#tkem rewatch

[hwachacco]

also i got my friend into tkem and she immediately understands the jogon train 🙏🏻 and she is in love with taeeul which aren’t we all but ANOTHER ONE SUCCESSFULLY INDOCTRINATED

[desperatepleasures]

I hope when I'm on adhd meds it'll make it easier for me to watch tv/movies like yeah I also want to be more functional in more important ways but it's also nice thinking like. what shows I'll try to watch once I can actually focus on a screen

[jinhogae]

teaser tidbit tuesday/wip wednesday/fuck it friday!

@khaotunqs tagged me for a little snippet of what i am currently working on, so here goes!

apparently 2024 is my year of becoming better at making gifs, and more challening gifs at that, and rewatching tkem is a good way to gif with low stakes and try things around. probs gonna post this set once i finished my rewatch but i did the first one to save as a base psd last night.

tagging @kimtaegis @possession1981 @eeunwoo @ttaeri @ppanghanni @xiaolanhua @applejongho @bethereforme @suuho and anyone else who wants to! 🤍

[carmenlire]

okay goddamnit, I watched the king: eternal monarch for the second time on the last friday of september and i have spent the weeks since completely and utterly consumed reading every fic I could get my greedy little raccoon hands on and I have things to say!

first of all, I think the sheer concentration of amazing fic for this fandom is unparalleled. I have read so many stories with an emotional depth and a dive into canon (before often diverging into the writer’s own plot) that has left me in awe. It’s been a month and I just read a series this morning that I absolutely adored. I’ve reread a few fics half a dozen times in less than a month. i’m unhinged and having the time of my life.

so saying, I don’t imagine that I’ll ever write my own tkem fic so I want to get my thoughts out somewhere on what I might have liked to have seen in the show or what I would want to do in my own fic because holy hell the source material is so rich and reading these fics has given me ideas and has helped consolidate what i love about these characters and relationships. So, going by relationship:

lee gon/tae-eul/jo yeong

1. the first fics I read on ao3 the day after my second rewatch were canon compliant with lee gon/tae-eul. then I read a few poly fics where yeong joins them and i really enjoyed the dynamic, with gon as the fulcrum for the three of them while tae-eul and yeong learn to meet each other on their own terms but, in the end, no less devout than their pull with gon. 

I would love to explore the idea of that further-- I particularly would want to play out either a) gon has been just as in love with yeong since he was eight years old but the pull with tae-eul and the badge was always in the background and as king, he chose the easier route (even with parallel universes lmao) of pursuing what the kingdom would expect. however, when shit all goes down, he’s forced to confront that it’s always been yeong and tae-eul and the three must navigate that.

or b) gon doesn’t realize how much yeong means to him in a romantic sense until he has tae-eul but something is still missing. it takes tae-eul? to figure it out and orchestrate things to her liking. we can go either full angst as gon agonizes over the worry that tae-eul will perceive she’s not enough (he doesn’t know she’s behind the machinations) or full chaotic fluff with her obviously encouraging him and him seeing tae-eul and yeong together and feeling how right it is.

lee gon/ jo yeong

guys. GUYS. the little snippets we get of the two of them makes my brain overheat with the possibilities. There are a few things that I would like to see more of/I haven’t seen yet with these two fated disasters:

1. I’m in love with the idea that jo yeong might have been in love with gon since he was too young to understand all that encompasses, but he has actively pursued other relationships and is experienced. I have a particular thing with gon discovering yeong with someone else:

a) maybe gon walks into yeong’s apartment just to find him in a compromising position

b) gon visiting yeong during yeong’s years at the naval academy-- only to see yeong and a fellow cadet in the shadows of a corridor

c) yeong, still a teenager, with a stable boy when gon decides to go for a ride one afternoon

d) the one time yeong decided to treat gon as hyung and not pyeha, the two of them “snuck out” (there was still a security detail, though gon doesn’t know it) and they both drink too much and gon looks for yeong when his best friend seems to have disappeared, only to see yeong in the middle of a dance floor dancing very intimately with a man before pulling said stranger closer and kissing him for all he’s worth.

the possibilities are endless. in all of the ones above, though, gon had no idea that yeong is gay and he is 1) betrayed that yeong didn’t feel he could tell him 2) immediately jealous and overtaken with the urge to say yeong is his. (in option d, gon feels immediate heat surge through him and is served with the awakening of his life). 

this of course devolves into years of mutual pining as, even when yeong comes out or doesn’t hide his preferences anymore, gon thinks yeong never feels that way for him and yeong has always felt like gon wasn’t into him and as king, nothing would ever come of his love for pyeha.

2. I think a compelling story definitely involves gon and yeong realizing their feelings and acting on them as children-- the adults around them allow it to happen up to a certain point (they’re only touchy with each other, they make it obvious each other are their favorite company, there’s a lot of talk of being together forever in the ways children do when they don’t realize life rarely works out the way it seems it should). 

however, there comes a point where gon is gently urged to pull away from yeong and set boundaries because he must think of the future and bear an heir. yeong is similarly talked to, with talk of how the king is unreachable and that he is the unbreakable sword and he must accept his duty. cue years of longing and angst.

b) equally as interesting to explore would be the two of them having a fling in their late teens/early twenties and it ends amicably as they both know nothing can come of it but both are hopelessly in love and it’s another ten years before they have the courage to say the other is it for them (i’m imagining gon ruthlessly researches each man gon shows an interest in and takes delight in threatening them behind yeong’s back. yeong, for his part, can never quite hold back his sneer or annoyance when gon mentions someone who’s caught his eye-- of course, gon only does so because it makes yeong so obviously jealous.)

