The Devil Judge In A Nutshell.

recently watched the devil judge (2021) for the first time and i truly can’t get enough of this guy. and also: his devil

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.

the way TDJ approaches gender is SO interesting to me.

soohyun as the female love interest with a more traditionally masculine approach to problems (trying to take things on personally to keep gaon away from hardship, fighting with physical violence, literally being a cop) vs. gaon as the male main character with a more “feminine” take on the world (nurturing his plants and the prople around him, protective of children and the weak, how his work is in his words and he is really only ever allowed to be physical about his rage by the man he’s closest to).

then there’s yohan, who’s just Man at his peak i feel (gun-wielding, broody, aggressive, dark and powerful and dangerous… but misunderstood and chivalrous and a provider at heart… mr Beast from the hit disney film type beat) vs. seon-a, who is the actual definition of an ambitious Woman (her power coming from being underestimated as a woman, and how she forcibly empowered herself through the circumstances of being taken advantage of for her girlhood).

and then there’s soohyun and yohan being in explicit competition with each other for gaon everytime they meet while gaon and seon-a passive aggressively battle away in yohan’s home. LMFAO. enough said on that one i feel.

Kim Gaon is the most female coded character ever

gaon as a character genuinely gets so little true agency of his own through the entire show, and it's something that he's clearly aware of and frustrated by. he's constantly presented with choices and ultimatums by those around him, his agency is continuously shot down and overruled by others, and despite how much he cares about each of them, every time it happens he ultimately demonstrates - intentionally or not - how much he hates that by immediately pushing back on whoever poses such limitation to him in the first place (re: soohyun telling him to stay back and let her handle digging into yohan's past -> gaon sneaking around yohan's house; min jungho pressing gaon to make his decision -> gaon siding with yohan; yohan telling him not to see soohyun if he wants to stay on his side -> gaon leaving the kangs).

in the end, all of those people are no longer actively in his life. he is alone and he must be independent, and it must make him feel so confllcted - that his having agency and free will is grounded in how those he cared for are unable to influence him anymore.

the only bright side of this is in kang yohan, who makes it clear through his actions in the end that he's consciously made the choice to give the agency back to gaon, to put the ball into his court. yohan chooses to take a step back, take his hands off, and let gaon choose what he does in rebuilding the system; he demonstrates his trust and faith that gaon will do it all well, teasing that he - a man "known" to be dead - will come back into the fray if gaon doesn't do a good job.

it must be so bittersweet to be kim gaon.

Kim Gaon as a character is so important to me.

This poor boy, whose parents committed suicide when he was so young, ends up being manipulated by almost everyone in his life who think they know what's best for him.

His mentor, who he saw as a father ends up manipulating him to further his own agendas and goals all while giving him the illusion of choice. Ga On has never truly had a choice.

And Soohyun too. Yes, she only ever wanted to keep him safe, and that is a nice sentiment, but in acting the way she did towards him she caged him in.

Maybe it's the Gemini in me, but if someone tries to limit my freedom of choice or influence my judgement in any way, I start to get suffocated. No matter what the sentiment behind their actions are. She didn't deserve the end she got, and she genuinely cared about Gaon but at the same time she ended up trying to influence him because she thought she knew what was best for him.

And then comes Yohan. Yohan is complicated (as morally grey characters tend to be), because for a good while in the beginning, he too tries to use (or at least wants to use) Gaon for his own ends.

But also, after he sees who Gaon truly is: a kind and caring and a firecracker of a soul, he is the first in Gaon's life to offer him a choice. And not the Min Jungho type of choice where it's just an illusion; but an actual choice.

And Gaon. Gaon only ever tried to do what he thought was right even while being pulled in a thousand different directions by different people. He tried so hard to make the right choices. He finally found the family he lost when he was young in Yohan and Elijah and Ms Ji. Lord knows I wouldn't survive if I found out that the fucker who drove my parents to suicide was living alive and well somewhere else with nothing on his conscience, and that I had been lied to for so long. And then, Soohyun, the last person who he has left from his past tied to his parents, his best friend, dies.

