#Have you actually given some thought to IL and all his conflicts beyond making him a plain kindergarten cartoon character?

[fragmentedblade]

Stupid criticism about Jing.liu's quest again over on twitter

[complures-aspiceres-archived]

Yona & Soo-won mun scribbles

        I think most of us in the AkaYona fandom can agree that we have mixed feelings about Soo-won because, yeah, he’s doing good for the kingdom and he looks like a fuckin’ angel but...he did kill Yona’s father who just so happened to be the king at the time, ran her and Hak out of the castle by making it appear that he was going to kill Yona and...well basically destroyed Yona’s everything for a good minute.

( Putting everything after this under a cut because this unintentionally got MUCH longer than I planned. )

         But can we talk about their ‘relationship’ as the series, the manga anyway, has progressed? Yona isn’t this naive and vain princess anymore and Soo-won is just now getting to see that in the current placement of the manga. She’s struggled, she survives outside when she had known only the comfort of the palace and the doting of her father and servants. She’s learned and she’s even killed to protect her friends when king Il wouldn’t so much as let her touch a weapon.

        Yona finally leaves the hair ornament he gifted her for her birthday behind and honestly that was a huge step, but she still feels something for Soo-won, even if those feelings are a bit different. She can’t bring herself to hate him, and like Ik-su told her before, some love can’t be forgotten. Se can hate herself for feeling that way when she knows she SHOULD hate him and want revenge-- and I think she’s finally accepted that. ( As well as realizing her feelings for Hak and that he has been there since her childhood and has stayed with her, nearly dying several times, after the incident with Soo-won. )

        ....Now for what I first intended to write about is how Soo-won, in my opinion, viewed Yona growing up under the pretense of Kye-Sook letting it slip about his ‘misery’ ( or w/e the direct quote he used was ) when Hak asked why Soo-won had killed Yona’s father and questioned how he could do that to Yona, to them.

         You cannot tell me he didn’t care for Yona when they were growing up. You can’t. I believe Soo-won didn’t truly begin disliking King Il until his father ‘died’. I think this is where he began fighting with himself over hating the man who killed his father, who by all rights SHOULD have been crowned king, and his affection and loyalty towards Yona ( and Hak, I guess ). In canon, Soo-won is currently 18, potentially closer to 19 depending on how much time has actually passed- now it’s never actually stated at what age Yu-Hon ( Soo-won’s father ) died/was killed, but until further information is given, I believe it was likely just as Soo-won was entering his teenage stage. ( Anywhere from 10-13 IMO ). This is where he began planning and gathering people he could trust.

        We all have to remember that Soo-won didn’t actually WANT the throne, but it was his father’s last wish and Soo-won was able to see just how horribly King Il’s reign was affecting everyone as he grew older. Even Yona understands this as she travels and witnesses for herself. I believe Soo-won still loved Yona, to a degree, but also began to resent her for her sheltered-ness and lack of interest in a throne she was supposed to inherit. ( Along with every responsibility and scrap of knowledge she should have been cramming into her brain. ) He still adored her as his cousin and, potentially, tried to keep himself from seeing her as a woman. ( He did mention this in canon, so it is very possible he had romantic feelings for her. )

        It killed him inside to do what he did for many reasons. Il was a kind man, but he was very foolish in his endeavor, as well meant as it was, to rule a kingdom without violence. He already knew that neither Hak or Yona would be at his side when he became king, because if it were up to Il, he would never succeed it by allowing him to marry Yona-- something even Hak had expressed he wanted to happen. For years, he planned this out and had to remind himself every time he saw Yona or Hak that neither of them would be there. In the first episode/chapters Yona states that Soo-won hasn’t visited her in a while and that he doesn’t come as often anymore. I think it was to steel himself for his plan, so that he would not hesitate, by separating himself from them both while making final preparations.