3 Can we PLEASE talk about the ending of the show!! seriously, it struck me in the finale but reading the fics that mention it, I just need more exploration of the fact that in the end, it is YEONG WHO SAVES GON AS A CHILD! like i wanna talk about everything that means!!!!

a) after everything, yeong is gon’s savior. he is the one gon spends a lifetime looking for. yeong is the one who protects child gon and the loop of fate and destiny is sticky enough for me to choke on. i want to see them resolve their first timeline with that of the present day. with no tae-eul in gon’s past, i want to see gon realize what’s been in front of him all along.

(I love the idea of lady noh knowing it was gon back in 1994 and if i let my flights of fancy take off, i ADORE the image of gon carrying an unconscious, injured yeong out of the Cheonjongo just to be intercepted by lady noh. lady noh gains sufficient proof of who they are (decidely not lee lim’s traitors) and that makes the scene where they let four year old yeong interrupt the mourning rites even more significant and heartbreaking.)

b) the viewer is under the impression that yeong is fatally wounded after the second time at the Cheonjongo. I want to see gon 1) find yeong and see his world shatter at the price he thinks he might have just paid to fix things with his uncle 2) stay at yeong’s side at the hospital for days if not weeks and then he is there every step of the way for physical therapy 3) seeing yeong’s own reaction to nearly being killed and the aftermath of what must be severely traumatizing.

i) with this, i love the angst fest that is yeong deciding he’s given enough to the crown and gon and that he finally needs to live his own life. maybe he takes a step back, maybe he leaves indefinitely but i would LOVE to see gon finally being forced to realize how much yeong means to him and in what ways he wants him just for, at the same instant, yeong decides he has wasted enough time on gon and he needs to leave. can you imagine how delicious the angst and emotional journey would be as they find their way back to each other. my god.

ii) i would love to see yeong to be wounded and gon to save him, in a reversal of the bodyguard/king dynamic. in the show, we get eun-sop but gosh what if yeong had been the one shot? i wanna see gon’s reaction and see yeong treated with care.

4) I love outsider POVs and would enjoy the hell out of both yeong and gon being oblivious idiots in love but we see that everyone around them has known since they met the two of them that they would end up together: from lady noh to a tutor to an ex-girlfriend of gon’s to yeong’s parents, like everyone just being completely exasperated that these two just won’t make a move!

5) there are always rumors right? well give me a fic where they both play into it actively (while staying true to their characters). gon is always touching yeong, invading his space. those small hints of smiles we see when yeong is endeared or proud of yeong. there are whole social media accounts dedicated to tracking these small moments. neither gon nor yeong acknowledge why the rumors do nothing to make them uncomfortable, that they actually like it.

jo yeong/kang sin-jae

I didn’t even know this ship was a thing until I descended into the tkem tag on ao3 but I was immediately consumed! there are so many well written fics with this pairing and I just love the potential of it-- that in the first timeline, they are both men with a lot of baggage. two imperfect men meeting each other where they are and finding solace in each other. it soothes a corner of my brain that acknowledges that i’m a grown-up and i want to see messy people deserve happy endings too.

honestly, there are some very in-depth fics and i can’t think of many things i haven’t been lucky enough to read but i had to include this ship in this list because they ruined me. utterly and completely.

1) I wanna see sinjae/hyeonmin be at yeong’s side as the heir of the jo dynasty. he can go toe to toe with anyone no matter their title or influence and seeing yeong stand next to him, proud and in love at some gala or other is utterly lovely.

2) the two of them with kids! i love that these two people, flawed and a little dark, would be such good parents and would have that soft side for their children.

3) seeing how they play with gon. gon 1) being jealous and petty as a best friend to yeong 2) gon seeing how happy they are and absolutely doting and teasing them 3) exploring sinjae and yeong navigating the fact that gon will always be a man barely half a step below sinjae (which gets messier if you add in an element where yeong and gon have actually been in a relationship or slept together before).

Misc

with either sinjae or lee gon, i also love AUs!! rainhat has a bakery au with sinjae and yeong and i adore seeing their personalities in a different setting. give me rival teachers! an au where both yeong and gon are titled and on equal ground! a coffeeshop au! i love seeing the dynamics of these men and with either relationship, it would be so fun to explore outside of canon!!

[kitkatsudon]

So. Today has been a weird day.

Rambles below, because I’m in my feelings but that doesn’t necessarily have to be your problem.

The first thing I saw when I woke up today was that Ice Adolescence had been cancelled. The second thing piece of news I received, within a few minutes of this, was that my Grandma had passed away.

The second thing is more personal, and I haven’t come here to talk about that - I suppose more than anything it’s to give context on today’s slightly weird vibe, and why I’m feeling perhaps more nostalgic than I would be normally.

Perhaps as a distraction, I want to ramble about YOI.

Though now I’ve sat down to actually do this… where do I start?

