#saw this on twitter and it enraged me

[loveaquarius]

-

#filtering ‘Harry styles’ on every social media platform was the best thing I ever did #I don’t need to know what white gays are saying about him on Twitter or what theories ppl are discussing on TikTok #the homophobia directed at him is so casual and trendy now #the queer baiting discourse is so Harmful for other closeted people (like me 🧍🏻‍♀️) #and I’d rather not see any of it #the majority of his hardcore fans annoy me #H is a complex human being like the rest of us #sometimes he’ll make good music and sometimes it sounds basic #he has great outfits AND bad ones #sometimes he says stupid shit and other times he’s very thoughtful and intelligent #he’s not the evil incarnate nor is he the best thing to walk this earth. #some people are just outright cruel to him just because the hate train is popular these days #he could liteally wear a skirt because he likes it and there would be 100k quote tweets about how he needs to d*e like?? #the conversations around him are so backwards and I’m just glad he doesn’t use any of it #some of the things people say are so UGLY it even affects Me.. can’t imagine how he must feel #anyway.. I enjoy his silly little music and his silly outfits and that’s it #I’m tired of the thinkpieces!! #excume my rant- I saw something that enraged me lol

[raivenantcravings]

Round 6 Reaction/Analysis

SDFFSDHFLSDHF ROUND 6 FSDHKFDSH ROUND 6 FSDKFSDHFDS ROUND 6

I woke up to twitter analysis saying that Till never even looked at Ivan until his final moments. And I made pre round 6 fanart titled "look at me." Couldn't manifest it. He never looked at him in the end,,,

broo dont look so happy. oh my god you lovesick fool.

reaction and analysis under the cut

First detail I noticed was that are the mics clear because both Ivan and Till are being vulnerable? They have nothing to hide anymore, so they'll show the world their whole being.

Anyways, to my main point,,

My interpretation of the ending was that Ivan was really trying to "cure" Till.

Till opens up with wanting to feel pain, to feel hurt.

"Please, leave me scars"

"Please, hurt me so that not a single drop of me remains"

Which, I realize he's talking to Mizi, but it's a cry for "help" either way.

Ivan's part goes:

"Notice my pain and mend me right now"

Again, he's talking about himself, but I think it could apply to what he does to Till.

So they kiss.

And, I've seen a lot of other people already say this, but I also do feel the kiss was not only meant to be for Ivan to selfishly show his love for Till.

Like bro don't go nonconsensually kissing your crush, what are you doing!?

When the scores came out, Ivan was much lower than Till than I expected. I thought it'd be a Mizi-Sua situation where the scores were close, but Mizi barely edged it out.

But Till almost had 20 points over Ivan.

And I know it's because Till is a rising star. And his new image change would really garner the attention of everyone. But it's not like Ivan is a nobody either. I didn't expect the scores to be so different.

I do think its because Ivan kissed Till. As a final nail in the coffin that guarantees his loss.

Alien Stage is commentary on the idol industry. One of the most prevalent issues in the idol industry is the romantic lives of the idols. Idols are not supposed to be in relationships, at least not outwardly. Their whole image is for the fans. Nothing they do should ruin that public image as an idol.

Much less in a in a queer relationship.

Now I don't believe the universe of Alien Stage cares about LGBTQ+ issues because there's bigger issues surrounding their human pets. But I think that it is an issue that Vivinos is trying to address because they certainly never shy away from queer issues in their other works.

And I feel the idea that idols/pets should not be swayed by their romantic emotions is still prevalent in their society.

So for the audience to see Ivan kiss Till, in one of the most outrageous and public displays possible, further pushes the votes in Till's favor.

And yeah, I also do believe that he kissed Till for him to finally look at him, but I also feel that it was a self-sacrifice too.

And then Ivan violently chokes Till.

Possibly, as another way to give Till votes. Since when Mizi started punching Luka, the audience was outraged at her actions.

Violence is definitely frowned upon on the stage.

More on the choking scene,,

I also saw some people saying that it's because Ivan wanted Till to die with him, which may be part of it. I don't think everything Ivan did was completely selfless.

But

Till accepts it. Earlier when he is at the bar (party? venue? the private show either way), he fights the alien who tries to punch him.

He did show him Mizi's missing image, so he is enraged in this moment, but he does have fight left in him even then.

He doesn't resist when Ivan chokes him just closes his eyes and awaits death. Perhaps if Mizi was already dead, he can just join her in the afterlife since he had no way of knowing she was still alive.

In this way, Ivan is his savior. The one who is finally freeing him from all this pain he felt after losing Mizi. This is his "cure."

And for Ivan, he sorta wants to be a savior to Till. He has freed him on multiple accounts from his shackles. Even helping him run away with him, so they can experience freedom together.

They both get what they want, but,,

Ivan lets go of Till and Till, with an expression that feels like shock, finally looks at Ivan.

Killing him would not give him the freedom that Till needs

that Ivan wants Till to have.

So, like the countless times Till has been chained around his neck, Ivan gives him his chains:

hurting him like he desires.

A scar around his neck.

(Where the scar from his name is)

And mending him,

by taking away the final chain that Ivan could release from Till.

His "cure."

It felt like his final desire was to get Till to snap out of it, to realize that he needs to find true freedom, to not get apathetic at the situation, to keep on going and to live.

He really, truly loves Till even if Till does and never will understand it.

Also final thoughts, is it not strange that Ivan is able to release Till's bindings so easily?

No one else is shown releasing the bindings, so maybe it is just as easy as a press of the button. Yet, I don't feel like it's just poorly designed if that's the case. Because you literally have a person like Ivan releasing a dangerous human like Till. Shouldn't a cautious society like the world of Alien Stage made sure it wouldn't be super easy to get out of.

If there is more to it, I wonder if that'll be a plot point later on. With Ivan leaving behind the secret to getting out of the bindings for Till. So, when a character maybe Till or even Hyuna or Mizi have been captured, they're able to escape since they know how to remove them.

Maybe, I'm just being delulu

And final final thoughts, the kiss was great and definitely made me almost scream. But the way Ivan nuzzled Till has got me acting up.

Like, it's just so soft and sweet and not a big show of it like when Ivan kisses Till on stage.

It feels so intimate, so personal, so full of love.

I just, I just can't. They'll be the death of me.

#alien stage #alnst #에이스테 #alnst ivan #alnst till #alien stage analysis #alnst analysis #rai's ramblings #ivantill #alien stage round 6 #alien stage cure #thinking about the one person who tagged my last art as they need to make out right now #glad you got your wish :'))))) #i want to make fanart so bad #but ill be busy all day today #this is the best i can do for you ivantill #god they make me sick

[zyonsay]

Wildfire, Chapter Two MV1

Fem aligned people may read but not f3tishize my work!!

Summary: You almost scored a win, but Max wouldn't let that happen. The McLaren boys want to take your mind off of things!

Warnings: Swearing, Max is a bit of an asshole,Reader has anger issues, Slight Violence, Alcohol, Ki ki ki rah sweat sweat

Now playing: 'Monaco' by Bad Bunny

AN: This was a STRAIN! School is beating my ass recently and it's really difficult for me to get anything done BUT i really want to write this fic!

(Here is the previous chapter)

(Here is the next chapter)

The race season was in full swing, and you’d been doing well. Max had, as per usual, always taken the victory, but most of the time you were on the podium next to him. You were a great new asset to Red bull, and many of the fans seemed to like you. You started discovering more and more memes about you on Instagram and Twitter that would make you chuckle. (Or X? Man idk)

People saw you as a two-sided coin, since your charismatic, silly moments were accompanied by boiling, blood red rage when something messes up the race. Numerous fans compared you to Max when he first entered F1, calling you a “Smaller version of Mad Max.”

You guys’ interactions felt like witnessing two proud stags smash their antlers against each other. No full-on fights have ensued yet, but the tense feeling between you two can be felt by everyone from miles away. It was like the calm before a storm, electric energy surging through the air, waiting to strike when things get any more heated.

Your sassy, provocative nature could bring his blood to a boil easily, often causing him to glare at you from far away or leave some snarky remarks while passing by. This dynamic wasn’t optimal for Redbull, having two drivers who clash off the grid might also clash on the grid. As long as the situation wouldn’t get worse, they’d let you two entertain the fans bit more, but Christian kept a close eye on both you and Max.

Usually your bickering was harmless,

But today you could’ve strangled him right then and there in the paddock after the race. Luckily Horner got a hold of you and dragged you away, you felt like an angry dog being put on a chain outside the house by its owner.

What happened a few minutes before angered you deeply. Max profoundly refused to let you pass him, even if you had to brake to not crash into the rear end of his car. You could’ve had the first place if it weren’t for him blocking your way. Saying you were enraged was a pathetic understatement. You were steaming with rage and wanted to smash his head against a wall.

You, Lando and Oscar were strolling towards an Ice cream truck that Oscar had found on google maps. The race weekend was over but many of the drivers decided to stay a bit longer in the beautiful city. Tough it was extremely hot, which was the reason why Oscar and Lando wanted to go for Ice cream, what they didn’t tell you tough is that they wanted to distract you from your conflict with Max.

After paying for your Ice cream, you three made your way to a bench, sitting down and enjoying your refreshments. You chose pistachio ice cream, savoring the sweet, nutty taste. “Have y’all heard about the party tonight?” Lando glanced at the buildings nearby, enjoying the fancy exterior, thinking about snapping a pic for his .jpg account. “I mean, we all know that there will be one, but I didn’t catch any specifics.” Lando now looked at you and Oscar. “Danny told me about it, it’s in the grand Casino at eleven O’ Clock. I really want to go, but I wanted to drag you both with me. Are y’all coming?” He mustered up his best puppy eyes and began pouting. A hearty laugh escaped you, almost causing you to drop your ice cream. “Sure dude! I can’t wait to have some fun.” Oscar grinned, agreeing with what you said. You guys spent some more time shopping and checking out some must-see sights of the city. Lando bought Oscar a little Koala plushie with sunglasses calling it "Oscahs Doppelgänger.” You really liked hanging out with the two McLaren boys, spending time with them meant lots of joking and messing around.

“Hurry the fuck up Y/N, its almost eleven!” Landos voice rang over his obnoxious banging on the door. You rolled your eyes and checked your outfit one more time in the mirror before heading out. You were greeted with a friendly smile from Oscar and Lando who looks like he’ll bounce around the walls like a gummy ball. He could’ve well exploded on the spot with excitement. He and Piastri were both a tiny bit older than you, but Lando was still a kid at heart.

Lando, Oscar and you walked through the city, heading straight for the big, fancy Casino. Even from far away you spotted a familiar, smiley face. “Oi! Danny!” You waved at him, gaining his attention. He was smiling broadly as usual, walking up to your little group. “Hey guys! Looks like Lando managed to drag you along, eh?” He was obviously wearing one of his flash banging party shirts, it wouldn’t be Daniel Ricciardo if he wasn’t wearing something obnoxious, right?

The four of you chitchatted for a while, when Oscar asked: “Were you waiting for someone?” Daniel looked down at his wristwatch; it was already five past eleven. “I was actually. Me and Max wanted to meet up at eleven. Don’t know where he is, maybe he already went inside.” He shrugged, glancing you way as he noticed you tensing up at the sound of the Dutchman’s name. You definitely haven’t forgotten the race earlier that day. The guys stayed quiet for a few moments as the chilly night air blew around your legs, contrasting with the warm weather during the day. Lando was the first to break the silence. “Can we finally go in?”

Once you entered the gigantic building, colorful lights and the smell of overly expensive alcohol flooded your senses. A few familiar faces were dancing, drinking, and laughing, but there were also many you didn’t know. Daniel led the group towards the bar, buying you all a round of shots. “Gotta start the night the right way!”, he laughed before downing the burning liquid. The vodka fueled the sparks in your guts and turned them into a fire. You were going to have fun tonight.

Suddenly a loud voice appeared behind you. “Hey Danny!” You froze for a second before turning around and facing the man you’ve been wanting to murder since this morning. “Oi, Max! Thought I’d never see you!” Daniel abandoned the bar stool to pat Max on the back. Oscar, who was sitting next to you, turned in your direction and whispered. “We don’t have to hang around with him. Let’s just leave- “, you interrupted him, “No. Its ok.” You were too busy glaring at Max to notice Oscars worried expression, not that he thought you’d attack Verstappen out of nowhere, but he was concerned that a teasing comment from Max was enough for you to snap. As he later would find out, it was.

Max didn’t pay any attention to you, obviously not feeling as irritated as you were. The casino was warm from the sheer number of people inside, the loud music mixed with laughing and chatting. Daniel was going on about some experience he had the day before while exploring the city. You were halfheartedly listening to your friends rambling while you were observing your friends’ mimics. Your eyes landed on your fellow Redbull driver. He was listening carefully, asking a question every now and then. He then glanced at you quickly, catching you looking at him. Max then quickly looked away again.

After a while, Lando pulled you away from the bar and towards the dance floor. He was definitely drunk by now and was all giggly and happy. “C’monnnn, dance with me!”, Lando slurred.

It must’ve already been a few hours since you arrived at the Casino, but time flew by so fast. Oscar stated that he was getting tired and wanted to go home in the next hour or so, while Lando was as lively as ever and could go the whole night. You agreed with Oscar though, since you were tired and had an appointed Press conference for tomorrow. Daniel and Max wanted to stay a little longer but agreed to accompany you outside to say goodbye. Once outside, a cold shiver ran down your spine. The city was illuminated by bright lights and a howling wind was brushing through its streets. Daniel stopped, facing the rest of the group.

“We definitely gotta go out together more often!” Lando nodded enthusiastically, glancing your way as if inviting you to go out with him more often.

“Yeah, once Y/N doesn’t hold a grudge against me, I saw those glares.” Max laughed, but you couldn’t help but judgingly glance at him. His face was red and his posture a bit wobbly.

“You’re the one complaining about me during Interviews.” The venom in your voice was very apparent, you made no effort to hide your disdain. Max looked hesitant for a second before his expression hardened. Daniel seemed to feel awkward, not exactly knowing how to deal with you two firecrackers. Max focused his eyes on your face, not wincing under your glare. “And you were the one crying around about me winning this morning?”, he laughed again, seeking eye contact with the others as if to justify his words. The McLarens Aussie next to you looked deeply worried, as If he already suspected what happened next.

The blood in your veins began boiling, you could literally feel it. A heavy push from your side caused Max to stumble back. “Don’t fucking go there you dick. You just couldn’t handle me winning, right?” Your fellow Redbull driver was now shaken awake, glaring at you with a bitter look on his face. “Don’t get mad at me because you lost, fucking Dickhead.”

You were SO ready to ruin his stupid face with a good punch.

…but before you could actually get violent a certain Honey badger stepped in. “Lads, calm your tits! I think it’s best if we all go to our hotel rooms now.” Oscar was holding you back, worrying what would happen if he’d let go of the raging man in his arms. The other McLaren boy was standing next to you guys, unsure what to do. Daniel gave Max a heavy pat on the shoulder and gave him a serious look. “Let’s go get some sleep, buddy.” Max’s eyes never left yours, like a hunter stalking its prey.

But you won’t budge under him.

#male reader #gay #f1 x male reader #f1 fanfic #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen x male reader #x male reader #male reader insert #male x male #f1 fic #f1 x reader

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 1

Propaganda under the cut

Christine Canigula

This has enraged me for YEARS. She is constantly sidelined in the fandom in favor of the main m/m ship which itself its fine but the way people treat her drives me NUTS. When I actually was in the fandom, Consistently! her crush on the main character which is a CENTRAL fucking plot point is just explained away to make room for yaoi. If they even have that kind of decency. Like 99% of the fics just say "oh! she's a lesbian actually totally this was comphet im not a misogynist" or "she's Actually Aroace" and not ponder on the optics of sanitizing the CANON fucking attraction of a chubby easian girl. It's sososo transparent and another fucking example of she's actually the Mom friend! or other annoying racist and misogynistic tropes.

She likes play rehearsal. She's the love interest of the main character, Jeremy. Jeremy also has a best friend, Michael, whom he's usually shipped with. And since she's the canonical love interest and as such often gets in the way of their beloved ship. They are very creative in finding the ways to get rid of her to ship Michael with Jeremy, ranging from making her asexual(because ace people can't date apparently), completely kicking her out of the last two songs of the musical and putting Michael in her place, to vilifying her and claiming she was never interested in Jeremy in the first place, despite musical explicitly saying the opposite.

