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zoopzopp · 3 years

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A post for some BAMF Izuku fics <3 (more of these will be added and the list will be updated as i read them)

Fics i've read:

The Secret Ingredient is Crime- Izuku only had a whole month to further prove himself worthy of Yuuei's golden acceptance, and he was going to do whatever it took to make it in. Yuuei would never truly know what hit them until it was too late. (The secret crime AU in it entirety is fucking amazing and what wouldn't i give to read more stuff with it)

Deku the Villain Hunter: Support Hero - We all know the story: After being told he couldn't be a Hero by All Might, Midoriya Izuku still wandered over to a supervillain attack where he could save Bakugou Katsuki. But what if he had made the other turn? The answer is a butterfly effect that would lead him on a path to paving his own future. A path of revenge, finding his own moral compass, and doing the impossible. (OKAY MANY THOUGHTS. Very cool story and aspects. I binged it overnight and lost a bit of sleep the next night as well.)

The Story of How Midoriya Izuku Asserted His Dominance (And Traumatized Japan) - The Sports Festival was supposed to be a break from stress. Shouta should have known there is no such thing as a break with his class.

making it right (for real this time) - - Izuku is a support course student at UA, and Katsuki's neighbor, best friend, and former bullying victim. After Izuku's performance at the sports festival, Katsuki realizes something. He has to make things right. -

Hero Fall (UA Civil War Exercise) - It's now the end of the first year of UA for our students. Nedzu had decided to bring back the annual Heroes vs Villain fight. The fight shall last 5 days and the villain leader is Izuku Midoriya, with the commanding officer of the hero team being Katsuki Bakugo. But, what happens when Izuku is left alone?

Hero Class Civil Warfare - Heroes lead by Bakugo. Villains lead by Midoriya. Seven days prep time. Three days for Izuku Midoriya to show why they should be glad he's not a real villain.

"I Didn't Know You Had It In You." - Midoriya goes feral rage mode in his fight against Overhaul. The beat down still happens, but with Eri no longer at his back, he gets more violent. One For All reacts in an interesting way and Midoriya commits a terrible and unheroic act - the cold blooded murder and maiming of Chisaki Kai. Shigaraki is there to watch it all unfold.

Plan C meets Plan A - Even if All Might is right and Izuku can't be a hero, Izuku refuses to be useless. So Izuku uses his analysis skills to develop Plan C: Consulting in order to help the heroes. Eraserhead is impressed by this mysterious new consultant but alarm bells in Deku's behaviour quickly have Aizawa recruiting help for Plan A: Adoption.

Q. A. B. - One month after @hawks_unofficial's initial viral post, the blog titled "Quirk Analysis Blog for the Future", otherwise known as "Q. A. B.", has gone from an average of 10 views per post to an average of 20,000 views per post. Midoriya Izuku does not know how to view the impressions analysis for his suddenly popular blog, and only notices that sometimes, people actually comment on his posts now. He does not google himself or his moniker and thus does not see the rise in online articles and speculation. He is unaware that the "kyuu-ei-bee" he begins to hear about in passing refers to his own blog. He does not have a Twitter account. At the time, Midoriya Izuku is 15 years old.

How to murder your father - It's dangerous to be a bad father when you have a life insurance. Just saying.

Negation - Passive Quirks are a bitch. Izuku is reasonably done with the situation.

Thanks For Your Support - Izuku has the talent and the intellect to be the first Quirkless pro hero, and everyone at UA knows it. Unfortunately, his desire to become a hero has long since been buried thanks to the words of his childhood friend and childhood hero.

Policed To Meet You - Izuku takes All Might's advice and becomes a cop.

Vigilante Work And Other After School Activities - Izuku is a vigilante, Aizawa likes cats and therefore kids who help cats, and sometimes breaks must be forced upon overachieving teenagers.

When the Commission Lost Total Control - The hero polls have a small part where one can suggest their own hero. This is done just because of the amount of heroes is to great to name them all. This creates a little problem for the commission because a vigilante is assumed to be a brand new hero by the public- and ranks pretty high. Because of that, this vigilante now is too popular to hide and they can't come out with their mistake either! Think of the chaos that would bring.

Izuku being Badass but like in not that grand of a way but still tearing-people-down-in-some-way kind of way

He Was Quirkless - Midoriya get's sick of discrimination against the quirkless and decides to do something about it. It leads to some interesting situations. A trilogy.

bloody, but unbowed- It's Advocacy Week for Yuuei's hero students and it gives Midoriya Izuku a lot to think about about what kind of hero he wants Deku to be.

Called Out - When Izuku is hit by a quirk that will cause him to call out the first person to be rude to him on the way to school with every mistake they've made in the affected persons presence or have otherwise effected said affected person, Aizawa is in for a rough ride. In other words, with some help from a quirk, Izuku rakes Aizawa over the hot coals until he gives out. (a great fic but i've got mixed feelings on this one because on one hand, izuku is badass but on the other its Aizawa bashing and really like him skhdskdb so yea! Read it as per your tastes!!)

The time when everyone learned that izuku respects Bakugo more than all might. - I didn't like how Bakugo was tied up during the sports festival and so izuku didn't. Badass izuku roasted all might and midnight.

Villainous Sunshine - After an innocent question, Class 1-A learns just how terrifying Izuku's analysis is. Nedzu's along for the ride.

Never understand ( and you can't ) - Midoriya is sick and tried of his classmates bias and prejudice against the quirkless community and finally breaks

Mastermind: Strategist For Hire - Izuku Midoriya never got the chance to save Bakugo from the sludge villain and impress All Might. With his dream crushed, Izuku becomes bitter and angry. It also doesn't help that he faces discrimination at every turn. All he ever wanted was to be appreciated, so when the villains are the ones to recognize his talents rather than the heroes, well, Izuku just can't resist. He might as well help those who actually want him around. Mistakes were made, and now society must face a villain of their own making: Mastermind.

Malignance - Deku is far scarier than anyone gives him credit for.

Fics in my to read list which has/probably has BAMF izuku

Young Midoriya - Izuku Midoriya couldn't help himself when he saw someone in trouble. Even at 12 years old, his instincts drive him to help those in need. So when he sees Kacchan and his goons about to ambush another student, he has to step in, right? It's not like this hasn't happened before. What is different this time though, is that he's never had an audience that consisted of the Number One Hero.

Heroics and Other Things That Don't Require Superpowers - Izuku doesn't have a quirk. That's the long and short of it. After being told his whole life he can't be a hero, General Education at UA is the best he can hope for, right? Wrong. Dead Wrong. So super wrong that his best friend from Gen Ed, all of Class 1A and a whole mess of Pro Heroes are going to prove to him how wrong he is. Izuku has the makings of a hero, and his lack of a quirk only throws those qualities into starker relief. After all, who wants to be as strong as All Might when you can be the cleverest hero in the business?

Cases of More Than - Izuku is known as Deku online. He's an analyst of quirks, sometimes even working with the local detective, Tsukauchi, on a case. He meets new friends, builds a few relationships, and slowly crushes on his best friend. But then he's thrown into the General Studies Course at U.A. It doesn't help that All for One is showing an interest in him at all.

No Regret - In this world there is no hard set villain or hero. No victim and aggressor. Everyone is at fault for something and Izuku, with his own villain group, will make everyone pay. Even the bystanders who did nothing. This is what society gets for abandoning it's people. Deku will manipulate everyone and be the greatest villain, all so the world can be a better a place. With the stakes so high there is no time for regret.

We Are a Different Kind - Mirio doesn’t think he can be a hero anymore now that he’s quirkless, Izuku calls bullshit.

Live a Hero - "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Or, you're raised a villain, rebel when you're nine, and fight against the odds to become a hero anyway. That's how it is in Izuku's case.

Prodigal - After being convinced to give One for All to Mirio, Midoriya Izuku must rebuild his shattered dreams with bloody hands.

Two Sides of the Same Coin: Vigilante - Izuku is orphaned at the age of four and is sent into the Japanese Foster Care System. After multiple failed attempts at finding a forever home and some unfortunate circumstance, he ends up on the streets. Eventually, the vigilante, Deku appears. Eraserhead must gain his trust to bring Deku back to the right side of the law. If he he does, however, the untrustful but pure-hearted boy may just be a bit more than Aizawa Shota can handle.

