gingeralejasminetea

[gingeralejasminetea]

aka: the main reason why i struggle with reading published fiction now

reblog if you’ve read fanfictions that are more professional, better written than some actual novels. I’m trying to see something

[gingeralejasminetea]

SPOILERS/THOUGHTS ON YATAGARASU EPISODE 13

we've finally reached the end of books 1 and 2, and boy did the directors not disappoint! we're also past the point where manga/anime only folks (myself included) know what's going to happen, and im super excited to see where next week's episode is going to take us.

that MUSIC during the reveal of asebi's hidden actions contrasted with her "innocent" expression/mannerisms with the cherry blossoms billowing elegantly around her made me all the more creeped out and uncomfortable. she really manipulated princess fujinami, takimoto, and her attendant ukogi so flawlessly that they're all tripping over their shoes to defend her not even realizing until it's too late how they've been played. ive always loved mystery as a genre, so i was pleasantly surprised to get my dose of that here with wakamiya playing the brutally honest but fair detective. he's so clever...

but also, they cut out masuho-no-susuki's conversation with hamayu where the former pledges her allegience to the latter and vows to become her lady in waiting?? whyyyyy i loved that scene in the manga and i always felt like they were forshadowing that servant/master relationship with how their positions in the posters mirrored yukiya/wakamiya's:

i mean, just look at how hamayu's in the foreground with her head tilted to face the same exact direction as wakamiya's and masuho-no-susuki being the only one of the four women/girls looking to her left just like yukiya.

i don't know if masuho-no-susuki will come back as a recurring character but i genuinely hope she does (i'd love to see more masuho-no-susuki/hamayu interactions)

next saturday, pls come quicker 🥲

[gingeralejasminetea]

Does anyone know where I can read an English translation of the Yatagarasu series??

I only just found out about The Crow Doesn’t Choose the Master a couple days ago and have already caught up with the most recent anime episode. It’s soooo gooooood what the heck, people weren’t kidding when they said it’s one of the most underrated anime of the season. I’ve previously been a huge fan of Chinese novels like Sha Po Lang so the political/court drama in this anime is so up my alley.

I understand that the anime is based off of a series of works by Chisato Abe that is also being adapted to a manga, and I’ve checked that out but it’s currently being (fan) translated. I also saw that this website says her works have been translated into different languages. There’s no official English translation that I know of, but if anyone knows where I can find any fan translations in the meantime, I’d love to know!!

[gingeralejasminetea]

genuinely one of the saddest parts of this new era of the internet is how hard it is to rick roll someone now. with people's attention spans shortening so much, they wouldn't even get through the first few bait seconds before clicking off the video. like i saw a comment that ended with "btw i made all of this up" and the replies kept treating it so seriously because none of them finished the entire 4 sentence comment. and We're no strangers to love You know the rules and so do I (do I) A full commitment's what I'm thinking of You wouldn't get this from any other guy I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling Gotta make you understand Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

[gingeralejasminetea]

Yes, this!!! I was thinking precisely the same thing, and I'm generally just very suspicious about our lack of knowledge of who exactly the Queen/Lady was. According to Visander she had been training since she was around 5 years old or so (from what he told Elizabeth), but besides this and a few scenes from Sarcean's memory of them meeting and her capturing him, we genuinely don't know much. I believe Pacat has been saving these details for the next book...there's something fishy about her always being portrayed as "good". After all, Pacat did say DR was all about breaking stereotypes of good/evil...

DARK HEIR SPOILERS

okay but is anyone going to talk about how Visander returned via the white death which is the Dark King’s magic but it was the Queen who apparently performed that magic………

I just think it’s suspicious as hell

[gingeralejasminetea]

never have i ever read such a spicy scene without any actual...spice. Pacat, DH was your masterclass in PG-13 sensuality. Color me impressed.

Are we gonna talk about the magic pseudo-sex that Will and James had??

