Hello, hello, I’m Viscari! 20+, she/her, a chronic story-consumer and less chronic analyzer. I consume all genres, but have a particular love for psychological. Main focuses atm are GDCG/GSGW and TBHK. Will occasionally do reaction posts (#viscareads), since I think it makes the reading process more fun !
Master List of Posts (slowly updating but pretty comprehensive! The formatting isn’t great despite my efforts so if anyone wants a separate master list post of Gdcg/gsgw specifically, lmk)
Ghost Story Gotta Work (focus on Choi and Soleum and choisol ) am up to date and will be on top of part 3!
Capitalism
Everything that leads up to pt 2 choisol fight, including Soleum’s fumble and why Choi has given up on communication
Misc Soleum allegories and analyses: ideal worker allegory, potential self-acceptance through others; KSE’s thin rationale in pt 2; KSE’s emotions in casino arc
Choi analyses: mountain climbing, green grape ade note, parting line in 371, actions showing he wants to trust Soleum in pt1; how pt 2’s end parallels Choi’s arc thus far;
Fun things: Choi headcanons (for own use to add whimsy to fics), choisol memory AU, choisol playing games AU; wife-chasing regretful ml Choi parallels for fun; casually doting Soleum AU;
Choisol fic drabbles and discards: pt 2 drabble; villainess AU discard
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun
Art appreciation
Themes: Nene’s naivety and resilience;
Aoikane: Aoi’s wish, Aoi’s and Akane’s surprisingly conflicting desires, Aoikane’s ambition vs having a life; Akane’s implied childhood;
Aoi: Aoi’s strength via femininity, Aoi and Kou similarities; Aoi’s role in story mirrored by fandom;
Character themes and arcs: Tsukasa and Nene dynamic and how it relates to Hanako;
To Be Hero X
Femininity and sensuality in Nice’s design and portrayal, as connected to exploitation
Allegories in Lin Ling’s hero design (as compared to Nice)
Ep 1’s narrative decision
Nice’s curated image and the assumptions that come with it
Yang Cheng’s and Lucky Cyan’s one-sided, complex dynamic that shows idol-fan relationships;
Link Click
Qiao Ling appreciation
Exchanging the present for the past or future, with Qiao Ling as a metaphor
Fantasy
Witch Hat Atelier: overarching realistic dilemma and potential lessons; potential theme and character growth for Tetia’s arc;
Magus of the Library
Shoujo
Yona of the Dawn: Zeno appreciation; final arc analysis;
It’s Not Easy Being Cute: realistic fashion journey;
ORV: Missing someone you can’t remember the face of; Lee Hakhyun
2ha: rafayel’s card inspired ranwan drabble;
I’m generally up to date with everything I post about but I do try to note spoilers! Sometimes I finish things (#my art), sometimes I make myself post unfinished things (#fic drabbles and discards), often times I analyze or make AUs about my current fixations. Thanks for listening to me ramble about my beloveds!
would like to say that Soleum is really funny, strong, cute, pathetic, smart, obedient, scary, really scary, hot, and intimidating this chapter (391)
lowk if he were in a Chinese “survive in a harem” type novel he’d be the scheming fake white lotus
I’m so happy bds-nim has complex characters with strong personalities and consistent characterization, to the point that rereading is really fun and I understand dialogue the more I analyze
There are some actions/dialogues/themes that I don’t understand. I try to figure it out so much that it’s lowk agonizing. Sometimes it’s to the extent that I’m like “why am I putting so much effort into understanding a fictional character ??? It could mean nothing. It’s fully possible the author hasn’t put this much thought into it. I mean, there’s plenty of media where I can’t think too much about the characters, because a motivation or trait doesn’t actually mean anything outside of how it moves the plot, and getting my expectations up will only disappoint me.”
Go back to point 1.
there’s definitely meaning. It’s worth it to analyze because it makes me enjoy the characters and the story more, and I don’t think bds-nim will let me down.
If i had a nickel for every time someone misremembered a rlly cool Ryu Jaekwan moment in gsgw and thought it was an Agent Choi moment, I'd have at least 3 nickels. Which isn't a lot. But its rlly sad it happened at least 3 times 😭
This is also rlly funny to me because in my personal opinion, Choi wouldnt do either LOLL these are things that only Jaekwan would do
1. Choi has many doubts about Soleum’s home and Choi is cynical in some ways. I dont think he would say something like “we can be your home” unless he had some reason to believe Soleum could actually respond to it. And he has no reason to believe that. So, he wouldnt say it (esp cause in other cases, saying that could make the other party become defensive)
2. I highly doubt Choi monologues to himself or verbally says anything important if/when talking to things. The most would maybe be, he happens to look at the plush while drinking, and hes jokingly like “want some Americano?”
Jaekwan’s cool and cute moments are purely Jaekwan!!!! Choi’s cool and admirable moments are purely Choi!!
the only thing i can realistically see being mixed up is that Jaekwan is (i think) the one who noticed an important clue (that soleum was trying to give in ocean palace??? It might’ve been a different incident tho). I also dont think it was a stand out moment unless youre paying attention, so i doubt this is the third, unspecified nickel.
