#Jin Choyeon

[naksushadows]

Daeho fashion icon

[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.

[taeonysus8]

Chapters: 29/? Fandom: 환혼 | Alchemy of Souls (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Jang Wook/Original Female Character Characters: Original Female Character(s), Jang Wook, Mu Deok|Naksu, Original Male Character(s), Park Danggu, Seo Yul, Go Won | Crown Prince, Park Jin, Kim Dojoo, Jin Choyeon Additional Tags: Romance, Angst, Humour, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Death, Mild Sexual Content, the whole thing's a recipe for disaster, OC has mommy issues, and grandmother issues, and ptsd, ish, jang uk? jang wook?, you think you are safe from the angst but surprise surprise, graphic description of violence, Gore, Implied Child Abuse Summary:

❝ it was only meant to be a marriage of convenience ❞

Grieving her mother's death and stuck in an engagement she never agreed to, Min Gaeun makes the mistake of accepting Jang Wook's hasty proposal-one he blurts out after sneaking into her family compound uninvited, climbing over her balcony in the rain, and completely misunderstanding what the knife over her wrist meant.

Eager to escape being the talk of the town again, Wook offers a simple proposition to his childhood friend; to live together as husband-wife in the eyes of Daeho while they both pursue their own personal interests in secret. Bereaved, lovelorn, and trapped, Gaeun agrees to the deeply flawed plan that Wook is wrongly confident about.

How she wish she hadn't.

───※ ·❆· ※───

[flock-from-the-void]

I finished the 1st season of Alchemy of Souls not so long ago! Jin Cho-Yeon was one of the most gorgeous characters, and she had an interesting arc. Though So-I is my fav

[izartn]

I didn't write anything when I finished alchemy of souls bc I was so so angry and sad about the sexism and how the whole season 2 went. Like. You could kinda see the writing in the wall in season 1 re:female charas but at least they were treating Naksu!Cho Yeong more or less well, despite the increased importance of Jang Uk role she was the one leading him on and they were partners.

And then boom. Season 2. Where mostly she's like, cutified into the nice female interest who so often seems a child in Asian romances. Yikes. And then she doesn't fight anymore. Like ever. Or gets much agency of her own.

I'm also angry at Soi'i death, bc Seo Yul is such a bland stupid guy in general and didn't deserve that devotion and even less her dying for him, angry at the way the show never addressed Park Jin culpability and treatment of Jang Uk and how he gets scot free with his romance with Servant Kim, when he has treated so badly her adopted son and then never told her anything about what was happening when the problems affected her too, only to be shown jealous of how she prioritizes Jang Uk, like fuck you Park Jin you have the spine of an overcooked noodle no wonder Jang Gang was your bestie... Rancid vibes.

Angry at Heo YoonOk and Jin Choyeon being treated as the mean/stupid girls, and in Heo case as the absurdly jealous one as well, when they could been so much more interesting and better characterized as people.

Etc, etc.

Enjoyed the season 1 and season 2 was watchable, and the fics are nice, but i'm not tuning in again at anything else those Hong writers do bc it's apparently a pattern they have with female charas and nice concepts, and fuck the status quo return they love I won't do this to myself.

[s-squeamish]

i think i'll rewatch the first season of aos bc the second one was a disappointment, the only good things we got were park jin & kim dojoo moments, hot, matured choyeon and more yul screen time. also those danggu & choyeon crumbs were sweet

[asianvillehq]

Hey, psiu! Sabia que KIM "DAISY" CHOYEON que mora na 4TH STREET de KOTO BOULEVARD se associou a ARKT como TESOUREIRA? Pois é, um vizinho me falou que ela tem 24 ANOS, nascida 03/08/1999 em ASIANVILLE, CALIFÓRNIA. Você acredita? Ela é descendente de COREANA e trabalha como ATENDENTE NA WE BARE PETS. É verdade, ele me contou tudo! Ainda disse que ela é muito EMPOLGADA E CARINHOSA, mas pode ser um pouco ORGULHOSA E LERDA. Quem diria não é? Com aquela carinha, parecida com NANCY JEWEL MCDONIE pode se dar bem aqui em Asianville. Olha lá, ela tá vindo, disfarça, se quiser saber mais, segue ela no @ASVL_CHOYEON, me falaram que dá pra saber todas as fofocas por lá!

