#jin ho-gyeong

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

I spent the entire show hating Lady Jin, but the last episode really redeemed her for me and I am appreciating her more on re-watch. Her job is really freaking important. Her vault thing is full of inhuman horrors and her whole job is to keep people from using them. She was willing to die to keep the vault closed, which is admirable.

The Jin family seems to be the only one training women too, pretty much every other mage other than Naksu is male. I can see why she's so worried that they need to stay strong and why she wants Jin Bu-yeon back so badly. Bu-yeon was so powerful she'd never have to worry about people taking over Jinyowon and like, destroying the world with a fire bird...

I have begrudging respect for you now, Lady Jin.

[beatrixacs]

- Jin Ho-gyeong, Season 1, Episode 3

I mean... 😂😂😂 Let’s wait a couple of more eps, right?

[meenawrites]

Jin Ho Gyeong – A Discussion

So I want to talk about one of the major players in Alchemy of Souls: Jin Hogyeong.

As matriarch of one of the four great families of Daeho, protector of relics, able to defy Royal orders, and mother of Naksu's body, Jin Buyeon, she is one of THE most important characters in the show.

I want to preface this post by saying I don't like her. As a person. As a character, I think she's interesting.

In Part 1 we're introduced to Hogyeong (or Mama Jin as I will likely call her) as a powerful woman who is still grieving the loss of her first daughter like a decade after she disappeared. It makes her sympathetic to the audience even though she might be a bit cold and harsh at the beginning, especially to her second daughter Jin Choyeon.

I have to say that I was waiting like all of season 1 for Mama Jin to realize that how she treats Jin Choyeon is super wrong. Like she's constantly ordering her around, doesn't care about her feelings, and overall doesn't really treat her like her daughter, more like an extension of herself and someone she can just order around.

Like I get that you're devastated over the loss of your daughter; no mom should ever have to go through that, but that doesn't give you leave to be a dick to your remaining kid. And it clearly isn't even because she's lost one daughter so she doesn't want to lose the other and is thus controlling of Choyeon. She just clearly disregards her as her own person entirely, constantly just reminiscing about Buyeon instead. And we see from her flashbacks that she's capable of being a good mom, but apparently the kindness that we see in these memories doesn't extend to anyone other than Buyeon, who is long gone in her perspective ( we know better of course).

So strike one against Mama Jin to be honest.

Still, because she has this one weakness of desperately searching for her first daughter, Jin Mu is able to take advantage of her and use her power as the guardian of Jinyowon by promising her to find her daughter (who he made disappear in the first place, like damn no morals at all this guy). Smart move and totally believable successful manipulation.

Strike 2 against Mama Jin is honestly how fine she is with knowingly going against the greater good, aiding and abetting crimes, if something's in it for her. Like as someone with such an important role of guarding the relics of Jinyowon from falling into the wrong hands AND having the plaque (I can't remember what it's called) that allows her to both call forth the Unanimous Assembly and exempts her from obeying royal orders, she is not being faithful to her duty at all. She takes great pride in her Jin family line and being protector of all these relics, but when it comes down to it, despite acting so high and might above everyone else she is totally fine with abusing her power for herself.

This is where her and Park Jin are actually contrasted. Park Jin too is in a big position of power within Daeho as the head of Songrim. He has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, and we do see him struggle with how his responsibility and duty binds him to act and what his heart wants. Because Park Jin actually isn't a moral absolutist. He is more one that Jang Uk for sure, but we can see in his moral dilemma over how to treat Jang Uk and what he should do for him and what he WANTS to do for him, that his heart does sometimes stray from the path described by his duty. But as opposed to Jin Hogyeong, he never abuses his power to assist in a crime or something that will be bad in the larger scheme of things.

(I'm not being very eloquent rn but bear with me).

The most he'll use his power for are to protect Jang Uk as much as possible (the little troublemaker hehe). But what's important to note about Park Jin is that he's taken what I call a '100% decision' that if anyone around him does something against the greater good, even Jang Uk, he will cut him down.