Love interest of the main character Jeremy Heere and therefore stands in the way of the fandom's most popular ship, boyf reinds. Being specifically a love interest we don't get. A whole lot of her but she's fun! She's a theatre kid. She is silly and goofy. Also has a one off line in one of the songs that mentions she has ADD. Idk what I'm supposed to say really and I'm always bad at talking about characters so.

Han Sooyoung

han sooyoung is one of the main trio protagonists yet people constantly ignore her in order to ship the other two males despite the fact that they are all doomed by the narrative TOGETHER!!! fanon content is even worse because it either slaps a lesbian sticker onto her to shittily write her off in fanfic OR they make her so one dimensional its like a cardboard stand in. han sooyoung arguably has a more important/interesting dynamic with the main male protagonist yet everyone ignores her because they want their uwu gay babies IM SO SICK OF ORV FANS

Dokja and Joonghyuk are a very popular ship (rightfully so, i get it) but usually Sooyoung is seen as in the way of their relationship or not as valued as the other two even though her place in the story and relationship with the other characters is just as strong. Recently there was a post on twitter being rude about people who ship her and Joonghyuk (which is a super valid ship) and i saw a lot of hate that i believe just stems from her getting “in the way” of a yaoi ship. 

99% of that kind of symbolic fanart REFUSES. to acknowledge her existence man. even though she is part of the main TRIO man

#round 1 #poll #christine canigula #be more chill #han sooyoung #omniscent reader

[eightyonekilograms]

Twitter's ability to enrage me works even on the smallest possible doses. I don't even go there anymore, I just sign in once every 10-12 days, post something to keep my account from getting repo'd, and sign back out. When that happened today, after the post was made I got redirected to the For You tab, saw an eigenrobot post, and that was enough to set me off.

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

THE most obvious animation mistake in ATSV

We went from 3 spikes to 2 spikes.

Want to know something funny? I notice this in my first viewing.

(OP related an anecdote under the cut, nothing really important.)

Okay so fun story, I notice this the first time I watched this movie, like IMMEDIATELY.

I remember vividly about it because when I saw that three spikes I thought "Oof, that should be looking very awkward on the front."

I don't really draw often, but when I was a kid I had a bit of interest in fantasy outfits and such. I still have the most barebones knowledge on clothing and such, yet when I saw those spikes I thought it would dwarf Prowler's head and look awkward.

And just a few frames later- no third spike, it wasn't dwarfing his head anymore.

Full disclosure, I was stupid high when I saw the movie. Don't ask me why I thought it would be a good idea to see this movie high as fuck (let alone in my first viewing,) so I deadass thought I had somehow imagine it.

The fact that when I came out of the theatre and I saw NO ONE saying anything about it (not friends of mine or the internet,) also made me think this.

[Small addendum, because I imagine I may have minors looking at my blog: 1) Don't do anything until you are on whatever age is legal in your country, 2) I am in Canada so everything I consume is regulated and ergo, a lot safer than you can find on the street. 3) If you aren't 100% lucid in a public place, make sure you have people you trust and are sober around you, so nobody can take advantage of your situation.]

Eventually I saw the movie enough times to realize that no, I didn't imagine anything, it was indeed a mistake.

So why I never said anything?

Well...I was kind of protective about the movie.

At the beginning was me seeing on twitter and a bit of tiktok people being assholes about the diversity in the movie, and the idea that someone would look at the mistake I caught and try to be like "See?! The movie isn't that good! Look at this obvious mistake!" made me enraged.

Then, not so long after I started this blog, the truth about how overworked were the animators came to the light, and the idea of bringing up this mistake made me feel even worse because after all these people had been through, trying to be an smart ass to point out a mistake felt wrong. Specially because as I had said before, regardless of how many things I may or not Spot, this movie is amazing and I love it with all my heart; I didn't want to bring unnecessary grief to anyone.

So, why say anything now?

It has been a few months since it came out, I am starting to notice the fandom growing quieter (maybe it will pick up once this movie is out for free in a streaming service, no idea when or which one would be.) And I feel with all these talks about strikes (which the animators would probably do next year, wishing the best of luck for them,) fair pay and such, I think people may be more open to think "this wouldn't had happened if the movie hasn't been as rushed as it is" rather than "this is movie is bad because it has mistakes."

As I said it in other posts, this is a small mistake at the end of the day. Regardless of how you may or may not feel about these inconsistencies, people in general don't notice nor does interrupt their viewing experience.

This is a movie that juggles layers upon layers of themes, plot lines and deep, complicated characters; it does all the important bits than a lot of other movies out there. Which is what matters at the end.

#atsv #atsv viles #random spiderverse fact #miles g morales #earth 42 #miles morales #prowler miles

[coochiequeens]

Personally, I don't want to live in a world where little boys playing with dolls and little girls who don't like wearing pink are subjected to lifelong medical intervention because lunatics think these kids are in the wrong body. If that's the right side of history, then history can go f**k itself." - Graham Linehan

Stretched out on a hospital trolley after a surgeon had removed my cancer-riddled testicle, waiting for a doctor to give me the all-clear to go home, I lazily opened Twitter.

This was five years ago and, at this point, I had not quite nailed my colours to the gender-critical mast. I had defended women being smeared with the slur 'Terf' (for 'trans-exclusionary radical feminist') and was being monitored by trans activists as a result. This made me nervous, though I wasn't quite sure why.

I'd had an inkling of what I was up against when my wife Helen and I played a small part in repealing Ireland's draconian abortion laws. Working with Amnesty International, we appeared in a video in which Helen spoke of terminating a pregnancy because the foetus she was carrying had an abnormality which would have resulted in death moments after birth.

We tried to attend every protest and, at one event, I remember some strange person with a bullhorn bellowing out this nonsense: 'We want the state to pay for abortions!' [general cheering] '...and surgeries for trans people' [puzzled mumbling].

I felt uneasy. Sure, let's talk about trans rights, but first things first. We hadn't yet won the fight on abortion.

In retrospect, this was the first sign I had of the sleight of hand that would allow a sinister movement to attach itself to progressive causes and wrap itself in their stolen banners.

Then, when Ireland voted to overturn the abortion ban, Amnesty Ireland tweeted that this was a victory for 'pregnant people'. I was enraged.

My wife wasn't a 'pregnant person'. She was a woman, and a mother.

But these were only the first ripples of a gathering tsunami of madness. Online, people had started to go dangerously insane. It was such a slow process that I didn't notice it at first, but now, as I lay in hospital, I was collecting my thoughts on the subject.

I knew my positions were thought-through and sound, and I was sure that once people saw I was arguing in good faith, they'd see the problems with gender ideology and we could have a sensible, grown-up conversation about it.

I also told myself that, as co-writer of well-loved television sitcoms Father Ted and The IT Crowd, I had an audience out there who would listen to me. So I sent a few tweets carefully outlining my argument.

Meanwhile, I was in intense pain from the wound under my bandage and, when I was finally told I could go home, I couldn't stand up. A bed was found for me and I lay there, enjoying a bit of peace until the morphine wore off.

The visitors had gone and all was quiet. I decided to have a look at Twitter (now X).

My careful explanation of my position had certainly had an impact.

A trans activist and journalist called Parker Molloy, who identifies as a woman and is enraged if anyone disagrees, had sent me a number of increasingly frenzied direct messages.

After the third or fourth time telling Molloy I was in hospital, I ended the conversation. Meanwhile, another tweeter hopped into my replies to say, 'I wish the cancer had won'.

My ordeal had begun. Cast adrift, I was about to lose everything — my career, my marriage, my reputation.

A little bit after my brush with cancer, I brushed with something almost worse. A biological male, now going by the name Stephanie Hayden, was determined to wreck the life of anyone who flouted trans dogma.

A woman was arrested at home in front of her two young children and put in a prison cell for seven hours after she referred to Hayden on Twitter as a man.

When I made a public accusation about Hayden on X, Hayden didn't challenge it.

Instead, I was accused of breaking confidentiality by publicising Hayden's former male identities.

Hayden reported me to the police. The Guardian, whose editors seemed to have given up any pretence of being even-handed on this issue, published an article headlined 'Graham Linehan given police warning after complaint by transgender activist'.

It claimed I had been given a 'verbal harassment warning' by police acting on Hayden's complaint. This was untrue. I'd been phoned by a policeman who seemed confused when I told him that I'd blocked Hayden on Twitter months ago, so could hardly be accused of harassment.

The policeman then said something like 'stay away from her, awright?' and rang off.

For a national newspaper to headline this as a 'harassment warning' — a formal document that needs to be delivered in writing — was disgraceful, but typical of how many journalists liked to frame things that involved feminists and their allies.

After seven months of wrangling, the paper eventually removed the word 'harassment', which was too little, too late.

By then, the 'police warning' had morphed on social media into 'police caution' — which is issued where a crime has been committed and requires an admission of guilt, neither of which had happened. The false claim that I received a police caution for transphobia is constantly repeated to friends and colleagues to justify my cancellation. It was even presented to my publisher as a reason not to publish this book from which you are reading an extract. I found it grimly funny that the police and media were acting as reputation managers for a character like Hayden, but my wife Helen was terrified at being targeted in this way.

Hayden and Adrian Harrop, a Liverpool-based GP who was temporarily suspended from practising medicine as punishment for his aggression towards women on Twitter, trolled a Catholic journalist called Caroline Farrow, live-tweeting a visit to her home in a way that seemed designed to frighten and intimidate her.

She was about to travel to the U.S., but her visa was withdrawn. Harrop tweeted that he'd just visited the U.S. embassy in London: 'Consular staff very efficient at dealing with my important diplomatic business,' he wrote, with a wink emoji.

In a tweet, I called Harrop 'Doctor Do-Much-Harm'. The next morning, the police turned up at my door. I told them I wouldn't be changing my online behaviour one iota, and that Harrop bullied women online.

The policeman nodded, said something about free speech, and left. However, that visit wore heavily on my wife.

But the likes of Hayden and Harrop could not have had such success without accomplices in the police and the Press. It was surreal how swiftly they gained such power over society.

As for my career as a successful television scriptwriter, that proved to be over before the stitches from my cancer operation had healed.

Around this time, I received a letter from Sonia Friedman, one of the biggest theatre producers in London's West End, about me writing a new companion piece for the late Peter Shaffer's classic one-act farce Black Comedy.

I was apparently 'top of our dream list' to pen it.

Black Comedy is possibly the most ingenious farce ever written. I'd seen it years before with David Tennant in the lead and it left me giddy and envious. Now, going from lowly sitcom writer to being considered worthy of pairing with Shaffer had me floating.

Not for long, though. Only a few days later, Shaffer's estate decided on the late playwright's behalf that they 'didn't want to get involved' by 'taking one side or the other'.

More jobs began to fall away. A tour to Australia to teach comedy was cancelled because the company claimed it 'wouldn't be able to afford the security'. I discovered later this was a standard excuse given to those of us declared unclean by the new sacred class.

I'm also the person who worked with comedians Steve Martin and Martin Short for the shortest period of time. Five minutes, I think it was. A producer invited me to develop a comedy-drama TV series in which both would star. I had a flat-out offer and then, within minutes, an email from the same producer rescinding it, I suspect after a Twitter user in his office told him I was a bigot.

Even what I thought would be my pension was taken away from me. There were plans to make a musical of Father Ted, written and directed by me, which I was certain would be a huge hit, perhaps even make my fortune if I could get it right.

I hadn't reckoned how resolute the forces against me actually were, and how quiet my colleagues would be in the face of their onslaught. Sonia Friedman, the producer, told me I was 'on the wrong side of history' and advised me to 'stop talking'.

I suddenly found myself in a raging argument with this powerful woman who held my musical in her hands. But hearing one of these copy-and-pasted, thought-terminating clichés from the mouth of a colleague was more than I could bear.

Personally, I don't want to live in a world where little boys playing with dolls and little girls who don't like wearing pink are subjected to lifelong medical intervention because lunatics think these kids are in the wrong body. If that's the right side of history, then history can go f**k itself.

The meeting ended with each of us trying not to catch the other's eye in case it kicked off again.

I thought at least that Jimmy Mulville, the head of Hat Trick Productions, was on my side.

As the original producer of Father Ted, the company had a big stake in this new venture. But now the Hat Trick people began to go the other way.

I had another meeting around the supposed problem of my defending women and girls, in which, as always, no one could locate the flaw in my analysis as I explained over and over again: 'Children are being hurt. Women are losing their sports, their language, their privacy.'

Finally, I referred to the violent, terroristic nature of trans rights activism. Casually, off-handedly, Jimmy said: 'Well, there's bad behaviour on both sides.'

'Both sides' is a poisonous smear. No one on my side of the argument insists that people should be shunned by polite society. No one on our side wears T-shirts with slogans such as 'Kill all Terfs' and 'Die Terf Scum'.

I was told by one acquaintance: 'Some of the things you've done have been questionable.' 'Give me an example,' I replied. Long pause. 'All right, well maybe not.'

The final act was a meeting in the Hat Trick offices in which Jimmy told me I was to remove my name from Father Ted The Musical or he would not make the show — my show, which I had been tending, rewriting and refining for the best part of half a decade.

Once again, I asked what I was being accused of.

Jimmy rolled his eyes, as if it was self- evident. Desperately, I tried to explain what was happening to women's rights, and to the young girls mutilating themselves because of — 'I DON'T CARE!' Jimmy shouted. I left.

Later, I heard from my agent that in return for declaring me an unperson, Hat Trick was suggesting an up-front payment of £200,000 as an advance on my royalties. Initially, I agreed to go along with it, because I needed the money. But then I changed my mind.

I saw an interview with the mother of one of the women competitors who found themselves up against the trans swimmer Lia Thomas.

Lia was still physically intact and all the girls worked out how many towels to take into the locker room to cover themselves up completely as they changed.

'I asked my daughter what she would do if Lia was changing in there,' said the mother. 'And she said resignedly, 'I'm not sure I'd have a choice.' I still can't believe I had to tell my adult-age daughter that you always have a choice about whether you undress in front of a man.'

What messages have these girls been receiving?

My heart was ripped apart. I closed the door for ever on making any kind of deal with Hat Trick. I was prepared to betray myself for £200,000, but I couldn't abandon my daughter.

BEFORE the gender hoopla, I only knew people in the media. Now I had been so effectively cancelled that virtually no one in the media would return my calls. But I began to count as friends social workers, police officers, solicitors, barristers, doctors, nurses and academics who sided with me or shared my experience.

One of the few people I still know in the creative arts is the choreographer Rosie Kay.

At a party at her home in Birmingham for her company of young dancers — some of whom went by 'preferred' pronouns — the conversation turned to her plan for an adaptation of Virginia Woolf's gender-bending Orlando.

The discussion turned heated as she explained that she strongly believed in the reality of sex because she and her son had both almost died while she was in labour.

During that ordeal, her womanhood was literally a matter of life and death for her.

Her husband would never know that experience, and that difference between them meant something.

To the little sparrows of the Church of Gender, this was all high heresy, and could not be tolerated. The dancers harangued Rosie to such an extent that she hid in her own bathroom, then they formally complained about her to the company chiefs.

'They cancelled Orlando and then were making efforts to re-educate me, to stop me from centring women's rights in my future work,' Rosie told me. 'I had to resign from the company I founded.'

Then there's the children's author Rachel Rooney, who wrote a picture book called My Body Is Me. Its message was that children should be happy with their body.

But trans rights activists dislike any mention of being happy with your body as it undermines their message that being trans is a thrilling and transformative lifestyle choice.

Tweets called the book terrorist propaganda and likened Rachel to a white supremacist.

The author's 'trade union', the Society of Authors, declined to offer support. So devastating was the experience that Rachel stopped writing books for children and has now taken on a part-time care job.

But what did Rachel do to deserve cancellation? She wrote a beautiful, kind, responsible book for children, and she got the same treatment I received: they tried to destroy her life. Trans activists mostly target women for disagreeing with them, but I'm not the only man to have suffered. Some 30 years after we'd first worked together, I crossed paths once more with the comic actor James Dreyfus (Constable Kevin in The Thin Blue Line).

I persuaded him to sign a letter asking Stonewall, the former lesbian and gay rights charity which has altered its remit and done more than any other institution in the UK to promote extreme gender ideology, to reconsider its stance.

James agreed without hesitation. The letter argued that Stonewall was 'seeking to prevent public debate of these issues by branding as transphobic anyone who questions [its] current trans policies'. It asked the charity to 'commit to fostering an atmosphere of respectful debate'.

