dallsjc

[dallsjc]

And I never minded being on my own. Then something broke in me and I wanted to go home. To be where you are. But even closer to you, you seem so very far...

(Wish That You Were Here from "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children")

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I like to think of a scenario that Jowoon happened to hear a song by GG, and started researching and listening to it secretly because he feels embarrassed about liking it.

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reblog if you ship a ship that's unhealthy, toxic and fucked up

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“What — how do you even remember that?”

“I listen when you talk.”

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I read a fanfic that mentions that Jowoon is terrible with money, like he doesn't know how to organize his finances, for a moment I thought it was strange, but then thinking about it a little more it makes total sense. Like it or not, he is rich and has never had to worry about the value of anything, so much so that in one scene Hyuk talks about him drinking an absurdly expensive wine, so I can totally imagine Jowoon getting into a lot of debt, buying things indiscriminately with no idea of price.

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te best thing about ao3 is the tags

[dallsjc]

An underrated but incredibly well-executed method of storytelling by Beyond Evil is their use of juxtapositions to compare and contrast the complexity and depth of its characters.

And the show best demonstrates this through the point of having two characters have similar circumstances or traits, but have them make entirely different choices.

One of the best juxtapositions are with two characters with the most in common with each other: Han Joowon and Park Jeongje. Both only children, both with a single parent who are both abusive and manipulative, both having risen in rank in their job through their family's connections, both connected to Lee Yuyeon's death—and most important of all, both of incredible importance to Lee Dongsik.

The difference was in their choices: Han Joowon acted immediately to rectify his mistakes and bring justice to Lee Dongsik—while Park Jeongje acted far, far too late.

Twenty-one years too late.

We also have two characters who are prone to outbursts of violence driven by high emotion—and this is an interesting juxtaposition—in Lee Dongsik and Kang Jinmook. The primary difference between them is that Lee Dongsik knows when to stop, to pull back before he can kill—regardless of how much he believes, because of his overwhelming anger and pain, that the other person deserves to die.

(Song Jiho very, very nearly did.)

Kang Jinmook doesn't have that restraint. Whoever he believes deserves to die, he thoughtlessly kills.

We have two ambitious figures of authority who don't think twice in getting rid of anyone who stands in the way in pursuit of their goal—to the point that they would both make use of their power to hide their own sons' sins—and yet at the end of it, it is only Do Haewon who finally broke down when Lee Dongsik quietly told her that her son, Park Jeongje, would kill himself if she didn't finally make the choice to do what was right.

In the end, between her ambition and her son, she still ultimately chose her son.

Han Kihwan instead chose to aim his own loaded gun at his own son's head.

We have a doomed marriage between Lee Changjin and Oh Jihwa, a toxic relationship built on lies and deceit by Lee Changjin; but we are given hope of what a healthy marriage and a loving nuclear family can be with Kang Dosoo and Im Seonnyeo.

We have two impassioned partners who aren't afraid to put themselves in danger in pursuit of justice—but only one of them listened to Lee Dongsik. Where Lee Sangyeob went ahead to thoughtlessly pursue Song Jiho, leaving his partner behind—Han Joowon chose to wait for his.

We have corrupt officials in the force like Jung Cheolmun, and yet where most police officers who would bend the rules for their own benefit—Lee Dongsik among them—we have a shining example of someone pursuing justice within the letter of the law with Oh Jihwa.

We mourn the loss of Lee Dongsik's other half, Lee Yuyeon, which is why we understand why Oh Jihwa could not bear to surrender Oh Jihoon to the authorities despite first finding out about his lies, because we know that just like Lee Dongsik, she would not bear the loss of her sibling.

We have two men both born into privilege, nepo babies who had everything served to them on a silver platter, and yet when forced to face a grave mistake, one chose to run from that mistake for twenty-one years, turning a blind eye to all the other deaths that occurred in its wake because he was too cowardly to face the consequences of his actions.

The other not only sought his own punishment for his own inadvertent abuse of power and negligence—he also brought down the most powerful cop in the country.

He brought down his own father.

One Han was the source of all the bloodshed—and the other Han ended it all.

There may be plenty more that I may have missed, but it's so fascinating how just by these examples alone, it powerfully demonstrates where evil truly lies, what will make you a monster—and ultimately, conversely, what will make you rise above all of it.

Because it's not the circumstances that will define you—but your choices.

It's not what happened to you—but what you choose to do.

It's not the life you were born into—but the life you choose to live.

[dallsjc]

something about how beyond evil understands the family dynamic so well because like maybe you’re still the same little kid who wants their dad to be proud of them and the same little kid who wishes their mom would just hug them and maybe you’re empty and sad because your parents left you alone when you needed them the most idk

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Also me

theo is that nineteen year old that calls everyone that is just one day younger than him "kid"

theo: *sigh* listen, kid...

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My character flaw is wanting to read a fanfic where Han Kihwan redeems himself as a father. Of course, in a universe where he didn't kill Dongsik's sister and maybe he continues with the narrative of him being a negligent husband and father, but a little less of a jerk. I really wanted to see Jowoon getting the fatherly love he deserves.

