junhotheexplorer

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i know in canon that inho’s and junho’s mother (stepmother in inho’s case) would never find out about the Games but i’m actually screeching imagining this:

like imagine this woman. all she wanted was for her two boys to call her sometimes. maybe not disappear for months at a time without so much as a text. maybe come to dinner once a week. and then she finds out:

(1) inho?? the “golden child” who always brought her flowers on parents’ day and vacuumed without being asked?? ran off to play in a death game?? then still had the audacity to survive, climb the ranks, and then became the emo darth vader of the whole operation??

(2) and the other? junho. immediately endangers his life to chase after him. zero hesitation. zero explanation. just disappears the same way, like they’re doing some twisted sibling relay race into the abyss.

(3) then inho shoots him. shoots. him. off a cliff.

(4) and after all that, junho still decides, “i’m gonna go back. i’m gonna find him. i’m gonna rescue his murdery ass because i’m the only one allowed to beat him up.”

so now imagine their (step)mother, who thought both of them were dead, suddenly finds out that not only are they not dead, but they’ve both been playing emotional chicken with the reaper out of some self-destructive sense of sibling loyalty.

her slipper’s already in hand. her rage is generational.

she gets them both in the same room and it’s not yelling—it’s a reckoning. she doesn’t even ask questions. she just starts swinging.

“you!” slaps the older one on the back of the head “you don’t call! you don’t write! you don’t even have the decency to stay out of crime??”

“and you!” grabs the younger by the ear mid-escape attempt “YOU FOLLOW HIM?? INTO THAT?? ARE YOU STUPID OR IS THIS A PERFORMANCE??”

they try to explain. they stutter. they glance at each other like say something but neither does. because god forbid they communicate like normal people. at some point one of them probably mutters “it wasn’t his fault” and she just screams louder.

they’re both on the floor by the end. slipper marks. emotional damage. one of them maybe crying a little. and she’s just standing there going, “you could’ve died without even telling me why. you idiots. come eat.”

and they do. they sit at the table in total silence, still bleeding metaphorically and literally, and they eat. because no matter how far you run, no matter how cold you become, no matter how many times you almost kill each other—

you are NEVER too old to be slippered into submission by the woman who raised you.

PLAYER 001 / HWANG INHO Squid Game 2 (2024)

Happy Valentine’s Day … !😬

The real Squid Game villains are the games, the system, the corruptions, the VIPs and rich, powerful people.

In-ho has made mistakes and done terrible things, but he’s also trapped, wounded, traumatized and is as much of their victim as Gi-hun is.

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lee byung-hun as kim sun-woo in a bittersweet life suffered more than any character in any movie or tv show I've ever seen (and I’ve seen a lot of media in this genre). like I was actually extremely shocked by the amount and degree of pain and torture they put him through????

it's like they killed him about a dozen times in this movie and just kept repeatedly shooting at his corpse again and again and it still hurt every time. and now I think I'm traumatized :( like a part of me died when he comforted himself by telling himself “it’s okay” — while covered in his own blood after getting stabbed multiple times — because he literally didn’t have anybody to comfort him. and yeah coming from someone who loves seeing her favorite fictional characters go through the worst kind of hell, I genuinely want nothing but love and happiness and lots of hugs for him. someone please wrap this poor guy in blankets and protect him from all the harm in the world please :(

please he’s just a little guy :(

Hwang In-ho I will never say no to anything with you in it

Imagine how cunty it’d be if when In-ho and Gi-hun saw each other face to face again it was Gi-hun sitting on the Front Man’s chair (that one chair In-ho always sat on), In-ho thought Gi-hun was still down there in the dormitory with the rest of the Players when he walked into his office, still wearing the Front Man’s mask, and suddenly Gi-hun turned the lights on, still seated on In-ho’s chair and said, “Hello In-ho.”

OR

Imagine this being how In-ho and Jun-ho reunited. Jun-ho sitting on the Front Man’s chair and catching In-ho off guard by saying something like, “Hello, hyung.”

Coffee blog

In-ho is really pushing his luck during this scene because

Jun-ho only has one bullet left

Jun-ho does not know it’s In-ho behind the mask

Jun-ho is cornered, he most likely thinks he'll die here, and it will make a lot more sense for Jun-ho to aim for the head or the heart, instead of the shoulder, and kill In-ho with that one bullet he has left.

yes, Jun-ho ends up only shooting him on his shoulder. but the point is that Jun-ho doesn't know it's his brother when he shoots him. so there's a very real possibility of him ending up killing In-ho here.

imagine the angst, what will happen if Jun-ho actually aims for In-ho's head or In-ho's heart and realizes belatedly it's In-ho he killed.

the teaser has me so fucked up that i have to imagine the hwang brother’s reunion to cope. the image of junho and inho reuniting after the collapse of the game is burned into my skull. it’s not pretty. it’s not clean. it’s not two people running toward each other in slow motion while dramatic music swells — it’s ugly and desperate. it’s two men who have been hollowed out by grief and guilt and violence finally catching sight of the only person who ever made them feel real, and they shatter.

