Latest Posts by cleaveslice - Page 8
lung cancer speedrun strats
SQUID GAME 3 COUNTDOWN — Question 21 / 96
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wish the admin luck; they have their first big swim meet of the summer season!
What’s a minor Squid Game detail or scene you think is underlooked?
the poll has ended
now you have to live with your decision. a decision that you can't undo.
the / in ship pairings is the wound btw
SQUID GAME AND RELIGION
I MIGHT SOUND CRAZY BUT HEAR ME OUT.
the usage of religion and religious metaphors in squid game, particularly salvation is incredibly not touched on.
the first interaction gi-hun has with the salesman, religion is mentioned. “i don’t believe in jesus” then, when he was rescued, he too was untied by a religious person.
not only is this an inclusio of sorts, but it also shows themes of salvation. the salesman, in a way, serves as the “jehovah’s witness” of the games, seeking people out to save them. giving them an opportunity. if you think about it, thanos too, likely saw the salesman as some kind of angel, quite literally saving him from death (not for long lol) this is a contrast to the actual religious person saving him when he was tied down (and gagged by a credit card??) on the streets. a sort of figurative-to-literal parallel.
there’s also literally an episode called hell [01x02], showing how awful the characters lives are outside of the games. they’re all living in their own personal hells.
the games are their only form of salvation, similarly to how in christianity jesus christ is the only way to salvation and heaven, the games are seen to be these characters only hopes, only ways to “heaven”. the games too are framed as something simple, “just children’s games”, similarly to how believing in christ is seen as something easy and simple.
unfortunately 244 and 044 are also overlooked, but they both are important religious characters.
244 serves as kind of a foil to ji-yeong (who is, by the way, a character traumatized by religion, who ironically went out through sacrifice — biblically said to be one of the holiest methods of death)
and while we don’t know much about 044 in general, she is incredibly adamant on the belief on fate and that when and where you die are not up to you. once again, another common religious belief, believed through all religions.
(i make points mainly through christianity because i know the most about it, but other religions are brought up too — like 044’s shamanism. the concept of salvation is too, a general belief that runs through most religions.)
pov me rotating the haesoolings in my head like a five-dimensional microwave
i adore all of them. sang-woo wins but the other two can share the second place trophy 🏆 and like idk kill each other in the process.
you might not be her father, but you were someone's
If Dae-ho has no fans they shot and killed me
lung cancer fears this man
@cleaveslice
what the fuck did they inject into Karma (2025)'s theme to make it that good?
this thumbanil is so funny to me theyre like who invited that guy
college au; aro-spec byeong-gi and repressed bisexual deok-su. send post.
Any Sangwoo headcanons?👉🏻👈🏻
SANG-WOO?? ABSOLUTELY. MILLIONS. BILLIONS EVEN. i’m genuinely so glad i get this opportunity to talk abt him bc i feel kinda icky irl rn 😔
sang-woo HATES being late to things. being overly late to a function gives him a nauseous feeling (same)
he plays sudoku and he would ABSOLUTELY play other nytimes games.
he briefly tried contacts but he hated how they felt in his eyes so he gave them up
he would refuse to go to therapy because he sees it as wasted time in which he could be working instead.
his mother’s name is jang hye-ji
he regularly suffers from headaches/migraines. he also probably knocks himself out with ibuprofen.
PANICS when he’s sick. thinks he’s doomed, even when he’s got something small like a cold. partially because being sick makes him feel like he’s taking unnecessary time off and he’ll fall behind, but also because the sickness fucks with his head and makes him super delirious.
extremely good at locking tf in and not getting distracted when it comes to work. will literally eliminate any distractions. (that's why he and gi-hun lost contact. /j)
has to drink insane amounts of water after waking up otherwise his throat will be usually a pain in the ass all day. that's what smoking all FUCKING day and attempting suicide by carbon monoxide will do to you. hoe /aff
likes chocolate (milk and dark) but fucking hates white chocolate. (same. that is just pure projection) he likes his chocolate INSANELY bitter though.
not too much of a sweet tooth. too much sugar makes him sick. prefers umami and bitter foods.
(free this man from the clutches of chainsmoking please. how is he not dead.)
anything abt inho. lets talk abt inho. IM INSANE ABT HIMMM.
HI FINLAY 💗💗
okok i have sm thoughts on in-ho. some good and some not
let's start with the good!
he is INSANELY well-written. his backstory is so so intriguing to me, especially the circumstances that factor into his downfall. he was a police detective, who likely saw horrible crimes day to day and therefore likely grew desensitized. this is a factor in his present cynicism and general ignorance.
he genuinely cares for jun-ho, with that being an achilles heel of sorts and one of his final strings of humanity. he likely raised jun-ho in a sense, and the two had a very strong bond that seemed to last, not dissipating until in-ho's disappearance/presumed acceptance of the frontman position. he aims to protect jun-ho, even now, when he's lost his touch and trust in human nature.
i also want to know more about him and il-nam's relationship. i really do. i wonder how they met in the first place - was it similar to how in-ho and gi-hun first interacted? and what were his original thoughts towards il-nam? how did he loop him into working for the games?
also, i want to know how his games were. what happened? how did it get to this? did he have to make any betrayals? i REALLY want to know what his experience was likeeee godddd,,,, that intrigues me so much. i've read multiple fics that write this so well (what remains by @everwhovian is AMAZING!!!! as well as some other various ones on ao3) and it just leaves me so damn interested in MORE.
yet ANOTHER thing i find so interesting is how he willingly pits loved ones against one another. it is stated that jung-bae was possibly thrown into the games for gi-hun, as yet another psychological torture device. this is also seen with the husband 069/wife 070, yong-sik/geum-ja, hell, even one could say jun-hee/myung-gi. agh.
i personally have a headcanon that in-ho was the one to switch the marbles game from being a "you play against your partner" instead of "you play against a team" when he became the frontman. out of pure spite and enjoyment.
now for the bad.
the fucking mischaracterization is INSANE. i see it daily. it's godawful. IN-HO IS A HORRIBLE, SICKENING PERSON. people really need to stop overlooking that for yaoi and pretty privilege purposes.
in-ho is implied to be indifferent to rape as well as the other horrible things that happen in the organ trafficking ring. he did not do anything when it came to protecting his brother from that nasty vip. he is NOT a good person whatsoever, and people who write him like that confuse me quite heavily.
i don't fw 457 at all, but to me as an outsider of the ship, it feels like some people mold in-ho (and gi-hun) to fit their yaoi fantasies. i have no issue with shipping them, but the problem lies when you are unknowingly mischaracterizing and tossing aside a very problematic person for, what, gay sex? there's plenty of that to go around anyway. sometimes it just feels like he's been reduced to 457 content and it's quite saddening to me. he has so much more potential.
anyways. this is a long rant. i have uh. many feelings on this man.
diversity loss! the worst people you know are in a QPR.
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.
Placebo, 'This Is What You Wanted'
