot button topics are hot button topics for a reason.”

You shoot him a dry look. “Don’t sound too sorry.”

He laughed. “C’mon. Rejoin the party, I’ll buy you a drink.” He jokes, and you roll your eyes, but smile, following him back inside.

—————————————————

Later, Katsuki is showered and in bed, eyes lazily scrolling through your articles. He couldn’t help but feel smug about the way you wrote, tongue sharp and unforgiving in your perspective of his colleagues. He even found he agreed with your criticisms, though, only where it concerned your opinions on individual heroes. He couldn’t say he fully understood where the vendetta against the hero industry came from, but he was curious to find out.

When he fell asleep, he dreamed of explosions, cries for help, and a hand reaching out for him.

—————————————————

taglist: @asmaechan @animexholic @inumakicanrailme @justanothernpcartist @neonbubby @memariamsworld @iz-jayjay @xviternity @ebonydumbslut

tysm for reading! If you liked it, pls lmk by interacting! Likes are always appreciated, and i rllyyyy love rbs/comments <3 part 2 is coming soon!!

if you'd like me to add you to the taglist, lmk! you must be over 18 and have your age accessible from you blog <3

series masterlist ♡ pt.2

welcome page

#katsuki bakugo x reader #bkg #bakugo fluff #bakugo katuski #bakugo smut #bakugo x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugou smut #bnha bakugo #bnha smut #katsuki bakugo #mha bakugou #mha bakugo #mha au #mha smut #mha fanfiction #bnha bakugou #bnha fanfiction #bnha x reader #bnha bakugo katsuki #bakugo x female reader #bakugou katsuki

[apoptoses]

Trying to escape all the Devil’s Minion hate I’ve seen around here and Twitter (apparently Armand never really loved Daniel, he’s only a footnote in his life, didn’t really have an impact on him or his character development, etc.) by coming to your blog and reading your asks. I truly have no idea how/when/how this influx of hate started (was it the sh*w? It was probably the sh*w) but I just want to tell you I’m so glad you’re around posting fantastic Devil’s Minion content constantly, keeping us fed. Dark times lie ahead and we need to remain strong 🤧

So there's a couple things at play, but first off-

We have like 50 pages of them together in total through all the books. Everyone has different reads on characters/events, people are free to interpret stuff how they want.

However there is a strange and very vocal handful of people who seem to have an agenda to push about Armand and Daniel in specific. I don't know why, I don't know what kind of projection is going on, but they like to insist that Daniel secretly hates Armand and Armand was actually an abusive demon 24/7 and there was never any love between them.

Which if that was just their personal read, whatever. But they run around insisting that this is canon, this is fact, this is what Anne intended and anyone who thinks to the contrary is wrong and needs their ass jumped.

But that's just like, their opinion, man. Nobody has to listen to these people. They are not experts on the secret intentions of Anne Rice. They do not have any info which you, anon, would not also have access to.

The facts are that Armand said he loved Daniel, Daniel said he loved Armand, Daniel begged for eternity with Armand. In the end of the series he went hunting with Armand and moved back in at Trinity Gate. They had fights over the blood when Daniel was mortal and Daniel resented Armand at times for not making him a vampire (but wanted to become a vampire in the end to be with him). Daniel was highly concerned as to whether Armand liked him as a vampire, and Armand said he loved the way he turned out and looked upon him with lust. Anne herself said that Armand was a good person with Daniel, and that she loved his affair with Daniel and it was all about exploration. Everything else is just someone's personal read.

Also, twitter is a cesspit and brings out the worst people lol Don't go there for good takes, you will find nothing but anger and brain rot.

Could it possibly be the show? I don't watch it so I don't really know. I know that the producer seems to be setting up an old school love triangle which is probably going to pit Armand against Lestat, and Daniel against Louis. But idk I have no further relevant knowledge there.

But again, the show is so different from the books. If you don't like the show you're not obligated to listen to or interact with its fans, and if you like the show but don't like the books, vice versa. Nobody needs to be sending hate and insisting that people agree with their personal meta or else they're a bad person. These are fictional characters lmao

But thanks, anon. I am always here to bang the gong of "these two love each other" and create romantic content for them. You're safe here ♥

#apoptoses answers #armand/daniel #devil's minion

[onomatopagu-et-cie]

The Killing Vote (ep. 9 notes)

This time thankfully the notes could be gathered in one single note, and I’m glad I took the time to list many details in the three last posts because it’s connected a lot to what you could say after ep. 9!

After finishing editing Part 3 for ep. 8 notes, I added in a reblog more information on No. 1 Fan’s letter and the Great Maiden’s Blush rose, I’ll put the screenshots here for more readability because I didn’t know reblogs only showed up below the original post (and I’m too well aware of how hard it is to scroll down through that mass of text and pictures lmao)!

Have a nice week-end 👻!

(SPOILERS UP TO EPISODE 9!!!!)

Me with everything that’s happening in the drama lmao:

This also confirms that some details can be interpreted in a completely different way from at first glance, so I explored some theories in these notes hehe!

Like… To KMC’s « Do you have proof that I did it? », BGC’s character answers: « My eyes are the evidence! », it’s exactly what’s happening right now haha

Once again, what are they all cooking????

Here’s a summary of the notes' content:

The Great Maiden’s Blush (ep. 8) Min Jiyoung and Kim Muchan More on Kim Muchan and No. 3 Gaetal Jodan, Donpanic and Kwon Seokju No. 1 Gaetal, Joohyun and Park Chulmin Yoonji, Jodan and Park Chulmin Min Jiyoung’s assistant Kwon Seokju’s late wife and coincidences Cell phones and coincidences Choi Jinsu’s phone call The missing frame on the wall Yang Hyejin denying all sorts of private communication with Kwon Seokju More hints on Kim Muchan and Kwon Seokju’s relationship More religious symbolism, St. Michael & Lucifer Joseph the tattletale, etymology and the duplicity of both the narration and the good and evil in humanity

♦ The Great Maiden’s Blush (ep. 8)

➾ One of the first No. 1 Fan’s letters had a romantic tone to it ; it was the only one (at least displayed) that had this kind of mood to it, the others were focused on a lexicon of justice, moral and religious themes (I think I’ll do a separate post later on the letters because it ties up with what I wanted to say about criminology!).

This letter mentioned the birth flower of June 1st, the Great Maiden’s Blush (in French we call it 'Rose Cuisse de Nymphe', a variety of roses!):

The only moment where we see flowers is in KMC’s nightmare, as he drops the bouquet in shock at the scene in this episode:

The shot is too blurry to make the flowers out (the flowers in the center could look like roses though!) and I believe it’s an arrangement of various flowers anyway, but I thought it might be nice to note this little detail!

Could this specific flower be a reference of a memory?

♦ Min Jiyoung and Kim Muchan

There’s now an interesting parallel between the two characters:

-> Min Jiyoung addresses the camera during her debate with Choi Dohee in ep. 1:

« I want to ask the police that were on screen. Are you a puppet doing whatever you’re told? You can see the ethical standards of the society by the way you treat criminals. Don’t be a puppet. »

-> Joohyun refuses to become KMC’s puppet in whatever game he’s leading her in:

« Then how is that any different from Choi Dohee and that crazy show pretending to be for justice? You’ve been planting evidence to catch criminals and leaking information to screw over your own team. To me, that’s not what a good cop would ever do. (…) But still! I don’t want to be your pawn. »

♦ More on Kim Muchan and No. 3 Gaetal

See this previous post on KMC!

-> Just when Kim Muchan takes some days off and gets in his car, the very next scene is No. 3 coming back to the hideout!

Like… the ellipse in time and the characters’ actions are too convenient, we don’t even know where KMC was headed with his car haha

ALSO the very next scene is KMC and Joohyun checking KSJ’s house at night!!!!

— As Joohyun said, KSJ happened to escape just when KMC had the divine revelation that KSJ was the true Gaetal.

— KMC is leading an investigation on his own, just like Joohyun is too.

The true reason for his escapade at KSJ’s house by night is unknown, he widens his eyes then clenches his jaw as he says there was no big reason (first set of pictures below!).

I'm not sure how to say this, but this expression has the same feel as when someone cuts the other short in their accusation by collecting themself and providing a strong deny or a bespoke excuse/pretext.

And Joohyun’s question feels more like an accusation than a question (which also redirects the attention off her):

After a pause (as though in an attempt to rack his brain to find a quick way to deflect Joohyun’s accusation, in the second set of pictures), he then brings out a valid excuse by victimizing himself and making KSJ out to be ambivalent and manipulative, falling prey to his influence (Joohyun also calls him out on that when he exposes KSJ’s escape, saying he didn’t have to make him look like an evil criminal).

Once he finds out the excuses, he tilts his head pointedly and averts his gaze to the side. He also pushes his tongue into his cheek (perhaps subconsciously and nervously!) to make his actions seem totally natural and expect approval from Joohyun.

