#ja myung go

[dangermousie]

Pre-Joseon Sageuks: a Biased and Incomplete List

So, as promised way earlier, a post on pre-Joseon sageuks that I’ve either watched or plan to watch so am aware of them. I am sure there are others but here is what I got. Obviously my takes on them are subjective blah blah blah.

Jumong - arguably the Daddy of all Traditional Sageuks, this one ran for over 80 episodes and had insane ratings. It follows the rise of the mythical founder of Gogureyo tho it takes fantastical elements of his story and changes them for historically plausible ones. It’s very long and very meaty and politics/battle heavy and has a large cast of complex characters (including pretty nifty women and a LGBTQ supporting OTP) but it is anchored by the incredible performance of Song Il Gook as the titular character as he slowly but believably grows from nothing to a hero if at the cost of losing his marriage.

The King of Tears Lee Bang Won - this is basically a half and half beast as (you can tell by the title), it’s set in the last days of Goryeo and early days of Joseon. The time period covered is the same as in My Country and Six Flying Dragons, but this is the most traditional take of them all, even more so than 6FD. Not a single pretty face in the cast (tho Joo Sang Wook is a mighty fine man, emphasis on “man”), this is for the real fans of traditional sageuks. I enjoyed it a lot but if you want to check out pre-Joseon sageuks but have mainly watched youth sageuk stuff before, you should probably start with another drama on this list.

The Great Seer - set in the reign of King Gongmin, the last proper king of Goryeo (his son King U is technically the very last but there are questions as to his status), this is for those of you who want to watch Ji Sang in a sageuk. It’s centered around seers but don’t expect mysticism, this knuckles down to politics.

Shin Don - hi there, another story set in the reign of King Gongmin! From the title, you can tel it centers heavily on the powerful monk who ruled for the King at one point. This has been on my to-watch list forever because this appears to devote a decent chunk of its time to Gongmin X Noguk and I am dying for a proper drama for those two. This is from 2005 so if you do watch, keep that in mind in terms of visuals etc. That cast is lit!

Bicheonmu - this is sort of cheating because it’s pretty much set in China but it involves Koreans so. It’s a drama take on the same story told in a pretty awesome movie. Tragic love, battles, young Joo Jin Moo etc. i am very fond of it. This said, find and watch the Chinese version, Korean one was shredded.

The Iron Empress/Empress Cheon Chu - set in Goryeo, this was another of women ruler centric dramas that had a mini popularity peak in late 00s/early 10s (a trend I wish continued.) it got overshadowed by Queen Seonduk but by all accounts is a solid drama. It’s on my list but I haven’t watched it yet.

The King’s Daughter, Soo Baek Hyang - by the writer of The Rebel and My Dearest. Have I got your attention? Another woman centric ruler tale set in Baekje. Yes, there is a love story. That cast is great, to boot. I have started and liked what I’ve seen but got sidetracked. Need to get back to it. Before you look at the ep number and faint seeing the number 108, keep in mind that the eps are half an hour long so it’s an equivalent of a normal 54 ep sageuk so if you can watch eg Empress Ki, you are good with this.

My Country: The New Age - Lee Bang Won but make it gay. OK, I kid, sort of (not really) but this is smart and passionate and heartbreaking. If you want a wide scope or lots of politics, probably not a take for you (Six Flying Dragons is RIGHT there), but if you want an intense, emotional tale, come right in!

Six Flying Dragons - to me, this is THE drama about Lee Bang Won. It’s smart and emotional, deals with politics and has heart. It has a large cast of characters I got invested in, OTPs that will blow your mind etc etc.

Faith/The Great Doctor - if you are a fan of old school shoujo like Red River, Basara or Fushigi Yuugi, this or Moon Lovers are your best bet on this list. A time traveling tale with other fantasy elements about a modern day plastic surgeon who ends up being kidnapped into Goryeo during the early days of King Gongmin’s (hi!) reign by a tormented, oath bound warrior played by Lee Min Ho at his hottest (and playing historical General Choi Young. Do RPS at your pleasure), this one is one of my all time favorites.

Seodonyo/Ballad of Seo Dong - I am actually currently watching this one tho I haven’t been posting about it. Set in both Baekje and Silla, this is an angsty love story with a side of politics. It’s filmed in 2005 and looks accordingly but if you don’t mind dated visuals, this is pretty great!

Emperor of the Sea - set in Silla and Tang, this was a huge hit and deservedly so. Our protag is a slave and gladiator and a great naval hero. This is grim and smart and epic. It’s from 2004 so once again, if dated visuals are no-go, skip, but if you want a great story and performances, this has your name on it.

The Kingdom of the Winds - an epic cursed prince narrative, our ML (Song Il Gook at his sexiest) rises from abandoned prince and slave and abused assassin to general, royal and king, sparing time for an angsty delicious love story with an enemy princess. This has serious sageuk bits AND the best shoujo tropes in the business, plus enough whump to keep anyone happy.

Gye Baek - Lee Seo Jin, another sageuk stalwart, stars as the title character in this tale of a Baekje commoner, war slave and general. This is grim but glorious.

Soldier/God of War - this is a traditional war-centric sageuk and grim as hell. Another slave to general tale.

King Geun Chu Go - this is on my watch list; it’s about a warrior king of Baekje. Haven’t seen it but heard good things.

Ja Myung Go - smart and unrelentingly tragic, featuring Jang Ryeo Won and Jung Kyung Ho as doomed lovers and Park Min Young in an evil role, this is great and has deeply flawed characters in the very definition of doomed by the narrative tale.

Arthdal Chronicles - this is obviously a fantasy but the tale of prophesied twins, magical priestess, wars and mysticism is clearly set in a pre-Joseon in terms of aesthetics world.

Alchemy of Souls - like Arthdal this is pure fantasy but also like Arthdal, a lot of its styling is pre-Joseon so on this list it goes.

Moon Lovers/Scarlet Heart Ryeo - ok I think if people have heard of only one drama on this very long list, it’s probably this one. Modern time traveling heroine ending up during the reign of Goryeo’s King Taejo, in the middle of his sons’ fight for the throne, having an epic but doomed romance with shoujo catnip tortured bad boy Lee Jun Ki.