[gingeralejasminetea]

About narratives: the story of Sarcean, Anharion and the Collar.

Ok soooooo I finished Dark Heir and I have THOUGHTS.

This could be my delusional mind speaking BUT I firmly believe that the whole thing about the Collar and the relationship between Sarcy and Anharion depicted in the story written and established by the winners (the Lady's faction) and Gauthier is far from the truth and a lot more complex and fascinating.

More ramblings under the cut!

Putting all the hints given in DH aside for the moment (I will discuss them later) for me the biggest red flag about these narratives is the way Anharion is depicted in both.

This is a little twisted but it’s something I’ve been thinking about since DR, so let me elaborate.

In DR, the Stewards DON’T know about the Collar. James himself admits that he found out about it from Sinclair, and so the Stewards are convinced that James/Anharion had willingly betrayed the Lady’s side, becoming willingly Sarcean’s lieutenant and his lover.

Gauthier instead reveals a more twisted version of the story.

It’s clear that the two narratives are in contradiction with each other: the one told by the Lady’s faction and echoed throughout the centuries among the Stewards doesn’t include the knowledge of the Collar, and it entirely blames Anharion for his deeds and his betrayal; Gauthier’s version instead, serving for the readers as an introduction to the existence of the Collar, specifies that Anharion didn’t have any agency.

So, which version is the true one? Neither of them, because both, as it often happens in history, took the truth, and twisted it to serve its own purpose.

Let’s start with the narrative ‘written’ by the Lady.

My biggest doubt about it is why the f*ck it seems that A LOT of people outside the Hall know about the Collar. Gauthier knows about it because his ancestor was the one who stole it, but Sinclair? Let’s hypothesize that he knew about it from Kettering. Kettering knows about it because he is a Returner, so someone who was THERE, in the Old World. It’s not a stretch then to theorize that the existence of the Collar and its power was somehow known in the past.

And in DH, the presence of the chain attached to the throne in the Sun Court, where EVERYONE could see it, hypothetically ( and I underline this because I don’t trust ANYTHING of what we saw in the Undahar for it was the Sun King’s court before Sarcean’s) linked to the Collar around Anharion’s neck, makes me think that the Collar and its power weren’t such a well-kept secret.

So, the whole “the Lady’s side didn’t absolutely know about the Collar” narrative is a bit sketchy at this point. I believe someone knew at some point, so why would they iterate this version of the story, instead of depicting Anharion as a victim and blaming Sarcean for it?

Well, the answer is simple: damnatio memoriae. The version of the story known at this point had been written by the Lady’s faction, so of course her enemies are painted in the worst light possible. Anharion’s memory is, in my opinion, even more tainted by this narrative than Sarcean’s one; we don’t even know his true name. It didn’t matter that he could have had reasons for his actions: he went against the "good side" and chose the dark, the end.

This narrative is not interested in reporting the truth. Its purpose is to celebrate the Lady as a Saint figure and vilify her opponents, disregarding their reasons, their feelings, their insight of the events entirely.

So, it’s not so difficult to believe that underneath all the twists and the lies, in this version of the story there is a grain of truth; that, in a way, Anharion did betray willingly the Lady. Maybe he understood that the so righteous Lady was, in fact, not that pure and good. Maybe, at the culmination of the fight, he somehow hesitated to kill Sarcean, because he was a human being, not just a cold hearted betrayer. All factors that would of course be excluded from this narrative, for they would expose the Lady’s true face.

At this point this is all but speculations, but one thing is certain, and this takes us to the second point: it’s canon that Anharion had feelings for Sarcy. Before the Collar.

I would not call it ‘undying love’ at this point of the story, but the affection is there. Palpable, visible, corporeal in glances and words. This is, like, a HUGE revelation.

Because this proves that the narrative told by Gauthier is not the truth either!

