ardentjournalingdreamer

[ardentjournalingdreamer]

My thoughts on EAW after Ep14

So , I’ve always been a silent reader than of a blogger in this fandom , but I really want to express my opinions after this episode.

Both WYW and LJH are not the type to not talk  about the breakup and accept it as it is. If the past few episodes are taken to consideration , it is definitely not in LJH’s char to let her go without a reason. But , it is rather mixed, in WYW . The way she immediately thought of resigning from Hanbada after the Pengsoo case  and the way she kept on going for the Noodles-chef is an example of that. But , girl , only if she knew at how LJH’s face glows when he sees her . Lets hope she doesn’t give up soon. Hwaighting , Wooho!

On a side note , WYW going over and beyond to find the chef for our MVP - Jung Myeong Seok , was so heart-warming . If she can do that much for our MVP , just imagine at which level she would go , for LJH . If only she knew.

Its not just Lee Jun-Ho is the standard , Woo Young-Woo is also the standard.

One lesson learned : Ask yourself if you are in the same mindset as you expect your partner to be.

I just hope the writers don’t pull a Baekdo ending in the last 2 epis. Its just that Baekdo were the standard in healthy relationships and yet they didn’t end up together. And , what did WYW’s dad tell her after she asked the dreaded question? 

Also , Su-yeon deserves so much more than the tactician Min-Woo. He kinda lost substance in the past  2 episodes with change of his behaviour.

[ardentjournalingdreamer]

The only way they gave Minchae a meaningful incident was finding the last journal and getting back her interest in ballet. That simply means , Hee-Do was so alone that even journaling couldn't help her tackle the loneliness and the depression. She doesn't even log her Fencing techniques and practices anymore. The writers didn't even show how Yi-Jin faced the breakup. How did Yi-Jin just go from switching departments not to hurt hee-do to not sharing his everything with her after 9/11 happened ? All we saw was snippets like dreams of Hee-Do replacing his nightmares. Like he did for the suitcase , he could've atleast delivered the diary in the same way he got it. He wasn't even willing to breakup with her. That would've atleast given her closure over the breakup. Even beside that , they could've reconciled in the bus stop scene when he was leaving. It was their 1st fight and they decided to breakup then and there ? That is definitely not in both Yi-Jin and Hee-do's characters. Giving up at the 1st obstacle . This doesn't make sense when Hee-Do explains "hitting a wall" progress to MinChae in the present timeline.

There are so much more "could've" moments but I'm gonna go to fanfics on AO3 to clear my head of the disappointed ending.

i've had time to think about and process the 2521 ending and i'm finally ready to talk about it. first, i'd just like to say: WOW. i'm so happy i randomly decided to click "play" on episode 1 one day because watching this show was truly such a satisfying journey. the cast was phenomenal, seeing nam joo-hyuk and kim tae-ri together on screen was such a treat. the cinematography, the soundtrack, the writing, the feeling of nostalgia that this show provokes... 2521 is definitely one of my favorite kdramas of all time.

with that said, i don't claim the ending. a lot of people have said, "if you're not happy with the 2521 ending just because baekdo weren't endgame you clearly missed the whole point of the show," but i'd have to disagree. it's not just the lack of a baekdo endgame that didn't sit right with me, it's the ending that all of the characters got in their adulthood that turned me off.

seung-wan had stated in episode 10 that she found life to be boring, which is a sentiment that a lot of teenagers share. their lives are micromanaged by the schools they attend, the parents they live with, and all of their time is taken up by studying and trying to climb the step-ladder to adulthood. but even ten years later, seung-wan does not seem happy. she still finds life boring, she shows no satisfaction or attachment to the job she has chosen and she says herself that she is only able to see her friends during events like funerals. they may have hinted at a change in her love life with the return of yijin's brother, but considering how much emphasis was placed on having a "rEaLiStIc EnDiNg," his return just seemed very random and fanfiction-like.

yurim's ending also didn't satisfy me. don't get me wrong, i am so ridiculously happy that her relationship with jiwoong survived time and distance, and i'm also glad that she was finally able to gain the financial stability that she had always craved. but again, the emphasis was placed on what she chose as a profession following her retirement from fencing. we can't forget WHY yurim was so determined to make money, and the reason was her love for her family. she wanted to lessen their burden, pay off their debts, and provide them with a better life. i think seeing her with her parents in the present day would have been a lot more fulfilling in terms of a "happy ending."

and heedo... oh heedo. i can understand the baekdo breakup given the context of episodes 15 and 16, but i also think that a huge disservice was done to heedo's character in the name of being "realistic." because what were we shown? heedo lived her childhood alone until she was finally granted a short span of time to enjoy passionate love and friendship before it was ripped away from her. at the end of the day, heedo begins her journey alone and ends it alone. not only does she lose the friends that made her youth so memorable and the love of her life, but she also loses the sport that she lived and breathed for. in adulthood, she no longer finds fencing to be fun. she gets bored of winning. the girl who went through so much effort to transfer schools, worked so hard to join the national team, won three gold medals, and wanted nothing more to fence... quit. all athletes retire at some point but what she chose to do with her life afterwards had no relation to fencing whatsoever. i find that to be TRAGIC.