(ooc +18 - informações extras)

Hey, psiu! Você conhece KIM AEHWA que mora na 2ND STREET do KOTO BOULEVARD? Então, um vizinho me falou que ela tem 24 ANOS, nascida 08/11/1998 em SEUL, COREIA DO SUL. Você acredita? Ela é descendente de COREANOS e trabalha como EDITORA DE VÍDEOS E FOTÓGRAFA AUTÔNOMA. É verdade, ele me contou tudo! Ainda disse que ela é muito ATENCIOSA E CARINHOSA, mas pode ser um pouco CIUMENTA E AUTODESTRUTIVA. Quem diria não é? Com aquela carinha, parecida com CHOI YENA pode se dar bem aqui em Asianville. Olha lá, ela tá vindo, disfarça, se quiser saber mais, segue ela no @ASVL_AEHWA, me falaram que dá pra saber todas as fofocas por lá!

(ooc +18 - informações extras)

Hey, psiu! Você conhece KANG JIWON que mora na 4TH STREET do CHITHA BOULEVARD? Então, um vizinho me falou que ela tem 35 ANOS, nascida em 11/11/1988 em JEJU, COREIA DO SUL. Você acredita? Ela é descendente de COREANA e trabalha como JÓQUEI PROFISSIONAL E DONA DE HARAS. É verdade, ele me contou tudo! Ainda disse que ela é muito DETERMINADA E LEAL, mas pode ser um pouco CABEÇA DURA E COMPETITIVA. Quem diria não é? Com aquela carinha, parecida com KWON YURI pode se dar bem aqui em Asianville. Olha lá, ela tá vindo, disfarça, se quiser saber mais, segue ela no @ASVL_JIWON, me falaram que dá pra saber todas as fofocas por lá!

(ooc +18 - informações extras)

Hey, psiu! Você conhece MADISON KANG que mora na 4TH STREET do CHITHA BOULEVARD? Então, um vizinho me falou que ela tem 34 ANOS, nascida em 10/10/1989 em SÃO FRANCISCO, CALIFÓRNIA. Você acredita? Ela é descendente de COREANOS e trabalha como ESTILISTA E CEO DA ÉCLAT. É verdade, ele me contou tudo! Ainda disse que ela é muito CRIATIVA E DETERMINADA, mas pode ser um pouco EXIGENTE E EGOÍSTA. Quem diria não é? Com aquela carinha, parecida com JESSICA JUNG pode se dar bem aqui em Asianville. Olha lá, ela tá vindo, disfarça, se quiser saber mais, segue ela no @ASVL_MADISON, me falaram que dá pra saber todas as fofocas por lá!

(ooc +18 - informações extras)

Hey, psiu! Sabia que MASON KWON-WANG que mora na 1ST STREET do CHITHA BOULEVARD se associou a AMCT como ASSOCIADO? Pois é, um vizinho me falou que ele tem 33 ANOS, nascido 25/10/1989 em LONDRES, INGLATERRA. Você acredita? Ele é descendente de COREANOS e trabalha como PROFESSOR UNIVERSITÁRIO NA PACIFIC STATE INSTITUTE. É verdade, ele me contou tudo! Ainda disse que ele é muito TALENTOSO E INTELIGENTE, mas pode ser um pouco TEIMOSO E ESTRESSADO. Quem diria não é? Com aquela carinha, parecido com JIN DO BTS pode se dar bem aqui em Asianville. Olha lá, ele tá vindo, disfarça, se quiser saber mais, segue ele no @ASVL_MASON, me falaram que dá pra saber todas as fofocas por lá!

(ooc +18 - informações extras)

[starmist]

Uhhh, maybe give it a rewatch?