Note: When KMC says 'I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything for trusting him too much.', his sentence ends in ~나, which is a marker of an interrogation. Like ~ㄴ/은가, it conveys a softer tone than the other ways to ask a question (eg. ~ㅂ/습니까, ~니, ~아/어, …), sth like: ‘I wondered if I missed anything because I trusted him too much…/Did I miss anything because I trusted him too much… ?

➾ Showing Joohyun he’s not sure he’s been manipulated AND that he’s not too obstinate at emphasizing the certainty of his reason to make sure Joohyun believes him (doing the opposite would make him sound even more suspicious!) speak volumes lmao

And in doing so, he silently returns Joohyun’s implied accusation right back at her.

Note how she doesn’t push the subject further and rather provides on her own the reason she came after KMC did it without him asking to perhaps sound natural like him.

— There was also this scene:

KSJ and No. 3 go back a long way and would never betray them… ? KMC and KSJ have known each other for at least 15+ years since KSJ’s first lecture at the KNPU in 2008 but their exchange hinted they were close before as KMC rooted for his career before said lecture happened.

And given Jihoon’s reaction, he must’ve also realized it was KMC!

But it could still be someone else KSJ knew well eg. the police officer who communicated with him and shot JJW!

Note: Btw what’s with that « We know each other very well, but you said [they're] a bit different. »???? If he's No. 3, could it be because KMC never joined them from the beginning but afterwards or something else that sets him apart from all the other Gaetal… ? Or he’s different because he’s a police officer… ?

— KSJ pleads Yang Hyejin and Jihoon, saying that they ‘should trust [them]’, which is, if Gaetal No. 3 is really KMC, an interesting parallel to what KMC and KSJ say about each other to Joohyun.

This makes it strongly look like before Joohyun factored in this trio, they were actually the ones establishing a rapport in the first place with each other, sending mixed signals to Joohyun about who to trust:

The triangulation of their relationship might not be KMC doubting KSJ and Joohyun defending alternatively one against the other,

But instead KMC and KSJ deliberately trying to make Joohyun doubt both of them so that she’d believe the two didn’t trust each other at all nor work/secretly communicate together (and that’s where the fact that she ignores completely the extent of their past relationship comes into play)

Looking at what each character said about the other, this interpretation might be possible:

-> KMC advising Joohyun many times on KSJ and warning her not to get too close (‘Don’t underestimate him. Don’t show him anything he could use to read you.’ ; ‘Calm down. And keep a neutral pose. Don’t stay too close or too far. If you seem too aggressive, KSJ will notice that and use it against you. No need to bow down to him.’)

-> KMC asks Joohyun to play along with KSJ, become his messenger and try to establish a good rapport, and the drama defines this concept to the audience (« a psychological term referring to a relationship of mutual trust between two people »)

-> KMC says KSJ completely fooled Joohyun even though he warned her not to let him toy with her (ep. 6)

-> KMC reacts so bitterly when it comes to KSJ in front of Joohyun that she’s led to think he hates him (ep. 6)

-> KSJ says Joohyun shouldn’t trust KMC/this ‘friend’ too much, « that’s all he has to say to her. » (ep. 3)

-> When Joohyun asks if KSJ still believes KMC is Gaetal, KSJ avoids answering and vaguely warns her (ep. 6): « At the end of every semester, I used to say this to my students: ‘Don’t trust everything that I teach you. If you do your own research, then you’ll find a different answer.’ », which seems to hint that KMC is not Gaetal (whether KSJ believes or not, what’s important is what Joohyun does with these cryptic words!).

A few scenes ago however, he was hinting that KMC felt the same ‘terrible rage’ that Joohyun could hear in Gaetal’s speech, which could also include him in the suspects! To KMC’s question ‘Anything that wasn’t recorded that’s bothering you?’ (which could mean the ‘terrible rage’ and ‘KMC knows’ parts deliberately left out by Joohyun), she answers no, keeping this detail to herself. Note: Did KSJ bait Joohyun to see if she would make KMC listen to the ‘terrible anger’/‘KMC knows’ part? Which would then confirm whether she’s doing an investigation on her own because she’s suspecting KMC? If so, KMC must’ve been KSJ’s accomplice to confirm Joohyun’s reaction, he looked like he was gauging her reaction after all!

-> KMC asking Joohyun if he has to be on his knees and beg for her to trust him (ep. 8, note that the janitor and KSJ magically arrived right after this line) and also in ep. 9 when he asks her to trust him and bear the consequences of his leak until they catch KSJ and end TKV.

-> KMC claims in front of Joohyun that his suspicious search of Narae’s room (at night, on his days off and without the special team) is because he might’ve missed clues because ‘he trusted KSJ too much’… ? (ep. 9)

➾ This doesn’t necessarily mean KSJ and KMC planned everything together: each other must’ve realized they were Gaetal (and possibly without the other knowing, their relationship seemed strong enough in the past for them to work together without Gaetal factoring in) and that LMS was playing with them.

— Moreover, besides Jihoon, the single one person not being investigated among KSJ’s family, relatives, friends and past colleagues is… KMC. Everyone died or went abroad except him, however he’s deliberately withholding the extent of their relationship during the whole investigation.

(Which makes me wonder why Choi Jinsu never brought it up too, especially if he works for Min Jiyoung … He knows they were close, yet he does nothing of that information! Or perhaps he’s waiting to collect decisive evidence to catch him?)

— And KSJ said No. 3's position could be more valuable than anything else now that the true Gaetal is in a critical situation… ?

And what does KMC do later in the episode?

He exposes KSJ’s escape and subsequently the police’s negligence to get back to work because the case is his responsibility! He has the authority to catch the fake Gaetal (and maybe KSJ himself, KMC looks torn on that question) AND to orient the investigation in whatever biased direction he needs to as long as he’s working.

KMC was the one who volunteered to interview Yang Hyejin in person when Joohyun suggested to investigate her link to Gaetal!!!!

He also didn’t push his luck when he strongly suspected KSJ was upstairs at Yang Hyejin's house (esp. once he noticed the umbrellas) nor did he shoot more bullets to stop KSJ’s escape even though he was obviously at point range.

Also the police officer who KSJ passed the paper to was the one who shot JJW, which would force the police to transfer him to the hospital (perhaps preparing for his escape?) and Gaetal keeps up with JJW’s situation through No. 3 (and what better position would enable you to that if it’s not a police officer?).

And KSJ’s reaction when Yang Hyejin asks if KMC is No. 3 might also be telling (the last set of pictures above).

Whether he’s certain of KMC being No. 3 or not (eg. because they’ve been communicating, or he discovered a decisive hint pointing to him), he must’ve at least an inkling it’s KMC.

Note: And remember he never answered nor denied his involvement with Gaetal whenever Joohyun or KMC asked him ; idem with KMC: when KSJ said he hoped he were Gaetal, he retorted he was a cop (we know that means nothing), adding he would’ve targeted LMS first if that was the case!

— The only character scanning the CCTVs/cameras to make sure he’s not caught in the footage is KMC (especially before acting), and it all happens in ep. 1:

① When he busted the streaming site with Joohyun ② When he communicated with Jovovich, BGC’s wife, making sure his cap conceals his face ③ When he beats BGC up ④ When he pushed the journalists’ cameras aside in annoyance

Note: he was wearing a black mask in ep. 1… just like that 3rd person knocking Joohyun out in ep. 3! There must have been a swap somewhere! (In ep. 3 you can see him leave the hospital with a white mask but he could still have a black one ready in his pocket to not attract attention!)

And No. 3 also does look at the CCTVs (see ⑤), but they don’t have to worry about them since they’re masked (and note they’re the only one with No. 1 we haven’t seen unmasked so far in the Gaetal, unlike Jihoon and his grandmother, as well as the taxi driver for example!).

Also, the Gaetal in the broadcast for BGC’s vote claimed they would be the country’s faithful watchdog who ‘monitors’ the devils deemed innocent (ep. 1). 감시하다 is the verb used: it means to put under surveillance/watch/monitor and it is also used to define what CCTVs do (감시).

➾ Gaetal acts like a human CCTV to catch their targets: nobody knows them but they’re still out there observing those who were unjustly deemed innocent when they're not expecting it.

Note: given this possible CCTV/watchdog association, the shot where the CCTV is placed JUST RIGHT where KMC’s head would be when he meets with Jovovich is pretty fitting (see the shot marked with ‘!!!’) lmao

— Speaking of keywords, this Gaetal in ep. 1 said their justice was rational: « 상식적인 정의 ».

However, the Gaetal who presents the special broadcast AND Kim Muchan ep. 5 phrase it like that « 지독하게 상식적인 정의 » (the same spite KSJ mentions himself when he talks about KMC’s ‘terrible anger’).

And it's interesting to note that Joohyun analyzed KMC’s speech patterns when he addressed the journalists AND Gaetal’s (see the screens in ep. 4 when KMC brings to her the letters ; she even entered on her own the keywords ‘Choi Dohee’, ‘Kim Muchan’ and ‘Gaetal's broadcast’ when she was alone!!!!) + never made KMC listen to KSJ saying KMC feels that rage (지독한 분노)!

And… even before KSJ used this specific adjective in ep. 6, it’s actually Joohyun who said it first about the real culprit: « 지독한 진범 »!

