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kitkatsudon · 6 months

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A brief foray into the military ranks of TKEM characters…

It’s no secret that our favourite boys from the Kingdom of Corea have a history in the military - but apart from Gon being bottom of his class in the Naval Academy (as confirmed by Choi Gitae in Ep4), what else do we know? As with every tiny detail that sparks my interest in this show, I took it upon myself to find out, and gave myself a headache in the process. Let’s have a look, shall we?

Lee Jihun:

I’m starting with him because he’s the only one I could find a concrete answer for, thanks to him being from a universe very similar to ours. Though we only see him very briefly in Ep16, from that short scene we can glean a little bit of information about what he was doing:

To find his rank, one needs only to look at his epaulettes. You can see that his are black, with three gold stripes: two thick ones, with a thin stripe in the middle. This identifies his rank as follows:

He’s a Soryeong, which is the equivalent rank to a Lieutenant Commander.

However, what I find perhaps more interesting for Jihun is this badge he’s wearing:

Though it’s blurry when you zoom in, I’m pretty sure it’s this one:

You heard it here first, folks. Lee Jihun is a Navy SEAL. They didn’t have to include this detail - you’d probably have to be quite familiar with the military to recognise it straight away, and I doubt that even most Korean fans would be able to recognise it, because I can tell you for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to recognise the equivalent for my own country. Someone on the production team decided this, and I want to give them a big kiss on the mouth, because now it’s confirmed that the sweet little Jihun we saw grew up to be totally badass after his abusive father passed away. I sincerely hope that it was a good life that led him to joining this branch of the military, and not some combination of horrible factors that pushed him into joining one of the most intense and dangerous branches… hm. I’m not going to dwell on that, actually. You can all make your own conclusions here.

Now… to the Kingdom. *sigh.* This is where things start to get more vague and confusing. I’m going to start with ranks first, and then go onto what they were doing as one big section because, spoiler alert, I haven’t got any sort of concrete idea.

Lee Gon:

His rank is easiest to determine, because Choi Gitae says it explicitly when they met at his father’s funeral in Ep4. I cross-referenced this with the closed-caption Korean subtitles, and everything adds up nicely: though he’s the Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces in the Kingdom, thanks to his position as the monarch, while he was actually serving, he rose to the rank of Daewi, or Lieutenant - the highest rank of the junior officers - before leaving the navy.

Jo Yeong:

When we see Yeong in his navy uniform in Ep6, this is what we can see:

Once again, that same pattern emerges on his epaulettes of two thick stripes surrounding a thin stripe - he’s a Soryeong, a Lieutenant Commander. This means that Yeong ranked one rank higher than Gon before he left the navy, which is something that brings me quite a lot of joy.

However, something I like even more than that is Yeong’s current title, as the leader of the Royal Guard. We all know him and love him as Captain Jo, but in Korean he’s referred to as 조영 대장 - Jo Yeong Daejang. This is what Gon calls him in the iconic “Are you having fun, Captain Jo?” and you can also see that title of Daejang on his character page on the official TKEM website. On WordReference, this is what happens if I search for 대장:

Ignoring the results about other things, it doesn’t seem to mean “Captain” explicitly, it’s more like a general kind of leader title. His rank isn’t necessarily “Captain,” it’s whatever Daejang is equivalent to. So… how good is a Daejang? Looking at the South Korean armed forces, in the army, air force, and marine corps, Daejang is equivalent to General, and in the navy, Daejang is equivalent to Admiral. To put this into context a little better, the only rank in the South Korean navy higher than Daejang is Wonsu, and this rank only exists on paper and has never been given to any officer of the South Korean armed forces. To achieve this rank of Wonsu, you’re appointed from the rank of Daejang when you have “distinguished achievements.”

In conclusion: Yeong has an incredibly high rank in the armed forces, second only really to Gon himself, assuming no one from the Kingdom has ever been appointed the rank of Wonsu either. However… there’s a first time for everything, and though I’m only speculating and of course could never say anything for sure, if anyone was going to get those distinguished achievements needed to be a Wonsu, it would be our Jo Yeong Daejang.