Her OG body wasn’t preserved, Master Lee used her energy to heal Mudeok/JBY’s petrified body and apparently bc of that the body is more or less Mudeok/JBY with Naksu/Cho Yeong’s face pasted on (+ soul) which is the reason Jin Hoyeong insists she’s her daughter & why she was safe to take in the bloodworm made of Jin Choyeon’s aka Jin blood…

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.

[xiaochiyo]

jin buyeon being the one true villain in the alchemy of souls universe is quite predictable (and honestly? pretty justified). picture this:

you are supposed to be dead. actually, you were never supposed to be born at all, yet you are pretty much alive and doing just fine thanks to jang gang, your mother, her terrible obsession over a heiress for the jin clan and the power of the ice stone. now, you are a half mass of energy, half human child who lives to fulfill your mom's desire of a perfect daughter and the role of future leader of jiyowon. pretty cool!

since most of your vital energy comes from The Ice Stone™ itself, you also inevitably become the most powerful sorcerer that has ever lived in the country of Daeho. except nobody in said land knows that. because no one has ever... you know... seen you. they have heard of you and your immeasurable faculty, of course, but most can't even prove you exist de facto, in flesh, bones and all. why? because you don't go outside, your crazy mother doesn't let you. to her, you are a treasure! a blessing more than a daughter. you are blind and weak! how could you survive in this cruel world? you are not allowed to have a life, because she fears someone might steal you, kidnap you, kill you or (even worse!) discover the truth about you. so she keeps you in jinyowon, safe, where she can keep an eye on you and control what you can or cannot do with your powers. you have no friends nor life outside jinyowon.

fine, you live with your clinically insane mama, but you're used to it. you have a little sister and a good father. right? right? but oh no, you also have a megalomaniac uncle, jin mu. your father suddendly sides with him and they both go on a mysterious crusade to find the once lost Ice Stone, the same magical stone that gave life to you. the quest is hard and they can't find it anywhere, so they need help. yours, for that matter! who better to find a lost magical stone than the girl that carries the same energy of said stone? you are coerced to go and, eventually, you find it in a river (no surprises, you're just THAT powerful). but your uncle gets way too excited and shoves you down the water in a brief ecstasy at the sight of the ice stone. you drown. your father tries to save you, but it's too late and jin mu doesn't help at all. you're screwed.

happy news! you're saved! a lovely old lady spots you lying unconscious on a beach, takes you home and feeds you. but when she asks you your name, you don't remember it. in fact, you don't remember anything due to the shock and the trauma. you are now powerless. you don't know who you are. you're just a blind girl without a name, a family and a home. you have to start your life from the beginning, and the neighbours at your new place are not nice with blind young ladies. is someone out there looking for you? does anybody, besides that old lady, care about you?

the point is: jin buyeon has a ton of reasons to be a villain, if she even is one. all she ever had was a thoroughly planned life that was given to her by other people and which she had no control over; and out of nowhere, everything she knew was taken from her.

when she met naksu, she saw an opportunity: revenge. buyeon knew what naksu wanted, she wasn't dumb. so she gave her it: a new body and a new, untouched identity. and naksu did have a lot to offer to buyeon too. she had great, although not anywhere comparable to buyeon's, magical power and a good dose of hatred for the people who wronged her in the past (who happened to be the same or related to those who wronged buyeon in the first place). naksu was the perfect pawn, blinded by her own past and too naive to realize why she ended up on a body she didn't choose, and buyeon (then mudeok-i, the poor blind girl) loved that.

i believe, at some point, buyeon did care about naksu. they have, like it or not, a lot in common — dark past, parents that lie non-stop, enemies — plus the swapped body and soul situation. but since buyeon is special and, therefore, her body is special, naksu became useless when buyeon's flesh absorbed most of the energy it needed. the eldest daughter of the jin clan doesn't need a pawn anymore. in fact, keeping naksu (who doesn't remember her past, her original body nor her real name) in a body that isn't hers will only delay buyeon's revenge plans more and more. so, in buyeon's pov, there is no reason to keep naksu/cho yeong alive.

i might be imagining things, but buyeon is a great choice of a possible villain! she is cruel and a well constructed character overall, much as i would love it if the writers gave her more screen time. her relationship with naksu, jinyowon and jang uk is what makes her such a delightful to see manipulating little bitch.

so go girl! gaslight, gatekeep and girlboss the hell out of everyone in daeho!

