#except for the spreadsheets

[twenty-qs]

Can’t stop thinking about the way patho 3 will recontextualize everything. Like it was always a given, of course, that Bachelor was doing stuff in the background of the Haruspex story. But looking at the brief glimpses of charts and numbers and graphs, it’s dawning on me how much flew over my head from patho 2. Like the first day of the plague, you’re just stumbling around and suddenly — fire. Guards. Blockade. It makes sense as a gameplay mechanic, so you don’t stop to question how it’s there. You’re so busy rushing everywhere trying to attend to the Town’s needs at the ground level that you don’t even really notice the way quarantines are set up every day around every plague district without fail. But in-world, someone had to get up every morning and figure out which district needs the quarantine and allocate the people and resources appropriately. And that someone is the Bachelor. Which means that in Patho 3 it’s going to be the player.

It’s like…small town administration, but a horror thriller. He sees the Town completely differently from Haruspex, but it’s no less valid. Even in the version of the game where Haruspex is the ‘hero,’ even with all the obvious ways Bachelor fails, he still helps to mitigate the harm. We’re finally going to see just how bad it could’ve gotten without an administrator running things from a bird’s-eye view. Without someone there to ‘flatten the curve.’

[wundrousarts]

Any Nevermoor fans in Adelaide??? I am desperate to know what Jess might mention about Silverborn at the Adelaide Festival 😭😭😭

[a-vague-yet-menacing-agency]

Old news but the fact that Cody was manager at hot topic is so unexplored in fandom. Like he wasn't some shithead employee he was the boss Entry level retail workers are so rarely promoted to manager nowadays, like, was Cody just that good at selling/managing the store? Also, managers make good money. Okay, haha, it's a hot topic, but store managers make like 70,000$ a year (CAD). They have health insurance. So Cody was actually doing pretty well. It's kinda weird to pretend he was on the same level as his friend with just a standard sales associate position, even if that friend was also full-time. Like the power and responsibility that Cody actually had is kind of impressive especially for 28.

AND then! To become a carnie! Like sick move and also Cody lost all his money anyway but the financial disparity! Was Murph probably thinking of like an assistant manager position which would make more sense with Cody's vibe? Probably. Is it funnier to imagine that Cody had to make sales reports to corporate and design store planograms? Absolutely.

Cody was management.

[anaceshornyblog]

I just think that Jon would like really clear expectations during sex. He wants to get a good grade and he needs to know the rubric okay?

I think Sasha picks up on this and because she is the same, and they meticulously plan their dynamics out.

Only Sasha is the one who is doing the asking because communicating is not Jon’s strong point. Still after many, many surveys, which are both extremely detailed and mortifying to fill out, she has compiled all the information. There’s a whole chart.

Just let these two eye babies have very clear guidelines and rules so that they can both just have fun with no unknown expectations.

[guccigarantine]

ive had this tab on my phone for two months

[everybodyknows-everybodydies]

Boy, what if they had done something with mark greene being Jewish? What if?

THINGS I ASK MYSELF CONSTANTLY

I know we get that comment from him that he's not especially observant or whatever but like. why not though... give us SOMETHING. "well maybe they didn't know how to write it" they had plenty of medical consultants what would be so difficult about finding Jewish consultants as well!!! I would LOVE to have seen that actually treated as a layer of his character consistently!!! it could have been so good. argh.

but they sure didn't have a problem giving us other characters having big Christianity moments 🙃 shakes my fist.

[tgmsunmontue]

WEEKEND WRITING GOALS

I'm not doing 'tell me what to write' this weekend (I have a lot of life stuff I need to do and my brain is playing funny games so I have to deal with it). So instead I am setting myself some goals.

Write and post (chapters) of the following:

Online & Anonymous (POSTED)

Saga of Solitude

Bingo #4 (Hangster Rockstar/Soulmates/Bodyguard)

250 words minimum on ALL other fics:

Bradshaw!Twins and one-night stand

To wake, perchance to dream

Cyclone/Maverick one shot

Celebrity Chef Bradley

IceMav - Getting to know you from the beginning (POSTED)

Life is too short to waste time matching sock

Barista Jake

Transformers AU (Snippet shared)

Dragon Rider Hangster (😶🤦‍♀️)

Secret Santa Fake Dating Fic

Thermodynamics (Glee)

Fine fine Sunshiney Day (Glee)

If you wish to follow along you can check out the progress on the Google Sheet. (If they're green I've done it, if it's red it's highest priority).

If I achieve all of the above (which is technically possible given my typing speed) I will record myself reading part of Team Player where Josh says Hard Deck repeatedly. This will (may?) be (apparently?) amusing because of my accent.