Shine or Go Crazy - if you want a more historical take on Moon Lovers succession fight but still with plenty of hotness, angst and doomed romance, come right in. This baby stars Jang Hyuk, so you know it’s bound to be good. I actually started it and enjoyed it but got sidetracked. Need to get back to it. Fun fact: while Moon Lovers was hugely popular internationally, domestically Shine or Go Crazy (they aired around the same time), did much better.

The Legend/The First King’s Four Gods - for a long time this was my favorite kdrama of all time and is still probably in my top 10. Ignore the odd first episode, the rest is perfection. Expensive and wonderfully written, this was Bae Yong Joon’s last drama before he retired to rest on his pile of money (if you are young, you probably don’t remember what a big deal he was, bigger than all the Hallyu stars nowadays put together. He basically was singlehandedly supporting the kdrama industry at one point), but what a worthy way to go out. It’s an epic Goguryeo fantasy tale of a prophesied prince coming into his own, with such amazing characters and relationships and OTPs and battles and points about destiny versus free will. It is everything and I kinda want to rewatch now.

The Blade and The Petal/Sword and Flower - ostensibly a star-crossed Gogureyo love story, this really is more about politics. It’s a mixed bag. The visuals are insane but Uhm Tae Woong, while always solid in modern dramas, is out of place in a sageuk (in QSD Kim Nam Gil stole his thunder; there is nobody to do so here but that doesn’t help him.)

Queen Seon Duk - probably the most famous entrant into female power sageuks, this was a mad hit and centered on the titular character’s rise to power and fight for the same with her female nemesis Mishil. If you want love stories, angsty fighter Bidam propelled Kim Nam Gil to stardom as he stole the leading man mantle from Uhm Tae Woong.

Empress Ki - currently rewatching this. It’s set in the waning days of Goryeo but takes place mainly in Yuan. Still, the FL is Korean and a lot of the story revolves around one of her suitors’, a deposed Korean king, attempts to get his land back. As you can tell by my rabid posts, this is a great drama - politics, romance (I ship FL and the Yuan emperor like mad), murder, dysfunction and everything good.

Hwarang - it’s so brain dead it might as well be a brain-eating amoeba in drama form but it did give us both Park Hyung Sik and Park Seo Joon before they made it big in drama world. It’s terrible tho, stay away.

River where the Moon Rises - I have such a love/hate relationship with this drama - I loved the beginning, with our tormented assassin heroine slowly being warmed by the loyal rustic ML with his own trauma. And then Ji Soo’s bullying scandal happened and he was replaced by Na In Woo, aka the actor I like least from any country in all my close to two decades of watching dramas. I tried but I simply couldn’t and I am still mad. This said, if you don’t share my NIW allergy, it’s probably worth a watch.

The Great King’s Dream - if you liked QSD and can’t get enough of the period but want an even more traditional tale, you can do worse than this drama. I liked what I saw but this baby is 70 eps and lacks Bidam so I peaced out. Maybe I will get back to it sometime, but probably not.

Jeong Do Jeon - as you can tell by the title, centers on JDJ and the last days of Goryeo. Not really my bag (time period been done plenty in other dramas and I don’t have that much interest in JDJ) but supposed to be solid.

My Only Love Song - a short silly mess but still probably better than River (which tells the same story) because it doesn’t have NIW.

King Gwanggaeto the Great - 92 eps. I can’t!

The King Loves - delicious love triangle (that goes ALL ways), angst, prettiness, a side of bodyguard romance. What’s not to love in this Goryeo tale?

ETA: this post was so long that when I tried to tag every drama I mentioned, tumblr told me you hit the tag limit of 30 tags no more tags for you. Oh well, sorry dramas that ended up I tagged!

[degenerata69]

I did an overview on s2, and it's so painfully awkward how 'Young-Il' inserted himself over and over again to Gi-Hun.

All his actions are premeditated to gain his trust, emotionally attaching him and break him from within.

To highlight some of these interactions:

He is completely inappropriate with his comments, laughing it off, "oblivious" to the implications of his comments. Happily telling Gi-Hun "I voted to stay because of you," then taunting him with the trauma he faced when playing Dalgona, asking him why he came back, telling him that they were not responsible for the blood money and how he was "right" for choosing to continue the games.

Then, at night, he gave him a story to make Gi-Hun empathize with him, how he was desperate to save his wife and kid, willing to gain a bigger prize, even when it was at the cost of other people's life. He hit a familiar string as he remembered how desperate Gi-Hun himself and others were. Achieving Gi-Hun to have a nightmare at the thought there were people just like him relying on him, to later reinforce that as he tells him, "I still believe in you," and "we have a winner on our side."

BTW, he took advantage of the fight between Thanos and Myung-gi to have the interaction about his "motives." He needed to have a "morally good" presentation even after being completely cynical to the fact he sentenced more people to die for him to gain more money. So, he patronized Thanos, treating him like if he was a kid, and obviously Thanos is going to reciprocate the energy. Giving him the perfect excuse to "demostrate his vulnerable side" by beating Thanos under the premises that "he offended him."

It also comes to mind how, during mingle, he abandoned the group to cause distress to Gi-Hun. Keep in mind that he would have the same distress if he couldn't ensure the safety of everyone else in the group, and even those who weren't.

You get the gist of it? Making Gi-Hun feel strong emotions; anger, uncertainty, shame, fear, and worry, to then reward him with praise, relief, companionship, reliance.

After all of that, the only thing he achieved was Gi-Hun seeing him the same way he saw the others in the group. He certainly worried and cared about him, but to the same level he did with Dae-Ho, Jun-Hee, Hyun-Ju, Yong-Sik, Geum-Ja, and everyone else there.

At the end, contrary to In-ho's plan, he chose to go alone with Jung-Bae, because he is his friend.

Even after all he did, Gi-Hun didn't see him as his biggest priority. And I'm sure that devastated his ego.

[izzyfishie]

SQUID GAME 3 TEASER I -- A FULL IZZY ANALYSIS

hi guys! holy shit im shaking and trembling. but i insist on analyzing now DSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA im IN SHOCK.

i'll make a separate one for the images that squid game korea has posted on twitter. let's dive right into this.

