#at the end of the day Lee Gon is just a GUY through and through

[cherry1sblog]

PAIRING:Lee heeseung x fem!reader

GENRES:smut,fluff,bullying,alcohol,party,unprotected sex (rember to wrap your Willy so the out come won’t be silly🌝)

WARNINGS there is bullying in this heeseung is basically a dick to y/n and nothing in this story is real!!! This is fan fiction and the way I write about heeseung is not the way I portray him as he’s a person himself this is simply for entertainment only !!

SUMMARY:heeseung had always bullied you through your 3 years of Highschool but never let anyone touch you other then him and if he found out someone did that was the end of it you were basically marked as his toy that’s until the summer of your junior year you had enough you were done with him always making fun of you and you hated the fact that after all he did I to you you still adored him and liked him but it dosent matter cause you wanted to leave your senior year with a banger so you were no longer your nerdy self still smart asf obvi but appearance wise different you got contacts new clothes thank god you guys didn’t have a dress code and most importantly you spent all summer learning how to do your makeup……

(Word count :………)

//FIRST DAY OF SENIOR YEAR\\

You woke up that day at 4 in the morning all tho school didn’t start till 7:40 you had 3 hours to get ready for you first last day of senior year you showers blow dried your hair styled it put in your contacts and lastly did you makeup you were ready to go feeling a bit scared slightly pulling your skirt up more revealing more of your thighs but you didn’t care you were going to do this no matter what and no one can stop you not even Lee heeseung

Walking into school heads turning new faces old faces appearing but everyone seemed to stair at you looking some took out there phones and took photos asking if they knew who you were that upset you a little you went to this school for 3 years and people only saw yourself really only when you became “pretty” but still u were now super nervous now but your rember your main target Lee heeseung you clutched your purse and went straight to your classroom people Turing around seeing who entered you sat in a random seat next to a girl you’ve never seen she seemed super bubbly she was quiet a talker to “hello!!”you were shocked by her sudden loudness “oh…sorry…that must’ve been to loud “she lowers her voice you giggled “it’s okay why do you seem so excited tho”she turend to you with a big smile “well it’s my last year of Highschool and I get to meet new people so I’m really exited I Gusse “you just nodded an okay “oh I’m chu btw!” Ofc a cute girl with a cute name made sense “I’m y/n” you smiled at her “I’m guessing that this isn’t your first year “”nope I’ve gon sense freshman year here so I can tell you a lot about here if u want “she smiled brightly and hugged you you’ve never had a freind before so this was all knew “tysm!! Oh sorry is hugging now your thing”she looked at you but you didn’t know if the only freind you were sorta making would leave you if she found out but you trusted her “ah sorry I’m just not really used to having freinds or talking to people “she looked at you confused “your littlest drop dead gorgeous and no one can take there eyes off you” you giggled awkwardly “okay I’ll tell you I a secret up until my junior year I was a big nerd and I wanted a change so here’s the knew and improved me “you smiled happily until ofc someone had to walk in and ruin your fun lee heeseung

Your smile went down and chu noticed “what’s wrong y/n”he heard her say your name and wiped his head that way looking confused cause he didn’t notice you until chu said your name again “y/nnn can you hear me are you okay “ you let out a little cough rember not to break “yeah I’m okay sorry “and just as you were minding your busses heeseung came up to you “wow I really can believe it they park y/n dosent look like a nerd anymore “u just rolled your eyes at him “what do you want lee I’m not playing games with you anymore “he came close to your ear “just cause you changed dosent mean you aren’t my toy still isn’t that right doll”you didn’t know what to say he always caught your tongue “now go get me some snacks from the lunch room I’m hungry “he put 20 dollars on the desk expecting you to pick it up and run over there like always “no”you looked up at him and stood up took the money and threw it at him chu also seemingly upset “you know what heeseung if you want a stupid snack go get it your damn self “he seemed shocked a your response but started to smirk “right I’m sorry I wouldn’t want you running in that skirt you might wanna pull it down “chu getting ready to defend you but you didn’t need her to cause this is what you prepared for all summer “no I think it’s fine actually it’s ment to be like this but if you done being a dick you can go “everyone in the class stunned now not at the fact that you just told off they lee heeseung but at the fact that your the girl who used to do everyone’s homework that you were heeseung toy but just cause your not a nerd anymore dosent mean your not still off limits

//lunch time\\

By lunch time you already had 9 boys come to ask you for your insta and 12 girls ask what different makeup products you use or what you skin care was but those were the good things there were people saying you had gotten plastic surgery you did certain things just to get the money for your stuff people even said there was no way you were lee heeseungs little toy and if you wondering why they call you Lee heeseungs toy it’s cause he could pick at every part of you body and you did what he wanted he could slap you pull your hair push you and you still always did what he wanted you to do but he had made it every clear that you were only his to fuck with and no one eleses

You had saten down with chu to eat lunch her happily taking a bite of food made you happy you finally had a friend well let’s say a couple freinds you had met this boy really shy but nice named soobin and another boy who was more outgoing beomgyu they were also new and just transferred so your guises group was prefect but anyways you all were sitting down and enjoyed your food you were happy for once out of your Highschool life you finally had people you could go to the mall with have sleepovers go to party’s with but ofc like always you were knocked out of you thoughts by yet again heeseung he had just pushed a kid to the floor for getting him the wrong dumplings him jake and sunghoon walking away from the boy they had just scared heeseung walked passed you but Sunghoon said something and walked back to where you were “hey y/n” you looked up seeing as Sunghoon and Jake never really participated in heeseungs stupidness but they did have there fare share of “fun “with it “hey sunghoon”you said coldly”huh “he stuck his tongue threw his cheek “it really is you then HOWD you get so much hotter over summer I mean you were a cute girl but now your really js something eles “as he was about to start going closer heeseung pushed him away not to hard but just enough to make him stumble “what the hell do you think your doing “ “not like your ever gonna do anything plus she wouldn’t dare you even if you wanted we all know she’s your toy but she can speak for herself “ you saw heeseung clenching his fist but it made you angry how he thought he could control you “I told you everyone knows y/n is off limits “ “off limits to bully I’m not bullying her I’m simpling asking if she wants to go out sometime “ as heeseung was about to open his mouth you answerd “y-yes “they both looked stunned beomgyu soobin and chu having there mouths open wide “I would like to go out with you sometime “ “doll chose very wisely here “ “you don’t get to control me heeseung I’m done with your bull shit you can’t just walk all over me agian “ heeseung Just loooked at you with an expression you couldn’t understand “you heard her anyways y/n uh I’ll pick you up Saturday and 4:30 “you nodded your head smiling heesung had stormed off at that point.

//the next day\\

“Y/NN THERE YOU ARE “chu comes rushing to you sitting pulling out the chair and sitting in it she seemed to exited “yk chu sometimes I wonder if you on something “she just laughs “we’re not talking about that rn LOOK THO” she hands you her phone and it was a party ofc the boys were having as a welcome back to school like they did every year but you had never gone but this year you were definitely going no matter what even if you had to sneak out “holy shit the back to school party “”yeah it’s gonna be at jakes house tonight so we better go shopping after school “you both looked at eachother cause obviously you guys had no idea what to wear to a back to school party

//at the mall\\

“Ughhhhh y/n we’ve been to three dress shops already and you’ve liked non of them “she said dragging her feet with bags in her hands “look chu my dress it has to be different then something I would normally wear if I was the old me remember we’re gonna go out with a banger and If I were you I would go return the dress cause this dress shop is they best”as soon as you guys step into the dress shop chus mouth drops and gose to pick up a dress “Y/N YOU WERE SO RIGHT OMG “ you start to look for dresses to seeing witch one you like it came down to three dresses a white one simple and short but cute a blue one the had sparkles and a slimy black one with a diamond straps as soon as you came out in the blue one chu loved it it fit your body perfectly glitter on is and everything you would be shining with the lights they would have and you knew this was gonna be the one you got some simple black heels to for the dress witch you loved as you guys were leaving the store ofc you had to see heeseung and 6 of his guy freinds you were fucked “yooo hold up “Jake stops you and everyone is looking at you and chu”see what I tell you heeseung it was her and uh what’s your name”he looks at chu confused “o-oh I’m chu”he looked at her up and down “cute” your a bit nervous cause everyone still had there eyes on you normally you would just hide away but no you weren’t going to go down “my god can you fucking pervs look at something eles “heeseung grabed your had and took you into a hallway where others weren’t at “h-HEY let go of me “he released your arm and put u up agains the wall making you a bit flustered “doll see your starting to piss me off just cause you where this stupid shit only makes you look like a slut and you going out with Sunghoon lemme just tell you this if you wake up the next day and he’s gone don’t ever expect to hear from him again and this big mouth of yours needs to learn how to shut the fuck up “he let you go as you feel to the floor being in this position triggered something and you remembered

-flash back-

The three girls you were so afraid of had gotten done beating you leaving you on the rooftop heeseung had come out of the corner he was watching everything happen in coming up to you you looked up at him and your eyes got watery he grabed your face and looked at you “don’t cry it only makes you look pathetic”and he let go of your face and walked away later that day you found a bandage on you desk but didn’t know who put it there

-end of flash back-

“OMG Y/n”chu ran up to you finding you on the floor holding your chest “are you okay what happend did he hurt you are you crying “”I’m im fine chu ty “she helped you up and you guys left the mall you didn’t have time to cry and be sad you were going to this party no matter what like you said

//arriving at party\\

Soobin had picked you guys up all four of you guys going to the party as u guys got off people do what they do gossiping like there’s no tmrw anyways you walk thru the door being greeted by Sunoo even tho he was friends with the boys he wasn’t a complete jack ass “omg so glad you guys could make it” hugging u and chu and giving the boys a side hug “well um if u guys want drinks there in the kitchen and yeah pretty much just enjoy but go greet the boys if u want “ u guys nodded beomgyu chu and soobin going to say hi to there friends as you went alone to go get a drink “hey you guys want a drink “they all nodded saying a beer was good u walked into the kitchen seeing people make out drinking laughing and partying as this was your first party you didn’t imagine it to be exactly like the tv Highschool shows but hey you couldn’t complain walking up to the alcohol section seeing jay and sunghoon he waved at you as u came up to him “damn y/n you look amazing “Sunghoon said “thank you I didn’t exactly know if this was a good fit but now that I know you like it I’m guessing it was “sunghoon and jay scanning you from top to bottom “so uh y/n you want a drink “jay had asked “yeah just give me four beers “he nodded sunghoon pulling you by your waist and bending down to your ear a little “hey I just wanted to make sure you were okay yk after what happened”you felt an Aw because he actually cared you wispers back into his ear “yeah I’m fine I wasn’t gonne let him get to me “he smirked looking at you and gave u a kiss witch you were not prepared for but ofc someone was watching you the entire time and pushed him off you “what the fuck sunghoon”you could tell heeseung was mad but why what reasons did he have to be upset “oh hey heeseung”sunghoon smirked at him like as if he knew he wasn’t supposed to be doing what he just did “don’t fucking hey heeseung me what the fuck do you think your doing “ “I mean I thought it was pretty clear I was kissing her “hey you guys cmon don’t fight “jay stood beetween the boys “yeah cmon heeseung don’t sweat it we’re just having some fun “ those words hurt you you thought sunghoon liked you or were you really just there for his entertainment now?

You put your head down a bit upset and you saw heeseung smirking “what’s wrong doll I told you aren’t I right “ you were annoyed at heeseung at the fact he was right again but you felt embarrassed “shut the fuck up heeseung “ “dont be mad doll you guys were just having fun right “ in that moment it clicked to sunghoon the way he had said it and he felt bad “wait y/n that’s not how I mean it” u we’re gonna take this as your opportunity to get back at heeseung “you smiled at Sunghoon going up to him whispering in his ear leaving heeseung and jay curious “don’t worry I know we’re having fun but heeseung just ruined it so can you take me where we can have fun” you left sunghoon speechless the girl who always had to run errands for his bsf and who would always get picked on was now so bold and a bit flustered “u-uh yeah sure “ he grabed your arm guiding you to what you assumed was jakes guest room but as you looked back you could see a very annoyed heeseung

//15 min after entering the room\\

As you and sunghoon were making out his shirt already off and your dress guliding up to your hips sunghoon s hands placed on your thighs massaging them you were nervous but just as he was about to go under you stopped him “hoon wait um it’s my first time so I’m kinda scared”he just smiled at you “hey we don’t have to do it if you don’t want we can take things slow” maybe heeseung was wrong maybe he really did like you and you were gonna shove it in his face that you and his bsf were gonna be together “well do u js wanna watch a movie and cuddle” by this time you were ready to sleep so u agreed “yeah but um do you know if Jake has any clothes to borrow or I could js sleep in this I don’t wanna bother” he got you and went to a drawer in the room “scince we stay at jakes a lot we basically all have are own room heres my shirt “ he throws you a plain white tee but no pants so you look confused at him a bit “oh did you want like shorts or somthing sorry” he was about to go back but you stopped him “no like this is fine I actually prefer to sleep like this “ he just nodded and he went to change into something more comfortable but you didn’t expect him to come back with no shirt so you gasped seeing his pretty toned body “what?” He asks you just blush and shake your head as he smirks the rest of the night was fun but you fell asleep that night not thinking anything of it

//the next morning \\

Your eyes fluttered as you heard a knock on the door and seeing Jake come in the room made you panic and in that moment you wanted to die sunghoon still sleep until “YO WHAT THE FUCK SUNGHOON” and in that moment sunghoon woke up “nah dude I feel so betrayed you promised to help me clean but instead you got to fuck y/n “ and cause ofc everyone had heard jake yell Niki sunoo and heeseung came to the room and your eyes met heeseungs and you could see clearly he was upset “ Jake we didn’t fuck she just slept over “ “yk that’s hard to BELIEVE when she’s wearing your shirt and you have no shirt “ Jake had a point but it was the truth you guys really had not done anything “actually it wouldn’t be hard to believe sense y/n s a slut” you got up from the bed and threw the pillow at heeseung “you know heeseung just cause your a fucking whore dosent mean I am and I just borrowed his clothes you idiot so fuck off “ scince you had no shorts and just a shirt the boys just looked at you niki and sunoo deciding it was better to leave but heeseung was about to say something but sunghoon had cut him off “ hyung can you please just let this go “ and with that sunghoon just closed the door on them and locked it and in that moment you both realized you had school “ughhh we have school “ “we can always skip “ you quickly refused never once missing a day not wanting to hurt your perfect attendance “ cmon y/n don’t be such a nerd or are you still the old y/n?” You knew he was only saying that to persuade you but it did work “ I mean n-no I just um wouldn’t know what we would do “ sunghoon just shook his head at you “ we could just chill go to the mall do anything are you really that boring ?” Offended at his hitting him on his bicep “let’s just chill then “

//after schoo\\

After school normally the boys would all go to jakes house tk study play games shit like that witch they all did thinking that y/n would be gone by then but they were very wrong when they see y/n and sunghoon on the couch asleep “holy shit heeseung hyung is not gonna be happy” jungwon picked you up and ran with you on his back you being confused when jungwon locked his door and threw you on the bed “WHAT TH-“ jungwon covers your mouth muffling your yelling until you stoped “shut the fuck up unless you want to make heeseung hyung and sunghoon hyung hate eachother more right now “ honestly you couldn’t give a fuck less and if this made heeseung miserable then you had every reason not to care “ why should I care on fact I actually don’t mind going back ou-“ jungwon grabed your hand pinning you on the wall wtf is it with everyone pinning you on the wall “ look I know heeseung hyung did fucked up shit and I know it’s fucked up we didn’t do anything but we all grow from our mistakes and plus now your like hot so please just shut the fuck up and well stay in here”.

