Thank you queen for the summary!!
Also my thoughts on the secret human thing, maybe geumsun is just saying that because reapers were all humans that sinned in their previous lives? Hoping geumsun reveals his past relationship with 704 to 704 soon ;-; and maybe give him his memories back or smth
oh he says 704 is acting LIKE a real human. my brain just couldn't register prepositions i guess lol
Oh but yes! It’s interesting because 944 asks what happened to Eunjae’s memories and Chung says he’s just guessing but who else could take memories from someone like that but “him”? And next panel is huge on Geumsun, so either all goblins can take memories but Geumsun is the obvious guess or there’s some further meaning beyond Chung’s guess and Geumsun has history with this skill. Hopefully that means he can return 704’s past human life memories someday. But probably not a priority of his anytime soon. He’s got a lot in his plate.
Your recap is already great as it is! But if there is a chance of a prolonged version, it is even better.
Indeed, this chapter was full of sad tenderness!
I just can't help mentioning Chung. I kinda take back my words on him being a just foolish bragger since he really let his inner self shine (he is much more emotionally intelligent than I thought) in this chapter! Also, I didn't expect that Yama had revealed that much information to him as the previous chapters gave me the impression that he was mostly kept in the dark about "the plan". Obviously Yama realized that by keeping Chung "too much" in the dark, he may put the whole "Mission: Impossible" in jeopardy bc in his fervour to please him Chung could overexert himself and just fuck everything up! (More like a lovefoolproof tactic, hehe) Hence, I would like to attribute his douchebag attutide to 704, childish grudge against GM and general petulance to infatuation with "narcissistic psychopath", unrequired love and inability to have a good heart-to-heart talk (499 was heartbreakingly unimpressed!) - the "love is blind" trap, not only people but also goblins as it turned out may fall the victim of. And Yama here represents a textbook example of "5 signs you are dating a psychopath".
My goodness, I guess I share your immense love to 704! Watching him becoming more and more self-aware brings the tears to my eyes. (I feel like a proud mom lol). Isn't his insistance to make his own decisions and judgements a direct confirmation of being if not a human but someone on the point of becoming one? And it is so different from let's say the scene where he accepts the responsibility of taking care of San without thinking twice. Haha, I believe we kinda rushed the events by assuming that the next step to "human realm" is love. It is more like the ability to be in charge of your own life whereas love logically stems from it, and is the final stage. But again 704 wants the exceptance and confirmation of his existence only from GM, which says a lot about his attachment. He clearly didn't care much of Chung's opinion. Yes, 704 was annoyed by him, but only because he didn't want to have heart-to-heart talks with Chung in the first place and was irritated by the imprisonment in general. It is heartbreaking to see how desperately he is trying to reach GM (who is playing a cross between Snow Queen and Kai), who is still in the stage of denial. 704 must really have taken the precedence as the concept of an emotionally intelligent reaper sounds to GM as outlandish as me, being able to keep my damn "dissertations" concise and to the point! If he (GM) in fact believes that he would be able to get rid of 704 so easily, he will be bitterly disappointed As far as I understand GM presumes his revelation about being an accomplice (against his own will) in Yama's dirty deads will turn 704 off. Like I am rejecting you bc you are too good for me Not this time, honey, 704 will remain by your side! This panel where 704 is sitting on the bed, hugging the blanket, shuttered my heart to pieces This scene was screaming to my face like "Go hug me! I don't want this freaking blanket to console myself!" And you did notice this striking contract between 704 and 499, right?! It must have been done on purpose.
Btw, have you ever speculated on 704's real name? Quite worth being put on the question board! But what if it is something like Shui bi KKR Geng Sha?! I am afraid 704 himself will find it too much to bear! Or possibly it will coincide with revelation about the actual number of nipples goblins have (what if more than two?!).
My gosh, this glimpse of San made me realize how much I miss him If I didn't know about him going on "Mission: Impossible", I would just decide he was just going on hike. Stepping into the treacherous territory of further speculations on San, I assume he may have some sort of supernatural weapon and a change of clothes (not pink ones as GM had laid his hands on everything even remotely pinkish in San's wardrobe) and maybe a capsule with the most painful memories (I am not sure what GM actually meant by "digging up the most painful". My guess is that GM extracted them from San and locked into a capsule) in his backpack.
I really hoped that GM had kept EJ's memories! Since at least this way it would keep my imagination leashed It seems GM made a great career as a chief memory eraser in the past, which now has expanded to a chief memory storage vessel. In the light of which one theory rushed through my mind, but was immediately ruled out as wildly insane. But when you mentioned that maybe one day GM would return 704's memories, it threw me back on the track. What if he indeed keeps 704's memories? I have no clue how it is even possible, though. Getting further away from the guiding light of "sane" theories (since why not?!), what if Yama has a secret storage room full of neatly labelled vials with reapers' memories? At this point my imagination pictured a scene where 704 is distracting Yama while GM is sneaking into the room to steal the precious vial. Then both of them go west: closing credits! Or when the memories are erased, they are no longer subjected to recovery? Or recovering emotions creates a domino effect and eventually leads to memories?
