I Love Sieun So Much As A Main Character Because He Tries So Hard Not To Be One.

“I'm sorry that I forgot... everything that you taught me. how great it is to have friends. how nice it is to laugh. what you did for me... I want to try doing that for others.” — weak hero class 2

BRAIN SNIPPET……

*shaking screaming* (hootering and hollering) (a WIP that might be expanded on??? i haven’t properly written in ages idk if i can execute the vision)

HELP. Me. they are making me unwell 👆

and another lil segment. a treat.

(tagging a few people who i hope may be interested to see my writing maybe perchance >_< 🤞: @clawbehavior @gayautisticraccoon @gaylilsherlock )

The way that if you think hard enough about this, Gaon’s reaction to Yohan’s death could totally be interpreted as a parallel to how he perceives the deaths of his parents (one dies first and the other immediately follows)…

It is not like that with Suhyeon for him. It is, in fact, like that with Yohan though.

Can you please explain the part whereby Gaon said soohyun was his world, and how that doesn't mean he loves her despite the confession.?

Hey Anon!!

I poured out the bulk of my thoughts in this post here! But in essence, Soohyun to Gaon is as Isaac to Yohan (which Writer Moon Yoo Seok confirmed in this post). He definitely loved her; there's no denying that, but that love was very different from what he feels for Yohan. The latter was so all-encompassing and wild, and painful that after Cha Kyunghee's death, which itself harkens back to Gaon's parents' death, our man ran to what was familiar and soft and comfortable, all of which Soohyun represented to him.

He was swept up in a maelstrom of emotion: all the death, the Foundation nabbing people, Soohyun not wanting to talk to him. He was essentially adrift and he can't be faulted for latching onto the only anchor he's had since childhood. But even with those flashback scenes of them as children, what we see is Soohyun playing more of a caregiver role than anything else. She blows on his scrapes, he comforts him when he's sad. She might as well be his sister or his mother, because she truly is his Isaac.

On top of everything, Gaon was under the false belief that Soohyun rescued him from the thugs when it was really Yohan, all that gratitude, and his need for comfort, and the fact that she came back for him despite being angry with him, manifested in him confessing emotions that were long dead if he was being honest with himself.

But Gaon was too confused to be honest with himself and he just didn't want to think at that point. So he didn't.

But at the end of the day. Gaon brought a knife to avenge Soohyun and a bomb to avenge Yohan. Gaon tried to die for Yohan twice.

Gaon's reaction when Yohan was announced as dead is so so telling. While Sunah collapses, he's silent, frozen, then he leaves, because he knows he'll be joining Yohan in death.

And even when Yohan's alive, when Gaon no longer has reason to be guilty anymore, he still wants to die with Yohan because it's better than living without him. Soohyun might have had a pretty confession, and a wooden kiss (really wooden) but Yohan won in the end, because by word and deed, Kim Gaon vowed before all of Korea that he would die with his Chief.

Plus when he thought Yohan was gone for the second time, he went through Yohan's bedroom and reminisced about them ogling each other. That's gay. We love to see it!!

The political plotline of TDJ was lowkey out here endorsing (at the very least sympathizing with/explaining the logic behind) terrorism as a tactic against a fascist oligarchy which hides behind populism for legitimacy, and, as a political science/international relations student in the US, I’m kinda fascinated by that.

In the first episode, we see a lone-wolf terrorist attack against the Supreme Court building after the warrant for Joo Il-do’s arrest is dismissed, a sign that the government was likely to be lenient against this CEO despite the wishes of the people. Leaving out the actions taken by our main characters in response and what that tells us about the priorities of the protagonists, we then see in the same episode a complete reversal of that expectation that the government will disappoint the people, when Kang Yohan sentences the guy to 200-something years in prison.

A key part of the logic behind terrorism (please don’t put me on a watchlist I’m just currently taking a course on insurgency and terrorism for my major) is the cost-benefit analysis of whether or not you can 1. draw sympathizers and supporters to your cause through a violent action that sends a message to an audience beyond the actual victims, and 2. through that support, coerce the targeted government into changing policy or action.

Yohan demonstrates with his harsh ruling against Joo Il-do that, in a Korea under his interpretation of the rule of law, the government will respond to violence done on behalf of “the people.” It’s no wonder the far-right populists of their society — Jukchang TV and crew — immediately gravitate to him, hailing him as a savior and a man of the people. And it’s no wonder that public opinion sways in his favor, since he capitalizes on the very real and valid pain that they feel when he showed that he was sympathetic to the sort of cause (like the one upheld by the bus driver earlier in the episode) that they would feel sympathetic to, even if the majority of people would not act in the same way.