Stonewall refused. Even asking the question was painted as a moral failing. Five years later, James is still being hounded by trans rights activists and he has had difficulty finding work.

In 2021, the company Big Finish released Masterful, a celebration of 50 years of Doctor Who's arch-enemy, The Master, who James had played on its audio productions.

The credits featured every living actor who had taken the iconic role… except James. When the history of these years is written, it's not only the extremist activists who will be recalled with revulsion, but also the spineless corporate figures who never made an attempt to resist them. Their inaction contributed to the ruin of James's livelihood.

A brilliant comic actor, a gay man, was abandoned by the very people who should have had his back, because the celebrity class is more interested in looking like they're doing the right thing than actually doing it.

Meanwhile, a chasm was opening up between me and my wife as she watched me lose jobs and opportunities.

Helen was looking for normality, and I was perpetually dismayed and angry. She asked me to cease operations, which she was perfectly within her rights to do to protect our family.

But I couldn't do it. I knew what everyone who's in this fight knows — the Gender Stasi never forgive.

I could never be confident of a having a job again until the entire gender ideology movement, which has caused so much misery, was burnt to ashes.

Even if I had been prepared to recant or keep my mouth shut, it wouldn't do any good because my heresy was out there and would never be forgiven.

I could never be confident of a having a job again until the entire gender ideology movement, which has caused so much misery, was burnt to ashes.

Even if I had been prepared to recant or keep my mouth shut, it wouldn't do any good because my heresy was out there and would never be forgiven.

I was fighting for women and children, sure, but also for my reputation and my ability to make a living.

With my marriage now over, I left the family home and moved into a modest flat. It had a nursing home for old people to one side and an overgrown, neglected graveyard behind it — which is a little too symbolic of my situation for comfort.

Adapted from Tough Crowd by Graham Linehan (Eye Books, £19.99) to be published October 12. © Graham Linehan 2023. To order a copy for £17.99 (offer valid to 15/10/2023; UK P&P free on orders over £25) go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.

#Graham Linehan #TRAs attaching themselves to other causes #TRAs wanting free stuff #Only women can get pregnant #Father Ted #The IT Crowd #how many identities did Hayden have before transitioning? #The Guardian and poor journalism #A TRA got a women’s visa withdrawn and we are supposed to believe the man in a dress is oppressed? #Sonia Friedman is a TRA handmade #Jimmy Mulville is a coward #The Society of Authors abandoned Rachel Rooney #James Dreyfus may have portrayed a villian but he has more integrity than the producers of Big Finish

[mod-doodles]

Quick rant but i‘m struggling with the bear fandom and cast/show runners response to sydcarmy or in general romance? why is everyone so pretentious i saw someone on twt say people who ship sydcarmy need to get out because this is not riverdale and it pissed me off so much what’s with this assumption of two main characters falling in love makes the show less serious or something. Ayo‘s interviews are also still a bad taste in my mouth because i feel bad openly shipping them now idk i don’t want this to be one of those shows were the actors/creators hate their fans/fandom :/

Firstly confession I never watched an episode of Riverdale I tapped out that YA genre when I stopped watching PLL, TVD and the originals, so I don’t get the reference.

With fans of the show who hate the ship it’s layered: apparently people hate love, the romance genre, interracial love, Carmy being in love, Sud being the one he’s in love with and much more lmao. Some of these people have intersecting thoughts on this.

The articles from the cast and crew it’s a catch 22 situation, I’m a cynic so my approach to life is ‘expect the worst and be prepared for the best’. What they’re saying does not align with what I’m seeing and I’m aware that what I’m seeing is not say a stereotypical Redditor is seeing and that’s fine. I’m also aware that show runners need to keep viewer’s attention and want for more, hence cliffhangers and plot twists; they aren’t going to give us a play by play of the stories progression.

My suggestion is to do whatever you think is best for you and your mental health! That might be avoiding certain platforms where they engage in those conversations that might enrage you or it might be silent shipping.

For me it’s knowing what I’ll yet from each platform so if I go look I now what to expect

Twitter: is mostly a good time if you stay to the fandom tags, idk what anyone else is doing. I do know Twitter was fighting on the frontlines of the anti ship battle at one point and god bless them for their service.

TikTok: is great at helping you be delulu with all the fanedits lol but I know the algorithm is suggesting is anyone who is remotely interested in the show the the comments while mostly pro ship have some anti ship viewers as well.

Instagram: idk anything besides the official instagram for the show so you’ll get everyone’s opinions on everything.

Tumblr: is a safe space, all the ships have their own tags and mind their own business 🤍 that but also after having interacted with people who ship sydrichie / sydmarcus there wasn’t any animosity so great.

It’s a show, we’re experiencing escaping reality don’t let anyone ruin the fun for you. Be unbothered and delulu!

#also if you’re team slow burn this is what a slow burn is #longing and desire #and will they or won’t they #sydcarmy #the bear #sydney adamu #carmen berzatto #the bear meta #charged and sexy

[nekoannie-chan]

Misunderstood instructions

Title: Misunderstood instructions.

Ship: Steve Rogers & New!Avenger!Reader.

Word count: 421 words.

Square: I1 “Misunderstood.”

Rating: Teen.

Summary: Steve said the wrong directions, or maybe he didn’t.

Major Tags: Misunderstood, mission gone wrong.

Additional tags: This my entry to @cabottombingo Captain Bottom Bingo round 2. CABB2024.

Links: Wattpad, Ao3, Spanish version.

@saiyanprincessswanie

My native language is Spanish so I wanna improve my writing skills in English if you notice any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct them.

I don’t give any kind of permission that my fics to be posted on other platforms or languages (I translate myself my work) or the use of my graphics (my dividers are included in this), I did them exclusively for my fics, please respect my work and don't steal it. There are some people here who make dividers that anyone can use, mine is not this type, please look for the other's people. The only exception is the ones I gifted 'cuz now belong to someone else. If you find any of my works on a different platform and are not one of my accounts, please let me know. Reblogs and comments are always welcome.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Marvel's characters (unfortunately), except for the original characters and the story.

Add yourself to my taglist here.

My other media where I publish:  Ao3, Wattpad, ffnet, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter. 

If you like it, please vote, comment, and give me feedback to improve my skills and reblog.

Tags: @sinceimetyou @unnuevosoltransformalarealidad @navybrat817 @angrythingstarlight @shield-agent78 @charmed-asylum @pandaxnienke @real-fbi @smokeandnailz @white-wolf1940 @tenaciousperfectionunknown @xoxonotme @bluemusickid @leyannrae @harrysthiccthighsss @marvelatthisonee @caplanbuckybarness @sapphire-rogerss @lizzieolseniskinda @notyourtypicalrose @hallecarey1 @nana1000night @talia-rumlow @writingshae @alexxavicry @azulatodoryuga @daemonslittlebitch @chaoticcollectivenightmare @endlesstwanted @chemtrails-club  @marigoldreamer @whiskeytangofoxtrot5555 @here4thefanfics @theestorm @patzammit @kmc1989 @somegirlfromasgard

The city lights flickered as Steve and the team prepared for their most important mission to date. The tension in the operations room was palpable as the heroes reviewed plans and prepared for action.

That night, the team infiltrated a suspicious warehouse in the heart of the city. Steve was leading the operation, followed closely by you, the new agent who had joined less than a month ago. The mission was simple: infiltrate, disable the weapon, and capture the enemies. But things rarely went according to plan.

As you and Steve were walking into the warehouse, you and Steve found yourselves in the middle of a firefight. Gunshots echoed through the air, and lights flickered as you moved quickly for cover. Amid the confusion, a misunderstanding arose when you saw an armed individual who appeared to be aiming at Steve. Without hesitation, you made a quick decision and fired, neutralizing the attacker before he could reach Steve.

They then managed to get to the machine room and began to search for any information that would be useful to them, although you had understood otherwise, so you erased all the information from one of the USB sticks. As soon as Steve realized this, he became enraged, and they began to argue.

While they were arguing, the enemies took advantage of the confusion to activate the weapon, triggering a series of explosions that shook the warehouse.

The team rushed to evacuate the building. Steve approached you.

“Why did you do it?" Steve asked, extremely annoyed.

You looked at the floor and then tried to explain what had happened, but the words caught in your throat.

“I'm sorry. It was a mistake; I had understood that we had to get rid of all the information and evidence; that's what you explained, so I assumed."

Steve sighed. He always said it was a bad idea to accept more agents and personnel into the team, and maybe he had been right; they had just had a catastrophic result.

“Forget it. We can't afford mistakes like this," Steve said, his voice firm but with a hint of hatred in it.

Steve decided to conduct a thorough review of the mission to analyze what had happened and what they would do next, although it seemed like everything was going against him.

Maybe you should go back to your old organization; maybe you were wrong to have joined, although you still had another option, somehow, without anyone noticing, to take revenge for the humiliation they were putting you through.

#cabottombingo #cabottombingor2 #steve rogers & reader

[wndaswife]

santa monica dream

taylor sloane x fem!reader

tags: angst. a lot of angst.

word count: 2432

summary: late into the night, taylor calls you after months of being broken up from each other.

a/n: based on the song 'santa monica dream' by angus & julia stone

gif is not mine; credit to the creator.

It’s three in the morning and you’re sitting at the kitchen counter, working on a project on your laptop, when Taylor calls you. It’s the first time she has since the two of you broke up nearly a year ago.

You don’t know why you pick up, but you do. You hold the phone up to your ear, holding your breath and not daring to make even the slightest noise.

A voice you hadn’t heard in what felt like centuries, and simultaneously one you could recall as if you had heard it just this morning, speaks meekly through the phone, “Hello?”

You consider just hanging up, or continuing to stay silent and have Taylor speak again. You don’t know when you decided to answer, but you find yourself parting your lips to speak faster than you could stop yourself. “Hi,” you say.

“Y/N?” Taylor asks, and you screw your eyes shut at the feeling that bursts through your chest hearing her call your name again. “Is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

She lets out a breath that sounds like a laugh. You think it is. “You sound different,” she comments. You cannot tell if it’s a good or bad thing that you sound different, but she sounds sentimental. Taylor, sentimental. You could almost laugh. It isn’t long before Taylor talks again. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been fine,” you answer simply. “And you?”

Taylor replies, “Me too.” There is a moment’s silence before she suddenly says, “Ezra and I are trying for a baby.”

“Good for you guys,” is all you hear yourself saying. You recall Taylor’s Instagram post from when the two of them got engaged. They looked happy, from what you could tell, but you hadn’t spoken to Taylor for months at that point.

“He wants a boy.”

You don’t say anything.

“I think I want a girl.” She feels something warm, even while you don’t utter a word, simply because she knows you’re on the phone with her. If she said something, you’d hear it. You were right there, and that was the most she had of you in a long time.

“Okay,” you say in response. You don’t question why Taylor is telling you all this to begin with, in casual amiability as if you were a close friend to confide in, so you just respond blankly.

Carrying the conversation forward as if she hadn’t just arbitrarily told you she was trying to have a child with her fiancé, Taylor says, “I saw you went to Malta with Genevieve.”

Taylor spent hours searching your girlfriend up online. It started with occasional photos of you two hanging out at cafes and at nice places around the city. Who was this woman you were hanging out with so often, Taylor wondered. She seemed nice enough.

Then, a photo of the two of you together was posted by a mutual friend, Genevieve’s hand on your knee. It enraged her. Her chest tightened and a thousand weights dropped to the bottom of her stomach. She became lightheaded as she looked through the woman’s social media, searched up her name on Google, on Twitter, on Pinterest.

It angered her how perfect she would be for you. She was pretty. Prettier than Taylor, maybe. She was into reading, genuinely into reading, whereas Taylor faked it for comments on how profound and intelligent she was when she posted your favourite book as her own on her Instagram story.

Your girlfriend had a small business, a little shop in the city. She sold her sculptures and paintings. She was an artist. Of course she was. And she was good. Taylor bought several of her pieces just to throw her sculptures onto the ground in her backyard, to rip her paintings up and throw them into her fireplace.

Genevieve was everything Taylor wasn’t. She was everything you would’ve rather she had been when she was dating you instead of the vain, juvenile woman she was.

“Yeah, I did.” The vacation was nice. You’d always wanted to go to Malta. Taylor was always too busy promoting the L.A lifestyle, or so she said.

“The pictures on your Instagram are really cute,” Taylor remarks aloud. You think it’s supposed to be a compliment, but you don’t know what to say to it, so you don’t say anything at all. “Is Genevieve nice?” she asks suddenly.

“What?”

“Like, is she a nice person?”

“Yeah, she is. Why would you ask that?” You hope you didn’t come off as defensive when you responded, but without having to force something that sounded more lighthearted, you wouldn’t have known how else to put it.

Taylor hums cluelessly. “I’ve never met her, so I was just curious.” She was skilled in socialising, getting to know people- really getting to know them, inside and out. When you went out to parties with her, you observed how Taylor had turned socialising into some sort of science- the crinkling of her eyes as she smiled as to indicate sincerity, the looseness of her shoulders to indicate contentment- whereas you knew little to nothing about mingling.

When she paid half a mind to you, Taylor would wrap an arm around your waist in front of prospective business partners, saying, ‘This is my partner, Y/N.’ Never ‘girlfriend.’ It was ‘partner,’ always. You sometimes wondered if Taylor saw you as just another business opportunity, too. Maybe it was nicer for her image to have you as a partner; someone meek and gentle, who was a woman nonetheless. Dating someone like Taylor would make anyone think things like that, especially when she spent none of her time telling or showing you differently.

Coming back home from these social events, there was mirth in the glints of her eyes, having taken every person of interest at the event into her hands. Taylor brought in a lot of money from her social platforms, but for her, a greater incentive than money was being able to dip her fingers into the very limbs of those around her like one would do to a permeable body of water, taking them by their reins and utilizing them like marionettes. It was a little admirable from the eyes of someone who could hardly even keep a conversation with a stranger, but not from the eyes of her girlfriend. Not from someone who was treated no different than one of her prospective business partners.

“Why did you call me, Taylor?” you ask suddenly.

Your break up with her wasn’t simple nor was it mutually received. From what you allowed yourself to recall, your nearly two-year long relationship with her ended in quite the chaotic dispute. Taylor threw a framed picture at you from off the wall, causing your cheek to be nicked by a glass shard. There was not a moment during the three-hour argument where you weren’t shouting at each other. You left the house with an angry flourish, slamming the front door and shaking Taylor to the very bone. You slept at a hotel out of the city.

A week later, after a few exchanged I’m sorry’s and Let’s talk about this, please’s, you returned home to pack your things.

You left without any notice to Taylor, who was, at the time, at a partnership conference, not that she’d care if you gave her one anyways.

She left you many angry texts after she came home to all your things being gone, but you refused to argue over the phone. You met up for lunch at one point. The two of you only argued in the parking lot of the restaurant the two of you agreed upon before Taylor stormed back into her car and drove away. She texted you something brief later that day about closure and having appreciated her relationship with you. You hadn’t heard from her since.

Until now.

“Don’t know. Wanted to hear your voice,” Taylor answers. You can picture the way her bottom lip stuck out slightly when she sounded unsure like this.

You scoff. “Well, you heard it. I’m hanging up.”

But Taylor is quick to protest, “No! Don’t!”

You look up at your kitchen ceiling, not saying another word nor hanging up the phone.

Taylor hesitates, “H… Hello?”

“Hi,” you answer scornfully.

“Oh, you’re still here!”

“I’m not falling for this fucking shit again, Taylor.”

“What?”

“What are you gonna do? Huh? Are you recording this?" you accuse angrily. "Gonna post it on Instagram to fuck with me? Twist it around so I’m the desperate obsessive ex-girlfriend who called you at three in the morning?” Anger bubbled up in you the longer you spoke to her, the more she opened herself up to you as if what happened between the two of you never happened. Even now, after so long, she was the exact same woman you used to know.

Taylor sits up from where she was laying on the living room couch, panicked. “What? No! I wouldn’t do that.”

“You literally have done that before.” The outrage it caused was of an unbelievable amount. You and Taylor had only been arguing about her spending too much time online rather than in real life, with you. Out of context, it was quite the unpleasant behaviour on your end, so you understood the general responses from Taylor’s following, but you would never have expected how popular the video got.

Hundreds of hateful messages flooded your comments and message requests. For months, you weren’t able to have any social media presence without being cornered by those who hated you.

Taylor hadn’t even told you it was going to happen. She used you for a scandal and didn’t even tell you, as if you were just a piece in a game. She insisted that her friends had posted it without her permission, that she didn’t know it had been happening until it happened. But you knew she was lying, and she knew that you knew.

