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nettlestonenell · 2 years

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The object of his affection (no, not the King’s--the Traitor’s)

Citizens of the Republic, Subjects of the Kingdom, and Gentle Readers, here you will find Part 4 of a failing attempt to dictate my thoughts during a The King: Eternal Monarch rewatch.

Touching on topics such as:

Rich people who don’t like to share their special stuff

The historical roots of Manpasikjeok

Lee Gon’s relationship with the Dragon King of the East Sea

the Vault of the Supreme Heaven and what it has in common with JTE’s police precinct

the traitor. so much the traitor

Cue the Show

Right off the bat, we get Lee Lim [some would say Ri Rim, and I respect it and maybe even prefer it, but I watched Netflix English subtitles, and so my brain is prewired for ‘Lee Lim’] of course, but we don't know that we get his voice over in the bamboo forest or a bamboo forest telling us the story of the flute, and he does say for the record that it is a bamboo flute. So, out of his mouth, if you want to believe him [though he is likely a liar], it is a bamboo flute.

It sounds like a lovely fairy tale. I wasn't even sure that it was a real story, but I did some research, and it literally an actual Korean folktale, that a flute exists and that you got it from the Dragon King of the East Sea, etc. It all checks out [online]. So in this case the Traitor is not lying to us [keep your guard up, nonetheless].

This page at Korea.net says “it is based on the Legend of “Manpasikjeok (The Flute That Calms Ten Thousand Waves), written in the Samguk Yusa (삼국유사), a book that contains tales and legends from the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla).”

Cheapest (but most exclusive) way to visit Busan

Of course, this probably begins one of the questions that apparently dogs a lot of viewers through the series, which doesn't don't affect me, doesn't affect me. Which is what? What are we looking at? So we're in a bamboo forest, but we don't know which world the bamboo forest is in [we also don’t know if it's Lee Gon’s forest or Lee Lim’s]. That’s the question that many viewers, or perhaps just particularly vocal viewers, have an ongoing issue with: not being able to differentiate which world they’re being shown. [obviously, easily fixable with additional subtitles, but I’ll have to say there are only two instances I find myself uncertain, b/c usually within a moment or so something in-scene will clue you in as to where you are IF YOU ARE PAYING ATTENTION. I’ll be sure to mention going forward any times I experience uncertainty, as well as any signifiers that answer this persistent question]

There are some credits in Korean at the bottom of the screen. I think they're just credits but I can't be sure because I don't read Korean, and with the shot of--I don't know what you wanna call it--I'm gonna call it a gazebo. I'm sure that's not what it's called [the temple at the Busan palace of Cheonjongo (Vault of the Supreme Heaven, according to the Korea.net page referenced above) *I don’t know if there is any significance to it, but JTE works at Seoul Jongo Police Station—both these locations use the word “Jongo”, but again I am Korean illiterate]—Emperor Lee Ho is opening the case to get the flute out.

What I'll say is this is where my troubles on my first viewing began. They played out something like this: I don't know where we are and I don't know what year we're in. So, I will tell you, 'cause it's kind of silly, what I thought I was watching. Well, first of all, I knew it was supposed to be a supernatural show, so I'm, you know, checking it out for moments of super- naturalness. So to me, I thought that what I'm calling the gazebo, I thought that it was something like a Stargate, a portal to travel through time or space or both. And that somehow this is where you would leap from place to place (as the show description cited parallel worlds). I thought this because Lee Ho is in, I don't know if we can call what he's wearing hanbok--but if hanbok means Korean clothes, he's certainly in Korean clothes, in some kind of kingly robe.

I won't try to get into the Korean words for these things because I don't know them. I would have to look them up to begin with, and that might take some time to figure it all out.

[A “gujangbok” (九章服) is a ceremonial robe worn by the Joseon king, adorned with nine symbols, either painted or embroidered, representing the consummate authority and virtue of the king. -you’re welcome]

But Lee Ho's in traditional clothing. Nobleman clothing at the very least, but most certainly I'm sure that it denotes that he's the king.

Naturally this means nothing to me as a Western viewer, I can't tell that he's a king. He's not wearing a crown. Even with a small bit of Kdrama exposure, I could not tell that he was a king. His hat looks to me a lot like the hats that other noblemen wear in sageuk. Anyway, the scene that is set is, to me, not located anywhere in time and so I can't tell if it's the 1200s, or if it's present day.

I assumed on my first viewing that this was a man from the past that somehow had shown up in this Stargate gazebo and in this sort of area, I mean sidebar, the gazebo in Cheonjogno. It also looks a whole lot like where Snow and Prince Charming got married in Once Upon a Time that's neither here nor there, but I share it with you nonetheless.

Sorry, it is what it is

So we don't know—who is he? Does he belong there? Has he traveled from another time? Why does this whole scene and his costuming look so arcane? He's got a flute from a case. We don't know what's going on. If you're me, and you're watching this the first time, you don't even know where you're located in the timeline, much less what world you might be in. 'Cause we haven't been told there are multiple worlds yet [except in the description]. *again, this would likely be far less confusing for a Korean viewer

There is Korean writing down the right side of the screen. I have no idea what it says. I don't believe that Netflix ever translates it out, but I'm here to tell you if you were watching Viki, somebody would have translated that out for you. And for that and for Viki, I'm very thankful. It might be. It might be a translation of what? Lee Lim is saying ‘where enemies would retreat, diseases would be cured’. It might be a translation of what's probably something like a poem that’s about the flute. [this of the poetry on the Four Tiger Sword] “When the flute was played, the enemies fled, the plagues receded, the rain came in drought, the wind was soft and the sea was calm; it was called ‘the flute that calms ten thousand waves’ and considered a national treasure.” [additionally of interest may be that in the tale, the flute was crafted from a bamboo plant that grew as two separate plants that united into a single plant each evening/night.]

Now we see that Lee Lim’s splattered with blood. This, on my first viewing, because he's so prominent in the early part of the show I thought that he was going to be the hero, I thought that he was going to be the main character because so much focus is to him now. JTE reads Lee Lim’s statistics, you know, his age, but he's supposed to be 70. It talks about the year 2020, and there's a document that we're shown. I can't read Korean. I don't know Korean symbols/logos that strongly. It's possible that that document, although Netflix isn't gonna want me to look at it 'cause it's just gonna pop that add up if I pause the screen--that that document makes it clear that it's from the Kingdom, because that document--I don't believe there's a document in the Republic which sometimes I will probably refer to as our world because I assume that it is in fact our world--OK, looking at it as much as I can, it does look to me like it has a symbol on it that is not a Republic symbol, but instead it is a Kingdom symbol. It's on the back of the sheet that says maybe…personal information, top secret. Those are words in English that appear on it.

So it's possible that if you were a Korean viewer, you would understand that what you were looking at, what was being talked about, was unusual from what you should be seeing [a document with Republic symbols on it].

Interesting sidebar: If you look up stories about the flute, you will discover that King Sinmun (681-692), who was given the flute, is actually the son of the man King Munmu, who would go on to become the Dragon King of the East Sea, that gave the flute to his son. Which makes both of those people a direct part of the ancestral line of our Emperor Lee Gon. His great, great, great, great plus granddaddys were the one that gave the flute and the one that received the flute.