From Muddy Waters - - but the sleeve of his tracksuit was bulging, tearing and ripping and a mass of twisted flesh, nearly as big as the boy himself and nauseatingly familiar (the arm of the man that had torn a hole in his side with a grin and left him a frail shadow of himself) swung forward and slammed into the flat face of the giant robot. Izuku wants to be a hero more than anything.

Pieces are easily sacrificed when they're nameless - Nobody ever thought quirkless, weak, weird Midoriya Izuku was dangerous. This perception carried over to his first year high school class, because really despite the super strength Midoriya didn't have it in him to be dangerous. That was their first mistake. And the one that would see them fall.

Not exactly BAMF izuku but i just wanted to rec these fics <3

In the shade of a sunflower - Being biologically quirkless came more with an extra pinkie joint in the toes and a stunning lack of vestiges mutations. It came with smaller things, like extra teeth that did virtually nothing, exploding organs, and weird exposed nerves that weren't designed to feel pain.

Throat Punch - In which Aizawa attempts to teach Izuku how to use various battle tactics and it goes just about as well as you'd expect. At least Shinsou is there with his fantastic commentary. (just a fun lil thing where izuku is really stronk and trains with shinsou and aizawa)

So Be It - He could still do good. Midoriya could show them all what a hero without powers looked like. If he had to break a few rules to do it, so be it. So be it… (as stated not exactly BAMF but its a vigilante izuku so ye-)

Never Enter a Drinking Game with Bakugo or Izuku - Izuku walks in on Kirishima and Kaminari having a drinking competition (no alcohol involved). And it reminds him of an old story.

5 Times Midoriya Taught Class 1A about Memes and 1 Time they Found a Villain that Understood Them - After being diagnosed as quirkless, Midoriya gets into pre-guirk media and finds memes. He shares them with Class 1A. Aizawa doesn't get paid enough for this. (THIS FIC???? FUCKING AWESOME. LITERALLY WHAT I WANTED TO SEE)

Midoriya: JD Version - Nedzu has decided that a play should be put on so that the students can learn how to "go undercover", an idea which Aizawa thinks is utter bullshit. They're putting on Heathers and when Nedzu chooses to cast Midoriya for JD, everyone objects. Midoriya is a much better actor than they thought.

that is a lot!! I hope you have fun reading it!!!

#fic recs #bnha #bamf izuku midoriya #izuku midoriya

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popwasabi · 3 years

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Why I don’t give a fuck about canon

Recently, after randomly coming across some dope pictures of Transformer toys on Instagram that gave me a strong case of nostalgia, I was inspired to revisit an old childhood favorite in “Beast Wars.”

“Beast Wars,” in case you never watched or heard of it as a kid, is the continuation of the Transformer’s story set in the future as descendants of the Auotobots and Decepticons, the Maximals and Predacons, respectively, accidentally travel to prehistoric Earth to continue a centuries long battle between the two opposing factions.

There’s a lot of to digest there, so I’m not going to go into extreme detail over the plot, but the cast features colorful characters such as Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rattrap, Dinobot and Megatron to name a few. They all have interesting and distinct personalities and generally play well off each other. It was a big part of my childhood and I collected an ungodly amount of their toys back in the day.

(This was my first ever Beast Wars toy and I think it’s beautiful.)

My rewatch though was…a mixed bag to say the least. The graphics have not aged well. The adventure of the week setup of the plot was repetitive and lacked real character development at times. There were characters that were added in last minute to the show clearly to promote a new action figure over the story on numerous occasions. Though I found the humor to still be pretty good, the action was stale and just lacked high stakes most of the time, save for a few episodes.

I was not shocked it didn’t land terribly well on my rewatch but you know what did? “Beast Machines!”

“Beast Machines” was the follow-up to Beast Wars that had the Maximals fighting on Cybertron where Megatron has taken control of the whole planet using a virus that changes Transformers into mindless drones to do his bidding. The remaining Maximals manage to survive however after Optimus discovers The Oracle which reformats them into animal robot hybrids that are both mechanical and biological. This sets them on a quest to stop Megatron and bring biological and mechanical balance to Cybertron once and for all.

The series is much more narrative based than the previous as it follows a steady trajectory to its epic conclusion. The animation is much sharper, and the soundtrack is fun as hell to listen to still. The pacing is much faster as the stakes couldn’t be higher for the Maximals and all the old characters from the previous grow in interesting ways and develop into more organic people (literally in some ways). Optimus is a more hardcore and emotionally damaged leader and Megatron goes from being something of a punchline in the previous series to a far more menacing and calculating nemesis. The story touches on themes of balance, authoritarianism, PTSD, love and reunion to name a few and for a kids’ show it is, dare I say…more than meets the eye.

I absolutely loved it as a kid and I might actually love it even more as an adult, so it was shocking for me, to say the least, when I read further into the history of the show, that a lot of fans straight up rejected it back in the day.

Common complaints I came across were they didn’t like how characters, such as Ratrap especially, “changed.” They didn’t like the new bio/mechanical Maximals and couldn’t believe that Cybertron was once an organic world.

Their big reason (in just about every forum and video I saw about it)? It didn’t adhere to “canon.”

Now, I’ll start this by saying there is no objective way to critique or even not critique a story. People can like or hate something for a variety of reasons that don’t follow a strict logical pattern. Gods know I have a few questionable/divisive favorites in my catalogue that I have written about here that are based on abstract ideas and personal experiences.

(The Matrix Reloaded is still great btw)

But I will say, if you judge a mega franchise’s latest entry on how well it is supported by established canon it is, in my opinion, a flawed way to critique a work of fiction.

Canon, sometimes referred to as “lore” by fans, is most often applied and used to describe the long running back stories of franchises that stretch beyond just the main books, movies or series, or even the original narrative of the plot. Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and to a certain extent Harry Potter, all fall into this camp of series with so many interconnected parts, with more than one main character featured in each, that fans follow along this canon like ancient monks studying scripture and history books.

And they can be just as fanatical and over zealous about it.

(I wish they were more fanatical about proper hygiene or at least deodorant...)

My problem with the ways fans often view canon is that their conceptions of what a new story should be is based entirely on the past rather than what is happening right now with the story and what themes the writer is trying express with it this time.

They base their impressions of the story on external continuity more than the internal continuity.

Yea, the changes in a series like “Beast Machines” are jarring to say the least. Cybertron was formally an organic world like Earth? Rattrap doesn’t have confidence in himself and actually at one point sells out his comrades? Transformers can be biological now? It’s a lot to take in but when watching the story play out it’s not like these elements aren’t explained through the text of the new story.

Cybertron lost balance between its robot inhabitants and its biological life forms and its why it’s out of balance now, and Megatron is the logical progression of that inbalance. Rattrap is struggling to understand his new form, half his friends on the Maximals have been turned into drones, and the remaining team out loud say they don’t have confidence in him. He has PTSD from both the events of this story and the Beast Wars and feels insecure because of how others view him and that’s perfectly logical to not just the story but also the canon. If a fan is willing to give a story a chance they will see that the canon hasn’t actually been destroyed in much of any way and the logical progression is actually there if they simply listen to what’s going on.

(Seriously, it’s not that deep.)

Fans need to stop confusing a character achieving a franchise long arc with being “suddenly different.” In this way, criticisms of canon in new entries in long running series reveal that fans really just lack imagination to connect the dots. It would be like complaining that Luke Skywalker can’t become paranoid and make a grave mistake in judgment because people never change, nevermind the character already has changed a lot from his origins in “A New Hope” to where he was in “Return of the Jedi.”

(Oh wait, people did do that…)

But that’s not to say you have to like the new direction either. You can understand these changes and still be like “well, it’s not for me. I don’t care for a PSTD angle or a new origin for Cybertron,” but that’s whole lot different than saying the new series “rapes your childhood” or “Bastardizes the canon.” All the old canon you hold nostalgia for still exists. My love for “Beast Machines” is not harmed by the existence of newer Transformers properties that don’t meet what I look for in the series.

Too often, fans take changes to established “lore” very personally because it doesn’t fit their expectations or have the same nostalgic feelings they had before. When new entries in mega franchises occur fans often try to judge it by how much it is like what they watched before, rather what makes it different and what it is saying now. Again, you don’t have to like new directions in tone or character but consistency to established work DOES NOT equal good storytelling.