Your anger plateaued when she defended you online, recording and posting a ten-minute long video explaining the situation, creating fake context that made you seem slightly more likeable, and reestablished your relationship to her hundreds of thousands of followers.

‘My partner and I have never been happier. We love each other.’

Foolishly, that soothed you. The bare minimum meant the world to you. Even in defending you, which is what she had been planning since the video of your call with her was recorded to begin with, Taylor was the Good Samaritan. She was a loving, forgiving person who defended her partner in front of thousands, even when her partner was in the wrong. Her account got more attention after that, opening more doors for her and boosting her popularity.

“Well, I deleted those videos. And my publicist got them off of most websites,” Taylor tries to defend herself, her fingers pressing into the cushion of her couch.

“As if I give a fuck about that, Taylor.”

“And I’m different! I wouldn’t do that now.”

You spoke the next few words with ease, as if it had been sitting on your tongue just waiting to be shot out like snake venom. “I really don’t care how different you are, what self-help books you’re reading, what kind of spirituality shit you’re posting on your Instagram now to promote yourself- I don’t give a fuck!” You looked up at the ceiling where Genevieve slept in the room above, hoping you didn’t wake her.

Taylor is silent for a few moments, and when she speaks, she is quiet. “You would care if you could see it. If you could see that I really am different now. I am. I’m better.”

“A better what?”

“A better everything.”

“Why are you even telling me all of this? I haven’t talked to you in months.”

“I don’t know, okay?” she answered, audibly exasperated. “I just sat down and then I was calling you. I’m sorry.” Then, she asks, “Why don’t you care?”

“What?”

“Why don’t you care that I’ve changed?”

“Because just I don’t. I gave up the responsibility of caring about you a long time ago. You should’ve had this number deleted.”

The way Taylor’s head hangs as she brings a hand up to her face to physically stop herself from crying is, fortunately for her, unheard by you. Warm, stinging tears fall from her eyes anyways. “I’m sorry, Y/N,” she says.

You can hear the tremble in her voice. You aren’t sure how to take it because the Taylor Sloane you know could fake any emotion on the human spectrum.

“I wish I hadn’t treated you like that. It’s my fault that we…” she trails off and sniffles before continuing. “I don’t know what to do. Ezra wants a baby, and I don’t think I’m ready. I don’t think I even know what being ready feels like.”

Her confession finally leaves her in soft sobs, “I really miss you. Miss having you around. Telling you about my day. You’d know what to do if you were here. You always know what to do.”

You’re silent, just listening to her as you run your eyes over the tiles of your kitchen floor.

“It’s not the same with Ezra, you know.”

Here, you have to stop her. “Taylor, stop.”

But she pushes on unambiguously. “It’s the truth. I think about you all the time, even when I’m with him.”

There is another silence, and you imagine she was waiting for you to say you felt the same. But you didn’t. You hadn’t felt that way a very, very long time.

Taylor didn’t call again after that.

Just over ten months later, you’re having lunch with your best friend when she shows you something Taylor had posted about her newborn on Instagram. Newborns, actually. She had twins. A boy and a girl. In the picture she posted, Ezra was holding one baby, and Taylor the other.

“Hi,” Genevieve greets from behind you, breathlessly. “I’m sorry I’m late.” She leans down to kiss your cheek and you look away from your friend’s phone.

Genevieve hugs your friend before sitting down in the seat beside you. “Have you ordered yet?” she asks, picking up her menu.

“No, we were waiting for you,” you say. Your fiancée takes your hand under the table and you play with her ring with the pads of your fingers.

The caption of Taylor’s photo, ‘You ought to dream,’ goes unread by you, a quote from your favourite book, The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemmingway, that Taylor had finally read.

Taylor Sloane isn’t thought about once during the entirety of the lunch, and very scarcely is for the next many years of your life.

#taylor sloane x y/n #taylor sloane #taylor sloane x reader #taylor sloane x you #ingrid goes west fanfiction #ingrid goes west

[drbatsponge]

I swear the "sisters" excuse for Steph and Cass always makes me slightly enraged.

Sorry, Twitter did an opinion on DC ships thing and I saw that way too much.

But most people want them to be a canon relationship, so that's good.

Here's the thing, even if you don't ship them there's CLEARLY queer subtext with the two whether you like it or not.

Pre-reboot and especially post now.

Like either one harbors some sort of romantic feeling for the other, that's all I can say.

#look sisters don't do the things i've seen from them lmfao #shit is like the 'cousins' thing from Sailor Moon i stg #stephcass #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #batgirl #batgirls #dc comics

[trashasaurusrex]

I'm sorry you went through all that shit, and I'm glad you're out. I had no idea about those two, but I was vaguely aware about like... the werewolf clique on Twitter, Aquinton and them, and I felt like they were always on the attack. I'm glad you got out of there.

Thank you for your kind words! Truly truly. <3 This has been really hard because I did consider them friends. For a bit. And I debated hard on whether or not I should share what I had experienced/if it was too personal or complex, but having friends tell me that we were being manipulated/gaslit woke me up a bit. The "snarly smile" convo solidified that for me because...yeah. I'm open to talking about it more, now.

I'm...not aware of the "clique." I generally just do whatever and run to draw more art lol.

It enraged me when I saw Dog taking credit for a studio/business that a person of color, POC, POC!!!, had founded + organized. Out of everything, that was the most...wtf thing. And it was the next big thing that made me want to say something. It's 2024, that shit can't happen anymore.

#ask #dogblud

[juusauce]

#gojohime

Disclaimer: This is a fictional story. Names, characters, locations, and incidents are all made up by the author and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or people, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Hello to all Gojohime/GoUta shippers! As Gojo returned from the prison realm, this is my gift to everyone.

Ⓒjuusauce - do not copy, paste, or translate my works anywhere.

border @cafekitsune

Gojo placed one hand on the window frame's top.

G: Do you miss me at all?

Utahime parted her lips as if she spotted a ghost. It's been about a year since she's seen him. But it wasn't the only reason her mouth remained open. Gojo was partially leaning against the cabinet, his hand on the top of the window frame, showing off his six-pack abs. She had no idea how muscular he was until now. Because he consistently wore the same sweater, it wasn't noticeable.

G: Enjoying the view, hmm?

Her cheeks heated up when she saw his signature smirk.

She cleared her throat to divert her attention away from him.

U: How did you get into my room?

She may have appeared tough, but she was trembling on the inside.

G: Do you greet me like that, babe--

U: Quiet!

She tossed the pillow at him, but he easily avoided it, making her further enraged. He took a few steps forward, and she took a step back.

U: W-what do you intend to do?

She raised her voice sternly, but Gojo kept moving ahead. She swallowed the lump in her throat quietly. She was nervous since she had no idea what he was thinking.

They were barely one inch apart. Her breath got rough as she felt the heat from him.

U: Don't do anything wrong or I'll kick your balls!

He pretended to be terrified of her. Later, however, he simply laughed at her. He tilted his head sideways and stared at her.

G: You should try harder, Hime.

When she felt his hot breath on her cheeks, she gasped. When he noticed how bright red her cheeks were, he gave her a mischievous smile.

posted from twitter

#welcome back gojo #annoying satoru #utahime iori #utahime is always mad at him #poor boy the woman he loves hates him haha #enemies to lovers #gojohime rise #gojohime #gojo satoru x utahime iori #princess song #five songs #gouta #i love this ship too much that I abruptly made a crumbs for them #jjk fluff #gojo satoru fluff #utahime iori fluff #crumbs #drabble #jjk drabbles #jjk imagines #jjk gojo #jjk utahime #juusauce

[sprnklersplashes]

back in around 2020, discussions began to creep up about how we as humans cannot be outraged all of the time about every single thing happening in the world and honestly, I think those were worthwhile. we as humans are simply not built to be enraged 24/7 or to process a steady stream of injustices. if someone tried to be equally angry about every given thing and tried to do something about every bad thing on the face of the planet, they'd probably implode.

(this is not an invitation to start ignoring atrocities under the guise of 'self care', just a reminder that you are allowed to dedicate space in your life to something other than being angry and grieving)

but now, I feel like it's done that thing discourses often do where they swing to the complete other end of the spectrum and declared that you can only care about One Thing and anything else is a distraction from That Thing. don't get me wrong, I care deeply about the genocide in gaza and think everyone should have it as a top priority. but then I seen people being enraged about the ai porn of taylor swift/ai porn in general, or the sexist comedian hosting the golden globes, and people's responses are "who cares, there's a genocide going on". today I saw someone on twitter complaining that their landlord hadn't done anything about a mould problem and people's reponse was that they should care about war crimes as well.

I reiterate; everyone should have saving palestine as one of their top priorities. it's an unthinkable atrocity and we are watching it unfold in real time. but you can hold space for multiple things, and israel committing genocide does not suddenly make a man making misogynistic jokes at one of the biggest and most-watched award shows suddenly acceptable. stop assuming that just because someone posted about one of the quote-unquote "little things", it is all they care about. you can, and should, care about multiple issues at the same time.

#i could go on about how these issues are interconnected but i'm not going to #yet #áine for ts #idk i was thinking on this last night. #we've gone from 'you NEED to be angry about every single thing' to 'okay maybe not every single thing' to 'why are you upset about x when #you could be upset about y? don't you care?!' #i feel this is related to this sentiment of online activism where callouts are considered the peak of activism #so someone on twitter can think 'I'm a Better Activist than they are'

[onomatopagu-et-cie]

The Killing Vote (ep. 8 notes, part 3)

(SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 8!!!!)

Part 1

General impressions on the episode Official character profiles Lee Minsu’s tattoo Three pictures missing in Kwon Seokju’s house Choi Jinsu, Min Jiyoung and Lee Minsu « If I were Gaetal… » and a triangulation orchestrated by Kwon Seokju and Lee Minsu

Part 2

Jihoon and Gaetal Jihoon’s name Joohyun, Kim Muchan, Kwon Seokju and the Killing Vote « The moment you perfectly understand… » The Gaetal Kwon Seokju’s departure

Part 3 (right here!)

Joohyun and Gaetal More on Joohyun’s scar and expressions Joomin and the ‘firecracker smell’ Kim Muchan and Gaetal What’s still not addressed (yet) The ‘witness’, chronology of some key events, where the story is going:

Chronology of key events

Kim Muchan’s nightmare

Kwon Seokju’s conversation with Jihoon’s grandmother

‘Kim Muchan knows…’

Choi Dohee’s personal investigation and Kim Muchan’s endeavors

Gaetal

More on 당신

A potential secret communication in the main cast ① The news article on Kim Muchan and Gaetal ② The reverse Prison Break and ‘The 13th one is heard/tells [the signal]’ ③ Joohyun and the letters ④ The rabbit, the paperknife and the ointment cream ⑤ « Exactly 22 minutes. » ⑥ An IP address? ⑦ « Kim Muchan knows… » and the first letters

Wild guesses

♦ Joohyun & Gaetal

THE LOOK JOOHYUN GAVE KMC C’MON! She swallowed right after lmao:

Note: KMC only said « Gaetal is No. 1 Fan and No. 1 Fan is LMS. » in front of KSJ once he cut his phone call with Joohyun. She looked genuinely shocked it was one of KMC’s current leads. And she also drew the line earlier in this episode as she spoke to KMC (as I said in Part 1!).

And after discovering KMC is the next target, she drags LMS out enraged and threatens him with a gun.

The Gaetal are supposed not to know anything about each other as a rule, that's what this episode showed ; if Joohyun took part in the TKV because she sympathized with No. 1’s rage (it's about No. 1, not No. 1 Fan/LMS she seemed to know nothing about!) and plans but now realizes the mastermind might be LMS, its literal antithesis who actually uses people’s rage to fuel his twisted game, what would her reaction be with this new piece of information… ?

(The very first picture parallels what her sister Joomin said to her schoolmates before she got injured, ‘You think this is a game?’!)

Worth mentioning that while KMC’s team is panicking because their colleagues start judging KMC and voting, Joohyun and LMS keep staring at each other as you can see in the last picture above.

(Of course anyone would go batshit crazy in front of this scumbag’s behavior and given the urgency because the vote could be executed at any moment from now, but that still sounded reeeeeeeeaaaaally extreme nonetheless: threatening an individual with another officer’s gun she’s not even permitted to have and shooting at the ceiling… ?)

This bit on the pictures below felt even more suspicious, like she’s aware LMS has in his possession the means to stop the broadcasting, thus privy to how it was organized in the first place:

The moment she turned around to smoothly borrow Yoonji’s gun was pretty unhinged too (first set of pictures below)! The motion looked totally natural to her, done in cold-blood (could she also be used to shoot even though her work doesn't require nor highly likely permit it?):

In the second set of pictures, you can see this was an adrenaline moment done in the heat of the moment, she looks like she gradually regained her composure, realizing she was out of her mind as she looks around.

Note: a kr account on Twitter also noticed Joohyun spiraled even more once she saw this man on the screen (first set of pictures below):

The user theorized he could be the drunk driver that killed Joohyun’s family and LMS bribed him to fabricate this testimony (more on it later in the final part of the post!).

That’d be some other level of wickedness from LMS lmao… ! But dude was ready from the get-go so it wouldn’t surprise me he thought that far given his hatred for KMC.

And it’s true Joomin also said she knew where he lived, that he was faring well in life and led a ‘happy life’ after murdering her family: he could’ve bought himself a ‘new’ life with that money.

On the subject of that car crash, going back to Joohyun's profile (see Part 1 for more context!):

There was only one police officer (I wonder who that is… ? c:) who bothered listening to her and that’s why she decided to join the police.

I don’t know if it’s worth mentioning it, but in ep. 2, we see KMC go back to Narae & KSJ’s cases: as he stumbles upon the picture of KSJ on his way to prison as he watches, the camera also focuses on Joohyun on the left side but KMC doesn’t seem to react to it at all.

-> Either it was only a hint directed at the audience (‘oh, look! the three were there on the same day, perhaps there’s more to it than that?’) and KMC didn’t notice her on the picture (perhaps he would later?) ;

-> Or he didn’t bat an eye because he already recognized her somehow eg. we’re not shown in the flashback if they spoke later to each other (when Joohyun was protesting and Muchan was parting with KSJ) and we don’t know if they met before (eg. through Joohyun’s family car crash or Gaetal).

However KMC reacted to the pictures of Joohyun’s parents in ep. 4 (in the second set of pictures above) like he recalled something while his lips part (though it could be from pure sympathy only!)!

If so, the possibility that Joohyun might've recognized him along the way could further explain her ‘the votes made sense this far but not with the Superintendent!’ in addition to their companionship/friendship built through this investigation!

(I’ll talk about Joohyun's past further in the final points!)

Also, if she’s part of Gaetal, she perhaps realized through her analyses (eg. Gaetal’s speech mannerism, other details) that KSJ was really involved with TKV and sympathized even more with him.

What she might’ve not been aware of was No. 1 Fan’s identity she was still trying to figure out while KMC had an inkling it was LMS (and in addition to that, it’s interesting that he withheld the story behind the ‘No. 1 Fan’ up to this episode!).

She also lashed out at KSJ (first set of pictures below) when she realized he discarded the first letter, and it might just be my imagination but that sounded pretty emotionally loaded, like she felt betrayed (especially the trembling and tense ‘LMS’s first letter is missing.’).

She looks mad MAD, there were only a few scenes she reacted this strongly unlike KMC for example, and the best example only happened in this episode with LMS:

And she probably didn’t even inform KMC she was visiting KSJ to confront him (in the last pictures, she pretty much looks like she was interrupted by the call ; KSJ also looks embarrassed).

KSJ's expressions in the second set of pictures are also pretty interesting, when KMC called and when he was about to leave Joohyun behind!

Not to mention the exchange she had with Jihoon on what sets an accessory apart from an accomplice: it could be foreshadowing of not only Jihoon being part of Gaetal but also Jihoon and Joohyun working together (be it knowingly or not), with KSJ.

And Jihoon saying to her in the end « I’m your partner and not an accomplice, right? » is interesting in regard to what Choi Jinsu said on vigilantism: « Robin Hood didn’t think he was a thief either. »

An accomplice is a partner with the right intentions in the culprit's mind ; a murder becomes well-deserved vengeance ; a motive to murder in retaliation devils that were deemed innocent by the failing Rule of Law becomes a justification for preemptive assault, and so on!

It also brings into question this scene with Jihoon: indeed, how did the video ‘test’ even happen to be sent in Joomin’s laptop… ?

