#sorry this overwiew of metas is very seon-ho heavy since he's my baby

[seamayweed]

@godotismissingx So I remembered slash dug up more (don't ask me why I've got all these links saved in my gdocs) /o\

(loooong post underneath the cut)

Thanks to @nubreed73 's recent very articulate and perceptive cultural/queer/gender studies mctna meta with some good points about Hui-jae, I recalled other people's meta about her too, like here by @nichester (about Yeon too) and here by @discountalien-pancake. I clearly remember @crayonflop & @rain-hat having complaints about the writing for the women and wanting justice for them, but they were def not the only indignant voices in the fandom!

This post by fatallist that inspired people to share various translations of the iconic line "your sword still feels affectionate" from different languages/subtitles remains legendary (please check out the responses in the notes too!). I finally found this big-brained review by @rain-hat who has also expressed wanting to rewrite Hui-jae's story and is one of the people whose fave was Bang-won, and I think @setsmaker was a Bang-won fan too before vanishing, so you can def check out her 'my country' tag as well (starts at page 9). My friend who was setsmaker's friend told me that the she did some color meta too, though I never managed to find it... if anyone has got it reblogged/saved anywhere, I'd be very grateful if you shared it with us! For all things Hwi - meta and otherwise - the best place to go to would be @nubreed73 and their blog (as they have also already helpfully mentioned in the replies to this post! ty bb <3). They have a Hwi/Yang Se-jong agenda, which has my full support and brings much-appreciated enrichment to this fandom!!

Here are some more Seon-ho metas I liked: this one by @lavenderbyun, this one by @thenotsosecretbits, this one by @jasminsssiii, this one by Heather/dowo___on, this one (talking a bit about his abuse) by Aibi/aibeast, this one by @dangermousie & this one by @hedvig-ulrika since they matched my feelings when I was watching the show for the first time. This is also an interesting and gutting take on Seon-ho's behavior in Uiju by luca/crownedroi.

Some good metas about Seonhwi (and their differences): here (scheming vs. impulsive) by @convenientalias & here (analysis of their respective posters) by Dani/namjhyuns. I think it goes well together with the above mentioned red/blue color coding meta by the2headedcalf too. Also I forgot to add @sadviper 's reply to an ask about their niche Seonrok corner & Seon-ho, this post by them commented by @smylealong (quite Hwi-negative, so beware if that upsets you), and this discussion between @bienmoreau & @hedvig-ulrika (after some DMs with @nubreed73 I revised my position a bit and agreed that Hwi was not at all to blame for not telling Seon-ho since he was suffering in that situation too and is only human, and if there's anyone to blame then it's the others for not inviting him). This is one of my fave Seonrok meta posts by @hedvig-ulrika with great commentary/discussions by @lordchirayoju and @sadviper. @angryteapott has some interesting thoughts about the politics in mctna and military tax, though I think that was more in discussions underneath fics... but they should have good tags-meta as well!

Here is a post by @lavenderbyun, along with twitter threads here (reacting to @dangermousie 's post-ep. 12 thoughts) and here by Melolatte/drama_fan33 & other people (for another, later controversial scene) that shows the different sides, the understandable, visceral reactions people had, and their heated discussions while it was airing.

For more historical context, these two posts about Seon-ho + his slave status and Bang-won + the Yi family etc. respectively by @sageukfilms are a really good start. For a deeper dive into history, you could check out @bodashiri 's well-organized analysis posts about the historical drama Six Flying Dragons that covers the same time period and historical characters. They also said that Nam Jeon is probably based on two real historical figures here. @discountalien-pancake also wrote a post about Hwi being in Liaodong for a few months at most and not 4 years.

For interviews we've got @sadviper who very kindly translated Woo Do-hwan's and the director's thoughts on the show/filming/Seon-ho here, here, and here. You can also check out meta about a certain Bang-won scene towards the end + a tidbit from a Jang Hyuk interview + a discussion about Bang-won & Seon-ho by ePhoenix.13/BillyRocks_13 & Melolatte/drama_fan33 here and here. And this is a post about how Bang-won's fan wasn't actually part of the script by @ciriwrites.

Not very meta-y, but here are some fun mctna memes I really love too: here, here, and here by @the-marron, and some more recent ones like these two by @itsza.

