#ryangeum

[astarlightmonbebe]

on another note, based on the context of ryangeum telling the story of gabsoon and gabdol, i think the story was less meant to be a thinly veiled dig at gilchae and yeonjun, and moreso him thinking about his own relationship with janghyun. 'is there really a person like that (that isn't easy to forget,' 'there is'...he sounded very much like he was thinking of how janghyun was the person to ryangeum that would never be easy to forget, no matter what he did.

[oqchai]

ryangeum 🥀

[didianxia]

I decide to do as many as i could until i lost courage so I’ll talk a little about the dramas I’ll finish during this year

sorry in advance for my english since it’s not my mother language, but I’ll try my best

MY DEAREST

was my first drama this year!!! i just finished it and wanted to talk a little about my perceptions watching this drama.

and it’s… a drama. like a fucking real DRAMA every second you just want the characters to stop and breath because it’s so much going on

i was SO SAD because of crown prince and crown princess’s deaths i was very attached to them already :(((

MY RYANG EUM MY JIMINNIE FROM BEINGS YOUTHHH I DEFENDED YOU AND STOOD NEXT TO YOU TILL THE LAST EPISODE i’m so sorry for all that happened please be happy i beg youuuu my pretty boy

I’m passing for a break up rn and i totally feel him yk it’s really sad to keep someone by your side when this person don’t want, and also very depressing to give yourself like this to someone :( just wanted him to have a really good end (although i tough he would die any second in the middle of the story

LEE JANG HYEON JESUS CRISTTTTTT WHAT A MAAAANNN besides being the reason of Ryang Eum sadness, you were so fucking AMAZING you’re the type of protagonist that worths to watch, to love and keep in the heart

i loved your braveness, your actions of love, your little moments and fragil ones too! i hated you to say so many painfully words but i loved you when you said to Gilchae what she should hear: how amazing and strong she was, how you hold her tight against you and consoled her. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT thanks thankssss for fighting always, for not letting go any moment and give me an amazing and happy end. Yes I HEARD THE SOUND OF FUCKING FLOWWEERRSSS

GILCHAE MY STRONG AND BRAVE AND FIERCE GIRL at the beginning i didn’t understand you insistence but then i start to comprehend you and your motivations

i don’t judge you for leave janghyeon when you’re supposed to run away together… i know what responsibility is and i would do the same if i was you and girl… you suffer a lot. you deserve such an attentive love who cares about you and having a long and happy life with him. you deserve a happy ending, my sweetheart, i wish i could protect you from all the cruel things in the world and let you remain unaware of all of this

i’m proud that you grow up despise all the bad things, that you didn’t gave up. please be happy and smile a lot!!

what a beautiful and exciting story, what amazing characters, plot, filmography, colors and chemistry. what a tremendous love. thanks my dearest.

[crayonflop]

honestly i'm with him.....

[yioh]

me expecting everyone to love ryangeum and him being the most popular boy only to find out that everyone loathes him 😭

[bitacrytic]

Also, why did that gay boy think the best way to get over his gay crush was to get in a heterosexual relationship????

My guy, go find you a man to bang your brains out. A woman will not do it for you.

[elderflowergin]

Heya, me again! Thank you for getting into it with me. I finished Hot Stove League, what a fun and learning time. I honestly do not find baseball to be at all interesting but this one made me sit through it, and enjoy learning! I agree about Mr Bark and Mr Kwon here, I think they would have, at some point, loved to pulverize eachother from the face of the earth, but in the end came together for Dreams! And Park EunBin! I adore her so much, too much. AHH, what a delight, how amazing is she!

About JangHyun, I am looking forward to his growth. I think Part 1 was about GilChae's growth and part 2 will be his, I'm looking forward to seeing him unlock all of that trauma from his body and release it. Their parting was so horrible horrible horrible. I'm glad I wasn't online much after watching ep10, just so I could l figure out my own feelings about that ending without the many voices getting into my head.

Anyway, I think he will repent.