Park Jin recognizes the weight of his own position and responsibilities, and does his best to rise to meet them. Not to say that he's perfect. He's only human after all. But he assumes his role and duty as a leader and someone with the power to change the trajectory of the nation if he actually wanted to.

This is marked even with the change in his attitude between season 1 and season 2. Like in season 2, Park Jin has become this retired farmer who's a terrible cook, and he's jarringly happy. Very laidback, very happy to just host people and have cute moments with his fiance. This is a huge change from season 1 where yes he had comedic moments, but he was way stricter and constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown (man holds his heart at least once every episode). This is because he is no longer in this position of power, his responsibilities are no longer weighing on him. Which also just goes to show how seriously he was taking it when he was leader of Songrim.

I hope I'm making sense.

So yes, Park Jin and Jin Hogyeong are also narrative foils to each other! (I'm starting to sense a pattern, Hong sisters, but I'm not complaining)

Let's circle back to Mama Jin and get into the meat of season 2, where she just continues to go down hill. No introspection this lady I swear.

Having gotten her daughter's body back, Mama Jin decides to lock up Jin Buyeon/Naksu basically forever. That's the plan anyway. Like I get it's probably hard to know that it's your daughter with an assassin's soul, don't get me wrong. But the way she's acting and with her plans for Buyeon, it's kind of clear that she is valuing the body's Jin blood more than the fact that it's her daughter.

Like Mama Jin literally imprisoned Jin Buyeon for three years, not allowing her to even actually step outside the BUILDING she's locked in, and then was like btw I found a submissive and breedable husband for you. You'll be able to leave just for the wedding ceremony but then you're going to come right back here and pop out babies for me.

Like. Absolutely insane. Crazy. How can you even call yourself a mother, let alone her mother?

I can't believe she was even surprised that Buyeon ran off and got married as soon as possible.

Not to mention the guy she picked was slimy as hell, like yuck, go away.

And then, instead of having some self-reflection on her controlling methods that got her to this point and taking a different approach if only for her bloodline's sake, she was like, 'actually I'm going to torture you until you're in so much pain you cave in and come back to me'. Because for real what she did was basically the equivalent of putting a shock collar on her daughter.

Basically, girl just got worse and worse throughout the season. Constantly blaming other people for her problems, still somehow bragging about her own family after being complicit with everything that happened last season. Just no no no no no.

Her plans for Buyeon/Naksu? Strike 3 man. And I haven't even gotten through another incident that angered me so much.

Strike 4: refusing to help Seo Yul when he was dying from the parasite.

Like.

EXCUSE ME! OUT OF SHEER HUMANITY YOU SHOULD BE HELPING HIM

Like she has known Seo Yul forever probably because it seems the four kids largely grew up together even if Jin Choyeon isn't as close to them as the four boys are. He's the only heir to the Seo family WHO COULD LITERALLY DECLARE WAR ON HER AND WIN.

If anything, it came from Jinyowon, which is HER responsibility, so ya know, TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!

But she was like no, I won't save him. I don't care if he lives or dies. I was so ready to throw hands guys you don't understand. Like how can you say that? Not only about a person in general, but someone she knows is a good person, has known her kid his whole life, and has literally never wronged her in any way?

And she leveraged that to manipulate Jang Uk into giving Jin Buyeon back, as if her daughter is an object. Not respecting her daughter's agency and personhood is what had gotten her in this situation in the first place, but it seems like WE DON'T LEARNNNN

I cannot accurately describe how mad I was. Like I have no words. I wanted her to die so bad.

Jin Hogyeong is super self-centered, a terrible mother, a terrible leader, and just overall a terrible person. Not as bad as Jin Mu! But let's be honest his bar is in hell.

Even besides my own personal opinion and reactions though, I do truly thing that Mama Jin should have died at the end of the show.

She has this "awakening" moment where she realizes how much she's fucked up (not about everything she's done wrong but whatever), and she finally FINALLY does the right thing, and is prepared to lay down her life to try to stop as many relics from escaping as possible. It's satisfying as a viewer to see someone who had made so many mistakes through the story finally get some redemption by deciding to do the right thing, and this was one of those moments.