[waitineedaname]

it's inevitable that i make some kind of deranged spreadsheet for any fandom i'm in, and I'm lucky that this time my brain decided on one that only took a few hours to make. I was thinking about how funny it is that Lan Wangji's actor is younger than most of the juniors and how wild it is how young Yu Ziyuan's actress is, and then I decided to figure out how old everyone was while filiming, and then this happened

some details I find interesting

all the older generation was in their 40s except Jiang Fengmian (54) and Yu Ziyuan (29). She was only two years older than Jiang Yanli's actress

I knew Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling's actors were within a year of each other, but I'm amused to learn Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui had the same age difference. Most shocking is that Lan Xichen and Lan Jingyi are nearly the exact same age (only two weeks apart!)

Wen Ning's actor is 4 years older than Wen Qing's

A-Yuan's actor is 12 this year :)

[hyperfocusthusly]

Nothing like realising you’ve been mutuals with someone for a long time you thought you were gazing longingly at from a distance, they’re just on a side blog

[violetsareblue-selfships]

spinning them around in my head

[empyrean11]

[scarlct-vvitch]

reblog for bigger sample size i know my followers are writer people but i wanna see what we are at large

[amethystina]

You mentioned in your notes at the end of the chapter for 'Each Touch (Brings Us One Step Closer)' about how Yo Han had some reason for wanting some distance between him and Ga On at the end of the show and not wanting to explain your thoughts there and go on the tangent. Can you go into it here then? I love your tangents and explanations.

Also just want to say thank you so much for that chapter, it's incredible! It always amazes me how you can write the characters so accurately. It's definitely something to keep us going after the slow burn of Who Holds the Devil

I feel like I may have accidentally blue-balled some of you with that throwaway comment and I promise that wasn't my intention x'D But sure, I can elaborate :)

So! The thing with the final scene of the drama is that it's clearly shaped by the choices of the scriptwriter and/or the director. As in, certain aspects of it had less to do with the characters and more to do with production. They wanted to give Yo Han and Ga On one final scene together, to give the viewer hope and a nice, proper ending, but their options were... limited, I guess we could say?

And there are a couple of reasons for that. One is that there are still a lot of unspoken things between Yo Han and Ga On. Like lingering hurt from the betrayal, the fact that Yo Han faked his death a second time despite probably knowing how upset that would make Ga On, Ga On's somewhat concerning readiness to die (twice in one day, no less), the whole thing with the fire that they never actually got to discuss etc.

In short, there's a lot they should talk about. But there's no time — the drama is over. So while showing them having a conversation and actually reconciling would be nice, it's just not possible. They'll have to gloss over that bit and just rely on the emotional catharsis of seeing those two idiots stare longingly at each other for a couple of seconds (or surprisingly many seconds, in this case).

Which, to their credit, works really well. I was very satisfied once that scene was over. But it's not like it actually fixes anything, you know? Like, the trauma is still there. Just because Yo Han smiles at Ga On, does that mean he's forgiven the almost-murder?

I've actually gotten questions (bordering on accusations), asking why I ruined that lovely ending scene by making it so that they haven't reconciled at the beginning of Who Holds the Devil. But, like, they didn't reconcile. That scene was lovely, make no mistake, but they didn't actually solve anything. I agree that they showed their deep connection and fondness for each other, but you can have that and also still be mad about that one time your sugar baby tried to stab you in the heart. They're not mutually exclusive.

Since they don't talk, I'm going to have to assume they haven't fully reconciled.

(I don't actually mind that the drama didn't have time to solve this, I want to point out, since that just made me more eager to write Who Holds the Devil and do it for myself. So don't think I'm dissatisfied or anything — quite the opposite. I was amazed by how much we got, in a drama that's supposedly straight. It was so much more than I would ever have dared to hope for.)

The second reason the creators' choices were limited was the fact that, should they actually give Yo Han and Ga On time to talk — or touch — it might just turn out to be too gay. Or, alternatively, they'd have to make it so obviously not gay (to avoid censoring) that it would have ruined all their hard work and subtle build-up. Sometimes, not saying anything is better than saying too much. Sometimes, the easiest way to keep everyone happy is to just leave it as open for interpretation as possible and claim plausible deniability in both directions.

But it can't be denied that outside forces influenced that ending. @a-very-fond-farewell said it very aptly in their comment on Each Touch, by pointing out that had Ga On been a woman, that final scene would have looked very different. It would have been somewhere where Yo Han and Ga On could actually speak to each other, maybe hug, or perhaps go even further depending on the story/dynamic. And I'm in absolute agreement, which is why I wrote the ending to Each Touch the way I did.

That scene is, if you ask me, closer to what should have happened, if they'd been able to follow through on the tone and dynamic they'd set for this drama.