Though my internet presence is very TKEM-focused nowadays, since its release, YOI has always been incredibly dear to me. It came out just as I had found out that my family were going to be moving across the country (and ok, in the UK that’s maybe less of a big deal than if I lived in a larger country, but I was 14, and 14 is a horrible age, so it was still a big deal to me). YOI came out in late 2016, we moved at the beginning of 2017, and I joined a much smaller school with… let’s say less choice for the people I could make friends with.

I was, technically, adopted by a friendship group, but it took a long time, some falling outs within the group, and me learning everything there ever was to know about BTS despite having no real passion for music-based fandoms for me to really feel included. The friendship group I’d left behind was much more diverse in terms of interests, and we thrived on mutual sharing and acceptance of each other’s interests. This new one was more kind of “conform or fuck you,” and I never quite managed to conform properly.

All that is to say… while I didn’t really have friends, in 2017, I had YOI and its fandom. While I was dealing with the huge changes in my life, I was comforted through it by, more than anything else, lurking around the YOI fandom. I had my first forays into posting things online using Google+, of all things (my parents didn’t let me have social media, but I could access this using my gmail), and they were drawings I had done of YOI characters, even a hand-drawn anecdote comic thing, and just… it was rudimentary, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

It became what I was known for, in my new school. It became part of me. That summer, my family went on holiday to Orlando FL to do the theme parks, and despite that having been something that I’d been begging to do for years, what I ended up being most excited about was the opportunity to go to Hot Topic and buy the YOI merch that they’d recently announced. I bought a T-shirt, a blanket, and a backpack, and although the backpack’s strap broke after a year of using it for school, I still have the T-shirt and the blanket, and they’re still special to me to this day. Back then, listening to the soundtrack on repeat, I’d decided that one day I was going to perform a dance routine to ‘In regards to love: Eros,’ and at the end of my first year of uni, that was something I was actually able to do. Was it good? Not really, I’m by no means a professional dancer, but I felt like I was paying homage to my inner… not quite child, more like my inner angsty teenager?

My whatsapp background is still YOI-themed. I still proudly display my Funko Pops and my posters in my bedroom at home. YOI is still my comfort show, and though I’m not usually one for rewatching shows, it’s still the show that I’ve rewatched the most. Even my username is a relic of my ties to the YOI fandom - though I wasn’t really using it much then, it’s something I thought up during the days when I was deepest in it, and I thought to myself “if I ever am brave enough to really start posting things online, this is the username I’ll use.” So even though the first thing I ever posted under the name KitKatsudon was the beginning of a BTS fanfiction on Quotev on all places that I was writing with a friend of mine at the time, it has its roots in YOI.

It’s sort of funny - once upon a time, I used to semi-joke that I couldn’t die before the YOI movie came out. Don’t get me wrong, my mental health was never bad enough that I had actually realistically considered not making it to Ice Ado’s release, but every time I said it, I did mean it. No matter how shitty I felt, I had to keep going, because I was going to have my bum in a seat when it eventually released in cinemas. I guess what this means now is that, unless Ice Ado is picked up by another studio, I’m just never going to die 🤷‍♀️ you’d better buckle the fuck up, mortals, because MAPPA has just granted me ultimate power.

What am I trying to say? I don’t really know. Maybe thank you, to the YOI team, for being such a positive force in my life. You gave me something comforting to hold onto while everything around me was changing, while I was starting my sexuality journey, while I didn’t have the close support of peers to help boost my mood. I don’t watch the show so often nowadays, but that’s because I save it for instances where I really need comforting. Maybe like today.

The story of Ice Adolescence may be over, at least for now, but I’ll always be grateful for what we did get.

[miulore]

My last series was Beef and kinda rewatching tkem. I kinda got back into reading again too. Have you seen Jdrama first love? i feel like you'll like it? and for cdramas i've heard the fairy and the devil is good and word of honor. I watched the untamed but couldn't get past 10 eps -_- but! i'm hearing many good things -_- btw did you know kge has a new series with the girl who played saeyi! (forgot her name sorry -_-)

oh beef!! ive heard great things!! OMG BOOK RECS!! i actually didnt even finish the first ep of first love :c sksksk but ive been meaning to try again and if u say ill like it i trust u ^-^

asdh u always hit me w series ive never heard of skkss ty for the recs!!

OH! im hearing abt this for the first time!! is it saphic?? :o i hope kr finally wakes up and not hurt her career!! -O-

[nettlestonenell]

The object of his affection (no, not the King’s--the Traitor’s)

Citizens of the Republic, Subjects of the Kingdom, and  Gentle Readers, here you will find Part 4 of a failing attempt to dictate my thoughts during a The King: Eternal Monarch rewatch.

Touching on topics such as:

Rich people who don’t like to share their special stuff

The historical roots of Manpasikjeok

Lee Gon’s relationship with the Dragon King of the East Sea

the Vault of the Supreme Heaven and what it has in common with JTE’s police precinct

the traitor. so much the traitor

Cue the Show

Right off the bat, we get Lee Lim [some would say Ri Rim, and I respect it and maybe even prefer it, but I watched Netflix English subtitles, and so my brain is prewired for ‘Lee Lim’] of course, but we don't know that we get his voice over in the bamboo forest or a bamboo forest telling us the story of the flute, and he does say for the record that it is a bamboo flute. So, out of his mouth, if you want to believe him [though he is likely a liar], it is a bamboo flute.