While I believe that the Collar has some kind of power (I’ll explain this too), in the Gauthier’s version of the story, it’s clear that the emphasis on the submitting part of this power comes from the desire to possess Anharion, from the (false) conviction passed on for generations that whoever put it around his neck would master him. I suspect it consumed not only Gauthier himself, but also every member of his family who owned the Collar before him.

In the end both narratives, pushing for their own agenda, give an insight on the relationship between Sarcean and Anharion not only false but also humiliating for Anharion, for he is depicted as a selfish, cold hearted betrayer where his own agency is totally dismissed (and not even mentioned) in one, and a plaything slave of the Collar in the other.

The truth is far more complex than this, of course, and the one million dollar question about it is then: how much influence did have the Collar on the true nature of their relationship?

In these days I have read a lot of theories about this. One of my favourites is the one depicting the Collar as a mere object of fashion without any power and Anharion not only conscious but also willing the whole time and the fact that this may be hinted in the text makes me feel unhinged (if this is true, you will hear me screaming about it for years)

In my opinion, and I will believe this until I read the third book, the Collar has some kind of power on James/Anharion but not in the way it has been described so far. This is but a mere speculation for the moment, but maybe this power leans more on binding Anharion’s magic to Sarcean’s than controlling his free will or feelings. (this bit in DH is soooo interesting!!!)

I’m convinced that the Collar cannot create something that is not there and that underneath its power, it’s clear that Anharion had conflicted feelings for Sarcean, he always had, because James REMEMBERS feeling this even with the Collar:

This means those conflicted feelings are still there and are not magically morphed by the Collar into pure and simple obedience and that whatever Anharion felt was real, whatever James feels is real, contradictions and all.

We still know so little about this two at this point, and since Pacat really loves plot twists, I believe that their real story will come out in the end and that Will and James will achieve what their past selves couldn’t had, unravelling the conflicts and the misunderstandings between them, and conquering the freedom they search in each other’s arms to be just Will and James.

I had fun writing this, please feel free to give me your opinion on this!

(PS. I think I needed to specify that this whole rambling is focused on Anharion’s feelings. What about Sarcy? I believe his feelings were a deadly cocktail of desire, affection, possessiveness, admiration and horny thoughts, like the disaster babygirl he was, thanks for your attention)

[gingeralejasminetea]

***Spoilers***

what can i say, the ending completely fucked me over and now im regretting not waiting until the next book was out before reading. 

now that we know that a) will is the dark king, b) james in his past life was under the control of the collar, and c) katherine and elizabeth are the true descendants of the Lady, im wondering if will’s attraction to both katherine and james are not simply remnants from his previous life’s emotions. 

we sort of now know that will only approached katherine cos he wanted to get close to simon’s finance, but even their whole “chemistry” seems to hinge on them feeling like they knew each other...from a past life. in other words, very little to do with katherine or will themselves. even will asking violet to promise to protect “the sisters” had more to do with him deducing their true identities as blood of the Lady than for any feelings he had for katherine. if will deduced this as early as after their kiss and the tree lit up, would him asking her to run and find him for help also be because of her identity?

will’s attraction to james is a bit more complicated. like with katherine, there’s an instant connection (that scene in the beginning of the book describing their eye contact), that post-unicorn stabby scene where they each feel their previous lives muddling their emotions, but then...there’s also the collar. as much as it is tempting for me to write off all of will’s motivations as manipulative and shoddy now that we know how unreliable as a narrative he has been, i believe will’s decision to let james go without collaring him up was genuine. it’s the first solid action will has done relating to either katherine or james that seems completely will, and NOT sarcean. yes, both katherine and james were ex-muses/lovers to the previous dark king (sarcean), but i think what struck me about the collar scene after reading the ending is that there is soooo much more needed from both will and james in this lifetime before a romance can sprout as a result of who they are currently.

basically, im just finding myself super compelled by where the romance between will and james will take us, and since we know pacat is the master at slow burn, im super looking forward to where this will take us. we may poke fun at james for being a clown not knowing who will was, but with all that will has shown himself to be now...we may very likely find ourselves with a shockingly un-fucked up romance just like how damen and laurent ended up being. 