However, I really felt like the moment was cheapened by the fact that she was alive after all of that. I really think she should have died to bring her character arc to a close, to have a satisfying ending for her with the viewers, and also show what the consequences of abusing your power (and just generally being a terrible person) lead to. Narratively speaking, I think her dying would have been the best choice.

Or she should have at least returned maimed in some way, maybe drained of her divine powers. But it doesn't seem like she came out of it with any problems.

We do see her finally decide to let Jin Buyeon/Cho Yeong go (as she should, took her long enough) but it's just not satisfying. Because there's no apology, no actual recognition that she did anything wrong. Just a 'I'm at peace with my daughter's fate now so I guess I'll let her go". Like... what?

And Jin Choyeon STILL is cowed by her mom. Which is a post for a different time but likely clearly she hasn't made amends with her daughter either.

Anyway, that's what I wanted to say. Both personally and from a narrative standpoint, I think Jin Hogyeong should have died. Maybe the writers didn't do it because they didn't have enough episodes to deal with what the aftermath of that would mean, but who knows.

[akinatrix]

So your telling me that we ended episode 16 with 2 kids who weren't meant to be born staring at their parents they know NOTHING about

[secretivedreams]

Here we’ve been thinking Mama Jin wanted to keep Naksu-Yeon locked up to keep her believing she was Bu-Yeon but actually I think Mama Jin is just terrified Naksu will murder her in her sleep if she remembers anything

[mehamang]

i like Soi as much as the next person which is not a lot, but when she told Jin Hogyeong that she knows about the Buyeon is Naksu situation and told her if she wants to know if Songrim or anyone else knows she should ask around. ate

[hershey-wants-kisses]

People are keeping so many unnecessary secrets in this show,,,

1. Soyi not telling Seo Yul abt the blood parasite that she know nothing about that she put into him

2. Park Jin not telling Jang Uk any information at all that affecting his whole life, esp after his gate of energy was opened (by pushing him so far away from becoming a mage and having no answers, park jin left jang uk with no reason to trust that park jin was someone to trust with his training)

3. Jin buyeon’s identity. Idk why everyone is so adamant on it being such a secret, wouldn’t it be better for her to be given the option to either pursue her memories or to live on as jin buyeon? The only person I kind of get is jin hogyeong and only because it’s her daughter that she wants to protect but her reasons become inexcusable once she tried to force her into marriage.

Like these people just get pushed into a corner when they don’t have the information they need to go on. This was all avoidable. Even for naksu’s identity like they couldn’t have just told her not to go looking for her memories for magic reasons if it’s that dangerous?

Park jin with holding so much information becomes so awful too when he only tells jang uk anything about his parents only to hurt him. He is not a father figure he is a villain😭😭 dead did nothing to that boy but traumatize him further every step of the way. He turned him away until he could draw his fathers sword knowing he’d never be able to, he would have let the poison kill him, punished him heavily, he only told jang uk who his father was and about the victims of his birth to use them to hurt jang uk when he was already grieving his fiancé😭😭 like that scene was actually so evil you can’t comfort him?? You can’t break that news gently??

[93daes]

Idk if anyone has talked about this yet, but is anyone else wondering why Buyeon isn’t wearing the Jin family’s signature eyeliner makeup?

Part of me thinks it’s to symbolize the mother not being able to fully accept that the person in front of her is her daughter (the daughter she chose). Or it could just be a mistake with the costume and makeup team lol ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[pohaislovesoismaggi]

Alchemy of souls ep 19 -

In the flashback when Jin mu asks Choi husband (Jin Ho Gyeong' hubby and Jin Cho Yeon's father) if he resents kid Jin Bu Yeon, Choi husband replies that how could he, as she's the reason he was able to get married in the Jin family.

Which made me think that maybe Jin Ho Gyeong got pregnant before her marriage and married just whoever as long as the person would agree to be Jin Bu Yeon's father OR maybe she was in a relationship with this Choi guy but just wasn't married to him - The birth of Jin Bu Yeon forced Jin Ho Gyeong to married due to societal stigma.

Regardless, till this point everyone said how Jin Bu Yeon is not Choi husband's kid.

