🌻 KOICHI🌻

On the subject of Grim Reapers and boybands.

First of all, the Saja Boys are all presented as grim reapers (jeoseung saja), relating to their role in the movie as those who guide the fans' souls to the underworld, even if done maliciously rather than impartially as typical grim reapers do. They're demons, after all.

Here, grim reapers also retain a more humanoid appearance when compared to the rest of demons underground; aside from the Saja Boys, there are a few others spread out in the crowd. Just by looking at them, we can understand they all share the same color palette (purple tinted skin, yellow eyes) but not all of them are expected to have sharp teeth and/or protruding tusks--which explains how Mystery had extremely long tusks but Jinu only had somewhat sharp canines before their idol disguises.

The thing that stands out to me is the fact that the other four Saja Boys are shown to be sluggish and zombie-like at different points of the story, unlike Jinu and the other grim reapers in the crowd. At the top of my head, this happens twice--when they return to the underworld after their debut and right after the signing event is over, when we see them immediately slouch tiredly after throwing away the bouquets.

Initially, I toyed with the possibility that the other four Saja Boys might be something else--something lower than the generic imps and lackey demons and that they might lack individuality, existing sort of like puppets, or that perhaps they completely lost their humanity and control over themselves along the way in their life as demons. But with the amount of personality they show in their very few scenes, I like to headcanon that only Jinu is cut out for the life of an idol, and the other four are so fucking exhausted after every song, every cutesy stunt, every second of their act that they just look downright fucked up afterwards.

Which makes sense to me given the similarities between Rumi and Jinu; both being extremely driven and stubborn in their ways, pushing for their goals no matter what. On one hand, Rumi sacrifices her own health and friendships for what she believes to be the greater good, and Jinu sacrifices everyone else for what he wants. It's difficult for Mira and Zoey to keep up with their friend (think of the couch scene, when Rumi accelerates the release of their new song) and it might be difficult for the other four Saja Boys to keep up with Jinu as well.

To add to this, I also like to headcanon that Mystery and Baby are the ones who dislike being idols the most, while Romance and Abby are more tolerant of it.

Mystery straight up barks at the fans, I imagine the role of mysterious and aloof member is perfect for him because of how little he actually wants to interact with fans and play along with Jinu's boyband. I can't see him genuinely enjoying singing nor dancing either. Baby strikes me as someone who enjoys the playful aspect of the idol life--the games, the variety shows, the luxury that comes with the lifestyle--but despises the responsibilities that come with it. The meet and greets, the signings, to constantly put on a cute act in front of the camera and audience for the sake of appearances. On one hand, it's fun to have an excuse to get away with shenanigans by virtue of being the cute maknae of the group, on the other hand it's also a pain in the ass to have to stick to that.

When it comes to Romance and Abby, they do seem to have more fun with the social aspects of their idol life, especially when they get to terrorize Mira together.

Stirring up shipping drama and whatnot is definitely something we can expect out of a guy assigned as The Romantic One, but it's the fact that Abby joins in as well that makes me think it might be more than their planned out personas and schemes to mess with Huntrix--these two guys actively enjoy the attention and seeing the reactions they get from others. Abby specifically looks like he enjoys the dancing and the intricate choreographies. I can see him being the lead dancer! On the other hand, Romance could be the visuals.

On the subject of demon patterns

We know that the designs can vary just by looking at all the demons, including Rumi, not just the Saja Boys. A fun detail is that Jinu's second outfit during the spice game involves his own demon patterns!

But then we also get another recolor of these same outfits right before the final showdown, now with more demon patterns on the boys!

I like to headcanon that those are pretty much the patterns each Saja Boy has along their body. In Romance's case, his shirt lacks any distinct patterns, but we know he has just as many as the rest from the introduction they give to Gwi-ma, so I'll chalk it down to an aesthetic choice.

I also have some other headcanons about the patterns in general and how they differ from demons born in the underworld versus humans turned demons!