I'm so team GilHyun or JangChae that my assessment of both in the last EP is that they are both in the spectrum of the the five stages of grief, him: shock and her, maybe anger or somewhere further along the line. I hope I'm making sense. Because he returned to Joseon with the idea that he and GC will be talking about their future, he said they would when he 'proposed' to her before he left. And GC was probably overwhelmed when she saw him alive after thinking that he was dead for so long.(PS: what a horrific way to realise that you love someone). Maybe after a long time reflecting, he may, may, understand that he was asking far too much(the fact that YeonJun said things that make sense before Janghyun was able to see it says a lot.)

I'm very interested in how GC feels about RyangEum.

Extremely proud of GilChae( very sad that we have to keep emphasising this). I'm looking forward to their conversations in the future. To GilHyun or JangChae.🥂

Dearest Anon, I still don’t know how baseball is played but I’m glad that wasn’t necessary to enjoy the show.

I loved Park Eun-bin so much - she’s so smart and gutsy and hotheaded and full of love for her team. I deeply enjoyed her protecting Baek Seung-soo (and on occasion his one cheap suit) by throwing a shot glass at a player built like a tank. I enjoyed Oh Jung-se’s character very much as well - there’s a wonderful scene where he’s with his cousin who drops his key and waits for Oh Jung-se to pick it up - which of course Oh Jung-se does since this cousin will be his boss someday, and Baek Seung-soo observes this moment from his car. Lovely character work in that single thirty second scene.

Thank you for those amazing observations about Gil-chae and Jang Hyeon - it makes so much sense! I think they are deeply misaligned and I agree with you that they are also in two different stages of grief. I think Gil-chae tries to meet him in the middle, but Jang Hyeon didn’t wish to move at all (perhaps partly because he was in shock, as you pointed out). I hope like you do that he reflects on and regrets how he treated her. If there is one very sore point I have with the show, it is that they made Yeon-jun of all people (!!!) say the right thing to Jang-hyeon.

I think you were completely right to stay mostly offline for the post episode 10 discussions. I read very little and backed out. I think it’s just part of a larger cultural conversation that we tend to give men far more grace and leeway than we offer women. I find it ironic here because the characters literally live in an era where men had a lot of leeway to begin with and women had very little (and the show takes pains to address this too!), so it’s a real choice to place even higher expectations and tighter leeway on the women and doing the opposite for men. But this has been going on longer than the internet has been alive, I guess.

Anon, thank you so much for coming by and making these very cool and wise observations. As you progress in your Namgoong Min deep dive, please always know you can come hang out here, link arms virtually and tell me (and us!) all the Namgoong Min feelings. Here’s a hug if you’ll have one! 🫂

[eatsbop]

LIke I understand why Ryangeum wants you dead like he's so funny to me being all puny and petty and strong and ballsy that's not the reason I'm taking his side but like he's not wrong you know

[bitacrytic]

It's giving modern-day Ryangeum vibes

oh yeah, this is totally about how you don't want any important info to leak and not anything else at all. definitely.

[astarlightmonbebe]

now that i'm halfway into part one of my dearest (i.e. have watched five episodes), here's a list of thoughts and observations that didn't all deserve their own post:

janghyun and gilchae really grow on my every episode...i was honestly not super bought in ep one, but since then each episode has made me enjoy them more and more. not a major otp that makes me lose it just yet, but one whose story i'm still interested in watching unfold

i think eunae nailed it when she said that gilchae cherishes yeonjun, but he's not the one she loves. gilchae 'loves' yeonjun for what he represents: stability, loyalty, steadfastness. janghyun is the antithesis of that - he seems to always be leaving, and can't commit (at least to her) - but he also matches her on her level, something she desperately needs. no wonder their interactions always leave her flustered and upset!

for main characters, yeonjun and eunae don't actually get as much screentime as i expected, but i like the insights we started getting in eps 4 and 5. i'm surprised (shocked?) that eunae, who passed out twice at the sight of blood, grew a strong enough stomach to nurse soldiers back to life.