———————————————————————————-

Okay well I’m im just gonna leave this here I feel like I had y’all eating for too long I honestly thought I would be done with this by now but I went on a family vacation recently so I had no time but I’ll try to make the next part as quick as possible ty all sm for being patient

[seokjinsonlyone]

oh you know what i remember what it was as i usually am these days super behind on content u know and the like so i was just watching lee mujin’s service with jimin up there and i was cracking up at the scene where mujin called jimin oppa and then i started thinking about how the tannies would react if u started calling them oppa and obviously this is on the basis that you actually are younger than them

and i think jk would make the ojo face specifically

something along those lines like somewhere between shocked and amused like lowkey he’d eat it up bc we all know he on his “i’m 26!! i’m not a baby!!!” kick even tho he’s literally everyone’s baby also i have this

moment saved in my favorites bc it just i just yeah <3

ANYWAY i think jimin wouldn’t be as shocked as he was at mujin calling him oppa but there would be a kinda❗️moment followed by giggles he’d be like 😯🤭😏 so i’m oppa now and then you’d always have to refer to him like that

i think tae gives the vibe like he really could not care less like ion think it does anything for him you call him oppa and he’s like 😶 yes? like it ain’t no thing to him but if you were in a relationship with him you absolutely couldn’t refer to another guy as oppa

i think for jin it’s literally just a title just like hyung and he’d use it the same way he does when he’s like “hyung’s got it” “let hyung do it” he’d be the same way “oppa’s here” “oppa’s got it” “wait for oppa” he’d probably refer to himself as it more than you

hobi would probably do like he does when the members compliment him and be like 😳 don’t say these things like i don’t think he would actually mind but he 100% would believe you have a crush on him like if you two both weren’t firmly clear that you liked each other or family zoned he would start talking REAL formal to you in return aksksksks

it would throw mr kim daddy kink namjoon through a loop for sure like if u just randomly called him oppa he’s gonna fumble through a couple sentences before he’s able to recover especially if you were a foreigner who’s fluent in korean bc then he knows you know how it could be taken and idk if he would ever directly speak on it but he gon think about it from time to time for sure

yoongi would love it without a doubt in my mind i know he does he can try to act like he doesn’t but oooo i know his youngest sibling self does for the same reason he shows us his hands and his teef and how he grew his hair out and enjoyed us barking at him and how he ended his tour with longest shibals ever like it just activates that special part in his brain that likes to be liked and wanted like again he may not ever speak on it directly but you call him oppa and he’s gonna get that little smirk on his face and stick his tongue out do a little snort and in his brain he’s thinking wow she wants me

[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!!

[looosey]

Amari's Rap Journey #3: The End of the Suffolk County Bars

You have 10 minutes to write 16 bars, or 16 lines, on this thing right here: <water bottle>. Low hanging fruit.

That was our in-class verse assignment on Monday at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility. The day before our EP deadline, it was supposed to be a group of five of us, but three ended up dipping the morning of, because of work. So Ally and I and Gon packed into his car with Kris from MIT Literature and drove down Mass Ave 20 minutes to Suffolk County.

It was ominous pulling up to the jail, you could see the town getting kind of rough. A lot of people walking around aimlessly or crouching with their knees inwards and head bent in an awkward angle. Cop cars are around the corners and in the alleyway slowing down next to a couple older men with scars on their noses that don't look like they're healing any time soon. It speeds up again, just as our car slows down behind it.

We met up with Lupe in the building itself and Lee and Kenny, who organized the workshop with Ally. When we locked up all our possessions and got through security, we officially entered multiple double doors and were finally in the jail, which was clean, old, and empty-looking, we went to a building called the peace building. The third floor, had a well-lit small middle school cafeteria looking lunch room with three large glass meeting rooms, including a studio we were told about and a makeshift gym with a pull up bar.

The inmates walked in a couple minutes later. A group of more than 10 men, from age 20-40, mostly of black and latino descent. They mostly looked at Lupe, and us, kind of apprehensively, like they didn't know what to make of the scenario.

Lupe was serious that lecture though. It's not my story to tell, but he shared a very serious part of himself, a personal side, that explained his connection to incarceration, and how seriously he takes rap. I think it helped a lot with setting the atmosphere of the workshop though, because rap can be embarrassing for beginners, and you need commitment to go all in.

The way the students did go all in, is what made me so... fulfilled that day. We heard the verses they brought that day, we listened to Lupe's lecture about non-violent rap, and we worked on writing bars on the spot about water. Let me just say, most of these guys were soo soo talented at rap. They had the sound, the lyrics were real, though the content was really street, and they had it memorized and delivered it. I went home, and was like Damn.

That was the best day I've ever had at MIT.

I recorded my verse and put it in my EP, and was happy to have some part of that with me forever.

Today was day 2, the second and final half of the workshop series. A whole lot more of our class showed up. The vibes were different but still as meaningful and important.

Lupe didn't see it this way, but I thought today was a much tougher crowd. So many of us from MIT ogling, and a few apprehensive inmates who weren't interested in rap, without the ability to start with a vulnerable intense story to connect. But he did it today, by getting the crowd to laugh with him, by free styling and getting people loosened up.

Our in class assignment was to pair up, and write a back-and-forth (i.e. bar trading) verse about laundry.

I ended up pairing up with this guy named Camden (name changed). He was the guy I'd been most worried about too, the one whose body language showed he didn't want to be there, and begrudgingly went along with Lupe's demands for rap on the spot.

But the thing was our verse was fire. We went like third, on a beat that Int'l Show cooked up in a couple minutes (a hard trap beat with Lupe on a chorus recorded in the studio). He opened with a line that went like:

Don't do crimes, you'll serve your time being forced to rhyme.

The crowd went nuts, and thank god. It was so much fun. And I got that Tagoe pat on the back. Got Ally's acknowledgement and Lupe's laughter.

Last thing was there was this last Q&A, where a guy who was there last time, Mr. Poet, with the hella poetic vibes, asked us: "What did y'all expect before coming, and what do you think now?"

To which two of my classmates said really, what I think are meh responses.

Person #1: Didn't know what to expect, I was just scared of rapping in front of other people, but it was fun seeing cool raps, being vulnerable with new people.

Person #2: I spend most of my time on the internet, so unplugging and having to write raps without google was really hard.

I think meh because the mans is not asking this to know more about you. And I saw that. Lee was smart old man and asked, why what did you think.

Mr. Poet was like: I didn't really believe that students from MIT were going to come, so I really want to thank each of y'all that chose to come here. Learning with y'all gave me a sense of normalcy and reminded me that I wasn't just an inmate in this system.

Literally so beautiful. So I had to respond with my truth, that being here was my favorite day ever. Seeing people commit and try something, be vulnerable, and then be so good at it, including your poetry, was something so precious and refreshing in my life.

I hope I thanked them. Anyways then we went to campus and then to Yamatos and then to Insomnia and then back to campus, where I then danced away my bloated stomach. In general, my appreciation for music and its power in the world has sky-rocketed. I'm making more music y'all. This post was a soft launch of the rest of my career.

[accioecho]

TKEM novelization pt 3

Chapter 3 - “The parallel world”

Most of these excerpts are translated bits from the books. Under cut because this got long. ↓↓

First meeting

>> Chapter 3 begins with a tired, somewhat annoyed Tae Eul in her car on her way home. She didn’t expect the day to turn out the way it did. That day’s murder discovery only meant one thing: a mountain pile of work awaiting her, extra hours and night shifts to pull off for the next few days. To top it off, that night’s traffic was awful.

The spooky shock upon seeing her “double” self in the rearview mirror is quickly replaced by complete amazement at seeing an elegant white horse in the middle of Seoul’s gwanghwamun square’s rush hour traffic.

And it wasn’t a regular looking horse too. It was the kind of horse only seen in graphic novels /comics (manhwa). The horse was exuding grace and the man on top of it didn’t seem like an ordinary man either.

>> On Gon’s side, the confusion upon discovering this familiar yet different Seoul is quickly replaced by joy. Joy at finally meeting the woman whose picture he saw countless times (lol stalker vibes much?)

He thought he would only feel happiness upon seeing her, but he didn’t realize how much he had longed for her. His curiosity about her went deeper than he thought.

>> He’s not sure what she’s reprimanding him about, he’s not really listening. He’s still coming to terms with the fact that she’s real. That she exists.

>> Somehow she didn’t think the big white horse was the only reason the crowd was gathering around them. Gon had the kind of looks to attract people’s attention. Okay, she would give him that. He was handsome. Although it wasn’t important right now.

>> Ever wondered what he was thinking when he says “I’ve finally met you, lieutenant Jeong Tae Eul”?

The only piece of evidence left of that night finally appeared in front of his eyes. The elusive person that he has waited so long to find, that he had longed for all these years was finally here. The more he stared at her, the more Gon was overcome with emotions. He wanted to hold her and never let her go.  

>> That moment. Gon wished that moment lasted for an eternity.

>> Ever since he first laid his eyes on her, his gaze was so intense, the hands that grabbed her were so frantic / earnest that she wondered if he wasn’t just plain crazy.

She wanted to be angrier, the situation certainly called for it. She could’ve even used her fists, no one would’ve blamed her. But for some reason she found it difficult to be angry.

>> Still astounded, she willed herself to try to calm her heart. “Can’t you see my ID? I’m a police officer. What are you doing?”

>> Even if this wasn’t the right time nor the right moment, Gon couldn’t help but feel laughter bubbling up. He still couldn’t believe that this civil servant officer that he only saw in picture form stood in front of him.

Given that this was technically their first meeting, she probably was taken aback and confused about the whole ordeal. Rather than trying to calm her though, he preferred giving way to his happiness and laughter, which probably made him seem more terrible than he really was.

Misc.

For those who are wondering, we are on page 53 out of 307 of volume I. Still a long way to go!

[livefordrama]

Reviewing Drama’s I Have Watched Part 9

Again, here is my rating system:  1- Did not like, 2- Enjoyed but probably wouldn’t watch again, 3- Enjoyed and would watch some episodes again/may watch again, 4- Enjoyed and would watch again, 5- Loved

Korean Drama

Emperor: Master of the Mask: 3

Trigger Warnings: Cult Themes, Blood, Suicide Attempt and Themes

Emperor: Master of the Mask, or Ruler: Owner of the Mask, is about a young prince who was hunted down and poisoned by this underground group which controls the government and even the king. After the poisoning, his father forced him to wear and mask to protect him and even made a law that anyone who sees his true face would be killed.... and then things get worse.

That’s the best way I can explain this show without giving too much away, and also because there was so much content. This show was 40 episodes of about 30 minutes, which is huge for a kdrama. I did really love this show at the beginning and end but the middle was just so... dry. Like don’t get me wrong it was okay, it just focused to much on romance, completely changed almost all the characterizations to be either completely insufferable or pathetic, and was kind of boring. My favorite character through the beginning was the prince with Lee Sun being my second, my favorite character at the end was Hwa-gun with the Prince tied with Gon and Chun-woon as my second and Lee Sun one of my least favorite. I just hated how they made him so possessive to the point it was terrifying. I was more able to forgive and feel bad for the main bad guy at the end than for him. Probably because I have witnessed first had various people I am close to in very similar relationships and it actually scared me. Overall it was a very good show, but I just wish the writing was better so the middle wouldn’t have been so dry and the characters would have become so pathetic about love. Hwa-gun, Gon, and Chung-woon deserve all the praise and love. Just protect them please. I would probably watch some episodes again but I don’t see myself watching the whole series again.

Doom At Your Service: 5

Trigger Warnings: Terminal Illness, Suicide, Harassment, Death

Doom At Your Service is about a woman, Dong-kyung, who after finding out she has a deadly brain tumor, wishes doom upon the world. Unexpectedly, the god of doom himself heard her wish and decided to grant it, but like with most shows that have gods and deities there’s a catch. She will be healed only if one the day she is destined to die, the person she loves most must die. However, Dong-kyung has a plan she won’t lose anyone if the person she loves most is the God of Doom himself.

I watched most of this show as it aired and each time I ran out of episodes it was almost like torture. The main characters stories and personalities were super interesting, and even the side characters were all amazing. I love how they even had a foreign actor who could actually act, I have seen way too many shows where the foreign actors just read their lines out and didn’t even attempt to act so this was a refreshing change. I was so invested in all the different plot lines this show had to offer and felt satisfied with the ending too. I highly recommend to those who love angst, fantasy, and drama.  

He Is Psychometric: 2

Trigger Warnings: Death, Murder, Blood, Suicide, Sensory Overload, Kidnapping, Arson, Themes of Rape

He is psychometric is about a boy who, after a tragedy, discovers he has the ability to see the past of someone or something through skin contact. He uses his power to solve cases for the police but the real case he wants to solve is what really happened on the night of the tragedy. 