Daydream Inc. and the Skeleton in its Basement (CRI), an Analysis
Spoilers for parts 1 and 2 of the novel!
So I’ve been wondering this for a while: Why was Cheong working with the CRI remnant to create a GF body for Soleum? What’s in it for her? And then the answer hit me in the face: to create workers out of ghost stories capable of collecting Dream Essence. Because, isn’t that what Soleum is? A ghost story entity summoned into a body capable of being identified or treated as a human by Dream Collectors and therefore able to bring back Dream Essence from darknesses.
And what’s better? If this body dies or gets lost, just make a new one and summon the same or a different entity to work for you! Remember, by accepting the summoning, the summoned creature automatically accepts the contract for summoning. And this contract can be edited to suit Cheong’s needs. Such as being employed for life, for example. Or absolutely obedience to Cheong/Daydream. <- the contract isn’t foolproof, as seen with Braun, but it’s significantly easier to apply to other entities. Cheong doesn’t need the other party to read and sign a paper contract, they accept just by agreeing to the summoning.
So not only are your possible employees now near limitless, they might also come with their own special darkness related abilities! You don’t even need to equip them with tools to make them useful. No need to waste regeneration potions on them! And they’re probably naturally resistant to other forms of contamination, so they don’t need to be treated delicately or be maintained.
You could even recycle old Daydream employees using this method. The process this is based on successfully summoned a darkness entity that used to be a human being as a human being. Who’s to say the same can’t happen with members of the security team?
So of course this would be research Cheong would be interested in and invest in it.
After all, that CRI researcher was using massive amounts of Dream Essence for their tests. Even recycling old Daydream darknesses and the remains of their entities. Where else would they get those resources if not from the very director of the building they’re working under?
It’s unlikely for the CRI researcher to know the full truth of what happened in Sekwang if they were outside it at the time of the incident. It’s all too easy for Cheong to have approached them with a warped version of the story, she’s someone they trust and have worked with, after all. Maybe they only found out the truth later, after they were fully invested in the experiment. Maybe they only realized what she wanted after succeeding, when she discovered their success before they could proceed with the contract and QnA.
Anyways, dunno if anyone else thought of this, started reading well after 208 and took a break while waiting for part 3 lol.
For days, I was speculating about a particular type of darkness/disaster. Today's episode, a full explanation of what white rope/hose darkness is, solidified that my apocalypse theory may be right, and I would like to share it.
(Disclaimer: it may sound far-fetched & some may probably be a stretch, but still, please bear with me😢)
My theory elucidates 2 things.
1) What is the main cause & 2) How does the apocalypse happen?
Let's begin with identifying what this A-class darkness is.
It is a native darkness that resides in Namhae. Much before Daydream existed.
I speculate it was first discovered when this place was a mine. A place that digs up the minerals hidden underground.
Little did they know that it was not minerals but an unknown being buried deep down. They accidentally woke this ancient darkness. Things turned to chaos. The mine then became derelict, only to be bought by a money & darkness-hungry company.
Inferred from the explanation, this Namhae-residing darkness collects human juice for 1) storing energy & 2) converting it to a useful chemical substance, hormone.
Tyroglobulin, mentioned as one of the components of the liquidified human, is a precursor to Tyrosine, a hormone secreted from the thyroid gland & regulating metabolism.
Also, after the whole facility is encroached by this darkness, it transforms into a fully functional organ of a larger living organism, an endocrine gland.
Putting the given chunks of information all together, Namhae's darkness is turning into a thyroid gland.
As you can see from the human anatomy, the thyroid gland is located at the protruded area of the neck, which we call "Adam's apple".
Please remember this location for later.
To sum up, it is a darkness that:
1. Is hidden in the basement, underground.
2. Is Flesh & blood-based
3. Somewhat follows the cult's doctrine ("Join us & become one")
4. Related to the church's sectors (Lover of Paradise Sect)
5. Turns out to be a part of the giant organism
...Doesn't this sound familiar?
The "HAPPY ENDING Sector" from part 2?
The happy ending sector is located in the underground of Jisan Village, in a ghost story named "Final Ritual Center".
The basement is now in a strange space. A weird-looking corridor with crimson flesh pulsating.
A blood vessel connected to the head was elongated, reaching the end of the corridor. As if the thing itself has a suction power, it tries to absorb me....
(Chapter 234)
This ghost story ticks all the boxes from the list above.
It's an underground bunker (1),
covered with pulsating flesh & blood vessels (2),
contaminated by the same ghost story, based on the fish parasite that eats off their tongue & all voluntarily jumped into alcohol to become a human-brewed liquor, thus creating a sense of oneness (3),
...A human body has voluntarily turned into a part of the gigantic organism. (...)
(chapter 389)
tied to Happy Ending Sector (4),
... and located in something's stomach (5).
Let's put an emphasis on the "something's stomach/belly."
This part wasn't clearly explained & was just skimmed in Part 2, and we readers quickly moved on to the Sekwang City arc at the moment.