SPOILERS BELOW!!

whichever one of you said gihun was in the coffin, CONGRATS!! i honestly lost faith in this theory. but it's good to know it's finally confirmed.

this game is scaring me. something to do with knives. this has to be the fifth game -- since we assume the dolls game is fourth. that means it'll likely rid of a lot of the contestants? i did a rough count, and it seems there's around 50 left?

i genuinely don't know what this game is. all the royal symbolism (swords and vests, and cobblestone blocks, like castles) is quite interesting to me. HOWEVER! this likely proves my wall theory as true! the walls are irrelevant to the games.

teams. fuck me. yong-sik is blue and geum-ja is red. AAAAAAHHHH nam-gyu's face has me scared he looks batshit.

this FUCKASS with a clear face. you're scaring me, sir.

gi-hun sad and lonely in the corner. the amount of X's to O's is overwhelming. i'm going to assume this will be in an earlier episode. gi-hun is genuiney so dispirited here.

hyun-ju fighting. i'm pretty sure that eye is seon-nyeo. min-su looks horrified.

cry harder hoe. in all seriousness. i do have a theory for this. it is said we get a glimpse into in-ho's past. there's images of the vip room (the image where yall thought it was gihun or junho as frontman) and i think that may be a flashback of sorts to the prior games, if not a previous time as frontman. i think he may be ruminating and realizing he's come too far to go back now. OR it could be something jun-ho related.

MY BABYGIRL DID IT. PACK IT UP. HES HERE. no more dora jokes

showing these shots consecutively before showing what's MEANT to be 246 is diabolical to me. he has to be the key to no-eul's arc.

KILL. YOUR. SELF. also this looks like the go vip room but much less vibrant lighting.

this is scary me WHAT is this lighting meant to mean. keyhole looking thing? is it a labyrinth?

we can see teams better. seon-nyeo's cult is blue.

that's the records room. why is she in there?? and why does she have fire? is she going to set the records on fire? could she possibly be teaming up with jun-ho in some way, as previously stated? why is she covered up in blood? too many questions.

that's seon-nyeo's hand. we can tell by the bracelets. i dearly wonder why she's smearing blood.

female vips. not that i give a shit they can all die.

WHERE THE FUCK IS HE???? is this some kind of vip room? he's alone. are the mercenaries dead?

why is myung-gi crying? i don't like him but this is raising confusions and suspicions. jun-hee related?

finally. FUCK MY LIFE. yong-sik has to be dead. what if geum-ja hangs herself, foreshadowing her earlier statement?

fuck me i'm so scared.

[f4xy]

my headcanons on sg s2 gals

just what i think they'll do in general, imma leave this chronologically too

044 (Seo Nyeo)

An astrological asshole at best.

She's Mi Nyeo level unhinged that can predict shit on other people, with the harshest truths too because she's super brash and is incredibly self-serving.

Nobody likes her, to where if there's a marble game in season 2 you bet her ass is gonna get dragged out too.

basically that one kid everyone warned you about and you know EXACTLY why

095 (Young-Mi)

She just wants to be left alone with Hyun-Ju honestly

just genuinely wholesome despite her traumas

Has permanent financial trauma after she got out, in a way she wants to restart her life and go from there

Will cook with Geum-Ja dinner for all :D except not even she knows if she's a good cook or not

120 (Hyun Ju)

Yes she fucking carried the whole show, yes she does not fuck around with guns

Reality is she just wants to be accepted and be left alone with that one ounce of validation to hold on, even if it's just Young-Mi giving her that

Bet she knows some gals in Thailand too via the internet and find solace in them, as much solace as she finds with her friends irl

149 (Geum Ja)

Great mom, but justifies her son way too much

Nobody can shit on her son BUT her

Very accepting somehow

Your classic asian grandma who happens to know every known korean recipe, but budgeted

196 (Kang Mi-Na)

she probably follows the whole floptropica shit on tiktok

probably was a tiktok livestreamer who failed, definitely pro-crypto

look if it aint that wasp's fault, you bet your ass she's gonna unseriously survive very long too

basically female thanos but instead of random raps you get like random yassified words

222 (Jun Hee)

When she gets out, she's straight up gonna file for a restraining order against Myung-Gi while getting her pregnancy stuff done

Does not care to whatever happened to Myung-Gi, they're so DONE.

Due to him she's probably incredibly anti-crypto as well.

Might get someone from her team (most likely Dae-Ho) to be her nanny since it's going to be overwhelming for her to handle literally everything, especially with the baby

380 (Se-Mi)

she is manipulative yet playful, but not in a way where she would lead one to be injured on purpose

lives in the present

makes too much edgy jokes based on her situation, one'll feel awkward for laughing

probably avidly smokes and drinks outside of the events

Guard 011 (No-Eul)

Just stressed the fuck out. She's only living for her newborn to be still alive at this point. Only then we'll see her smile.

fucking hates every single job she had in the past

needs about at least 3 therapists because she's that broken

Definitely secretly and slightly ripped. May not take out an entire gang kind tho

[kazcreates]

Squid Game Everybody Lives AU

It all starts with a small group of them.

Geum-ja keeps her word and invites Hyun-ju, Young-Mi, Dae-ho, Jung-bae, Myung-gi, Jun-hee, and Gi-hun over for dinner at her house. For a while it’s just the nine of them, plus Jun-hee’s baby.

Then Gi-hun gets an idea. And it only goes off the rails from there.

The first new addition is In-ho, and no matter how much of a fuss the others make because he “tried to kill them”, they eventually relent because Young-il was their friend, and In-ho is still technically that person, somewhere in there. Plus, he’s Gi-hun’s boyfriend, and they can’t say no to that. Sometimes, he bring Jun-ho along and they welcome him all the same.

Then comes Ga-yeong, when she comes back to Korea to visit in the summer, her mother having finally relented and allowed her to go see her father. The others are surprised when Gi-hun makes them all stop what they’re doing and gathers them around the window to see In-ho and Ga-yeong outside laughing and playing games. It’s a little unnerving, watching them play the same games that had been used to try to kill them, but at the same time, it’s endearing in a way.