It sounds like a lovely fairy tale. I wasn't even sure that it was a real story, but I did some research, and it literally an actual Korean folktale, that a flute exists and that you got it from the Dragon King of the East Sea, etc. It all checks out [online]. So in this case the Traitor is not lying to us [keep your guard up, nonetheless].

This page at Korea.net says “it is based on the Legend of “Manpasikjeok (The Flute That Calms Ten Thousand Waves), written in the Samguk Yusa (삼국유사), a book that contains tales and legends from the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla).”

Cheapest (but most exclusive) way to visit Busan

Of course, this probably begins one of the questions that apparently dogs a lot of viewers through the series, which doesn't don't affect me, doesn't affect me. Which is what? What are we looking at? So we're in a bamboo forest, but we don't know which world the bamboo forest is in [we also don’t know if it's Lee Gon’s forest or Lee Lim’s]. That’s the question that many viewers, or perhaps just particularly vocal viewers, have an ongoing issue with: not being able to differentiate which world they’re being shown. [obviously, easily fixable with additional subtitles, but I’ll have to say there are only two instances I find myself uncertain, b/c usually within a moment or so something in-scene will clue you in as to where you are IF YOU ARE PAYING ATTENTION. I’ll be sure to mention going forward any times I experience uncertainty, as well as any signifiers that answer this persistent question]

There are some credits in Korean at the bottom of the screen. I think they're just credits but I can't be sure because I don't read Korean, and with the shot of--I don't know what you wanna call it--I'm gonna call it a gazebo. I'm sure that's not what it's called [the temple at the Busan palace of Cheonjongo (Vault of the Supreme Heaven, according to the Korea.net page referenced above) *I don’t know if there is any significance to it, but JTE works at Seoul Jongo Police Station—both these locations use the word “Jongo”, but again I am Korean illiterate]—Emperor Lee Ho is opening the case to get the flute out.

What I'll say is this is where my troubles on my first viewing began. They played out something like this: I don't know where we are and I don't know what year we're in. So, I will tell you, 'cause it's kind of silly, what I thought I was watching. Well, first of all, I knew it was supposed to be a supernatural show, so I'm, you know, checking it out for moments of super- naturalness. So to me, I thought that what I'm calling the gazebo, I thought that it was something like a Stargate, a portal to travel through time or space or both. And that somehow this is where you would leap from place to place (as the show description cited parallel worlds). I thought this because Lee Ho is in, I don't know if we can call what he's wearing hanbok--but if hanbok means Korean clothes, he's certainly in Korean clothes, in some kind of kingly robe.

I won't try to get into the Korean words for these things because I don't know them. I would have to look them up to begin with, and that might take some time to figure it all out.

[A “gujangbok” (九章服) is a ceremonial robe worn by the Joseon king, adorned with nine symbols, either painted or embroidered, representing the consummate authority and virtue of the king. -you’re welcome]

But Lee Ho's in traditional clothing. Nobleman clothing at the very least, but most certainly I'm sure that it denotes that he's the king.

Naturally this means nothing to me as a Western viewer, I can't tell that he's a king. He's not wearing a crown. Even with a small bit of Kdrama exposure, I could not tell that he was a king. His hat looks to me a lot like the hats that other noblemen wear in sageuk. Anyway, the scene that is set is, to me, not located anywhere in time and so I can't tell if it's the 1200s, or if it's present day.

I assumed on my first viewing that this was a man from the past that somehow had shown up in this Stargate gazebo and in this sort of area, I mean sidebar, the gazebo in Cheonjogno. It also looks a whole lot like where Snow and Prince Charming got married in Once Upon a Time that's neither here nor there, but I share it with you nonetheless.

Sorry, it is what it is

So we don't know—who is he? Does he belong there? Has he traveled from another time? Why does this whole scene and his costuming look so arcane? He's got a flute from a case. We don't know what's going on. If you're me, and you're watching this the first time, you don't even know where you're located in the timeline, much less what world you might be in. 'Cause we haven't been told there are multiple worlds yet [except in the description]. *again, this would likely be far less confusing for a Korean viewer

There is Korean writing down the right side of the screen. I have no idea what it says. I don't believe that Netflix ever translates it out, but I'm here to tell you if you were watching Viki, somebody would have translated that out for you. And for that and for Viki, I'm very thankful. It might be. It might be a translation of what? Lee Lim is saying ‘where enemies would retreat, diseases would be cured’. It might be a translation of what's probably something like a poem that’s about the flute. [this of the poetry on the Four Tiger Sword] “When the flute was played, the enemies fled, the plagues receded, the rain came in drought, the wind was soft and the sea was calm; it was called ‘the flute that calms ten thousand waves’ and considered a national treasure.” [additionally of interest may be that in the tale, the flute was crafted from a bamboo plant that grew as two separate plants that united into a single plant each evening/night.]

Now we see that Lee Lim’s splattered with blood. This, on my first viewing, because he's so prominent in the early part of the show I thought that he was going to be the hero, I thought that he was going to be the main character because so much focus is to him now. JTE reads Lee Lim’s statistics, you know, his age, but he's supposed to be 70. It talks about the year 2020, and there's a document that we're shown. I can't read Korean. I don't know Korean symbols/logos that strongly. It's possible that that document, although Netflix isn't gonna want me to look at it 'cause it's just gonna pop that add up if I pause the screen--that that document makes it clear that it's from the Kingdom, because that document--I don't believe there's a document in the Republic which sometimes I will probably refer to as our world because I assume that it is in fact our world--OK, looking at it as much as I can, it does look to me like it has a symbol on it that is not a Republic symbol, but instead it is a Kingdom symbol. It's on the back of the sheet that says maybe…personal information, top secret. Those are words in English that appear on it.

