#pls prove to me that tged is still peak lee hyunmin-nim... i wanna keep saying its peak... please show me... that it is... pray emoji

[lynn-tged-posting]

tged webtoon ep 178 spoilers and thoughts that i'm late on again whoops but it's okay we're here now and there's a handful of mixed feelings in here, more yapping than anything, and more below the cut,,,

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the main thing i liked about this episode was honestly the panels of lloyd and javier, they were cute,,, lloyd's poses specifically in this ep,,, i liked them :3

unfortunately for the rest of the ep i'm honestly not sure how to feel (even after a full week of mulling on it),,,

in this ep, we meet the veneto? beneto? people,,, tribe? and we get to see a little bit of the way they live their life. the ep goes over a bit of their past too, and their ancestors were supposedly magentano people who were banished for a reason that hasn't been specified. they pride strength over all else, and disregard things that they consider "weak" or "not manly" or something like that...

i don't have a problem with introducing new characters - i mean i kinda figured that after the events of 177, we'd have to get back into the build up into the next plans of action - but this introduction left me feeling,,, very confused. i'm not sure why they opened things up this way,,, let me try to explain.

the episode opens with a wife and her child, and her child had picked some flowers and she was complimenting how pretty they were, when the veneto chief (husband/dad) bursts in and immediately starts berating his wife and child for doing so. he emphasizes that strength is the only thing that matters, that warriors dont make pretty things. he kicks the flowers out of his own child's hands, and scolds his wife for not teaching his child better, makes his child apologize with an upside down plank thing? idk what pose that is, and demands his wife to give him beer.

,,, what an opener, right? honestly i was caught off guard, i wasn't expecting anything like that. i'm not sure whether the appropriate/correct term for this scene is domestic violence but either way i was very. lost on this opening of the ep, bc the entire time there's a weird emphasis on the chief's face and poses. the chief is, objectively, drawn to be incredibly pretty and beautiful, with long luscious hair. this scene is also followed by more of this gag, as the warriors of veneto dance and sing as they hunt and steal, and they all have pretty features and the like.

i genuinely, genuinely can't tell whether or not this is simply a gag or if it's some kind of satire,,, i'm not sure if we've ever had gag or satire presented like this before, either. this is the reason i am on the fence about this episode, bc depending on what the adaptor's intentions are my feelings would change.

on the one hand, this could possibly be a criticism of traditional views on masculinity/femininity, how doing "pretty" things doesn't necessarily mean you're not strong or you're not a warrior, etc, bc of all these random "pretty" things that we see the veneto warriors do like dancing and singing. i am aware that there is a large issue with misogyny and like, idk what the best way to phrase it is, male supremacy? in korea, i remember seeing posts about an orv panel that had to get changed bc of men overreacting to being "emasculated" (though do correct me if i'm wrong, i'm not korean so i'm not the most educated about this topic). it's possible that this is a direct satirical criticism of those men who are emasculated by "pretty" or "feminine" things,,,

at the same time, and on the other hand, it leans a little bit too close to "gag" territory for me to say so for sure. tged in the past has drawn up their antagonists well because their actions speak to their character from the moment we meet them; lacona arrogantly speaking to lloyd when they first meet, asfahan making the magentano envoy wait for way too long to negotiate, worthroad's whole. situation.,,,, etc. we see these guys and even if they have silly moments, it's clear that we are to see these guys as antagonists. however, it's hard to say the same with the veneto chief. we immediately see him being very Terrible to his family, but then... are we supposed to laugh at them actually being incredibly pretty? and then shortly after that, we see them all get scared of and then swiftly beat by lloyd and javier. then we're quickly told that lloyd has plans for them, in a way that doesn't seem like they're set up to be antagonists? it's so immediate and short in the punch that i really, really can't tell what the tone is, what the status of the veneto's to our main characters are. i can't tell if this is a mere gag (which means wow. the tact of this episode's messaging is little to none) or if it's actually a commentary (which i don't know much more about because i am the international audience, and i'm not korean).

to wrap this up,,, i do wish this opening was done differently. i don't mind swift introductions, it's not the worst thing in the world, and i dont think it'd be right to completely ignore this kind of behavior that traditionalizes masculinity/femininity and harms people for it - it's an important point of discussion - but the swiftness of this opening and how it was executed makes me feel,,, what's the word,,, disconcerted? i really don't know what the tone is! should we be laughing or not? are we taking this seriously, or not?

i understand too that satire can be both, it can be humorous and also lean in to serious discussion,,, again though, it's just the pacing of this is throwing me off. it's fast and loose, and considering tged's track record (and notable lack of direct satirical commentary like this) it worries me that this is a gag attempt, not a satire attempt.

maybe i'm thinking too much (or not enough at all), so if you have thoughts feel free to leave them in the notes. i'd love to hear more feelings on this (though do please leave out novel spoilers/bias,,, sorry ill finish it soon!) as my perspective and knowledge can only cover so much. again, i'm not korean nor do i know much about the korean tged audience. if i missed the mark on any of this, do let me know! and i'll edit in updates as needed.

as for the rest of the episode, it was okay! i am Very curious as to what lloyd is plotting to do with the veneto people,,, and i'm wondering too how lloyd would react to the way the veneto people run things, especially w their families. though it's unclear whether or not the chief is the one exclusively being awful to his family or if its a whole tribe thing,,, i'd like to see a little bit of justice on that at least

i did like this panel a lot, i like when artists do this thing where movements cut beyond the panel borders,, coolest thing ever. lloyd it's so silly that u only look cool when ur really not trying to be hehe

also lloyd saying he's a pacifist was incredibly funny to me LMFAO i'm pretty sure that's lowkey a lighthearted joke (though he is right about detaining the venetos being more trouble than its worth)

though i mean,,, arguably he does love peace! he does like not fighting, because if there's no fighting then he can live a relaxed noble life,,, so real of u lloyd nod emoji nod emoji

i also like the way he's sitting here. god what a creature. he didn't have to sit like that but he did. i also tend to sit like that it's very comfortable lloyd ur so real

wow okay that's all i have actually. this liveblog prolly has the least number of images compared to all my previous ones sob sob sob

all in all,,, i don't want to say i'm disappointed in this ep. i understand that buildup has to happen again (177 was SOOO so good; it makes sense that we'd have to come down from the high and set things up all over again) i just wish it happened in a way that's a little bit more tactful, a bit more organized and slower paced, a bit more thought through. i just wish i knew whether or not it was satire, i'm horrible at reading tone!! i don't even know if i understand satire correctly man,,,

again if anyone has thoughts to share (or would like to help me out in my understanding alskdjfljasdf) please please please say something! i love chatting about tged, genuinely!

in any case, i'll see u guys for 179,,, i really hope that 179 goes well. reading weekly is very different from reading all at once, the pacing will always feel different, so i'm hoping that the context of 179 will help me better understand the reasoning behind 178's opening. alright i've said too much SEE YALL NEXT WEEK