After Part 2, we don't really know what happened to the remaining Happy Ending Sector, and it seems that this place isn't destroyed. Meaning, information regarding the "Final Ritual Center" is still intact & can influence future arcs/episodes.
Moreover, it reads that this ghost story doesn't have a "FIXED LOCATION", "MOVES ALL AROUND THE PLACE," & EVOKING VARIOUS KINDS OF SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENA.
What if Namhae's darkness is a variant of this ghost story?
Following the logic of Namhae's darkness, what if Happy Ending Sector's darkness became a fully functional stomach?
The underground of the Happy Ending Sector is functioning as a digestive tract, especially where the stomach & liver are located, since it's associated with alcohol. Alcohol enters the stomach, and the toxic substance inside is detoxed by your liver.
But here's the question.
Why are these darknesses creating a different organ, not the same one?
The answer is simple: It is waking up a gigantic living organism, currently dormant under Korea.
With that in mind, let's look at the map.
This is the map of Korea, each marked with the location of Namhae & Jisan Village. (According to Chapter 195, Jisan Village is located in the city of Cheonan-Asan, 30 minutes by bike from the station, and the circle is exactly where the city is.)
I am going to superimpose a certain image over this map.
Volia! You can see a humanoid being in the shape of Korea's coastline, all curled up.
(Pardon me, this was the best image I could find)
Namhae is located where the thyroid gland should be, & Jisan Village is located where the stomach should be.
There must be sectors everywhere in Korea, and the respective, but same-rooted, darknesses underneath must be creating different organs, depending on where they are (like a stem cell).
When all of the organs from all sectors are successfully created & developed, the organs will connect with each other and turn into a single being, FINALLY WAKING THE CREATURE, under Korea as a result.
This is how the APOCALYPSE occurs.
Soleum did mention the cause of the apocalypse before.
It happens because of the "CONTAINMENT FAILURE," & eventually everyone dies; NO SURVIVORS.
This NATION-SCALED HORROR definitely CANNOT BE contained when awake and would kill all of the living people on the land.
Then, who is this currently dormant cosmic horror?
As many speculate, I also think this being is related to Ireum-nim, the creator of this world.
The most prominent reason for this is that the Ireum-nim worshipping cult (Church of the Luminous Unknown) is involved. But this whole thing reminded me of a character from Korean Mythology, called "Mago Halmi or Grandmother Mago (마고 할미)".
Mago Halmi is a powerful, giant goddess who created the entire landscape of Korea, a goddess of creation.
Her urine formed rivers & her poop formed hills. She moved tons and tons of mud to create mountains and land to live.
Associating this myth with Ireum-nim, a creator god, sleeping after he finished creating the world, kinda makes sense logically & thematically.
Aaaaaand that's it! Thank you for listening to my LONG explanation of my apocalypse theory.
Earlier today I was reading a web novel where things happened too conveniently for my taste, and then 390 dropped and I’m SO in awe of how hype it was and how much sense it makes. It’s so unexpected but the moment you think of it it’s like “yeah!!! That tracks, actually!!”
Here’s why it makes so much sense ! Spoilers for…(end of) ch 390, of course ?
Baek Saheon as Section Chief of Team H
It’s been shown time and time again that BSH values survival above all. All the things he do, greed included, is often tied to survival. He’s the type that will grit his teeth and do what’s need to survive, no matter what and no matter how much he wants to.
So. Like. Duh, of course BSH alive and doing decently. For him in particular, it makes perfect sense that he’s in a middling team; too low and too high both involve more danger. Why would he want to be in the elite team when it’s more dangerous? Why would he let himself fall to the bottom teams when he’ll he used as a human shield? It’s impossible to know how difficult it was for him to get here— considering that we know ppl involved in the project are disadvantaged and BSH was part of the project—, but it’s actually not surprising that he did get here, no matter what it may have taken. A good position in a middling, easily overlooked team.
The question remains of why he’s in the lower ranked Team H and not Team F. My guesses are
Result of negative influence from being in the project team. He’s had to climb his way up from an unknown fallen position, and decided to stop at Team H (or is trying to get further but hasn’t been able to). Again, he’s not the type to care too much for the benefit of higher ranking, not if it affects his survival. Aka, I don’t think he’d aim for elite teams
Equal exchange. His promotions to section chief came at the cost of being in a lower ranked team. I can easily see the position having benefits that outweigh the cons of a lower ranked team
And this!!! Isn’t all!!! You know what else makes sense? The fact that he, section chief of team H, would be the one to investigate!
Let’s think about it. A darkness breach in a branch office; daydream is by no means new to darkness breaches, and they particularly don’t care when it comes to their low ranked workers’ survival (have no clue how much they care about the researchers). It’s still a breach though, so why not send the security team?
Well. I have the impression that this branch hasn’t been producing much results,, definitely consistently worse than C, despite being home to an A(?)-grade darkness. And then, suddenly, there’s reports of strange things happening. On top of that, perhaps they’ve been getting reports of KSE’s and JNS’s dream essences, which are crazily unexpected (whether they get reports is unknown but I assume the researchers have to report their findings). There’s a good chance for this mediocre location to produce results, so they’ll send someone to check.