I suppose this is as good of a time as any as Lee Lim is talking to Shin-Jae to note that as far as I'm concerned, the Traitor is remarkably handsome. He looks great--perhaps another reason that I thought for a moment that he was going to be the lead in the show.

It is a royal family of good genes

The Traitor Lee Lim is talking about the deeper details on his list, so we get the reveal of his age, but it's inconsistent with his appearance, and that he actually is, in fact, 70, and that time runs slower for him.

I feel like it's already too much [this scene]—like, it needs [narratively] to cut there and take us somewhere else.

I have a lot of feelings about this first, like I said, third of the first episode because it's so disorienting and we're trying so hard to grab onto something we're supposed to pay attention to as viewers, and it just keeps throwing more wild stuff and more people at us, and we just can't locate our story, if you will.

So you know, Lee Lim is starting to, sort of, what--villain blather? I don't know. He's gonna start to tell us things about the flute. He's gonna tell us how his brother didn't believe in the flute, and [this speech/exposition] needs to be, I think, tighter and quicker to get us where we're going faster. I say that on a first viewing. On subsequent viewings, I think that this works fine. Like, I think we are already invested. We're curious about what he has to say. There's a lot of interest going on. But first viewings when you're just trying to get your bearings in a story? We've already been shown a bamboo forest. We've already been shown Cheonjogno, and a person that we don't know [it’s un-introducted Emperor Lee Ho] with the flute. We've been told--we've heard Lee Lim's voice over it all, and we're now in this interrogation room, where we've been introduced to Lee Lim himself and then two other characters that we don't know, and including the credits that have rolled [which we watched].

It's, we're two minutes and 48 seconds into a show, so we're confused, muddled and I think exhausted and although, as I said in its defense, it plays just fine once you've seen the entire show. On re-watch I'm not bored. I know what's going on. I'm even interested in it.

But that's gonna be to me [I’m going to be interested in it b/c I’ve got the whole weight of the show behind me and it is NOW of interest]. That's the song, so to speak. That's the theme of the whole first third of the first episode [this murky-if-you’re-not-in-the-know-about-the-treason]. And I often tell people, if I encourage them to watch the show, don't give up. Make it all the way to the end of the first episode and halfway through the second one before you decide it's not for you.

I feel like this is something you almost just have to get past, to endure [the first time]. Kind of like taking your medicine, although that sounds a little more negative than it is, but you have to get past this part in order to get into the show and then you'll be glad for this part on the end of the show 'cause you will go back and re-watch.

So the Traitor villain blathers about how his brother was close- minded and did not appreciate the flute when he had it and did not know that it would bring the world into his hands. And then Lee Lim specifically states actually two worlds [he can say this in the police station b/c at that point he knows about two worlds]. And so, of course, we know that this scene is from the actual, you know, very close to the end of the series. And even at that time the knowledge is simply of two worlds because the pathway through the obelisks is [still] just a two-way pathway [though Lee Gon seems to suspicion other doors, though he does refer to them as closed]; you can go to the Kingdom, you can go to the Republic.

You don't get other options that are open and available to you. We don't know that yet. So that's all that he knows [two worlds].

It's interesting why he couldn't see [the flute] on other days [beside the every 20 year presentations to the people]. Was it literally like he would ask? Lee Lim would go and be like, hey, can I see the flute? And people would be like, “no”.

Because if you don't believe it has any particular powers [Lee Ho], what does it matter if you let, you know, your half-brother go look at it or whatever? Like, what's he gonna do with it if it's just a flute? For example, what if it was a famous painting? Like, what does it matter to you if you happen to own this famous painting as a king and then your half-brother is like, can I go check that famous painting out today? Stare at it for awhile? You would be like, what? “No, how dare you! Only I am allowed to look at the famous painting, except once every 20 years!” Does that even track?

So that that has Lee Lim upset and feeling traitorous. He seems to be, perhaps, even more upset that Lee Ho doesn't believe in the power of the flute. He consistently calls Lee Ho names b/c of his unbelief.

I read someone online who felt like Lee Lim considered the flute a religious object and wanted to or had developed a cult around it, so the sin of unbelief I guess would be a great one in that case.

I think it would have been nice--I'll probably say this a lot--during the first episode--Uh, I really think it would have been nice to be able to see them [Lee Lim and Lee Ho], perhaps argue about the flute and its potential abilities, or its mystical powers outside of, you know, the bloody massacre. Maybe over dinner, maybe following their father’s ancestral rites? Like, prior to this night of the treason, had they had spirited discussions about it? In all the years of growing up? Had Lee Lim tried to gain access to it in the past and been denied? Um. We don't get to see that, we don't get to see anything of their relationship prior to murder? Which I think is very unfortunate. [We don’t get to see it later on in flashbacks, either.]

Not that I'm trying to drag this [show-establishing] part out, but if some of what was the exposition of their conflict was cut, and instead like a shot inserted here or there of like action where the two of them were arguing, establishing the conflict through action, I think that works better narratively. [It helps flesh out Lee Lim far more than he ever is in the narrative that exists.]

It's three minutes and 39 seconds in and in the bamboo forest, standing in front of the obelisks, we see Lee Gon for the first time. He is in his ceremonial robe and he looks very, I think that we're seeing him prior probably to when Yeong shows up, before he is going through the obelisks, specifically to change the night of the treason the second time. [I assume it’s the second time and not the first—not the time he ended up visiting Tae-Eul and giving her the flowers. It SHOULD be LG waiting to enter the obelisks at the SAME TIME Lee Lim is about to be shoved in by Tae-Eul, for the sake of story continuity, but often kdramas don’t play that way (that Western storytelling would dictate)] But you know, I will admit as many times as I've watched this show, I have not made a flow chart, and without one, while I can understand the show while I'm watching it, trying to piece everything back into a timeline that's correct is very challenging. So when I look at this, that's what I think is happening.

And so we must be close to the time that JTE is going to take Lee Lim and walk through the obelisks on the side of the Republic if Lee Gon is already on the Kingdom side getting ready to go in in his ceremonial--is it a robe is it a jacket?

Probably if you're reading this, you're aware of the anticipation that after some two years away from entertainment because Lee Min Ho was doing his military service, he hadn't been in/acted in anything. But I think it's possible that he hadn't been anything since 2016, like The Legend of the Blue Sea is his last big work. I think that he was in a movie [Bounty Hunters] that was a Japanese movie in the interim, but nothing on television and maybe he was on, you know, some kind of a web or a short form program, but it's a long time for him to be gone, and then for them to feel totally comfortable not giving him to viewers, so to speak, immediately, but making you wait for his appearance.

presented without comment

It's gutsy. So you get this flash at the 3:40 mark. Around the 3:40 mark of his face; he doesn't speak, he doesn't interact with anyone. And then you have to wait considerably longer. I wanna say it's like 40 minutes--I'm sure I'll notate it when we get there--to actually see him do some acting and interact with people.

That's like a bold move. Like I think it's, I don't know if it's the right move. I'll say that not because of LMH, but because of Lee Gon [as a character]. And like I said, I just feel like for first time viewers this first third really stumbles and makes it a challenging road for people to stick to, but you know feel free to let me know if you disagree with that, if you love the beginning and it totally whetted your appetite for what was to come and it fulfilled everything that you wanted from setting up a story. I would love to hear about it if that's the case for you for sure.