The key point that surrounds the at-least-perceived success of terrorism as a tactic here is that Heo Jung-se has enacted every populist tactic in the playbook to assert his leadership. He claims that his (oligarchic, fascist) country is a democracy, that he is a ruler “for the people.” A leader chosen by “dear, respectable citizens.” His use of in-groups and out-groups in condemning criminals (migrants, foreigners, etc. etc.) while placing the “true-blooded Korean people” as sovereign, and ultimately creating the impression that it is the common people who hold power in society. Kang Yohan reinforces the idealistic part of these populist ideas to the public with his performance in the Live Court Show: he adamantly takes the side of the people in each case, and harshly punishes all who the people deem guilty on their behalf — and the people eat it up because it feels like hope that they really control their government.

Another thing about terrorism: it’s most useful as a tactic in democracies where the people are able to place real pressure upon their governments, where the displeasure of the people will lead to policy change. Heo Jung-se created a perception of his society as one of that kind, and in Kang Yohan, we find a man who enables that belief — even if in reality it is, also, mostly for personal motives. And we see in Kim Gaon, by the last episode, a man who is desperate enough in his fight against the corrupt government (and also just, y’know, generally in his life) to use terrorism as a tactic once again to place pressure, in the context of how he’s developed under Yohan’s influence over the course of the show — followed by the final trial by Yohan, who has straight up been planning to resort to terrorism all along, apparently.

I’m still really quite curious as to why the writer chose (and was allowed to choose, frankly LMAO) to end the storyline there — with a story that has left off with messaging that essentially equates to Terrorism Works (but only in a society that is already so used to violence that it can see some types of motivated violence as gratifying and, therefore, Not Horrific), especially with the nod to Gaon sticking around in politics and bureaucracy — and Yohan encouraging him to do so — after the fact. It’s a nod to the reality that even for those who use terrorism as a tool, they know reconstruction will be done “legitimately,” that non-legal violence can only be used as a tactic for so long before the return to legal routes is necessary in order to rebuild. But it’s definitely really interesting to think about how TDJ points out the usefulness of terrorism as a tactic in democracy — though I’m still not completely certain why, or whether the writer intended this as a commentary for Korea, or for the rest of the world…

Could go on a whole other ramble on why this is relevant to modern politics but I’ll stop there tonight, I reckon.

TLDR:

The Devil Judge is an excellent study on how terrorism Can be used against a fascist + populist government, yes.

Is the moral of The Devil Judge that, in order to beat fascists, you have to blow them up? Because I’m down.

just here to confess that i am The overanalyzer. professionally. personally. academically. lovingly. in every way possible, even

I am a WHORE for “the love is requited, they’re both just idiots”

Get to know me!

Thank you for the tag @clawbehavior!! I'm so honored :'DD

1. Origin of username?

Around the time I came up with my username "mayykit," I was getting progressively less comfortable with using my real name on the internet. My previous username was a pun off of my real name, and in wanting to keep the spirit of humor, while using a new nickname I felt comfortable with online (Kit), a friend and I brainstormed for about an hour on what combination of letters could make a good pun with the sound "kit" either in the beginning or the end. At some point, I think I said something in frustration along the lines of - "I just have no idea what to make it..." and my friend went dead quiet before they started laughing. Thus, MayyKit was born.

2. OTPs/ships?

Oooh.

Gahan - kim gaon/kang yohan (the devil judge)

Iwaoi - iwaizumi hajime/oikawa tooru (haikyuu)

Kagehina - kageyama tobio/hinata shouyou (also haikyuu)

Jayvik - jayce/viktor (arcane)

shse - ahn suho/yeon sieun (weak hero class 1)

I've probably got more on the back burner, these are just the most major ones off the top of my head.

3. Favorite color?

Big fan of charcoal grey, or like. Mulberry red. I like most muted colors.

4. Song stuck in my head?

At the minute, it's FXXK IT by Big Bang.

5. Weirdest habit/trait?

For some reason, I get a weird, unbalanced feeling if I take the last step of a staircase with my left foot, so often I'll either count the steps before I go up/down so I can end on the right foot, or I'll take the last two steps together so that my right foot can be the one to finish the stairs. It's something I've done since I was a kid.