Recapping what we saw in the drama,

— KSJ didn’t seem to know its existence at all when Joohyun mentioned it to him ;

— Jihoon was shocked someone (Joomin) was able to find it ;

— KMC looked overcome with emotion when Joohyun showed him the video in the first episode, whatever this will mean later (① below) ; his reaction when Joohyun says one thing didn’t change between the video test & the broadcast (②) and when Joohyun finally mentions KSJ (③):

Note: I supposed in one of the previous posts the person might’ve sent the video test on Joomin’s laptop to alert Joohyun (or for another purpose) through her sister knowing she’s part of the Cyber team. Joohyun became well-known in the workforce as the whistleblower, and KMC seemed well-aware of it! Also Joohyun modified the video test’s title: it’s not Lrae090915 but only ‘test video’ …

— For what it’s worth, here was Jodan’s reaction to the video test by the way and his reaction when Joohyun first mentioned KMC:

♦ More on Joohyun’s scar & expressions

In episode 4, when Joohyun confides in KMC her habit of playing with her scar, she says: « Whenever I’m stressed out, it starts burning. »

She uses 신경쓰다 in this sentence (‘to mind/care/bother, pay attention mindfully/get on one’s nerves’ ; 신경 means nerve anatomically and fig. feeling/sense/thought about sth).

According to her profile, her scar became the stigma reminding her of the injustice she suffered.

Since ep. 8 cast some doubt on Joohyun in some scenes to me, I tried to rewatch the scenes she exhibited that habit to see if there were some interesting things to note!

→ She scratched her scar in this specific moment in ep. 2, when they were searching for the LAN cable at BGC’s ‘hideout’ (since Gaetal used a computer or remote server to air the test run for the Killing Vote there) and she also inserted the USB drive she carries around.

I’m not at all knowledgeable about this, but a random window popped up only a few seconds on top of the log history… ? And she coincidentally scratched her scar only after this particular moment.

She initially asked Jodan to check the log history but she’s the one who did it in the end.

She then said she was collecting all volatile data to analyze them later (I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt haha, maybe that’s why that random window showed up?). But I believe we never heard from it again, right… ? And on the pictures above, she seemed a bit on edge when she told KMC she’d analyze the data back at the office, with a little forced smile.

It's interesting to note that she arrived first at the scene with Jodan, who then asked her: « By the way, didn’t you tell Team Leader too? », and… Joohyun never answered lmao????

And given CJS’s reaction when he arrived, the answer must have been no: « What’s going on here? Are you toying with us? », Jodan covered Joohyun by saying « We followed the lead and ended up here. »

She looked puzzled at Jodan's question somehow then a bit surprised once KMC and Choi Jinsu arrived, and finally turned around panicked/annoyed as she’s blurred in the foreground.

… Reciprocally, KMC didn’t inform the Cyber team they were going there while their expertise would’ve definitely helped???? Because he perhaps knew everything already... ? (more on that later!)

Other moments where she scratched her scar:

→ As she was running an algorithm based on keywords related to KSJ & Gaetal and the words ‘Kwon Seokju’, ‘Kwon Narae’, ’Seohyun University’, ‘murder’ & ‘revenge murder’ were displayed (ep. 2).

→ When she interviewed KSJ for the first time, and seeing this habit made KSJ swallow for some reason (ep. 2), and it’s interesting to note their confrontation was shot in a pretty unusual way in the drama, literally face-to-face like they’re on equal footing: it was not even done between LMS & KMC nor KSJ & KMC!

The only other pair that was shot like this was KMC & JJW in ep. 6 (the second set of pictures). And Lee Yunseong alone (not KMC) was shot in this way as he was interviewed by KMC in ep. 7. Is this to symbolize the character in question know everything, something along those lines... ?

→ When she’s nervously waiting for KSJ with KMC in ep. 3.

She thinks to herself:

« We’ve found traces of Gaetal in BGC’s hideout and KSJ’s house. These two places. If there’s no record of anyone logging onto the internet from either location while the voting took place, Gaetal must have a hideout elsewhere. Even so, they wouldn’t have gone that far. If we look for places that used more electricity than usual around the voting periods or housed a larger server in the vicinity of these two places… »

Note: indeed, in ep. 8, Min Jiyoung/LMS’s house used an unusual amount of electricity for example!

The two sentences in bold were said as she scratched her scar, KMC even stopped her in the end! KMC’s expressions were also interesting in this moment (eg. averting his gaze, shutting his lips more tightly).

And KMC says: « Fussing over it won’t change anything. Don’t underestimate KSJ. Don’t show him anything he could use to read you. » (and indeed, you could read more into Joohyun’s behavior than KSJ’s in this whole scene!)

What followed was also really interesting, the moment was very short but once KMC asked if KSJ was Gaetal, Joohyun’s eyes were darting everywhere! And KSJ’s reaction too haha:

Note: I never noticed until I took those screenshots the melancholic/worried/soft look on KMC’s face!

→ Joohyun scratched her scar once KSJ gave an explanation on the tag ; she also did it when she first watched the video test when the ‘devils deemed innocent’ came about! KSJ’s ‘That’s probably what it means.’ was superposed to a full focus on Joohyun’s habit while KMC noticed it (① below):

Note: KSJ has a lopsided smile as he says he just realized it himself (it was about the intriguing 13th stab... more on that at the end of the post!) so he doesn’t know who he could’ve told that to + KMC’s expression was not shown on screen at that time!

→ Joohyun scratched her scar after KMC asked her to take KSJ outside to Gaetal, for her to be his messenger (more on that at the end of the post!) and eventually find out why he hid the letters and asked for a special pardon.

→ Also on the way to the Police Agency with KSJ in ep. 5, after KMC checked on them and assured him she would keep a close eye on him, which KSJ noticed.

→ Also in the same episode, as Joohyun showed the pictures of BGC’s wife to KSJ and said: « But there’s a case that seems to be an outlier for Gaetal, so it makes me uncertain. »

So how does Joohyun factor in all this?

→ Choi Jinsu said something interesting about her in the first episode (② above, 'How would she know the killer?').

→ And in ep. 3 (③ above), you get the superposition of KMC’s line (‘Gaetal is very close to [KSJ].’) with this shot including the two, Joohyun at the center and KMC exiting the picture! KSJ, the object of the sentence implied in this line from the context, is omitted, so the sentence could also literally mean 'Gaetal is very close.'!!!!

→ For what it’s worth, Joohyun was the one who led KMC to investigate KSJ: she suggested to KMC the link between ‘Devils deemed innocent’ and KSJ first and it became a lead in his investigation (ep. 1) ; she reported to KMC BGC’s isolation thanks to KSJ’s testimony, which made her finally meet him ; she’s the one who first theorized ‘Gaetal = No. 1 Fan’ in front of KMC as she analyzed the letters!

It was also Joohyun that claimed ‘devils deemed innocent’ was not a quote KSJ got from someone else.

It’d be really interesting if it was Joohyun who tried to deceive/manipulate KMC from the sidelines (of course, not necessarily with bad intentions in mind!) while the drama showed how KMC seemingly assumed an advising/supporting position to Joohyun. The drama also highlighted how KMC was the one who needed these advices the most!

→ There’s also that moment that seemed out of place as she faces the camera straight in ep. 3 (right in front of the TV news, presented by Choi Dohee, showing KMC caught in the explosion) and asks: « Do you still think Gaetal is right? »

(Once again Joohyun's expression is blurred on the second set of pictures!)

While the question form (~니 was used ; it’s an informal marker for questions) and the context make it seem like she addresses her younger sister, her grave look and the close-up of the camera could show something else and cast some doubt.

Yes, in her next lines, she speaks like it was about her sister (eg. by mentioning her classmates) but this moment puzzled her sister who saw how serious she looked. Joohyun only relaxed once Joomin asked her ‘What?’ in shock.

Was the question directed at someone she knows (younger or the same age eg. Choi Dohee, Jodan, Jihoon ; the ~니 could also mean nothing since she was speaking to her sister at the same time)? Or herself?

Note: they’re talking about a betrayer in ep. 8, so if she worked with Gaetal/someone in Gaetal (like KSJ), she perhaps realized something was going wrong with the way the one who laid out the plans did things (eg. harm an innocent person, and KMC at that) only along the way.

While 'Do you still think Gaetal is right?' could naturally mean she totally condemns Gaetal (as in the group) and their deeds at first glance, it could also mean she condemns someone among that group and not necessarily the group as a whole, for example the mastermind who was giving out the plans in advance and that Joohyun knew nothing about until the investigation began!

If it was about Choi Dohee, we (and also Joohyun) know how she manipulates the truth for ulterior motives (she first appears as an admirable justice warrior in the first episodes but we discover it’s far from the truth behind the scenes) and she had communicated with Gaetal, was Joohyun aware of her plans?

When CDH asks who the votes served in the end, you can see Joohyun reacting.

Joohyun continues: « You said that your classmates likened Gaetal to Batman. A hero. You should all wake up. That bastard is a criminal. Someone who wouldn’t hesitate to kill cops and even people like you and me. A dangerous scoundrel. »

If I’m hearing right, she used for ‘지독한 낙 진범.’

진범 = real culprit, which might suggest even more that she separates Gaetal the group and the mastermind (but how does she know all that... ?)!

지독하다 = spiteful, venomous (ie. mind or personality having a very cold or harsh quality), terrible, awful, dreadful, cruel, harsh, inhuman or violent, sharp, intense, bitter, heavy, tenacious, persistent (ie. having a strong will)

That’s the adjective KSJ used to describe that ‘terrible rage’ KMC also felt when he got in the car ; it was specifically KSJ’s wording, while Joohyun only used 분노 (rage/fury/wrath) without that adjective when she spoke!

In ep. 6, she never made KMC listen to this specific part though btw! And we don’t know what she did when she went upstairs as KSJ was down, we only have her word!

-> On that subject, she lied a little to KSJ in ep. 6 about where she found Gaetal’s video test, saying it was ‘on a zombie PC when she was investigating a cybercrime case before this one.’ ????

And she sounded nervous, avoiding eye contact with him when she answered.

She scanned what was under her gaze and changed the subject to Narae’s drawing KSJ was holding.

Why though?

Was it because it was simply an unnecessary detail to disclose to KSJ?

Was it because she already realized something really involved KSJ to the video?

Was it because she didn’t want to involve her younger sister since it was found on her laptop?

Was it because KSJ would understand something from the true answer?

And in ep. 4, she gave another version to KMC: « I was using [Joomin's] computer when I first found Gaetal’s test video. I forgot to erase it afterward, so she and her friend found the video and analyzed it. », which does not say AT ALL it the video test was specifically destined to Joomin’s computer only (the entire PC bang and accounts were infected but no video was found there except through Joomin’s laptop) as we discover it in Joohyun's separate investigation in ep. 2!

The only person she shared with how things really happened was Jodan (ep. 1 & 2).

What gives???? It’s similar to KMC is withholding the story behind ‘No. 1 Fan’ and his relationship to KSJ!

………….. And once again, how did KMC end up finding that IP address/that it was at BGC’s hideout without Joohyun nor (supposedly) Jodan’s help?

(See the last point where I overthink lol about KMC, Joohyun and KSJ's cryptic communication, some points above will be brought up again!)

→ In ep. 6, this scene was interrupted by Joomin. You can definitely see a hint of a smile/relief on Jihoon’s lips and under his eyes, his voice also is breathed out and trembling but Joohyun also seemed absorbed in their conversation until Joomin rushed in worried:

♦ Joomin, the ‘smell’, Kim Muchan & Joohyun

In ep. 3, when JJW (was it him though?) fled, I didn’t notice the gunshot that you can hear (around 50’) ; from the angle, it doesn’t look like it’s JJW himself who shot, he only stumbled when Joomin blocked his way and his arm, he looked empty-handed. He would’ve used it earlier if he had a firearm on him, but he only used what came in handy as a weapon (a golf club) like KMC did with the paperknife!

Note: ep. 8 showed Joohyun could fire a gun even though she was a special recruit in the Cyber Team. In ep. 3, she trailed after KMC and 'that man' ; also, it’s likely KMC didn’t bring a firearm on him since he switched clothes with Choi Jinsu and in a hurry at that (and made a point to take that paperknife with him as he went upstairs).

But if there was a gunshot (that sounded really close), where was the detonation seen (yes, it depends on the weapon but it’d produce at least a little flash because it was really dark out there)? Either it was shot from far away (Joohyun and KMC rushed few seconds after) or there was no gunshot in the first place... ?

The only thing that shined was Joomin’s phone in her hand… ? That she seemed to tinker with (she turned it on when she bumped into JJW then turned it off as soon as she fell) … ?

And a few minutes ago, she showed Jihoon an app on her phone imitating sirens and whatnot … (last picture above) ? Could she have generated a gunshot sound with her phone … ? Was it to scare him off or some other reason?

In any case, the fact there wasn’t any gunshot doesn’t mean she couldn’t have sensed the firecrackers/gunpowder/metal smell though eg. that person already had that smell on them for whatever reason.

Here’s Joohyun’s reaction when Joomin remembered the person smelled like firecrackers (and that dumbfounded look on KMC?!):

Note that:

→ That lead on the smell was never brought up again interestingly!

→ The whole exchange unfolds under the premise the person was a man, Joomin kept mentioning « 그 남자 » (that man)

→ We don’t know what happened to KMC nor Joohyun in the gap between the moment the person exited KSJ’s house and they ran after them after the gate.

→ KMC and Joohyun were really close to the car exploding a few days ago so their skin could still smell metal/combustion!

→ KMC changed into Choi Jinsu’s clothes (it could be the source of the smell: even though CJS was far from the bombing, his clothes could smell something else, like gunshot powder).

→ KMC wore REALLY similar clothes to that person (black cap, vest, t-shirt and pants) except for the black mask that person wore when they knocked Joohyun (and Joohyun is seen putting a black mask on KSJ in ep. 5).

Was this incident a pure sleight of hand staged by whoever needed it to happen (I include everyone present in this haha)? If there was someone to deceive, who was supposed to be the audience... ?

→ The next day, Choi Jinsu said the person who fled « must know the area well. He sneaked out through blind spots. One camera caught their face, but it’s hard to identify someone in a mask. »

Cue KMC’s reaction on the pictures below ; he also wanted to see Jihoon to ‘ask him something.’

Note: KMC never got to see Jihoon that day because he went to the hospital ; he was only interviewed at the Police Agency in ep. 7 but by KMC’s colleague, not him. Ep. 7 shows KMC paying close attention to CCTVs around KSJ’s neighborhood as he investigates Narae’s murder! It’s also obviously the case for LMS when he was young! Jodan also said in ep. 8: « You can easily learn how to avoid CCTV cameras online. There are a lot of online communities where those with criminal records share cops’ plate numbers and schedules of crackdown. » ➾ this could mean anybody could have found a way to bypass the CCTVs, eg. from Jihoon to KMC/LMS, the Cyber Team to KMC’s team and on MJY’s side too.

Another interaction between KMC and Jihoon was in ep. 6, as he looked at him quite worried/perplexed!

♦ Kim Muchan & Gaetal

① There was a puzzling scene from the first episode, when KMC took the time to pull over once he received the announcement BGC was voted to be executed. This specific scene also happened just BEFORE BGC was murdered.

② The first episode also made visual parallels between KMC and KSJ!

③ Ep. 2's scene was also weird, in ep2 KMC wasn’t even pretending to be dead, so he wasn’t working with the journalist (yet), why did he look this absent-minded then startled, brought back to the investigation at hand once Joohyun talked?

Note: He also seemed completely focused on what Joohyun was doing on her laptop ; even if Jodan’s moment was some comic relief (when he mistakenly pointed his flashlight to him as he argued with Choi Jinsu), it broke whatever absorbed trance he was into.

There’s also this scene in the conference room where the journalist seems to be pretty sure she’ll directly get information (and her show) from Gaetal in person. This never got addressed again later!

This gets even weirder now that the journalist dropped this bomb in front of Min Jiyoung (though it could be a bluff since they were challenging and literally lambasting each other lmao) in ep. 8: « I learned about their identity from a reliable source. And the police promised me a scoop on it. There wasn’t a hint of you at all in any intel I obtained. »

Like… what is actually happening right now???? I guess she somehow figured Gaetal’s identity only through said ‘hints’ and is not 100% sure of it.

(This also explains her determination to get information from her previous source and to keep it exclusively to herself!)