So it's possible that if you were a Korean viewer, you would understand that what you were looking at, what was being talked about, was unusual from what you should be seeing [a document with Republic symbols on it].

Interesting sidebar: If you look up stories about the flute, you will discover that King Sinmun (681-692), who was given the flute, is actually the son of the man King Munmu, who would go on to become the Dragon King of the East Sea, that gave the flute to his son. Which makes both of those people a direct part of the ancestral line of our Emperor Lee Gon. His great, great, great, great plus granddaddys were the one that gave the flute and the one that received the flute.

I suppose this is as good of a time as any as Lee Lim is talking to Shin-Jae to note that as far as I'm concerned, the Traitor is remarkably handsome. He looks great--perhaps another reason that I thought for a moment that he was going to be the lead in the show.

It is a royal family of good genes

The Traitor Lee Lim is talking about the deeper details on his list, so we get the reveal of his age, but it's inconsistent with his appearance, and that he actually is, in fact, 70, and that time runs slower for him.

I feel like it's already too much [this scene]—like, it needs [narratively] to cut there and take us somewhere else.

I have a lot of feelings about this first, like I said, third of the first episode because it's so disorienting and we're trying so hard to grab onto something we're supposed to pay attention to as viewers, and it just keeps throwing more wild stuff and more people at us, and we just can't locate our story, if you will.

So you know, Lee Lim is starting to, sort of, what--villain blather? I don't know. He's gonna start to tell us things about the flute. He's gonna tell us how his brother didn't believe in the flute, and [this speech/exposition] needs to be, I think, tighter and quicker to get us where we're going faster. I say that on a first viewing. On subsequent viewings, I think that this works fine. Like, I think we are already invested. We're curious about what he has to say. There's a lot of interest going on. But first viewings when you're just trying to get your bearings in a story? We've already been shown a bamboo forest. We've already been shown Cheonjogno, and a person that we don't know [it’s un-introducted Emperor Lee Ho] with the flute. We've been told--we've heard Lee Lim's voice over it all, and we're now in this interrogation room, where we've been introduced to Lee Lim himself and then two other characters that we don't know, and including the credits that have rolled [which we watched].

It's, we're two minutes and 48 seconds into a show, so we're confused, muddled and I think exhausted and although, as I said in its defense, it plays just fine once you've seen the entire show. On re-watch I'm not bored. I know what's going on. I'm even interested in it.

But that's gonna be to me [I’m going to be interested in it b/c I’ve got the whole weight of the show behind me and it is NOW of interest]. That's the song, so to speak. That's the theme of the whole first third of the first episode [this murky-if-you’re-not-in-the-know-about-the-treason]. And I often tell people, if I encourage them to watch the show, don't give up. Make it all the way to the end of the first episode and halfway through the second one before you decide it's not for you.

I feel like this is something you almost just have to get past, to endure [the first time]. Kind of like taking your medicine, although that sounds a little more negative than it is, but you have to get past this part in order to get into the show and then you'll be glad for this part on the end of the show 'cause you will go back and re-watch.

So the Traitor villain blathers about how his brother was close- minded and did not appreciate the flute when he had it and did not know that it would bring the world into his hands. And then Lee Lim specifically states actually two worlds [he can say this in the police station b/c at that point he knows about two worlds]. And so, of course, we know that this scene is from the actual, you know, very close to the end of the series. And even at that time the knowledge is simply of two worlds because the pathway through the obelisks is [still] just a two-way pathway [though Lee Gon seems to suspicion other doors, though he does refer to them as closed]; you can go to the Kingdom, you can go to the Republic.

You don't get other options that are open and available to you. We don't know that yet. So that's all that he knows [two worlds].

It's interesting why he couldn't see [the flute] on other days [beside the every 20 year presentations to the people]. Was it literally like he would ask? Lee Lim would go and be like, hey, can I see the flute? And people would be like, “no”.

Because if you don't believe it has any particular powers [Lee Ho], what does it matter if you let, you know, your half-brother go look at it or whatever? Like, what's he gonna do with it if it's just a flute? For example, what if it was a famous painting? Like, what does it matter to you if you happen to own this famous painting as a king and then your half-brother is like, can I go check that famous painting out today? Stare at it for awhile? You would be like, what? “No, how dare you! Only I am allowed to look at the famous painting, except once every 20 years!” Does that even track?

So that that has Lee Lim upset and feeling traitorous. He seems to be, perhaps, even more upset that Lee Ho doesn't believe in the power of the flute. He consistently calls Lee Ho names b/c of his unbelief.

I read someone online who felt like Lee Lim considered the flute a religious object and wanted to or had developed a cult around it, so the sin of unbelief I guess would be a great one in that case.