...tbc...

#tkem #tkem meta #lee gon #lee lim #lee min ho #the king: eternal monarch #the king eternal monarch #nell chats tkem #chez nell mind palace #kdrama #more like okay: drama #queue-een jeong tae-eul #tkem rewatch

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carmenlire · 1 year

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Tempered Blade

yeong was raised to be the unbreakable sword since the age of four, right? He started training since before he knew what it all would entail-- and then he went into the naval academy right? As someone expected to be the king’s guard one day, he did stints in several different areas, including extensive special ops training. A lot of what’s taught is only spoken of in vague murmurs and yeong’s never mentioned that a few of his scars aren’t from missions or childhood foibles.

I can’t get the idea of yeong undergoing special training one week when he’s-- 18? 19? He’s read all the material on how to stop himself from spilling state secrets. He’s read POW testimony so he has some idea of what to expect when the beatings start. Still, it’s just his luck that Gon decided to visit that weekend, not knowing that Yeong’s latest tribulation is interrogation and torture, another layer of iron being forged into the fire that will make yeong the unbreakable sword he swore to become.

Imagining Gon, visiting his best friend. His plans for the next two days consist of nothing but ribbing Yeong about his crush-- surely he’ll be crushing on one of the pretty cadets in his class-- and letting yeong lead him around and show him the ropes (like he wasn’t in the academy just a few years prior).

Gon, asking where Yeong is. Gon, being told that Cadet Jo is unavailable and will be until further notice. Gon, as king, getting that haughty undertone that makes the person in his crosshairs realize exactly who they’re talking to. Gon, being told that Yeong is in the middle of an assignment that can’t be interrupted. Gon, demanding to be taken to Yeong, as a tendril of foreboding curls up his spine at the way none of the officers manage to look him in the eye.

The room yeong’s in is in the bowels of one of the academy’s oldest buildings. Three walls are impenetrable cinder block while the fourth is a two way mirror. When gon walks into the observation room, it takes everything he has to choke down the command to release him, the order to behead every single person responsible for the sight before him.

Keeping still, wrenching his implacable mask into place, is the hardest thing he’s had to do in fifteen years.

Because there’s his best friend, his yeong, but he’s barely recognizable. He’s sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, head hanging low to rest against his sternum. His hair’s hanging over his forehead in a way that thirteen year old Yeong had declared as too unprofessional for the future captain of the king’s guard. Gon is studying him so closely that he sees a drop of sweat slide down the edge of his jaw, spilling onto his chest.

Gon bites his lip viciously enough to taste blood. The sight of Yeong’s chest makes Gon’s own ache in tandem.

Yeong is shirtless, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs. His abdomen is covered in bruising purple. There are angry welts over his heart, lacerations down his sides.

His feet are bare on the concrete floor, tendons standing out starkly. His hands are tied together behind the back of the chair, the cut of his triceps almost obscene in the fluorescent light.

From here, Gon’s eyes trace the way Yeong’s breathing. It looks painful, each inhale a rattling labor of need.

Each exhale forfeited like it’s all he has left to give.

There’s an officer standing to the side, wearing a pair of black latex gloves with a face mask to match. The dull sheen of fresh blood catches the harsh light from above. His voice is detached, dispassionate as he asks, “Where’s his Majesty? All I need is a street address, anything.”

The tableau stills for a brief moment and Gon holds his breath. He has no idea how long this has been going on-- hours? days?-- and in that moment, half of him just wants yeong to give up, to break.

The other half always knew that wouldn’t happen, though.

Yeong’s back is a languid slouch in the chair. Slowly, he raises his head and Gon’s breath catches for the second time in as many minutes.

There’s a cut high on Yeong’s cheekbone, one of his eyes bruised almost black. His lip is split, a smear of rusted blood just under where Gon knows a dimple peeks out when his best friend deigns laugh at one of his terrible jokes.

It happens almost in slow motion and Gon’s eyes eagerly study yeong’s mouth-- the way the smile tilts up at the corner, scornful in its daring. Gon’s gaze catches, rapturous, on the way the corner of yeong’s eyes crinkle just the faintest bit, more impression than anything else.

Even from here, the look in his eye would stay lesser men.

Yeong raises his eyes to meet the professor cum interrogator. His smile widens just enough to antagonize. “Fuck you.”

It’s the voice that stills Gon even further. It’s hoarse, a rough edge to it like he’s never heard before. The words seem wrenched from some deep cavern in his chest, behind his ribs, somewhere no one’s been allowed before.

Most of Gon is appalled. Still. He won’t ever admit it but he finds it undeniably attractive and it makes something ugly in him preen-- the insouciance, the sincerity, the sheer strength his best friend possesses.

Before the last syllable falls to the floor between them, the officer’s hauling his fist back for one hell of a right hook. The shock of it reverberates up Gon’s own vertebrae, one by one and this time, it’s darkness coming up to wrap around his lungs to squeeze hard.

He known for years that Yeong will suffer for him, because of him-- but to see anyone hurt his best friend, his Yeong, makes a piece of Gon absolutely wild with fury, with the need to retaliate, swift and sure.

Head snapping to the side with the force of the punch, everything’s silent for a moment, everyone waiting to see what Yeong will do next.

For his part, Yeong just takes his time facing forward again. He looks down and if Gon didn’t know better he might just label his posture defeated. Pride surges though him, though, because he knows Yeong better than anyone else in the world.

Yeong’s mouth drops open. Gon’s eyes don’t catch on the fullness of his lower lip, bloodied and bitten raw-- don’t linger on the dull shine of his teeth, the way Yeong’s tongue darts out and doesn’t flinch at what must be the taste of sharp copper.

Instead, he watches calmly with the other officers as Yeong suddenly breathes in sharply through clenched teeth before spitting right between his interrogator’s boots. It’s more blood than saliva.

The officer wrenches Yeong’s head back with a hand fisted in sweat-soaked locks.

Yeong is calm as his eyes meet the officer’s. There’s nothing amused about his expression now.

So quiet that Gon catches himself leaning closer to hear, Yeong says, “I’m going to kill you.”

The officer raises a brow but doesn’t get a chance to speak before Yeong continues, still deadly calm, “And I swear to God, you’ll kill me before you touch a hair on his majesty’s fucking head.”

In the observation room, all of the witnessing officer’s breath a quiet sigh of relief. The interrogator, for his part, just sarcastically pats Yeong’s cheek a few times hard enough to sting. “We’ll see about that, won’t we?”

The interrogator leaves the room without a backwards glance.

Gon studies Yeong, now that he’s alone in the stark room. There’s something beautiful about the sight before him but Gon knows he can’t let himself tread those waters, not right now and maybe not ever.

The interrogating officer steps into the observation room a few moments later, taking his mask off to reveal a proud smile. “Jo sure is exceeding our expectations, isn’t he?”

When there’s not an immediate response, he looks over just to pale at the sight of Gon.

Gon doesn’t have to clear his throat but it’s a near thing when he finally breaks the tense silence in the observation room. “How long has this been going on?”

The officer next to him– Lieutenant Jung– keeps a measured voice as he replies, “Jo is on day four. For the first trial, we allow up to seven days. If Jo is still in play by the end of one week, we end the exercise and he’s moved into recovery.”