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Liam every time Theo accidentally, off-handedly drops another piece of horrifying, fucked up lore like he’s talking about the weather

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there will never be a scene more tender than lee dongsik holding han juwon's clenched fist in both his hands, prying his fingers open gently. the best love scene ever shot. my brain chemistry changed forever

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amo a minha mae mas simplesmente n gosto de ouvir ela cantando

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HOW? HOW IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS??? in the scene where Joowon is following the whereabouts of Boss Nam and he informs Dongsik and THEN there is a parallel between the death of Dongsik's old partner and Joowon's situation, because Joowon says some phrases that remind Dongsik of the things his old partner said AND THAT'S WHY HE TELLS JOOWON TO BE CAREFUL because he doesn't want another partner of his to die.

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jiang cheng: stop acting like you give a shit, you're not my father.

lan xichen: i assure you, my actions are sincere. and i'm truly proud of you.

jiang cheng: wow, you're definitely not my father.

[dallsjc]

(Originally posted here)

Bouncing the thoughts off of @lordoftheempty’s tags here:

I think what the show does a very good job of is showcasing how as human beings, we’re defined by our choices, rather than our emotions.

Beyond Evil does that very well in using juxtapositions: for example, both Jeongje and Joowon are very similar in having abusive, suffocating parents, but it’s only Joowon who chose to immediately defy his father. Jeongje did defy his mother too in a way, but only much, much too late, as he himself softly admitted to Joowon.

They’re also both indirectly related to Yuyeon’s death (with Jeongje in a much more direct manner), but they also made different choices, mostly when it comes to timing: unlike Jeongje, Joowon moved to enact justice immediately.

When it comes to Dongsik, it’s actually fascinating to juxtapose him (and Joowon too) with Kang Jinmook (and in a way with Han Kihwan too). Kang Jinmook killed according to his emotions, because he “felt” like he was betrayed by the woman he thought was his wife (and later on his daughter), and “felt” like women who were “loose” and “easy” like prostitutes (or at least women who are less “conservative” or “traditional” in his view, like Jaeyi’s mother) deserve to die. Mostly because he also “felt” like these women “look down” on him too, and he chose to retaliate in this view of “abuse”. There are all based on emotion, not logic, and he chose to kill because of that.

With Dongsik, you see him come close to killing (or at least hurting someone else) due to his explosive temper too: the man who abandoned Minjeong while drunk, Jeongje at the basement, Lee Changjin in prison, Song Jiho after Lee Sangyeob died. And in many ways it is very human to be so affected by emotions, as it does us all, especially when we’re angry and hurt.

And yet—what makes us equally human is the choices we make in spite of our emotions.

I think what’s important to note here is not only that Dongsik came close to killing or hurting someone else so many times. But that in the end, he chose not to.

He chose to stop just in time.

You can see this mirrored by Joowon too: both Jinmook and Joowon momentarily had their emotions get the better of them when they both exploded in anger nearly at the same time, with Jinmook moving to strangle Dongsik and Joowon moving to stop Jinmook. Again, in the end, it’s their choices that defined them, because Joowon stopped.

Just like Dongsik did.

That’s what separates being humane from being a psychopath: our choices, regardless of our emotions.

[dallsjc]

It's bittersweet, the way Dongsik has finally arrested his sister's killer.

Once upon a time, he once imagined it to be sweet vindication. He might have imagined it to be a sense of triumph, even as it could never make up for the gaping, gnawing loss of Yuyeon's bright presence in his life—his true other half.

Once upon a time, there would have been immense satisfaction over triumphing over evil.

Until he sees the son of his sister's killer sacrificing himself. Taking the gun from him. Shielding him. Taking a shot for him.

It's why when Dongsik finally clasps those handcuffs over Han Kihwan's wrists, his face isn't one of triumph or vindication.

His face in that moment is one of heartbreak. Because in order to bring justice to his sister, he has to inevitably hurt Han Joowon.

And it wouldn't have mattered if Han Joowon didn't matter to him.

But he did.

It would've been so, so much easier to feel that sense of satisfaction in seeing Han Kihwan behind bars, if only his son, like him, was also evil. If his son, like him, was not a good man.

But he was.

And that is the most devastating realization of all, in the end, for Dongsik—that there are no winners in this battle. There is no true winner in any war.

There is only heartbreak, and necessary sacrifice, in order for justice to be served.

Because evil does not exist in a vacuum. There will always, always be collateral damage when you defeat it.

And perhaps in the end, that is why Dongsik had to make that choice. For his true other half, for his twin, for his sister, it is necessary to sacrifice Han Joowon.

But perhaps there is also a sense of relief there too, clear in the shock on his face, when Han Joowon shot at his own father—coldly, calmly, the Han bloodline clearly running through his veins, too.

There is that shocked relief that perhaps Dongsik need not worry about sacrificing Han Joowon for Lee Yuyeon—because Han Joowon can and will survive it.

That's the relief Dongsik has, in the end: that he does not need to feel guilty about doing what is right.

Because the sweet irony of it all is: Han Joowon himself will never forgive Dongsik if he did not choose to do what is right.

And that is the bittersweetness of it, the full circle moment of that mutual exchange of sacrifice.

Because in order to make things right for Han Joowon, too—Dongsik has to sacrifice himself.

To surrender to the man he ruined.