But, again, they couldn't. Partly due to time restrictions and, secondly, due to censoring issues. So we end up with a scene that takes place in a public space, so they can't really talk, can't really touch, but still, somehow, convey their love and longing for each other. Which, all things considered, still left me feeling pretty damn happy.

NOW. Even if we know that the setting for that scene (i.e. in a public place) has more to do with production reasons, there still has to be a reason for it in-universe. As in, to make it make sense in the canon of the story, we have to pretend that the choice was actually made by a character (Yo Han, in this case, since he's the one choosing when to approach Ga On) and not by the scriptwriter and/or director. And this sort of ties back a bit to that long rant I did about intent, because here we have a situation where the intent of the scene is to give closure, but outside factors mean that the presentation and execution of said closure might not actually be in harmony with the characters.

Like, let's make a thought experiment here. Imagine that there were no censoring issues. Imagine that there were no time restrictions. Everything in the drama still happens the way it does, right up until the hearing.

Do you really think that Yo Han, as you know him, would have chosen to approach Ga On in the way he did during that final scene? In a public place, where he can't actually talk to him?

Because I don't.

At least not with the information the drama gives me. Yo Han is a Dramatic Bitch, I know, and he's not always willing to talk about his trauma. But a month has passed. He's had time to think. He's had time to miss Ga On. And then he travels all the way to South Korea, just for that? Just to stare at Ga On? Without talking to him? When Yo Han is known for meeting every obstacle head-on? When he's clearly still very attached to Ga On? And, quite frankly, a very possessive person? Would he truly just leave like that? Without a word?

It just doesn't make sense.

So, as much as I like that ending scene and understand that it had to be the way it is due to various outside factors, it's also pretty out of character for Yo Han (she says boldly, as if she has any claim to say what's reasonable or not for a character she hasn't created).

Now, this still doesn't make the scene bad, but it does put us fans in the hilarious position of having to come up with a reason for why Yo Han might have done what he did, when the act itself kind of feels out of character. We have to find a motivation for something that doesn't actually make all that much sense. What reason could he possibly have had to act that way?

And me being the little shit that I am, will of course take this as an opportunity to come up with whatever batshit theory I please. Since, in the long run, it probably won't make much sense anyway since I'm basing it on actions that, in my opinion, are out of character to begin with.

I think Yo Han was scared.

I think Kang "The Abyss" Yo Han was too scared to talk to Ga On.

Because, as I mentioned in another ask I got about when Yo Han fell in love with Ga On, I think he realised it during that month between the explosion and the hearing. Because he got some distance, some time to calm down, some time to miss Ga On etc. And so I think Yo Han went back to Korea and maybe he actually planned to talk to Ga On (or hadn't decided) but then just... chickened out. Because he now knows he's in love and has no idea how to deal with that fact. Especially since he's still a little hurt over the betrayal and doesn't know what Ga On feels about the whole thing. Is Ga On still mourning Soo Hyun? Is Ga On even interested in men? Or, perhaps worst of all:

What if this month away from Yo Han's influence has made Ga On realise he was being manipulated and gaslit and now he doesn't want anything to do with Yo Han?

So, in short, I think Yo Han simply wasn't ready. He went there too soon, realised what a bad idea it was, but still wanted to at least see Ga On and maybe give them both some kind of closure (and maybe also try to figure out if Ga On hates him now). And hence the meeting being in a public place, so that Yo Han wouldn't have to have a conversation he wasn't ready for, because he wasn't sure how to talk to Ga On with all the lingering trauma and this new knowledge about his own feelings.

It was a choice Yo Han made to protect himself.

A choice he doesn't make in Each Touch because, in that story, he's been given enough proof of Ga On's interest to not have to worry as much. Interest Ga On showed before Soo Hyun died, which means it wasn't just a weird grief response, and so Yo Han doesn't feel as threatened by her. He's confident enough about his own and Ga On's feelings that he's actually willing to meet and talk with him.

And that's my theory! :D

Thank you so much to you both for asking 💜 Though I also feel a need to point out that this is, as always, mere speculation on my part — even more so than usual in this case, for the reasons stated above. And while I am thrilled (and proud) to hear that so many of you think that my opinions are accurate and very close to canon, always remember that it's okay to disagree with me. I don't have all the answers, even if I might make it sound like I do. I'm genuinely just guessing x'D

Anyhow! Thank you again! I'm so happy that you both enjoyed my fic and were curious enough to ask about this. You're both wonderful 💜

[starrstruckcanuck]

Shorty giving stats on our games where the opponents scored first... you and I are the same, Shorty <3

[seraphidae]

wanna say this somewhere but dont wanna annoy my friends on twt

[leviathanlies]

"I have got to play webfishing" <- has absolutely nothing stopping them from playing