Also here is a very entertaining twitter liveblog for eps. 1-4 (you'll need to scroll to the top). @fatalism-and-villainy has an mctna liveblog tag too (starts at page 7).

@staidwaters, aside from having great headcanons and fic ideas, tends to reblog anything mctna-related, so their blog probably acts as a good archive, and @capkdramas often copies/saves the tags from who they reblog from, so that's a good source for recent mctna tags-meta too!

I have just gotten in mctna clearly very late to the party. Thank you for all the beautiful gifs. ❤️❤️❤️🍑

I just wanted to know if you knew any meta posts or discussions about the characters out there I can delve into?

Yaaay, welcome, welcome, we are always happy (starved) for fresh blood in the fandom! \o/ 💙💙💙 Ahhh sdjfklsdflsfd thank you for paying attention to my gifs and calling them beautiful!! 🥰 *dances in a circle like an overexcited puppy*

Please beware: these are most likely not spoiler-free!

For the older meta/discussions, @convenientalias and her ‘my country the new age’ tag (starts at page 20) is a good place to start. I remember this Seon-ho meta and also love reading everyone's responses to this mctna list of questions she created. There’s @dangermousie and their ‘my country’ tag (starts at page 11), @hedvig-ulrika has a lot of good meta posts as well, right now I can only think of this one (marketplace scene) and this one (Seonhwi scene towards the end), and this one for Seon-ho & Sung-rok. For Seonrok stuff in general, platonic or otherwise, the ‘seonrok’ tag by @pashminabitch is a treasure trove, @sadviper has great thoughts about them too (and I enjoyed reading their top 5 mctna scenes), @valarinde has meta about this very heart-wrenching scene, and @eohachu has written compelling meta about them too; their ‘seonrok’ and ‘nn meta’ tags are def worth checking out. @strandedchesspiece has an amazing series of mctna meta posts. I really love @the2headedcalf ’s Seonhwi meta (1, 2). @ciriwrites has written this excellent meta that led to an interesting discussion and other meta, @staidwaters has this headcanon about how Seonhwi became best friends, and @rain-hat has a lot of intelligent and eloquent meta in her ‘my country the new age’ tag and got a lot of mctna asks a while ago. You can also read @crayonflop 's very entertaining commentary in their ‘my country’ tag (starts at page 28), then there’s @husberttee with an interesting discussion about Sung-rok and his scar. This funny text post about Sung-rok + Seonhwi by @petekaos always makes me smile. This one is good too - all the Seon-ho feels! @bienmoreau has meta posts like this one about Seon-ho and his brother and @tlanwen has good meta and web weavings too. And @elderflowergin 's description of Bang-won's voice is perfect. There are others like @crithir, @eremin0109, @asena-queenslayer, @monstersqueen, @mctna, @doorhine with a scene comparison here and dozens of others who I remember writing mctna meta, in the tags or otherwise! This anon ask sent to fatallist (who has sadly deactivated) about the water/river symbolism is interesting too. 

For more recent stuff, we have @howlingmusketeers ’s Bang-won meta, @nubreed73 ’s thought-provoking commentary here (you can find more in their ‘meta’ or ‘my country the new age’ tag), @wangkuans here (there's more in their ‘my country the new age’ tag too), @navramanan has this edit/tags-meta and meta, and @itsza recently watched mctna and has made some posts too.

Of course, you can also feel free to check out my ‘mctna meta’ tag or ‘color meta’ tag! :D

I’m sure I missed a lot of the early discussions since I only discovered the fandom a year after mctna was airing... Please forgive me, friends, if I missed anyone /o\

A small caveat: I’m very clearly biased towards Seon-ho who's my fave, and there are some Hwi-resenting meta posts/tags you may encounter on my or other people’s blogs. I started out being quite critical of him, but after many good discussions with some of my friends I’ve come to understand his side of things more. As such, I'm trying to avoid being too harsh on him and am determined to love the boys more equally now!

There are a few critical takes on Seon-ho or Bang-won or Hui-jae too, but I think it’s a sign of what amazing, complex characters they are that they elicit such strong emotions in us and we feel compelled to take sides!

Thank you for the ask and have fun in the mctna fandom!! <333