I really liked this show when I first started it. However, halfway through I just got so bored and it never really picked up for me. I think it was because I didn’t really ship any of the couples except the one side couple and that was just slightly as well as that I guessed every single plot twist in the show so it was just kind of dry for me. I really liked the found family stuff they did at the beginning as well as the brotherly humor stuff but that all disappeared halfway through and nothing really took it’s place to lighten the mood other than romance so it just became dark and bland. The actors and actresses were great, and the plot had potential but I think it needed a little more mystery and development for me to personally get into it. I also wasn’t really into the romantic tropes and there were a lot, you had the enemies/indifference to lovers with the mains, the sociopath and empathetic one with the second leads, and the single mother with the rich childlike man. All of these I’m not a huge fan of, I know people who would love it but it just wasn’t for me. Overall it was decent, the ending was unsatisfying and quite dry but the beginning was really good. I would recommend to those who enjoy superpower crime shows with quite a bit of romantic tropes. 

Memorist: 5

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Murder, Kidnapping, Sexual Assault, Suicide, Rape, Cults, Panic Attacks.

Memorist follows a detective who can read memories through touch but cannot remember his own past, and a police chief whose past she keeps carefully guarded as they try to catch a serial killer who has been killing people that have gotten away with horrible crimes for decades. 

So, this happened. I didn’t expect when I started Memorist that I would be reviewing it right under He is Psychometric as I had started so many shows in between the two but haven’t quite finished them. So, I guess since everyone says the two are similar I will take a moment to briefly compare them with my opinion. If I had to compare, He is Psychometric is darker with regards to after a certain point in the show, there is nothing but dark drama and romance. Meanwhile, Memorist keeps a similar feeling of comedy balanced with the dark drama throughout the whole show while still getting more intense as it continues, not to mention the heavy and super cute found family vibes that He is Psychometric was just lacking after a certain point. I did enjoy both but for my personal taste, Memorist drew me in and kept me engaged throughout the whole show while He is Psychometric drew me in then lost me after that certain point. I love when a show has comedy mixed with angst and drama and Memorist just had that for me. 

Now, to talk about Memorist itself. This show was amazing, I was hooked immediately and suffered every day I wasn’t able to watch it because of my schedule. The reveal was so unexpected for me, I had many theories but the actual reveal was not one of them. I actually gasped and got so excited. I also loved the ending so much. (spoilers) I do wish that they showed more of what happened to the villain at the end after Dong Baek did what he did, but it was still a perfect ending. I especially loved that the romance subplot was completely subtext, like you have to look to find romance and that is always a nice twist in kdrama. (spoilers end) I think this was one of the best shows I have seen in a while, I wanted more content after it ended. The actors and actresses are all amazing and played their characters so well. Love seeing Lee Se-young from A Korean Odyssey, Jun Hyo-Seong from My Shy Boss, and as always Yoo Seung-Ho from many of the shows I watched. He may be type casted as having pretty much the same personality every show, but he plays those character so well (and they are my favorite type of characters) that I just love to watch his work.

Chinese Drama

The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty: 5

Trigger Warnings: Murder, Suicide, Sexual Assault, Themes of Rape, Vomit.

The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty follows Tang Fan, a food loving genius, Sui Zhou, a cold military official, and Wang Zhi, a cunning palace eunuch and young commander of the Western Depot, as they solve various crimes throughout Ming. They solve many crimes ranging from swindlers all the way to bomb threats and conspiracies to murder the Emperor. 

This show was amazing, it did have its slower parts but I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a lot of delicious food scenes that made me so hungry and plenty of found family moments. I started the show thinking Tang Fan would be my favorite as his characterization from the trailer looked like my type of character and I do love Darren Chen’s acting, but Wang Zhi ended up stealing both the show and my heart. There were happy moments, sad moments, and plenty of epic women being bosses moments. I watched with the viki live comments and, they were awful and really racist, but I realized that not everyone was aware of China’s censorship so I will address that here. This show is based off the novel “The Fourteenth Year of Chenghua” and yes, that is a bl. This show does make some hints towards the relationship and the love triangle of Tang Fan, Sui Zhou, and Wang Zhi, but does not go full bl because of chinese censorship. It’s kinda of like how Untamed censored their show from the original novel, but a little more subtle. So don’t go into this show expecting any romances with female characters, but also don’t go in expecting big romance scenes with the main three either, everything is subtext. Overall it was a great show and I highly recommend to those who like mystery, food, and found family, with a subtle romance/love-triangle subplot.

WebDrama

Must You Go?: 5

Trigger Warning: Bullying, Blood, Forced Stripping, Sexual Harassment

Must you go, aka are you leaving or leave me not, is about a modern aspiring singer who is hired to play a song at an abandoned shrine one night. This song summons a famous musician from the Joseon Period. While trying to find out who he really is and send him back, they begin to perform together and realize their feelings. However, they soon discover that they are destined to be reincarnated only to meet the same tragic fate as their past lives.

I really enjoyed this show, I saw a lot of people give it crap for being too rushed and I agree, but that’s just a webdrama for you. They are so short that they feel really rush since the writers have to shove a lot of information in a small time slot. I really wish this was a full drama or we could get a second season. I did enjoy the ending, it reminded me slightly of the ending of The Untamed. I also saw someone saw it reminded them of Goblin, it didn’t really remind me of Goblin other than the reincarnation thing but that’s a lot of shows. So if you enjoy Goblin then you may just like this one. It did have it’s flaws as every show does, but I really enjoyed it and finished it in about a day and a half on top of school.

Lover of the Palace: 2

Trigger Warnings: Themes of Bullying, Suicide, Panic Attacks

Lover of the palace is about two childhood friends who grew apart after one moves then find each other again when they both end up working at a tourist event. The main female must then help the main male get over his crippling stage fright so that they can perform together.

I liked this one okay, it was cute and interesting at parts but mostly it was rather dry in my opinion. Like I have said many times before, I am not a huge fan of strictly romance genre so I may be a little biased against the show but it wasn’t bad. I did really enjoy a lot of it, I just felt there could be more to it which unfortunately has to do with its status as a webdrama. I personally probably wouldn’t watch it again myself, but I would recommend to those who like a cute romance with a little angst and does not have time to commit to an entire kdrama. 

Love as You Taste: 2

Love as you taste follows a groups of friends who enjoy cooking and even formed a cooking club, as they deal with new situations involving romance. Each episode had a new story based around the making of a dish.

This show was okay, it had some good parts and the food looked pretty good. However, most of the show was boring for me personally. Probably because of the mainly romance based plot but also because there was just no humor or anything that really made me like the characters. The plot and characterization just felt dry and thrown together in order to make a quick show. Having said that, I would probably recommend this show to people who enjoy cute romance shows but don’t have the time to commit to a full length kdrama.

Korean Movies

Train to Busan: 5

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Gore, Jump scares, Death

Train to Busan follows a father as goes with his daughter on a train to see her mother for her birthday. However, once they get one the train they become trapped in a zombie apocalypse. They quickly realize one of the infected is on the train with them and the father, along with a few other passengers, have to fight their way through zombies and the other coward passengers alike to make it to the safe haven in Busan. 

I hesitated to watch this because I am not really a zombie horror person, but everyone talked so highly of it and I finally had time to watch it so I gave in. Wow, just, wow. It was amazing. The acting, the plot, the characters, everything was brilliant. It was cute, suspenseful, and heartbreaking all at the same time. There were a few jump scares but it wasn’t endless to where you got bored of it, it only happened a few times and at good timings too. I was able to hold my tears in throughout the movie but once the credits rolled, I cried for five minutes. Not even a pretty cry, like tears streaming, needs a tissue cry. I highly recommend this, even for those who don’t like zombie movies like me, or the horror genre in general. You won’t regret giving this movie a try. 

Blind: 4

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Kidnapping, Rape, Graphic Death, Murder, Themes of Self-harm.

Blind is about a woman who went blind three years before and a young man who sounds just like her brother who died in the same crash that made her blind. They both witness a murder/kidnapping and have to work together to help the police catch the killer before the killer catches them. 

(Warning) This movie was dark as hell. I did not expect it to be that dark, take everything in the list serious guys, I’m not kidding. Just, there are no pornographic scenes so... there’s that. (Warning)

Okay, I was bored and for once has nothing to do and nothing I wanted to watch as I just finished Memorist and was in major withdrawl. So, I just turned this on to have something to do since it was in my to watch list anyway. It was actually pretty darn good, I was pleasantly surprised. It was dark and sad but also really nice and cute in some scenes. I loved the found family dynamic between the main two characters, it was super cute. The plot was also written very well and kept me engaged throughout the whole show. I did find the scenes of the noncon uncomfortable even though it didn’t really show anything graphic, it was just weird for a kdrama that the scenes even went as far as they did. I think this is a really good movie for people who enjoy dark, sad, suspensful, crime movies. I would most likely watch again next time I wanna watch something and don’t know what.

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[space-girl-and-droids-art]

Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark- Book Review

“Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark” Is an anthology of stories narrating some of the arcs of the clone wars from the perspective of the characters. It gives more details and depth to some episodes, as well as giving us information that makes us have a different view of the events.

This is not exactly a review, but mostly my reactions to reading the book. I do recommend it, if you loved the clone wars and want another perspective on some of the arcs this will be a good read. That said, this does contain spoilers for the clone wars.

#1 “Sharing the same Face” -Jason Fry (from the episode “Ambush”)

Okay this was once one of the most light-hearted episodes of the series and now I ended up crying. I did not expect an order 66 reference here. Every time Yoda addresses Dooku is painful. Seeing how Yoda perceives the clones is really heart-warming, but knowing how it all turns out in the end is really sad and during the whole text you are really aware of that. In the show you kind of forget about what’s going to happen for a while, but this text just keeps you thinking about it constantly. It was a good read, I loved it. I found it really interesting knowing Yoda approaches the clones the same way he approached his students at the temple, and knowing what his opinions on the clone army it was a good detail. Loved this one.

Did I care that much about this episode before? No. But watching it right after reading this made me cry for half an hour. (I am a really emotional person, so take this with a grain of salt.)

#2 “Dooku Captured”- Lou Anders (From the episodes “Dooku Captured” and “Gungan General”.

This was a funny read, and the fact that the events are narrated by Dooku Himself made it even more hilarious. It’s supposedly a holorecording Dooku was doing for Sidious, and you can tell by his words that he was so done. Poor Dooku deserves a meditation day after it. You can tell how annoyed he was by the whole situation and his perception of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. They really are bothering for the count. I’m surprised he didn’t retire after this event, man’s gotta be really tired. Also, when they were tied together, they just shared a braincell and most of the time, Dooku was the one carrying it. The love he had for Qui-Gon does not extend to rest of the lineage, clearly.

At first it was really slow, but after they get captured by the pirates it just gets funnier. Good story to read after the sadness the previous text gave me.

Also, the fact that Dooku canonically records himself venting to Sidious is hilarious to me. Like, can you imagine being Palpatine and receiving daily vlogs from your apprentice ranting and complaining about Anakin and Obi-Wan? Dude was tired, of course he would let Anakin decapitate him in the end.

#3 “Hostage Crisis”- Preeti Chhibber (from the episode “Hostage Crisis”)

For an Anidala shipper this is a must read, because you will know exactly what Anakin thinks of his wife and how he views Padmé. This text was more Anakin centric (I believe the next one is Padmé centric) and it was a delight. I haven’t read much in canon about stuff that involves Anakin’s feelings so this was really good.

The scene from the beginning of the episode? Is hotter when you read it, trust me. For a clearly SFW text, this was intense. I’m pretty sure I can guess all of Anakin’s kink only by what was implied in his thoughts. Is also really sweet to see how much she cares, but also know why everything went downhill at the end. Good retelling.

#4 “Pursuit of Peace”- Anne Ursu (from the episodes “Heroes on both sides” and “Pursuit of Peace”)

I really love Padmé Amidala. My favorite senator. If you have seen my review of Queen’s Peril you KNOW How much I love her, and even when this text was written by another author, I still got the same feeling about her. Padmé is amazing. This arc is one of my favorite of the Clone wars because it’s the arc that let you see that it wasn’t a black and white kind of situation, both sides were being played. An none of them were really worrying about their people, they were in it for the money. I love reading Padmé’s thoughts on the whole situation. Also, the way this story is written makes what went down with Padmé and Anakin in the third episode make more sense and more in character. She is a strong, good, and smart politician. But she is also motivated to see the light in the dark and preserve the light, it gave me major Qui-Gon from “Master and Apprentice” vibes. It did make me tear up a little, because when I finished it, I realized everything she did was for nothing. She was too kind in a galaxy already so corrupted.

Also, Palpatine stop calling her “my child” you disgusting sith lord, I know you are responsible for her death and so do you, so shut the f up. Padmé was doing everything right and she hasn’t done anything wrong in her life whatsoever.

“Just because there’s darkness in something does not mean you do not love it. You show it love, you show it light, and you hope it chooses the light”.

She was talking about the senate but you just KNOW she isn’t really talking about the senate.

This story re-telling broke me, just as the first one. I am not ready for the next one. Do I have to? Man, I really don’t want to go through Umbara again.

#5 “The Shadow of Umbara” -Yoon Ha Lee (from the episodes "Darkness on Umbara," "The General," "Plan of Dissent," and "Carnage of Krell”)

I was, indeed, not ready for it. It doesn’t really add much to the story… except pain. Rex’s pain, to be precise. Let my man mourn Hardcase :C I just wanted to give him a hug, him and all of the clones to be honest. Fives was as good as always, but re-reading his lines knowing what happens to him made me sad. I hate Pong Krell, get you dirty hands off my babies. I don’t think this re- telling made me sadder, but that’s only because it was just as painful as the episodes.

Dogma my beloved, you deserve everything.

I love how this arc develops Rex character and his attitude towards the war in general.

#6 “Bane’s Story”- Tom Angleberger (from the episodes “Deception”, “Friends and Enemies”, “The Box” and “Crisis on Naboo”.)

Is Cad Bane the Regina George of the Bounty Hunters?

The answer is yes. Yes, he is.

I wasn’t really excited to read about Cad Bane at first, I felt that everything that had to be said about the guy had already been stated in the show. He was just a mean bounty hunter in space. But this was actually pretty funny to read, specially because it’s narrated in first person from Bane’s perspective on what happened with Kenobi. And it’s hilarious.

He is basically re telling the events to Boba and Bossk while he is in jail again. During his story you can learn a few things about him as well, specially what his thoughts are in relation to some important topics. You would think he is only concerned about the money and blasting people, and you would be right. But he also does have an opinion on what’s happening on the galaxy at large, on the jedi, on Palpatine and Dooku. But those opinions don’t affect how he gets the job done. It was really interesting seeing him internally judging Kenobi for being a liar, and knowing something is wrong with the jedi order if they pulled that off. He knows everyone is being deceived, but doesn’t know how. That’s why he doesn’t care, and doesn’t get involved on anything unless you offer to pay him. Money moves him, but not the people who has it.