[gingeralejasminetea]

This actually makes a whole lot of sense. While the script writers’ intention may have been different (but come on, who’s kidding they totally knew what they were doing with Gahan), this perspective is totally in character for both Gaon and Soohyun. 

I feel like I have a weird take on Ga On’s confession to Su Hyeon. (Probably not a post for people who ship them. It’s not anything bad, just not pro-romance for them. They could’ve been cute, though, and I’m sorry for what happened to Su Hyeon☹️ and this is probably headcanon-y) But when I think about it in context of the last few episodes, it feels like he did that out of desperation, not real romantic feelings.

He thought he was going to lose Su Hyeon forever, and she’s his best friend/family. He loves her so much and doesn’t want to lose her. And he knows she loves him in a romantic way. He’s turned her down 5 times already. And I think maybe (with my Lawful Husband glasses permanently attached to my face and me in my Gahan feels) that Ga On was starting to realize his feelings for Yo Han or that Yo Han might have feelings for him.

But it was scary because everything about Yo Han is intense, and he felt guilty about Minister Cha. And Su Hyeon and Jungho kept telling him Yo Han is a bad influence. Even not believing Yo Han is a bad person, Cha’s death made him question following Yo Han’s path. So he wanted to push any feelings either of them might have had away. And to me, it seemed like he was trying to convince himself and Su Hyeon that he does love her in that way. Because that’s what she wants, and he wants her to be happy and be in his life.

I don’t think he was trying to manipulate her or anything. I think he was trying to convince himself just as much, and maybe he did. But he says to her that he’d have no one without her and to Yo Han that she’s his world. But we know that he also deeply cares for Yo Han, Elijah, and Ms. Ji (and even Jungho at that time). But he won’t let himself think of anyone but her. And I think maybe he did love her romantically at one point in their long friendship, but it just doesn’t make sense to me how many times he turned her down. He thought they would break up or be jealous? She confessed to you 5 times, man! I think she was pretty committed to you. It only makes sense, if on some level, he realizes they aren’t compatible romantically.

Because Ga On is more like Yo Han than Su Hyeon could ever be comfortable with in a romantic partner. He doesn’t want to go to Yo Han’s extremes, but he literally planned to kill a man before he ever met Yo Han. He got in trouble. He got in fights. That’s a part of him. It doesn’t make him bad, but he was never the person Su Hyeon wanted him to be. And that’s why I don’t think Su Hyeon really loved Ga On romantically either. I think she loved him when they were kids. But the world shaped Ga On into who he is now. He’s a good person with a good heart, but he understands the anger Yo Han feels in a way Su Hyeon never has. I think they both want to be in love, but they aren’t. I think Su Hyeon loved the person she knew as a kid and the person she thought Ga On could be with her and Jungho’s help.

But Ga On was never going to be that person, even without Yo Han’s influence. It might’ve seemed like he could be that way for longer, but he’s not as benevolent as Su Hyeon. He’d get into trouble again all on his own (for a good cause I’m sure, but like in the beginning, Su Hyeon would want him to stay out of it). But that doesn’t mean the love they have for each other isn’t deep and meaningful and just as important as it would be if they truly had a romantic relationship.

[gingeralejasminetea]

Okay so here are my thoughts on the Soohyun, Gaon, Yohan love triangle

Soohyun = Gaon’s past love. Yohan = Gaon’s present love

From the moment Gaon met Yohan, his interactions with Soohyun diminished. He was living in Yohan’s house, making food for him, even SH commented that Gaon’s been whisked off by some rich dilf. 

The conflict in Gaon’s heart is between his past love and present love and their different ideologies. He chooses present, chooses Yohan (remember that scene when he asks for SH’s opinion re Doh Young Choon, then goes off and strangles him anyway? yeah he really didn’t seem to care what she thought) but that gets shaken up when past and present collide at the scene of cha kyunghee’s s-word. 