The question she asked him and the glances they exchanged also felt curiously emphasized in ep. 4 (the next pictures of ③).

KMC did taekwondo like his colleague Yoonji, he was 1st dan in taekwondo (you can see it when Joohyun searches for his profile in the first episode) but it’s never brought up even though it was a hint to Gaetal’s identity at the time.

Note: of course, 1st dan must be nowhere near the level of a national athlete (her profile says she even won an Olympic gold medal!) but it’s still a black belt! For comparison, it’s revealed in ep. 6 that JJW practiced hapkido (3rd dan), special martial arts (특공무술, 3rd dan ; I believe it’s taught in the military and the police force) and bodyguard martial arts (경호무술, 2nd dan, taught to protect VIPs).

There’s also this bit that’s not been explained (yet): in ep. 1, KMC negotiates a promotion to the HQ Investigation Team in exchange of handling TKV’s case because « there’s a case he must investigate while he travels nationwide. »

We still don’t know why KMC is determined to obtain it, but given the last episode, is it about his mother?

But for him to need to travel ‘nationwide’ and a higher position than he already has, the case must have a pretty large scale eg. branching in different regions and perhaps even cases, national authorities etc.

KMC’s auspicious nightmare also stood out in this week’s episode (more on it by the end of the post!).

I wonder how this will foreshadow the story: after witnessing Joohyun threaten LMS in front of his mother, he dreams Joohyun replaces her mother, bleeding out.

(Please let this not be her death flag, the still cuts for this episode were already enough ;;)

Also this might be reeeeeeeally far fetched, but when KMC arrived in front of Jihoon and Joomin and asked how long Joohyun has been in KSJ’s house, Jihoon says it’s been exactly « 22 minutes. » ???? … KSJ supposedly stabbed BWT 22 times to avenge Narae?

♦ What’s still not addressed (yet)

As the drama progresses, we still don’t have any flashback between the moment KSJ decided to murder BWT and the moment KMC catches up to him in the rain:

— KSJ must’ve contacted/left a message to KMC beforehand. This conversation is missing and we don't know how KMC knew he had to rush in the neighborhood ;

— We only get KMC’s recount of the events in the present: « [KSJ] abandoned everything that he had and chose to be a murderer. ‘devils who were deemed innocent’ is the phrase that he used to express his feelings at the time. ». It's only recently that we saw a glimpse of Jihoon's recollection of the events! It seems like the reveal will be vital and saved for the end.

— This series of events might be pretty important for it to be revealed in the second part of the drama while the outcome was hinted at since the first episode ; doing so would mainly be for the storytelling to be more engaging and dramatic with no specific reveal in mind, but it could also be to prepare for a potential plot twist ;

— If it’s that important, maybe there’s something that could significantly change our point of view of the whole situation or on one of the characters involved eg. KSJ or KMC. Idem for the key moment KMC fabricated the evidence, we only see a shot of him parked right in front of the building where Narae was found and hallucinate a smiling LYS!

— (crack theory that I still hold onto in a corner of my brain) what if it was KMC and not KSJ that murdered BWT?

The drama also still didn’t address two other really important elements in KSJ, KMC & LMS’s past: KSJ & KMC’s first meeting (is it linked to the latter’s mother?) nor LMS confessing to murdering Narae (or the complete truth behind the case: he’s 100% involved, but to what extent?).

LMS left KMC’s question unanswered (‘You’re the one who killed Narae, right?’) and the drama keeps hinting at LMS’s dangerousness with all the suspicions piling up.

The tragedy behind Joohyun’s family also remains completely untouched! I guess the conversation between Jihoon and Joomin about her family’s murderer will soon factor in since Jihoon is now completely revealed involved in TKV!

Like at this point all these elements seem like one big elephant in the room, I expect this to explode in our faces by the end of the drama haha

Also Jodan… ! Dude got his hands on the wiretapping device in Narae’s room ever since ep. 3 but we’ve heard nothing from it so far (perhaps analyses take lots of time since it’s really old and Gaetal’s case is all over the place, but still!)????

♦ The ‘witness’, chronology of some key events, where the story is going

I put this part in the end because it’s based on (too) many hints I mentioned in the notes and I tried to make sense of it all haha

A kr user found that the murderer of KMC’s mother suspiciously looked like said witness (I can’t unsee it now haha):

Here’s what the witness said:

« He framed me for all kinds of crimes and ruined my life. My life was so tough and I made one mistake. Then, he lied about victims who never existed, fabricated the evidence, and framed me for something I didn’t do. So I was in prison for 10 YEARS. Because of KMC, my son grew up without his father. »

Chronology of key events

It made me think of how the key events unfolded in the drama:

→ 2008: KSJ began teaching at KNPU, KMC promised he’d be his ’No. 1 Fan’ (which might suggest their relationship went back an even longer way)

→ December 27, 2013 (you can see it written on Joohyun’s protest cardboard): Joohyun’s family hit-and-run car crash, the ‘repeated drunk driver’ escaped repeated DUI because of a ‘lack of evidence’ (and was only arrested for drowsy driving, the cardboard says he received 1 year and 6 months only). Only one police officer believed her story, which made her want to join the police. Meanwhile, the SAME YEAR, the witness for KMC’s vote (organized by LMS, not the ‘real’ Gaetal) was supposedly arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison because of KMC’s abusive investigation.

→ Around 2015: when Jihoon met KSJ and Narae and KSJ wished to adopt him

→ 2015: Min Jiyoung was a new assemblywoman, prepared her campaign (presumably to run for presidency) and wanted KSJ to join her team. Narae’s murder (she disappeared on September 15). BWT is acquitted (because of the confusion of the plush toys KMC and the lawyer used & the extorsion BWT’s confession under police violence revealed during the trial ; there could be other underlying reasons), then murdered by KSJ in retaliation.

Note: we definitely saw KMC beating BWT because he was enraged but we also saw how Min Jiyoung and her husband literally stepped on him ; the bruises might have been mixed (or Min Jiyoung might’ve added to the bruises deliberately), Min Jiyoung coerced BWT into showing how hurt he was at the trial (in front of official authorities so this could not be denied) and KMC was discredited. It means nobody was held responsible for Narae’s death.

BWT’s parents died, it was classified (but most likely written off) as suicide. It was KMC who received the news through his phone call with CJS. KSJ didn’t seem to know it as he was being sent to prison (ep. 5, but it could be a lie). LYS fled the country soon after ; he only came back in 2022 and became a teacher at Seorae High School (its foundation is run by Min Jiyoung’s relatives). During Narae & KSJ’s cases, the Police Commissionner, KMC’s superior and Min Jiyoung met and something is linking them three to KMC and KSJ. Joohyun is seen protesting for her family’s case while KMC sees KSJ off.

→ May 2018: Lieutenant Im (a nurse officer), JJW’s fiancée, hanged herself after all the sexual abuse she went through. JJW threatened Cpt. Oh with an illegal weapon and as a result his death was faked by the military, was given a new identity and was discharged. Ever since, he worked in security services.

Note: On December 10, 2018, he worked as a Senate security agent. July 18, 2019, at a demolition company. 2019.12.01 - 2022.09.30, at Saehyeon Hospital, Cpt. Oh and Jihoon’s grandmother’s working place.

→ September 15, 2018 (same date Narae disappeared!!!!): KSJ received No. 1 Fan’s letter and was sent to solitary confinement for the first and last time. For 5 years he’d receive letters on a monthly basis.

→ 2021: Joohyun collected evidence to arrest Min Jiyoung because she ordered an illegal DDoS attack on the National Election Committee, but her aide took the blame. She found the hacker as she herself hacked the server of MJY’s family/political account. Someone else, MJY’s aide, took the blame. As a whistleblower (whose identity was forcefully revealed by Choi Dohee which was not per their deal) Joohyun got a special promotion but at the same time marginalized at her workplace: she revealed her team’s investigation to Choi Dohee and got her team leader fired (as he tried to delete the evidence right before they were meant to arrest Min Jiyoung).

→ 2023: the Killing Vote begins. KSJ, KMC and Joohyun (and the rest of the cast) are brought back together by this event.

And here are the events that still aren’t labelled with a date:

→ The tragic story behind Jihoon’s parents and how his grandmother came to raise him ; and it might have something to do with the death row inmate they planned to poison among others in the fourth vote.

→ The deal between BWT’s parents and Min Jiyoung (ie. likely for BWT to become the scapegoat for whatever LYS did)

→ The murder of KMC’s mother, her culprit fled the scene: what’s important to know is if it happened after Narae’s case or a long time before that (eg. when he first met KSJ). In that flashback, it seems KMC was wearing the Academy’s/Police uniform for his graduation or a promotion (see here for comparison) was holding a diploma/promotion certificate that fell in the pool of blood.

Looking at his epaulette, he had the rank of 경위/inspector at that time (one Rose of Sharon/mugunghwa is seen ; which is the first rank you get once you graduate from the Police Academy or University, there are five grades included) and when he held Gaetal’s Special Team press conference in ep. 1 he had the high rank of (chief) superintendent (three Roses).

→ Gaetal’s video test, which was probably titled after Narae’s disappearance

→ When Jodan got arrested for hacking and joined the police.

Kim Muchan's nightmare

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

KMC’s sinking feeling that unsettled him was maybe a subconscious association with what he experienced in the past:

(1) This nightmare seemed to happen on occasional occurrences whenever KMC felt something was off, but enough for Choi Jinsu to comment on it.

(2) Joohyun threatened LMS and Min Jiyoung tried to get back at her in retaliation (in the same way she said to KMC after BWT’s trial: ‘Don’t mess with my son ; I won’t let this pass if you do it again.’), KMC intervened:

→ Joohyun replacing his mother in his nightmare could mean that both of them were in a position of a 3rd person’s imminent threat in retaliation to whatever KMC did to them (eg. arrest a culprit with strong connections).

→ It could mean whatever got his mother killed was linked to his promotion at the time.

(3) His mother was murdered by a man who looked like the witness involved in the Killing Vote that LMS organized. Said man got a very mild sentence for what he did to Joohyun’s family but he claimed (without any proof to back it up, the video was shot mainly for shock value) he was sentenced to 10 years of prison because of KMC.

(4) If his mother was murdered by the ‘witness’ who was involved in the case of Joohyun’s parents, he was probably someone’s henchman/bribed and/or blackmailed by someone to do this.

Note: Min Jiyoung grew connections with businessmen and politicians through her husband’s fortune and her parents/siblings’ connections (no name was mentioned though) ; his husband is a CEO of a construction/steel production company (‘Samdo Steel’, it’s described as a chaebol company). AND LMS said in ep. 6 « My family isn’t really on good terms with the police. 8 years ago, I was even suspected of being a murderer. »: the ‘even’ suggests Narae’s case might not have been the starting point of his family’s bad blood with the police. (Jihoon’s grandmother also advised him not to get involved with Joohyun… ? Was it because she feared they might get caught as Gaetal? Are they both related to MJY’s family? Does she fear the police for entirely different reasons eg. involvement with the disparition of Jihoon’s parents?) Note 2: Min Jiyoung’s profile highlights the fact she treasures her son but he’s also her weakness like ‘children always become a mother’s weakness’. The profile mentions she was judged because it was her husband’s second marriage (the two older sons were born in his first marriage) even though he’s a chaebol, but it doesn’t say if she was married before nor who was LMS’s father (not the chaebol, since they got married when Narae disappeared).

(5) Did the murder happen before or after Joohyun’s case in 2013? If that was before and KMC was that police officer who listened to her, was it because he believed her from his own experience?

(6) If KMC is part of Gaetal, and/or is aware someone else might be (eg. Joohyun, LMS or KSJ), could this nightmare have another meaning?

Kwon Seokju's conversation with Jihoon’s grandmother

I talked about that conversation in ep. 6 (thinking how Jihoon’s grandmother behaved like Min Jiyoung) but it now looks COMPLETELY different given ep. 8 haha:

« — But when it comes to sharing, kids these days seem even worse. My grandson never shares anything with me, and it frustrates me so much. A few days ago, he almost got seriously hurt, and I didn’t know because he didn’t tell me. — So he’s not hurt badly? — It’s just a scratch. It seems he’s pretty shocked. He’s always been quiet, but he’s quieter than usual. It hurts me to see him like that. He’s still a kid, AFTER ALL. — When I’m released, I’ll make sure to visit your hospital. It’ll be more effective to keep receiving treatments from you. — I guess I can’t retire until then, Inmate 0512. »

KSJ sounds like he’s keeping up to date with Jihoon’s well-being through his grandmother, even though they probably don’t meet in person (Jihoon’s desperate reaction as he saw him in ep. 6 would make sense if he barely met him for all those years).

Jihoon’s actual address is not registered, nobody knows where he lives. It's highly likely Gaetal's hideout.

And given the preview, KSJ is probably taken to that place and this exchange was probably the moment he planned to escape there (with code words eg. ‘when I’m released’ for his escape ; ‘visit your hospital’ for where she lives with Jihoon ; ‘I can’t retire until then’ ie. work with him as Gaetal No. 2 ; ‘He’s still a kid, after all’ hinting Jihoon’s involvement with Gaetal).

‘Kim Muchan knows…’

So according to KSJ, KMC knows that terrible rage from losing loved ones and the intense desire to kill the culprit. As I supposed in a previous post, it must be for both Narae and his mother, and KSJ seems to know that. KSJ also says ‘If you understand Gaetal for the reason I believe, I feel… deeply for you.’

In KSJ’s eyes, ‘For the reason I believe’ might not only refer to the rage Joohyun defined, but also to how Min Jiyoung might be behind all this. After all, he also checked Joohyun's background, he could've put two and two together and as for KMC, he must've learned it from the man himself.

Choi Dohee’s personal investigation and Kim Muchan's endeavors

In retrospect, Choi Dohee is no newbie to dropping bangers lmao

In the first episode, you see her debate on BGC’s controversial case with Min Jiyoung.

She then changes subject:

« And now, let’s take a look at examples of mitigation cases that have been controversial.

I heard a rumor about you running for presidency. You didn’t need to compete for your nomination, but running for presidency is… I’m worried the investigative hearings will end up just hurting you. »

And Min Jiyoung abruptly cut her off. Here’s the screen and said cases on the picture to the left:

→ Child sexual assault by Jo Daeseung. The culprit indiscriminately assaulted a 10 year-old grade schooler girl ; his sentence was reduced to 12 years of prison labor because he was in a state of mental and physical weakness (thus the mens rea was not fully qualified) while he was actually drunk.

Note: I can only talk from my country’s standpoint, but being drunk is an aggravating factor in many infractions, such as SA, and not a mitigating one!

→ DUI leading to the death of a 40 year-old mother and her two children by Jeong Gyuwon. The culprit got their sentence reduced to 4 years of prison labor because they reflected on their crime, they admitted to committing the offense and was a first-time offender.

→ Kidnapping of a minor causing their death by neglect by Choi Yuseon, the director of a daycare center. She inflicted continuous abuse and violence on a 4 year-old child. The sentence was reduced to 6 years of prison labor for family neglect (meaning the family of the victim also neglected them).

This is absolutely no coincidence, and she definitely wanted to mess with her! We weren’t given any clues at the beginning about the cast’s past so this bit felt out of place (why would this make Min Jiyoung react this sourly, after all?) but in retrospect these cases’ circumstances are a disturbing recall to:

→ Narae’s case

→ Joohyun’s family’s case (though it’s a unisex name, the culprit in the case quoted by CDH could even be the man who killed Joohyun’s parents!)

→ Narae’s case once more because it also involved kidnapping and allegations of domestic abuse, but it could be about someone else!

In ep. 1 (the picture to the right), you can see a news article (the second on the picture) reporting how hard-working KMC was in solving gang and drug traffic cases but also hit-and-run cases???? In 3 years, 48 cases out of 50 were resolved according to the Nambu Police Agency. He was seemingly responsible in raising the arrest rate by 100%.

The article quoted KMC: « [We] will also catch, without fail, the culprits involved in hit-and-run cases [that were overlooked/remained unsolved] over the past several years. » (more on the phrasing just after!) and something along the lines of « We will endeavor [in handling] serious/great [crimes] that destroyed families. » (this second quote is too blurry and cut so I tried to guess from the missing parts in the brackets!)

???????????????????

In ep. 8, Choi Dohee also hints a lot how « she works so hard even though she doesn’t have to, which makes her pretty unique » suggesting that even though she's privileged with her connections, she still pulls a lot of (illegal) strings to perhaps hide something ugly underneath.