A second officer clears his throat before adding, “First timers usually last less than three days. Cadet Jo is one of the toughest men I’ve had the honor of training, Your Majesty.”

There’s a lot of things that Gon wants to say to that. How dare you tops the list. A close second is by King’s order, end this at once. A distant third is I knew Yeong would make me proud.

All he asks instead is, “How long is recovery?”

The interrogator rocks back on his heels in an uncharacteristic display of unease. “It looks like Jo might make it the full seven days. With that amount of dehydration, malnutrition, and wound infliction we estimate three weeks, Your Majesty.”

Bringing his hands behind his back, Gon squeezes them into fists so tight his palms sting. He feels the ache of it in his wrists.

He nods once. “I’ll leave it to you, then.”

His voice remains level. This is what he signed Yeong up for all those years ago, Gon thinks with vicious self disgust.

It’s terrifying realizing just how a child’s promise has become a man’s burden. It’s exhilarating knowing that he made the best decision back then. The only decision, really. Yeong’s never let him down and Gon knows there’s not a single universe in existence where that’s even possible.

It’s humbling to see with his own eyes, in such a visceral way, that Yeong has not only stood by his choice from all those years ago but has gone on to renew that oath every day, every minute he suffers for the sake of a mere mortal.

For him. Not the king but Lee Gon, the man behind the kingdom.

That kind of devotion is awe inspiring. Gon promises himself to never take it for granted, to never forget for a moment the breadth of trust and fealty that Yeong carries for him.

It takes every ounce of strength not to call a halt to the exercise, not to sweep into the room and take Yeong into his arms and carry him to the nearest physician. There’s a part of Gon that’s surprised he manages to stop himself.

In the way that an eight year old knew how to calm a child, however, a king knows when to step back.

When the one thing he wants is– and will remain– out of his reach.

With a child’s negligence, he placed Yeong on this path. With a king’s stratagem, he resigns them both to shouldering yet one more weight in the name of their friendship, for the sake of the crown.

Gon affords himself one last look through the glass, at a Yeong who looks beaten but not broken.

A man, stark in his devotion, overwhelming in his fortitude.

Gon ignores the others in the room. He raises a hand to the mirrored glass, feels the echo of warmth along his palm.

Allowing himself just a moment, Gon turns to the door faster than he’d like. Hand on the knob, he hesitates before opening it. His voice is soft as he says, “I trust in your discretion, gentlemen.”

He doesn’t wait for an answer. Gon leaves the room without a backwards glance. He strides down the corridor, back to his motorcade– all without a single word. His guards stay silent, knowing what their king just witnessed.

Three weeks and three days later, the palace gets a call.

The messenger is patched through to Gon’s personal line. Gon doesn’t say anything when he picks up and the voice on the other end doesn’t wait for him to start.

“Jo is out of recovery. Minimal scarring expected and preliminary psychological evaluation passed. Next trial will be twenty-one days. It is scheduled for the end of the year.”

Gone hangs up first. He never says a word to Yeong about it.

Years later– once Yeong has left his position as Captain of the Royal Guard in favor of a promotion, as Gon likes to tease– Gon will finally take the opportunity to kiss the delicate arch of a scar along Yeong’s cheekbone, will press lips honeyed with veneration over a jagged line along his husband’s thigh.

The price of reverence is a king’s ransom. Gon happily spends his days with the knowledge that he’ll never be able to clear himself of this most profound debt. Still, he promises himself for the thousandth time, kneeling before Yeong, that he’ll make sure they both enjoy him trying.

#listen i don't know what possessed me #i literally thought i'd just write a little paragraph about gon finding yeong during yeong's academy years #but then before i knew it? i was writing like a whole fic?#i'm not sure if i should post this to ao3 #especially since the first part is more descriptive/meta you know #ahhh they make me crazy #i hope if anyone reads this they enjoy it!#i live for yeong demonstrating the depth of his love and devotion to gon #without hesitation without holding back #and gon being struck by it every time #and promising himself to never let it be for nothing #also this is pre relationship obvi #though we get the hints at the end!!!!!#and i hope yall liked the hints that they totally end up together!#ahh #the king eternal monarch #tkem fic #tkem #lee gon x jo yeong #my writing #tempered blade #content warnings for violence?

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cumberbatchedandproud · 8 months

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Songs (tagged)

Hi everyone !!

Thanks for the several songs tagging during the summer @mctna2019 @rhaenys-queenofkhyrulzz and @pashminabitch :) (and so I'm sort of replying to all of you at once?)

I'm generally more into soundtrack/classics than songs and I don't really use spotify but make my own MP3 playlists for in the car (i'm so old), so instead of the usual spotify shuffle i'm giving you the top 5 instrumentals I listen the most to lately? -Time of JungHyuk for Seri (CLOY OST / Nam Hye Seung, Park Sang Hee) -River Flower / Garden of God / The Warrior / Kingdom / Sword of the stranger / Lost Castle / My Country / Battlefield, selfmade mix with my favourites cut bits (i prefer listening to the whole titles whenever I can, but without the quiet parts you can't really hear above the engine/traffic noises is just better suited and safer when driving without having to fumble with the volume all the time) (MCTNA OST, Rain Wolff - and then choose the tracks) -The Day and My Love and… (TKEM OST 1 2 / Lee Geon Yeong, Gaemi) -Moonlight Sonata I & III (Beethoven) -No Time for Caution aka Epic Docking Scene (Interstellar OST, Hans Zimmer)

But if you actually want to know about actual SONGS, I'd go with those 'character meta-ish' songs in my MCTNA folder (which is the one I currently listen the most to, so...) -Shake it out, Florence & The Machine -Nothing, The Vassar Devils - thanks to that perfect @nubreed73 MCTNA vid -Dynasty, MIIA (MCTNA vids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-inZf-p1dE and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fozuKNpv8sc) -Train Wreck, James Arthur (MCTNA vid) -Believer, Imagine Dragons (MCTNA vid) (And special mention for the crackiest yet meta-ish crack vid I always come back to whenever I need a laugh (even though I cry at the end), even if I do not listen to the song in the car - again and forever, thank you so much for this golden one, always @nubreed73 :))

But to be honest again the actual SONGS i might have heard the most lately are those from our family Eurovision best of folder my kids didn't stopped asking for on repeat on our drive back home from holidays :) -Alessandra - Norway - Queen of Kings 2023 (btw we voted for Lureen this year (because she was in our opinion the best singer (there is POWER in her voice, okay) - tumblr, don't hate us, please), but this one was a huge favorite song too. third (and atypical winner of the year in our hearts indeed) was Finland Käärijä - Cha Cha Cha) -The Roop - On Fire - Lithuania 2020 -Italy - Mahmood - Soldi 2019 -Alexander Rybak - Fairytale - Norway 2009 (still such an iconic catchy tune) -Iceland - Hatari - Hatrið mun sigra 2019 (each year we give a special award out of our own - 'atypical winner of the year') (PS: any european pretending not to enjoy eurovision is a liar who lies :) (or not - anyone is free to like it or not of course i'm just joking, but in my family it is actually a year milestone tradition: that's how i grew up and that's what i passed on to my kids : gather all in front of the tv with snacks, and someone keeps the votes of everyone on a chart song by song:))

Tagging EVERYONE as usual and please tag me back so I can see it all :)

#mctna #my country: the new age #my country the new age #mostly #tags #personal #songs #music #i love you all #vids #@mctna2019 #@rhaenys-queenofkhyrulzz #@pashminabitch #@nubreed73 #eurovision

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coreancitizen · 1 year

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I miss your TKEM metas. Are you planning on writing again? Thank you

Hello! I do have some TKEM metas in my drafts, I just need to find the time to actually sit down, gather my thoughts and write. There's so much more I still want to say about The King Eternal Monarch. Doing the photo sets reminded of the many things I enjoyed about this show. Please look forward to more metas!