It was a good story, and I also liked to see how Bane respects Boba and sees him as the one that’s going to take his place eventually.

We know from the deleted episodes that Cad Bane was supposed to be killed by Boba Fett, but we haven’t seen that in canon yet. I really hope they answer what happened to Cad Bane in the current canon, I would love to see that in a comic, or in a book.

#7 “The lost nightsister”- Zoraida Cordova (from the episode “Bounty”)

I love Asajj Ventress for a million reasons and this story just made me love her even more. It’s the same story from the episodes but with an insight of what Ventress is thinking about. Which is unsurprisingly very depressing but the story itself turns out to be pretty uplifting.

It’s about her thoughts on what happened after the massacre of her sisters, her family, and how she deals with everything she had already lost. How lonely and worthless she feels. But during the course of the story, we see her reconnecting with who she is, and learning her value. Learning she is a powerful person, master or not.

It was also really sad to see how she compared herself to others. She was really sad and angry that nobody cared about what happened to her people, no one that cared about her. She saw how people wanted the girl in the box back and thought about how nobody would ever do the same for her and it was sad.

I also find very depressing that she couldn’t mourn her family.

But then she said this:

“What made her so special? What made her worth—No. She couldn’t think that way. This girl’s worth didn’t diminish her own. “

And like, I’m 100% rooting for her here.

Also, I love that once she realized the girl from the box was being smuggled to be essentially a child bride, she didn’t hesitate to scam the old creep. She may be an assassin, but during the course of this story you learn that she is disgusted by men who take advantage of female beings. I also love her internal monologue after the guy was bothering her in the cantina and how she just knows that if she can defend herself, she will do it with no hesitation.

Lovely story, I love knowing more about Ventress. Beautifully written.

#8"Dark Vengeance”-Rebecca Roanhorse (from the episodes "Brothers" and "Revenge")

It’s so on brand for Darth Maul to have his entire story be about Kenobi. It’s narrated by him, but directed towards you, like he is telling the reader a story. That in some stories could be like an awkward thing, but here it was well done. I love Maul and like, I could picture us having that conversation, well, me listening to him monologuing.

I really liked that he started telling the story from the events that happened on Naboo. You get to really see what happened from his perspective and understand why his hatred of Kenobi only grows over time.

Also, Darth Maul was like “I can excuse murder, but I draw the line at being rude”. Which is so morally wrong, but very fitting to his character. He is really upset at Kenobi for not caring about what happened to him. From what I gathered of the info that he let us know, he would probably like it more if Kenobi killed him instead of having to spend all those years in the garbage. Nobody cared for him enough to go and check up on what happened to him. That doesn’t excuse murder though.

The interactions he had with Kenobi let us know that it was not very jedi like the way he treated Maul, ignoring his rage and letting it consume him. Obi-wan just kept adding fuel to the fire because he was also really angry at Maul for the murder of Qui-Gon, not realizing that that would only make Maul be even angrier. And we know how that ended up for Satine Kenobi.

Final thoughts: Savage, I love you.

#9 "Almost a Jedi"-Sarah Beth Durst (from the episode "A Necessary Bond")

I thought this story was going to be from Ahsoka’s point of view. It was not.

I’m not mad at it though.

The story itself does focus on Ahsoka but it’s narrated by Katooni. It’s basically about how much she adores Ahsoka and wants to be like her, but also doubts herself a lot. She thinks she is not good enough to be a jedi. But her experiences both with Ahsoka and with Hondo Ohnaka makes her change her mind.

I want to say that I love the fact that it’s canon that she drew a poster of Ahsoka for her room because she really admired her that much it's so wholesome. It’s cute, and also let us see the perception the younglings had of Ahsoka.

Also, the bond between Hondo and Katooni is really wholesome. This also made me realize that this encounter with a young jedi is the reason he is immediately friendly with Ezra in Rebels. Ezra and Katooni do share similar personality traits sometimes.

Deep diving in Wookiepedia after reading this I found out that Hondo’s ship in Galaxy’s Edge is called “The Katooni” and now I’m sad thinking he was probably devastated when he learnt about Order 66 and what Vader did to the younglings. Great now I’m angsty about a chaotic evil space pirate.

I think it was confirmed by Dave Filoni that those kids are dead now. May the force be with them, they were good enough jedis.

#10 "Kenobi's Shadow"-Greg van Eekhout (from the episode "The Lawless”)

This is the re-telling of one of the saddest clone wars episodes. The episode just lets you think that everything’s going to be alright, that they are going to survive together, lets you hope that they take off just in time… and then it doesn’t happen. I’m still not over Satine’s death. And this made it even sadder. There were so many points their story could’ve gone differently, but their story was already at an end.

This is in third person but heavily focusing on Kenobi’s thoughts along the way. He really was close to turn to the dark side, but his love for Satine and his grief made him not surrender to it. But he felt an anger, a justified one, but an anger that I have never seen in a jedi other than Anakin Skywalker. And we all know what happens to him.

It was a good but sad reading. I won’t be reading this one again. It’s too much. I knew what was going to happen and it still hit me hard. I wish things would’ve gone differently for the both of them. I wonder if we will get flashbacks to this in the Kenobi show.

Also, I really need an Obi-Wan Kenobi and Satine book of their time on the run.

#11 "Bug"-E. Anne Convery (inspired by the episode "Massacre”)

I can’t talk openly about this story because it’s not actually featured on the clone wars. It’s a really good story, specially if you want to expand on the lore regarding Dathomir and the Nightsister in the new canon. It’s perfectly executed, and even when the story isn’t about any of the main characters it hooked me from start to finish. Definitely one of my favorite stories of the book and If I had to pick one story from this anthology to read again it would be this one.

It has more gruesome details than the others and the atmosphere is dark, and I loved it. I would read a whole Dathomirian Nightsister novel written by this author if it was in this exact same style. I really liked it a lot.

In summary, I really enjoyed reading this Anthology. I would really recommend it to anyone who is fond of the Clone Wars or the prequels era. Adults, Kids, Teens, Young adults. I think I would’ve enjoyed this book as a kid as well, and I enjoyed it a lot now in my early twenties. It contains a little bit of everything and that makes it a really complete anthology.

[maculate-mango]

TKEM Episode 15

I’m gonna break this down into characters because if I talk about plot points I’m gonna start theorizing 💀

Lee Ji Hun’s Mom: The way she died was epic. She really outsmarted Lim. And fate worked in her favor with the time stop.

Lee Ji Hun: Now we’re gonna see him too? Do you see the list of characters already? And this isn’t even all of them.

KSJ: The way he doesn’t give a shit about either of him moms lmao?? Gold. Lim is an idiot intensified. Also damn his real mom literally was about to commit suicide and take him along...how can he feel for her. And the end scene where he confesses to Tae-Eul, holy shit that might be one of my most favorite scenes. It was all handled so maturely. I feel bad for KSJ, he literally cut ties with his moms and now JTE is leaving him too :( It’s also oddly satisfying seeing him team up with Lee Gon. I have to say, what an actor. Since the beginning of the show I was in awe at how well he shows his emotions.

Na-ri: Na-ri is SO incredibly smart. What a precious bean. I wish we saw more of her but her foreshadowing the beheading and Lim’s future...or rather lack of. Genius. (And Eun-sop being Na-ri’s unbreakable sword 😭)

JY & Eun-sop: Omg what a duo. Was that not a romantic scene?? The way Eun-sop shouts that he does have a dream right when JY is about to leave? Him saying it’s to see JY again?? JY DROPPING THE MF SUIT AND RUNNING TO HUG EUN-SOP??? 😭 They’re so dramatic LMAO TKEM is wild. And JY smiling at Eun-bi & Ka-bi. When has he smiled like that before? This is a record. Can y’all just unite the worlds please. I am awaiting all the fics that will come after TKEM ends, the only thing getting me through it.

PM Koo: Her power thirsty self is literally no different from Lim. Surprised he didn’t kill her right then in the cave. But now she’s power thirsty AND angry so I’m curious to see what she’ll do. She still hasn’t had a major part yet so there has to be something next episode for her. Talked about this already but her acting when she breaks down, I’m appalled. I feel bad for her but, ya got yourself involved with Lim.

Luna: An interesting character. She’s simply jealous and sad she doesn’t have Tae Eul’s life. And she’s dying soon, so she really doesn’t have a reason to commit to anything in these last few days. So it works perfectly for her to help out Tae Eul and take over her life. I’m curious what she asks Luna to steal though - is it Lee Lim? Like the keys to his room in the station?

Lee Lim: An all round idiot who is so blinded by his desire. He is his own downfall. The way he doesn’t give a shit when they were by his gate to see what a full Manpasikjeok is capable of. He just wants eternity ftw. I have to watch that scene again with JY, KSJ, LG, and LL at his gateway. Also it was nice to see the full circle from the interrogation in episode 1. KES is too good.

Jeong Tae Eul: Ah where do I start. My whole heart. I’m going to miss this badass. The way she punches Luna...HOT. Also guys what even is KGE. She’s a vast bundle of talent. Literally that entire scene of JTE confronting Luna across from her...crazy. Her desperation for Lee Gon finally pops out in this episode. She’s really come to realize that she can’t live without him. Her confrontation with KSJ for the flute... what a scene. She literally cannot bear to think of leaving LG alone, you can literally see her begging with her eyes to get the flute. She really thinks she’s going to die if she doesn’t see him ever again. And she wears her plum blossom and drives off?? She’s coming for him folks. And that excites me, I really hope she does go with him into the void or eternity or whatever it is. I’m just that swept for their love.

Lee Gon: Ahh LG is still swayed by hearing he was the reason for LJH’s death. So now this idiot is really gonna go back to save him and let himself disappear from existence in the process. Smh you loser why so dramatic. But he really deserves better, can he not have a sad end?? Also PLEASE take care of your unbreakable sword 🥺 And Gon leaving Tae Eul :( This was too damn sad to watch. And through all the fluff and this goodbye, although LG’s love is still visible, he’s hardened a bit. And I think it’s because he’s trying so hard to hold it together after making the decision to go back in time and let himself die. But can we also talk about the number of times LMH had to cry as Lee Gon - so many. And he killed it every single time. I really hope he gets recognized for his acting in TKEM because wow stunna.

[mapofheart]

Second male leads I have SLS for

I just felt like making this post bc our boys deserve some love. They’re ranked by a combination of how much I love them and how much I rooted for them to get the girl (or in a couple cases guy).

Nam Seon Ho - My Country: The New Age I love his gay bastard ass. He just wanted a boyfriend and for everyone to stop bullying him and I sympathize. He, Hwi, and Sung Rok were the real love triangle in that show prove me wrong.

Sam Maek Jong - Hwarang: Poet Warrior Youth I love Park Seo Joon to death but I really adore Maek Jong as a character and I love Park Hyung Sik to an equal extent. That scene where he offered to run away with her? I would’ve fallen for him instantly. I really wanted him to get the girl to the extent that I read Hwarang fanfiction lmao.

Baek In Ho - Cheese in the Trap Sweet sweet boy. Never did anything wrong his entire life. Main boy on the other hand? Violent sociopath. I will not be accepting any arguments on that opinion.

Kang Joon Hee - Reply 1997 We don’t talk about him enough honestly. He’s canon in love with the male lead and it’s honestly so heart breaking how he loves him without asking for anything. When he confesses to him but let’s it get passed off as a joke it makes me so sad. Also hes just so baby and sweet I love him.

Kang Sin Jae - The King: Eternal Monarch He’s not higher on the list because KEM isn’t over so there’s more to know about him but like I really wish he’d end up with the girl because they’re dynamic is so much more interesting and he’s such an interesting character to me. I even drew their hug lol.

Seo Ha Joon - Cheer Up/Sassy Go Go I honestly haven’t watched this drama in a long time so I don’t remember much. I do remember really wishing him happiness because his home life was so heartbreaking and his crush on the main girl was so incredibly sweet.

Nam Eun Gi - Her Private Life I just thought he was incredibly sweet and his friendship with Deok Mi and Seon Joo was so fun, because they’re dynamic was so fun. I also found his teasing really cute and his confession was so romantic “I can wait for you” like aw qt (also that shower scene got me like 0_0) . His ending was so adorable, he and Cindy are such a cute couple, so given that he gets a better ending than some of the men higher on this list (despite that i love him so much) he is here at number 7 because I am satisfied with his ending.

In Guk Doo - Strong Woman Do Bong Soon I found Guk Doo’s crush so relatable and I thought he just really deserved a happy ending after what he went through with his girlfriend. Also his one-that-got-away menality towards Bong Soon was a lil tragic and I felt for him.

Park Jung Woo - Temperature of Love He would be higher on this list because I rooted for him so hard (I teared up at the scene where he dreams of what they’d be like together) but I was Not ok with the way he treated Jung Sun at all. He basically asked for permission before attempting to compete for the girl which I respect but like when he provoked Jung Sun into punching him I was so pissed off.

Baek Kyung - Extraordinary You Unpopular opinion but just because his character development was complex and he was conflicted doesn’t mean he didn’t develop. I didn’t want him with the girl but I really rooted for his development, his realization and struggle with his feelings were believable even if I didn’t support his decisions. His final scene was a deserved ending to his arc.

Han Woo Tak - While You Were Sleeping A baby boy, beautiful cinnamon roll

Kang Seo Woo - Cinderella and the Four Knights I think its touching that he never confesses his feelings, and he’s also a sweetie. I love him and the friend together, they’re mad cute.

Ma Wang Joon - Absolute Boyfriend He was a jerk at times but I really sympathized with his reasons for breaking up. I didn’t finish this show but I hoped he would get a good ending.

Lee Tae Seong - Playful Kiss I remember almost nothing about this show except that I hated the male lead with a passion and I remember feeling like the main girl’s crush on him was wildly unhealthy and she needed to have a life outside of liking him. So I felt she’d be better off with this guy.

Honorable Mentions:

Ko Choeng Myung - Hotel Del Luna He’s here because he’s not technically a second male lead but I loved him, The scene where he died made me cry and I think about it A Lot.

Wang Wook - Scarlet Heart Ryeo Only first few episodes Wook though, because unpopular opinion number two: he wasn’t that bad at first even though I always loved So waaay more.

Woo Do Hwan’s character (he’s unnamed lmao) - Dramaworld Also not technically the second male lead but he is in the drama that dramaworld is inside so ??? anyway he’s literally only here because he’s Woo Do Hwan lol and also he gets the girl!!!!