I have not been immune to this myself in the past, of course. Back in the day I wrote a 2500-plus word diatribe on “The Amazing Spider-man 2” that mostly went after how it changed the character I grew up with in a bad way and butchered the established back story I knew him by.

You know what other story doesn’t follow canon very well though? “Spider-man: Homecoming.”

(Now, hear me out...)

Spider-man in the MCU is generally agreed upon to be a good thing by fans. Both movies were big hits both critically and financially and fans often go as far as to say Tom Holland is the “definitive” Peter Parker.

But Holland’s Spider-man differs quite a bit from the comic-book webslinger. This Spider-man does not have a spidey sense. His best friend is not Harry Osbourne but in fact a retcon of a Mile Morales character. His father figure is Tony Stark, something that never happened in the comics, instead of Uncle Ben, which no matter what way you spin it is arguably his most important relationship in the series.

His character is a reverse of traditional Peter Parker too. Where comics Peter is a reluctant hero, who if anything hates being Spider-man and the burden of his responsibility, “Homecoming” Spider-man actively seeks out responsibility and in many ways enjoys his role as the famous webslinger. In fact, his whole arc is about him earning a spot as an Avenger. He wants to be THE hero and be worthy of it. It’s completely different from what we know of Spider-man.

(He just wants Tony sempai to notice him uWu)

Now I know some fans actually do complain about this Spidey from a “canon” standpoint, but most don’t. So why did this Spider-man get a pass for many but not “The Amazing” one? Quite simply it’s because stories, as cheesy as it sounds, are about feelings and stories like “Homecoming” tell a good story that effectively make those feelings connect with the audience.

We root for this Peter Parker and his journey to becoming an Avenger and successor to Iron Man because the story is told well, the emotions feel earned, and frankly both films are fun and enjoyable.

It’s easy to complain about canon for many nerds because it’s something tangible that they can point to and make a big stink about when they don’t understand why a movie isn’t reaching them. I don’t doubt that many neckbeards genuinely hate a film like “The Last Jedi” (Hell, I’m not a big fan myself) but when those same nerds enjoy something like “The Mandalorian,” a series that has its own loose relationship with canon and establishing new rules in the series, it tells me it’s not about the “lore” to them.

(Easy, fanboys...)

I have come to understand, in my growth as a nerd, that my problems with a lot of movies and TV shows in my favorite series rarely, if ever, have anything to do with the story not meeting some arbitrary guidelines regarding canon. It has more to with the story simply not connecting with me emotionally. The story isn’t drawing me in and keeping me on its narrative path. I’m not feeling the same magic that someone else might feel enjoying it because either a) it doesn’t feel earned to me or b) it just stylistically isn’t for me.

To paraphrase a line from another mega franchise, also owned by Disney, the canon is more like guidelines than actual rules.

(Didn’t expect to see ol’ Barbosa in this write up, did ye?)

It can show you where a story comes from but it isn’t law that you strictly adhere to it. Of course, when writing a new work in a popular series you should consider what came before it but I would like writer’s the freedom to try something new and most importantly fans to be open to it. You don’t have to like it but the idea that new entries in a story MUST remain strict to the canon is bull shit. Not even the original Star Wars trilogy adhered to its own canon perfectly, as clearly the writers were in fact making it up to a certain extent as they were going along.

(hmmmm...)

And that’s ok, because some of those changes were great! Made the story better and made the conclusion stronger.

Again, you don’t have to like every new entry that tries something bold or confrontational in your favorite franchise but if writers strictly followed canon to the T we wouldn’t have things like “Homecoming,” we wouldn’t have “The Mandalorian,” and we certainly wouldn’t have my favorite Transformers series “Beast Machines.”

Canon shouldn’t be a trap for writers and it shouldn’t be a litmus test for fans digesting it. There are so many better ways to judge a story than whether or not it fits neatly into established lore. A good story is a good story, regardless of whether or not it’s supported by something as static as canon.

“Beast Machines” has its flaws here and there, but canon isn’t one of them, at least not for me. Again, if you feel that the lore is important, that’s fine, you don’t have to ignore it but I would ask you to look beyond what came before when critiquing a new story.

Otherwise, you might miss something special that comes next…

Now then...

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ultravioletsoul · 4 years

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Maybe an unpopular opinion regarding Makarov/Character Analysis (part 1)

Sometimes I read comments of CoD fans saying that Vladimir always was an asshole for apparently no reason, that he was the typical Russian cliché villain doing cliché bad things (such an original concept, I know). And while I do agree that for the most part the games didn’t do a very good job at giving him any significant depth (and he acts like a jerk, it’s true), I also have to say that he’s probably one of the most misunderstood characters in the series. Not because I think he was some poor innocent man who did nothing wrong, but because his villainous portrayal tends to take the spotlight every time he’s onscreen and we literally cannot see anything else beyond that. Which, of course, makes him look very one-dimensional since the game always has to remind you in oh-not-so-subtle ways how evil he is.

The story of MW never goes into full detail as to what drove him to do the horrible things he did. And it’s not clear unless one bothers to analyze some obscure information hidden in the loading cutscene of No Russian and does a little research on the side. In all honesty, I wish his story would have been better explained and developed by other means than just a slideshow of newspaper articles and an overview of his dossier. I would have been content with a special trailer that actually explained his background, rather than have him say some pseudo Sun Tzu lines in a few teasers and let that be the entirety of his character development but okay… I guess this was as far as Infinity Ward’s story-telling capabilities went back then.

Sure, you may think: who the hell cares about his motivations? He was an evil mofo and needed to be put down. Well, unfortunately for these people, I exist and I do care because Vladimir is one of my faves— perhaps my most favorite character in the entire MW universe. And though I like him because he’s an unapologetic baddie, that’s not the only reason.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Vladimir is this super complex character that nobody else gets, but there are definitely some elements that give him a few extra layers and they’re worthy of being analyzed.

Beware, this is going to be a long post and will contain a few historical references. This isn’t a comprehensive breakdown, and I’ll probably make a lot mistakes along the way because I’m not a history buff by any means (please, don’t yell at me ;A;), but it should be a rough explanation of what I think led Vladimir to such extremist views and why I think he’s a good antagonist in Call of Duty. Also it could be a helpful reference for anyone who wishes to write a story about him.

I’m not claiming this is the most accurate interpretation of Vladimir, or that it’s the only valid one, but if any of this information comes in handy or offers a different insight into his character then I’ll consider my mission accomplished.

Without further ado, here we go!

Tagging @sunset-and-periwinkle and @renegad3spectre because they may be interested in this post :v

1. No Russian

So one of the first recollections that come to mind when thinking about MW2 is the infamous mission of No Russian. This kind of content was so violent and crude for its time that it caused quite the controversy and it still divides the opinion between people who think videogames should push boundaries and people who believe there are things that shouldn’t be portrayed in such an offhanded way. Whether including that level in MW2 was a good or terrible choice is not the point of this post. However, I’ll share my personal experience.

Me, back when I played this mission I didn’t give it much thought. I mean… it didn’t have this serious impact on me as I’m guessing the developers intended, from what I’ve read, but that’s mainly because I wasn’t mature enough to make a proper assessment of the story-line and to me CoD games weren’t about deep narratives either. Keep in mind that I was an immature kid and I just wanted to play a game that my brother enjoyed. So yes, without much thought I breezed through No Russian, accomplished the objectives and it wasn’t until the end of the mission that I realized I’d been played like a damn fiddle.

And my first reaction to seeing Makarov killing me was “bro, I thought we were allies”. Never mind the carnage that had ensued moments ago, never mind that I had participated in it. I was more offended by this unexpected 'betrayal' and well... imagine how stupid I was for thinking Vladimir could be my friend. The fact that Allen was a CIA agent completely eluded me and I didn’t understand a freaking thing of what was going on but that was on me. I shouldn’t have been playing those games at my young age because evidently I wasn't ready to handle adult themes like that.

Replaying this mission now that I’m older made me realize how messed up it was, and maybe not for the most obvious reasons. Yeah, innocent people die all around us and that's something we cannot stop from happening, no matter what we do. However, it’s not really necessary for us to hurt civilians to complete the level (we’re not punished for not doing it) so we can be simple witnesses to the brutality ensuing in front of us, which is as equally messed up perhaps. You can even skip the whole mission altogether if you want to, so no biggie: you’re spared the nightmare fuel and you can happily head to Brazil to capture Alejandro Rojas. Heck, you’re even rewarded a glimpse of Ghost ready to torture Alejandro’s assistant and all is back to normal, yay!