And what she does in ep. 8 before Min Jiyoung joins her definitely looks linked to whatever investigation she leads on her: she took a picture of one of Min Jiyoung’s campaign pledges, a project to empower the underprivileged (among redevelopment projects and a children hospital project).

Gaetal

It’s possible some members know each other’s identity for some reason (eg. Jihoon and his grandmother seem to communicate with KSJ pretty knowingly) while some don’t since it’s a rule between them.

Which means it could be possible and not that farfetched that if there’s more than 6 Gaetal (and there are actually 7 for example, matching the number of the desks) Joohyun, LMS, KSJ and/or KSJ worked together interchangeably without even knowing it. They could have realized it along the way and knowing LMS was a part changed the way to operate whatever plan they initially had in mind.

Since Gaetal is a group of people trying (but perhaps failing) to uphold each member’s anonymity, the misunderstanding is naturally introduced as « Gaetal » doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing from one Gaetal to another.

Eg. a wild guess but since there’s a great great (highkey great haha) chance he’s No. 3 (see Part 2!), when KMC says ‘If I were Gaetal, he would’ve been my first target.’ it’s because to him it’s true: he’s not the one who planned all the votes (most likely it is No. 1), he’s No. 3 but not the mastermind (it's highly likely Fan No. 1 then Gaetal No. 1, and KSJ factored in somewhere). And when KSJ asked if he meant it, it might also be because there’s doubt on what each meant by « Gaetal ». So he speaks of Gaetal as though it is separate from himself because that holds some truth to him. But when he felt KSJ might be Gaetal, he crammed Gaetal, No. 1 Fan and LMS together into the same identity.

Eg. When Joohyun says « Do you still think Gaetal is right? » she perhaps meant ‘Gaetal’ as in the mastermind laying out the plans (No. 1 Fan), not necessarily the whole group altogether! She perhaps addressed her question to someone she knows also works with Gaetal (eg. KSJ, their conversations sound even more cryptic than with KMC haha) who initially disagreed with her on the plans feeling wrong because they didn’t doubt anything (it could make sense for KSJ to believe that because of the letters and he was surprised to hear KMC was involved in the bombing of the car)

Eg. Joohyun & KMC’s scenes in ep. 8 also felt like Joohyun was trying to convince him that No. 1 Fan is LMS and the betrayer among Gaetal, and that he acts separately from them.

Eg. If KSJ and KMC know that they both are part of/involved with Gaetal, ‘JJW must not be the only one willing to sacrifice oneself’ could sound like KSJ is announcing he will escape his cell and draw the public’s attention on him so that the initial Gaetal won’t go down on its own while LMS flees and shifts all the blame on them

Eg. When LMS says KMC « is a really funny guy », could this also mean he caught up on his involvement with Gaetal?

Each Gaetal might also have different agendas eg. KMC would perhaps want to collect decisive evidence to catch LMS and MJY (and maybe even shift all Gaetal’s plans on him, who knows?), he might’ve been chasing after No. 1 Fan/LMS once he learned about the letters. He might even change his plans along the way if he realized KSJ is really involved with Gaetal. Joohyun might be looking for No. 1 Fan on her own too.

There’s an interesting parallel between what’s happening now and 8 years ago when it comes to videos, here’s what KSJ said about the video that smeared his reputation in ep. 7: « Whoever it was that made the video, it got the entire country hoping that I’m the murderer. Maybe the last thing I can do for Narae is to admit that I did it. That way, no one will talk about her anymore, and perhaps that’s all I can do. »

Replace Narae with KMC in this and this could be what's actually happening in the present aaaaaaaaaaa

To which KMC answers they have to catch the culprit: « I don’t believe you did it. Never. You’re the only person I trust… And look up to. Have you forgotten? I said I’d be your No. 1 Fan. » Back to the present, KSJ confessed he wished KMC were Gaetal.

More on 당신

(See more context on the pronoun in this post!)

In addition to what I said about Gaetal and KMC’s speech patterns in ‘The Gaetals’, KMC also uses the pronoun 당신 in ep. 4 when addressing Gaetal. It’s also the title for ep.3: « 당신, 영웅 아니야 » (« You’re not a hero. »).

An interesting detail is he addresses Gaetal by ‘너’ right before when he says ‘Also… You and the Killing Vote. Don’t be mistaken.’ and after as he adds: ‘You’re clearly a murderer, and your method is wrong. I’m going to catch you no matter what.’

He addresses the one across the cameras and in a confrontational tone too. The ‘너’ before and after 당신 reinforce that impression but could also suggest he’s identifying someone/it is personal (eg. he knows who’s behind the mask).

➾ Is he talking to two separate individuals/groups (eg. 당신 → KSJ/Gaetal & 너 → LMS)?

➾ (wild take) but could this mean he intends to catch LMS but not KSJ/Gaetal... ?

Another detail: in ep. 7, KMC also addresses LMS with ‘너’ and informally.

Of course, LMS is 10+ years younger and you wouldn’t say their relationship was amicable ; the way they’re both sitting & behaving in front of each other is not your average respectful conduct either haha!

It contrasts with LYS’s interview by KMC 8 years ago too!

→ The mention of ‘hero’ in KMC's lines might be a personal reference to the flashback we saw in the next episode, as Narae says in the recording ‘You’re my hero, Dad. Because you always keep me safe. I love you, Dad.’ in front of the ‘My Daddy My Hero’ neon.

→ While the adjective/verb for ‘to be wrong’ (틀리다) is really common, both KMC and the person who tagged Narae’s wall used it (‘Your method is wrong.’ & ‘The 13th was wrong’). KMC says this AFTER going to KSJ’s house and witnessing the tag, it could be a reference (does he know what ’13th’ means?).

And KMC swiped the tablet to get to the picture of the tagged wall right after he asked KSJ if he was Gaetal, and reiterates once the picture is displayed: « Should I ask you again? Mr. Kwon Seokju. Do you know anything about Gaetal and the Killing Vote? ».

It’s as though the tag (besides being in Narae’s room) pointed to something and KMC knew that ; because yes, the video test was shot in Narae’s room which is suspicious enough, but the tag is quite obscure and the articles were only about Narae and KSJ.

(See ② of 'A potential secret communication' right below for more about the tag and the number '13'!)

A potential secret communication in the main cast

① The news article on Kim Muchan and Gaetal

As a reminder,

Gaetal in the video test: « Just you wait. I’m coming for you. » / « 기다려. 내가 너 잡으로 간다. » KMC to Gaetal: « I’m going to catch you no matter what. » / « 내가 너 반드시 잡는다. »

‘잡다’ broadly means to catch, hold, grab but in this context it’s to arrest/catch a culprit

‘반드시’ means without fail, certainly

The news article Joohyun saw on KMC and his strive in hit-and-run cases in ep. 1 also had a similar wording:

« 수년이 지난 뺑소니 사고도 반드시 잡는다. » ‘[We] will also catch, without fail, the culprits involved in hit-and-run cases over the past several years.’

‘수년’ means a certain number of years, and I didn’t know that it’s several years ‘that do not precisely exceed 10 years’! 10 years, like the (potentially fictional) sentence of the 'witness'... ?

We don’t know when that article was written, but I’m pretty sure it’s a reference to Joohyun’s case: all these articles were written when KMC climbed the ladder all the way up so it'd make sense!

② The reverse Prison Break and ‘The 13th one is heard/tells [the signal]’

'The 13th was wrong.' was what was seemingly tagged on the wall in Narae's room.

But… 틀리다 (틀렸어) can also become a paronym of 들리다 (들렸어) because their pronunciation in the past tense becomes almost identical. 들리다 can mean: — tell something, have something heard ie. have someone listen to something — be heard/audible ie. for a sound to be heard and recognized through one’s ears — become sick or possessed — be held or lifted

… In ep. 8, Mozart’s Requiem is specifically heard!!!! And that’s exactly the same part Joohyun played in ep. 3 LMAO

JJW halts and tilts when he hears the tune, as if he recognizes some sort of signal… ? It seems it came from the truck that broke the wall and made KSJ escape! We also weren’t shown the truck driver’s face!

KSJ and a third person (this might include KMC, Joohyun, Jodan and JJW) helping him from the outside were the ones the message was destined to, and it was delivered by Joohyun and/or KMC.

Note: For the '13th' part, it could be a reference to the Requiem, XIII: Agnus Dei but I don't believe it was that part we heard in both episodes, I feel it was I: Introitus, though I could be wrong (if someone has the answer please tell me haha)! However the point still stands, as it could be a synechdoche (a literary device using a part of something to describe a whole and vice versa because they're bound by a logical link/a relation of inclusion ; it's a type of metonymy) ie. the 13th points to the Requiem being played. Or the wrong part is deliberately played on screen so as not to make it obvious? I don't know, I'll get back to that later if I find answers! AND: on Agnus Dei, God's 'Lamb' is 하느님의 어린 양 in Korean!!!! 'Lamb' is 양 in Korean, and... Jihoon's grandmother, a member of Gaetal, is called YANG Hyejin lmao + the company delivering bottled water to the death row inmates (and also to the Police Agency it seems from the last minutes) is said to be 'partly supported by us through a private organization', which might be Yang Hyejin's. Finally I believe we see KSJ reuniting with Jihoon and his grandmother in the preview: the tag could've been an indication of where to go next?

After KSJ thanks her because it was nice to 'listen to it' (reconfirming he understood the message?), Joohyun then brings up the tag once again: « Gaetal may have scribbled on your wall a bit, but they didn’t make a huge mess. It had good natural lighting. It was a very nice house. »

Was KMC privy to this message? Did they work together? He looks like he noticed something as he listened, he squinted his eyes a bit. In ep. 5, he specifically said KSJ wanted her to be his messenger, but who knows if he was let in on in too.

But one thing did feel suspicious:

In KSJ’s cell at the Police Agency, KMC thoroughly checked the camera angles beforehand (maybe to prepare for what he wanted to whisper to KSJ so that he wouldn’t be caught) AND the windows that the truck crashed into in ep. 8.

KSJ did the same when he first arrived, then literally faced the wall (on which the papers were coincidentally taped) and windows in question in ep. 5 with KMC looking at him. The papers coincidentally stopped being taped around where the truck would collide, as if it was someone’s way (whoever it was) to pointedly demarcate it and signal it to KSJ.

The first thing KMC asked KSJ to do in the investigation was to search through the letters he received, his acquaintances, and everyone who attended the final trial to find out who is Gaetal.

And curiously, the only shot that shows KMC pointing to the papers on the wall is when he directed KSJ’s attention to the final trial attendance list, and coincidentally… it’s the one that was taped at the far end, right next to the point of collision… !

If I’m hearing things right, he introduced said list with the adverb ‘특히’ (especially): « Go through all the letters you received, your acquaintances and [especially] everyone who was at the final trial, and pick out those who may be Gaetal. »

And cue KSJ’s reaction: to find a lead in this case, you would normally look for the next targets, not the culprit, to which KMC answers it’s better to divide work for efficiency, « finding the culprit is our top priority. »

Also an interesting shot in ep. 5: the emergency exit sign points in the direction of KSJ’s cell as you can see on the last picture lmao

And ironically, KSJ was checking the wall when Jodan and KMC were saying this:

« — There are CCTV cameras outside of the room as well, so we can watch your every move in real time . So there won’t be any blind spots. Should you wish to leave this room, you must be accompanied by at least one guard or detective.  — KMC: The most important thing is that no one can know you’re here. The moment people find out, the special pardon will be cancelled. »

In ep. 8, it was Jodan who mentioned a ‘reverse Prison Break’ while they were debriefing about how Gaetal would target death row inmates, be it foreshadowing for the real escape in the end of the episode or Jodan’s potential involvement in all this.

In ep. 8, KSJ also asked Jodan: « Could you ask Park Cheolmin to bring me a book? »

That’s maybe how they communicated together with the warden? Is this really about a book?

AND in the same episode, the janitor was not by KSJ’s side (when he ultimately fled) because he got an ‘urgent call’ from the warden MMMMMMMH + in ep. 4, KSJ hinted to the warden there’s no way he might ‘threaten’ him should the need arise, but… ‘they’re not in that situation yet.’

③ Joohyun and the letters

In the same interview in ep. 4, Joohyun hands over to KSJ a few letters out of the stack, her index turning white by the pressure she applies on the first one (is she indicating him which ‘letter’ to read?). KSJ opens it but we don’t see its content (the first set of pictures below):

Who’s to say there weren’t some specific instructions printed on said ‘letter’?

And when KSJ seemingly accused her of violating the Privacy Act, and « Given the severity, you could even get a prison sentence. » (the 'Killing Vote' actually is actually called 'national death punishment vote' in Korean, so is he requesting information on the Killing Vote and its future plans... ?), Joohyun specifically says she found the letters in the prison trash can..........

(Could there be another message/item waiting for him there? A prison trash can could be a place that both an inmate and a visitor have access to!)

Insisting on maintaining eye contact, she hands him once more the same stack but her thumb points out to the second one (second set of pictures above!).

What was likely staged as Joohyun handing KSJ his letters back because she stole them was perhaps her giving him next instructions without raising suspicions.

Note: What she says next is: « These letters Gaetal sent under the alias ‘No. 1 Fan’ describe in detail how the victims of the Killing Vote would be executed (she only maintains eye contact with him the moment she put emphasis on the word 방식, ’specified method or form’ ; 방 also means room hence the emphasis maybe, perhaps as a reference to his future cell?). But some pages are missing. I’m suspecting the targets were written on them. You were just playing innocent, right? You actually know Gaetal’s next target, don’t you? (I believe this part was actually her really wanting to know the truth because she wasn’t aware there were letters premeditating TKV and wanted to know where the missing pages went) »

KSJ then negotiates his special pardon but Joohyun seemed genuinely surprised.

-> Either KMC deceived her along the way: he instructed her to do everything mentioned but the content of said ‘letter’ was only known of KMC (while Joohyun truly thought they were the letters). However, this didn’t go exactly as planned for KMC either, he smashes the desk in frustration.

-> What she communicated to KSJ was something entirely different than the special pardon: she also expected something out of this meeting.

Speaking of ‘method’, in ep. 4, KMC said in front of the cameras: « Your methods are wrong/[???]. » (‘네 방법은 틀렸어/들렸어.’)

But once again… You can replace ‘wrong’ by any of the following paronyms: tell something, have something heard ie. have someone listen to something ; be heard/audible ; become sick or possessed ; be held or lifted.

AND he uses the word 방법 for method which is used to describe a reliable/effective/scientific method of data analysis.

④ The rabbit, the paperknife and the ointment cream

What else did Joohyun (or somebody else) do that was related to KSJ?

THE STUFFED BUNNY

In ep. 3's interview, KSJ halted in front of the picture of Narae’s stuffed rabbit probably because he knows this wasn’t the specific place he last left it before he murdered BWT: it was on the living room’s sofa! The bunny was also recorded on the video test.

And he might've caught on that the one who did that was pretty much aware of the great sentimental value the bunny held in KSJ and Narae's eyes (KMC or Jihoon), which means that they might've done that with a particular reason in mind.

KSJ says: « The rabbit is all worn out. » (‘토끼가 많이 바랬네요.’) but 바랬네 can come from both 바래다 (fade/lose color ie. for a color to become less clear or turn yellowish from being exposed to sunlight or humidity, by ext. being worn out) and 바라다 (want/hope/wish).

And KMC uses that meaning of 바라다 in ep. 4 (KSJ did too when he said ‘I wished you were Gaetal’), as you can see in the last two pictures.

Was there something inside the stuffed bunny or in the shelf that’s underneath?

Note: It could even be 바래다 (see sb off ie. going with someone who is leaving to a certain point or to see them off, eg. taking them home)! Also, like in many Asian countries, the rabbit is also strongly associated to the moon and the lunar calendar/months (Gaetal?). Also as I said on ep. 7's post, 탈 (mask), 딸 (daughter) and 달 (month, moon and rabbit by association) are paronyms: there must be something hidden under all this message!

These moments also looked interesting:

THE PAPERKNIFE (first set of pictures)

I rechecked out of curiosity and the paperknife KMC threw was still there in ep. 3 when his team investigated the house.

But it’s gone from the frame in ep. 5. Which could mean:

-> Most probably the forensics took it

-> Someone else did after they left with an ulterior motive in mind eg. Yoonji herself/someone in the investigation team or somebody else who came while they were investigation or after!