Park Hae Jin - 7 First Kisses You could argue that he’s not a second male lead because there isn’t really a male lead here, you could also argue that Lee Min Ho is the male lead and therefore there are 6 second male leads. Either way Park Hae Jin, Lee Jong Suk, and Kai were my favorites.

Jo Yeong - The King: Eternal Monarch He’s literally only here because he’s not technically the second male lead but his unrequited love for Lee Gon is just so amazing that if he were a second male lead I would put him right up there with Sin Jae but alas.

Wang Jung - Scarlet Heart Ryeo He made some questionable decisions but ultimately he helped her get away from the palace, loved her, and took care of her without ever asking for more. Definitely better than Wook lmao I know I put first few episodes Wook on here but don’t get me wrong, after he character develops, I hate that guy. 

Thanks for reading yet another of my dumb lists! Hope you vibe with my dumbass opinions lol. Have a wonderful day! <3

[kaahaani]

3. I love how easily he gets jealous LMAO boy is so in love and such an idiot about Shin-Jae, it warms my heart 😂😂😂 and I loved just how much Tae-Eul was pushing his buttons in this one 😂 4. LG PINNING HER DOWN IS MY WEAK SPOT YESSS 😩😩❤️ 5. - “The change from comfortable to aroused always seemed to happen very quickly when she was around him.” I love our thirsty queen!!!

I am guessing Tumblr ate #1 and #2 because I don’t see them. *creys because tumblr is robbing me* 

First of all, YOU ARE AN AMAZING HUMAN BEING. Your reviews and fangirling literally give me life, I just can’t! 

#3: I LIVE FOR JEALOUS LEE GON! Tae-Eul was so oblivious the first time, and you know she’s going to tease him like she did to lighten the mood when she saw his scars. I had to have her push his buttons. #4: same girl sameeee, I have a thing for him pinning her down too...there’s something very sexy about it?! #5: I mean anyone would be thirsty if their man looked like THAT. *fans self*

#6. GAHHHHHH, I love how you notice all the little things I am giddy about when I write. Hahaha. OMG YESSSS, I should add a chapter in the smut series about the jersey, I forgot all about it hahahahaha! YOU’RE SO CUTE?! 

I LOVE THESE SOFT IDIOTS TOO! I need to go write more smut after reading this.

#8: He missed the whole “hickeys” phase teenagers go through so he’s making up for it hahahaha. HE DOES IT A LOT?! Her stylist has to get super creative and change her outfits around whenever she notices a new hickey (I think I referenced it during the Chapter 6 of TPC as part of Tae-Eul’s dream hahahaha). #9: I feel like she was always “one of the guys”, she says most of her friends are men, I feel like she thought she was too cool for relationships growing up?! But I believe she dated casually but was  never invested enough to take it the distance (like 2-3 dates max). And then she’s always at work it seems, and doesn’t seem to have friends prospects outside of her friend group? SHE DOESN’T EVEN REALIZE HER LITERAL BEST FRIEND IS IN LOVE WITH HER?! He asks her and is very jealous of all the men she’s gone out with, she calls him silly. 

I KNOW HE’S A DORK AND SHE LOVES IT AND WE LOVE IT AND THEY LOVE EACH OTHER THERE IS SO MUCH LOVE. Gah. Tae-Eul is probably like “I can’t believe I am like this, I am enjoying this man being possessive”. Hahaha.

Hahaha, I wanted to end on a cute note and I love their banter. The initial episodes where she’s always talking down to him and yelling at him are so entertaining! I love both jealous and possessive LG as well! 

Oooooh, I am really interested in their dynamic, Tae-Eul can totally also be the “dominant one” but I feel like LG would take the lead initially. I MEAN THE BEHEADING KISS?! She looked so taken aback and he just attacked her? Also, he has control issues with people touching him and Episode 11/12 where he’s kinda dark has me feeling ALL KINDS OF WAYS. It balances him out I think?

ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY DAY 100 TIMES BETTER! You are the sweetest human being ever and it’s really kind of you to take so much time to tell me what you like. It makes me so emotional omg, I feel like I have second-hand hormonal problems from writing about pregnant JTE LOL.

[mindmeltonabun-blog]

Personal Opinion On The Acting in TKEM

Although I know there are a lot of Lee Min Ho fans out there who thinks that he is the perfect man and actor, I beg to differ. Over the years, I have watched some of his previous dramas thinking that he would grow as an actor. However in his latest role as Lee Gon, he was more or less playing the same stereotypical “handsome” rich boy as he had previously done in other dramas.

While watching him in TKEM, I kept hoping he would display more growth in his acting abilities as to make the character he was portraying seem more real and believable. However, I was just left sorely disappointed. What he delivered instead were just more or less stiff and wooden expressions. Needless to say, I was not impressed by his acting at all in TKEM. 

He didn’t make me believe that he was actually experiencing what his character was going through. He did not even know how to use his “instrument”, by this I mean his voice and body to serve the role he was playing. There were no inflection in his tone to reflect the changes that his character was undergoing throughout the show. With concerns to his body, it was just pretty much him egotistically walking around with both hands behind his back the entire time and staring with soulless eyes. LMH was given so many scenes to both grow as an actor as well as give life or substance to his character in TKEM. However, in the end, he just squandered it all. 

At this point, I do not know what his intentions are as an actor because I’m not him. From my point of view, it seems that he is perfectly content with remaining stagnant in his acting abilities rather than evolve as an actor and becoming a “respected” actor. I would like to think that from a point of view from an actor/actress, one should care more about becoming a well respected actor/actress who is constantly evolving because at the end of the day, looks do fade. Thus, leaving behind something of more substantial value which is one’s ability to portray a character effectively.

It was also quite surprising to see that there  were so many articles singing high praises about LMH’s acting in TKEM. I guess to them, their definition of what is considered “good” acting is either set relatively low or equating it to good looks. This also then leads me to question if I will ever watch another KES drama in the future because it seems that she is willing to sacrifice the respect of her writing just to cast another pretty face with no substance. 

In stark contrast to LMH’s otherwise dull acting, was a lesser known actor by the name of Woo Do Hwan. He had played dual roles as Jo Yeong, the stoic Captain of the Royal Guards and Jo Eun Sup, the highly optimistic friend/brother of Lieutenant Jung Tae Eul who was serving out his military duty at the local police station. If there is something LMH should learn next time is that he should never star in another drama with Woo Do Hwan ever again because that guy outacted LMH in more ways than one. 

Although WDH did not get nearly as many scenes as LMH did, he took whatever scenes he was given whole heartedly and expanded them to far greater horizons than LMH could have ever done with his character as Lee Gon. He had so many micro expressions embedded in his portrayal as both Jo Yeong and Eun Sup that I often found myself forgetting that both characters were played by the same actor. WDH not only used his “instrument” effectively, but he made a whole symphony out of it all. That’s what I call a masterpiece right there!

WDH also had such great chemistry with everyone that it became hard for me to even choose which relationship I was rooting for. Whether it be with himself as Jo Yeong or Eun Sup, Lee Gon, Myeong Seung-Ah, or Nari. 

He had portrayed both of his characters so brilliantly that the only scenes which elicited any kind of emotional response out of me were the ones he was in. Whether it be laughing my butt off or crying buckets of tears.

No such thing ever happened to me while viewing the supposedly epic or heartfelt moments that included LMH. If anything, the only emotions I felt while watching crucial scenes featuring LMH were ones of straight awkwardness.

With regards to all that I have said, if there is anyone who deserves an award for their acting in TKEM, it should be Woo Do Hwan. He has all the makings of becoming a great actor in the long run! I just hope that there will come a day where he would be offered more lead roles because he is truly an exceptional and versatile actor with an added bonus of being very good looking too.

[clementineesotsm]

THE KING: ETERNAL MONARCH EP 9, My Appreciation and How It Made Me Feel

The other person Gon would like to see first is Lady Noh. I appreciate all actors working in this series because they have a good chemistry with all characters involved here. Im a fan of Gon and Lady Noh relationship, reminds me of my grandmother. She is always so understanding but here when she says she knows everything, later we will found out that indeed she knows EVERYTHING. I love how she says (while looking at the flute, also the camera doing blurred shot to show the flute then Lady Noh was great) that she understand that Gon try to fulfill his destiny and this will be secret between both of them 🥺 The production team also have a good sense of connecting the mood with the music, because here we can here Maze as backsound and its match perfectly

Gon finally confront LSD, i have 1 fav line said by Gon here

Gon “How could you when you dont even have the guts nor the caliber?”

Damn this gave me chills. He is angry. And he arrested him.

Next we saw KSJ off duties to stay away from this mess and clear his heads. As i said before, i somehow found the relationship between this police and bar owner was special. They like enemy but they understand each other and the bar owner has somehow empathetic towards KSJ. He let KSJ used the place for a few days and served him nuts. KSJ still refusing the money though. The guitar sound makes me feel soft for them 🥺

1 of my fav scene of JY and JES having conversation before they switch place

JES “i know you care about King Arthur, but you cannot be more sincere as me to my siblings. King Arthur told me, that this is how i can protect my siblings”

JES did not even know that JY to Gon is as sincere as him to his siblings 🥺 also at the end of this scene JY actually worried what happen to JES, both doppelgänger has share some emotional connection 🥺

Gon is having a yearly review with PM. This whole scene was hilarious first of all we got to saw bored JES which is funny, then we saw PM crossing the line once again by asking when will Gon get married and she being honest of wanting to be a queen. Thank god Gon said he already proposed to someone 😎

One of underated scene in the series. Because in this conversation despite of being cute and soft (and the kiss too omg), we actually being told a very important information about time inside the in between 0 and 1

Gon “if i spend 1 day in there, two months flow by the outside”

JTE “then if you’re in there, you wont grow old”

Honorable mention for Gon words “even if i can have eternal life there, i will come to you” and JTE replied “dont think about coming to me, think about going together” 🥺

Gon continue his actual work to see all the security footage as he is try to locate LR. Instead he saw this cctv record written coming from 27/05/2022 . With JTE and yoyo boy in front of a book store, and as creepy as it gets, the yoyo boy inside the cctv are looking to Gon eyes suddenly, then we thunder came and create pain on Gon shoulder

Cracks also continue in LR side. LR knew about KSJ visiting Gon doppelgänger cinerarium. And inform that the police that visit the care center before is JTE. JTE now also looking for the 2G phone. Here i think LR assuming that the enemy side are now know what is LR doing and try to investigate it more. I love how finally LR realizing the cracks

LR “KSJ, the wrong move i made. JTE, the move i did not make”

Why KSJ is the wrong move he made? I assume because he took him to Korea while he is a child and did not even teach him or at least try to keep him close and made him a bad guy? Child has potential to develop a character which will be going againts him when he grow up and it is now kind of look like that and in liaise to that move he did not make, JTE, both ksj and jte are connected in a family like relationship. Which what makes KSJ now.

Gon was looking for the bookstore he found at the cctv record. Ho pil did not found it anywhere. Instead we got to see Prince Buyeong visited the bookstore ahead. Seriously i love this transition from Gon scene to this scene because its connected and im totally shock. And keep thinking, why prince buyeong could came to this non existed book store

Then we came to this heartbreaking conversation between 2 man speaking about fate and all going towards the new year. What a deep deep words, magnificent cinematography, incredible color, Maze as the backsound. PERFECTION.

LG “Uncle, do you believe in fate? People usually tell fate to move aside and challenge it. Should i fight againts it?”

PB “You can never know what happen in life. But if there us a place you want to reach even if your life may be at risk, this is fate. The footsteps you take by risking your whole life is whats fate. Is there a place you want to reach?”

LG “yes there is”

PB “then you just have to go there. You dont need to fight. I hope there is a beautiful lady there”

LG “if i find this solution, i will visit you again with a woman who argues that the earth is flat”

PB “yes, i will be waiting, pyeha”

Then the sunset came, i cried. Not gonna lie.

This scene is a whole new level up for this series, i love that its also very poetic. Well done.

New Year is coming. Time stops. LR is in Corea. Walking very chill on the street, little that he knows. LG already recognize his FACE. LG need to thank JTE because he suddenly remember what she said “Then if you’re in there, you wont grow old” 😱

I love how we got to see them going pass through each other first before they both facing each other. And the music!!! And the way Gon cries “TRAITOR LEE RIM” . Standing applause 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

How it made me feel:

Wow. What an episode. At this point im shock on how its getting darker and darker. I thought it will be some kind a usual romance story but it was more than that. KES really took it to another level. Also i remember before i watch eps 10, i rewatch eps 7-9 once just to keep track on what is happening and also try to see better whether i missed anything. It was so fun. Also i realize that the editing was getting better and better. Every scenes keeps getting me attached and also making me feel deeper emotion to it. Whatever message or feelings that they try to convey, conveyed well. Salute 🍷 Also the acting and chemistry from all the characters were great. I cant even say any words, i haven’t found anyone even with a small role acting bad. I need to also give applause to the casting director.

What makes me extremely curious probably whether KSJ will be bad or not. Last time i doubted Prince Buyeong, but until eps 9 i can safely said that he is on Gon side. I put my faith in him crossed my fingers. But how about KSJ? He is still running away. My heart pumped. Back then i think “Thank God eps 10 is just tomorrow” i havent really acted like this to a series for a long time, but 2020 gave me dark and tkem. Both are similar yet very different, both are amazing.

[drivingsideways]

Here, have like 5.7k of not-fic, because I am *still * not writing in this fandom, god damn it. 

In which Gon is an asshole, and Tae-eul knows it. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop Jo Yeong from wanting him.

It’s at the naval academy that Gon realizes that he is, in fact, in deep shit.

Gon is there because he’s expected to be there, Yeong-ah is there because Gon is there, and also because he’s the most stubborn 16 year old in existence, and even commanding him to stay at school and join only two years later, along with his peers hadn’t worked, probably for the first time since Gon had given him a play sword and brought an infinitely more precious thing into existence.

 Yeong had just turned up in the naval academy class in his trainee uniform, all coltish limbs and squared shoulders and defiant chin and serious eyes, and his collar more starched than even His Majesty’s and Gon had thought god damn it, but he’d also been conscious of a sense of relief. It was lonely without his shadow of almost twelve years now, and honestly, if Yeong-ah thought he could do it, who was Gon to disagree, because he knows what Yeong-ah is capable of when he’s determined.