However, when you think about it, from the perspective of the story, Allen wasn’t given the option to skip anything. He was pushed to commit a vile deed and ordered to follow Makarov’s lead no matter how morally questionable those actions turned out to be in the end. Shepherd told him that this mission would cost him a piece of himself and he was right about it. Had Allen survived, I’m pretty sure he would have been scarred for life after what he did. I don’t know how he could have lived with himself knowing that he slaughtered all those innocent people. Vladimir killing him off was kind of… an act of mercy in a way, though of course we know he had completely different intentions for doing so.

So people may wonder, why the heck Vladimir carried out that massacre? Some common opinions I read is because he’s an asshole, because he’s crazy, because he wants to make a statement, because he enjoys being a psychopath and hurting others. All these may be true to some extent, we’ll never know for sure, but it’d be very simplistic to just leave it at that without taking into consideration other elements of the story that were left implicit.

I’m going to say that, from my perspective, I didn’t get the impression Makarov enjoyed killing those civilians (but hear me out, neither did he regret it!). It would have been pretty easy to make him this psycho that slaughters people with a smile on his face, but that’s not what we see in No Russian… and perhaps it’s even more terrifying when you realize how casual he is about the whole affair. You really get the impression that he’s a man on a mission and he carries it out in a very no-nonsense manner, does it all with a straight face, without batting an eyelash, without any trace of doubt about what he’s doing, not even a hitch in his voice, absolutely no emotion whatsoever. His actions, his words, his whole demeanor, all scream about being a professional at what he does for better or for worse.

He didn’t know these people, he had no quarrel with them, and yet he killed them all in cold blood. Why? Because they were stepping stones to his goals and there was a very established purpose for that op. To the rest of the world, yea, it may seem like there’s no logical reason for what he did other than he’s nuts but, honestly, Vladimir could care less about that. The only thing that matters to him are the results.

Even if the whole world thinks that he’s insane, in his mind this was the most reasonable course of action. To him it had to be done, there was no other way, and he didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger when the time came because he was truly convinced it was the right thing to do. The fact that he (a criminal who’s wanted by the entire world and probably cannot afford to leave himself out in the open) participated in that brutal event shows the utmost importance it had to his plans. Vladimir personally oversaw and carried out the operation, he didn’t leave anyone else in charge because of the very special meaning it had for him. He says “for Zakhaev” before engaging FSB units because this incident would mark the beginning of a new chapter in Russian history, a chapter Vladimir would write in honor of the man who was his friend and mentor— the man who started it all, who gave him a cause to believe in and fight for.

He definitely had his reasons for what he did. They were the wrong reasons of course, but Vladimir didn’t act on a whim nor did he waste his time on matters that didn’t advance his agenda. He didn’t start a war nor massacred hundreds of people at that airport for simple fun and without a solid motive (though this isn’t by any means a justification, it still was a pretty shitty thing to do). We all know that it was a false flag operation, as he wanted to put the blame on the US for the attack. His intention was sparking a war between Russia and America and he was willing to achieve that by any means necessary, even if thousands of his countrymen had to die, even if he had to make common cause with Shepherd (we don’t know under which circumstances and terms), a man who by all accounts should have been his worst enemy— a man who had set up an entire task force for the sole purpose of hunting Vladimir down. And don’t get me wrong, they weren’t buddies, they still hated each other’s guts and would kill the other in a heartbeat, but they were willing to work together towards the same goal because none of them would succeed on their own.

So, ultimately, Vladimir’s objective was riling up the public opinion to push for an invasion of America and provide the Russian government a ‘legitimate’ reason to do it. Does this have 9/11 commentary undertones? Well, I’m not gonna be the judge of that but it could be a possibility.

However, to understand this moment, we’ll have to go much further back in time.

2. His Childhood

This is going to be a huge oversimplification of Soviet history, I’m afraid, so my apologies in advance. Don’t take my word as the absolute truth, this is barely scratching the surface.

According to the information seen in No Russian, and Return to Sender, little Volodya was born on April 10th (not sure how reliable is the wiki since I was convinced he was born on October 4th *shrugs*) of 1970 in Ivanovo, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Or for those who, like me, don’t like those long names, better known as Soviet Russia.

As a curious fact, Ivanovo is known as the City of Brides because it was a very important center of textile industries in the Soviet Union that attracted many young women seeking work. It also has an important historical significance as hotbed for revolutionary activity in czarist Russia and was the city where supposedly the first Bolshevik assembly took place (earning the nickname of City of the First Soviet). During the Second War it proved invaluable as a front city, located close to enemy lines, receiving refuges and injured soldiers of the Red Army that treated their wounds in the many hospitals that were set up for that purpose. Also, in addition to producing armament and fighting in the war, the citizens made good use of their industries and donated huge quantities of fabric to make millions of uniforms.

Back to the topic, next thing we have to wonder is what Vladimir’s life was like as a child born in the 70s. We don’t know much about it and it’s never even mentioned anywhere in the game but, if we had to hazard a guess, he most likely had a relatively happy childhood— raised like any average Soviet kid at the time. His parents were maybe workers, maybe doctors, maybe engineers, maybe teachers, maybe in the military, but they surely weren’t bad people and they wanted their son to be a decent member of society. They didn’t raise him to be a criminal, they didn’t shape him into a monster. If Vladimir had at least one grandfather alive, then he would have served during the Great Patriotic War (a term used in Russia and other former Soviet republics to refer to the conflict in the Eastern Front during WWII). And as a kid, Volodya probably grew up in a typical khrushchyovka apartment with his family. It wasn’t very luxurious but, you know, it wasn’t so bad either and it was home sweet home for them.

Now you gotta imagine what growing up in the Soviet Union was like. Education was heavily influenced by the Communist party and children swam in a sea of propaganda. No, no matter what western propaganda says, they didn’t teach him to hate the west as a kid. Vladimir didn’t want to wipe out Americans from the face of the Earth or skin them alive as you probably imagined at some point, but from a young age he was taught to be proud of being born in the greatest country in the whole world and he pitied the ‘oppressed’ American workers for their lack of Soviet blessings, for being unable to stand up to their imperialist overlords. Heck, this was a popular song in the 80s, when he was about ten years old and probably every Soviet kid sang it at school, including him.

Speaking about that, at school he must have been in contact with several ethnic groups— remember that the industries attracted a lot of people to Ivanovo, particularly women, from many places all over the Soviet Union and, even to this day, Ivanovo is a multi-cultural city with over a hundred nationalities. It’s safe to say that Vladimir would have never given it much thought if someone wasn’t an ethnic Russian nor would he have cared. There weren’t nationalities or differences back then. Everyone was a Soviet citizen and everyone was equal or so it would seem at least, if you ignore the multiple genocides, mass killings, deportations and other horrors of the Stalin era before the Soviet Union adopted a more moderate domestic policy and started a process of de-stalinization after his death— eliminating his cult of personality and other institutions that allowed him to hold autocratic power.

This was also known as the Khrushchev Thaw period, and it was during this time that repression and censorship began to become more lax thanks to Nikita Khrushchev’s policies, and millions of prisoners were released from the gulags. It also opened up the Soviet Union to some economic reforms, trade with other countries, as well as educational and cultural exchanges in the form of foreign uncensored books and movies, music, dances, fashion, and new forms of entertainment in national television. So all this would seem a shift towards a more positive outlook for the Soviet citizens.

Our little Volodya shared and played with other kids in his neighborhood in the playgrounds of the apartment buildings, maybe fell off those Soviet swings and whacked his head a few times but that was okay, he still had fun and laughed and cried like any other child. He grew up listening to old pop music, synth (because people just didn’t listen to patriotic music all the time) and watching Bollywood movies which were all the rage at the time in the USSR as an alternative to western cinema. He had friends, a family that loved him. He spent weekends at the dacha (cottages outside the city) working the land with his family, growing fresh produce. He probably had an affectionate babushka that looked after him, told him many stories, and cooked hearty meals for him because she was a genius at handling finances and feeding the family. She surely was a god-believing woman despite the widespread atheism in a society where the word of Marx and Lenin had an almost religious significance, who took no shit from anyone, and who would chew Vladimir’s head off if he so much went out under-dressed in a breezy day. Even as a grown ass man, she would still intimidate him because you don’t mess with babushkas!