KSJ went out of his way to say ‘the two people who said the same words must be connected’ was a naive approach but is it really? If the focus is somewhere else than the whole ‘Devils deemed innocent was said by Gaetal and KSJ’ and it's a habit the culprit let out subconsciously, it could matter!

— The drama also introduces officially the possibility of car plates being swapped (see this previous post on No. 3 and KMC’s car, 'The Gaetal'!):

— (Going into delulu land 8D) but No. 3’s reaction right after Yang Hyejin says « I hope the professor can at least join us without any trouble. » ie. nodding off and looking to the side afterwards pensively looks like what KMC sometimes does when he thinks to himself!

I’ll edit this if I go through some moments in the drama again!

— The heavy breathing of No. 3 really sounds like the one in the video test by the way!

♦ Jodan, Donpanic and Kwon Seokju

— Given the random repetitions in Jodan's panic (and that people usually unconsciously go back to what's familiar to them), he might be ‘Donpanic’, who worked on Cpt. Oh’s case:

— And he might’ve been communicating with KSJ (the last two pictures): the books stacked on Jodan’s desk were the ones they gave KSJ in his cell at the Police Agency in ep. 5 ; in addition, Jodan was the one KSJ tasked to ask the janitor to bring him a ‘book’.

Also « [KSJ] has zero friends, like me. » is superposed to a shot of Jodan’s back showing only then the stack of books.

Later, when KSJ’s escape is exposed by Choi Dohee and the team watches the news, we also see Jodan texting in panic an unknown third person: neither KMC (he was on his way back from the orphanage) nor KSJ (ofc lol) was present in the room so he could’ve texted one of the two (I believe it’s KSJ he’d want to alert because the possibility of an APB sounds clearly like bad news for KSJ’s plans). It could also be Jihoon!

— Also, when Jodan and Joohyun disguise themselves as students to find No. 1 Gaetal, Jodan seemed pretty nervous to let Joohyun see his conversation with No. 1 and carry on her plan (① below):

♦ No. 1 Gaetal, Joohyun and Park Chulmin

— Joohyun and/or Jodan might be No. 1 Gaetal and/or the mysterious ‘expert’ that helped them:

On one hand, Jihoon says: « I doubt No. 1 did this alone. Hacking and stealing a program and deleting all the data left in the server that quickly? Only experts can do that. »

AND on the other, we get this comment by LMS, confirming it’s not himself at least:

But LMS's comment also suggests that everything (that Jihoon mentioned + the astroturfing by generated comments that seems to be happening under the video KMC’s vote) was No. 1’s sole doing, with no separate expert involved. Meaning No. 1 Gaetal = the expert, one and only person.

LMS also marvels at the speed and the system of this program.

This time, I’m more inclined to believe the culprit’s words himself (that there’s a single individual behind that: even though he only ordered it, he must know a whole lot more about the situation) than the one who got hacked, Jihoon! (And people always compliment Joohyun for her competence at building algorithms and databases… !)

— And when Joohyun brings Jodan along to meet ‘No. 1’ Gaetal, she makes her aim clear (② above): « No. 1 Gaetal must be the jerk who posted stuff to instigate people. The system administrator. »

Provided she’s a part of Gaetal and stole Jihoon’s program, while she specifically mentions No. 1 to Jodan, it’s possible she deliberately mixes the roles of No. 1 and the system administrator (Jihoon) to make it seem she’s looking for No. 1 while she’s actually trying to find the system administrator’s identity.

No. 1 is likely not Jihoon according to the combination of what Jihoon and LMS both said about the hacking ; but it could very well be her and she might be trying to sound less suspicious by aggregating all the tech-savvy tasks in Gaetal (eg. the administration of the system and the astroturfing) to attribute it to one single person.

— I suspected LMS of being the actual author of the request for Jihoon’s counseling when after ep. 8 because whoever does this would want to know where he actually lives this way (which would lead to Gaetal's hideout) and…………..

Turns out it’s actually Joohyun who requested it, and look at how she feigned ignorance in front of Joomin with her ‘Didn’t he receive counseling?/Why don’t you ask him yourself?’ as though she didn’t know about the request for counseling when it did come from her!

There's also the possibility that LMS is deliberately lying to make Jihoon suspect Joohyun and not him (but dude probably doesn’t know Jihoon was very close to KSJ and Narae, he’d still doubt him anyway lmao): after all he seemed to pay a close attention to his expression, as though he was gauging his reaction.

In any case, one of the two is lying and Jihoon’s reaction at this piece of information is interesting, he’s totally absorbed in his thoughts (① below):

But in the end, once Jihoon walked away, you see LMS thinking about what happened and tilting his head as though in incomprehension, so I really think the request really came from Joohyun (② above).

— There was also this troubling scene, as Joohyun watched Choi Dohee on her TV addressing the ‘real’ Gaetal:

« And here’s our message to all the Gaetal who are watching this. I hope you see our intentions to become watchdogs. And until our society achieves rational justice, I will stand by your side. »

Joohyun was about to turn the power off but her hand stilled as Choi Dohee spoke. At first, she looked annoyed because she knows the duplicity of Choi Dohee ; she huffed as soon as she mentions ‘rational justice’ (① above).

But at the very end of the scene (②) you see a hint of a smirk as she decides to finally turn off the TV.

Her smile then completely falls off, ending up looking dejected aaaaaaaaa

— Just like KMC (see Part 2 of ep. 8’s notes, 'The Gaetal'), Joohyun also looks used to the dark and was blinded by the brightness of KMC’s flashlight in ep. 9 (note that he also decided to direct the flashlight in her direction even though he already recognized her):

Note: If I’m hearing well, when KMC says « I was wondering if we had a mole », he only says « 내부에서 » ('[a mole] from the inside'), he doesn’t expressly specify a mole from the Police Agency… Which could also mean it was about a mole from inside Gaetal!

— On that subject, the drama made a point at showing us Jodan and Joohyun chewing ice in frustration (my girl looks TOTALLY DEJECTED LMAO) AND KMC savagely drinking his bottled water in one big gulp (like… dude finished the whole bottle in a record time AND HE CRUSHED THE BOTTLE WITH HIS HANDS lmao)!

It could be a sign of nervousness… Your throat can sometimes go dry and you become thirsty lol, just as Joohyun used the water glass as an excuse to reach LMS’s room (and Jodan’s hilarious theatrics to stall for some time haha)!

— And ever since I noticed the thing about KMC’s car, I’m beginning to think Joohyun (or Jodan, but Joohyun looks suspicious for sure) also muddies the tracks to her by swapping her USB drives or putting/removing the red cap on/from it to look like the one inserted to hack Gaetal’s program (② above).

I’m sure the detail will be brought up back again because Jihoon got his hands on the USB drives, he’ll perhaps recognize something (or perhaps it will be LMS since he’s coming home)!

— The scene with Park Chulmin, the janitor, was really interesting:

The thing is that what the last sentence targets is literally ‘이 안에 있는 모든 사람이’ (‘all the people who are present in here’: it could be the prison or………. the room lmao)… Which also includes the janitor himself, Sangjae and Joohyun lmao

Note that what Joohyun says next expressly points the prison, excluding herself and the team from the scope of the search (‘이 교도소에’ and not the ambiguous 이 안에): « We’re going to start the investigation assuming that everyone in this prison is KSJ’s potential communication link. »

This might be an interesting parallel to how KMC always manages to dodge the suspicions because he’s seemingly not matching any criteria of the list while the truth would place him on top of it and in priority: nobody bothers to put a name on the relationship he has with KSJ because a few know it in the first place (see more on the « Escaped convicts go to their families, friends, lovers, … or their prison friends. » later in the post!).

Note: The janitor himself looks suspicious along with the warden. -> While he genuinely seems to resent criminals who profit off the system and live comfortably in prison, he also seems to portray himself like so deliberately, there for everyone to see. Eg. in front of CCTVs (when he beat up KSJ right in the middle of the jail’s camera), and also particularly in front of Joohyun (in ep. 5 when they escort KSJ and made a show at putting the electronic tag on him ; notice it’s curiously never with KMC for example who he voluntarily reached to to since ep. 2). It could be to divert everyone’s attention off him by showing the image of the enraged janitor who would rather die than to become a murderer’s accomplice to be able to work with KSJ. -> This bit in ep. 8 was interesting too: « I had to drive him around and take him home. Is he my boss or what? » -> PCM also gave KMC the letters, who made a show of arresting him (was it to make them seen? After all this moment was caught on camera and used in the video for KMC’s vote!). KMC made a point at underlining he was taking the letters as evidence after the arrest (was he trying to make the transaction undetected by providing a legitimate reason to take the letters?). There’s no saying whether the stack of letters didn’t include something else inside (eg. a message, or the first letter that’s supposedly the one in ep. 9, that would reveal to KMC LMS’s involvement), and KMC could have very well separated whatever this was from the stack and handed Joohyun the letters without her knowing anything. The content the janitor mentioned to KMC wasn’t anything like what we saw of it, and anybody would’ve been alarmed by it tbh lmao (the whole religious imagery, talking about punishing evildoers for KSJ, strong, borderline obsessive admiration for KSJ etc.????). But even so, he only quoted « ‘What Inmate 0512 did wasn’t murder.’, ‘It’s technically self-defense.’ Bullshit letters like that. Since this was such a big case and got a lot of attention, the warden made us inspect his mail for the first time. Because he didn’t want to be held responsible for any weird letter he could get. That’s how we found his No. 1 Fan. (…) Once you read them, you’ll know why I’m doing this. » The janitor was the one who first showed the letters to the warden before going to see KMC (he was quite insistent too if you rewatch the scene, like he had an ulterior motive in mind). So what he says to KMC: « The warden made us inspect his mail for the first time. » could be a lie or at least he’s hiding he was the one who coaxed the warden into doing the inspection. -> There’s also no saying the janitor didn’t communicate with KMC from the moment he got his police contact card and the moment he reached him to talk about the No. 1 Fan letters too! -> If the first letter was in the stack, perhaps KSJ communicated with KMC through the janitor to let him know LMS was actually involved in the Killing Vote, something like that? -> The drama makes a point at letting us know that the janitor was absent the whole time KSJ escaped ; we also learned there were two motorbikes in the car truck: could he have acted as a bait to let KSJ escape?