she shows no attachment to her husband in the present day, he's barely a part of her day-to-day life and she doesn't even mention him in passing. this nameless, faceless man that our best girl heedo spends her life with has no presence in her home, in her life, or even in her thoughts. she doesn't even have a ring on her finger. her reaction to yijin (his face during the 2009 interview, his words found in her diary in 2022) even years after their breakup is visceral, instinctual... and that's why she returns to the tunnel, erases the beach day from her mind, and just seems to have no trace of happiness in her. from where i'm sitting, her story seems like a tragedy full of regret, loneliness, and a bitterness for the direction her life took in the name of "growing up."

yijin also seems to be alone in the present day. it's a shame that he dedicated his life to a career that caused him to begin smoking, drinking, losing sleep, and sucked the hope out of his very being. it's also a shame that his "happy ending" consists of bringing the family together that provided him no form of support during the hardest time of his life. his parents may be his blood, but heedo was his family. and he lost her in a breakup that wasn't even reciprocal. they didn't part ways mutually, he was abandoned yet again during a time when he was struggling with issues completely out of his control. his ptsd and depression were never addressed and, just like heedo, he began and ended his journey completely alone.

why was a rookie reporter sent to the other side of the world indefinitely to cover a foreign story in the first place? why was jae-kyung only able to establish a close relationship with her daughter after ending her career? why did she have to choose? why did baekdo break up after their first and only fight? why did heedo say she would make sure her support always reached yijin when she made no effort in episodes 15 and 16 to help him in any way? were all of their words JUST WORDS? why were there so many remnants of yijin in heedo's present day home if they have no relationship at all? why did yijin and heedo have to lose their friendship, their love, their understanding, the very essence of their bond, just to become strangers with no tie to each other's lives after they broke up because "that's how real life is"? why did minchae even pick up that diary in the first place?

[ardentjournalingdreamer]

The ending of 25 21 was written in a very haste manner. Baekdo was the epitome of what we call as "healthy-relationship" till ep15 and just blown shattered to pieces in ep16 ? Jiwoong and Yu rim pairing might look good , but they weren't realistic at a point. Yurim and Jiwoong were able to get married but Baekdo couldn't??? Even in Vincenzo series , the writers took a week to upgrade the script, and here , the writers decided to just break them up and not even give a proper closure to Hee-Do and Yi-Jin to dream of Hee-Do instead of nightmares. I mean , they didn't even justify the radios in hee-do's room , minchae'father , Hee-do's photo in the album , the workshop named after their breakup age , the voice in the background during the broadcast, and that last scene ? What even was that ? And post-breakup present Hee-Do was something else entirely. Having a bitter aura around her except for few moments with her daughter. She's almost the exact opposite of her pre-breakup life. Breakup hits hard but definitely not up to the extent where her quirkiness just drowned.

Baekdo getting back together after their breakup would've been much more realistic. The ending is truly unfair for both YiJin and Hee-do. YiJin transferred departments just to be with Heedo and that led to their breakup. But even after that , when he returned to SK , they could've atleast made an effort or a mere coincidence? Adult Hee-do was almost borderline pessimistic and couldn't even move on from her breakup in 2002 for like 20 years ? Despite marrying someone else and having mimchae? Totally unrealistic.

Here are my few thoughts on the ending , no offense to the writers but the way they intricately described every small moment till ep13 and breaking a great relationship (friendship 2 yrs and relationship 600days) due to miscommunication and absence of communication and all within 6 months just doesn't seem well to me.

[ardentjournalingdreamer]

Ok , So I'm new to tumblr and writing here for the first time. I've been watching 2521 with all my heart and I can't help myself but see crazy theories flying around the tag . For me , it is the best way the writers could cover the concept of coming-of-age . Its the times (IMF) that made them meet each other and it seems like its the times(9/11) that is going to become an obstacle.

I'm a baekdo endgame shipper , so probably here's the way I think their "break" might be after watching ep 15 :

In ep 15 , when hee-do won the olympic gold medal , Yi-Jin and hee-do's mom congratulated each other. Yi-Jin said "I don't want to be an embarrassment for Hee-do."

• This might explain why Yi-Jin is working so hard and still stays in NY so that he could become a great(in a good way) reporter and him not telling this to her making the entire thing a bit of not communicating well.

• From the past episodes , the preview for the next episodes are always within the first 15 to 20 minutes of the actual episode. So from the preview , I think Yi-Jin comes back to SK and packs his bags immediately to Ny without telling Hee-do . This could explain why she ran to meet him.

• Yu-Rim seems to retire soon from fencing before Hee-do does.

• That could be their breakup scene.

• There might be a time gap before Baekdo get back together like 4 years

• They get back together after Her 2nd olympic gold medal and soon after that , Yi-Jin could have promoted to a newsreader .

• That explains why he didn't interview her 2nd olympic win

• This time , them being together might be sensed by other channel reporters for a scandal of sorts and before they could catch hold of anything about baekdo , they put the marriage news with Baek Yi-Jin's pseudonym: Kim do - hee

• Him reading her diary might be a reason for their getting married

They might be true or I might be delulu . Just a #baekdo endgame theory