Like a good Soviet kid he was taught to never lie, to help his parents and respect the work of others, to have good manners and not be a spoiled brat, to be considerate and kind to his elders, encouraged to be resourceful, to do things by himself and not expect others to come to his aid, to improve his culture and intellect, to study hard and become someone who would help build the future of socialist paradise. He probably collected silly trinkets like many kids do, he spent his time learning to carve wood and other crafts, reading about the great war heroes and the communist leaders. Year after year he played zarnitsa, a war game for kids and a very popular activity in the Young Pioneers (the Soviet ‘Boy Scouts’, so to speak) that trained young generations for military life, compulsory for every man, cultivating their love for the USSR and preparing them to defend the homeland from the enemy.

Life back then could be tough at times, true, but he must have been quite happy and there was joy to be had. He was raised to be patriotic, a good communist, living in what he believed was a place of peace where all were equals and all were comrades. Having little contact with western influences, he grew up listening to a carefully woven narrative and was told of the decadence of warmonger capitalists that feared the spread of communism so much that they would wage countless wars to stop it and destroy other peace-loving nations. So much could be argued regarding this statement, sure, but this is what he was told and it was during a time when Operation Condor (the US-backed campaign of state terrorism and wave of right-wing dictatorships in Latin America during the 70s-80s) was in full swing to eradicate communism and any Soviet influence from South America. Not to mention the many proxy wars waged throughout these decades, as well.

“For years the western hypocrisy has made the world a battlefield.”

Little Octobrists and Young Pioneers were a thing and the Communist ideology was still going strong even if some started to quietly question it. Not that many did, at any rate, since the dreaded KGB kept a close eye on everyone so dissidents wouldn’t spread the wrong ideas in the Soviet society. Well, at that time maybe you wouldn’t be sent to a gulag just for saying bad things but someone would ‘talk’ some reason into you and there would be subtle threats to tone your attitude down or else your life and that of your relatives could be screwed. Don’t say this, don’t do that, the walls have ears and you’re being watched.

You have to keep in mind that he also grew up under the constant threat of nuclear annihilation. And much like American kids, Vladimir would have been greatly concerned about nuclear armageddon and be familiarized with procedures to follow in case such a terrible event came to pass.

The US and Russia pointed nukes at each other for many years and the NATO military exercises of Able Archer— at the peak of Cold War hysteria— didn’t help matters. These were annual exercises but that year of 1983, new elements never seen before had been introduced, and then there was the menace of the new Pershing II nuclear missiles that had been recently deployed in Western Europe. If launched, these would be able to reach their target in less than ten minutes (faster than any other missile known until then), landing with high accuracy and virtually no warning.

Until then the only thing stopping a nuclear war was the threat of mutually assured destruction, but these missiles tipped off the scales in favor of the west, since the Soviets would have no way to retaliate if their command centers or even their own missile launch facilities were targeted. So the Soviet Politburo was very concerned about this situation, in a time when president Reagan poured great efforts to fight the Brezhnev Doctrine (which established the legitimization of military interventions in Eastern bloc states, or any country that became a threat to international socialism) and show the world that the USSR wasn’t indestructible.

The increase in realism of these exercises, the strained relationship with the US under the Reagan administration, previous psychological operations, participation of heads of government in the exercise, and recent deployment of these new ballistic missiles, made the Soviet military believe that the US and NATO were preparing for a preemptive strike and that the exercise was nothing but a ruse. In response, the Soviets readied their nukes, air forces in East Germany and Poland were put on high alert to any funny business, and Soviet intelligence monitored the situation closely for signs of an impeding attack.

After nine days, the exercises came to an end and that was probably the time both countries were the closest to nuclear annihilation since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.

So in those years, Vladimir was living under the administration of Leonid Brezhnev famously known for his era of stagnation and also for his passionate kisses (the famous socialist fraternal kiss, you guys :v). Though it’s worthy of being mentioned that in the early 70s the Soviet Union had reached the peak of international power and prestige.

Nikita Khrushchev, Brezhnev’s predecessor, had promised that by the 80s communism would be a reality and maybe that wasn’t so hard to believe at the time. The economy was growing at a rate of about 3% annually and things had started off relatively well in the mid 60s when Brezhnev assumed office. There was full employment, even minimal wage was sufficient to afford basic necessities, healthcare was a given, education in all levels was free and once you finished university or a vocational course, there was a job waiting for you. Things were pretty much settled for everyone. There wasn’t a lot to worry about, not many uncertainties. It was a pleasant predictive life for the most part. Not perfect, by any means, and it had its difficulties but Vladimir’s family felt protected and safe and they had great hopes for the future.

What went wrong then?

To be continued in part 2

#vladimir makarov #call of duty #cod #call of duty modern warfare 2 #modern warfare 2 #i'm sorry for the typos and grammar mistakes #it's midnight here #and i should be going to bed ;A;

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thedramafilesblog-blog · 6 years

Text

Appearing before The Dramacourt: Suits (Korea) Episodes 3 and 4

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

***Disclaimer***: This analysis based on Canadian law. This is also NOT LEGAL ADVICE for anyone and this drama is FICTIONAL.

Issues:

Whether Kang Seok’s tough love attitude actually helps.

Whether using the law to escape gangsters is believable.

Whether witness tampering is a thing.

Whether the meeting before the trial is legit.

Whether you can represent someone if a) they were your previous client and b) opposing counsel is your ex-girlfriend.

Whether the “trial scene” was accurate.

The Rule(s):

Yes.

Sure. If it’s an ideal world.

Yes. But it shouldn’t be.

Yes.

Not really.

Hells No!

Analysis:

RedRosette J: I really really really want to love this drama because a) Hyungsik and b) it’s Suits but it’s getting really really really hard to ignore all the inconsistencies and extra kdrama-ness.

Starting with that whole rooftop thing which was totally ridiculous and unbelievable because most rooftops in really tall buildings are not accessible to like 99.9% of the people in that building due to, well, obvious reasons. Then there was that whole Kang Seok’s ex-girlfriend story line which was totally ridiculous because a) what kind of lawyer has that much free time (she was rock climbing in the middle of a workday), b) she was late to a meeting (oh hells no) and c) she was just annoying. I didn’t really understand the point of her character. Was she the Scotty character who was meant to humanize Kang Seok? Because if that was the case, I didn’t really get that. Sorry.

Seriously you can’t just walk up to rooftops

I like the contrast of her red outfit to the blue buildings

How do you have so much free time?

No seriously. How?

Are you Scotty?

Another one of my complaints is the SERIOUS lack of Da Ham-Kang Seok interaction unlike its US counterpart. I just wish we got a little more banter and flirting between the two. It’s just so much more fun if there was that whole “will they-wont they” thing going on like Harvey and Donna. I know, I know, this is a remake and its adapted from the original so that doesn’t mean that it has to be exactly like the original but come on it is super cute so why not? Speaking of Da Ham, one thing I don’t like is how Geon Woo interacts with her. Unlike with Mike Ross who acknowledges that Donna is way above his level even though she’s an assistant and he’s a “lawyer”, you sort of get a vibe that Da Ham doesn’t have the same sort of power that Donna does and as a result Geon Woo seems to be on a level higher than her (if that even makes sense).

I wish she got more screen time

Its cute but give us more!

We did see more of Ha Yeon (Jessica Pearson) in these episodes and while the actress is doing a great job, I just feel like the character is written with a lot less punch than Jessica Pearson. She doesn’t really stand out on her own as a character to me. Whereas when Jessica Pearson enters a scene, it’s like the other characters automatically diminish because of her presence and charisma. Ha Yeon seems to be lacking that “wow” factor for me.

Her presence is just missing a little something…

The funniest stuff in this episode was the trying to get BeWhy as a client plot. While I appreciate the humour, I just wish that the show had tried with someone a little more realistic. We also got to see more of Geun-Sik being weird and trying to be cool which was funny but overall tbh it fell a bit flat to me.

OMG those hats I can’t even

OMG such a cutie

BeWhy

OMG the cringe is real

More BeWhy

When you successfully poach BeWhy

I realize I’m being overly critical because I’ve seen the original and because the law things bother me but the show is actually pretty good on its own if you haven’t seen the original.