For demons born in the underworld, these patterns are actually scars--this is the process of their wounds healing and do not glow at all, they can also become less noticeable over the years like regular human scars. Perhaps the texture and sensitiveness is different due to how demons are much tougher physically, but it's pretty easy to understand as a concept.

For humans turned demons, these scars are a manifestation of their shame and Gwi-ma's control over them, they appear over time as the human continues to hear his voice or accept his gifts, make deals with him and so on and so forth. Because they're the embodiment of negative feelings or closely tied with them, I imagine these patterns can feel unpleasant--from pulsating faintly with all the bad vibes you've accumulated over the years to straight up burning your skin if your negative emotions spiral out of control.

We also see that patterns spreading might cause some changes in a person, since Rumi loses her ability to sing as the patterns begin to spread to her neck.

I think this is more of a consequence of one's negative thoughts and feelings than simply related to having patterns in itself--Rumi's perception of herself and her patterns was inherently rooted in self-hatred due to the way she was raised, so it makes sense to me that she would lose her voice right after seeing the golden Honmoon, something she wholeheartedly wanted to believe was the fix-it-all solution to her own existence. In her conversation with Celine after she begins her partial transformation, the things Rumi says aren't a sudden realization but shame and insecurities left to fester for years. She was basically a ticking bomb waiting to explode.

We also know that Gwi-ma let Jinu keep his voice, but it's heavily implied that his singing voice was the result of their deal--his soul for musical talent--so it has nothing to do with his patterns.

In Rumi's case, singing was a vehicle for her job--her voice allows her to make the Honmoon glow golden, and thus make everything alright--which is a vast contrast to how she uses her voice at the very end to not only accept herself and reach out to her best friends, but to create a better Honmoon that doesn't revolve around hiding one's flaws. Even with her patterns, she can still sing properly here. Of course, she's half-demon so there may be some things that only apply to her and whatnot but either way, that's for a different post entirely.

Since these patterns are related to bad feelings, I imagine a good way to counter the physical pain they bring would be good feelings, so you have to picture yourself tracing your Saja Boys bias' patterns to calm him down, you have to do it.

On the subject of the Saja Boys and their dynamics with each other.

Given Jinu is around 400 years old, and he's the one who knows how to maneuver his way around Gwi-ma, I assume he's the oldest one in the group. We don't get to see them interact a lot with each other, at least not in ways that we can fully discern as genuine, but I love overthinking so here we are.

Based only on their usual formation (Mystery, Romance, Jinu as the center, Abby, Baby) and respective roles in the band, I imagine that Romance and Abby could be the next two oldest, followed by Mystery and Baby. It would be fun if Romance was the second oldest, followed by Abby, then Mystery and finally Baby as the classic maknae with the deepest voice.

Of course, given they're demons fully covered in patterns, the actual age difference between them could range from a few decades to a few hundred years. I like the idea that Jinu specifically sought them out over his stay in the underworld for his plan, but eventually the five of them became close with each other. There is also zero indications of this, but another headcanon I like is that the other four members were also attempting to get something out of this plan, similar to how Jinu wanted to erase his memories, something to lessen the pain of existing as demons for all eternity.

As for their dynamics with each other, Abby and Baby also seem the most casually friendly, often seen leaning on other members. I've been rewatching this movie passively since it came out, and the amount of times Abby just fucking holds onto Jinu's shoulders is enough to make me raise an eyebrow. You go, clingy bisexual king. When they escape the stage after the game show, Abby is also the one giving Baby a piggyback ride.

They also clearly go in pairs (Mystery-Baby and Romance-Abby) so I like to interpret this as these specific pairs being closer with each other.

Fans perceive Baby and Mystery as the cute but secretly chaotic duo, but these two strike me as catty, petty bitches who love to talk shit or be judgemental together. They've mastered the art of putting people down with a single twitch of the mouth, the subtlest but most cutthroat expressions ever. I like to think they're the type of duo that doesn't even need to talk to understand each other with how similar or attuned they are to each other.