Your "Underworld human witness protection programm" theory made my day! Yes, yes, alcohol/ sleep deprivation combo works in mysterious ways. But this time it may well become another great plot!
Btw, I have always presumed that scene with 020 was shown to rationalize GM's disdain and hatred towards reapers. Since in chapter 45 he is alleging that all reapers are criminals (the metaphor on 020, choking him), who tend to be promiscuous. Maybe before meeting 704, GM tried to "use" reapers as a yang energy source. But since he was looking for emotional attachment not just sex, it didn't work. Remember that scene in chapter 58 GM thinks "Useless feelings, useless acts. All I want are useless things". 704 was not into it. At that time he didn't understand things like tenderness, affection and so on, downgrading the sexual intercourse to just "pounding away" So perhaps, something like this happened between him and 020, though, 020 was physically violent as well. That is why GM is still hesitant to accept 704. It may be my personal biases (haha, we all have them), and I just don't want 020 and 704 were the same person. And yes, yes, I remember you are working on a theory about reincarnation vs immortality/eternal loops in relation to the concept that life is eternal. Can't wait for it!
Gosh, 944 - like when your maths really sucks!
Thankyou. This helps me understand it better lmao but can I have the raw link??
I have way too much to over-analyze about 71 so pls forgive me as I try to reign in every theory that seems to breed 12 others. If you want to read the translated chapter in the meantime it’s the same link as last time or slide on into them DMs.
If you’re dying for the general idea, here’s the condensed summary:
- The author’s note/office AU chapter 58.5 wasn’t kidding when it said 704 has no care for hierarchy as he says ‘fuck you, Maslow’ and shoots right pass food and sleep straight towards self-actualization by telling Geumsun he suspects everything he did for San was for a self-serving need to feel like his existence matters
- 704 is angry Geumsun keeps calling him a reaper and denying his existence, making him feel like he doesn’t belong anywhere in the world and like he’s been erased
- Geumsun plays Geppetto and calls 704 a real boy, apologizing for things he’s said in the past, and letting 704 know just how important he is to San
- (No, I still don’t know where San went taking off with his backpack. The library? Your guess is as good as mine. But probably not better than @Meji’s who holds the leading theory on that one.)
- I suspect 704 may be as frustrated as we are that Geumsun has never taken his shirt off (staying clothed in the shower trap! what even!) because he grabs Geumsun and stretches out yet another shirt of his demanding answers. Geumsun agrees but only to because he thinks it will help convince 704 to return to the underworld.
- Chung is back and looking miserable. Why? He thinks Yama hates him. Join the club, buddy.
- 944 asks Chung to remove Eunjae’s memories of San and, uh oh, discovers they’re already gone. Gee, who could have done it? Perhaps someone who could safely store it away in their Goblin storage locker realm and bring it back when needed? Hmmm.
- Geumsun reveals to 704 he knew Eunjae was Hwan’s prey and sent San to Eunjae’s expected death to test Hwan’s memory
WHAT WE LEARN:
- Eunjae memories gone. Confirmed.
- Nothing new?
- Sleep is important
QUESTIONS STLL REMAINING:
- Where the hell is San and what is in the backpack?
- Yama? Back in underworld loungewear? Y/N?
Also, allow me to take you on the wild ride that was my first read through. At one point, while commending 704 for looking like a human, Geumsun says that 704 is a real human without his feelings or memories wiped. My tired ass forgot all about the preposition/simile and I didn’t just jump, I catapulted to conclusions as I screamed ‘what the fuck, AGAIN?’
I thought Geumsun had revealed to 704 that he was another secret human all along and, let me tell you, recycled plot twist might be the biggest plot twist of all because I’d never see it coming but it’s not impossible enough to be entirely out of the realm of possibilities. Like what if Geumsun and Yama just kept having to memory wipe and disguise humans as supernatural beings to cover up their fuck ups.
Imagine if the underworld was just a secret witness protection program full of humans because Geumsun and Yama just can’t stop fucking up. Is Chung human? 944? Where does it end?
Not there, apparently. I started to imagine how hilarious it would be if Yama wasn’t actually king of the underworld either but somehow accidentally just stumbled into this position and now has his hands tied having to go to any lengths to keep it hidden that he’s also just another human.
I quickly realized my mistake but not quick enough to not completely lose it.
ANYWAY.
More intelligent ch 71 summary+theory post soon.