Pretty

Awwwww

When all your coworkers hate you but you still gotta go to work

At least the going into the male/female bathrooms is a running gag in this remake too LOL

Awkward client meetings like

Sorry not feeling the chemistry

Ugh. Can we not make Jenny a thing in the remake too?

Issue 1: Whether Kang Seok’s tough love attitude actually helps.

RedRosette J: Geon Woo definitely needs someone like Kang Seok in his life for many reasons but mainly because he’s never had a real father figure in his life (that Cheol Soon guy was a terrible older male role model) and he definitely needs someone like Kang Seok to give it to him straight so that he hears the hard things he needs to hear. So while I do think that the tough love stuff helps for someone like Geon Woo who’s always been making the wrong decisions and who is always looking for a way out, I think it has to be done super carefully. If you push someone like Geon Woo too far, the result could turn out badly for him. I think that Kang Seok should be tough on him but not too much. As an aside, because we’ve been seeing so much tough love stuff, there’s been less of the bromancing going on (although I guess some would argue that that is partly bromance). Honestly for me, the bromance just isn’t there.

Maybe tone down the yelling at the poor boy

The fist bump is never gonna happen fam

Issue 2: Whether using the law to escape gangsters is believable.

RedRosette J: I’m sorry but this was completely ridiculous. It was wrong on so many levels. Firstly, there is no way that GANGSTERS with WEAPONS would stand there and let you blackmail them into signing a retainer agreement. Nor would they just stand there and let you destroy their marijuana and walk away unharmed. This was totally unrealistic. I see what the writers were trying to do: use the law to the advantage of rescuing Cheol Soon and getting the gangsters behind bars by blackmailing them into signing a retainer agreement to have the lawyer represent them, but this was perhaps not the best way to go. I mean yea sure if this was an ideal world and if gangsters could be stunned into compliance with your awesome wit and rhetoric rather than by weapons, I see this strategy working but in the real world they would 100% shoot you dead the minute you opened your mouth. Fam. They are GANGSTERS. NOT TODDLERS. It was a tad too cringey and unrealistic even for a kdrama.

What kind of idiotic gangsters are you guys?

When your boss catches you doing dodgy shit on your day off

Issue 3: Whether witness tampering is a thing.

RedRosette J: This is totally a thing and people for real do this in real life and its actually an offence punishable by law. So yea, don’t tamper with witnesses. Unless you want to go to jail.

Issue 4: Whether the meeting before the trial is legit.

RedRosette J: Yes this meeting was quite legit. Usually before going to trial, the parties meet to negotiate whatever issues they have. If they can’t decide on a settlement then the issue goes to trial. In some situations there are even mandatory mediation sessions that parties have to attend prior to trial. I’m not exactly sure whether this applies to this particular meeting but in Canada there are pre-trial conferences where parties meet (usually with a Judge presiding) to go over the final issues before the trial and to decide exactly what is getting litigated at trial. This meeting looks more like a negotiation at the initial stages, so yes its legit to that extent.

RedRosette J Aside: One thing that I really liked about these particular divorcing characters was that the viewers weren’t told that the wife was blind until after the end of the proceedings. I really liked this because it didn’t create any prejudice in the minds of the viewer against the wife during the proceedings. She did wear sunglasses throughout except during her meeting with Ha Yeon but nothing was overt about her blindness. I really liked that it was simply an accepted fact that all the characters treated as a status quo.

Issue 5: Whether you can represent someone if a) they were your previous client and b) opposing counsel is your ex-girlfriend.

RedRosette J: So I’m going to answer this in sections because this pissed me off so much because as I was watching these episodes I was reading the rules of professional conduct for lawyers for the bar exam.

A) In a situation where the opposing party is a former client of yours you cannot represent this particular client because it breaches your duty of confidentiality to your former client (according to our rules at least). There is something about how if that former client provides something in writing that you can represent the new client but I doubt that that would work in this situation. Honestly, this was a bit ridiculous because I’m pretty sure they have the same rules about confidentiality in Korea.

B) It is also not the best situation to have two lawyers who are ex-lovers to be on opposing sides of a proceeding because well, for obvious reasons. I don’t think that it’s a good business decision either because look how Kang Seok was affected by the woman. He was running around like a headless chicken trying to figure out what her end game was and honestly I don’t think he was making rational decisions. If I was Ha Yeon, I would have assigned someone else to that case.

This is a strict No.

Sorry not feeling it.

Questionable morals guys

RedRosette J: Also what was with that awkward kiss? I’m sorry but those two had no chemistry. It was just awkward to watch. Also, I feel bad for this girl’s fiance because she legit slept with Kang Seok while she had a fiance. *shakes head*

Issue 6: Whether the “trial scene” was accurate.

RedRosette J: This was by far the worst scene of these two episodes. Yes it was a dream sequence but still OMG Hells NO! First, when the ex-girlfriend starts making her opening statement to the court, Kang Seok interrupts her and starts asking her questions. *Deep Breaths* OMG. No. You cannot interrupt opposing counsel during opening statements. Wait for your turn. If you did, in reality, the Judge would reprimand you (for being an ass). Second, he doesn’t let her finish and starts talking over her and launches into his own opening statement during which he makes no legal arguments whatsoever, which you cannot do because the whole point of a trial is to make legal arguments and to not talk about your feelings and sing Kumbaya. And thirdly, he starts walking around the court and TURNS HIS BACK TO THE JUDGES during his statement. OMFG DUDE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?! YOU CANNOT TURN YOUR BACK ON THE JUDGES!!! In real life, even when you leave the courtroom you have to slightly bow your head first and walk away slowly without making a big show of turning your back to the judges. OMG this shit would not fly in real life . Its totally ridiculous and it wasn’t accurate at all!

Don’t interrupt her dude

Oh Hell No.

Conclusion: Appeal Allowed.

Rating: 3 = MM. Okay. Fine. (Mostly because of how adorbs Hyungsik is)

File No: Suits (Korea)-EPS-03-and-04 Appearing before The Dramacourt: Suits (Korea) Episodes 3 and 4 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read

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crackheadcastle · 7 years

Text

Getting Away.

Saturday, early evening.

Charlie and I have been grinding on this idea of starting a business all afternoon. Many of our ideas are pie-in-the-sky. Both of us really like the name HoneyMaker. We even played around with spelling it differently. Honeymaaker. Or, Honeymkr. Charlie likes how the name sounds like Money Maker. To that point I winked at him. “It’s like a think tank, ya’know..”

We figured that we should get a P.O. Box to start. Charlie said he would look into filing the name with the local municipalities, his shaky, near illegible handwriting already taking notes. I was so excited, practically jumping up and down. It’ll be a business of businesses! An amoeba! The sense of how ridiculous all of my ideas were did not register as a reason to stop and think. We would start out, Charlie and I, with glow-in-the-dark menus for restaurants all over the city, we would create retainer style accounts as consultants. Charlie suggested we use Craigslist to find a silk screen person to print the glowing ink on top of the menu lettering. Maybe we could do a special wax treatment to the paper menu’s to make them last longer. We talked about what we should wear as our own personal branding. And, what about an office !?

There’s already much work to be done. I figured for a cheap enough space somewhere that we could set up a telephone. Yes, a land line with a 212 area code, very professional. “What about location?” Asked Charlie. We had to take a bike ride to do some scouting.. Up and down Metropolitan, Manhattan Ave, Greenpoint Ave. We rode for almost two hours hunting for vacant space, for rent signs, etc. Abandoned looking pet stores, laundry spots long since closed up, a couple furniture stores and a bodega which looked like it never recovered from being a crime scene. In the end of our ride we found an old church down in Hill Stuy across from some abandoned brownstones. The facade was basic, no windows, just a door, everything painted brown. Lots of graffiti layered into and on top of the thick skinned brown latex paint. What stood out and caught our attention was the hand painted eye with little lines reaching from the bottom lid above the door and street tags.

“It’s perfect, man.” Said Charlie as he rolled up another spliff. “Yea, we gotta look into how the hell we gonna rent this baby!” I said. “I hope it’s cheap as it looks.” Just then the rumbling of a train below us. The A,C line. Both of us peered into the grate half covered with street garbage and car tire trying to perceive the actual passing train cars. Nothing but rowdy darkness down there.