Then comes Il-nam, the original 001. Everyone else is a little confused on exactly how Gi-hun knows the old man—everyone except In-ho, who is flabbergasted that Gi-hun had managed to convince the old man to attend. In truth, it hadn’t been difficult, and it becomes a common sight to find the old man asleep in one of the armchairs, Jun-hee’s baby tucked safely in his arms. And if Jun-hee and Myung-gi fall asleep on the couch due to finally having a moment of peace, no one tries to wake them until the food is ready.

Then comes the Salesman. And everyone tries to protest, telling Gi-hun that that man is the reason they were all in this mess in the first place. But somehow, they find him at their table that night, and several dinners after. He finds his place among Dae-ho and Jung-bae, talking about military things.

Geum-ja tries to draw the line, the day that Gi-hun shows up with Thanos and Nam-gyu in tow, saying that they’re nothing but trouble and she won’t have any nonsense in her house. But, Gi-hun manages to convince her, and she puts the boys to work in the kitchen along with her, her son, and Hyun-ju. The next time they’re invited, they bring Se-mi and Min-su along with them.

Eventually, Sae-byeok and her brother, who had stayed with Gi-hun for a short while before being reunited with their mother, got dragged along too. Ga-yeong and Cheol become quick friends, and In-ho finally gets a break from entertaining her (although he still finds himself dragged into their games more often than not).

Then comes Sangwoo, his arm held tightly in Gi-hun’s grasp. He is pushed inside and told he’s not allowed to leave until they do, so he’d better make himself comfy. Behind him is his mother, eager to see Sae-byeok and Cheol again. Ali and his wife and child are soon to follow.

The loan sharks that Gi-hun hired to help him before the second games stop by during holidays, always happy to visit and help where they can, as long as it means they get to eat Geum-ja’s cooking.

Geum-ja has to move houses three times to accommodate the ever-growing amount of guests, but there’s always more than enough hands ready to help. And what once was just nine, was now too many to count, but the food was always warm and there were always more chairs to fill.

[lesmiix]

Hii! Can you write something where the reader's friend dies in one of the games and Hyun-Ju comforts them?

ONE SHOT: I don't know what I would do without you.

Hyun ju x g/n reader.

Summary: One of your closest friends died during the mingle game, so Hyun-ju tried to comfort you

Warnings: Death, angst, panic attack, comfort, g/n reader, g/n friend.

f/n->friend name.

a/n: I've never written an angst one shot so I hope it's not too bad.

English's not my first language so there may be some grammatical and orography errors!

Requests for Hyun-ju are open 💗

Enjoy!!!🫶

You entered a big room, with some slight warm lights, there was a platform in the middle, with some horses, as a carousel.

A voice coming from a loudspeaker ordered you to get on the platform.

The voice started to explain the rules of the "mingle" game.

You were with your little group, f/n, Hyun-ju, young mi, Geum-ja and Yong-sik. F/n and you were childhood friends, you met each other as your parents were very close friends.

You both started joking about how much you liked to go to amusement parks as a kid.

Suddenly, the lights turned off, and the carousel began to spin. A children's song started playing and all of the memories of your childhood began to pop on your mind. You started to get a little bit anxious, holding your friends hand as hard as you could, making sure they didn't go anywhere.

The spinning stopped and you heard a number.

"Four" the female voice of the speaker said.

you started looking around, searching young mi and hyun ju, as Geum-ja and Yong-sik went with player 456 and 001. You started running towards an empty little room and pushed everyone inside.

The door locked as the 30 seconds counter finished.

"Is everyone okay?" f/n asked as they looked at you, watching the scared look on your face.

Young mi nodded while playing with her hands, obviously nervous, as you could hear the guns shooting outside.

A few minutes passed by and the door unlocked.

Everyone came out and you saw the older woman and get son, running towards you.

"Oh we were so worried about you" player 149 said while hugging you all.

"it's okay, we just have to stick together and have good coordination so we can win the game" you said while cleaning the slight sweat of your forehead.

You got again on the carousel.

the number was 6

You rapidly counted the members of your group.

"Me, f/r, Hyun-ju, Young mi, Geum-ja, Yong-sik" you muttered as counting with your fingers.

"we're six" you said out loud, while scanning which room were empty.

You ran, there were not enough rooms for every group so you had to be quick.

You opened a door. The room was full.

The counter was on for 7 seconds, you started panicking, you looked everywhere just to see hyun ju opening a door.

"Over here!" She yelled as everyone started running towards her.

Everyone started to get in the room, but a single player came in aggressively, taking f/r from their jacket, and throwing them out the room, it was player 333, who was all covered in blood.

He locked the door.

Before you could even react to what was happening you heard a shot. Staining your face with your friends blood.

"f/r?" you muttered, as you began to walk towards the door peephole. Just to see your friend on the ground, with a single shot between their eyebrows.

You looked at Myung-gi, still were too in shock to react, but the desire to beat him up was in your body.

The voice announced that the game finished, so you could return to the bedroom.

You didn't move a single muscle. Everyone came out the room, leaving you behind, except Hyun-ju.

You sat on the ground, breathing heavily, hands shaking, legs shaking, vision blurry. you didn't even realize who left and who stayed with you, you were in complete shock.

"Hey, y/n, breathe" Hyun-ju said, kneeling in front of you. She held you by your shoulders while she talked softly.

A soft voice came out her lips "Y/n, look at me".

Your eyes looked at hers.

"Breathe with me" She whispered, taking your hand in hers and pressing it on her chest, so you could feel her calm breathing.

While trying to match your breathing with hers, you started to feel more calm, you didn't say a word but you noticed how warm tears started to fall down your cheeks.

"You're doing amazing, keep going"

Once your breathing came back to normal, you finally let out some whines, slowly melting into Hyun-ju's arms, crying.

She just hugged you, she didn't talk, she didn't put any kind of pressure on you, she just let you vent on her shoulder, wetting her shirt.

You felt how her big hands were caressing your back, making you feel safe, heard.

"Thanks..." You muttered as you pulled away from her.

"It's okay, is the least I can do" She uttered, leaving a soft peak on your forehead, with her fingers brushing away some stray hairs that were on your face

The girl helped you stand up and gave you one last tight hug, long enough for you to notice the fast beat of her heart, before you both started walking in silence towards the bedroom.