I think it would have been nice--I'll probably say this a lot--during the first episode--Uh, I really think it would have been nice to be able to see them [Lee Lim and Lee Ho], perhaps argue about the flute and its potential abilities, or its mystical powers outside of, you know, the bloody massacre. Maybe over dinner, maybe following their father’s ancestral rites? Like, prior to this night of the treason, had they had spirited discussions about it? In all the years of growing up? Had Lee Lim tried to gain access to it in the past and been denied? Um. We don't get to see that, we don't get to see anything of their relationship prior to murder? Which I think is very unfortunate. [We don’t get to see it later on in flashbacks, either.]

Not that I'm trying to drag this [show-establishing] part out, but if some of what was the exposition of their conflict was cut, and instead like a shot inserted here or there of like action where the two of them were arguing, establishing the conflict through action, I think that works better narratively. [It helps flesh out Lee Lim far more than he ever is in the narrative that exists.]

It's three minutes and 39 seconds in and in the bamboo forest, standing in front of the obelisks, we see Lee Gon for the first time. He is in his ceremonial robe and he looks very, I think that we're seeing him prior probably to when Yeong shows up, before he is going through the obelisks, specifically to change the night of the treason the second time. [I assume it’s the second time and not the first—not the time he ended up visiting Tae-Eul and giving her the flowers. It SHOULD be LG waiting to enter the obelisks at the SAME TIME Lee Lim is about to be shoved in by Tae-Eul, for the sake of story continuity, but often kdramas don’t play that way (that Western storytelling would dictate)] But you know, I will admit as many times as I've watched this show, I have not made a flow chart, and without one, while I can understand the show while I'm watching it, trying to piece everything back into a timeline that's correct is very challenging. So when I look at this, that's what I think is happening.

And so we must be close to the time that JTE is going to take Lee Lim and walk through the obelisks on the side of the Republic if Lee Gon is already on the Kingdom side getting ready to go in in his ceremonial--is it a robe is it a jacket?

Probably if you're reading this, you're aware of the anticipation that after some two years away from entertainment because Lee Min Ho was doing his military service, he hadn't been in/acted in anything. But I think it's possible that he hadn't been anything since 2016, like The Legend of the Blue Sea is his last big work. I think that he was in a movie [Bounty Hunters] that was a Japanese movie in the interim, but nothing on television and maybe he was on, you know, some kind of a web or a short form program, but it's a long time for him to be gone, and then for them to feel totally comfortable not giving him to viewers, so to speak, immediately, but making you wait for his appearance.

presented without comment

It's gutsy. So you get this flash at the 3:40 mark. Around the 3:40 mark of his face; he doesn't speak, he doesn't interact with anyone. And then you have to wait considerably longer. I wanna say it's like 40 minutes--I'm sure I'll notate it when we get there--to actually see him do some acting and interact with people.

That's like a bold move. Like I think it's, I don't know if it's the right move. I'll say that not because of LMH, but because of Lee Gon [as a character]. And like I said, I just feel like for first time viewers this first third really stumbles and makes it a challenging road for people to stick to, but you know feel free to let me know if you disagree with that, if you love the beginning and it totally whetted your appetite for what was to come and it fulfilled everything that you wanted from setting up a story. I would love to hear about it if that's the case for you for sure.

...tbc...

[tsukana]

ive gone silent for a weekend and also finsihed 2 different kdramas i need help

[maculate-mango]

Tell me you’ll come back. That’s the 10th rule.

No matter what happens you have to come back. That’s the 11th rule.

Catch Lee Lim, and even if the door closes, open all the doors in the universe, and return to me. Promise me you’ll do that. That’s the 12th rule.

[deinnos]

The Yo-Yo boy’s true identity still remains a mystery by the end. For the longest time I thought he might have been the younger self of Lee Lim or a past king or some god figure. But from the few hints we got, especially by the end, I think he represents the soul of the Manpasikjeok. One scene really stood out to me when he said, “I warn people of danger, and defeat the enemy. There’s only one of me. I’m trying to restore balance.”

We didn’t get much exploration about the Manpasikjeok’s overall powers other than being used to travel through time and space. However, in the very first scene of the first episode, we are told that when played it does have the power to defeat enemies, cure diseases, make rain to fall during a drought, make the rainy season end and make the wind stop. It appears that the Manpasikjeok is used to bring a balance to the world when a catastrophe happens (i.e., mixing two worlds that should be separate), and since we are never shown that a version of it exists in the Republic of Korea, then we can asume there’s only one of it in all dimensions.

Now, Lee Gon did restore the balance on both world using the flute to change past events and thus changing the future outcome. The flute keeps the flow of time and fate going which is represented in the on-going yo-yo. The yo-yo of the boy has a red string which could represents the red string of fate. Furthermore, in the last episode we see the boy say “Should I break it? Or should I let it be?” I think the Manpasikjeok felt indebted to Lee Gon and did not cut the thread between him and Tae-eul as a thank you allowing them to keep their memories.

This is just a theory and I could be completely wrong. But it’s so far the one that explains the kids role in the drama the best, at least to me lol. Please feel welcome to add anything else!

[itsmeimcathy]

[the king: eternal monarch] a collection of incorrect quotes [1/-]

[atmiger224]

The Chemistry Problem in TKEM

I’m always forgiving of a poor plot if the actors have charming chemistry, but TKEM suffers from the opposite problem. The many threads of intriguing plot never get a chance to fully develop because our attention is focused on trying to make the lead couple work. 