➾ I get the feeling Joohyun is No. 1 Gaetal: she infiltrated Gaetal and tried to dismantle it from the inside on LMS’s instructions and with No. 5’s help (the taxi driver) because she realized how dangerous TKV could be.

Either she realized it since the get-go or she sympathized at first with it/KSJ (she perhaps communicated with KSJ on her own and KSJ realized it) but got a wake-up call as soon as she saw KMC getting almost killed, Choi Dohee using it to fulfill her own ambitions and KMC faking his death for example.

Also the premise that she’s a part of Gaetal doesn’t necessarily mean she knows the hideout Jihoon used with the others, especially since we saw some vacant desks in ep. 8 & there's a possibility she assumed roles that didn't need her to be present.

Little did she know that LMS was the one behind all the orders she received, which would understandably make her seethe with anger. What she does from this point on might completely change from her initial goal.

♦ Yoonji, Jodan and Park Chulmin

— There’s this weird conversation between Sangjae and Yoonji, when they inspect KSJ’s house after last night’s events in ep. 3:

« — [Sangjae:] Why did Joohyun have to come in here alone? What’s all this mess? — [Yoonji:] Did she really fight on her own? Was she always this athletic? — Do you think she fought back because she knew how to? You know her temper. I’m sure she fought back with all her might. » Note: Joohyun (who went in KSJ’s house in ep. 3) and Jodan’s personal records are the only ones in the team we aren't shown! Joohyun is always depicted by her telltale ‘temper’, her coworkers thinking she’s not athletic, but what if she actually was?

Yoonji looked nervous/alarmed after that exchange:

-> Once the conversation ended, she noticed the paperknife on the frame and glanced at it for some time ;

-> The point of this scene at first glance was to foreshadow that KMC was still alive while deceiving the whole country, even his team: Yoonji must know KMC was athletic like her since they’ve been on the same team for years (see Part 3 of ep. 8’s notes!) and this scene was perhaps there only to show she was suspicious about KMC’s ‘death’ ; but this reaction could be for something else ;

-> We know the paperknife is now gone and the only one who noticed it was Yoonji (Sangjae passed it): she might’ve taken it without the forensics knowing (eg. to help KMC erase his tracks or take a message, idek at this point haha).

— The succession of events for Cpt. Oh’s vote was magically filled with coincidences:

-> KMC took Joohyun aside from the team to ask her to bring KSJ along because Gaetal will ‘definitely show up as they always punished the targets on their own’ (this will be relevant later ; also note that we now know that Gaetal is a group and that KMC might be No. 3).

-> KMC was the first character who led the team to concentrate on the person on the motorbike (motorbike????) by putting an APB on it, asking his colleagues to « keep an eye on deliverymen at every place related to the Killing Vote. »

-> Yoonji was then the other one who led the team to fully focus on any sign of a ‘deliveryman’ and a ‘parcel’ in Cpt. Oh’s case when she confirmed witnesses remembered ‘Delivery’ was written on the vest of Uhm Eungyeong’s kidnapper (but they were wearing a mask) and as they were going through all the possible Cpt. Ohs.

She was also the one who gave the hint of the ‘professional martial artist’, leading the team to believe the person on the motorbike was the same as the one who fled from KSJ’s house.

-> KMC wanted Jodan to ask the potential Cpt. Oh (JJW) to check if he’s received a package (like… even the moment Jodan said out loud ‘Oh Gyungpyo’, making KMC turn his head fully concentrated + KMC then whispering the ‘package’ instruction + Jodan then exchanging a knowing glance, putting the conversation on speaker right when JJW magically admits he’s got a package + Jodan and KMC exchanging glances, eyes wide open also feel weird now 8D).

-> After this phone call, this led KMC to lead all the police force in the fake Cpt. Oh’s direction and the real Cpt. Oh not being able to ask for help for some time. But KMC still made a point at listening both Cpt. Ohs’s stories on the phone (perhaps to stall for some time?)

-> Joohyun was about to leave with KSJ without the janitor, who caught up and insisted on going too because this whole situation was breaching the agreement they had with the warden (he pointedly looked at Joohyun once they got in the car).

Yoonji was the one who reacted the strongest to Cpt. Oh’s twisted account of his crime (and shifting the blame on the victim) when she was in the car ; I don’t know why, but I get the feeling she was a friend of Lieutenant Im (JJW’s fiancée), helping KMC and JJW. And Jodan held her fist to comfort her!

-> Magically right after Jihoon could be heard arriving next to Cpt. Oh, KMC turns off the phone/puts the phone on silent mode that put the real Cpt. Oh and Jihoon on speaker (he knows Jihoon's voice at least from the events of ep. 3 and we know he wanted to meet with him after to ‘ask him something’). KMC then decides to focus on the phone call with JJW.

Note: However Choi Jinsu, who was the one who called the real Cpt. Oh and made KMC listen to the call, doesn’t know Jihoon’s voice so he couldn’t be suspicious of anything (Jihoon’s voice could also have been faint because he was speaking from some distance)!

-> KSJ drops this banger to Joohyun right before entering the hospital: « Are you sure about this? If he’s the real Cpt. Oh, Gaetal will be there. It’s not too late to go over to Team Leader Kim. TO LET YOURSELF OFF THE HOOK. » (and their reactions!!!! They both look tense! Were they talking about something else, especially since Joohyun now looks totally suspicious in the past recent episodes?)

-> While Joohyun and KSJ were busy looking for people KSJ might’ve recognized (which distracts Joohyun's attention from whatever is happening at the same time), the janitor stayed behind as the patient in a neck brace (that he glanced at for a short time) made a scene because he didn’t want to have his ID checked, which attracted the attention to him as he was trying to leave.

-> KSJ magically notices the deliveryman he used to know, but the real parcel was actually placed elsewhere. Joohyun ran after the deliveryman, KSJ staying a little behind at first.

-> The janitor then magically noticed the bomb that wasn’t that strong to kill him from being this close (however it spread lot of smoke, impairing everyone’s vision). KSJ crossed paths with JJW as he was catching up with Joohyun and we don’t know how his electronic tag got removed: he was handcuffed, he couldn’t have done that alone.

Note: it’s the tag that the janitor insisted to put on KSJ himself and not Joohyun (did he put it loosely on KSJ’s ankle so that it would come off on its own?). But it’s also Joohyun who brought the model herself and connected it to her watch, she could have very well fiddled with it too! The tag fell from a certain height (at least from the waist, was it on his wrist… ?), definitely not from his ankle! The janitor/Joohyun/KMC/anybody else in contact with KSJ before could’ve changed its place from the moment he got moved to the Police Agency to this moment!

-> As a consequence, JJW was left alone with Cpt. Oh, Jihoon and KMC and the rest of the police force was dispatched anywhere else but there (the electronic tag’s alarm was another way to disperse the police force), arriving late.

— For posterity, Yoonji is the one who has to keep watch on JJW who is taken to the hospital!!!!

♦ Min Jiyoung’s assistant

The new Gaetal who stabbed the target of this episode might be Min Jiyoung’s assistant: the motions (grabbing the victim by the head to how she holds her knife and stabs) and the petite silhouette/build are the same!

♦ KSJ’s late wife and coincidences

In ep. 7, Min Jiyoung asks her assistant to ‘look into that detective [KMC]’ AND ‘find out any rumors about [KSJ’s] late wife’ to mention them in another video we were not seen.

Whether the assistant managed to find something is a complete mystery till now! We were only shown in scenes just before the video accusing KSJ of having an inappropriate behavior with his students and his daughter when he was interviewed by KMC: MJY’s order came after the first video.