Gaon’s shaken up and feels guilty for choosing Yohan to begin with so he retreats to what’s familiar. he chooses past, like a guy who thinks he’s not over his ex because they have that childhood connection right? They have years of history so he confuses that attachment and friendship for him still being attracted to her. He loves her, for sure, but he seems to have confused his past feelings with his present ones and when she saved him (really it was Yohan) from Jukchang, he thought this was love. But it felt like a child’s love, soft and comfortable, and at the time he wanted that because what he has with Yohan is difficult and untamable and wild. 

Gaon remained stuck in that safety net until SH died, then he went even deeper because she died. I fully believe that if she had lived, Gaon and SH would have ended up parting at up some point due to sheer incompatible beliefs. It simply isn’t possible to build a relationship purely on childhood fondness, dependence, guilt and friendship. 

But at the end of the day, Gaon loved Yohan more. Because Gaon did not attempt to off himself for SH. But he was fully prepared to go kaboom (TWICE!) for Yohan. Gaon showed up with a knife to avenge SH. He showed up with a bomb for Yohan. Sure Gaon tells Min Jung Ho that his death will atone for SH’s death, but he drops that in a second when Yohan shows up. Like nvm my husband is alive I’m not going to blow you up anymore. 

He reminisced about SH in his apartment after her death, but he also wandered through Yohan’s house reminiscing about that time Yohan ogled him without his shirt, the time he ogled shirtless Yohan post-nightmare, and the first time he saw Yo Han genuinely smile. Both times, his memories were motivated by love. 

But at the end of the day, Yohan is his greatest love, his partner, his soulmate. They’ve been through fire and brimstone, and every sort of pain. And if Yohan’s shuttling back and forth between Korea and Switzerland every time his man has a committee meeting, there’s no doubt that the writers are trying to show us that our lawful husbands are staying together. 

We didn’t get a classic kdrama one year later, we got a ONE MONTH later. Yohan isn’t going to wait that long to see him. And Gaon isn’t ever letting him go again.

Your Honour, I rest my case. 

[gingeralejasminetea]

we know yohan thinks of himself as a monster. he accepts his role and allows everyone to put the blame on him. he’s the devil judge, the arsonist, the murderer, the one who changes gaon, the one who destroys people around him. the abyss.

it’s easy to paint him as a monster because he doesn’t refute the allegations, he doesn’t defend himself. with elijah and nanny, perhaps he thinks it’s easier for them to hate him, to have someone to blame. and he’s used to this. since he was a child he saw himself as an outsider, never accepted by his father or his peers, abused and kept in the basement, not allowed to play with others. 

so he became a monster. he alienated himself from the humanity and his feelings, started believing he doesn’t need anyone.

and it worked until he met gaon. 

gaon is the first person who doesn’t see him as a monster (“a monster? you’re not even brave enough to face your pains”). gaon is also the only one who defends him, time after time (when he tells nanny she doesn’t want to believe that it was him who started the fire, when he tells the priest that maybe that child just wanted to play, when he immediately defends him in front of professor, when he stands between him and soohyun when she points the gun at him)

and it all makes yohan drop his pretense. because of gaon he starts to remember that he is human, that he can be vulnerable, that he is not invincible.

ep 12 was so important because we actually got to see how he changed. he apologized  to elijah for being harsh, he asked nanny if she wanted to eat with him because he didn’t want to eat alone, he tried to comfort gaon. and he let him go.

watching him is painful because he experiences all these emotions - loss, grief, regret, after so many years of pretending he is not capable of feeling anything. 

it’s a turning point for him. he needs to change even more if he wants gaon back in his life. he trained himself to be indifferent, to be an outsider, but gaon is different. he survived through other people. it’s the human connections that kept him alive and that’s why he’s holding onto them so desperately. it may seem like he and yohan live in two different worlds but gaon wants yohan in, he extendes his hand and now it’s up to yohan to take it. 

because yohan needs others too but the realization comes too late and with a lot of pain.