Introduction: There’s no need to force an insta-love narrative in TKEM. It wouldve been much more powerful if they kept TaeEul’s role in the assassination a mystery, and just had Lee Gon’s focal point be the faded memories of his savior. Their romance could have developed naturally when Lee Gon crossed worlds; by allowing TaeEul to be a guide in the other world, it would have given the actors more to work with rather than to force an unbalanced relationship. And, it would make Tae Eul’s (or Luna if thats an eventual twist) heroism more touching if she did it without the hands of fate guiding her. 

Reframing: I suspect that the ID card functions to keep Lee Gon’s attentions on the heroine. There is no plot reason for it other than to shoehorn a romance and force him to wait 25 years to meet her. It allows the writer to develop a “bromance” (Jo Young) and introduce a rival (The PM) without threatening the main couple. Mostly, its lazy writing because it doesnt trust the actors to sell the romance. 

However, by taking away their agency and leaving the romance up to a hand-waving “fate”, all it did was keep the actors from having depth.

[mindmeltonabun-blog]

Alchemy of Souls: Theories and Analysis for Eps 15-16

Hello readers and plagiarists,

I am done being nice. People have truly tested my patience.

Let's take a look at some examples of people who have been stealing my ideas/theories from this blog and reposting it as their own.

Exhibit #1

Huh...interesting....I wonder who uses the line "thinking caps on"........oh right....ME. Apparently this person loves wearing my thinking cap! Illusions and memories...so thought provoking.....would they have arrived at the same conclusions if they hadn't read my blog? Nope.

Exhibit #2

Wow.....the whole never seeing the King and Jang Gang swap back and only knowing based on the conversation they had after the swap back.......AMAZING!!! ASTONISHING!!! Too bad I was the only one who pointed these things out. Naksu being able to heal her eyes because she had gathered energy after learning many spells/skills in her previous body.....WOW...wonder where they got this from? They even used the word "data" hahahahaha. You know who else uses the word "data"? People in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM)....... aka me...the scientist. In a recent dm with this person on Tumblr, I described to them how my thinking process worked (basically an adaptation of the scientific method). I told them I researched things I did not know, collected/gathered data (i.e things from the show), formed a hypothesis, analyzed data, reexamine my hypothesis if needed. So, if you see stuff about AOS endgames from this person, just know they didn't come up with those things. I was the one who told them mostly everything during a private message. It was my mistake for trusting such a despicable human being. The nerve for this person to say they had the "same thoughts" as me....same thoughts my ass.

Actually... good luck to all the plagiarists....I will not be here to explain everything that happens in Part 2!

Stupid people taking smart people's ideas just so they can receive praise. All they wanted was to feel good about themselves at my expense. They did not stop for a second to consider that this blogger right here had sacrificed time to eat and sleep just to come up with all of these ideas in the first place. All of my theories were a result of spending countless hours researching, rewatching episodes, and thinking about everything. Not to mention the many hours I spent writing and editing all these posts. These plagiarists also did not have to endure all the personal attacks I had received for all of my theories either. They received all the good things and none of the bad.

From Reddit to Facebook to Twitter, I am sick and tired of seeing so many people steal from me. I have had enough. I am trying to find the proper words to express how I feel right now, but I cannot. I am at a loss for words. I have never experienced this amount of plagiarism until now. Not when I wrote posts for TKEM, TOTNT, or DAYS. I cannot even think straight at this point.

For those who have done nothing wrong and have always given me credit for my ideas/theories, I want to thank you from the deepest parts of my heart. I am incredibly sorry for how things turned out.

To those who have come here to take more of my ideas/theories...

This will be my last T&A post for Part 1. I had written 11 pages and 5370 words, but thanks to all these plagiarists, I deleted nearly everything. What is left are some skeleton theories. I won't be including stuff about Part 2 and I will not be answering any more questions. For Part 2, I will be creating a separate password protected blog.

I do not even feel like saying "thinking caps on" anymore...

Shaman Choi and Jin Mu's Evil Plan

Past..Present..same but different.

Who's Jin Bu Yeon's Daddy?

Jang Gang.

Knowledge is Liberation

Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon-Jang Uk -Seo Yul

Jang Uk successfully gets Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon the Ice Stone.

Final Endgames

Jang Uk x Heo Yun Ok

Seo Yul x Jin Bu Yeon

Park Dang Gu x Jin Cho Yeon

Part 1 Ending

Takes place back on the icy lake from Ep1. Trapping of souls. Bad guys die. Bigger fish to fry at the western borders of Daeho.

Part 2

See ya in Seoho Fortress!

[carmenlire]

i LOVE your thoughts about the guards the tension really is so good like now their captain is going to be their prince? theyd be so happy for him and want to protect him even more :') so true the habits yeong has as a guard will def be present when he's prince and gon is so fond but also like: can u let the guards protect u. can u let ME protect u for once. yeong glares and says absolutely not. but gon does it anyway and ho-pil is just so exhausted. gonjo with kids?? theyd be SUCH good parents-

+ theyd be so protective and loving. and id argue that gon would be the most protective (not in a helicopter parent way) since his parents died when he was little, but now that he has his own lil family?? he's going to protect love and cherish them at all costs. and the guards have to deal with both yeong and gon when it comes to their children :') also pls write ALL your thoughts when it comes to gonjo or SE i always love seeing a big response it makes me so happy!!