Note that Min Jiyoung slapped KMC after BWT’s acquittal, saying: « I’m sure you know why I hit you. » (emphasis on the why, 왜), adding that her son « should never be tainted by the likes of you. » (emphasis on the taint). Is this linked somehow? What did she find on both KMC and KSJ (which doesn’t mean both findings were necessarily linked, but the two orders came about in the very same scene)? LMS finds that KMC is a ‘funny guy’ ; the video of Narae that Joohyun finds at the end of ep. 9 is literally titled with the English ‘FUN’ ; No. 1 Fan (LMS) hinted in one of his letters that Narae was a « tattletale » (고자질쟁이) ie. a person, esp. a child, who reveals secrets or informs on others (the context suggests that she once revealed LYS’s secrets since he ‘gave her a second chance’). ➾ We don’t know what the secret was (perhaps it’s linked to LYS and all the settled past SA cases that didn’t suspect him at all?) nor if LYS is actually lying. (More on ‘Joseph the tattletale’ at the end of the post!)

When KSJ’s surroundings is brought up once again in ep. 9, we’re shown this record (① below):

This is what you can read on the record:

-> Both KSJ's father and mother live abroad in the United States ;

-> Narae died in 2015 ;

-> KSJ got married to Jeong Yeonsu (born on May 4, 1980) on October, 2004 and she died on December, 2008.

As side notes and little coincidences:

KSJ began teaching at KNPU in March 2008. From 2002 to March 2007, he went abroad to get his Master’s degree and Doctorate in Philosophy of Law, Criminal Psychology and Criminology.

Narae was born on September 17, 2008 which is also the birthday date of KMC, born on September 17, 1986 (EDIT: yes, Narae was murdered 2 days before their birthday and they probably used to celebrate it together, now I'm devastated).

If KMC and KSJ knew each other for 15+ years, how would he have known KSJ between 2002 and 2007, since he was abroad? Either they first met in 2008 when he came back or they go back an even longer way!

The first name of KMC’s mother was Yeonjeong or Yeongjeong (we only hear KMC call her, we have yet to see her name written on personal records), which is a curious mix of Jeong Yeonsu’s name.

What’s intriguing is that while both Narae and Jeong Yeonsu passed away, only Narae has a residence registered under her name: Jeong Yeonsu is the only one who has none (see the box left blank highlighted above). Even KSJ’s parents, who are abroad, have their residence filled in. Will this be relevant later?

Usually residence/a mailing address is mandatory and must appear on official documents (like a register of births, marriages and deaths), right?

And coincidentally, we see Joomin asking her sister in the same episode:

« How do you find out where someone actually lives? (…) The police even came to our school, because his address was wrong. They said no one lives at the address registered in the school records. No one’d ever lived there. »

➾ This introduces the possibility that official documents don’t necessarily reflect the reality of a situation in the drama.

Another example was brought up ever since ep. 1 with BGC: he managed to get a fraudulent marriage with Jovovich in jail (through what seems to be human trafficking) to reduce his sentence. And it’s one of the elements of his sham with a letter of apology that enraged Gaetal.

There’s also that asterisk right next to the status of ‘wife’ that bugs me (see the last line of the record above)! I’ll come back to it if I find some answers!

I don’t know if the signage is the same in SK, but an asterisk often means you need to fill in the needed information on the line/column marked by this sign. But this wouldn’t make sense at all here since the rest of the family, the parents and the daughter were not marked by an asterisk even though they’re equally important. I can only see it as a way to mark that the box in question needed additional information that’s still not provided by the individual even though it’s mandatory for verification (eg. for a marriage or civil union, it’d be a certificate of marriage/contract of civil union ; for a child a birth or adoption certificate etc.). For example, perhaps the civil registrar needed a proof of Jeong Yeonsu’s residence or her death certificate to attest to her death. And as you can see when Min Jiyoung ran a background check on KSJ in the car, all KSJ’s cursus seemed to have been verified by her team from the looks of the red marks right across (see the last picture above), as though they ticked each piece of information once they were done checking it. But even with that, she still lacked information on his late wife after since she asked her assistant to look for rumors (did something make her perplexed? eg. from the official documents?), there might be something going on.

Note how it’s the only official document being shown in the drama with a governmental seal attesting to its authenticity AND that KSJ had at the time many connections in the legal and judicial world (and he was admired by the entire country), so counterfeit, though far-fetched, might be a possibility.

The official seal doesn’t look like the ones I tried to find for kr documents while I was looking that up, I wonder if this will be relevant later?

Also note that KSJ was the warden’s legal advisor (eg. for his divorce, but he seemed to meet him on a weekly basis for another reason) and it’s brought up again in ep. 9.

For what it’s worth, only opposite-sex couples married for at least 3 years are eligible to adoption in SK. Single parents don’t have the right to adopt.

♦ Cell phones and coincidences

Big conspiracy vibes but we finally got a closer look to the content of the glass panel in LMS’s hidden room and the phone and the phone exhibited looks like KMC or BWT’s… (I know, it’s a pretty common phone model lmao, I had something similar years ago but there must be a reason it’s displayed as a trophy like that in LMS’s room!)?

EDIT: a side note, but the picture of Narae and KSJ was indeed stolen by LMS ; it was in the frame right next to Narae's picture that KSJ faces to her stuffed bunny in ep. 6, and it is now empty!

The borders on KMC/BWT’s phone are grey/metallic.

In comparison, Narae’s was white and the news declared it was found by the police discarded in a park trash bin near ‘Dawol-dong’ and it was broken.

If I’m not mistaken, it’s the only phones that were shown in the flashback, I don’t believe we were even shown KSJ’s?

➾ Did LMS steal KMC/BWT’s phone? Did he find something of interest to him in the phone’s content or where he found the phone?

If the phone belonged to BWT, was it because it had the recording of Narae’s cries for help on it?

Note: we hear the journalist on the news mention the ‘Dawol’ neighborhood but it’s not written anywhere on the screen, so we don’t know the exact name of the neighborhood, only its pronunciation. It could be 다월 (Dawol) but also 당월 (Dangwol), which is where KMC happens to live (you can see it on his personal record in ep. 1, the last picture above).

And speaking of phones, Joohyun’s reaction to KMC’s phone falling on the ground (after she urged him to answer her questions on his connection with KSJ) also seemed out of place in ep. 3, the drama also emphasizes the focus on the phone and both characters’s reactions that seemed to have the same realization:

-> Is he actually using two phones (eg. one destined for specific calls like for Gaetal/KSJ or his deal with the Commissioner and his superior) and Joohyun noticed the phone that fell wasn’t the one he used usually?

Note: in ep. 9, a meeting between the Commissioner, KMC and his superior happened right before he took a few days of leave and behind closed doors: the drama doesn’t show us the matter discussed at all!

-> Did Joohyun notice the phone looked similar to the one a third person (eg. one of the Gaetals) was using in their meetings (provided she’s part of Gaetal)?

Like at this point you can’t even make sh*t up ; this moment felt out of place to the same extent that conversation on the ‘firecracker smell’ sounded weird (see Part 3 of ep. 8’s notes, 'Joomin and the 'firecracker smell''!). There are really too much coincidences piling up.

♦ Choi Jinsu’s phone call

He said « The professor’s picnic is over » to somebody else over the phone once we learned KSJ escaped. Min Jiyoung later texted LMS KSJ fled.

He used 소풍 which can mean trip, picnic but also… outing (ie. act of going outside to admire the scenery or to relax, play etc.).

When LMS laughed to himself as he found out KSJ got out of prison in ep. 5, he says: « What’s my Professor up to? Is he on an outing? », the last question was ‘우리 교수님 놀래 나왔어?’ ('Did my [dear] Professor come out to play?' 놀다 means play, have fun). Perhaps this became a code between them?

You can also see a focus on Choi Jinsu's expression looking at KMC leaving when he took some days off.

Note how KMC’s smile seemed sad/regretful and a bit forced when he discussed with CJS on the rooftop and swallowed (does he know CJS is betraying him?). His smile slowly faded away once CJS left:

« — Cover for me for a few days. — I can’t do it for long, so come back soon, okay? You know I’m retiring soon. »

And CJS looked at KMC reaching his car from a distance, the car once again being emphasized with a zoom in.

If KMC is No. 3, perhaps CJS caught on the faked car plate KMC uses? When KSJ fled, he followed on the CCTVs the police going after him, including KMC's car, so perhaps he noticed it once more then!

AND LMFAO I JUST NOTICED THE CAR PLATE CHANGED ONCE MORE (149호 7861, something entireeeeeeely different from his initial digit combination! See Part 2 of ep. 8’s notes for more details in 'The Gaetal'!)

Note that when KMC was chasing after KSJ at the beginning of the episode, the car plate was his usual one (the one beginning with 21).

Note: just like specific digit combinations (eg. for freight, coaches or specialized vehicles), the letters inscribed on the middle of a Korean car plate can sometimes indicate something about its owner, if it’s a private vehicle (eg. 가, 다 or 마 among many others, and remember No. 3 and KMC’s cars had these last two letters combination respectively), a military vehicle (eg. 육 for the army, 국 for the Ministry of National Defense) or a rental car (only three letters combination indicate this: 허, 하 and… 호, which is present on KMC’s new car plate!).

➾ KMC either rented a car (in the same grey color) or used another fake car plate to cover his tracks and lead to a wrong hint!