You don't know what you would do without her.

a/n: I feel it was really rushed 😭

(I don't know how to write fight scenes y'all)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Ways I can see Squid Game 3 can go in terms of story:

1) Front Man, once and for all, tries to convince Gi-hun that people are inherently bad and that the games are just reflecting human nature. Front Man says that when push comes to shove, people will turn on each other since they value self-preservation over everything else. Gi-hun then says, “So if you had to kill Jun-ho for the money, would you?” Then for the first time in years, In-ho begins to doubt his own ideology.

2) As a continuation to the point above, In-ho confronts Jun-ho again. This time, instead of shooting his brother, In-ho kills himself (which also acts as a callback to the Salesman’s death).

3) Myung-gi redemption arc. I’m 50/50 on him either surviving and promising to actually help take care of Jun-hee’s baby, or tragically sacrificing himself but not before telling the group that they need to help Jun-hee raise their baby.

4) Yong-sik and Geum-ja survive. Only saying this because we already did the fakeout of Geum-ja dying during mingle game and I’m not sure how killing off Yong-sik would benefit the story. What I mean by that is that the only characters who I’d see getting development from Yong-sik’s death is his mom and Hyun-ju. Since Hyun-ju already has to live with Young-mi’s death, the only storyline I can think of in which Yong-sik dies is for his mom’s character development, which feels exceptionally cruel since the whole point of her being in the game was to get her son out. I don’t know, it feels too cruel to the point of grimdark if Yong-sik were to die for his mom’s pain, which is why I’m leaning to him surviving.

5) I can definitely see an ending where Gi-hun manages to save the last few contestants, but loses faith in humanity. Especially if the games continue on since people still desire entertainment and you can’t destroy people’s greed/selfishness.

6) The ONLY happy ending I can see for Gi-hun is if A) In-ho realizes his ideology is flawed since he can’t bring himself to sacrifice his brother Jun-ho for wealth and power and B) the O’s finally come to their senses and switch over to the X’s. This is the only happy ending I can see for Gi-hun since even if he manages to take Front Man and the VIPs down, he saw just how cruel people can be to each other. At this point, it’s not enough to take the games down, the people have to show they’re willing to change. It’s just like the ending of Squid Game season 1 where the homeless man was helped by the bystanders, thus proving Gi-hun’s point that there’s still good in people.

[isabela-merceds]

hey! Do you have any predictions or theories for squid game S3?

hey!! 🫶🏻

I have a few, let's see if you or others agree with me.

Yong-sik will die and I have a suspicion his mother Geum-ja will play a part whether it's willingly or unwillingly. Willingly meaning he's suffering and she wants to put him out of it.

In-ho's identity will be revealed and it'll be at Gi-hun's absolute lowest point. We already know he's going to go through hell and it's In-ho's goal and agenda to break him in every way imaginable and I think he'll succeed before revealing his true colours. Cherry on the top and it'll fracture Gi-hun even further.

Massive confrontation between the Hwang bros with Gi-hun potentially on the sidelines watching it fallout. But it will be significant and alongside In-ho's reveal it'll be one of the biggest moments in the show.

I have a big feeling that Jun-hee will die whether it's consequence of a game or the stress of labour but she'll die and her child will live and the baby will be passed to a traumatised Myung-gi to raise.

Gyeong-seok is alive and been told to play dead. He was shot but not fatally and No-eul will go undercover with the agenda to get him out of there and back to his daughter. There's a theory he'll be dressed to look like one of the guards to keep him a secret. There's a reason she hesitated and a reason why she's crawling around tunnels and it's my belief it's to do with Gyeong-seok.

There will be a main character death. I think majority do believe it'll be In-ho but I think there's so many possibilities and fallouts that even a double sacrifice with Jun-ho being the only survivor is probable.

There's a reason the bombs in the tunnels were mentioned to Jun-ho when he was undercover, I'm pretty certain it'll end with the base being blown up. If you want to end something forever, you need to blow it up.

This is my outside theory but we know Netflix wants to expand the SG universe and maybe the downfall of the South Korea games will be the catalyst and trigger for games in other countries to begin thus expanding the universe and that the games will truly never end.

[michyeosseo]

Scene 5 of Ja Myung Go: Angered by Princess Mokryeon's death, Prince Hodong battles with Gomigeol.

Ra Miran and Lee Seyeong as KANG SO-BOK & BAEK DO-AENG

JEONGNYEON: THE STAR IS BORN (2024)

[everwhovian]

I just watched the s3 teaser trailer, and I am not okay! There's so much happening, and my mind is reeling with theories and thoughts!

I don't even think it's possible for me to organize my thoughts!

Okay damn you! I can't keep quiet

I don't even have many theories I can type out and make em sound sane... my emotions are all over the place!

First of all: HOW DARE THEY ALL LOOK SO GOOD OMG! I feel like I'm going feral and I'm aro ace so I usually don't care but THEY LOOK SO GOOD OMG WHAT

Gi-hun in the coffin?! Called it. I was screamed about that to my friends last time and they thought I was insane (yes I am thanks but not PROVEN insane)

But seriously, Gi-hun being brought back into a coffin? Diabolical! I love it!

And him being in time out during the voting! By being in handcuffs!! So that's why he was in handcuffs in that one picture

Poor Dae-ho! He looks so shaken! And he doesn't know yet that Jung-bae is dead. This will destroy me...

Also Hyun-ju and Gi-hun interaction? Yes please

I'm so scared for Jun-hee and Geum-ja and Dae-ho and EVERYONE basically

But Geum-ja and Yong-sik being on different teams is just torture! At least she's in a team with Gi-hun... BUT PLEASE I LOVE ALL THOSE CHARACTERS PLEASE NO

Team blue: Dae-ho, Hyun-ju, Yong-sik, Myung-gi, Nam-gyu, Seon-nyeo and her cult

Team red: Gi-hun, Geum-ja, Jun-hee, Min-su

This gumball machine is awesome, though! I will never look at one of those again without thinking about Squid Game

And the doorway into the room? Is that a fucking knife?! (I'm going through the teaser again while typing this)

Do they have to stap each other? Like one team against the other?! And only one team survives? Please, no... that... NO, that would kill me!! I have characters on BOTH teams I care about...