#the king eternal monarch #asked and answered

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ms-interpretation · 3 years

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They are both so funny! Someone somewhere on tumblr described (jokingly) their relationship as being ‘Annoyed to lovers’. I love that take, I find it hilarious. I mean just look at Jeong Tae-eul’s face in the first screenshot when she’s just found the talisman. It just screams: “Are you actually serious?” and Lee Gon must know how strange he is coming across and just decides to... roll with it. I adore their dynamic. How Jeong Tae-eul is so straight-forward and Lee Gon so outrageously earnest. Tae-eul quickly becoming quite bothered by him during their interactions early on (wonder why? *cough* *cough*) and Lee Gon being so happy to have finally met her that he just decides to answer basically everything and anything she asks honestly and openly (the exception being his name) even though it makes him sound completely insane is all compelling stuff. In this scene Tae-eul outright teases him a lot. First about the talisman and then about the “monopoly” money. We see her get quite serious however when she asks him about why he told her "I finally get to meet you". She clearly felt his sincerity in that moment and wants to get to the bottom of what the hell is going on. To say that’s she’s taken aback is putting it mildly. She is quite frustrated by this whole situation and about this man in front of her who is seemingly spouting out nonsense, but who is simultaneously seeming to be incredibly earnest. You see her struggle with this paradox in their scene at the chicken place and while they’re in the bamboo forest as well.

I would argue she feels something between them early on. There’s definitely some outright attraction. After he catches her off-guard with his compliment (”You look better in real life too”) the camera emulates her point of view and lingers on him as she is looking at him (he is hilariously framed in a very attractive manner in that scene). Then Tae-eul undercuts the moment as she tells him he looks like a criminal, however not before taking him aback by asking him why he is staring at her in a certain way (the implication being romantically). Lee Gon is even flustered for a moment in that scene (which is equally as hilarious as it is adorable). Tae-eul undercuts the moment deliberately, I would argue, to re-assert herself after having been flustered (I love her). A person on twitter has written some really great ‘meta-threads’ where they spell out some of the cultural subtext which cannot be fully translated through subtitles. An example is the “Will you continue talking down to me?” exchange. They bicker about how they are addressing each other (which has to do with who’s older and Korean speech levels). This adds to the emotional and somewhat flirtatious subtext of their interaction, an aspect slightly lost on international viewers. I have attached a link to the thread below. Tae-eul later teases Gon about how she might be older than him in episode nine, which can be argued is a fun continuation of their bickering here. I do think that some of the subtext in scenes like these might have been lost on the international audience (of which I’m part) at times due to the need to read subtitles + not having access to the characters’ tone through their use of language. Saying that however I don’t think that dramas should simplify their scripts to cater to international viewers (that would honestly be awful), but it can be worth keeping in mind when watching as an international viewer. Tae-eul is flustered by his compliment here, and then again when he compliments her at the hotel, but being the somewhat “tsundere”-like character she is she quickly hides it by basically insulting him instead. We see later that this slightly thorny aspect of Tae-eul is part of her personality, which at first glance may obfuscate her very passionate and kind character (her taking on KSJ’s bullies and telling him, somewhat rudely, to come back to the dojo springs to mind - I really like her).

So two quite quick-witted and unapologetically straight-forward people meet and it all unsurprisingly ends up with them bickering a lot. One of the thing I like the best about their bickering is that it is really equal, neither of them simply “takes it”, so to speak, instead they respond in kind. This creates an air of honest reciprocity between them. Later in the episode stuff gets more serious. Tae-eul gets more and more genuinely annoyed by all the impossible things Gon keeps claiming. After he asks her if there might be a reason for her helping him, she doesn't respond. But she thinks back to that moment later. His lack of a name and the fact that his claims are genuinely insane becomes a bigger issue for her the more they get to know each other (i.e. the more they connect). Her frustration is quite understandable. Her well-honed instincts are basically at war with her rational mind and world-view (and she has started to like him, which makes it all personal). There’s not much Lee Gon can do however. We feel his frustration easily since we know that he’s telling the truth. It all results in their fairly cold goodbye in episode three. Then of course she misses him, and really starts to believe him. Resulting in their quite emotional reunion in episode four. It is so great that in episode five she continues to tease him after she arrives in the Kingdom and finally seeing that everything he has claimed is true. Why? Because it furthers their relationship instead of resetting it. It is also an indication that Tae-eul’s slightly ‘thorny’ attitude is part of her personality and not simply a consequence of her being annoyed with him. She starts to realize just how much she likes him in episode five and six but she also freaks out a little, because she's more emotionally guarded. Which is why after she first opens up, expressing admiration for him and apologizing for leaving him alone, she then states that she cannot compete with a person from his world (expressing some insecurity. I’ll write more about that scene later). Lady Noh’s warning words are fresh in her mind. Back in the Republic however, after missing him and being worried she finally decides to embrace her love for him when he returns.

Let’s talk about the first mention of the Royal Ancestral Shrine. Lady Noh is referred to here as Tae-eul finds the talisman planted in Lee Gon’s wallet. A talisman which states it purpose as finding love for the recipient. This because Lady Noh is, as she stated in episode one, adamant of finding Lee Gon a Queen so that he can fulfill his duty as King (which entails providing the Kingdom with an heir). This talisman and this mention of the Royal Ancestral Shrine foreshadows this aspect of the plot and is brought up again later in episode 16. Where Lady Noh brings it up, hinting that Lee Gon and Jeong Tae-eul might marry in a year (‘completing’ the Royal Ancestral Shrine as she put it). A very nice person on soompi explained this for me. She also makes Lee Gon bring a talisman with him as he goes off to have a weekend with Tae-eul. Later on they find themselves back in the Kingdom, almost like the talisman (which Lee Gon accepted this time around which indicates his change of heart from episode one) have deliberately brought them back to the Kingdom to lightly push them to move forward in their relationship. One can definitely argue that it’s technically FateKid’s doing. A very good meta which has written about this in particular is linked below, this blog has a lot of really great posts about TKEM. I would highly recommend it.

Lee Gon’s amused expression in the last screenshot is such a funny beat, especially in addition to Jeong Tae-eul’s disbelieving expression after she’s found the talisman and her subsequent “Good Luck”. I do so love the comedy in this show. It works so well with the quite grounded characters Lee Gon and Jeong Tae-eul are.