i wonder what happened to their other friends from the village...and their families...it's the wild west out there in joseon

the costuming is epic! i was watching the bts with the costume designer saying she created period-specific fabrics and made so many, and it was all mind blowing

the little banter dynamic ryangeum and gujam have going on is so funny to me. gujam is always annoyed by ryangeum lolll

for a 'singer,' ryangeum is an extremely skilled fighter (he demonstrated exceptional aim with the bow and gun, which makes me think his main skill is archery, but there was a few seconds clip of him using a sword in ep 4 which was cool)

as the eunuch said at the end of ep 5, janghyun doesn't care for the king, but he clearly cares for the people of the nation. i don't think he really cares for joseon honestly, not as a nation, but he cares for the common people (that the govt doesn't)

janghyun did seem to focus on the crown prince upon first seeing him in ep 5 and i'm wondering if there's something there...

the LOOKS! gilchae and janghyun both look at each other when the other has just turned their head. ryangeum is always giving janghyun longing looks when his head is turned (he's very conscious of janghyun's every move and minute emotions/expressions, re: the ribbon, gilchae, etc)

that being said, namgoong min has that look he wears when he gets angry/worried/driven where he widens his eyes and his face gets serious and downcast, and it blows me away every time. he's done it in every single drama i've seen him in, and it's always a bit different on the context, but it always fits his characters perfectly...he conveys so much with so little.

i feel like this could be a much more sultry drama (if that's the right word), it has the potential for a more steamy, risque element, but i think it is very constrained by the time period and their respective characters. i think that was a deliberate choice on the writer's part, and i respect it. janghyun says a lot of lines that would have other women hook line and sinker, but has gilchae bristling instead, puffing up against him. his talk about 'mulling' is romantic, sure, seductive, even, but gilchae doesn't respond to that in kind; she puts her walls up, because she doesn't want to be trapped by him. she feels out the waters, doesn't quite dip her toes in. perhaps in another drama they would be lovers, with more longing, but here it is more reserved, which makes the moments they share all the more potent.

wish i could get the janghyun backstory already! and his story with ryangeum, because 'i just need ryangeum' is a common theme; although gujam is the one that travels with him, it seems ryangeum is the one he relies on in his time of need, to always be at his side (see ryangeum killing the generals/leaders of the manchus/jurchens both times, their upcoming infiltration, 'you're a lark that only comes once every 10k years'). sadly, i think that has a different meaning for ryangeum.

[astarlightmonbebe]

and they’re expecting me to feel normal about this…

[astarlightmonbebe]

you’re telling me that ryangeum went to beg another powerful man for janghyun’s survival heedless of his own…

[yioh]

HES IN LOVE WITH JANG HYUN OH MY GOD I KNEW IT I FREAKING KNEW IT GAAAAAAHHHH

[bitacrytic]

Now my question is, if this is true, Madam, please why were you looking at Gilchae at such an important moment? If this is a sign of feelings, why weren't you looking at your fiancé???

I know we're all going crazy about Ryangeum and how he's in love with his bestie, but look at this one over here. Tell me she hasn't been pining over Gilchae since they were kids.

Please.

"While other girls wanted to play with me, I always had the most fun when I was with Gilchae."

[bitacrytic]

The amount of canon divergent fics that could have been crafted from this one moment????

I don't know why. Don't ask me why I feel this way. But my god, can you just imagine the possibilities?

Groundhog day for Ryangeum were he keeps waking up that morning but Janghyun dies no matter what.

Or a reverse of Janghyun where it's the same day, but no matter what he does, a loved one dies. Last time he tried, Gilchae died. This time, it was Ryangeum. When he tries again, it will be Yangchun. And round and round it goes.

Or Ryangeum sees the bandit in time and takes a stab to the chest instead, where he becomes a spirit that gets to watch his loved ones mourn him.

Or matching head traumas cause both men to switch bodies, ten years in the past.

Gah!!!!

[bitacrytic]

"I could die for you, but I want to live for her."

I feel bad for Ryangeum now that he realizes he's no longer the center of Janghyun's universe. [shout out to the showrunners for making this canon] However, he should realize that Janghyun's threats are never just words. If Ryangeum gets between them again, Janghyun will cut him off.

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Can I just say how much I love the way Janghyun loves Ryangeum. It's not romantic in the slightest but it's just so... he literally listed Ryangeum's voice as one of the things that could make a night perfect. This had better not be fucking foreshadowing anything MBC. I swear to god. Everytime Janghyun talks about Ryangeum's singing like this, I get a very bad feeling.