[artemishdp]

“Buyeon is a great priestess, but her body is weak while Naksu is strong physically and mentally. Also, Jin Mu gave his energy to her and that may have added to her strength.”

I think y’all forgot the scene where mudeok/naksu feeds on the eunuch’s energy and was still a normal person. Also, buyeon is NOT just a great priestress. She was THE most powerful priestess of Daeho (choyeon said the Jin family are the most powerful priestesses of Daeho and Jin Mu said that buyeon’s power exceeds lady jin’s at such young age) who could control the energy of the sky and can trap the most powerful mage in one’s body. How can a mere spell overpower her? 😩 Shaman Choi and jin Mu arent even that strong/powerful compared to Park Jin, Lady Jin, and Master Lee. Jin Mu was even scared of Naksu but somehow, He can beat THE girl who can summon the sky?

I’m just saying there must be something deeper going on and its not about buyeon getting overpowered because thats impossible given how much they reiterated that shes the most powerful priestess throughout the show.

(The only reason i could think of was she let naksu ran wild so jang uk can fulfill his prophecy. After all, She was the one who gave the ice stone to Naksu which found its way to Jang Uk.)

[hlcyxnfilms]

↺ ─  alchemy of souls , choi yewon ( arin ) as jin choyeon : many faces of jin choyeon.

[naksushadows]

The Royal Family ✨

[meenawrites]

So.. I finished Alchemy of Souls

Guys, the amount of tears I just shed in front of my entire family in the last episode of part 2 is crazy.

They were just sitting there like, you good? It's fiction as I'm sobbing my eyes out.

Anyway.

I have many thoughts. So many. And I lowkey want to make a separate post for each of them.

But for now I do want to leave some of my impressions about the finale: (spoilers ahead obviously)

I thought it was pretty well done. I expected to be a bit more shocked about the whole Jin Buyeon is Jin Seol-ran plotline but it honestly made sense to me and I feel like it was actually foreshadowed pretty well for the most part, even in season 1.

Also they definitely got me good with the deaths of Park Jin, Maidservant Kim, and Jin Hogyeong (if that's how you spell her name). Like that's when I started crying tbh. (I could care less about Mama Jin tbh, she sucks, but that deserves its own post). And I'm glad that them actually being alive didn't feel like a cop out to me. They established early on that Jin Seol-ran knew what would happen and used that to their advantage so it was believable and didn't feel like a Deus Ex Machina move for them to be saved. Well, maybe one of them should have died (cough–Mama Jin–cough). But it's fine.

I do feel like the last two episodes were kind of rushed though. I don't know if they had budgeting constraints or if Netflix didn't give them more than ten episodes, but I think that they should have had at least 12. Two more episodes would have allowed for more expansion on the climax and allowed them to up the drama more, which I think would have done well for the series over all, and would have been a better payoff.

I think the time could have been used well to flesh out some of the side characters arcs more. I feel like Danggu and Jin Choyeon were kind of pushed off to the side this season, and especially in the latter half, but I would have liked to see more of them and their relationships not only with each other but with Jang Uk and Naksu/Jin Buyeon.

For all intents and purposes, Naksu/Jin Buyeon lived as Jin Choyeon's sister for three years, and we can see that despite everything that happened three years prior, Choyeon did treat her as her sister even knowing the soul was Naksu's and cared about her. I think that could've and should've been expanded upon, her choosing to care about Naksu/Jin Buyeon or how that came to be. Also, after Naksu regained her memory AND found out Jin Mu had been for sure controlling her at the end of Part 1, I would have loved to see the conversation between her and Choyeon about what she did, an apology and an explanation that she would never have done that if she were sane of mind. What I said about Choyeon applies to Naksu as well because she lived three years as Choyeon's sister, and we can tell she cares about her, so I would have loved to see more of her feelings towards her, especially upon remembering all that had transpired in part 1.