THE BOMBING SPRAY AND JOOHYUN KNOCKED OUT (second set of pictures)

Speaking of the scene in ep. 3, KMC stumbles upon a knocked out Joohyun and there seems to be the bombing spray right beside her:

Was the point of this showing the tag to KMC so that he’d understand something (it's the first thing she did once she regained consciousness)?

Were her injuries and the third person’s escape fake and was she trying to stage the scene? Joohyun claimed in front of KSJ she was hit pretty severely then, but her injury remained concealed under her hair and was not shown like for the rest of the cast:

Her own scar from the car crash ;

KMC's burns, injured forehead and bandaged hand ;

His team's bruises after they fought with the passerby ;

Jihoon's injured arm from the thrown chair and the cut on his neck from being taken hostage in ep. 6 ;

JJW had the scar on his ear and the burn scar on his neck ;

LMS has the scar left from his surgery ;

KSJ had the scar highly likely left from his pneumothorax surgery given its position on the side of his ribs.

THE OINTMENT CREAM (third set of pictures)

Joohyun gave KSJ the ointment cream and what looks like a bandaid (there could be something inserted inside).

KSJ thanks her for ‘everything’: he puts the emphasis on ‘everything’ by saying « 고마워요… 다. ». It’d be casually said « 다 고마워요. »: it could be because of the emotion of the moment of course but perhaps he’s referring to an ‘everything’ only Joohyun and him could understand. She looks naturally moved but she also touches her scar in reaction (!!!!).

WHATEVER SHE DID IN 'NARAE's ROOM' (fourth set of pictures)

As I said previously, we also don’t know what she did in Narae’s room or wherever she went upstairs.

As soon as she mentioned checking the photos on the wall (사진), she looks in the direction of the frames hung next to the stairs (was there something inside/behind?).

⑤ « Exactly 22 minutes. »

Also for Jihoon’s « Exactly 22 minutes. » (정확하게 22분 있네요.)

분 can mean several things: — the counting marker for minutes — the honorific address of a person or the honorific counting marker for number of people — … powder (the smell of powder… ?) — anger, wrath, like 분노 (rage) KSJ used in his conversation with Joohyun

⑥ An IP address?

This is beyond Reach Land lmao but in ep. 3, KSJ says:

« My daughter Narae was stabbed with a knife 22 times. I did the same thing to her murderer. Seven. Eight. Nine. He was already dead, but I couldn’t stop. He was the bastard who dared to lay his hands on my daughter. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. And then the 13th thrust… The knife slipped in the rain, so the 13th stab wound was different from the one my daughter sustained. That’s probably what it means. The 13th one was subtly but clearly different. And wrong. »

➾ Was he trying to convey a combination of the numbers he mentioned? It could be an IP address if you remove the 3 of 13 (because the 13th was ‘slightly wrong’) and reverse the order: Not 78910111213 but 121.110.198.7 Note: The IP address Joohyun found in ep. 2 was 260.215.195.7.

⑦ « Kim Muchan knows… » and the first letters

Joohyun reads some letters from No. 1 Fan at the end of the episode.

The No. 1 Fan’s letter on June, 4, 2019 was… romantic lmao (you can see an excerpt when Joohyun checks it at the end of the episode) and it sounds eerily familiar to what LMS said to KSJ: in the letter, the Fan said he received flowers from a friend, the birth flower for June 1st, the Great Maiden’s Blush.

He told KSJ its flower language, « You’re the only one who knows my heart » (« 나의 마음 그대만이 아네 », the word used for heart is 마음, it can mean someone’s mind, mood, feelings and also heart ie. affection or interest ; 알다 means to know).

He said he thought of the Professor when he looked at the flowers: just as he alone understands KSJ, it’s nice to know the only person who understands him is the Professor (for understand he used 이해하다).

Which is also an interesting call-back to Joohyun trying to decipher KSJ’s words in ep. 6: « If you understand Gaetal for the reason I believe, I feel… deeply for you. (…) You said Team Leader Kim didn’t notice, but I don’t think so. I’m sure he did. That terrible rage. He knows what it’s like. »

The last line said is « 잘 알고라고요 » (I said [he] knows [it] well): the object is once again omitted because KSJ spoke about the ‘terrible rage’, but it could also be in reference to something else, and this letter is now shown in the drama!

Also later in that episode, Joohyun puts the emphasis on the verb ‘knowing’, as though she’s found an intriguing keyword in KSJ’s lines:

« 김무찬도 안다. 그런 마음을 안다. 김무찬은 안다. 김무찬도 애틋하다? »

Sentence by sentence:

« Kim Muchan knows [it, whatever it is] too OR I know Kim Muchan too. »

« [He or I, subject implied] know(s) such a feeling. »

« Kim Muchan knows. » [no doubt on KMC being the subject of the sentence here ; but whatever is its object, eg. heart/feelings/rage, is totally unknown but privy to both of them]

« Kim Muchan also feels deeply/loves [for who? Who knows c:] OR [I] feel deeply for/love Kim Muchan too. »

The thing is, ~도 is a particle that can replace BOTH subject particles (~는/은) AND the object particles (~를/을) so the first and last sentences can be translated both ways (hence the 'or')!

And as I said for ep. 6, 애틋하다 can both mean you sympathize with someone’s pain (anxious, regrettable ie. one’s heart going to someone or something out of regret or sympathy) AND that you feel affectionate for someone (ie. having deep affection and love for someone).

And… the 애 in 애틋하다 can be two homonyms: 애 as in anxiety, worry AND as in 愛, the hanja for love…

This really gives me the impression that LMS read KMC and KSJ’s correspondence and tried to mimick it to take KMC’s place, why would he speak of ‘embarrassing love letters’ otherwise, emphasis on embarrassing (meaning he stumbled upon something he found really interesting)… ?

Not to mention that he said to KSJ when he met him: « I was worried you might hate me, but you showed you completely understood me (he used 이해하다, same as in his letter). It meant we were finally communicating properly, which reassured me. »

With that same logic, KSJ's « I feel deeply for/love you. » (당신이 많이 애틋합니다.) could 1) mean love ; 2) be a reference to the letter ; 3) the 당신 truly addressed KMC at the same time KSJ was respecting Joohyun’s pain. And 4) KMC understood it.

Has KMC been communicating with KSJ like that through the years? Was he the one who planned out KSJ's escape? My brain is exploding from too much possibilities 8D

Wild guesses

We still lack A LOT of context but maybe:

-> KMC’s grand-scale investigation aims all the tragedies gathering the cast together (Joohyun, KSJ, Jihoon and his grandmother, JJW, …). He needs enough authority on a national scale to take down Min Jiyoung, her son and others involved (eg. the Commissionner, the 'witness'), especially since she’s now running for presidency. He’s been communicating with Choi Dohee to try to look into some events, poke at Min Jiyoung and find evidence. Perhaps he’s even the Gaetal who tipped her off and the one she’s having a privileged communication with.

Maybe KMC expected Min Jiyoung to covet the Killing Vote (to win the presidential elections) and dirty her hands by making it hers: he wanted to lay that strong of a trap to be able to expose her tentacular influence and (re)open all the cases that were insidiously tampered with by her and force his way through all potential cover-ups and corruption by national authorities (we know the Commissioner himself isn’t in the clear at all for example) because he’d then gain the country’s trust and support.

For that, he needed to be himself a part of Gaetal to collect enough evidence to indict her and make sure she has no way out by promising to Choi Dohee a scoop on Gaetal’s identity when the time comes.

Note: time is ticking because once she’s elected as the next president, she’ll be granted presidential immunity from criminal prosecution: if so, she needs to be successfully impeached for her to face charges. She’d highly likely escape KMC’s trap because she seems to have deep ties in politics, corruption might be unavoidable then.

The ideal moment to expose MJY would be during her investigative hearing (that's broadcasted publicly if I'm not mistaken) where a well-crafted rebuttal in advance would prove difficult, and Choi Dohee indeed hinted at this event in ep. 1.

I just checked and impeachment in SK must be voted by the two thirds of the National Assembly, which means 201 votes or more in favor. The majority of the Constitutional Court must then vote to uphold the impeachment motion and remove the president from the office. Which might considerably reduce the chances to zero because the long and complex procedure would introduce too many unknown and uncontrollable parameters to successfully tip the scales in favor of KMC’s plans.

-> Making Joohyun a whistleblower in 2021 by Choi Dohee was perhaps even part of the plan unbeknownst to her, to make her a voice legitimate enough for the country to listen to her when the time comes.

-> KMC was the Gaetal in the ‘video test’, but it’s possible the initial objective was totally different from what it actually is now. He asked Jodan and/or Jihoon’s help to reach Joohyun, known to be a whistleblower, by hacking her sister’s computer. It was never supposed to be a video test. He needed to give Joohyun strong reasons to believe Gaetal was an imminent threat for her to look into it without her suspecting they specifically wanted to reach her (eg. by turning into zombie PCs every computer of the PC bang her sister used to play games at) and eventually understand it was maybe a hidden message (to further communicate between each other).

Joohyun also seems unrelated to KSJ so any communication between both of them would not be under suspicions nor scrutiny, unlike KMC (which is probably why he never went to visit him... according to the warden, but KSJ's secret 'labor' outings could be linked though).

-> LMS learned about the Killing Vote before it began and decided to mess with KMC’s plan by laying out the votes for the future Gaetal that would be led by KSJ he’d coax through the letters (by impersonating KMC based on his knowledge of their intimate relationship he got by wiretapping them and from CJS for ex.). That way, he’d drag both KMC and KSJ’s names in the mud, they’d have no way out of the game he made his. One of his objectives was getting KMC murdered as a target of the Killing Vote once people’s support and trust would be completely gained. Somehow, he doesn’t have much time left, probably due to his heart disease, so he decided to take part in TKV and enjoy it to the fullest.

Min Jiyoung's 'children hospital project' might also be connected to LMS eg. to save him in time.

-> KMC didn’t expect the letters at all and never wanted KSJ to get himself involved in the Killing Vote. This might’ve drastically changed his initial plans. He now has no other choice than to catch Min Jiyoung/LMS through Gaetal (eg. by making them the scapegoats).

-> KSJ believed KMC was Gaetal because of the No. 1 Fan letters, and he deliberately got himself involved at first because the letters asked him to and later (when he realized LMS was the sender) so that KMC wouldn’t take the blame alone (perhaps he even settled on becoming the scapegoat alone).

-> The first letter might not have been written by LMS. For example, it could’ve been KMC confessing his initial plans to him and that he’d finally be able to atone for his past mistakes. The plan was suggesting he’d be doing everything on his own without involving KSJ (perhaps he even made his farewells in case things wouldn’t go as planned), which made him go mad because he couldn’t bear to watch him going down alone helplessly. But he never went into detail as to how the plan would be carried out. That’s why he believed the other letters that were sent from this point on were a change of heart and truly came from KMC who now wanted to involve him. LMS perhaps intercepted the first letter through his mother’s connections (because he kept a close eye on KSJ as he was still obsessed by him) and decided to impersonate KMC and involve KSJ in his Killing Vote. Doing so, he gets to thwart KMC’s plans from the inside to save his mother in a purely entertaining way and enjoy the intimate relationship he felt entitled to from the beginning.

-> How Gaetal’s cast was recruited in the beginning remains a complete mystery, whether they were gathered by KMC, KSJ or LMS in the beginning, how they were recruited in anonymity, …

-> KMC nor KSJ never meant to involve Jihoon in the plan but he insisted on joining them because he couldn’t stand it too.

-> While investigating on their own, KMC and Joohyun each realized along the way the other was part of Gaetal through subtle details. Joohyun might be taking a bigger part in it than expected and her communication with KSJ seems really hazy too. Each also realized in their own way LMS was part of Gaetal.

-> KSJ, Joohyun and KMC bonded through the Killing Vote and now try to protect each other without the other necessarily knowing it. Joohyun also realized KMC was the police officer who believed her story during her parents’ case and is now determined to protect both KMC and KSJ.

-> KMC was promoted in the past because he cracked down a huge case involving Min Jiyoung’s connections or herself, even before Narae’s case ; his mother got killed in retaliation.

Et voilà! Again have a nice week and enjoy episode 9 💚

#국민사형투표 #the killing vote #tkv #kdrama

[noonesgaylikegatson]

July 31, 2023

O’Shae Sibley was at a Brooklyn gas station with friends late Saturday night, filling up a car and blasting music by Beyoncé when a group of men approached and told them to stop dancing, according to friends.

The men began using slurs and Mr. Sibley, 28, a gay man who was a professional dancer and choreographer, confronted them, according to his friends and a video of the altercation. The argument escalated and one man stabbed Mr. Sibley, according to the police. Otis Pena, one of Mr. Sibley’s best friends, pressed on his wound to stop the bleeding before he was taken to Maimonides Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

“They murdered him because he’s gay, because he stood up for his friends,” Mr. Pena said in a Facebook video that he posted hours after the killing on Coney Island Avenue in Midwood. “His name was O’Shae and you all killed him. You all murdered him right in front of me.”

No arrests had been made by Monday, but the police said that the hate crimes unit was involved in the investigation.

The killing has devastated Mr. Sibley’s family — he is one of 11 siblings — and unnerved the city’s gay community. While the motive remains under investigation, the attack was a reminder of the biases that L.G.B.T.Q. people face.

The Anti-Defamation League and the advocacy group GLAAD issued a report in June indicating an increase in harassment and violence against gay and transgender people, including online bullying, gatherings of armed protesters outside drag shows and bomb threats against hospitals that provide gender transition care. In the first three weeks of June there were 101 such incidents, more than twice the number during the same time period the year before.

Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a gay state senator in New York, said he was “heartbroken and enraged” over Mr. Sibley’s killing.

“Gay joy is not crime,” he said on Twitter. “Hate-fueled attacks are.”

Mr. Sibley had moved from Philadelphia before the pandemic, hoping New York would provide more auditions and opportunities, said an aunt, Tondra Sibley, 49.

“It was a senseless crime,” she said. “O’Shae has always been a peacemaker. All he wanted to do was dance.”

She recalled him as a small boy, “gyrating and jerking” to Missy Elliott. When he got older, he honed his skills at the Philadelphia Dance Company and, on the advice of instructors, began ballet, taking advantage of his long, athletic frame.

Kemar Jewel, a 31-year-old choreographer and director, met Mr. Sibley in Philadelphia 13 years ago at the Attic Youth Center, where gay teenagers could go for after-school programs and activities. They were only a few years apart, but Mr. Sibley saw him as a mentor. “He was like, ‘You’re my uncle. I’m going to call you uncle,’” Mr. Jewel said.

Goofy and fun-loving, Mr. Sibley was serious about his craft. He would hunker down at Mr. Jewel’s apartment until 3 a.m. to study dance videos, from vogueing to the modern techniques introduced by Martha Graham and Lester Horton, American dancers and choreographers born around the turn of the 20th century.

“O’Shae was so well versed. He was great at tap, ballet, hip-hop,” Mr. Jewel said. “He was an incredible visual learner. I’ve seen him watch someone do something twice and then just do it.”

Mr. Jewel, who is in London working on a show, said he was sleeping on Sunday morning when Mr. Pena called to tell him what had happened.

At the gas station, Mr. Sibley and his friends had been playing “Renaissance” by Beyoncé and vogueing, a style of dance that began as an imitation of fashion models in the 1980s and has evolved as an expression of pride and protest.

That is when the group of men approached, calling them names, Mr. Jewel said, recalling the account of Mr. Pena, who could not be reached for comment.

Both Mr. Sibley and Mr. Pena told them, “Stop saying that. There is nothing wrong with being gay.”

Mr. Sibley fought with them, and he was stabbed as Mr. Pena ran to intervene, Mr. Jewel said.

At the Brownsville building where Mr. Sibley lived alone in a studio, his neighbor, Beckenbaur Hamilton, 51, said he had warned the younger man against being so open about his sexuality. Mr. Hamilton, who is also gay, recalled attacks he had suffered in his 20s when going out to clubs, and said that he has recently been overhearing comments on the street about “all these rights” gay people have.

“O’Shae wasn’t afraid of being who he was,” Mr. Hamilton said. “He would defend his friends.”

They loved dancing outside and delighted in drawing a crowd. “But I’d see how people looked at them,” Mr. Hamilton said. “There was a worry in the back of my mind.”

In his video, Mr. Pena described Mr. Sibley as his brother and said the two were “always out and loud.”

“We as a community don’t deserve this,” Mr. Pena said. “We may be gay, but we exist. We’re not going to live in fear. We’re not going to live hiding.”

#gmadi #gay men #hate crime #tw #murder #death #O’shae Sibley #mercury