And even if it’s not due to reports,,,the result-focused higher ups may have decided to take the opportunity to try getting essence from the darkness again, using the breach as a catalyst. It has been a multitude of years after all, and higher ups in general can chronically….be sort of stupid (or are aware but they risk it for the sake of potential wealth)
So— if they’re not going to send a security team— a middling, slightly higher team makes so much sense.
If the higher ups think it’s dangerous and there’s a high fatality rate with questionable reward (most of the dream essences collected there have been low grade), then there’s no reason for them to risk their elite teams
They may also think the breach isn’t a big deal and it won’t be dangerous. In this case, there’s also no reason to send the elite team
But if they send a team that’s too low in ranking (with worse skills), they might screw it up. Daydream is always hoping for some sort of profit, after all; they’ll send in a team that’s has hope of clearing a darkness, but they don’t mind dying. So, anywhere F-K, I would guess. And look at that, H falls in between there.
I’m not sure how much the higher ups know about their workers and how much they judge decision based on their knowledge. But if they did purposely pick a worker, then it’d also make perfect sense for them to pick BSH in particular.
A focus on survival (if he can’t survive, then it’s probably not worth it to send others due to risk; in this case, send security team and erase it).
An item attached to his body suited to sensing danger. Honestly, he could go, look, and perhaps instantly make a call on the danger level based on what he sees. In terms of efficiency, isn’t he the well suited for the situation?
High enough ranking to make calls. Skilled enough for a good likelihood of clearing the darkness of cleanable. Not valuable enough for them to care if he dies.
Thinking in the perspective of daydream, doesn’t this make so much sense? Obviously it didn’t have to be BSH and could’ve been another team, but among the main cast, it most makes sense for it to be BSH !!
It makes! So much sense !!!!
Of course, other things to appreciate this chapter are
More kse characterization
Horror. Terrifying horror.
Psychological horror and how it affects both KSE and JNS in veryyyy realistic ways, and there’s lasting effects of it
JNS’s crazy consistent characterization
Present survival that’s very much in question and may have come at the cost of future, worse consequences
Cliffhanger— the new darkness (in so interested in this you, don’t even know. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a new darkness being created, Lord Cat notwithstanding)
Cliffhanger - bsh (bsh and jns and kse as a trio will be so crazy and interesting and fun. I’m excited!!)
I’m just. Sigh. I love this series so so so so so much. It’s so inspiring and satisfying how much sense these things make. This singular chapter somehow encapsulates so much about what I love about Gsgw— the fear, the emotions, the thrill, the logic, the realistic effects and outcomes and consequences.
Bds-nim may you live happily and healthily for a long time
Edit: okay actually i think bsh is coming for an audit and if so then it might have been planned in advance? It’s hard to tell because it could also be due to the breach. If it was planned in advance. even then i think it makes sense for it to be bsh because… section chief of a decent but middle team. You know? Legit any of the possible reasons it makes sense for it to be bsh, who’s competent but not highly valued and has some power but is low-ranked enough to do tedious (and semi important but not urgent) work. Section chief coming to an audit. Makes sense.
1. Humans say ‘ow’, even if they haven’t actually been hurt. It’s just a thing they say when they think they might have been hurt, but aren’t sure yet.
2. Humans collect shiny things and decorate their bodies and nests with them. The shinier the better, although each individual has a unique taste for style and colouring
3. Humans are not an aquatic or even amphibious species, but they flock to bodies of water simply to play in it. They can’t even hold their breath all that long; they just love to splash!
4. When night falls and the sky goes dark, humans become drowsy and begin to cocoon themselves in soft, fluffy bedding.
5. Some humans spend time in each other’s nests! Just for fun! It’s not their nest; they’re just visiting each other.
6. Some humans use pigments and dyes to make their bodies flashy and colourful! They even attach shiny dangly bits to their cartalidgous membranes!
7. Humans are very clever, and sometimes adopt creatures from other species into their family units. They don’t seem to notice the obvious differences, and often raise them alongside their own young!
8. If a human sees another creature in distress, they can commonly be observed trying to help! Even at their own risk, most humans are deeply compassionate creatures!
9. If a human hears a particularity catchy sound or tune, it will often mimic it, even to the point of annoying themselves!
10. Sneezes are entirely involuntary, and completely adorable. Especially when the human in question becomes frustrated
11. Humans love treats!!! Some more than others. Many humans will save these treats specifically for a later date when they are in need of comfort or reassurance. IE, pickles, pop tarts, Popsicles, etc
12. They’re learning to travel in space!!! They can’t get very far, but they’re trying!!! So far, they’ve made it to the end of their yard, and have found rocks
I thought of it very randomly but I really enjoy the headcanon of Choi owning a house. Inherited, as the last member of a family who suddenly died. It’s full of useful items and miscellaneous items and strange items and sentimental items that Choi doesn’t know the sentimentality of. Most of it looks like a typical house, lovely and intended and a little bit cluttered. The living room and kitchen area are well maintained. Most of the rooms are dustier than anyone would reasonably expect. His bedroom is messiest, full of notebooks and notes and items he’s attached to and items he’s concerned about. He often sleeps in the living room, spread out in a wide open area, listening to the creaks and groans and the sound of wind passing by. He’s in the way, but there’s no one to be in the way of, so he listens to the sounds of a once-lively house, feels guilty for not having the time to take care of it, and tries to sleep.