[gingeralejasminetea]

Gaon as a beacon of light is def not far off from his character description, and while his naivety can be a bit much at times, I understand it’s purpose. Because the thing is, when you don’t understand other people’s perspectives because of lack of exposure, it’s an opportunity to learn. Hope can come from the lack of understanding and while it’s easy to dismiss it because it’s not how life works, sometimes you do need a voice to tell you that maybe things can be possible.

Gaon’s belief in the judicial system and his belief in the kang family isn’t necessarily a lost cause. His idealistic point of view may be skewed and not fully thought out but it’s the hope he has that can lead to better outcomes, that can take him from being naive to forming a plan that actually gets results in the way that he wants.

I think as humans who face the world, weoften dismiss idealism because we focus in the negative and because that’s easier, but sometimes we must ask ourselves why we can’t allow even that small spark of hope to exist. What is the true fault of letting it burn and see what happens?

When life is filled with torment and loss and pain, the result is the kang family. But gaon found some sort of hope despite his own tragedy and while it might’ve been under false pretenses because what he’s known was a lie, did it not serve him to not just make him who he is now but also a man who survived and made it to a remarkable position through sheer determination? It’s easy to be cynical and it’s important to be a realist like yohan, but gaon truly asks what if. What if it could be different?

He’s learning to balance his idealism, but he’s witnessed what good looks like in the world and chose that despite the evil he knows it can be. When you’ve had happiness and joy and a support system, gaon knows it can be obtained with struggle and effort and it can be rebuilt. His mere existence is the stunning question of “why not believe, for what do you have to lose if you don’t?”

Patrolled thay with yohan, and he’s the epitome of hope gets you nowhere, but we both know that both of their belief systems have done more harm than good because they’ve been on one end of the spectrum over the other. But it’s good to have both, and that’s the learning curve both yohan and gaon are on. Especially for gaon who refuses to believe that life is trademarked and defined by tragedy despite his own pain and insecurities. For what is life really worth living if the good cannot be found within it?

I know some ppl think gaon is quite annoying but I see the reason for it. You cannot kill a flame when it’s powered by hope and with each step gaon takes, he only burns brighter. I think the intended lesson of his characterization is that even the smallest of beliefs can have greater impacts. And we’re witnessing that specifically with the kang family dynamics and gaon’s need to mend them.

[gingeralejasminetea]

THE DEVIL JUDGE (2021)

[gingeralejasminetea]

yohan looked sooo damn amused and proud in that scene, like there’s no way gaon’s fanclub is missing these little exchanges between them if they’re even half as invested in the live show as we are 👀

Gaon: *turns to Yohan* Permission to kick his ass sir?

Yohan: Permission granted

[gingeralejasminetea]

The irony is real. I’m also holding my breathe cos a part of me is wondering whether this is foreshadowing of what’s to come. We know that both Sun Ah and Yo Han have done some seriously shady shit, so who’s to say they won’t actually be under trial under the public’s eye in the future?

This is such a poetic shot because outside, there’s a GIGANTIC billboard that tells people to download the DIKE application to participate in trial by the public, and inside this room, you see from a wide shot that Yo Han was choking Sun Ah with one hand, as if we are witnessing a crime, effectively putting these two characters on trial by the public, i.e., the viewers.

[gingeralejasminetea]

Ep 7: The prison scene

Let me just start this off by saying Yohan is right. With all his tricks and manipulative tactics, he's still right. The system means nothing in the light of power. I say this as a law student. We are led to believe that a system in place will protect order but that's never the case it only protects order between the poorer. The rich will always take advantage of the system. Power will always corrupt the system no matter what. Which is why Yohan is never wrong but if we were all to react with chaos then there would be anarchy. There's pandemonium.