He’s not the only one who played with a vehicle swap, KSJ did too with the two motorbikes!

♦ The missing frame on the wall

I talked in Part 1 of ep. 8’s notes ('Three pictures missing in Kwon Seokju's house') about how three frames hung on the staircase wall were lacking their original pictures and drawing ever since ep. 3.

And now there’s even a frame that’s totally missing lmao (the picture on the left)!!!!

If it is relevant to the story, was there a message inside? Who took it (the one it was truly destined for or someone wanting to stop their plans?)?

♦ Yang Hyejin denying all sorts of private communication with Kwon Seokju

… And we know it’s false (see Part 3 of ep. 8’s notes, 'Kwon Seokju's conversation with Jihoon's grandmother'!), KSJ said he wanted to visit YHJ’s 'hospital' once he’s 'released' among many other things, and we see him indeed hiding at her house:

This episode also showed how he communicated with Jihoon during his medical check-ups through Yang Hyejin’s phone while it’s forbidden for inmates to carry a personal phone on them.

♦ More on Kim Muchan and Kwon Seokju's relationship

Through subtle details, we could learn more about KSJ and KMC’s bond:

Kim Muchan's guilt

When CJS said KSJ might resent him for what happened 8 years ago, you can see KMC swallowing at that and looking away.

He's maybe thinking this isn’t true because he knows the situation sounds more complicated.

But he's also probably still caught up in the personal hell he’s been living since the choices he made in Narae’s investigation, doubled by KSJ’s own choice leading him to prison (‘abandoning everything that he had’ as KMC said — and he probably includes both Jihoon and him in that everything). The guilt is still gnawing at him.

He also says he will catch both KSJ and LMS. Whether it’s a lie or not, nobody knows: there’s even doubt among the Gaetal, esp. Yang Hyejin when KSJ asked her and Jihoon to trust him, while Jihoon kept silent as though he was vaguely aware! It’s likely that the drama wants to cultivate the doubt on him joining sides with KSJ/arresting him until the very end!

The scene is reminiscent to what he asks to Joomin: « What if I have [experienced injustice in my life, saw someone live a good life after murdering my family]? If I’ve been through the same thing, do I have the right to arrest him? »

➾ He perhaps became KSJ’s accomplice along the way, not necessarily since the beginning, because he probably didn’t know he communicated with LMS! Both maybe suspected each other of being part of Gaetal also!

➾ Perhaps one of the two decided to join TKV because they knew the other was involved in it, so that they wouldn’t go down alone or in order to become the scapegoat?

Discreetly letting out his connection to Jihoon, Narae and Kwon Seokju

① « Her older brother »

When Joohyun says the boy present in all the drawings Narae did was her best friend, quoting KSJ’s words (’Narae’s best friend’), KMC pauses, briefly shifts his jaw back and forth and finally corrects her as he’s focused on the only picture we have of Jihoon and Narae: it was her older brother, not her friend and he’s one of the perhaps very few people privy to this detail of KSJ’s life despite there being no visible signs of this child about to be adopted at KSJ’s home except for that sole picture with Narae.

He quickly back pedals and pretexts he’s knowledgeable about that detail because the adoption was brought up during Narae’s case and nothing else.

There's a chance Joohyun would then wonder why KSJ lied about this detail and KMC was aware from the standpoint of the police officer in charge while KSJ should be the most knowledgeable about it.

② « I never knew he was ill »

KMC admits to the audience he never knew Jihoon was ill, suggesting in silence he’s well-aware of everything else because he most likely lived those events with KSJ’s house. He looks pained when he learns the truth behind his illness.

The fact that KMC didn’t know about Jihoon’s traumatic mutism might be because he perhaps only knew him when he was able to speak, happy by Narae and KSJ’s side + (crack theory time lmao) KSJ kept Jihoon’s tragedy hidden because it might’ve something to do with Min Jiyoung?

③ « Escaped convicts go to their families, friends, lovers, … or their prison friends. »

When Joohyun calls him and wonders where KSJ could have went, KMC claims it’s obvious: he then lists off all the possibilities.

After the mention of lovers (애인), you can hear from KMC a quick breath intake as he casts his eyes down to the ground while furrowing his eyebrows. It’s the only word that triggers a reaction.

Note that 애인 is specifically chosen by KMC ; it’s a gender-neutral word for lover, like 연인 (though the two differ from each other in a very subtle way), and you’d colloquially use for example 여자친구 and 남자친구 (girlfriend, boyfriend).

As it’s gender-neutral, it can also be used between sexual minorities (just like you’d say ‘partner’ for example).

(Take that as you will but me says it’s getting less and less subtle haha)

♦ More religious symbolism, St. Michael & Lucifer

See more about religious symbolism in ep. 6 notes (Hieronymus Bosch’s triptychs) and in ep. 7 notes (St. Michael & KMC, the ambidextrous angel)!

We finally get the last painting displayed in LSM’s hidden room when Joohyun sneaks in: The Fall of the Rebel Angels, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

It depicts Lucifer’s fall from heaven « because of his pride and rebellion against God’s divine plan, which was to appoint Jesus as the people’s savior. Lucifer coerced one-third of the angels to follow his lead in the rebellion and to assist in appointing him to be the new ‘God’. The sin of pride caused the fall of Lucifer and his companions and resulted in the ‘war in heaven’. Archangel Michael was given the duty to drive Lucifer and the fallen angels out of heaven. The conflict of good and evil as well as vice and virtue are constant recurring themes throughout Bruegel's work. »

The detail about Lucifer coaxing angels to join his cause is a pretty fitting detail, especially since he tainted the country’s hands with blood and perhaps one Gaetal from the inside who ignored everything of his twisted intentions eg. Joohyun!

Now I wonder who is Lucifer and who is Michael c:

♦ Joseph the tattletale, etymology and the duplicity of both the narration and the good and evil in humanity

As I mentioned it previously, LMS quoted Joseph’s story in the Bible and likened it to Narae’s character.

In the Genesis, Joseph is sold as a slave to Potiphar (an officer of the Pharaoh) by his jealous half-brothers who initially planned to kill him (their father, Jacob, favored Joseph among his sons, an ornamented coat/cloak/tunic Joseph wore symbolizing this preferential treatment) and painted goat’s blood on his coat to show it to their father Jacob, who believed he had died.

Note: said coat, whose telltale characteristics were its colorful appearance (or with silk/embroidery/pictures/designs depending on the versions) and long sleeves, was called the untranslated ketonet passim ; Coat of Many Colors from the vulgate and even rainbow colors. In Thomas Mann’s works, the cloak is seen as the bridal veil of Rachel, his mother (and Jacob’s cousin and second wife), who Jacob was in love with.

Later in his life, Joseph, who became trusted and honored in Potiphar’s household, was falsely accused by Iempsar, Potiphar’s wife, of trying to violate her, after her attempts at seduction had failed.

Speaking to Potiphar, the wife points to the red robe Joseph left behind when he ran from her clutches, wickedly using the presence of the garment as evidence to support her accusation.

➾ Joseph was eventually dually the ‘righteous one’ (ha-Tzadik by Rabbis) but also labeled a ‘tattletale’, seen in a bad light, because he told his father bad reports on his half-brothers and spoke of auspicious dreams hinting at him assuming family leadership and reigning over them. But this doesn’t say anything about the brothers’ cruel deeds against him.

There are various commentaries and interpretations on this story in the silence of the text, theorizing on both Joseph and his brothers’ behavior and the ambivalence of good and evil, and how Joseph might’ve been wrongly stigmatized as a tattletale, undeservedly persecuted.

Even though some agreed Joseph was blameless, they still saw him as a gifted but insensitive child, conceited and very caught up in himself and ‘blithely assuming everyone will be fascinated by the details of his dreams’ and rubbing the favoring prophecies in his brothers’ faces. « In the end, who was to blame? The brothers: for jealousy and hatred and violence. Joseph: for bringing bad reports, showing off the coat, flaunting the dream.  Jacob: for unfairly loving one son and ignoring the others. Or does the blame go further back? Jacob’s parents were unfair and his brother Esau wanted to kill him. Jacob’s father Isaac had tension with his brother.  In the very first family, the first son murdered his brother.  Like a family tradition, the curse of deception, resentment, violence moves down the generations. »

Thomas Mann’s tetralogy, Joseph and His Brothers, is one example (there’s also Dostoïevski’s Karamazov Brothers, even Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo is theorized to be inspired by the story of Joseph!).

It also seems that in Hebrew, « clothing/garments » (beged) might have a common root with « betrayal/deception » (bagad) and the foreshadowing wordplay could be seen in the way Joseph’s story unfolds.

Here’s the thing about tattletales and whistleblowers: you criticize them for dredging up a vital piece of information deemed as a (sometimes dark) secret, something that was hidden by people for a reason, thus violating their secrecy. There’s an unwritten, tacit code of conduct being breached.

➾ It’s the act of exposure that’s inherently seen as bad, like you would ‘shoot the messenger’.