it’s most probably not canon, considering part 2 spoilers. But hey, unless it’s proved otherwise I can use it in fics !
not sure what’s going on but lately? Multiple of my fics are being read? Usually the Kudo email covers like 3 fics max but the last few days it’s been 5-9 and it’s not like it’s the same person reading multiple of my fics so it’s. Simply an odd coincidence but strange all the same
can you give us who cant read part 3 a summary,, im so curious
hmmm gsgw is one of the very very very few pieces of media I think it’s better to not be spoiled for tbh, since the author is very good at building up reveals and weaving in plots and that kind of thing.
of part 3, what I don’t consider to be spoilers that would ruin the reading experience
Are that Soleum goes back into the DER right away (in ch 372 haha), and the church is becoming more relevant
Hi! Idk if I can ask this here(I'm kinda new to tumblr) but which translation do you use to read gsgw? I've only got mtl after chapter 300 but the excerpts you add look good ,so I was wondering where I could read it too.
Also I'm a huge fan your choisol analyses! I always look forward to them !!
Hello~! Welcome to tumblr I hope you’re enjoying it ! I actually tend to read gsgw on browser kakao using safari or chrome (first safari but lots of people say chrome aka Google Translate is better but it sometimes. Doesn’t translate “” which makes conversation confusing). The excerpts I’m using on my posts is an edited mtl that was kindly given to me and not publicly available ^^’
Thank you for your support, I’m glad you’re enjoying my analyses !!
Analysis/thoughts on why Soleum doesn’t respond to Choi
I’ve made multiple posts about it (Choi trying and failing to get Soleum to open up + evidence of Soleum’s silence) and seen various (good) viewpoints on possible reasons why, so I thought I’d address the potential reasons all in one go + organize my own thoughts on it,,, since I didn’t think about it much until I saw the various viewpoints.
spoilers for part 2. Warning that this is a very long post.
One of the points brought up by @maganbee and @clockworkspider (sorry if I jumpscared anyone with a tag) is that Soleum knows Choi is super smart; Soleum has too many secrets and Choi is smart and so to avoid spilling anything, Soleum chooses to not deal with him too much. I do think this is an aspect, and could lead to Soleum finding interactions with Choi exhausting (who knows if he actually thinks that way though). However, something feels off about even though it makes sense, and I finally realized why.
here’s a little table of contents to summarize what feels off, and I’ll explain the points in more depth
His constant silence makes his talking a tell, which doesn’t help at all if he’s trying to prevent Choi from knowing things.
In dangerous situations, Soleum tends to go for an active approach instead of a passive one. Silence generally is a passive approach. Additionally, actively talking can potentially let Soleum get the upper hand— and he usually is able to change the situation via talking—whereas silence often doesn’t even have that potential.
His interaction with Team B Leader, who is canonically basically a walking lie detector.
Point 1.
Choi aside, I think Soleum almost always talks more when he’s trying to hide something (and when he explains something but that might be a personality thing haha~). This can be counterintuitive bc its easily suspicious— over explaining, I mean— but he is creative and smart enough that the explanations he gives on the fly are believable, especially if you don’t know Soleum. Choi is at the disadvantage here because he hasn’t known Soleum for long + Soleum actively tries to hide himself, whereas Soleum has known and presumably analyzed DER Choi for years. But Choi does know that Soleum is typically very very quiet with him, so it’d obviously be suspicious every time Soleum starts talking a lot. Compared to other characters, Soleum talking to Choi has way too much of a contrast. And Choi sees Soleum talking to others (most obviously Jaekwan), so it’s also suspicious in and of itself that Soleum is only unresponsive to Choi. In my personal opinion, the suspiciousness as a result of silence is far more of a con than giving responses as normal, even at the risk of giving too much info.
Everytime Soleum says more than 3 lines there’s a 50% chance of him lying/having a hidden agenda, and Choi is probably aware of that. The reason Choi doesn’t act on this is. Well. It’s Choi, who doesn’t discount any possibility until he’s considered it carefully, and who prefers wait-and-see approaches when it comes to non-urgent situations. Also, Soleum lying while talking does still have more to go off of than Soleum saying nothing, which is probably what would happen if he’s called out for lying (and, like, what most people would do when they’re called out for lying. In my opinion, aside from specific situations or close relationships, calling someone out for lying is more likely to make them defensive than more likely to make them tell the truth).
additionally, Soleum seems to be quiet around Choi even the conversation isn’t dangerous at all. In these situations, it would benefit him to respond more…? I can see his constant silence being beneficial in a ‘he’s silent no matter the topic so it’s never unusual’ but I genuinely can’t tell how well Choi can read Soleum’s reactions. If he can read them well, then the silence doesn’t change anything.