AND IN-HO?! Is he crying? What is the seeing?! Is that related to Jun-ho? To Jun-hee cause he's reminded of his wife?! OR IS HUMANITY FINALLY CATCHING UP WITH HIM AGAIN?!

don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for Inhun/457 shipping reasons etc.

I would eat that up if it's about Gi-hun!! Cause duh. Love the ship

But it's about Jun-ho, right? Please! We need more Hwang brothers content and INTERACTIONS PLEASE

although... don't make it angst or hurt/no comfort... I not being realistic but I don't want either of them to be hurt... just let them live PLEASE

No-eul, my girl!! Sneaking around in the vents hell, yes!!

AND JUN-HO FINDING THE ISLAND!!!

Yessss, my boy, you got this!

VIPs giving me goosebumps already... how they were sitting around that table... WITH THE FRONT MAN... well, yeah, obviously, but... is it In-ho? There was this theory that it could be Gi-hun in that mask cause one of the pictures Netflix shared showed a different posture that were used to... as if someone else is in the mask

Can you imagine?!

No-eul, are you burning it down?! Is she just burning down ONE FILE (please let it be Gyeong-seok's file cause she saved him, and he can see his daughter again!) or is she burning it all down?! Either way we SUPPORT HER!

WAIT WAS THAT GYEONG-SEOK'S JAW?!

Jun-ho... don't talk into a trap, please. That room looks weird af

What if it's the quarter of one of the VIPs? And then they find him?

WHAT IF JUN-HO GETS HURT BY THE VIPS AND THAT'S WHY IN-HO IS CRYING

am I reaching? Probably

BUT OMG I GOT IDEAS LEMME SCRAMBLE TO MY WORD DOCUMENT (aaahhhh)

AND JUN-HEE! THE BABY! OMG! I HEARD A BABY CRY! PLEASE DON'T HURT THEM I AM BEGGING

I can't see who it is and I don't wanna go down the rabbit hole of finding out just by the bracelets on the wrist... BUT IS THAT AN ARROW THEY DREW WITH BLOOD?! Like labyrinth and stabbing? Is that the game?

It's Seon-nyeo, isn't it? I remember her having bracelets, etc

Please don't let Gi-hun fight against one of his friends... he probably will be forced to do it... but PLEASE

GEUM-JA, PLEASE, WHY IS SHE CRYING?! DOES SOMETHING HAPPEN TO YONG-SIK OMG NO!

Did I miss anything? Yeah, duh. Everything happened so fast! But holy shit!

[dangermousie]

Do you like triumph of evil in your kdramas? A small rec list for the pessimist in you

If, like me, you got into kdramas way back when or like older kdramas, tragic endings are not a particular surprise - endings where one or both members of the OTP die were pretty common and even unsettling endings that remind you of the world being rather unjust (Bad Guys) also happen.

But I am talking about something more than that - an ending that really socks it to you, by making you feel the villains won, it was all in vain. I confess when well-done, I love the bleakness of that type of ending. So here are my five favorites for this sort of thing:

Hong Gil Dong (2008)

This story of a rebel fighting to overthrow the mad tyrant and bring justice to the people has the most thoroughly bad ending on the list. Who dies? EVERYONE EXCEPT THE BAD GUYS! I don't mean the OTP, I don't mean your fave secondaries, I mean everyone. The sheer realistic bleakness of the ending is breath-taking. Gil Dong, his OTP Yi Nok and the rest of the rebels are murdered by the forces of the king they put on the throne. The last shot of the story proper is them standing watching a shower of arrows coming towards them, staring at their death. The only survivors are the King and the secondary girl and both are monsters. The king is the man they put on the throne with so much effort but who cannot allow them to live because what they want is not to replace a bad absolute ruler with a different one (that he may have coped with) but to replace the system itself - to hold the king accountable, and he cannot have that. In the end, a mad tyrant has been replaced with a sane tyrant and the class system and the injustices of that society that wrecked Hil Dong, Yi Nok and the rest continue unabated. And secondary girl betrays Gil Dong because - for all her sort of crush - she never truly saw him as human, just a fancy peasant toy that should be thrown away and punished for not behaving as he ought. In the end, the good guys, the heroes, who fought so hard are killed and it's not easy acceptance for them either (there is a scene where Gil Dong, knowing they are all dead once spring comes, admits to Yi Nok how terrified of death he is that has haunted me for a decade plus) and the monsters continue on happily. Sure, the people recite stories and new fighters will rise in their place but it's very much of a "no happy ending in our lifetime" message.

At the time this drama came out, the Hong Sisters were known for their romcoms and this started out pretty goofy - watching it live as it got darker and darker was a hell of a trip and the ending made the fandom insane. But the more I thought about it, the more I loved it, the more fitting it seemed. I love all the other takes on rebels against the crown a la various other HGD and Iljimae adaptations but this one has, to me, by far the most fitting ending.

IRIS (2009)

Talk about bleak. This drama starts as your standard if high quality actioner about competent glam agents of a secret CIA type agency. And then it all goes to hell in a handbasket for our mains as it turns out a secret evil organization is the one that's pulling the strings, and our protagonist Kim Hyun Jun (played by Lee Byung Hun in my favorite of all of his performances) is sacrificed for complicated reasons that are only gradually revealed and begins his descent into hell. He starts the story as a competent, cocky sweetheart and transforms into a PTSDing shaking hands wreck. And you watch him fight so hard - fight through all the torments inflicted, fight to protect his loved ones and to keep his sanity, and fight to take the evil org down. You watch him slowly rebuild himself, and to slowly find happiness again with the woman he's loved all this time, Choi Seung Hee (played by Kim Tae Hee in my fave of her performances, who has unknowing ties to the org) and to fight over the org and inflict damage on it.

And then we get that ending, as he's finally found some peace and safety, and he's driving to propose to Seung Hee and as he sees her, he's shot in the head, point blank and he lies there, dying, seeing her but not able to reach her, tears falling out of his eyes as she waits oblivious for a man who will never come and it's made so clear that the org goes on, that nothing has been defeated and that it has all been for nothing - he's been killed as a punishment to him but also as a message to Seung Hee that nobody ever escapes - for her to find his body and realize it was all for naught. And it is also made clear that there was NOTHING he could have ever done to avoid this fate except if his parents made different choices before he was born (!!!) Talk about bleak. I sobbed for hours.