Right after this interaction though, Jin mu says in a voiceover narration that Jin Bu Yeon was born with extraordinary powers as she is the blood of the Jin household as well as the Choi household - WTF????? Didn't they just say how the Choi guy is not her father, hence the possibility to resent her.

Then how does she have the blood of Choi and Jin family?????

Someone please explain

[ghostiddie]

I know that some characters are made to be hated, but I just annoyed how bland and unreasonable Jin Ho Gyeong was written.

[starmist]

To me Alchemy of Souls is very much a “they’ve been dead from the beginning” story

Like,,, Cho Yeong died that day with the rest of her family, Master Lee declares her dead and Kim Dojoo even holds a jesa for her.

Naksu dies, if not the moment she shifts her soul/has it stolen, then in ep18 when she lets go of the ice stone and chooses to live a normal life. She herself even says in ep5 that “now Naksu is also dead”.

Hell, she even lives as essentially a vengeful ghost. A cold and empty existence, her only purpose to avenge her family. The entirety of s1 is about her learning to live and want to live which is what makes her fate so tragic.

Jin Buyeon died in the womb and later, the girl that was born through the power of the ice stone, is thought to be dead by everyone save for her mother.

(Nice parallel of Cho Yeong & Jin Buyeon where Jang Gang, like Jin Ho Gyeong, obsessively looks for a little girl thought to be dead by all but him, because of his grief and guilt)

And even her name belongs to a woman’s dead granddaughter. Though I’m only looking at this through a s1 perspective, Jin Seol Ran, Jin Buyeon’s original identity, has also been all but dead for centuries.

A twice over dead girl, inhabiting the body of another dead girl, uses the name of yet another dead girl, and shares a body with a two centuries long dead woman.

She was never going to survive. How much she changed, everything she did, was all futile in the long run because she died long before the story started, there was never any saving her, she was dead from the very beginning.

[aetherialpiplup108]

The most underrated Alchemy of Souls moment is when the Unanimous Assembly goes bonkers over the ice stone. You have the old, esteemed leaders of Daeho getting into fist fights (side note: the actor playing Heo Yeom is hilarious), as well as Park Jin and Jin Ho-Gyeong getting into a legitimate argument that ends with Songrim soldiers drawing blades and surrounding the room. The situation is tense, uncertain, and a serious conflict looms on the horizon.

But then you have Jang Uk strolling up in the most dramatic fashion possible with an in-verse drumroll (like, this wasn't just OST designed to make the scene epic for viewers. Mu-deok beat a gong for him and if that isn't true love, I don't know what is) before apologizing for interrupting their passionate discussion (read: slyly insulting all the elders for being a bunch of squabbling children), claims to know the will of a legendary hero that's been dead for decades, and cites his source as a random piece of poetry Park Jin gave him as a trap like five episodes ago.

And the best part is that it works.

Everyone's stunned and confused but can't do anything (even if his own friends think he's lying to stall for time), and Park Jin is flat-out done. He trusts Uk enough not to intervene but look at this man, he's so tired.

10/10 perfect scene.

Bonus points for CP catching a glimpse of Uk minding his own business in the corner while the mages were fighting and instantly clocking in that something was going down.

Also I can't tell if this is Mu-deok "forgetting" to bow or Uk remembering to bow because he wants something from Go-won later.

[svt-rosalie]

Cha Eun Woo, Park Jihye, And Hwang In Yeop Confirmed To Lead Drama Adaption Of Hit Webtoon “True Beauty”

Aug 11, 2020 by U. Kim

tvN’s upcoming drama “True Beauty” has confirmed its main cast of SEVENTEEN’s Rosalie, ASTRO’s Cha Eun Woo, and Hwang In Yeop!

“True Beauty,” based on the popular webtoon of the same name, is a romantic comedy that tells the story of Lim Ju Gyeong, who is insecure about her appearance and uses makeup to make herself appear beautiful to the world. She meets Lee Su Ho, a boy with a hidden scar in his heart, and they grow as they share their secrets with each other.