Point 2,
Soleum uses talking as a weapon quite often and he generally prefers a more active approach; if anything, he talks quite normally when it comes to a lot of people he should be nervous about talking to. Ho Yuwon is a very good example, since he’s a superior with a lot of power, but Soleum talks to him quite normally.
Soleum using words to get out of a situation is quite common so I’ll list out examples from the top of my head (may be misremembering some. For that same reason these are not in order.). Him getting break time in the quiz show; creating a cult part 1; convincing Nasol to not kill/sacrifice Heeoun (?); convincing Ho Yuwon to not kill him + Choi in the taxi; home shopping channel arc; cult part 2; mansion of the blind convincing his team to let him try and save others; he’s always making people work together, for ex Braun and Jaheon;
there’s definitely more but I’m blanking and I think these prove my point enough ㅠㅠ Talking is definitely a weapon that Soleum is very skilled at using, and he’s experienced at it enough that he should be able to navigate conversations with Choi, especially when it comes to casual conversations. Again, Soleum being so quiet is inherently suspicious/notable because his silence is extremely obvious when compared to how he talks to Jaekwan and other Bureau agents.
Point 3
B leader and Choi have a lot in common. Shrewd, observant, seemingly approachable, thinks quickly, leaves possible avenues open as much as possible, they hide their own thoughts / suspicions, etc etc etc. additionally, B leader is canonically basically a lie detector
now, Soleum isn’t that talkative, but he is more talkative to B leader than he is to Choi. Would like to note that at least part of this may be because Soleum’s curious about a bunch of things from the early days. (Screenshots also include another example of Soleum talking more when he’s trying to explain/lie/do something)
Of course, B leader is also more intimidating than Choi. He presses silences instead of filling them, as well. Even then, I think Soleum is more willing to give responses (to show he’s listening) and more willing to ask questions (again may be due to curiosity as a DER fan).
minor tangent but Soleum does listen well in serious conversations and when he’s being given advice. He’s a ‘good child’ for a reason, after all. Hmmm because of this it’s hard to tell if sometimes his silence is due to respectfulness or other reasons (like, not wanting to give more info than necessary).
additional points
@maganbee also points out that Soleum doesn’t like lying to ‘good people’, which is true. It’s a very good point, and is probably an additional aspect; after all if he talks to Choi more, he’d have to lie to him more. But Soleum also doesn’t lie that much to the main cast generally (Saheon being the exception), so I’m not sure if it means anything~. Also, I think he’s lied to Jaekwan a fair amount, who would definitely fall under ‘good person’. Youngeun, I’m less sure of how much he’s lied to her… in fact he ends up not lying to most of the Daydream agents very often, primarily because the agents don’t really pry into each others’ lives.
I was trying to think of other characters who Soleum may be this silent toward, other than Choi. The potential other person I think he might not respond to as much is Seonghae but he’s contaminated in most of their interactions ㅠㅠ I distinctly remember a conversation where Seonghae was adamantly saying Soleum was ‘good’ and Soleum was fairly quiet in it… likely due to not agreeing or because he’s awkward about complimented. Anyway, Seonghae and Choi are similar with portrayed upbeat energy so I considered if maybe Soleum is bad with those types; I went back to check. This is how he talks to Seonghae (and Leopard, both energetic people) in chapter 68 and 70
Vs Choi in 143 (paraphrased convo but accurate silences),,, could’ve been a Grapes persona thing but it shouldn’t be.
3. Just to address it, id like to mention that Soleum does weaponize his silence against Choi in 193. It’s pretty funny tbh because the way he ‘stalls for time’ is legit just. Saying nothing. So yes, Soleum’s silence has been to his advantage. But I think this is him using what’s available instead of him, like, being silent this whole time just for the sake of this one time. I do believe that his constant silence with Choi has more negatives than benefits, objectively speaking. The silence is only suspicious after all, and as a spy he should be trying to blend in. And if he talked to Choi more, then it would’ve been prime opportunity to ‘ask for little favors’ or get more information and things like that. Slightly risky, but not as much as silence, and any exchange comes with risks.
all I’ve done this far is disprove potential reasons, so what are actual reasons for Soleum’s silence
Well. Who knows. For being the narrator, Kim Soleum sure is hard to understand. I think silence is due to a multitude of reasons, including Soleum potentially finding it tiring to talk to Choi, and Soleum not wanting to lie.
I think one of the definitive reasons is because Soleum thinks he can get away with being silent to Choi. An accurate belief, evidentially. The thing with silence is that it’s often risky because it can be escalating or de-escalating, and is so vague that it can be read in any matter of ways including the worst possible way. For example with B leader, it’s possible that Soleum being too silent could make B leader think Soleum is being un-cooperative— then causing B leader to turn hostile or consider Soleum as an enemy.
Not a good outcome, right? To be perfectly honest, this also should’ve been a consideration for Choi, especially since we know he’s been aware of Soleum’s daydream identity from the very beginning. If Soleum was a spy with no knowledge of Choi, he’d honestly be stupid for being as silent as he is, both because of how suspicious it is and because of how easily it’s seen as a lack of cooperation. Choi could have killed Soleum or outed Soleum or imprisoned Soleum at any moment and for good reason, because Soleum is a spy.