they don’t talk. they don’t even get the chance to breathe before they’re on each other. there’s smoke in the air, metal screaming as it tears apart, the stink of blood and fire in their lungs — and junho sees him. inho. alive. standing. and he doesn’t say his name, doesn’t shout. he just moves, because if he doesn’t grab him right now, he’s scared he’ll vanish again. like a hallucination. like a cruel joke.

and then it’s a blur. they make it to the boat — somehow. still running on adrenaline and sheer instinct. and it’s only then, when the water is the only sound and the chaos is behind them, that it hits them like a wave. they’re both trembling. junho’s face is wet — not sure if it’s sweat or tears or sea spray — and inho’s breathing like he’s just outrun death. and they collapse into each other.

and it’s not a hug. it’s not sweet or soft. it’s violent in the way grief is violent, in the way relief is overwhelming. junho is grabbing at inho’s coat, his shoulders, his hair, like he’s trying to force the truth into his hands — you’re real. you’re here. you didn’t die. inho wraps his arms around him so tight junho lets out this choked sound, half-sob, half-laugh, like his chest is being cracked open just to make space for the flood inside him.

they both fall to their knees on the floor of that boat, just a tangle of limbs and shaking hands, clutching so hard it hurts. they’re pressing their foreheads together like they think if they get close enough they can merge, can erase everything that’s happened. junho’s whispering something like “i thought i lost you” over and over, and inho just keeps pulling him closer like “i know. i know. i’m here. i’m here.”

and they’re crying. full-body, soul-wracking sobs — but they’re smiling too. or maybe it’s a grimace. maybe it’s just what it looks like when someone’s heart is breaking and healing at the same time. because they’re out. they survived. and it still doesn’t feel like enough. no amount of touching is enough. no hug is strong enough to say i love you and you’re safe now and i never stopped looking for you.

they hold each other like they’re afraid the world will end again if they let go.

and honestly? maybe it would.

flower prince is so patient with me 

--- Designer/Manufacturer: CeciliaCoppolaShop [X] Region: Italy Time period: 2020s

blooms

say what you want, but it's my firm belief in-ho killed jung-bae for the same reason he shot jun-ho. he saw no other option in the pursuit to protect a loved one. this mindset that violence is the only way to save the people he loves is deeply rooted in his beliefs, going at least all the way back to the ""bribe" he took to help his wife. whether or not it was a bribe, or illegal in any regard, doesn't really matter. he toed the line between following society's rules and not, and it wasn't enough to save her or his family.

in-ho spent the entirety of the 2024 games watching gi-hun experience turmoil at the loss of others, but he couldn't stand there and watch gi-hun mourn jung-bae. he did what he thought the only solution was, as the only other option was killing gi-hun for spearheading this revolt, and he wasn't going to do that. people are watching, just as they were at the cliff's edge with jun-ho. he took quite a risk offering for jun-ho to come with him to begin with. and he is expected to be cold, distant, and manipulative.

season 2 was such a parallel to season 1—people panicking during the first game, saving someone at the very end, the players begging and pleading for their lives, but there's diversions from the script too, because of gi-hun, but also because of in-ho.

in-ho saved myung-gi against thanos instead of allowing the players to discover deaths outside of the games count towards the pot. in-ho saved jung-bae in mingle because he knew gi-hun could handle himself. he tries to discourage the rebellion because he knows it can't succeed, but even still, fires on his own guards to protect gi-hun. he could have left and returned to his position at any time, and still, he wanted to try things gi-hun's way. he only picks up the mantle of the front man again when he's certain the rebellion is at the end of their rope.

yes—he killed jung-bae. but he told gi-hun it was a punishment only for the audience watching, and then immediately turned tail to walk away. he didn't want to see the fallout of that decision. so he didn't have to see true agony on gi-hun again.

compared to the salesman who says he's cut out for this work because it was easy to raise his gun and shoot his own father.

gi-hun and jun-ho both hold the key to the remnants of in-ho's humanity, and even after everything he's done, in-ho can't bring himself to let that go. he's not cut out for this life.

SA mention

We all know the VIPs are creeps and we saw them sexually harassing staff members, and so far we never get any direct confirmation one way or another if Front Man's even safe from them or if he's also one of their, well, victims. We do know, however, they're more powerful than Front Man, and Front Man, just like every other staff member, serves them. So it's not really a stretch to suspect he's been subjected to the same abuse his staff members go through.

Like, I'm not trying to make "excuses" for him when Jun-ho was assaulted. In-ho may or may not have known it was his brother behind the mask that day. And yes, it would have been great if he stepped in and stopped that VIP. But the thing is that we don't know if he even could, if any attempt to save Jun-ho would be seen as an act or rebellion that would be met with a far worse punishment for both him and Jun-ho.

"Why did In-ho just let it happen?" We don't even know if In-ho himself is also a victim when it comes to this. And if he really is one, then God knows how long—how many years—it's been happening to him.

It's in the sheep's nature to shelter his dearest wolf

Please go and read this absolutely beautiful fic by @bebx. It fits so perfectly in with canon, and I absolutely fell in love.

day 2: stealing glances

the irony of in-ho having fish as pets and gi-hun being a cat person is so funny to me. especially when it's canon.

457 (crack) fic where in-ho and gi-hun fought because gi-hun's cat ate in-ho's fish 😭