“We gonna hafta make some more money to start Honey Maker, ya know that, right?” Charlie says to me. This is a bristling truth that I do not like. Time to get my salesman hat to wear for a bit. Now that I think of it, I could also use some salesman shoes as well, cause mine are a little stinky. I resist getting into an argument with Charlie about keeping a regular job. We both know it’s not really worth it. A better way to make money is to work for yourself which takes a different level of effort, that’s all.

Geeked out and beaming, we take off. I explain my plan to go door to door with the glow-in-the-dark menu idea to generate some sales - tonight! No need to wait. Charlie remarked that I must have been touched by Gawd hisself when I was a baby. Our chit-chat was covered in possibilities which kept lifting our spirits.

I could really see it. The newspaper headline: ‘Homeless Guy Launches Million Dollar Biz’. I gripped the crappy ten speed bike handles making the dry rot rubber squirm. My sense of control was present. Being in awe - is how I would best describe the sensation. Who knew how basic it is to simply deign the future you really want? I’ve been so conflicted for years and up to this point I’ve been my own worst enemy in not making things happen. I began to see that I am the only person responsible for how my life goes.

At the next intersection Charlie and I stopped on our bikes in waiting to cross the street. I didn’t realize that Charlie’s front tire was sticking out as it was and that it might pose an issue for the traffic. I told him to pull back a little. Instead, Charlie lurched with a hop onto his pedals to cross quickly. A car was coming at the same time which honked angrily, made a true New York stop - which is more like a pause, before attempting to make the corner while giving me a pointed scowl and middle finger.

Another car - an suv, was approaching fast, perpendicular to our new offended gentleman whose lurching front end was just in time to be struck - K’POW! Charlie could barely swing his face around to witness all this. The on coming car struck and jumped into a twist. The bottom of the vehicle revealed itself to me with aching grace as I was almost struck in the face by one of the tires. I didn’t notice the long bleating horn of the cork-screwing car before it landed openly in the street, on Grand Ave, on it’s top, with a moist crash and embarrassed spray of tempered glass across the pavement.

Some other people saw this happen, a concerted “Whoah!!” came from another street corner. “Holy Shit!”

I stood in shock, right where I was. What a perfect storm! My heart sank into my stomach as I considered that I had just been part of a serious accident. The driver of the pissed off car got out screaming: “You! Hey!”

Other’s from the street corner darkness came out to help what looked like a woman in the flipped suv. Everything seemed to stop and take on a cinematic decent into reality. All the tv shows and movies I’d seen growing up started to flicker by as I fished for a course of action. “This is your fault, pal!” Yelled the angry driver. He had got out and was getting in my face. “Lemme see your ID.”, “Um, I don’t have one.”, “What!? Are you crazy? C’mon.. don’t bullshit me.. show me some information, there’s no way I’m eating this situation on my own tonight. You shitty bike riders are always in the way!! What’s your name?” Demanded this upset fellow.

This is the moment in life we’re all waiting for, the moment where morality and workability clash, where responsibility surges into view like a burning ocean in which to cross on a leaky rowboat. I said nothing at first, I was trying to slow down time, I needed to come to a sensible answer, especially since the police would be here soon. I could already hear the firetrucks loopy whine start up across the neighborhood. More people came out to help the driver of the flipped suv. The woman was saying something… maybe she was ok.

What would I say to the police? I had been partly to cause this insane car accident. My adrenaline was already high, I could feel it. I may get arrested. Who knows. How am I gonna pay for this? I was caught in the headlights of American insurance claims, attorneys and a lawsuit concerning bodily injury. I really don’t know how I’m gonna get through this.

“Let’s wait for the police -“ I say repeatedly. “I need to sit down.” The angry driver blocks me. “No - you can stay right here.”

Fuck,…. fuck, fuck fuck, fuck. Goes my mind. My dream of being some kind of under dog entreprenuer looks like a shredded teddybear on the floor right now, white puff and stitches still swirling in the air by it’s assailant.

Where’s Charlie I wonder.. “Hey, did you see my friend? The other guy on a bike with me?” The angry driver is inspecting his car, the damage is pretty bad. The sound of a police siren begins to howl into range of this scene.

I put my bike down and scan for Charlie. I pick up the bike and walk it across the street without the pissed off guy noticing too much. “They’re gonna arrest you - know that?” Snarled the man. This scared me alright.

This was my chance which seemed like a hollow moment for sure. If I get caught running, everything will be 10 times worse. Fleeing the scene of an accident sounded like a terrible idea, yet, I couldn’t bear to face the circumstances otherwise. I was in trouble alright.

“Charlie!?” I whispered heavily. “Charlie!? Where the hell are you?”

Under the darkness of a tree near the corner I found myself outside the situation. The lights of the police arrived, a firetruck and it’s crew out kneeling down and talking to the woman possibly trapped inside her vehicle. I could hear the voice of the upset man he was barking about some kid on a bike that caused the whole thing to happen. Damn. Guilty until proven innocent!

Ambiguity straddled my mind, my thoughts. They don’t know who you are. It’s their word versus theirs. Etc.

Quickly I jumped on my crappy ten speed and started to ride off. Weightless with adrenaline. A cold reptilian glare watched me as I left, the eyes of guilt burned into the back of my head. This was not one of my proudest moments to date. However, I could not stand by idle and allow the thirsty jaws of predictable American failure chew me up and shit me out of it’s system.

I had to reach down into myself and wield the very same shaky, draconian, logic that feeds the ‘system’ in order to escape certain doom. I’d rather bear the baggage of this one than face the music tonight.

My folly is virtue. We all are beautiful liars when the moment chooses us.

I got away.

Quickly I rode my rusty bike towards the anonymous streets ahead.

Through one neighborhood and then another where I figured it’d be best to dump the wheels. I had gotten far enough away but was still shook by the insanity of what just happened. First, I was almost killed. Second, I was being blamed for the incident by the only other person in the wreck, the only witness. My face was a little numb with all the prospects of how this all ends. Each police car that stood idle street side or looped around any block had my fullest attention. I worked on what I might say in the event they discover me. I kept thinking of Honey Maker to distract myself from looking shady or paranoid.

Later on, I flower stepped back to the Buick under the bqe - like slowly backing out of a thick garden bed on my haunches, careful not to disturb or crush root, branch or leaves.

To my dismay I found that someone had written ‘HA HA’ on the windshield. The layer of grey dust still crumbling off where a finger had recently completed it’s painterly stroke. Charlie?

Climbing into the car, I’m greeted by the familiar dankness of sweaty chinese food containers mixed with ‘Ocean Breeze’ air fresheners I piked up the other day.

Restless. Watching cars pass. Admiring the chainlink fence with tortured razor wire guarding the auto mechanics yard. Next to the garage is a red tour bus and the face of it is ripped open or smashed open, all the way to the second or third seat. Did the bus hit a low hanging bridge? I couldn’t help wondering how many must have died in the bus’s accident. Maybe it was from a couple years ago when I heard one tipped over while speeding in leaving for Boston.

Nobody got hurt tonight, right? Charlie must have gone home. He often disappears without warning.

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thedramafilesblog-blog · 6 years

Text

Appearing before The Dramacourt: While You Were Sleeping Eps 13, 14, 15 and 16

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

***Disclaimer***: This analysis based on Canadian law. This is also NOT LEGAL ADVICE for anyone and this drama is FICTIONAL.

Issues:

Whether the law gives you the right to hire a lawyer of your choice.

Whether getting home and seeing a cute doggy ransack your house is a pleasant surprise.

Whether comparing a prosecutor’s robes to a choir was perfect.

Whether Suzy jumping to conclusions about Hak Young being the murderer is her being a good reporter.

Whether a witness can behave like a defense lawyer during an initial investigation (or ever).

Whether you can prosecute just anyone even if there isn’t enough evidence to charge the person because you have no other suspects.

The Rule(s):

Yes. But the lawyer gets to decide whether to accept your case or not.

Not really. But if it’s a super cute doggy it’s much easier to forgive!

Yes. Absolutely hilarious.

Hell No.

No. That’s not the point of being summoned as a witness.

HELL NO! What is wrong with this drama?!?