Link one (spells out some subtext easily lost on international viewers): https://twitter.com/jungpilot/status/1304404562896277505?s=21

Link two (talks about FateKid and LG’s and JTE’s future and more): https://bitchesoverdramas.com/2020/06/16/the-king-ep-16-the-happy-ending/

#the king eternal monarch #the king: eternal monarch #lee gon #jeong tae eul #I really appreciate how LMH and KGE are so great at comedy in scenes like these #it would be easy to go too far which neither of them do thankfully #tkem meta

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ladymelisande · 3 years

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I think that when people complain about The King: Eternal Monarch having a "rushed" romance don't notice some things:

Most people in real life actually start dating all the way? Like I am single as hell, but everyone I know that has a partner all were like "oh, no I have a boyfriend/girlfriend/I started dating”, is not like “we slowly met and became friends, and pined for 300000000 years until one finally got the guts to say how they felt”, like Kang Sin Jae exists in the drama to show how that doesn’t always work.

The story is about two people being a fantastical version of a long distance relationship. We can’t have a relationship if we waste half of the drama with misunderstandings, fights, bickering and other clichés.

TKEM is not a romance “novel”, to give it a name. Like I think it was what most people were thinking about it given DOTS and half of Goblin. By definition a romance novel has to have a story that focuses in the development of a romantic relationship. TKEM might be described more as a fantasy with romance in it. That would be better?

Lee Gon and Tae Eul’s relationship is still the main focus but since they are separated they also have their own character arcs and the focus in their relationship is not How They Get in It, but How That Relationship Survives All The External and Internal Obstacles.

#the king eternal monarch #the king: eternal monarch #lee gon x tae eul #tkem meta

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deinnos · 4 years

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This scene really fucks me up. In this episode this is the first time we seen them be selfish by having some time for each other regardless of the impending doom looming over their worlds. Everything has quieted down and it’s time to truly say goodbye but they won’t allow it. Just basking in each other’s presence like this you can feel their yearning, they desire to remain together even when there’s a high probably of never seeing or remembering each other again.

Quietly looking at each other in the eyes makes them realize that this is truly their last time. The way they are positioned, Tae-eul looking down and Lee Gon looking up, is a visual cue to us the viewer to reminds us, regardless of what cute time they spent together, they are still from different worlds and with major responsibilities. And while the space between them in the bed is small and could be easily breached by either of them, no matter how much they try to be together and close off that distance between worlds, it still feels large and vast. We are supposed to have visceral reaction to this scene not just for its small intimacy but also for the yearning they feel to simply be together without the fear of separation.

This might be my favorite scene composition of the whole drama. It was beautiful!

#having a lot of thoughts and feelings over these two again #loved how this drama really didn’t have to spell out everything for us #the king eternal monarch #tkem meta #lee gon x tae eul

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maculate-mango · 4 years

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“Alice didn’t even think about how she would return and jumped into the hole after the White Rabbit. She fell down and down. She was falling endlessly. She said in a loud voice, ‘How many miles have I fallen?’”

This was Lee Gon reading his favorite, Alice in Wonderland, to the kids in episode 1. We probably knew that Alice represents Lee Gon, especially after seeing him chase after Luna in the rabbit sweater. What actually makes this so good is that Luna’s sweater was black. Alice in Wonderland refers to a white rabbit, not black. And this perfectly shows how Jeong Tae Eul is the white rabbit, as she is the doppelgänger of Luna, but has a very different life and personality from her, hence the contrast in color. Jeong Tae Eul doesn’t have as dark of a life as does Luna, so she’s the White Rabbit. Also, the position at which Lee Gon places her ID in the Alice in Wonderland book is directly on top of where the white rabbit is. (KES what are you on lol)

Lee Gon crossed over to ROK to Jeong Tae Eul without paying much attention to how he would return. He fell endlessly, for her, and he watched as everything around him fell endlessly too - the worlds clashing, Buyeong dying, PM Koo getting involved, the time freezes, and everything that occurred as a result of imbalancing the two worlds. He truly questioned how far he has gone when he noticed everything going wrong around him. In his journey to Jeong Tae Eul, he realized how much he truly fell, and failed to protect the balance between the two worlds. He then questioned how far he had to go to fix it all, which was when he decided he had to save the flute instead of himself. I just think it’s incredible to see all the references, callbacks, and symbolism. There’s SO much of that in TKEM.

#the king: eternal monarch #the king eternal monarch #tkem #kdrama #jeong tae eul #lee gon #kim go eun #lee min ho #alice in wonderland #lol a draft i had for a while #tkem meta

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smylealong · 4 years

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I have long debated whether or not I should write this, but @rain-hat convinced me that I should. So here I am, penning this diss meta about The King: The Enternal Monarch. Starting off with the disclaimer that I love this show. This is the show that introduced me to the wonderful Woo Do Hwan and for that I can never be thankful enough. But I have issues with the show, and I will enumerate them here. Brace yourselves for a tirade.It’s long, so putting a “keep reading”.

1) Manpasikjeok: Let’s start with the basis of the series. The Manpasikjeok. The series never delves into what the Manpasikjeok is. It’s a flute, yes. But it doesn’t delve into the background of this all-powerful plot device. I understand that the Manpasikjeok is a part of the Korean folklore and thus, probably the makers did not feel the need to delve deeper. But for non-Korean viewers like me, it was very confusing. So, before I speak about the details of what exactly bothered me about the flute, I will present the story itself.

After the death of his father King Munnu, King Sinmun of the Silla Dynasty heard the rumors of an island floating toward the temple that he had built in the honor of his father. A fortuneteller told Sinmun that the late King had become a sea dragon and his loyal General, Kim Yu-shin, had become a heavenly god. The fortuneteller also said that if he were to visit the island, he would get an incredible gift. When Sinmun went in search of this floating island, it looked like it had a turtle’s head and a bamboo tree on its back. In the mornings, the bamboo looked to be split into two while at night, it would join. After braving through seven days of storm, the King reached the island. There the sea dragon told him to make a flute out of the bamboo tree. This flute was said to provide magical properties. When the flute was played, enemy forces would retreat, and diseases were cured. Also, the magic flute would bring rainfall if there was a drought and stop the rains in floods. Ever since then, the bamboo flute was called ‘Manpasikjeok,’ meaning a flute that calms down ten thousand waves and it became a national treasure. This is the folktale.

If I am to nitpick, time travel and parallel universes are not mentioned in the folktale. But that is something I am willing to let slide, because you need something to make the story work and the makers chose a mythical object from the folklore. People do it all the time, so I am not going to penalize the makers for it. What I am going to diss them for is the way they spoke about the spirit of the flute. Was it a demon? A spirit? A god? What? Why did it not allow Lee Lim to age? If time passes differently for the owner of the flute as Lee Lim claims, why did Gon’s time seem normal for the most part? The only difference in time seemed to be when the portal was opened and time stopped. So, before Gon opened the portal, time did not stop for Lee Lim. Why then did he not age?

2) Post series events (part I): Which brings me to the second problem I have with the series. Post-series events. I understand Ta Eul retaining her memories of the alternate timeline because, she was in the portal and thus, remained untouched by the effects of the changed timeline. Fair. I get Gon retaining memories, because he was the owner of the flute. Granted. Why did Jo Yeong retain the memories when everyone else forgot about it? The only explanation I have is that it was because he was in the past timeline when the timeline changed? But the show never bothers to give an explanation for it. Also, if the events in altered timeline happened almost exactly as they did in the original timeline, then Yeong came to Republic of Korea. If Yeong came to Republic of Korea, then he met Jo Eun Sup. As did Gon. Why then did Eun Sup not recognize Gon at the end? Why does Yeong say that Eun Sup will not remember him? Is it because Yeong retained memories from the altered timeline and hence believed Gon when he said that he was going to the other world? Then, it stands to reason that Yeong did not go to Republic of Korea. Then things changed! They did not go exactly the way it happened in the series. Ah! My head hurts.