They also heavily contrast Romance and Abby, who are more way more chatty and bicker constantly--sometimes for fun, as a playful thing, but most of the times because their personalities mean they butt heads over small things for no reason. Most fans think they don't get along, but it's just the opposite; the bickering means they're comfortable and close enough with each other!

As for other pairs, I think Baby and Abby have a similar vibe that makes everything extremely fun when they're the center of attention--they play off each other very well, with Baby instigating shenanigans and Abby fueling him. Mystery and Romance do get along very well behind the scenes, especially when they need to unwind from Baby and Abby's antics and high energy.

When it comes to Jinu, he's often paired up with Abby simply for aesthetic purposes--they just look good together. I like to think that some fans perceive Abby as the "second in command," but in truth, that role falls on Romance. If you need to ask for something outlandish, you have to ask Jinu for permission and if he's too busy to care, he'll redirect you to Romance, but if he's ALSO too busy then you'll get immediately redirected to Abby and he'll most likely say yes if it sounds fun enough. This is how Baby used to get away with so much shit, until Romance caught on and started to keep a closer eye on him. Just in case.

I also think a lot about how possible centuries as a demon might do to someone's psyche--since Jinu mentions how demons feel negativity but amplified to horrible degrees, I imagine all of Saja Boys perceive the group as a means to an end as a result of this, even if they've clearly become comfortable with each other as found family or what have you. You can ship them for all I care, the movie gets very funny when it becomes two rival polycules.

On the subject of animal companions.

We know that Jinu has his lion and bird (apparently the lion's name is "Derpy" and it was revealed in the official roblox game for the movie?) because he's the world's specialest demon princess, but I like to think that the other boys also get their own animal companions.

To follow with the Saja Boys (Lion boys, in this case) theme then I can see them all having different felines, big or small.

Romance with a serval, one that has a few spots shaped like hearts instead. Abby with a jaguar he insists looks NOTHING like him but it literally has the exact same eyebrows. Mystery with a snow leopard, one so fluffy its fur covers his eyes just like him. Baby with an ocelot that can somehow make the exact same shit-eating smug grins he does.

Ironically, for a group whose logo is a lion, not a single one of them has a lion as a companion pet--it's considered rude to bring this up in their fandom, because their lore explained this in some obscure concert and if you're pointing it out, then you're clearly not up to date with the Saja Boys lore document being passed on through twitter DMs like a family heirloom, shaking my head.

I do imagine these animals are helpers for their actual grim reaper duties, messengers just like them! But some are a bit more rebellious than others and might not even listen to their respective master the way Jinu's tiger does.

Round of headcanons I couldn't fit anywhere else.

The other Saja Boys don't have "real" names either because their identities were lost in their respective deals with Gwi-ma OR because they're willingly concealing their former human identities out of shame. I still haven't decided which ones I want to fit in which category, hmm ...

Jinu is the only one who clung really hard to his name, initially because of his strong sense of self and selfishness; I imagine he was rather pragmatic even after joining Gwi-ma in the underworld and might've tried to find any way out to gain his soul back, if his conversations with Rumi are anything to go by, only to have the centuries wear him down and instead find a way out by playing by Gwi-ma's rules instead.

Sometimes, humans turned demons don't even need to hear Gwi-ma's voice to have their patterns flare up and relive their worst feelings, it can just happen. When it does, the Saja Boys try to redirect those negative feelings one of them might be going through towards themselves--it's easier to snap out of it if you're angry at someone who isn't yourself. They know each other well enough by now to know the exact thing to say to get each other's attention, even if it means saying some cruel and horrible things.

When it comes to who deals with these moments from worst to best, I'd say the list would be: Baby, Jinu, Romance, Abby, Mystery.