 (Yeong-ah has the scars to prove it, and Gon has the worst night after his father’s murder to remember, the night when he sat beside Yeong’s bed as he slept off the anaesthetic, post surgical removal of a bullet from his shoulder. Yeong had taken off his service vest during combat training, apparently deciding that he needed to learn to fight through an actual bullet wound.

The idiot.

Gon had wept all night beside his bed, and raged at him in the morning, and expressly forbidden him from pulling a stunt like that ever again, and Yeong had looked at him, confusion in his dark eyes, and said blearily, his usually lovely clear voice still thickened by sleep and painkillers, but how can I be the unbreakable sword if I don’t practice?

Yeong, Gon had replied, helpless in the face of such devotion. Yeong.

 So yeah, he should have probably known that Yeong would turn up at the Academy.)

 The four years at the academy are great- actually the most freedom Gon has ever experienced, which is hugely ironic, given, it’s like, the navy; and he wants Yeong to have that too before they both return to the palace. He wants Yeong to have as normal an adolescence as he can, hang out with the guys, make friends, and who knows, maybe even date? Like, Yeong should have the delicious experience of a first kiss, her lips soft and tasting of champagne and plum-flavoured lip balm, the slim curve of her waist that fits into the slightly damp palm of your hand, and the fluttering of her eyelashes against your cheek, and the wild roaring of your heartbeat in your ears- and her almond-shaped dark eyes on yours- 

 Yeah, so, Gon wants  Yeong to have all of that and more, and he’ll do his best to arrange the world so that it will happen; what kind of elder brother would he be if he didn’t?

 So when they’re at one of the few parties that trainees- including His Majesty- are allowed into at the Naval Club, he tries to manoeuvre things suitably so that he can casually introduce Yeong to some pretty young things, at least two of whom, he’s pleased to note, have the good taste to realize how handsome and adorable Yeong is. Well, he’d best leave them alone now, trusting that nothing can stop a determined young woman who’s spotted something she wants- and in the meanwhile, he has caught sight of Ms.Kim Seo-Hyun, she of the laughing dark eyes, and the wicked mouth, and goes off to renew a very pleasant acquaintance in the shade of some conveniently placed trees. 

 It’s a while before he returns to the main ballroom, and his eyes scan for Yeong, and don’t find him. He’d half been expecting for Yeong to break in on Seo-Hyun and himself, because Yeong rarely lets Gon out of his line of sight, except for very good reasons. And hey, look at that, perhaps for once, Yeong was not thinking about protecting Gon, and was instead having a good time by himself.

 Good, he thinks, the light buzz of alcohol in his veins adding to the generally pleasant feeling, and he smiles to himself when he thinks about the fun he’ll have later, teasing Yeong about it. He stands for a minute watching the milling, chattering crowd, god, it’s warm in here. 

He finds what looks like a deserted corridor, that lines the back of the club building, and drifts down it, hand still clutching the slowly warming glass of champagne (his fourth) that he’d taken off a passing tray. 

He recognizes Yeong from his silhouette- of course he does- before he actually sees him. He’s leaning against a pillar- if such a ramrod straight posture could be termed leaning - and he seems to be in conversation with someone opposite him, who’s entirely in shadow, thanks to a pillar and a large leafy potted plant. The clouds clear at that moment, and the moon comes out, and Yeong is smiling, actually smiling, with his teeth and everything, the smile softening the sharp cut of those cheekbones, and the sight stops Gon in his tracks, because Yeong rarely smiles, Gon should know, Gon has worked harder at winning those smiles than at any mathematical problem, but here’s Yeong, smiling at someone who isn’t Gon. 

 He should probably leave- after all, he doesn’t want to embarass Yeong or accidentally crash their rendezvous- but for some reason he can’t move. He can’t move, and he can only watch as the person opposite, comes out the shadow- and that-that is not a girl- no, that’s another cadet, and he’s crossing the two feet between him and Yeong, and now he’s leaning in, a little, one hand coming to rest over Yeong’s shoulder on the pillar behind, while the other comes up to tilt Yeong’s face toward his, and Yeong’s eyes are dark, unfathomable pools, but he’s leaning in, his eyelashes fluttering shut, and then-

No, thinks Gon, No. 

He’s mine. 

And then, appalled, fuck.

 He manages to stumble away without being seen- the other two are too busy-  and listen, it’s not for nothing he’s been trained since childhood to wear an armour of charm and stoic politeness no matter the provocation, and he calls on every lesson he’s ever learnt from endlessly boring state dinners, and even more uninteresting briefings, and manages to get through the rest of the evening without doing what he wants to- destroy every single glittering, happy smile in sight- and grab Yeong’s hand and run. 

 Because Yeong would go along, if he did. Yeong would follow, like he always did, and if Gon- if Gon ever asked him- then Yeong would, of course he would, because Yeong has never ever not given Gon anything he’s asked for, not since he was four and Gon had bought him with a few thoughtless words, said mostly in jest, just so the little boy would stop crying like that, as though it was his world that had ended, and not Gon’s. 

 He lasts the evening, and the next two years, and he never asks Yeong about that night, or any of the nights after, and Yeong never volunteers the information. There’s a part of Gon that’s resentful, that wants to scream, do you trust me so little, do you think I’d love you less because you’re gay, and there’s a part of him that’s glad Yeong never tells him, because if it were- out there- between them, then Gon might become weak one day, and ask, after all, and no, it’s best that it remains unsaid, and it’s fine, it’s FINE. 

 He has Yeong in all the most important ways; he has his time, and his devotion, and his quiet, dry wit that he rarely displays to anyone except Gon, and he has Yeong’s touch, even- Yeong reaching out to pull him up from the floor after beating his ass at taekwondo, Yeong brushing lint off his shoulder after he’s dressed for one of those stupid dinners, the brush of his knuckles against Gon’s suddenly dry throat as Yeong adjusts his tie, the press of Yeong’s shoulders against his as they sit side-by-side watching The Seven Samurai for the forty-seventh time. He has Yeong’s face peering into his as he shakes him awake for the 4 am drill, and he has Yeong’s disapproving frown when he discovers Gon has skipped both lunch and dinner because he got lost in reading this brilliant new paper by Maryam Mirzakhani, Yeong, you don’t understand, the woman is a fucking genius, and god, why is it spinach today, why, Yeong, you’re so cruel to me. 

 They graduate, and then it’s back at the palace, and they slip back into its routines and confinements, and if he applied to the Pope for canonization, surely, he’d get it, because Gon deserves it.

 It’s been ten years since that awful, life-altering realization, and every hour since then has been a lesson in restraint and abject self-denial in the face of the loveliest and most every day of temptations:  to kiss the curve of Yeong’s quiet smiles and run his finger along the sharp blade of his cheekbones; to trace the shell of his ear, and turn fully into the warm heat of his body, that’s always, always within reach, and if Gon ever asked-

Gon doesn’t ask. 

 Then he’s transported to a parallel universe and meets Tae-Eul  and Eun-sup and she introduces him to things like half-and-half and also asks him questions like “what kind of king are you?”, things he has no real answer for, and it’s nice- it’s nice to be able to be honest with someone, to have them treat you like you’re a weirdo, but not like, a royal weirdo, and though he jokes about it with her, one day she says, suddenly, “You can be anyone you want to be here and you’re telling me that you choose to be some stick-in-the mud blueblood?”

She snorts, inelegant, and comfortable within her skin, and that’s when he realizes-

And alright, he has to sell a couple of more diamonds and some rare gold artefacts to arrange it, but then it’s done- he gets to resurrect Lee Ji-hun. Lee Ji-hun is just some guy here, a musician, not a mathematician, living a quiet, ordinary life in a moderately posh neighbourhood.  

 (Tae-eul contests his definition of “moderately posh” when she walks into his large fully furnished studio apartment, all floor-to-ceiling windows, and polished dark-wood floor, but listen, he wouldn’t be able to pull it off if he had to live in actual poverty, sorry, but he has limits. Tae-Eul gives him a distinctly unimpressed look, but probably agrees about his limits, he thinks.

 “You should be a lawyer or a tax consultant instead” she says, touching the beautiful grand piano he’s installed. “They’re rich”.

“Ugh, boring. Musicians aren’t rich here?”

Tae-Eul sighs, “Not ones as mediocre as you” she mutters

“I have never been mediocre at anything in my life”.

“Who told you that, Your Majesty?”)

  The reason he gives her for this entire project is that he wants to draw Lee Lim out into the open, but it’s not just him, but that part he never tells Tae-Eul. He’s told her all about Yeong of course, about his unbreakable sword , and she gives him one of her penetrating looks and says, abrupt, people are not things , and he feels himself flush to the roots of his hair

 I just meant, it’s not like that,  he stumbles, and stops. 

There’s an awkward pause. 

Then she says, quietly, I forget how different your world is. 

 And that’s it, isn’t it?  Here he can be anyone, and if he can be anyone, then he doesn’t have to be Yeong’s lord, and he can be Yeong’s equal, perhaps, and - and- but he doesn’t let himself hope for more. Equal. Friend, perhaps. If that’s all it can be, then that’s enough. 

 So he tells Yeong, who’s been quietly going crazy, he knows, what with Gon’s strange behaviour and disappearances,  about the parallel world, and Yeong says, sharp, and agonized- don’t go where I can’t follow - 

I’m not, he reassures Yeong, and then takes him through the portal. 

He introduces Yeong to Tae-Eul, and then to Eun-sup, and enjoys the mutual horror of the latter meeting very much. Seeing them together is just one more reminder of how much he loves his Yeong, though Eun-sup is adorable- everything about him loose and loud and in the open- in contrast to Yeong’s grave eyes and buttoned cuffs and ramrod spine, and that twist to the corner of his mouth that indicates that he’s suffering at the realization that his doppelganger is a complete goof, and god, Gon should probably stop staring so openly at Yeong, before someone realizes that he’s half a breath away from pressing Yeong against a wall and ruining him.

 He thinks he’s rather given himself away though, the way Tae-Eul is looking at him, something startled and then thoughtful in her eyes.

Yeong is incredibly suspicious of everything about Tae-Eul, though Gon tries to talk him out of it.

Why are you so determined to defend her, Yeong asks, sounding bewildered. 

She and I are bound by fate, Gon replies, quietly. I know it in my heart, just like I know she’s a good person.

He doesn’t quite understand the look in Yeong’s eyes then- a flash of something- so quickly gone that he might have missed it, if he hadn’t been used to watching Yeong all the time. 

But Yeong nods, once, and then says, in his brusque way, “What do you need me to do?”

Enter Lee Ji-hun. 

He gives Yeong the same story that he gives Tae-Eul, except that he doesn’t tell Yeong that there is no Lee Ji-Hun, because his bastard uncle had made sure of that. 

Find a way to befriend him, he tells Yeong instead, and stay by his side here, and if Lee Lim turns up, you have my permission to behead him.

Yeong gives him a dry look.

I don’t think it works like that here, Your Majesty, he says.

He’s my subject, says Gon, and he can’t quite keep a lid on the vicious hate that bubbles up from where he’s buried it all these years, and I am the law.

Yeong is silent for a minute, and then asks, how long?

Tae-Eul and he have worked out some kind of plausible back story for Lee Ji-hun

Anyways, he regurgitates it to Yeong, adding the necessary flourishes when needed, (“He’s supposed to be one of the best pianists in the country!”) who looks increasingly sceptical.

“Well?” Gon demands.

“I don’t see how I’m going to befriend him” Yeong gripes. “It’s not like I can play an instrument”.

Not to worry, Gon and Tae-eul have a plan for that too, though essentially their plan is to move Yeong, ex-military captain, now into private security, into the apartment opposite.

“Ex-military can afford this kind of apartment here?” Yeong asks, incredulous, while Gon narrows his eyes at him.

“Private security pays good money” Tae-Ul offers and gives Gon a look.

Hmm, says Yeong, and then proceeds to strip-search every bit of the apartment while Tae-eul gawks at him.

Gon thinks it’s adorable.

 So begins the most exhausting cat and mouse game that Gon has ever played with himself.

He’s just wondering how to arrange for a ‘chance meeting’ with Yeong- in the lift perhaps? (because he’s sure that despite everything, Yeong would probably take days to make a first move, and Gon simply doesn’t have that time in his schedule. As it is, working it out so that he gets at least four hours of sleep out of 24 has been an absolute nightmare.)

Anyways, he’s still musing on it, when there’s a knock on the door, and he opens it to the sight of Yeong in a half-sleeved t-shirt and loose trackpants and a really sweet smile, asking whether he can borrow some sugar.

Gon nearly expires on the spot, because for years now, even when training, Yeong wears full sleeved shirts with high necks, and this- this- excuse for clothing even has a v-neck, dipping down, and Gon unsubtly tracks the miles of skin between the hollow of his throat and where the dip of it ends, feeling a little like he’s been run over by a train, and he would really like to know why Yeong felt the need to dress like a total harlot to ask a stranger for a half-cup of sugar.

His silence has Yeong back away, with an awkward look.

“I’m sorry if I disturbed you sir” he says, and it’s so stiff and formal, and it snaps Gon out of his idiocy.

“Oh no..not at all…sorry” he says, “I was just…” he snatches around wildly for a plausible reason, “I was just distracted by this piece of music I was composing!”

(what?)

“Oh” says Yeong, “You’re a musician”.

“Please do come in” Gon says, “And allow me to make up for my rudeness by welcoming you with a cup of tea? Coffee?”

“Tea” says Yeong, another surprise, because his Yeong doesn’t touch the stuff, but will drink gallons of coffee.

“Nice” says Yeong, as he looks around the apartment with its modernist furniture, so unlike what they back at home, and the way he says it, so deliberately polite and fake, makes Gon hide a smile.

He walks to the piano while Gon gets the kettle going.

“So you’re a pianist”?

“Yes” Gon replies, easily, “What do you do?”

“I was in the army” Yeong says.

“Which division?” asks Gon, just to be a little shit.

“88th” Yeong replies, lying through his teeth.

Gon is proud of him.

“I’m with a private security firm now” he adds, conscientiously.

“Celebrities?”

Yeong shrugs, another strange gesture, “Mostly corporates” he answers. “It pays well”.

“I don’t suppose I could pay you to protect me” Gon says, smiling.

“Do you need protection”? Yeong’s eyes on him are sharp as he walks slowly toward the kitchen area.

Gon runs his hand through his hair, messing it up, and Yeong’s eyes grow sharper.

Gon had tried to comb it differently, to maintain some illusion of difference, but he’d probably ruined it, he realizes.