        We’ll never ( probably ) know what he had intended for Yona, had she been asleep at the time of the murder like he had expected her to be-- but we can tell by the expression on his face when Tae-Jun comes to the palace the night before his coronation and tells her that Yona and Hal fell into the abyss that he had not truly wanted her to die.

        When he sees her again, after the ordeal with Yang Kum-ji in Awa, he protects her identity from his men and acknowledges that, “it’s only natural” that she wants to kill him when he stops her hand on his sword. At the beginning, he asks if this is a dream or if she is an illusion, but also makes the snide comment that she’s safe and sound because, even now, he’s ( hak ) risking his life to protect her. Remember, though Soo-won is unaware of this, this is AFTER she shot and killed Yang- Kum-ji. It’s in those few moments that he has her hidden under his cloak that you can tell how much Yona does not want to be near him, and in a way, how much he’s still underestimating her despite the fact that she is indeed alive and appears healthy. He gives the credit, fully, to Hak. When he tells her he cannot die yet and bids her goodbye, you can see all of the affection and sadness in his eyes as he looks at her before walking away. Yona bursts into tears and beings wailing until Hak finds her.

        Though she is seen several times by Soo-won after this, always with the company of the dragons, the next truly notable occurrence in my personal opinion is when Yona acts as an envoy for the Xing empire to avoid war between Xing and Kouka-- by discussing terms with Soo-won directly. This is also right after she sells the hair ornament as payment for information without a second thought. ( Also when she kisses Hak before heading off to try and stop the war from starting. )

        During chapter 138, when she briefly meets with Tae-Jun, he states the following;

“All this person ( Yona ) has done is earnestly try to protect her friends and the people right in front of her, and yet the people around her, in hope of doing something for her, stretch out their hands. Perhaps even the king has not realized this. Isn’t this a terribly formidable power?”

        Yona’s carriage is struck down and she meets Kye-Sook and speaks with him before Soo-won arrives, but he tries to say the she can’t possibly be there because, “Princess Yona feel to her death along with General Hak at the cliff of the northern mountain. She cannot possibly be here, much less able to begin negotiations about Xing kingdom.”

        She goes off about how war loom before him and yet he will not listen to the words of an emissary from the opposing kingdom. She asks if he killed her father to pull of schemes like this and Kye-Sook is visibly taken aback, mentally questioning himself if this is really princess Yona. This is when Soo-won and general Joo-Doh catch up and are both outwardly shocked to see Yona. Soo-won’s first question to her is the whereabouts of Hak, and when she tells him he is not there-- Soo-won is, again, visibly surprised. This is when I believe he truly starts to see and notice the change that has taken place in her absence at the palace.

        Soo-won tries to brush her off, but this is when she further accuses them of not listening and how they can resolve things without a war. She also states that she sees why Yu-Hon could never become king, and this is the first time we see something akin to anger mixed with shock on Soo-won’s face. Yona asks why they’re in such a hurry for, and that they should have a chat.

        Mentally, Soo-won asks himself why he’s just silently staring for-- that she has no cards to play and that there’s no time to waste...but he can’t look away or move.

        Kye-Sook tries to have their men capture her, as he realizes that the fire tribe can be made to act at her word, and he realizes this possesses a threat if she were to ever truly aim for Soo-won. After a few other events occur, Soo-won finally agrees to open a dialogue with the Xing kingdom.

         At this point, he’s beginning to realize that Yona is not his naive younger cousin who knew absolutely nothing about the world beyond the palace walls, and that she has been in almost ever town or kingdom that he has been to in order to resolve issues without him so much as realizing. As Yona rides off to convey his terms, his expression is complex as he seems to have all this knowledge suddenly placed in his lap. This is the moment, for me at least, that he truly starts seeing Yona for the first time after she was chased out of the castle-- truly understands the drive she has to help people and try to resolve conflict without violence and somehow manages to succeed where neither he or king Il seemed to be able.

        ( If you made it this far and actually read all of that I congratulate you because wow. )