#yi bang-won

[dykedivorce]

MY COUNTRY: THE NEW AGE | Bangwon + Julian Randall

[dontiform]

yi bang-won

[variouspolltournaments]

No Propaganda For Either

[lilkikibat]

I keep thinking about this line :( *lays on the floor*

[feydpauls]

my country: the new age + text posts

[nubreed73]

This has lodged itself in my brain again because I'm vidding/writing Seon-ho/Hwi with a side of Hwi/Bang-won and I just. Look. I have some very normal feelings about them okay. I am definitely not entertaining Sugar Daddy Bang-won picking up this Cristal-loving twink. NOPE. DEFINITELY NOT.

I like to call this series of photos Yang Se-jong gives me Modern AU Sugar Baby Hwi brainrot

[seamayweed]

In Defense of Lady Kang/Queen Sindeok (1/3)

As promised, here's the first part of my defense of Queen Sindeok, explaining her historical political situation + clearing up some common fandom misconceptions about her, which I don't blame anyone for since they originate from the show itself. I must admit that I have a bit of a soft spot for her since history generally tends to be unkind to women - this extends to modern media and MCTNA is no exception:

(more under the cut)

Before we start, I thought I'd give a small refresher on the Yi family constellation - crucial for setting up the conflict and crown prince issue - with the aid of this extremely useful graphic by bodashiri (excluding the daughters for simplicity's sake):

(From here: x)

As you can see, Yi Seong-gye (King Taejo of Joseon) had two wives:

His first wife Lady Han (Queen Sinui) gave birth to six sons: 1. Yi Bang-woo (Prince Jinan), 2. Yi Bang-gwa (Prince Youngan), 3. Yi Bang-ui (Prince Yikan), 4. Yi Bang-gan (Prince Hoean), 5. Yi Bang-won (Prince Jeongan) and 6. Yi Bang-yeon (Prince Deokan).

His second wife Lady Kang (Queen Sindeok) gave birth to two sons: 7. Yi Bang-beon (Prince Muan) and 8. Yi Bang-seok (Prince Uian),

meaning that Seong-gye had eight sons overall.

With that out of the way, let's get started!!!

1. Queen Sindeok was NOT a concubine

(From here: x)

She is referred to as Yi Seong-gye/King Taejo's capital/Seoul wife in the show too:

However, every time Bang-won calls her a concubine and her children illegitimate there is never any pushback or correction by anyone, not even when he calls her younger son Bang-seok/Prince Uian a ‘seoja�� (illegitimate child born to a commoner concubine or royal concubine) in front of Seon-ho:

You'd think Seon-ho would defend Bang-seok by correcting Bang-won... but nope. Nada.

Not even Queen Sindeok (!!!) is allowed to defend herself and her children when they get accused of the same:

Like, what is this madness!!!

Anyone who doesn't know about Korean history would never even SUSPECT that this isn’t actually true, and that Queen Sindeok is in fact a legitimate second wife and queen. By giving no pushback to the (false) claims of illegitimacy, the show seems to implicitly support Bang-won’s narrative of her being a lying, conniving, greedy bitch who wants to push her child on the throne despite having no right to it whatsoever as a concubine and bastard respectively.

Queen Sindeok's tragedy, the one that MCTNA fails to portray, is not that she was a concubine who tried to rise above her station (because she was not); it's that, due to the transition from Goryeo to Joseon, she found herself caught between two conflicting sets of laws:

(From Tombstones without a Tomb by Hildi Kang)

A queen while alive, and unjustly demoted to a concubine in death by Bang-won/King Taejong who used these legal changes and the new Confucian ruling to his advantage, her status was a matter of contention for scholars and kings alike for almost 300 years, until finally, in 1669, the scholar Song Si-yeol managed to amass enough people and put enough pressure on King Hyeonjong to make him give in to their demands and restore Queen Sindeok to her rightful status and honor as queen.

+ Bonus:

(From Tombstones without a Tomb by Hildi Kang)

Turns out that according to the new Confucian ruling, Bang-won himself should have been considered illegitimate too!! Surprise!!!

[eohachu]

@userdramas event 09: icon

a selection of iconic yi bang-won.

My Country: The New Age (2019), dir. Kim Jin Won

[rhaenys-queenofkhyrulzz]

How mctna characters would react if they saw their AO3 tag

Hwi: *sees the fix-it fics* check it out Seon-ho-ya we're together in some of these!

Bang-won: *looks tenderly at the BangHwi fics* this is my country

Hui-jae: *tumbleweed rolls past*

Seon-ho: Why does everyone want to fuck me/fuck me over???

[wusopiejung25]

SO, APPARENTLY,

This guy became an actor after seeing Jang Hyuk's acting.

AND THEN HE HAD TO HATE HIM WITH ALL OF HIS GUTS IN HIS FIRST ROLE WITH HIM.

[rughydrangea]

Sejak 8

This show has officially hit "I'm just screaming the whole episode" status. Would I have loved for their first make-out session to be before he knows she's a woman? I mean, sure, but the way this scene shook out was basically perfect, as the waves of understanding wash across JJS's face and Hee Soo fully gives in to the part of her heart she's been trying to deny for three years. It's just so deliciously complex and contradictory, for both of them, their desire and love for each other woven through all those layers of deception and betrayal and scheming.

On the subject of betrayal, though... Like many people on this website, I agree that Yi In plans to make his nephew his heir and is working to discover who killed his brother. It's become increasingly obvious, but I kind of clocked it from the time jump, when it's established that in spite of a decently well-populated inner court, the man doesn't have a single child. If he had been sincere in stealing the throne for himself, surely his first priority would be to have his own son, which could then leave him free to dispose of his nephew, who living is always going to be a threat to his rule.

Now, I have nothing against the nephew. It's just that, as I have established, I think usurpation is quite sexy (unless a man is trying to usurp a woman, which is why Stephen of Blois can get fucked), and I would have loved for Yi In to be a true usurper. Monarchy is all bullshit anyway, right? To me, usurpation is like an acknowledgement that it's bullshit: if the occupant of the throne is solely determined through mistakes of nature, why shouldn't humans be able to seize destiny in their hands and take what they want? If the only qualification is being born to a certain parent at the right time, then why not just change that rule to suit your own intention? Especially when nature more often than not gets it wrong: it's hard to respect the legitimacy of Grand Prince Munseong, given that he is the heir of a man who clearly never should have been king.

But no, clearly we have to have Yi In be a noble leading man, so even if he does some bad things, it's in service of a worthy and legitimate goal. I don't hate it, I just liked it more for that one enchanted episode where it seemed like he might go full anti-hero. As it is, I guess I'll have to settle for him being a super-complicated and conflicted man played by an incredible actor, poor me!

(It's true that it hasn't been established for sure that Yi In took the throne for noble reasons, but to me that does very much look like where it's going.)

[dreamingkdrama]

My country: The new age

Highlights - Episode 7

[variouspolltournaments]

No Propaganda For Either

[capricho42]

Fear Me Or Love Me

[feydpauls]

the b in bangwon stands for blorbo ♡ (x x x)

(@asiandramanet march creator bingo — blorbo)

[tls123]

 — now, what will happen to you and me?