“Not really” he says, giving Yeong a sheepish smile. “It’s just that I’m new to Seoul so I could do with some help getting around the place”

“I’m new too” Yeong says, because that’s the story they had agreed to.

“Hey, perhaps we could figure it out together” says Gon, cheerfully. He sticks out a hand. ”Deal?”

Yeong gives him that smile again, and Gon wants to- wants to-

“Deal” says Yeong, taking his hand in a firm, familiar clasp.

 Gon explains away the reasons he stays at home, mostly- “Decided to give myself a break for a month, to settle in”- over tea and then over dinner (it’s not a bother, I was going to make some anyway), they chat about nothing and everything; the good thing is that Gon knows he needn’t worry too much about being “found out” by some inappropriate reference- at this point Yeong doesn’t know much about this world either. Honestly, it’s a piece of cake.

“The Seven Samurai” he says, unthinking, to a question about his favourite movie, and Yeong stares at him for a moment, before looking down into his bowl, and murmuring, “Mine too”.

“We should watch it together sometime then!” says Gon brightly, “I’m due for my annual rewatch anyway”

Yeong gives him a strained smile.

It goes pretty well for two days; Gon pretending he doesn’t see Yeong tag him all around his deliberate tour of the most unsuspicious places, and then in the evening, when Yeong’s gone back to his apartment, after being well dined-and-wined, Gon sneaks out and heads back through the portal, and spends half the night signing papers and reading reports, before he comes in before dawn back to his apartment.

On the third day, Tae-eul asks him to meet her after dinner.

“I’m going to be late” he tells her, already looking at his watch as he approaches her.  “There’s a mountain of paperwork waiting for me back home”.

“What the fuck, Lee Gon???!!!” she yells, and Maximus whinnies in distress.

He steps back, surprised.

“What do you mean?”

“Why haven’t you told Yeong that there’s no real Lee Ji-hun” she hisses at him. “What.The.Fuck.”

He pales.

“How did you find out?”

“Because I’m not an idiot and I’m a detective” she snaps.

“Have you been wiretapping us?” he gasps, outraged.

She snorts, “God you really have no idea about privacy and rule of law, do you? No, you idiot, Yeong called me to dig up more info on Lee Ji-Hun, and as you can imagine, I was curious why he would need to do that!!!!”

“Ah”.

“Yes”.

She ties her hair up, pulling the knot tight.

“Go on” she snaps, “Explain yourself! Do you suspect him of being a traitor?”

“What?! NO! Of course not!”

“Then why this whole game?”

“It’s not a game” he says quietly. “I-you said it yourself- I can be someone else here. I can be someone that- that- Yeong might- love-“

Tae-eul gapes at him

“Even a blind man can see that he already loves you!” she exclaims. “What the hell are you talking about?!”

“He loves the king he was given to”  Gon says, miserable. “I want him to love the man”.

She closes her open mouth with a snap.

“You know” she says, her voice taking on a conversational tone. “In a shittier story, you and I would be the ones falling madly in love, you with your I’ve waited twenty- five years to meet you and tallness and your face and your horse and everything. As if me, a girl from a middle-class family who works her ass off trying to protect law and order, would fall for someone like you, who literally thinks he’s the law and whose idea of “living in poverty” would keep one hundred families fed for a year. And that’s even before this bit of assholery.”

He sits down on the bench with a thump, and says, weakly, “At least we’re not in that story?”

“No” she concedes, with a small sigh. “No, we’re just in a slightly upgraded, but still shitty version where the lone female character is there to knock some sense into the heads of two emotionally dense male characters and keep them from doing something irredeemably stupid, like, oh, I don’t know, ruin the most important relationship in their life because they don’t know how to be functioning adults in a relationship?!”

“Tae-eul” he says, “I can’t-“

“Why not?” she says, “Why can’t you just tell him you’re in love with him?”

“Because I’m his king!” He yells, jumping to his feet.

“I’m his king, and he’s devoted his entire life to me, and he’s never said no to anything I’ve ever asked, and I can’t ask him this- I won’t—"

She stares up at him.

“And when he finds out?” she says, softly. “What then? Or do you think he never will?”

He shakes his head, and sits back down, covering his face with his hands.

“What then?” she asks, relentless. “What happens once we’ve figured this out and caught Lee Lim- how are you going to divide yourself then?”

“I don’t know” he says, muffled. “I don’t know. I haven’t figured it out yet. I just- I just want some time-some memories-“

“Lee Gon” she says, and she’s back to being kind, even if her words are painfully blunt. “Don’t be a fool. Tell him now before it gets more complicated”.

“No” he says, “No.Tae-eul. I know you can’t understand me or agree with me. But no. I won’t, I can’t give this up—”

Because it’s only been two days, and he’s already used to Yeong’s smiles, and his surprisingly strong opinions about ice-skating, and the way he pauses for a minute, inhaling the scent of his tea before sipping it. He’s used to Yeong sprawled loose limbed, on his couch as they argue about the which team should take the league cup, and hopping around in agony when Ji-hun tries out a new ramen recipe and spice, eyes streaming, and the stillness with which he sits , while Ji-hun plays the first movement of the moonlight sonata, and his eyes when he says, softly, “that was beautiful”.

The last ten years- the last ten years have been an arid desert compared to this- because he’s constantly been on his guard, always being careful not to let his feelings show, trying his damnedest to be the brother and king that Yeong thinks of him as, and Yeong had- Yeong had been the same, he realizes now. Yeong had maintained a distance too- the distance between a liege and knight, even one who was like a brother.

And now the rains have come, and things are sprouting green and wonderful and fresh, and Gon wants to let it grow into a garden, lush and colourful, for whatever time he has.

He wants to wander around this new, strange city with Yeong, discovering its sight and tastes and sounds and smells, and then, tired and happy, he wants to take him home and curl up with him, and he knows- he knows it in his marrow- that it could happen- that he could make Yeong his, really his- if only, if only he had the goddamn time—

“I have to go” he says, dully, rising to his feet.

She nods in silence and watches him leave.

 So that’s what he does, for the next two weeks, wandering between worlds, sleep deprived and bone tired, and the happiest he has been in a decade, Yeong by his side.

He thinks- he hopes desperately- that Yeong is happy too.

In the third week, he shows up as Lee Gon to meet Yeong.

Yeong is in his dark suit, with his collar buttoned.

“Your Majesty” he says, bowing.

They’re in a small diner, nobody looks at them.

If they did, what would they see, Gon wonders.

Would they wonder who these two men are, what their relationship is; one of them relaxed against the cheap faux leather of his seat, while the other sits up straight, tension in every line of his body.

“Relax, Yeong” he murmurs, leaning forward, putting his elbows on the table. “You’ll make people stare”.

It’s almost painful, watching Yeong make the effort.

“Your Majesty” Yeong says, quietly, “Are you well?”

“As you see” he says, with a small shrug. “I’m perfectly fine”.

Yeong’s eyes search his.

It’s fine, Gon has learnt to hide from Yeong.

“How’s Lee Ji-Hun?” he asks.

“Not in any danger” says Yeong, and picks up his coffee mug, taking a deep swallow.

He doesn’t volunteer anything more.

“What is he like?” Gon asks, because he has to know.

Yeong sighs, and then looks up, meeting his gaze.

“Sometimes I think he’s you” Yeong says, “Sometimes”.

Gon feels his heartbeat speed up.

“In what way?”

“He has your face”

“What else?”

“Your Majesty” Yeong says, “I think it’s time I went home”.

“Lee Lim could…”

“Lee Lim is more likely to make an attempt in Corea” Yeong argues, “He’s not interested in Lee Ji-hun, why would he be?”

“Why do you want to go home?” Gon asks, abrupt.

“Because you’re there” Yeong replies, and it sounds- sounds so simple- when he states it like that, and Gon is sick to his stomach.

“You’ll stay here” Gon says, “As long as I want you to”.

Yeong stares at him, the hurt in his eyes obvious.

“Yes, Your Majesty”.

 Later that night, after Gon has- dismissed – Yeong, and taken a long, miserable, lonely walk, he lets himself into the studio. A warm shower might help, he thinks, tired and heart aching.

He’s just pulled on his pajamas and a t-shirt, when there’s a knock on the door.

It’s Yeong.

He’s back to his casual attire, and seems to have showered too, after his meeting with His Majesty.

“Let’s watch Seven Samurai” he says, as he brushes past Gon, not waiting for an acceptance. “I’m in the mood for a movie”.

“Uh” says Gon, befuddled.

There’s one part of him that’s relieved to have Yeong- any Yeong- with him, there’s another that thinks, desperate, I can’t do it anymore, I can’t-

They watch it in silence for a while, sitting two feet apart, Gon with his feet curled up, and Yeong sitting oddly straight, hands in his lap- as if-

Gon thinks there’s an odd tension between them, but he can no longer trust his own emotions and he wants- that’s all he is now, he thinks, a creature stitched of want and weariness-

“Yeong” he says.

Yeong’s dark eyes are on his.

He reaches out a hand and covers Yeong’s hands with it.

Yeong’s sharp inhale, and his exhale are swallowed as their mouths come together.

“Yeong” he moans, after a minute, and his wants and needs are expanding every moment like the universe, and if Yeong doesn’t- doesn’t-

But Yeong does.

He pushes Gon down on the couch and clambers over him, his mouth already red and wet with Gon’s kisses, his eyes burning into Gon’s, and his hands tugging at Gon’s t-shirt.

Gon grabs his wrists.

“Bed” he gasps, and he’s a little shocked at how high and needy it sounds. “I want you to-I need you to-“

Yeong stills.

Please, Gon whispers, and he’s not above begging, he’s not above getting on his knees-

Yeong slides off his legs and gets to his feet, looking down at Gon.  

For a moment they stay frozen like that, Yeong’s wrists locked in Gon’s grip, and all the air in the room is gone, Gon, thinks, lightheaded.

Then Yeong breaks his grip, easy, like he’s trained to do, and he’s hauling Gon up by his hand instead, and into his arms, and then they’re stumbling toward the bed, barely six feet away, clothes flying in all directions as they try to do several things at once, and Gon’s not being kissed, he’s being devoured, he thinks helpless, as he falls into the bed with Yeong above him, something fierce and intent in his eyes, and it reminds Gon of that time they went bungee jumping, the roaring in his ears, the wild thudding of his heart, and sensation of falling, falling, falling, but Yeong’s there to catch him, as he always has been, and always will be.

 Afterward, Gon kisses the top of his spine, and nuzzles at the soft skin under his ear, curled sleepy and content around Yeong, hands splayed across Yeong’s rib cage.

Yeong sighs.

Slowly, his body relaxes against Gon’s and his breathing evens out.

 In the morning, Yeong is already dressed when Gon wakes up, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“Do you have to go so early?” he rasps out. “I’ll make you breakfast”.

Yeong’s smile is apologetic.

“Sorry” he says, “Can’t stay”.

Gon blinks up at him.

“Oh” he says.

“Will I see you this evening?”

Yeong says, quietly, “There’s another matter I have to attend to”.

Gon nods.

This is Yeong trying to let him down gently, he realizes.

“Alright” he says, and oh, is this what heartbreak is, this quiet shattering, surely there should be more noise, “Alright”.

 Of course, he does see Yeong that night, except that it’s as Lee Gon, as himself.

It seems he needs some reminding of that fact.

“Your Majesty”.

Gon has chosen a place that Yeong and Lee Ji-hun had been to just last week, talking and laughing for hours over food and beer.

It’s cruel; he consoles himself that the cruelty is directed toward himself, for Yeong obviously doesn’t care.

He sits, straight-backed and prim as ever.

“How was your day?” Gon asks, eyes on the menu. “Anything new to report?”

When there’s silence, he looks up.

“I’ve compromised the mission” Yeong says, quietly. “I slept with Lee Ji-hun”.

Gon stares.

Whatever else he’d expected from Yeong, it wasn’t this.

“Why?” he says, and it doesn’t matter that his voice comes out strangled.

“Because he has your face” Yeong says, still in that quiet voice,  “Because sometimes, he’s you, and I was greedy, and tired of wanting, but not having, and I couldn’t help myself”.

“Yeong”.

“Is it treason?” Yeong whispers, “To want you like this?”

Gon swallows hard.

“You know” he says, and his voice wobbles, a little,  “There’s sencha at the palace too, but you never drink it there. Why?”

Yeong’s face does too many things for him to parse.

 “Why?”

“I was greedy, and tired of wanting, but not having, and I couldn’t help myself”.

“You never asked” Yeong says, and it sounds like he’s bleeding. “Don’t you know there’s nothing I would deny you?”

“That” says Gon, softly, “was the problem. I wanted you to want me”.

“You are not a soul divided” Yeong says, “not to me”.

Gon nods.

“I know” he says, “but I feel like that. Sometimes. All the time”.

“Gon”

It’s the first time that Yeong has called him that, the first time since they were children, and Gon had stupidly bought a soul without thinking of the consequence.

His name in Yeong’s mouth sounds like that’s where it was always meant to be.

He places his hand on the table, palm turned upward.

“Yeong” he says, “Forgive me”.

Yeong takes his hand and presses a kiss to his palm, and then turns it over, and kisses his ring, the one that means lord, master, king.

His dark eyes are not as unfathomable as Gon had thought, after all.

Gon exhales shakily.

“Alright” he says, “Alright”.

Their fingers tangle and stay that way, while they smile at each other, foolish, and Gon thinks, surely, everybody must be staring, how inconceivable for it to be any other way, when he feels like he’s been lit up from the inside by a thousand suns.

But no one is.

After a minute, Gon says, “Eun-sup told me the japchae here is pretty good as well”.

“Eun-sup” says Yeong, “knows nothing”.

[lannee]

even my phone misses your call (by the way) - part 1

jo yeong x koo seo ryeong fanfic

AO3: link

_

It’s only 9:30 and the Prime Minister is already on the verge to implode.

If she has to endure another unnecessarily stupid conversation with the men existed within 10m of her seat, she might truly lose it. So she shuts them up, and walks towards the door. She can hear it vividly in the air, through the look in their eyes, “What a cocky brat, leaving again in the middle of an important meeting, with so many elite people twice her age”. As if she actually cares, as if she has the time to ponder over whatever nasty things they think of her.

She gave up doing that years ago. Koo Seo Ryeong did not crawl her way out of a fish market and become the youngest female Prime Minister of Corea to put up with some 60 year old men’s bullshit. So of course she leaves, whispering death threats to Secretary Kim for not doing his job properly and forcing her to attend another useless meeting that can just be a goddamn report on her table.