I just think that there's a lot of (in character) fun that could be had with the guards being so happy that yeong and gon are together-- there was a bet going around? There Are Always Rumours so as the people closest to the captain and king, the guards would HAVE to know something (omg what if they have a separate group chat that's just 0 days since gonjo made us facepalm at their obliviousness dkdksjfgxsa).

and OMG! imagine the angst? SCANDAL?? if they're out and about and an incident happens and gon tackles yeong??? the media would have a frenzy!!! the nation's heart would swoon!!! and yeong is both annoyed that gon risked his own safety but also can't help but feel warm that it happened? (but yeah the guards are just like literally wtf is our job then pls let us protect Both of you).

oooh and you're so right about about gon, having had that experience as a child, would be just really Aware of his kids. also, plus, even if he's a king he's still a husband/father first and i live for him making it to all their recitals or games?? and they have at least one meal together a day where gon is engaged and the guards watch as the kids climb all over him and yeong and the whole palace staff is just really happy to see their monarch so happy (it's like an invisible weight has been lifted from him) and yeong, with his kids, just completely sheds the no-nonsense captain role and he laughs! he's caught in awkward positions! he's a total softie!!! (omg if one of the kids is playing and, like, skins their knee and yeong is the first one to go to them and he makes a little silly story to distract them and because the kid is afraid or idk plot reasons, he ends up wearing a ponyo bandaid too :') omg it would be so CUTE).

I also love the idea of gon/yeong being Those parents at first and the first time the kid goes somewhere without them, they both are calling the security team every 5 minutes with strict instructions not to tell the other lmao!!!

ahhh I just really love the potential of them:') I wasn't like this the first time I watched TKEM in the spring but idk when I rewatched it in September I feel like something in my brain just rewired itself lol.

anyway!! I wanna leave you with a few gonjo fics I really enjoyed and if you're ever in the mood, maybe you'll wanna check them out?

And It's Just Around the Corner, Darling

127k words. This fic has literally ruined my life. I've read it deadass like over 50 times since the rewatch back in the fall and I just think it's the perfect fic in general let alone just for this fandom.

and now good-morrow to our waking souls

39k words. This is by the same author as the one above and it's really fun!!! I really enjoyed the premise.

Did You Wait Long

8k words. this is pure fun and chaos and the first time I read it, I caught myself laughing out loud several times. I just reread it this afternoon and was smiling so much!

Open Like a Hinge

37k. This is the fic I mentioned last time? That came out of the same challenge around Christmas that the SE fics did. I LOVED this fic. I love the plot, the emotion, the narrative, the characterization. I think that the author did a masterful job of taking canon and wildly running away with it to suit their own purposes. I've already reread it and i just think it's one of the best fics I've read.

Algebra

11k words. This was one of the first gonjo fics I read and I really loved it! I ended reading everything that this author (and their pseudo writing partner) have written in the fandom (except for like one thing that I have bookmarked to read later)

The World Ends with You

3k words. this is a shorter piece and on the more comber side but it's beautifully written and i've read it a handful of times at this point!!!

[kitkatsudon]

Things I wanted to do this summer: write

Things I’ve actually been doing this summer: painstakingly making a note of every tiny detail in tkem as I rewatch this show, so I can construct an accurate timeline while also noting down any interesting/important details. Like birthdays. Which I got completely wrong before.

Anyway, so far I’ve finished six episodes of this, and while I’m planning to construct some kind of big master-post when I’m done, I thought I’d share some of my favourite details now because I have covid and I’m bored and I need some instant gratification

The palace has a name. It’s called Haeungung (해운궁) Palace. This is first on the list because I’m still proud of myself for spotting this detail on a sIGN IN THE BACKGROUND

The main timeline of the show starts on Tuesday 10th September 2019, which also just so happens to be Yeong and Eunseob’s 28th birthday. Do with that information what you will.

Gon doesn’t and has never liked beans and spinach

Yeong has an uncle that works in the Royal Public Affairs Office with Seungah - and his actor is only 7 years older than wdh, so again, do with that information what you will

and perhaps my favourite piece of information, which has been living rent-free in my head since I learnt this:

The Corean royal estate (so basically Gon) owns SIX QUINTILLION US DOLLARS worth of rare earth elements. I’m going to say that again. SIX QUINTILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS. 6,000,000,000,000,000,000 USD.

more to follow potentially if i find anything else worth sharing

[elegantblazelady]

lmao i loved your bit about tkem amd certain viewers quip about turning your brains off 😂 i 100% agree you don't turn your brain off. it's literally the opposite, you need galaxy brain bestie 😂 i've rewatched tkem a few times and during those rewatched i found small details that i didn't noticed the firat time watching. It's so sad tkem got a lot of hate during it's airing. like bestie you gave up after 3 eps and said it doesn't make sense. like yeah? ofc it's not gonna make sense you never had an informarion to make sense of it 😭

TKEM is not for everybody, it's not a show you can watch while you're scrolling your phone or doing something else. It's packed with details that you need a second or even third viewing to fully appreciate. But that's one of the reasons I think highly of it. I was not a stan of any of the actors before the series, I watched because it intrigued me until the very end. It was like a rollercoaster ride for the brain and I wanted to go again after the series ended.