Ja Myung Go (2009)

I've just posted about this one so I am not gonna re-do the comments but yeah, it ends with the OTP death, the kingdom destroyed and the one winner is King Daemushin, the bad guy. The God of Battles wins again. Sure he lost a son but he's got other sons. Worth it, would think the old monster.

My Country: the New Age (2019)

The rest of the dramas on this list are older. This one is not. Our two main protagonists die in the end but that is not what makes it so bleak - what makes it so bleak is that nothing of what they wanted came to pass. In a way, it's a bit of a Hong Gil Dong redux situation - there is a new ruler on the throne but he's not any better than the old ones and he's cleaning up the people who put him on the throne. Hwi especially fought so hard for a place and then just to have some peace and he gets neither, the man he fought so hard to put on the throne being his murderer.

What Happened in Bali (2004)

Ooof, this drama! We have four main characters and at the end, two of them are dead, shot by the third one who turns the gun on himself. The only survivor is the ice cold secondary girl who would probably not pause sipping her morning coffee when hearing the news.

This is a story of people damaged and ruined by a bunch of monsters who suppress any hope and anything good and cause more and more damage - we watch the three mains claw at others and at themselves hoping for happiness and connection and love and it all gets dismantled and set on fire repeatedly and in the worst way. It's perhaps the starkest with Jo In Sung's Jung Jae Min - who you watch taken apart and driven to extremity slowly and gradually over the course of the drama. And his monstrous family ends up triumphant at the end - even in death and murder he was not monstrous enough for them to fit in - and now they will continue their lives.

PS The scene where he shoots Ha Ji Won's character right as she's just finishes telling So Ji Sub she loves JIS and wants to go back to him and she tells him "I love you" for the first time ever as she lies dying - that lives in my head rent free forever.

[one-scene-one-drama]

Ja Myung Go (kdrama, 2009)

"Ja Myung Go" is centered around the three main characters, who are also the love triangle: Puku, Ho Dong, and La Hee. The two girls are half-sisters who grew up apart and didn't know each other, and Ho Dong is the love of both of them. It's exactly because of him that everything in the story falls apart, he's the reason for the ruin of an entire country.

Ho Dong used La Hee's feelings for him and made her make a horrible mistake. I couldn't believe how naive she was to believe his words and do all that, but it made sense in the development, what I didn't like was how the character Puku became. Puku learned martial arts from a young age and they made her a shaman and the whole thing about the magic drum, it was just stupid. The whole thing with Wang Hol and his sister-in-law is just creepy. She basically raised him as her son, but when he grew up, she fell in love with him? It's disgusting, like a mother falling in love with her own son just because her husband died.

I've always wanted to watch this drama, it has an amazing cast: Jung Ryeo Won, Jung Kyung Ho and Park Min Young working together, but it was disappointing, the development of the story was very weak, they ruined what could have been an amazing drama.

[degenerata69]

"I will show you that the world doesn't always go the way you want to" are the premises which Gi-Hun made a bet with In-Ho.

In-Ho, who is smart, cold, and manipulative, always seeming to be three steps ahead of everyone, is being put to the test if things would "always go his way".

He has the upper hand and will absolutely use all the cards in his favor.

This is a continuation of the post I made regarding his interpersonal manipulation to get Gi-Hun to like him and emotionally attach to him. In-Ho didn't stop there, using his position as a bureaucrat to manipulate both Gi-Hun and everyone else to continue the games, systematically ensuring the results he wants to win the bet.

As Gi-Hun correctly pointed out, the way he got people to comeback to the games was upon preying on their desperation, making it seem like they reached a dead end, with the only and last opportunity they had was to participate "willingly" on the games. Making it virtually impossible for people to want to vote out on later games as they feared something greater outside, and everyone has "come too far" to get out now. This time, it was much more sophisticated.

The addition of clause #4 and the voting system.

Unlike last time, people have the opportunity to get out and share the price money, even after only playing one game. A direct way to fuck Gi-Hun's mind as if those were the conditions of the 33rd Squid Game, at least both Sang-Woo and Sae-Byeok would have made it out alive, In-Ho knew this very well, so, he would need to prove that people will continue the games regardless if they shared the price money.

Him choosing to be player "001" is key into determining the fate of the results. If it came to end a tie or marking a tie, In-Ho would hold that power as he is the last person to vote.

Other factor to consider is that voting is *not anonymous* so the outcomes are corrupted by the expectations other people have on you, specially after they are marked with a patch that exposes if they chose to continue or wanted to get out. Min-Su is the most obvious case of voting for 'O' because he was intimidaded into doing so, however, Jung-Bae, Dae-Ho, Yong-Sik, Myung-gi and "Young-Il" all voted 'X' because there was an expectation from someone else to vote that way.

It is very interesting that the games did this fake illusion of democracy, as it only matters during the votes that people don't get violent, however, you are free to intimidate and even kill people.

Participants

While the players were already recruited, it was certainly convenient for In-ho to have many players that would put Gi-Hun on a very familiar and uncomfortable situation, some to point out:

Jun-Hee and Myung-gi: A pregnant woman and her incompetent baby-daddy, who is constantly trying to prove himself for Jun-Hee to forgive him and allow him to be part of her baby's life, as well as hers. Reminding him of how Gi-Hun (without fault on his own) neglected Eun-Ji and almost lost his daughter by witnessing the death of his friend during the strikes. Marking the resentment she holds against him.

Yong-Sik and Geum-Ja: a pathetic mama's boy who gets in debt and (unwillingly) brings his mother down with him, and while trying to make amends to fix mistakes, he doesn't realize how much he hurts her, as she makes her own sacrifices to help her son. Reminding him of the dynamic he had with his own mother, especially after In-ho maliciously implied that Yong-Sik would abandon her to save his own ass.

'Young-Il': A desperate husband who had his pregnant wife in the hospital, sick to death, with time running out, his "only hope" was to win enough money to pay for her treatment. Even if it comes to the death of others. But he is willing to set aside his selfish interest in favor of Gi-Hun's because he "respects and admires him." This is to both remind Gi-Hun's of his relationship with Eun-Ji and also the fact that he came back for the sake of his mother's health.