Which ties up interestingly well with the drama’s spectrum of what people deems as good and evil and truth and lies and Joohyun’s character set as a whistleblower (내부고발자), but also if you think about it, Choi Dohee’s journalism, KMC (in ep. 9) and LMS in Narae’s case.

The duplicity of this role is even further highlighted by Joohyun who accuses Choi Dohee of disclosing her real name, making her the scapegoat of the investigation’s aftermath (희생양), written off as a betrayer in the police’s eyes (배신).

Note that KMC is also deemed as the scapegoat of the Police Agency (ep. 1, as Jodan said) even though his career seems pretty successful (now who’s the real scapegoat?).

BWT, while being DEFINITELY involved in Narae’s murder (and perhaps the other past SA that were settled by LYS’s father), was LYS’s scapegoat that made him escape the charges, perhaps following whatever his family’s deal was with Min Jiyoung.

Even in ep. 9, the taxi driver wants revenge for his lost family even though he ‘cosplayed’ as a victim and Min Jiyoung instrumentalizes Choi Dohee’s show to select TKV’s next target according to her standards and schemes, same as the astroturfing that takes advantage of the people's trust in ep. 8.

Which is why I believe that LYS’s letters laying out the plans for the future Killing Vote could also be meant to talk about something else entirely at the same time ; the alleged targets weren’t specified, with gender-neutral words, and the same motif comes back about punishing an individual shielding oneself behind the guise of virtue and atonement to conceal the evil inside (see this reblog).

The etymology of those key words also adds meaning to the drama:

① The hanja for whistleblower (내부고발자) is 內部告發者:

內: inside (안, 속)

部: group/aggregation/body (떼, 집단)

告: inform/tell/notify ie. let someone realize or know what they didn’t know or forgot, advertize/publicize or signal ie. indicate or show a certain fact or phenomenon (고하다, 알리다 and 아뢰다 which has the nuance of telling a superior something in one’s workplace)

發: for a flower to bloom/blossom (KMC’s bouquet and the Maiden Blush rose) and for a laughter or smile to bloom on one’s face (LMS much lmao) but also burn ie. for briquettes, coals, etc. to catch fire and burn and rise ie. for a cloud, smoke, etc. to rise and also spread (‘where there's smoke, there's fire’ lmao) ; for a smell, dust, etc. to spread or rise (see Part 2 of ep. 8’s notes on KMC and dust ; fitting with the expression ‘smoke and mirrors’ lmao) (피다, not to mention that 피 means blood) ; shoot/launch (like… a gun or a rock lmao) and speak sharply ie. say something in a harsh and sharp manner to hurt someone else’s feelings (쏘다) ; the motion of standing up/rising/sitting up but also soar up/swell and prosper/revive ie. for something that was weak or did not exist to flourish or become strong (일어나다)

Note: the weak/disadvantaged/underdog (약자) is also written with the same hanja ; one of Min Jiyoung’s present campaign pledges is to help the disadvantaged and Gaetal defends the country against devils deemed innocent who feed off money and power and crush the weak ; not to mention the Robin Hood/Batman/Hong Gildong/Wilhelm Tell imagery.

者: a person, thing or animal (놈, 사람, 것)

➾ You reveal from the inside one’s wrongful deeds by feeding into that fire to the point that its smoke rises up above and alert the people outside.

You can hear Joohyun cry for ‘Fire!’ to distract the journalists’ attention to run with KMC in ep. 4. Jodan also says Joohyun will ‘catch hell’ if she tries to look deeper into the video test. It also ties up nicely with the fire imagery in the drama associated to eternal fire and damnation, the wrath originating from tragedies, evil and the resoluteness/doggedness/strength of will in one’s actions (or as Jodan said the ‘persistent, crazy and competent lunatics’) eg. No. 1 Fan, Joohyun, KMC, KSJ and LMS.

Even the thing about the smell (냄새, you can use it colloquially to mean something feels fishy/suspicious also because it also defines the mood/atmosphere felt about an object or phenomenon) in the drama becomes relevant lmao:

-> Jodan’s morning bad breath and Joohyun telling him to keep his mouth shut in ep. 1 ; she later associates bad breath to her annoying (and potentially corrupted) superior at the Cyber Bureau in front of KMC in ep. 4: « Don’t bother arguing with the higher-ups. It won’t do you any good. Now, I’m reminded of someone. And that bad breath. »

-> When Joohyun alerts her superior on the Gaetal video test (‘It seems fishy, right?’, ‘You’re right, I can smell it. You being nosy again. It reeks. I’m hearing the sound of a bird chirping somewhere.' which is a wordplay on 새, bird and 냄새 because 새 and 새 sound almost identical)’

-> BGC’s « Our regulars who reek of money are waiting. We can’t wait. »

-> The smell of the bar waiter’s « insides churning in pain » as KMC burnt his money (ep. 2)

-> The firecracker/gunpowder smell of the third person fleeing KSJ’s house (ep. 3 & 4)

② Betrayal (배신) is written 背信 in hanja:

背: the back of someone or something (등 or 뒤, which also has the additional meaning of sb/sth being behind the scenes ie. a part not exposed or revealed and grudge/resentment ie. hard feelings that remain pent up)

信: trust/believe (cue the whole thing about establishing rapport, mutual trust or suspicions) ie. thinking of something or someone as being right or true, believing someone is honest and sincere and won’t deliberately do anything to harm you, or believing in a god or a religion/stories (eg. ghosts, fairies, miracles)/way of life/idea, or relying on sth or someone one expects meeting their expectations or because they’re confident in them (믿다), entrust (신임하다)

③ Scapegoat (희생양) is written 犧牲羊 in hanja:

犧: sacrifice ie. act of giving away or relinquinshing one’s life/property/reputation/interest etc. for another person or purpose, or the state of being deprived of such things (like what KMC said about KSJ) OR the state of losing one’s life in a sad and pitiful manner due to an accident/natural disaster etc. (희생) and… animal/beast and fig. beast/brute, just like the meaning of LMS’s name (짐승)

牲: sacrifice and the animals used in ancestral rites in its broad sense or in jesa, a Korean ancestral rite (ie. the act of expressing appreciation to a god or the spirit of the deceased by offering them food, or such ritual), and also the popular name of the livestock/cows

羊: sheep/lamb (양) ; auspicious (상서롭다)

④ Tattletale (고자질쟁이) is written 告者질쟁이 with the same hanja used in whistleblower, 告: inform (see above!) and 者: person/thing/animal.

That (deeply unhinged & twisted lol) line by Min Jiyoung also encapsulates how good and evil, justice might just be a farce to everyone while pleasure/entertainment is the true standard:

« When humans commit crimes together, they never forget that feeling of exhilaration. To the public, justice is merely a fantasy. »

I found this interesting bit in an interview of Lee Minjin, the author of Pachinko (please give it a read, it’s a great book btw!). She said the third-person omniscient narration was a detail she conscientiously paid attention to both aesthetically and ethically-wise, which aligns with the unreliable narration and duplicity in this drama:

« That mode’s flexibility lets her build a functioning, self-contained world, one that’s governed by an overarching moral physics.  But if omniscient narration allows Lee to play god, the question is what kind of god to be. For inspiration, she looks to the biblical story of Joseph, a tale that’s helped to shape the way she thinks about good and evil. She explained how the story instilled her with a radical belief that supercharges her fiction: If suffering and injustice can be recast as opportunities for empathy and forgiveness, even life’s worst events can feel like divine fate. » She adds: « After Jacob’s death, Joseph’s brothers are terrified that he’ll hold a grudge against them because their father can no longer keep Joseph from harming them. The brothers concoct a story saying, essentially, “Oh, by the way—before dad died he told us to tell you that you have to forgive us for selling you into slavery. Sorry about all that.” But rather than taking revenge on his brothers, Joseph believes there has been a higher purpose to his suffering. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good,” he tells them, “to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” The gist of it is: What man intended for evil, God intended for good. It’s just an incredible thing to say, considering everything he went through. I’m amazed by the insistence that all of the suffering, the inequity, and injustice he endured happened for a reason. That kind of optimism or sense of divine purpose is very hard to muster as a modern person. Like Joseph, we all have inequities inflicted upon us, and when we experience inequity and injustice and evil, our sense of powerlessness and despair can be overwhelming. When will we see justice?, we want to know. When will we see fairness? When will things be okay? I understand the impulse to believe God doesn’t care. But I find that I very strongly want to believe that there’s a reason for the evil that we see and experience. Though there is so much evil, I want to believe in ultimate moral justice. I believe that, as in the story of Joseph, goodness has the potential to rise out of the darkness that befalls us. (…) I want to write realist novels in a Victorian sense, and the writers I admire in that style tend to do omniscient narration. The omniscient narrator is a bizarre technique, when you think about it, and no one uses it much anymore. But for the novels I want to write, it’s the only approach that makes sense to me. Writing this way, you’re not embracing the subjectivity of a specific character. Instead—like the novelists of the 19th and early 20th centuries—you play God, effectively, manifesting a kind of complete design within the chaos of life. When you write this way, you’ve got to ask yourself about the fictional universe you create. Will you be a morally just god or an immoral god? My art has to reflect the moral justice that I believe in. Not that I’m interested in preaching, or writing a treatise about how people should start the revolution. But I am interested, as in Joseph’s story, in showing the ways goodness can rise out of suffering. And I’m interested in creating radical empathy through art. That’s the little task that I set for myself. I don’t know if it’s for everyone, but it’s for me. »