Analysis:

RedRosette: First off, 95% of episodes 13 and 14 were filler. There was no need to talk about regret and feeling guilty for an entire episode. The other 4% was strategically placed PPLs: Subway, some fancy water brand, and some Japanese department store brand. OMG it was so pointless. Did we really need to spend like 20 minutes of Lee Jong Suk and Suzy shopping for random things? What was the point of that to the drama? (See Jung So Min’s struggles with PPL as a drama writer in Because It’s My First Time. It seems so relevant here) Why is the writing going down the drain? The only really relevant 1% was in episode 14 where we find out that Woo Tak might have a secret too and isn’t all happiness and bubbles with him like we were led to believe.

Saving the day like…

He didn’t die thank God!

Was this really necessary?

They probably paid Production a shit ton of money because this had absolutely nothing to do with this drama.

Episodes 15 and 16 had some development. There were some legal problems that I wanted to raise (see Issues below), but mostly it confirmed the fact that I now hate Hong Joo’s character. She is unrealistic and is the worst “strong female” character. She throws tantrums when she doesn’t get what she wants, behaves like a child, and jumps to irrational conclusions. These are not qualities that you want people to emulate. You’d think that learning a grave life lesson as a child would mean that she wouldn’t make the same mistake in adulthood, but nope. Either that, or the writers really couldn’t come up with a better way to write in the connection to the “drowning” in childhood. People come on! This is not good character development. I can’t deal with her character. Jae Chan on the other hand, remained steadfast in his beliefs and remains a solidly written character when it comes to his job and general ethics and morality. Of course, all this goes out the window when he’s presented with the Hong Joo situation and suddenly he’s irrationally wanting to get into relationships without any explanation. Tbh, I seriously don’t get the attraction to Hong Joo. She’s a super annoying, bratty and a pretty terrible character all around. I don’t understand why all these guys are falling for her left, right and center. She’s the worst Candy-type to hit the screens in a while. Woo Tak got some development too. We didn’t see his big secret being revealed in these episodes so maybe something will come of it next week. But, I did have some problems with Woo Tak’s role in episode 16 (see Issue 5).

You guys needed a better plan and then maybe Woo Tak wouldn’t have gotten stabbed.

Being a hero like…

Entering into questionable deals like…

Ugh!

Spying on your neighbors with the lights turned off like…

Bring in that brotherly love!

We did also get more information about the childhood connection and now I’m pretty sure its the policeman they rescued who keeps sending Jae Chan money. These episodes were very difficult to watch in the sense that the plots were very slow and there was far too many slow-mo zooming in and out of the characters’ faces from different angles. Why? Seriously? Why? it’s not artsy, its just annoying if you don’t have a lot of time to watch a drama and you’re spending your lunch break watching it and all it is is zooming in and out of their faces OMG please just give us some plot development!!!

I’m calling it. It’s him.

What kind of 13 year has a license to ride a motorbike?

RedRosette J Aside: And yes we got too see more of Jang Hae In all smiles and in all of his shirtless glory thanksverymuch.

Issue 1: Whether the law gives you the right to hire a lawyer of your choice.

RedRosette J: Yes it does. When you are arrested or detained you have the right to counsel and you have a right to remain silent until you receive access to your counsel. The problem is that you can select a lawyer of your choice (or you get assigned a public defender if you can’t afford a lawyer) but the lawyer gets to decide whether to take your case on or not. If the lawyer feels that he or she doesn’t want to represent you, they can refuse to take your case. So while you do have a right to a lawyer, you do not have a right to a specific lawyer, which is really what the Chicken Killer was misunderstanding and why he kept screaming for Lee Yoo Beom. Buddy, that’s not how it works. Have a seat.

You have a right to counsel

But he gets to refuse your case

Asking for sentencing like…

When your co-worker does a good job

Issue 2: Whether getting home and seeing a cute doggy ransack your house is a pleasant surprise.

RedRosette J: It’s probably not going to be super pleasant, but that doggy was super super cute and adorable and it’s hard to look at a face like that and be angry about it. You’d literally just want to pick it up and cuddle it instead!

It’s a mess but he’s sooo cute! ❤ Robin!

Please give us a drama with Shin Jae Ha and Robin the Corgi kthanksbye.

Issue 3: Whether comparing a prosecutor’s robes to a choir was perfect.

RedRosette J: This was pretty funny. I actually LOL’d because I’d never thought about it like that. The whole imagination sequence was pretty funny too. I wish a real courtroom would suddenly burst into song like a musical. It might make things way more interesting sometimes!

Issue 4: Whether Suzy jumping to conclusions about Hak Young being the murderer is her being a good reporter.

RedRosette J: This is the furthest thing from being a good reporter. You can’t be drawing conclusions and reporting stuff on ongoing cases based on what you saw on TV. Hong Joo immediately jumped to the conclusion that Hak Young did it based on the CCTV footage and the fact that he threatened Woo Tak or whatever and refused to change her opinion. What the hell? Whatever happened to unbiased journalism? How can you be a reporter if you have already picked a side and you are creating a biased narrative? I just don’t get it. Then she goes and tells Jae Chan to make sure that he prosecutes the guy or “she’ll be disappointed in him.” What the hell? Let the man do his job and you go at least pretend to be a half decent reporter. I hated how she manipulated Jae Chan’s reliance on her belief in him to make sure he does what she wants. Ugh. Even after her whole flashback and being reminded of the fact that she was told (by Jae Chan) that you can’t do bad stuff to people simply because you dislike them, she gets upset when Jae Chan tries to explain to her why Hak Young was released. Are you kidding me? This is basic society 101. I think she’s a closeted psychopath. And yea she didn’t manipulate the media like Yoo Beom asked her to but she was still convinced that he was guilty. She doesn’t get to make that decision. That’s a decision to be made in a court of law. *takes deep breaths* Ugh. I can’t. I’m done with Hong Joo.

Being told not to be an idiot when you’re 13…

…but continues to be one in adulthood….

Issue 5: Whether a witness can behave like a defense lawyer during an initial investigation (or ever).

RedRosette J: OMG where do I start? Okay first of all, I really like Woo Tak, but honey you can’t be going in to a discovery (initial investigation) as a WITNESS and then start behaving like a DEFENSE LAWYER. That’s not how it works. In discovery, the prosecutor asks the witness questions based on what they saw and heard on the day or event in question and they are expected to answer truthfully. The witness doesn’t go and try to a) teach the prosecutor the law and b) act like they are defending the Accused. Again, that’s not how the system works. Also, what was with the line of questioning? It as totally off. Those are not questions you ask a witness. *sigh* Please. Writers. Get a better legal consultant. This is not how it works. Even if it’s for dramatic effect, it looks stupid.

Yes. We get it. Your friend needs help.

Showing up to provide testimony and getting fangirled like…

Witness is NOT Defense Counsel.

Issue 6: Whether you can prosecute just anyone even if there isn’t enough evidence to charge the person because you have no other suspects.

RedRosette J: OH MY GOD. What is wrong with the prosecutors in this drama? Just because there’s a dead body doesn’t mean that someone HAS to go down for doing it. In this case, the evidence was circumstantial. The guy happened to be there and was caught on CCTV around the time of death but there was no DNA or blood evidence linking him to the murder. Given all of this and the other evidence that they were talking about which CLEARLY did nothing to tie Hak Young to the murder, the prosecutors were still trying to make him go down for it because they had no other suspects. WTF? If there’s not enough evidence to convict someone, they walk. The evidence has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hak Young killed her. That’s how the system works. There was so much doubt and speculation in this case! You don’t get to just keep someone in custody or even prosecute them just because you have no other suspects. I don’t get why the Chief Prosecutor was so hesitant to release the guy. Do your job. Honestly this drama has some TERRIBLE legal stuff….

There has to be evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Hak Young did all this.

That’s not creepy at all….

When you’re innocent but no one believes you…

There isn’t enough evidence peeps. You HAVE to drop the charges!

RedRosette J Aside: I also forgot that there was a kiss scene finally and it was hella awkward. Not getting on this Ship you guys. Sorry.

Conclusion: Appeal Dismissed.

Rating: 2 = Yell At The Production And Writing Team (Producers: please stop with the close ups and multiple angles. We get that you guys are the camera gods. Writers: get better legal consultants)

File No: While-You-Were-Sleeping-EPS-13-to-16 Appearing before The Dramacourt: While You Were Sleeping Eps 13, 14, 15 and 16 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read

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