And then he loses his found family as well.

Kim Gaon, at the end of the show has absolutely no one left from his past; the Kangs, Soohyun, his parents and Min Jung ho are all gone.

All he has left is himself and a herculean task of rebuilding the justice system.

And how miserable must that be?

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

yohan is Designed to be a morally questionable character. and if the audience is thinking about the context that gaon is given going into his position on the live court show, it makes complete sense that he holds a constant baseline of skepticism for yohan’s morality. from the very beginning, even when unprompted by min jungho, he questions why kang yohan would do things the way he does. the answer he’s given is “politics,” and honestly, if you think about the politicians yohan is surrounded by, the tactics they use, and the willingness yohan consistently shows regarding going to extremes to achieve his ends, it’s no wonder gaon never gains complete trust for yohan. the two of them start off from a place where gaon inherently distrusts yohan. while we can infer that yohan wants gaon’s approval deep down, he doesn’t necessarily prove to gaon that he’s totally trustworthy, nor does he really try or succeed at convincing gaon that there are lines he will not cross, and exceptions where he won’t do the extreme but potentially useful thing for his own benefit.

in any case, gaon does not blindly trust yohan, and this is as much the foundation for the initial success of their relationship (with yohan feeling uncomfortably seen and understood through gaon challenging his words), as it builds up for its ultimate deterioration (gaon suspecting yohan of killing soohyun and accidentally helping in framing him for her death). it’s a very real and human point of conflict between two individuals who obviously care for each other very deeply, but are unsure if they are totally aligned in their morals, values, goals. if anything, it’s a testament to the depth of their frankly-toxic relationship: they want so much to be able to trust each other / be trusted by the other, but being unable to reach that, in the context of surrounding limitations, leads them to (extreme?) behavior that they really don’t exhibit anywhere else. gaon — who has not only heard from others, but also seen first hand, how manipulative yohan can be — is trying very hard to not let himself be fooled, and so he holds extra paranoia and disbelief towards yohan that ends up skewing his judgment. gaon’s not perfect, but he is truly trying his best — especially with the consideration that he’s had it drilled into him by his long-time mentor and father figure that, in this position, he’s got the world on his shoulders.

The reason some people tend to find Gaon's reactions annoying, is because we as the audience always have information that Gaon doesn't.

Granted, we don't always know everything, but even what little what we do know, Gaon does not. Gaon is practically fumbling around in the dark throughout the show.

And when Gaon tries to find out anything, Yohan immediately shuts him down , Soohyun practically babies Gaon and tells him to stay out of trouble and Min Jungho is just a piece of shit.

What are obviously right choices to us is confusing to Gaon because the poor guy does not have all or even a little bit of any information at any point. And if he does, then someone manipulates or emotionally blackmails him into doing what benefits them.

If you look at it from Gaon's perspective the whole show is practically a horror tragedy instead of a thriller (with maybe a few days of peace in between before shit hits the fan. Again.)

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

toxic codependent familial dynamics this. toxic codependent romances that. what about toxic codependent coworkers. i can’t do my job without this guy here or i’ll kill myself.

this last addition is SO SO BARS i’m in love. yes, exactly; gaon chooses and thrives with the kangs from the start because that’s a place where he can comfortably act on his own based on what he wants and what he envisions. he has so much free will that he makes use of in that house, he has the chance to take charge in a way that he’s very comfortable doing, and he has so much influence on those around him — in contrast to his other relationships, where it is largely just him being influenced and affected by the choices and desires of the other person (min jungho, soohyun).