#국민사형투표 #the killing vote #tkv #kdrama

[jyndor]

lol I would love to know what gareth edwards has to say about making rogue one and why he spent so much time away from filmmaking until now.

because as much as I do think tony gilroy is probably right that this is the best cut possibly of rogue one, I don't love that the narrative has sort of removed edwards from having done most of the film without knowing what he experienced, especially given how much trouble other filmmakers had with lucasfilm on their projects.

also if he's right in saying that this is the best cut possible, well... there's still reason to want to see deleted scenes and stuff lol fans like that stuff. a director's cut would be... idk cool even if it's not as good, but I'd rather just see the fucking deleted scenes. as a fan, I grew up watching extras on dvds and stuff. I don't care about directors' cuts personally lol.

this article also has this:

Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and his robot sidekick K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) remain enduring. Yet the film is burdened by a soggy midsection and a listless lead character in Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones)

which... lol naur she's not but I do think the reshoots made her more quiet which... ugh smdh. its also a very subtle performance and nuanced and has always been misunderstood but whatever. also disagree, the first act is the least good part of the film - and it's really just less good than the rest.

also I mean at least gilroy did have a lot to do with the reshoots - unlike filoni who freddie prinze jr tried to say directed the fucking vader scene lmao, I'm so glad gary whitta stood up for him because that's some revisionist history.

it's so rude to take credit for this movie away from edwards as if he didn't have a lot to do with directing it. unless there's actual proof to the contrary, that's what it is. and I've seen articles actually say that he was fired or didn't have much to do with the film from entertainment "journalists" and its like, lol the fuck? no he wasn't, no one has ever said he was. he just was working on a lot of the vfx according to everyone I've ever heard who was there.

I hope his movie is great and gets all the hype and he works consistently and whatever bullshit he dealt with from the studio is water under the bridge for him. and that he knows a lot of people see his work for what it is: his work, as well as the work of many others who were involved in the production.

#gareth edwards #idk if tony gilroy knows but it always sounds like hes dissing edwards and... bro #rogue one

[jaydastorm13]

Episode 9 of My Demon:

I'm becoming a Song Kang fan with this one. I plan to watch his other work soon.

But now that they're not running from their feelings, will that affect the power of the tattoo? They're so cute when they're not fighting! (I still adore Seon-hoo, but we know how this works in dramas. If you know of one where the second male leads, I'm curious, though.)

They deserved this after the last few episodes, but we know that the other shoe is going to drop soon.

LMAO her blind date is so weird! Awww, why is he so cute about human customs?! AND WHEN SHE SAID SHE WASN'T GOING TO WORK?! His puppy-like behavior has me in a chokehold. I am not okay.🥹🥹🥹. I feel like he's never got to have fun or live any of his lives, so it's new to him.

I'm glad he got his couple set. That's all he wanted.💕 Now...what is this bitch doing? She's so pathetic.

I love how he's helping her through the trauma associated with the song.🥰

I feel like there's more to the company than we're seeing, because the obsession to have THAT company when they already have a lot is weird as fuck to me. There's more to it than taking it from Do-hee.

I see both sides of the non-argument. She wants to be done with it, and he wants her to live without fear. Ohhh, my Seok-hoon🥰🥰🥰🥰!! (Insert product placement. I do love how dramas write them in). Poor baby is going to get his heart broken more. It's the Second Lead Curse.

(The slide down the bench was cute. I, however, am not above a BL, lol). Wait wait wait. If we get a temporary team up with my boys, I will lose it, okay?! LOSE IT!!

YAAAAYYY!!! MY WILD DOGS!!! IDC I LOVE THOSE ADORABLE, CHAOTIC GANGSTERS!!! They have my heart, all they wanna do is help. Aaand I'm brought down by Stat Jin. The bitch is annoying. THAT'S RIGHT, SHUT HER ASS DOWN!!! BYE!! BUH BYE!!

LOL I'm getting "Backstreet Rookie", and "Clean With Passion For Now" flashbacks as Doo-hee is drunk!😭🤣 I didn't expect Ms.Shin to loosen up so much, she's funny! AYO SHE FINALLY SAID THE NAME JOKE!

Is-is the other sip about to sail?! Ooh, he's found!! Sigh. He's gonna burn the evidence...wait...that's not...who is that?! WHOOOAAAAAAHHH!!!!! Holy shit...did he SET UP THE KILLER TO DO HALF OF THE WORK HIMSELF LATER?!?! I need answers...so the cops will find and identify the scene. I hoped that our demon would get his revenge but. Oh shit...I-so WHO IS HE?! He knows about demons for sure.

Jesus, what a way to go. THEY BETTER NOT FRAME MY BABY!! Sir. Clean up your own shit if you're gonna be a serial killer...ohhh, they wanna frame my Gu-won...they got everything they wanted. I still don't understand the obsession with bringing Do-her down. She was brought in after whatever happened with her parents.

Oh, no!! The deals are dropping!! So what happens now?! WHAT IS GOING AWN?! AYO?! IS SHE A DEMON?! (I loved her in Mr.Queen). 👁️👄👁️ She what. She GAVE HIM WHAT?!

DO NOT PAIR SEOK-HOON WITH HER!!😭😭😭

I REALLY HOPE that this is a race against time with a happy ending. OH COME OOON!! I should have known that all the cuteness had a price. (Aaand more reasons to hate Star Jin😒).

...This episode has been a LOT, but a good one. On to the next-

#my demon #kdrama series #down the rabbit hole #kdrama #lee sangyi #song kang #holy fuck #spoilers #episode 9

[pink-car]

a list of the assorted thoughts i wrote down when watching my first hockey game

does anyone need to really know these? nope

- why do i root for my home team honestly

- milano is a fun last name

- they honestly are less smooth with the sticks that i was expecting. the random clacking i’ve experienced in school floor hockey is not,,, not happening. which makes sense because like,,, you’re fighting for the puck but Inchresting

- i wonder if it’s normal to be up by 3 and still in the 1st

- any time they just hit that shit as far as possible in the right direction is quite funny to me and reminds me of my own floor hockey strategy. no clue if that’s what they’re actually doing or if i’m missing a nuance but oh well. i know sometimes it’s to a player just way off but i swear sometimes they’re just smacking that shit

- i should have looked at players’ names before this

- oh i do not know positions. i mean i kinda do. like i can figure some of the names out.

- whatever analysis thing is happening now has a guy with a cool rainbow tie 👍

- “they haven’t looked that great” yeah i’ve noticed but when have i ever cared about that

- hey at least the devils are taking more shots on the goal now. even if it doesn’t result in anything

- leaving the goal as a goalie terrifies me. i could never. i get why you would to an extent but Scary

- oh hey look at us (new jersey) go (scored one (1) point)

- oh wow they even did it again

- not to expose myself as someone that doesn’t watch any sport besides motorsport, but it’s fun and visually stimulating to watch them all move

- oh wow again. that one was funky lmao. lots of scrambling

- my knees could not handle being a goalie

- i like this more than (american) football. i like that its just kinda like,,, “here’s the puck, go off” and not like,, “ah well you’ve formally lost the Sport Item so get fucked”

- though i don’t understand when the like,,, not restart but the like “everyone chill and line up again” thing happens and why

- ah the other hughes

- i forgot penalties would be a thing, huh

- i changed my mind. i do think i actually know the positions fine. i thought they were more complicated than they actually are

- i figured out how the penalty worked

- oh god why is it 9pm already

- i could not name a single famous hockey player now that i’m thinking about it. maybe if you said a name i could he like “oh yeah” but at least most other sports i can name like,, someone famous which i guess in an interesting commentary on the lack of focus on hockey in pop culture. i did watch a hockey movie in ap gov once but i cannot remember Anyone

- okay they just showed a wayne gretzky record thing and that is a name i could have been like “oh yeah” to

- i cannot stop hearing “strome” as “stroll”

- i don’t know if it was a strategy to throw yourself in front of the puck or he just fell but i hope it was a strategy because that’s hilarious

- i’m glad the commetators sound as surprised as i am cause this is such a funky breakdown of “i score all the points this period” back and forth between them lmao

- “last night 16 games” yeah please never do that again (they’re doing it again)

- honestly easier to understand than i thought. which i don’t know why i thought it would be super hard

- i just audibly said “eek” what the fuck is wrong with me

- empty net is such a wild concept. the fact that’s even a thing is hilarious. “what if we just. fucked around. went hard yknow”

- new jersey represent (we lost <3)

- i feel like a martin truex jr fan all over again

bonus from the interviews after:

- the rink is in NEWARK? i mean. it makes sense and i don’t know why i’m surprised but damn

overall interesting experience. would watch another game honestly. i’m trying to be normal though. and not. Extreme. i can’t do any more sports to the extreme my god

#nhl