When it comes to Danggu, I mean, he's one of Uk's best friends, and he was left out of the loop a lot when it came to anything Naksu-related. I would have liked him to find out or for Uk to tell him at some point and see how he makes peace with that. Because Danggu and Mudeok were friends in part 1 and he supported her (erroneously) in her supposed romance with Seo Yul. But then she killed his fiance's father and tried to attack him. I can't imagine the sense of betrayal he felt, but also finding out that it wasn't her fault and how he could come to terms with that would have been great to see. I also think his whole experience/trauma from part 1 was kind of glossed over. Like his main thing this season was his broken heart after Choyeon didn't end up marrying him, and I think that was making his feelings a bit too one-dimensional there. They do talk about how he feels slightly uncomfortable/doesn't know what to do with Jang Uk at the beginning of the show, but once Seo Yul comes back, that's kind of forgotten about and the three of them just start hanging out again no problem. I would've like to see a bit more about him struggling with becoming Leader of Songrim as well and how he adapted to that amidst his heartbreak for both his love and his friend who he doesn't even know how to act around anymore, and even towards Naksu/Mudeok who kind of ruined his future and that of his best friend but also being intuitive enough (because he is and he has one of the best hearts we've seen in the show) to realize that there's more to the story than her just going on a murder spree.

I've seen some talk about people saying they didn't like the actress for season 2 as much as season 1 (forgive me, I forgot their names), but I think both brought something good to the table.

Season 1 actress for Mudeok was really good. Her facial expressions were spot on and her chemistry with Lee Jaewook and the other cast members was really good. I think she definitely had great stage presence and made the show popular in the first place. I just don't agree that season 2 actress was worse.

I think season 2 actress definitely put in the work and embodied who Naksu/Jin Buyeon was for the majority of the series. There were times where she made expressions that perfectly resembled/echoed Naksu/Mudeok's that really got me like yes they are the same person even if she doesn't remember. She may have been cuter than we were used to with out sharp-tongued and emotion-resistant Mudeok, but I think Naksu needed that. As Mudeok and before then she didn't have the luxury to be more emotional and girly, it's only now in this body that she does, and I'm glad she had the opportunity to express that side of herself that had never seen the light of day.

We did get a glimpse of that side of her at the end of part 1 where she's playing around with makeup and what might make her look pretty, and it really spoke to all that she had missed out on and had to give up in order to survive. So yeah despite all the angst, I'm glad Naksu/Jin Buyeon had that opportunity through season 2 actress who played it really well while keeping in line with the essence of Naksu/Mudeok.

This whole thing about Naksu being the shadow to Jang Uk's light and if light exists then it needs a shadow broke my heart you guys, it was so perfect. And the fact that they were each other's light and shadow at different points but were also wholly necessary to each other in that was beautiful. I want to talk more about this in a separate post, so I'll table this metaphor for now.

Shout out to Crown Prince Go Won, a great character this whole season in terms of both comedic relief and massive character growth. So good.

Uk's arc was fantastic too but again want to save that for a full post.

Those are my out of order first thoughts about part 2, but I have SO MUCH MORE to discuss, so I will come back for sure. I just needed to scream to the world for a bit (virtually of course).

Question though for all of you more knowledgeable in the k-drama world: is there going to be a season 3?

[aqukana]

do you ever realize that Cho Yeong has been manipulated and brainwashed as both Naksu and Buyeon to be exploited for someone else's agenda and grew up under the impression that she's worthless if she's not of use, a child who watched her family die while she hid and raised herself in isolation, the fear of being weak which will result in death so deep-rooted in her soul that it translates as Buyeon putting up with the abuse because "her mom" says she's "needed" and insisting to be of use to Jang Uk to survive, so hellbent in proving that she's worth something and the only time she felt needed with nothing to offer was as Mudeok and she doesn't even remember that she was loved by Jang Uk just for being herself

[junhyuk-musiccreatesnewdream]

The battle between the unnies has begun!

Look at Rainies face, she's having so much fun!

[heoneyology]

that alchemy of souls cliffhanger I am going to yEET MYSELF AKLSJFKLSJDKF can I just sleep through the week until the next episodes :’))