6. Hobbies?

I've got a ton of 'em. I've been ice skating for quite a while, so I spend a good amount of time on that; I also play a lot of piano and flute, and I'll occasionally revisit violin (I used to play in grades 5-10). I also like to read (mostly the same few books I've been reading for years but I do like exploring new fanfics), I do a good deal of digital art or traditional drawing in my free time, and I like listening to music as much as I enjoy playing it. I used to creatively write a lot, but I've been simmering in writers' block from the sheer amount of writing I have to do for my classes. I've gotten quite into cooking recently (especially soups), and I think I'm also going to get back into language learning once my workload eases up.

7. If you work, what's your profession?

Student. University. Political science and business degrees. Graduating in ten or so weeks... Aiming for law... (Although I also do some volunteer work in education, ice skating, and arts/entertainment.)

8. If you could have any job?

In an ideal world, I'd love to get into acting. It's the idea of getting to live and experience and explore so many different lives and states of being... and getting paid for it?? Yes please.

9. Something you're good at?

Analyzing things from lots of perspectives. I'm a big analyzer, and I do a lot of it in my work across the board. I also do it a lot for fun. Keeps my brain moving and happy :)

10. Something you hate?

Two-faced behavior. Fake.

11. Something you forget?

Umm... uhh... good question. Better question might be what I don't forget... Hmm... I forget my toothbrush almost every time I travel, if that counts...

12. Your love language?

Sharing food #1. But also, just being interested in each others' interests even if there's no personal connection necessarily. Two individuals with separate lives who just deeply want to share their happiness with one another. Mwah.

13. Favorite movies and TV shows?

There's gonna be some range here. Basically anything Ghibli, A Silent Voice, Big Hero 6, The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, South Park, The Devil Judge, Law School, True Beauty, Weak Hero Class 1 (season 2 is almost out!!!), Twinkling Watermelon, Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, Haikyuu, and Revenge Note 2.

14. Favorite food?

My go-to answer lately has been malatang (spicy hot pot), but there's this dish my mom makes at home with beef, tomato, and occasionally egg that is - in my opinion - completely unparalleled in yummyness. I could have that with rice or noodles genuinely any day every day, probably.

15. Favorite animal?

I like cats very much. But also ermines are SO adorable and I'm so pleased to exist in the same universe as them. I would genuinely sob out of joy if I ever got to hold one.

16. What was I like as a child?

Controlled chaos in the form of a goody two shoes. I loved reading and creative writing (and got labeled as "the perfect student" for it) because I could be as unhinged as I wanted, as long as it was on paper and not towards other people.

17. Favorite subject in school?

K-5, I loved math; 6th through middle school, I was a huge fan of history and English; high school, chemistry and physics had my soul. Currently, as a uni student, the ball's pretty split between political science (my major!) and education studies.

18. Least favorite subject?

Biology and computer science. I'm pretty good at bio, I just don't like how memorization-based a lot of it is. But then, compsci is the one subject that my brain simply refuses to process.

19. Best trait?

Thoughtfulness. I tend to approach my tasks and the people around me with a lot of intentionality and consideration, and I'd like to think it's a pretty good trait of mine. It combines my other good traits - analysis with empathy, deep care with rational pathways for it - and does a lot of good in my life.

20. Worst trait?

I can be mentally dramatic, but I'll almost never say it out loud. The dramatism makes me quick to judge, and rather harshly - others and myself alike - but staying mostly silent on those thoughts tends to leave people around me very much in the dark on where I stand. It's also just not good for me since I spiral easily when I do that.

21. If you could change any detail of your life, what would it be?

I just need my wi-fi to stay alive. And consistent.

22. If you could travel in time, who would you want to meet?

My parents when they were young, probably. I wish I knew what they were actually like as people before they became parents.

I had so much fun doing this! Ahhh I've barely interacted with anyone beyond reblogs and the occasional message in Discord but... tagging with absolutely no pressure and so much curiosity!! @coazysdaydream @gayautisticraccoon @rivvszn @uhhhhmanda @gaylilsherlock

no thoughts, head empty, only the devil judge ost playing in the background

realizing that i actually was on the same wavelength🤞 as the whc2 writer was so surreal because tell me why sieun started becoming my mouthpiece from the very start of the season. the social applicability of newton’s third law (every action has an opposite and equal reaction) and the danger of perpetuating the cycle of violence were my Exact takeaways from the content of season 1 — sieun’s words were so incredibly familiar to me and that was SO Awesome.

I forgot to say this last time. Baku, Gotak and I, we all know you visit your friend in the hospital and why he's there. But in my opinion it wasn’t your fault.