3) Corea and Korea: They are parallel worlds. I get it. But at times, they were nigh indistinguishable. This is @rain-hat’s input and I agree with it completely. Why are the people in Corea dressed like Westerners and why are we not seeing more Hanboks? Why are court ladies the only ones dressed in traditional garb? Also, what is the official religion of Corea?

4) The characters: This is going to be a long one, so brace yourselves. I have issues with the characters. I’m going for bullet points, because I have LOT TO SAY.

· Kang Shin-jae: Other than messing with him in all possible ways, what was the purpose of this character. As my editor once said, you must ask yourself what purpose does a character serve to the overall story? The litmus test of it being, if the said character is removed from the equation, does it impact the overarching plot of the story in any significant way? And much as I love this character, I’m sorry to say, his removal would not have impacted the story in any way. Yes, I’m aware that even Meyong Seung-ah does not pass this litmus test, but she does not occupy nearly as much screen time as Shin-jae. I wish they had utilized the character more than just use him as a material to evoke emotions.

· Koo Seo Ryeong: She is portrayed as a villain/b*tch. Why? Because she has political ambitions and is a woman who is not above playing the ruthless game that the men around her seem to be playing? She is a woman who has clawed her way to the top in a man’s world. Can we please stop demonizing women like this?

· Jo Yeong: Yes. Surprise, I know. He is the reason I (and many others) kept watching the show. The man who stole the show, the one who carried the show. A startlingly pretty face backed by a phenomenal performance, Jo Yeong is a treat. BUT, for a character as spectacular as Yeong, he was not utilized enough. I wish the show had actually given him something to do when he was in Korea. They wasted a talent like Woo Do Hwan.

· Jeong Ta-eul: I loved Ta-eul when she first came on screen. Badass, no nonsense, tough as nails cop in her thirties as out leading lady? HELL YEAH! But then she meets Lee Gon and all the things that I loved about her seemed to evaporate. She became a cry baby and I just could not handle that. K-dramas, can you please stop turning the badass female leads into a prop for the leading man’s “bravery and heroism”. (Fervently hoping Nine Tails doesn’t do that, because I love Jo Bo ah’s character there).

· Lee Gon: Oh, I hate this character with a passion. TKEM gave me SLS like no other drama before or since. I sincerely want to ask Lee Min Ho; just how many versions of Gu Jun Pyo are we going to see from him? Rich, powerful, privileged man who does whatever he wants? I’m getting really tired of it. I like Lee Min Ho, but really, you need to branch out, dude.

5) Post series events (part II): Speaking of Lee Gon, my man, you posses the all powerful tool to travel through parallel universes and time, and you use it to go on dates? WHAT THE F***? AAAHHGHHKSJJGFHVJHMDSYFHJVHKJNSKLJHG. Lee Lim was right. You’re WASTING it. Ugh. Personally, I felt as though the entire romance plot could have been done away with.

6) JoGon: The series teased heavily about this relationship and the fandom lapped it up. Beautiful fanart and fanfics emerged. But, I have issues and no, it’s not because they’re a same sex couple. My issue comes from the power dynamics of the couple. It is skewed beyond belief. The dynamic works perfectly when it is a king-bodyguard relationship. But the second it becomes a romance, there’s problem. All the power in the relationship is with Gon and Yeong has almost no agency in the relationship. And I love Jo Yeong too much to subject him to a relationship like that.

7) Product Placement: Yes, it was tough, but there was a series somewhere between all those product placements.

In closing, this series had the potential to be so much more. Yet, it failed. Spectacularly. I liked and enjoyed this series, but I have so many issues. SO MANY. Do you have any issues you would like to add? Please feel free.

#tkem meta #tkem

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leeminhokingblog · 3 years

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i've missed you.. i cant believe you're here...

더킹영원의군주 • Lee Min Ho • Kim Go Eun •

#lee min ho #the king eternal monarch #television #kdrama #tkem meta #tkem #kim go eun #thekingeternaledits

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di-elle · 4 years

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Tkem fic prompt: who would win?

Linked to this post

[Sorry for hijacking your fic post, @coreastories !]

Who would win between JTE and LG in a fight (training, ofc)?

She is a black belt (I think, I don't know how taekwondo works) and may have speed over mass advantage , but he will have agility and complete control of his body: he is a fencer and boxer, other than trained in taekwondo as well, and on top of this, he has Navy training.

I tend to side with the King in this one.

I also have no doubt Jo Yeong would beat both of them.

Any takers for this fic idea? 🙏😁

#tkem #tkem meta #tkem fanfic #the king: eternal monarch #the king eternal monarch #lee gon #jung tae eul

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nettlestonenell · 2 years

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Let’s talk.

Citizens of the Republic, Subjects of the Kingdom, and Gentle Readers, here you will find Part 3 of a failing attempt to dictate my thoughts during a The King: Eternal Monarch rewatch.

Touching on topics such as:

the Netflix-available trailer review

how looking like you stepped out of a manhwa might harm your career trajectory

other ways in which Netflix destroys my constant-pause viewing style and how to switch them off

Hangul v. Hanja

thoughts on the opening credits

Anyway, back to the trailer. Does this trailer, is the question, does it make me wanna watch this show?

I'll watch it again, it's one minute long and then I'll review it.

Actually, it says god had released demons into the world and it shows us the flute. And it talks about how demons opened up the passage to a parallel world, OK, so my review of the trailer is that trailers on Kdramas are really hard for me because I have to read subtitles. This trailer is full of a lot of quick cuts, and so because of that, I can't really absorb what is generally going on.

And of course, TKEM trailer is gonna be even more confusing because it's babbling on about parallel worlds and doppelgangers and all these other things. It's just too much to keep track of. Obviously, it makes sense to me now because I've watched the show. But in so far as something that would make me wanna watch the show, I don't think that it would.

Now mind you, most Kdrama trailers are not gonna make me want to watch the show that they're for, 'cause once again It's just like my eyeballs are pingpong-ing between trying to see what is going on and reading subtitles. And it's just System overload.

It has really, it has some of the great music. That great instrumental? I'm not gonna know what to call it, but maybe I'll look up what instrumental that is that's playing. [I didn’t] It shows a little bit of that high-level, that elevated cinematography that you're gonna get [on this show]. That's very pretty. And then of course, while I don't know that it fully highlights him, because it does, but I think it probably does highlight him. It shows you LMH and it just brings to mind the quote that I heard, one of the directors said for Gangnam Blues, which was that he looks like he stepped out of a manhwa. [the director mentioned this when saying that quality got in the way of whether he should cast LMH in the role he ultimately got] And I mean, the person that said this, I think it tickled them and made them giggle in the same way that it makes me giggle because I find LMH to just be ridiculously striking on-screen, particularly in TKEM.