it’s honestly hard to blame yohan for wanting that family gaon had built up with them to be gaon’s first priority, but by pushing with that ultimatum — instead of, say, just talking to gaon and letting him make that choice — he’s effectively shown to gaon that even here, he does not have the power or equal standing to simply choose whatever he wants and be respected for it, not in the way gaon respects the decisions of the others around him (with a little nagging towards yohan sometimes but ultimately comes back to acceptance, at least up until that scene). and in being triggered into this realization, he pushes back against yohan, lashes out, walks away.

soon afterwards, he chooses soohyun, who dies barely an episode later. his choice is wrested away from him again by something completely out of his control, and it’s no wonder that being manipulated into thinking that there is, indeed, someone to blame for it, and that that someone is yohan, prompts such fury in him that he does go and confront yohan — who, actually, seems to understand and empathize with that anger very well, based on how he initially reacts to gaon trying to stab him.

gaon needs to heal and grow from this place of disempowerment, where his choices are so guided by those around him. he’s frankly a pretty static character throughout the show, and i think it’s done deliberately — that the people around him and his circumstances don’t allow him to really change or grow in a way that’s meaningful to himself. it’s only set up in the very end that he is entering new circumstances which will allow him to explore and exercise his power and free will. (god. i want a season 2 so badly.)

simultaneously, though, yohan is the same in some sense. despite how unilaterally he works and how in control of everything and everyone he seems to be, yohan is a man that’s been driven by his desire for revenge for years — that’s the ultimate “making choices based around the influence of others.” he needs to learn, too, how to take on a life he genuinely wants for himself now. in the time gaon spent with the kangs, yohan clearly realized how much he valued that sort of peaceful, domestic life with his loved ones; but yohan can’t rely solely upon gaon to realize that dream for him. if he wants it, he needs to put in the work to heal and prioritize that, too.

it’s why their choice to walk away / stay away from each other in the last scene of ep 16 is so powerful, in my opinion. no matter how much they still have left unsaid between them, and how deeply they still clearly care for each other, they know that both of them need to grow and heal in their own ways, separately. they want the best for each other — if not yet themselves — and so they choose to leave each other to their personal growing. to them, just getting to see one another, and ascertain that they are safe and healthy, is enough for now.

Kim Gaon as a character is so important to me.

This poor boy, whose parents committed suicide when he was so young, ends up being manipulated by almost everyone in his life who think they know what's best for him.

His mentor, who he saw as a father ends up manipulating him to further his own agendas and goals all while giving him the illusion of choice. Ga On has never truly had a choice.

And Soohyun too. Yes, she only ever wanted to keep him safe, and that is a nice sentiment, but in acting the way she did towards him she caged him in.

Maybe it's the Gemini in me, but if someone tries to limit my freedom of choice or influence my judgement in any way, I start to get suffocated. No matter what the sentiment behind their actions are. She didn't deserve the end she got, and she genuinely cared about Gaon but at the same time she ended up trying to influence him because she thought she knew what was best for him.

And then comes Yohan. Yohan is complicated (as morally grey characters tend to be), because for a good while in the beginning, he too tries to use (or at least wants to use) Gaon for his own ends.

But also, after he sees who Gaon truly is: a kind and caring and a firecracker of a soul, he is the first in Gaon's life to offer him a choice. And not the Min Jungho type of choice where it's just an illusion; but an actual choice.

And Gaon. Gaon only ever tried to do what he thought was right even while being pulled in a thousand different directions by different people. He tried so hard to make the right choices. He finally found the family he lost when he was young in Yohan and Elijah and Ms Ji. Lord knows I wouldn't survive if I found out that the fucker who drove my parents to suicide was living alive and well somewhere else with nothing on his conscience, and that I had been lied to for so long. And then, Soohyun, the last person who he has left from his past tied to his parents, his best friend, dies.

And then he loses his found family as well.

Kim Gaon, at the end of the show has absolutely no one left from his past; the Kangs, Soohyun, his parents and Min Jung ho are all gone.

All he has left is himself and a herculean task of rebuilding the justice system.

And how miserable must that be?