All that aside let's look at the scene leading up to the prison scene. It's a moment of questioning and realisation. Yohan has made it very clear he's messing with Gaon. Gaon knows it too. That's what I like about Yohan he's honest lol. But while messing with him he's revealing the truth and he's calling out Gaon's hypocrisy which was a topic of discussion earlier in the ep. He's calling out what Gaon tries so strongly to believe because it's all he can do. But it's the people these words came from, soohyun and min jung ho?? (is that his name imma just call him mentor). They appear to be symbols of righteousness as well and are deserving of separate posts on their hypocrisy but they've just forced ideologies on to Gaon who desperately needed something to believe in. But it's a mirage of a belief. It's the easy way out.

Now on to the prison scene which I think was poignant story telling. The way its Gaon's own circumstances that need to be thrown at him for him to realise everything is shit and that's why I like him. He's so innately human, that the only thing that cam convince him is his own hurt. He's self-serving and he just doesnt accept it which is why calling out and realisation is so important.

All it takes was knowing the system betrayed him. That his beliefs are marred and that someone he despises got away. His own pain is what can convince him. ( sure Yohan is there edging him on like the little demon voice of reason he is but well that's a topic for another day)

Take note of the words on the wall "establishment of order and promotion of morality". The law student in me died a little because this is such a topic of discussion between jurists on law versus morality and I was taken back to the horrific jurisprudence lessons full of theories and I am side tracking sorry.

Anyways promoting morality what does it mean? It's subjective. Anyone makes their morality or we follow herd mentality.

The execution of this scene is perfection is because the light is wavering around them. Yohan continues to be somewhat in the darkness but the light wavers around Gaon who is really struggling to come to terms with morality with letting go of beliefs with dealing with the bullshit he's listened to only to be betrayed by it. The poor boy, betrayal in any form is the worst.

Top it all off we get that wonderful scene of the light on Gaon in tears with "morality" in the background. If it weren't obvious that he were the hope of the system before it sure is now. He's legit the boy in the story trying to hold on to his beliefs in a world that is forcing him to give it up.

HIM CRYING WAS PERFECTION, JINYOUNG I AM SO PROUD OF YOU, LOOK AT THE GROWTH.

Boy was having a panic attack ya'll, it felt so realistic, the short burst of screams, like he was struggling to express his anger or words, like he didn't know what to say, how to say it, the pacing, the short breathing, the way he's looking at Yohan with so much hurt. I was devastated for him. But at the same time it felt good knowing he finally had some realisation it felt good knowing he's still a brat because its his own hurt that can convince him. So his own stance on morality ain't the ideal. He ain't the Saint. He never will be.

It's the way Yohan is standing there, just watching him. It's the way he's smirking, ever so slightly. It's the way you know he's enjoying this. But at the same time it's how the audience can never be sure. Because Yohan is the king of micro expressions and we still don't know what he feels about the whole thing. Sure he wants to prove a point, sure he wants to show Gaon that he's living in a misguided bubble and sure he might be enjoying it but at the same time we see that he has some sense of sympathy, he understands, he knows. That doesn't change the fact that he's smug as heck. I was like yo why you smirking, it's not the time.

This is why the devil judge is phenomenal. Down to the micro expressions, the characters are delivered. We can't call any character good or great or any character bad or awful. Everyone's self serving, everyone's hurting.

Give me all of it. I will eat this up.

[gingeralejasminetea]

Sun ah likes yohan because she sees them as equals, both have suffered in the hands of their parents, both know how the system works and how it doesn't work, but - and it's a big but - while sun ah had no one, yohan had isaac.

while she was abused and had to make ends meet by herself (and i could go on and on about the fact that sun ah is a woman and yohan is a man, but that's a post for another day), yohan had a person try to help him, he had someone show him the good side of humanity, that some people are good.

no one did that for sun ah.