Back to the office, she walks straight to her private balcony after taking out a pack of cigarettes she secretly keeps in the room. Seo Ryeong is not a regular smoker, not silly enough to sustain an addictive habit that can damage her impeccable skin. But here she is, stressed out of her mind, holding the lighter so very close she can almost feel the nicotine coming in like waves. Then out of nowhere, she thinks of him.

She thinks of 20 year old Jo Yeong, to be exact. Standing in front of her under the heavy July rain while carefully taking the cigarette out of her soft lips. Jo Yeong with his navy umbrella. Always managed to find her at her worst, always be there next to her without saying anything because words were usually wasted when you talked to Koo Seo Ryeong.

God, he really ruins cigarettes for her. She throws the whole pack into the trash bin along with the one on her lips.

She hates him so much, it almost makes her want to see him just to say that to his face.

But they do not do things like that anymore.

_

When Yeong passed the entrance exam of Corea National University, Seo Ryeong was books deep into her Master degree in Political Science and International Relations. He instantly became popular in the campus for being the King’s closest friend, with rumors about him floating around every lecture that she attended. She studied with Lee Gon for years and never met him or his friends outside, but whenever they talked he always mentioned Yeong’s name and stories about what they did together in the palace.

She listened tentatively to everything he said not because she had a huge crush on him and wanted to be his Queen, as every jealous fangirl in the campus always thought of her, but because she needed to know every deep dark secret of the King of Corea. She knew it would tremendously help her career as a politician in the future. That was the reason why she followed him around like an innocent puppy, the pretty girl with a lovely figure who came from the dirty market and scored the highest grade on the insanely difficult entrance exam. She beat out Gon fair and square, sometimes late at night she even dreamed about taking the throne of his to herself. If people knew about her thoughts, they would laugh at her and spit on her face but frankly, she thought if she wanted it enough, she could be the Queen of Corea. With or without Gon by her side.

When Gon introduced Yeong to her for the first time, she could not read his face at all. She was used to be so good at knowing people after the first meeting, but Yeong stirred her curiosity and she felt strangely intrigued by him. Maybe it was because he did not talk much, he had an incredibly calm expression and most of the times he only looked at Gon. He acted like a well-trained bodyguard around the King, which she found quite hilarious. Gon already had an army walking around him every step, and with Yeong by his side it felt even impossible to her how she could still hang out with them so casually. She and Gon both knew they worked perfectly together as a team. Even when they had zero interest in each other romantically, she earned her place to be by his side and let’s be honest, he would never pass any group project without her insights and intelligence. It took Yeong a while to understand this, he was always careful and silent when she was around. She could feel him trying to crack her facade, as if he was able to see through her 10 year plan of becoming the Prime Minister of Corea.

He did not trust her, and it annoyed her how she cared about that more than she thought.

-

It started out with Seo Ryeong simply wanting to earn Yeong’s approval. She tried to ask him personal questions, which he only gave out vague answers that did not satisfy her at all. They even went together to a few field trips exclusively for the university’s top students, and girls followed him around all day hopelessly asking for his phone number. Sometimes he intentionally tried to find Seo Ryeong and asked her to go out for a walk in order to escape their horny fellow students. Everybody seemed to be intimidated whenever they saw her. She made fun of him every single time, “How desperate you are to come to me for help”. Gon never went with them on those trips due to security reasons, obviously. It surprised her how much she enjoyed having Yeong all for herself. He bought her food after their walk and one time somehow they ended up drinking beer together in Gyeongju. He told her about his family, mostly to subdue the awkwardness between them, and even asked her about things she never cared to share with anyone. They were both not a fan of getting deep and personal, their stories ended quickly and strangely left her longing for more. She did not know how to talk to him without sounding premeditated. Only with him did she feel like maybe she was not good enough. Maybe she needed to live life differently, to drop the act and let him see all of her calculations.

That was when she unknowingly started flirting with him a bit. She tried that with Gon years ago until they both realized the true intention of being in each other’s life. Then she did it with Yeong because there seemed to be no other way to get closer to him, she was kind of impatient and definitely not herself. She started drinking a lot around that time because of all the essays she had to write, relationships with important people she had to maintain while staying alert around Yeong and waiting for him to be under her control.

A week before she submitted her final thesis, she did the most stupidly cliche thing ever, and that was drunk calling Jo Yeong while she was out drinking alone. She was fed up with reading and writing and living alone in the city. Most nights she could not sleep peacefully and had no idea when the last time she ate a proper meal. So she drove to the closest bar she could find and drank half a bottle of expensive whiskey which would cost a lot of the money that she made working part time. She counted in her head how many days were left before she could stop with the pretentious studying and actually start working on her long overdue plans. Five glasses led to nine, then some guys came over offering to buy her drinks. She remembered being sober enough to drop mean words and scare most of them away. One guy stuck around for so long and was shamelessly insistent about bringing her home, she had to pull the boyfriend-coming-here-very-soon card. She knew she was completely intoxicated when she pressed his name on her phone. There was no way she would come out of the bar safely if she didn’t call someone she could trust.

“Noona, it’s 2 AM. What’s going on?”, he picked up after a few seconds and said boringly. Like he was about to fall asleep but she appeared out of nowhere and prevented that from happening.

She chuckled, regretting whatever she was doing in the back of her mind, “I don’t know, why don’t you come here and find out?”

“And where are you exactly?”, he signed.

She told him the address, and imagined him wondering why he even answered her call. She was so drunk, the thought of him not coming at all actually scared her. The guy next to Seo Ryeong kept on persuading her to go with him, to leave her fictitious boyfriend behind and stop acting hard to get. She laughed in disgust without batting an eye and continued drinking. The funny thing was none of the guys dared to touch her for too long, she guessed she had that kind of power. Time passed slowly and she was convinced Yeong did not care enough to drive all the way here from the palace to deal with someone he never really trusted. So when he called out her name from behind, she almost fell from the stool where she was sitting. Then everything suddenly happened too quick, too fast.

Yeong held her upright, one hand caressing her face, the other tugging her messy hair behind her ears. He asked for the bill and paid for it. She leaned her head on his chest during the whole card transaction, when he had to sign the bill his arms surrounded her. He was wearing a black linen shirt and dark jeans. Did he always smell this good? She buried her face in his neck absentmindedly and inhaled his scent. She could feel Yeong stopped abruptly in the middle of asking the bartender about something related to her drunken state. He wanted to know if she was alone the whole time, and she kind of imagined him not wanting any guy near her. Then he carried her out the front door, the early summer heat was suffocating and she told him she wanted to lie down somewhere. He quickly put her on the passenger seat of his car and she tugged on his shirt to pull him closer while he was trying to secure the seatbelt.

Seo Ryeong woke up in the morning with the worst headache ever. Her room smelled faintly of vomit. She panicked for exactly 10 seconds while everything from the night before flashing through her mind. She did not remember anything at all after entering Yeong’s car. She still wore the same clothes from last night, covered by her warm blanket. Her room seemed pretty clean, maybe he helped her to the bathroom before she made a mess of herself... For the first time in her life, she wanted to end her existence right there. While trying to grab the phone she saw a bottle of hangover cure on her bedside table. There was a text from him, sent 2 hours ago, “Drink it, cook some soup, text me when you’re awake.”

Could a heart ever get swollen? Because it felt like hers kind of did. She prayed to all the Gods above she did not say anything stupid to him during the drive home.

.

.

.

it’s been awhile since i wrote a fanfic. i didn’t know i needed to write a fanfic for these 2 incredible characters until i read this by @rain-hat​ - thank you for inspiring me dear. writing this is fun because i kind of know they’ll never be canon lmao. so i just went wild with my imagination. i’ll post part 2 maybe this weekend after the new episodes come out. hopefully there will be some scenes of them together. i literally only watch Eun Chae and Do Hwan’s scenes and skip the rest of this drama. please tell me i’m not the only one! 

title is from From the dining table - my fav song by Harry <3

hope you enjoy this!

[leeminomi]

About to lose a few more brain cells.

There goes this man raising the standards for our not yet existent future boyfriend. He crossed the damn universe to give her , her special flowers! How do we top this shit in real life?!?!!!helllpppp!!?!!

I found this conversation quite enlightening😭also sad af. I’m not trying to be heartbroken y’all please spare me. So anyway. Lee Gon has never ever said such seemingly gloomy things to her before hence why we were all like yesss...time travel and thinking of this made me both happy and sad and so let me tell you why I feel those things.

First sad.

Let’s go back to the time travellers wife.

That movie really did things to me and I still haven’t fully recovered from it but okay, the guy was basically stuck in a time loop. He could travel through time but he wouldn’t age over the time he died right... so if I remember correctly he died at 37 and was able to travel as himself between 1-37years old to different times, the future, the past. He could do it all.

I thought what if that’s the loop they mean.So this would suggest that lee gon died at some point in time. But his past self is able to travel to the future where his lover patiently waits for him and is never sure when her love will appear to her, and so he appears spontaneously like in episode 10 and disappears just as spontaneously.😭😭😭and she sobs because she misses him, because in reality she knows he’s gone(died) and as much as she misses him it breaks her to pieces to constantly see him come to her every so often because she misses him terribly and when he leaves she’s hit with the realisation all over again that he is truly gone.

I hate this whole idea so let’s ignore it.

The second emotion “happy”

Multi universe theory. We saw “Spider-Man into the spider verse”they basically toyed with the idea that the same person could exist in another universe with an alternate life.

Let’s then assume in another universe, the universe in which the lee gon from the end of episode 10 is from, tae eul died for whatever reason and he misses her so much that every now and then he travels through time to meet her in this other universe, and possibly try to help her and the lee gon in this universe have a better ending to their story. Because he doesn’t want them to end up the way his story ended.

So when he says “ he’s travelling through frozen moments in time” he could mean he’s trying to correct mistakes and errors made leading to the current situations so he might be the one who goes all the way to when the assassination happened in order to ensure they meet.

This could be so much better and happier because if he succeeds in helping them then their story changes.

This last emotion is an emotion I wasn’t aware I was feeling. Lee gon has a hunch, I mean we hear him say he’s dated before but he won’t say who... is he trying to tell us “hey I’ve been looping and dating this girl the same exact way each time”

You heard him him say he’s also made steak for some other girl... obviously no one else but her . Then the other day he said something about if he was stuck in eternity he’d always find his way to her and if he was late it would be because he’s on his way. Another possible hint. Maybe he has visions coming back to him like deja vu.

My brain is a whole mess I apologise

[iris-sistibly]

You will not like The King: Eternal Monarch if...

1. Fantasy genre is NOT your cup of tea:

Basically, TKEM is a love story between Jeong Tae-ul, a police officer in the Republic of Korea and Lee Gon, who hails from a parallel world and the current king of Corea. Gon first found out about Tae-eul after obtaining an ID card from a mysterious person who saved him on the night of his father’s assassination, and being the owner of the half of the manpansikjeok, Gon was able to travel through space and met Tae-eul and the rest is for you to find out IF you are a fan of fantasy.

IMO, I think the concept of having two (or more) parallel worlds co-existing is quite interesting since I’ve read articles where some scientists propose theories on the presence of another dimension,and it’s not just a typical fantasy series where it involves magical spells, mythical creatures, gods and goddesses, etc. it’s more of a fantasy with a hint of physics and mathematics. To be able to enjoy this series you have to have an open mind, like what I wrote on my fanfiction for Seo Dan and Gu Sung-jun from Crash Landing on You: “The universe is full of endless possibilities,” if you think of it that way it will be much easier to embrace the whole idea. 

2. You’re not a patient viewer

Even I myself didn’t quite get what kind of story the writer was trying to tell at first, I mean I’ve seen and followed a LOT of shows with complicated story telling but this is by far the most difficult to understand TBH. Half of the entire show I was completely lost. Gon is a freaking mathematician and my mind couldn’t even grasp wtf was he saying when he was trying to solve the mystery of the manpansikjeok and it’s true power. Now if you stopped watching half-way you just made the wrong decision, because all of the answers we’ve been seeking are actually on the middle up to the last episode. Patience is the key guys, if you don’t have it, don’t even bother to watch. 

3. You prefer the usual “Cinderella” kind of drama

If you’re expecting Gon and Tae-ul’s story to be the usual cutesy-cutesy damsel-meets-her-knight-in-shining-armor kind of romance, you’ll be disappointed. Although there are some Kdramas with this kind of formula that I totally loved, this has become more of a comfort zone for the writers, and when I see the same concept over and over again it becomes less interesting. And why the hell are the male leads USUALLY the cool, smart and crazy rich whilst the female protagonists are physically unattractive, broke af and dumb? I used to be a huge fan of the “Cinderella” kind of romance but then I realized it’s not fuckin’ cool, demoralizing and belittling the capabilities of a woman for the sake of ratings is not fucking cute!

Anyway, I’m so happy that we get to see a lot of empowered women not just in the movies and dramas but in real life as well. Jeong Tae-eul is badass btw, and her romance with Gon is a more mature type, a love so deep that not even fate could put to an end. Because that what it is, even if you’re far apart if you both love each other you’d do something, find ways to be together and just do whatever works, and most of all, love like there’s no tomorrow. Don’t think of anything else, not even the future, focus on the now because the reason why it’s called present is because it’s a gift.

If I were to choose an ending I would have preferred Tae-ul to stay in Corea, marry Gon and be his queen consort and have a bunch of princes and princesses but I figured, no matter how they try to hide it, there will be people who will be curious to find out who Tae-ul really is and where she came from, then they’ll find out about the manpansikjeok, then history would have repeated itself, because there will be people who will be just like Lee Lim, and if that happens Gon and Tae-eul would have had the same fate as the former’s father, and they would have made an orphan out of their child. The finale was the best ending for these two, knowing that they were happy and grew old together was more than enough.

~All in all, I would say that it’s nowhere near LMH’s and even KGE’s other shows in a sense that it’s not for everyone, but I do think it’s still worth watching.

Personal message:

Hello! I've finished watching this two weeks ago and I was planning to post this RIGHT after watching the final episode, BUUUUUUT these past few days a lot of things happened and I'm not gonna lie, it's been hell for me, I've been freaking anxious, doubtful, frustrated--it's a mix of negative emotions and I've been freaking exhausted. I would have had a chance to breathe by taking a break from social media, unfortunately the real world is much worse.

~Also, even if I'm not okay still I'm still sending my love and (very, very late) birthday greetings to LMH ♥️♥️