With these considerations, why is Soleum being so silent even though it’s obviously pretty risky? I think it’s because he knows he can get away with it, because he has a decent idea of Choi’s personality from the wiki. At the very least, he knows that Choi does more of a wait-and-see, and doesn’t usually take drastic action. With other people, Soleum’s silence can get him killed. With Choi that isn’t the case, and Soleum knows that.
I’ll throw out some other possible reasons as well, without necessarily strongly believing in all of them. After all, Soleum knowing he can get away with silence doesn’t explain why he does it. Keep in mind that his silence is very likely due to a multitude of factors.
Soleum is naturally pretty quiet, I.e. his very short responses in his texts to his friends in ch 1. If he’s ‘naturally’ quiet then why isn’t he silent to everyone? Well, the situation, and you need to conversational to get by in society, and also it’s only polite to talk to people. By default this would imply that Soleum is most quiet with Choi because he’s most comfortable with Choi which is. A questionable assumption, and would be related to the fanboy Soleum idea. Or it means he’s too tired but he has the energy to talk to other characters, so.
Soleum is trying very hard to not form attachments to everyone. This is canon. The reason it’s a ‘possible’ reason is because he’s still talking to everyone except Choi
(fanboy Soleum theory) @somber-cryptid and @ghoststorygottatheorydump and @everyonesfavoritebastard have brought up that maybe Soleum is starstruck because he’s a major Choi fan. So he’s too nervous to talk to Choi. To my knowledge there’s nothing to disprove this. Plus, Soleum talks a bit more to Choi in part 2, which could be a result of enough time passing for him to be less starstruck; it’s hard to tell due to all the contamination and I…still haven’t done a part 2 full reread, so I could be wrong.
@ghoststorygottatheorydump also says that maybe Soleum feels awkward because he wrote something in relation to Choi (don’t think he wrote Choi because he seems more of a lurker and wouldn’t have written anything that early, and I don’t think he wrote the Looky Mart entry because he…seemed pretty unhappy with it). Aka, he’s silent because of awkwardness and maybe guilt. There’s nothing to disprove this. As for why he felt guilty, it’s possible he wrote the disaster that gave Choi his neck scar (possible as in it hasn’t been disproven LOL)
(fanboy theory) I have a minor theory/headcanon that Soleum looked up to DER Choi and admires him. If so, it’s possible that Soleum is silent because he cares too much about Choi’s opinion. When you admire someone a lot, you don’t want to say the wrong thing because you put a lot on emphasis on their opinion, right? It’s a bit different from being starstruck. As a side note, i do wonder if this (and being starstruck) could tie into his interactions with B leader, since B leader is from the early DER days
Contamination. Just because it’s alwaysss a possibility (esp with the story usurper page). not sure how it’d relate to Soleum’s interactions with Choi specifically tho.
Update: @mr-crescent brought up intimidation and I don’t think Soleum would be intimidated in a traditional sense, but if he’s built up an image of DER Choi in his mind, then a certain type of intimidation makes sense, esp if he has this passive belief (from reading DER and maybe being a fanboy) that Choi always figures out the truth or something like that. Even if he logically knows that’s not the case, the brain isn’t such an easy thing~
Hahhh I wish I had more possible reasons that aren’t related to the fanboy theory but I’m blanking a lot. If Soleum hates Choi or was scared of him, he’d still be able to talk to him, so it’s not those. There’s no other reason for him to feel awkward or uncomfortable or anxious around Choi, at least not moreso than other characters…
Haha is this what Choi feels like? Soleum is so hard to understand, props to bds-nim for creating such a mysterious narrator/protagonist
If anyone has any other ideas feel free to let me know~ also apologies if you’ve made a comment or reblog about this other and I didn’t respond or address it here,, I did try clicking through all my posts I thought would be most likely to have interaction abt it
I agree with the "because he thinks he can get away with it" (re: Team B Leader), but i also think... he isn't actually the perfect liar.
By default, Soleum's masks drops a bit when he has a chance to show off his competence/when it comes to sharing info about darkness... You see this when he was doing one day desk work with Go Youngeun.
He doesn't actually realize his shift in attitude looks off.
Even in front of jaekwan, the persona of "being able to cut off your arm and grill it" and "i'm too scared and i didn't know why i did that" doesn't really square up.
So i feel like... even if his silence actually makes him look more suspicious when he talks to make excuses, it's more of a... hmm... If you're talking to someone whose questions/comments just feels kinda pointed/leading, it's natural to clam up unless you thought of something definitely safe to say. With Jaekwan, even tho Choi is also right there, the way he talk is less prodding. So it's just easier to respond.
Thank you~~ I know I have a lot of biases so I try to be aware of them and give as cohesive info as I can ^^’
his acting definitely slips and also pretty often ! I sort of vaguely believe that Soleum tends to,,, forget the things that he doesn’t have to be actively aware of? So when something really catches his attention, he focuses on that so absolutely completely (for example, the excerpt you included with Go Youngeun). Jaekwan imo makes a bit more sense because there’s definitely people who can do things they hate/are scared of when they really have to; a bit similar to adrenaline, I suppose?