Jung-Bae: self-explanatory. Gi-Hun's best friend whom he neglected after being profusely traumatized. Too deep into the hole to see past it, blaming himself for not preventing Jung-Bae from falling victim into the system he swore his life to destroy. The only one who reminded Gi-Hun the person he used to be before entering the games. The weapon In-ho would use to destroy Gi-Hun beyond repair.

The Games

In-Ho certainly organized the games in a way that would be favorable to the outcome he hoped for.

He chose Red Light, Green Light first, besides having a huge death rate because of people panicking. He would make Gi-Hun believe that he'd be playing the exact same games as before, blowing his cover as a former winner and making people distrust him, even though his goal was helping as many people to survive as possible. He'd also use this to taunt him. "You know, if you didn't reveal yourself, I wouldn't have chosen to keep going, right? So it is your fault we are still here, despite your efforts of being a hero and saving everyone."

The six-legged pentathlon was also a deliberate choice, a game that relied on teamwork, having a high survival rate and just the right amount of adrenaline, would make people feel euphoric for surpassing the games, forgetting the unfortunate who didn't made it thru. Making people who were originally scared feel confident that if they keep going, they would be able to reach their goal. Not realizing that it meant that the money would be the cost of the blood of the people who "loose" until it came to bite them in the ass for the next game.

This one made it for the majority to vote 'O' without the need for In-ho to be the one making the final choice for him to get the favorable decision.

Mingle brought people back into reality, either losing or being close to losing someone they loved. It brought it back to 50/50.

And now it was turn for the extra round, where In-ho set it up to make it convenient for people to target one another. Keep in mind, if Gi-Hun accepted the terms of fighting one another, In-Ho would have won the bet, as he'd prove to Gi-Hun that things "always went his way," diverting Gi-Hun's objective in favour of the system In-Ho set up. What he didn't expect was that Gi-Hun didn't fall for it, suggesting to take down the whole system down instead of doing what the executives (In-Ho) wanted them to do.

If Gi-Hun chose to go with Young-Il instead of Jung-Bae, he would have kidnapped him (kinda as a payback for trying to do the same a few days ago) and revealed himself right there, winning the bet.

So it was Plan C, betraying him, and shooting the last trace of sanity Gi-Hun still held, his best friend, Jung-Bae, as well as everyone else who decided to follow him.

In conclusion

(Credits to @cleaveslice for such glorious image)

Hwang In-ho, you are not seeing the gates of heaven when your demise comes, malparido triplehijueputa.

[izzyfishie]

SQUID GAME ANALYSIS PART II -- TEASER IMAGES

part ii to my previous post. SPOILER WARNING!!

IMAGE 1 -- hyun-ju, gi-hun, and jun-hee. contrary to strange beliefs, gi-hun is not wearing young-il's jacket, nor is hyun-ju wearing gyeong-seok's. but gi-hun looks incredibly dispirited. i'm really worried for him.

IMAGE 2 -- gi-hun is being held down by guards, the same way he did when sae-byeok and jung-bae died (and sang-woo in my headcanon!! #sangihun) but why? i think it may be jun-hee related. maybe they take her away? or could this possibly be him being restrained for voting and later handcuffed?

IMAGE 3 -- in-ho looking.. strange. in all these shots he looks very remorseful. but why, i wonder? i feel it's too early to tell for now but i think we may be getting an in-ho centric episode, if not one surrounding the internal structure of the games. now. i'm on the hwang brothers train, and i have full confidence his general demeanor change is related to jun-ho - his emotional achilles heel. could he possibly have found out jun-ho is still searching for him, even after all these years?

IMAGE 4 -- myung-gi, covered in blood. myung-gi has no friends so i don't know who he may be crying over. i think he may have killed somebody and is feeling the guilt of it.

IMAGE 5 -- dae-ho. other players are looking up.. do you think maybe the rebellion members have been hung? COULD THIS SCENE MAYBE BE WHERE HE REALIZES JUNG-BAE HAS DIED? and i wonder if they're going to do something with young-il's "body". play dead, perhaps? or it could just have gone missing.

IMAGE 6 -- jun-ho. he's found the island. not much to say here tbh.

IMAGE 7 -- NO-EUL AND THE OFFICER!! i think she may end up killing him, or maybe he ends up betraying her. i'm scared. rip min-sang 😔

IMAGE 8 -- yong-sik and geum-ja. "if you pull anything stupid, i'll hang myself right here." yong-sik may get himself recklessly killed in the next game. maybe he throws to sacrifice for his mother. geum-ja may hang herself after this.

IMAGE 9 -- jun-hee is red. she looks remorseful, but why? she's on myung-gi and geum-ja's team... could there be something else?

IMAGE 10 -- seon-nyeo praying. she has many charms and bracelets, which have me questioning. doing a ritual of sorts?

IMAGE 11 -- min-su you BITCH. O again. i don't want to hear it, i can't defend you no more. this looks like the fourth game backdrop.

IMAGE 12 -- nam-gym looks insane. i think he's going to lose his mind. not much else to say, really.

[lastbraincellistyping]

I'm not asking for much from Season 3 really. All I want is for Gihun(Player 456), Inho(Frontman/001), and Junho(police officer/Dora the explorer) to come out alive and solve their issues and then "together" go to therapy—which they very much need and have a happily ever after.

For Jun-hee(222) and Myung-gi(333) to solve their issues, raise their child together, and have a happily ever after.

For Daeho(388) to go to therapy and actually find something he likes to do and have a happily ever after.

For Geum-ja(grandma/149) and her son(007) to have a happily ever after.

For Hyun-ju(120) to get some therapy and then for her to go to Thailand and have her gender transition surgery and get a happily ever after.

For Gyeong-seok(246) to get enough money for his daughter's surgery, for his daughter to get well and healthy and for them to live happily ever after.

For No-eul(guard 011) to get some therapy, reunite with her daughter, and have a happily ever after.

For Nam-gyu(124) and Min-su(125) to get therapy and have a happily ever after.

And for all the VIPs to die a slow and painful death while playing and trying to survive their own fucking game.— I don't really mind if player 100 joins too😋👍

That's all, I'm really not asking for much. 😕✌️