And of course, LMH's got all these glamour shots taken of him as if it's the 1940s, black-and-white-Hollywood, where they’d take four days to film an actress’s perfect close-up. So they’d look peak beautiful.

LMH definitely hits all of those notes in this trailer where you might have to just take a minute after watching it and try to, I don't know, recompose yourself, take a sip of water or find your smelling salts.

Someone bring KGE a glass of water, or a cold towel. As shown, her working conditions are egregious.

But if you looked back to the subtitles, it definitely says that the portal is opened by demons, so I don't know. I think I might have to ask. I can't think of her name. I'll have to look it up [@accioecho ] to get in her asks and see if she would translate the word as ‘demons’ when we're looking at the flute, or if that's referring to the Traitor. Who? What are the demons? But then also it, of course, as I say, it said that god had let demons into the world. Does that make The Dragon King of the East Sea god? I mean, he does seem to be a divinity in Korean culture. But as far as I can tell, not having studied Korean culture, there is polytheism at work historically. There are many deities. So, I don't know. Which god are we talking about?

I mean, somebody started us down this path before the Traitor took the wheel

Are we ready to start watching this? Says I've talked 5 pages. And I don't know if that makes me ready to start watching the show or not.

This is a show that I like to watch at night. When it's dark outside. Because for whatever reason, it's a show that makes me feel very cozy. Obviously, your mileage may vary as to whether this show makes you feel cozy, and I'm sure it didn't make me feel cozy when I originally watched it, because how could it?

I will also say that I'm tickled that Netflix has finally added a double thumbs up ability for me in rating the show because that was an issue that I was having that Netflix would always be asking me to rate things and I would think well, you know, I liked it, but did I like it the same as Rookie Historian? No, I liked Rookie Historian just fine. I liked it a reasonable amount. It scratched the itch that I had and I found it a pleasant experience, but I would not put it on the same par as this show which obviously is enough of an obsession that I am now talking to you about it, into a voice dictating word processing program.

If you don't think that every time that I hear the da dong of the Netflix “N” coming up on my screen and think of Eun Sup folding laundry, then you’re wrong.

Additionally, it is not lost on me that this is also the product of Studio Dragon, just like Crash Landing on You. Generally, when I was originally watching the show, I would skip after watching the credits once, I would consistently skip the credits. I don't do that now. I think because originally I was just very anxious to get down to business. I needed to see what was gonna happen on the show. But now I find the credits really enjoyable. They're moody, the music is cool. There's a lot to look at, and so I appreciate it more.

The icon which is, I don't know, the writing that has a clock sunk into it, and the clock is ticking backwards. Other than hopefully I think it means to show that time is not functioning properly, it's not like we really turn time backwards here, is it? I guess you could say that going back to the night of the treason is in a sense turning time backwards, but then we don't have to relive it in the same way, we don't really live through all of that time [again]. Anyway, it I like it. I like the ticking. I know that they use it in a couple of episodes at the end. I'm not sure that they use it in every one. I guess we'll find out [in this rewatch]. But I think it's effective.

Interestingly, although in canon the flute is made of bamboo, I think it's mentioned several times and then also historically the flute, which if you look it up, is a historical item, though no one that talks about it travelling between worlds, but the Manpasikjeok is definitely a historical item, and it is made of bamboo. But the tree that we're shown in the credits. I think is not. It's certainly not a bamboo tree. Is it a ginkgo tree?

Of the [kdrama] shows that I've seen, I feel like this is one of the few shows or possibly the only show that's going to give you both English and Korean for the names in the credits. Is it the Hangul or the Hanja? [I think Hangul] And then a Westernized version and one without hyphens, whichever one that is [it’s neither Revised Romanization or McCune–Reischauer, those would be: Revised Romanization= Gim Go-eun McCune–Reischauer= Kim Koŭn, it’s like a hybrid] of actors’ names. So that to me is interesting [the notion that already with the credits we are being shown that this program is expected to appeal to audiences outside of Korea].

But here's this first shot on the bridge where the bridge is twisted and there's someone standing on the bridge. And then we're seeing at the top of the screen it's, the truth is, it's not like we're seeing the Republic and then the Kingdom on the bottom, because we know that the Kingdom also has very highly technologically advanced modern cities, but it is something that's showing duality where we're sort of seeing a version of ancient Korean architecture on the bottom of the screen,

This is the yellow screen that has LMH and KGE’s names in the opener.

If a person is Korean, some of the buildings, when they start showing specific things they're gonna maybe be notable. We get like an arch, which of course to my Western eyes anytime there's an arch I think of L’Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which obviously this is not, but I assume that it might be a significant Korean landmark.

(also it morphs into another arch)

And then we end on an image that I just adore with all my being:

You've got the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-Shin in the background at Gwanghwamun Square, which I was familiar with before, when I truly watched (not that first time when I gave up)-- I was aware of that square because of Memories of the Alhambra where people are like fighting in it when they're fighting in their altered reality.

But this, this image I really love, so I paused Netflix and I like this image a whole lot where she's opposite him on the horse. And there's the reflection in the water. And it's just beautiful.

What doesn’t it tell you about this show? There’s reflection, calling out the parallel worlds in the water, but also Lee Gon’s side is bluer, Tae-Eul’s is yellow/orange, they’re in opposition to each other. We’re in Seoul, the wind has JTE’s coat but not Maximus’ tail. Lee Gon not only looks white knightly/kingly, he’s seated on a very tall horse, elevated from JTE who stands on the ground in her very regular trenchcoat. The leads are not on equal footing.

The image is epic, showing the type of story we’re going to get, and the high quality of the cinematography to come is also teased by it. It is, as GBBO would say, an absolute showstopper.

I could talk about it for a long time, probably, but this brings me to this annoyance that I currently have with Netflix that I don't know that I can stop, and that is when all they want to do is slap these advertisements over a paused image.

I like the paused image. I wanted to see it, but I can't see it, because now you're telling me I need to watch Hi, Bye, Mama. And this is not like much time elapses as I'm sure you know. If you watch Netflix, before this pops up, this pops up Kaboom almost instantly. And I don't know if that's 'cause they don't want me to take a screen grab of it. I mean, I'm watching it on my television so I wouldn't have the ability to do that anyway. Maybe i need to get down into the Netflix settings and see if there's some way to get rid of this but boo i hate it.

For me at least, these advertisements popping up are newer. I used to spend time like trying to look in the reflection [of the image] to see if things were different, of them standing on the square, looking at each other, but I have not been able to discover if anything is different. I I think it's the same. I think that it's the actual reflection of what we're looking at, but you can never be too sure with this show, 'cause this the show has got a lot for you to look at on reviewing, as I'm sure you know if you're willing to still be reading six page in.

[PSA:: Here’s how I found you can turn off those image suggestions that pop up when you pause Netflix:] There's a way to turn them off.

Account page, scroll down to the link for "test participation"

Once you are in the test-participation page, simply toggle the button to "off"]

...tbc..

Good news! In the next post we’ll actually start the show!

#tkem #tkem meta #the king: eternal monarch #the king eternal monarch #lee gon #jeong tae eul #queue-een jeong tae-eul #kdrama #more like okay: drama #the king: eternal monarch netflix #nell chats tkem #chez nell mind palace #lee min ho #tkem rewatch

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