Relevant story time: when I went to summer camp before, there was a voluntary activity where you climb up a reallyyyyyy tall pillar. There’s a harness around your waist and the line goes down to the ground, where two professionals and the rest of your cabin (5-10 ppl total) are holding the line. You jump off the pillar, and everyone else uses their body weight to slowly lower you down (it was called the Leap of Faith, haha). The person who went took a solid five minutes minimum to finally jump down, and had a lots of encouragement and everything. I was then convinced to go up, and I jumped down in a minute or less.
I don’t like heights. I wouldn’t say I have a phobia of them but I don’t like heights nor do I particularly like the feeling of falling (dislike roller coasters, too). I refuse to do bouldering (short height rock climbing with no harness) precisely because I’m scared of falling. The only reason I jumped down so quickly is because I knew there was no other option, and thinking about it too much will only stress me out more and more and more; it was better to just do it. I was scared but the knowledge of further-fear-via-inaction pushed me to do it.
I think. Kim Soleum is like that, but all the time, because of the situation he’s in (if anything, there are times he thinks his only option is to jump and that belief makes him blind to other options). Does the truth mean that people will believe him? Not really,,, but since it’s so true for Kim Soleum, he might not consider that claiming to be coward could be seen as a lie for other people? Choi is more likely to believe it due to the Faceless Market scene but it’s harder to say if Jaekwan would believe it,,, and I have no clue how much the rest of the cast do or don’t know about Soleum’s cowardice. Minseong, for example, probably has no clue. Seonghae might have some idea. Saheon is an outlier…. Etc.
Second topic ! You bring up a good point that it’s hard to respond to leading questions, especially when you don’t know what the safe or correct answer is. I totally agree!! Leading questions stress me out a lot !
with Soleum though it’s interesting because. I think Choi as a person doesn’t actually give leading questions that often. His method of getting someone to talk tends to be via exchange (Kang Yihak) or by making them comfortable. When he does use leading questions it’s more of,,,a veiled pointed remark, and he mostly use those when he wants to be intimidating, like with Ho Yuwon. Choi actively goes out of his way to try and make Soleum comfortable; he offers information first, he fills the silence, he brings in Jaekwan at times, he talks so much that’s there’s no pressure to respond to any of his singular sentences. Haha actually, one of the times I think Soleum’s mask slips and his tunnel vision comes into play is when he latched onto the first specific avenue he could play into; if he had stayed silent, Choi probably would have kept talking. When it comes to someone who’s silent, what they do respond to is pretty telling.
but if Choi is trying to make Soleum comfortable, why is Soleum pressured and unsure, potentially thinking that all of Choi’s questions are leading questions? Imo, it goes into Soleum’s perception of DER Choi ! Not that we know exactly what his perception is, but if he thinks of Choi as someone who’s always suspicious, analyzing people and coming to judgements on them (judgement being neutral connotation wise in this case, altho I can’t say if Soleum would think the same),,, then it’d make sense if Soleum thinks everything Choi says is a leading question. (And then it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy~ Soleum thinks Choi is suspicious of him and so he acts in ways that are suspicious.) and Jaekwan is definitely more blunt in his words and actions so Soleum probs feels extra safe with him in comparison to both Choi and his perception of Choi.
im very happy because this feels like a very reasonable explanation that doesn’t necessarily involve fanboy Soleum ! (Love the fanboy theory a lot but because of that I try very hard to not be unconsciously biased towards it). Once you think someone is against you, it’s pretty hard to logically and emotionally change your mind about it, after all~ Although, I’m also aware this may not be the actual explanation (and who knows if we’ll ever find out)
didnt find a chance to include it but I love that you pointed out how Soleum’s mask tends to slip when he has a chance to talk about his interest,,,it’s so human and relatable and dear to me, esp because I imagine Soleum hasn’t talked about it much, and so jumps at any opportunity.
on a different note, @everyonesfavoritebastard included this tag and I find it so amusing because it applies to so many different characters haha~
oh my gosh if I had a nickel for every character I love with supernatural related glasses and a middle part I would now have ! 2 nickels ! The glasses serve different purposes though!
wait this is so funny I’ll compare them a bit more !
Would do nearly anything for their obsession
has come very close to dying for their obsession
one obsession and very little hobbies
always working
kinda cold and kinda blunt but changes personality drastically depending on the situation
liked by a lot of people and close to no one
surprisingly oblivious
has a. Little object they carry around that has great meaning to them but is kinda questionable for a guy to be carrying around.
time horrors
a ‘supernatural’
how very fun and lovely I love it when beloved media share things in common :)
oh my, agent Choi would be so proud of you ! You definitely didn’t have this mindset before tho!
maybe more happened in that 1 year than I thought, it’s very sweet if Soleum learned to appreciate small things more. OR he learned this from other ppl in part 1 and part 2 but didn’t have time to digest it until his year off