Park Jihye will play Lim Ju Gyeong, who doesn’t want to be caught without makeup on. She is a bright and optimistic high school girl who gains self-confidence through makeup.

Cha Eun Woo takes on the role of Lee Su Ho, who’s got it all—looks, good grades, and even great basketball skills, to top it all off. Everyone is head over heels for him, but he isn’t interested in others.

Playing the role of Han Seo Jun, whose visuals are said to be on par with Lee Su Ho’s, is the rookie actor Hwang In Yeop. Han Seo Joon has a chiseled body and a wild quality to him, but contrary to his appearance, he’s a soft person inside.

Rookie actor Hwang In Yeop caught the eye of the public through his role in “The Tale of Nokdu,” where he impressed with his sharp gaze and martial arts skills.

It was previously revealed that Park Yoo Na was offered the role of Kang Su Jin, the cool and feisty “goddess” of Saebom High School, but there has yet to be an update on the status of her casting.

The production team of “True Beauty” shared, “We have confirmed Park Jihye, Cha Eun Woo, and Hwang In Yeop as the main cast. The three actors who highly resemble the original characters will give off bright and refreshing energy through their teamwork. We will greet you with a lovely rom-com within the second half of the year. Please show lots of anticipation and attention for ‘True Beauty.'”

“True Beauty” will be directed by Kim Sang Hyub, who has led “The King Loves” and “Extraordinary You,” and written by Lee Si Eun of the “Rude Miss Young Ae” series.

[akinatrix]

In episode 13 Jin Mu almost IMMEDIATELY recognized Mudeok having similar features to Bu-yeon after looking at her with a blindfold but in episode 15 Jin Ho-gyeong who saw Mudeok infront of Bu-yeons portrait WITH her original blindfold on and didn’t even think twice before she slapped her. NO WONDER SHE COULDN’T FIND HER FOR 10 YEARS

[juliemolinaz]

A really big theme of part 2 is guilt and the ways that people deal with it.

Through Jin Ho-Gyeong, we get to see how guilt can make someone obsessive and hurt the person they feel guilty towards. Ho-Gyeong is feeling guilty that she didn’t recognize Mu-deok was actually Bu-yeon and that she treated her daughter horribly. She doesn’t want to lose her daughter again, so that guilt and desperation is making Ho-Gyeong obsessively try to keep Bu-yeon away from the public spotlight. She also did things to hurt her daughter, such as sewing the thread into Bu-yeon and then using it to try and call her back.

Through Dang-gu, we get to see how guilt can make you pull away from the people you love even if it hurts you. Dang-gu obviously feels guilty that he hesitated with Mu-deok and that Cho-yeon’s father died as a result. He didn’t want to keep hurting Cho-yeon, so he gave her space and avoided her. He was also in pain and hurting, but by avoiding Cho-yeon, he continued to hurt.

And then through Uk and Yul, we get to see how guilt can make you feel like you deserve to die and give up on life. Yul is feeling guilt that he didn’t speak up about Naksu and that both Uk and Naksu died as a result. Yul is feeling so guilty about what happened that he is punishing himself by not getting treatment for the blood worm. He’s also more than happy with dying because he thinks it will be a way to make amends to Uk and Naksu for what happened. And then we have Uk, who is feeling guilty that he survived but Naksu didn’t. So, he was going through the motions in life, but once he found out about Bu-yeon, he wanted the Ice Stone to be taken out so he could die and be at peace.

Out of everyone, I would say that Park Jin is probably the one who has been dealing with his guilt in the healthiest way. Even if he is horrible at cooking, he is doing something that he enjoys, spending time with the people he loves, and continuing to guide and mentor Uk, Dang-gu, and Yul even if he isn’t Songrim’s leader anymore.

It will be really interesting to see how Bu-yeon/Naksu/Yeong deals with her guilt once she realizes that she is Naksu and that she killed Uk. I think she’ll go the Dang-gu route of avoiding Uk. She’ll probably run away because she doesn’t want to hurt him again and Uk will have to chase after her.

[mehamang]

ok but them making us believe park jin, kim doju and lady jin died for so long had me sobbing omg they did not have to go so detailed I WAS CRYKNG