Choi Gitae:

I’m including him briefly because I have a bone to pick with the subtitles. In English, he’s Captain Choi. In Korean, Gon refers to him as Hamjang, which, as far as I can tell, doesn’t exist in the South Korean navy of our universe. In the Korean subtitles in Ep4, he’s named as 최 소령, Choi Soryeong, and he’s just… he’s not that. Let’s take a look at some pictures:

The epaulettes on the first picture and the star badge on the second tell us that his rank should be this:

He’s a Junjang, equivalent to a Rear Admiral (lower half). Not a Captain, and not a Lieutenant Commander. As for the Hamjang/Junjang disparity, I’m going to suggest that Hamjang is the Kingdom of Corea’s equivalent to the Republic’s Junjang.

So, what was everyone doing in the navy?

The only clue we have is a badge:

This is from Yeong’s uniform, but in Ep6 Choi Gitae was wearing the same, and Gon was wearing a gold version of it. However, for the life of me, I can’t seem to figure out what it is! The design seems to be that of a ship sailing through the waters, but that just gives ✨navy✨ in a general sense. Browsing google images, I’ve noticed the same golden badge that Gon wears on other high ranking members of the South Korean navy, so maybe it signifies a high rank? Or maybe it just means that the wearer is in the navy? I don’t know! I can’t work it out! What it tells us at least is, if Yeong isn’t wearing a “specialised” badge like Jihun… it’s unlikely that he served in any kind of special forces… which I feel is a piece of information that might break some hearts in the fandom as their headcanons shatter into pieces. I’m disappointed too, because when I saw Yeong’s badge without paying attention to any of the other characters, I thought that the two shapes on the sides looked a little like submariner dolphins, so I’ve spent half a year or so thinking that’s what Yeong did in the navy, before I realised that Gon and Choi Gitae had the exact same badge.

So, if anyone has been bothered enough to read this far and also happens to be a Korean military buff, I would love you forever if you could tell me exactly what this badge means, and whether it gives us any indication of what Yeong or Gon or anyone else was doing in the navy. However, maybe it’s good that it’s unclear, because that leaves fic writers plenty of room to wonder about what Gon and Yeong were doing in the military - whether they were doing different things, strengthening their bond as best bros doing the same thing, and if you’re on the same side of this fandom as me, whether they were repressing some big feelings at seeing each other in their military uniforms, or whether they were engaging in certain activities that are maybe stereotypical of sailors cooped together on the same boat without women to spend their nights with… there’s plenty of room for interpretation :D

#my favourite thing that I’ve learnt from this is Yeong ranking higher than Gon in the navy #there’s SO MUCH POTENTIAL THERE #something else that ep6 demonstrates is that soryeong is a rank in the corean navy because yeong hands gon’s flag to someone with that rank #it was said verbally and it was consistent with his uniform #so why is soryeong consistent but not hamjang/junjang?!#ANSWER ME KIM EUNSOOK #another honourable mention is… do you guys remember the yoyo kid’s older form?#he appears in the republic to bully shinjae and he’s also on gon’s rowing team #anyway you can see him in the funeral in ep4 and he’s also a soryeong #something that’s interesting to note is that no one in uniform in ep4 is wearing that mysterious badge #not even choi gitae even though he’s wearing it in ep6 #it makes me wonder whether they added it as an afterthought #i wouldn’t be surprised #tkem #kitkat’s tkem deep dives #lee gon #jo yeong #lee jihun

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drivingsideways · 6 months

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Twenty Questions

@rosyfingered-moon thanks for the tag! :D

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

62 ! :O

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

853,262

What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly tv. Actively, right now, none. Since 2018, it's been cdrama or kdrama, but I've written for Western shows previously.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

4 of the 5 are for The King: Eternal Monarch and 1 is for Beyond Evil.

Algebra (credit mostly goes to co writer @haraxvati for all the heavy lifting) - TKEM, Jo Yeong/ Lee Gon in the realest fake arranged marriage ever

A Soul Divided- TKEM, Jo Yeong/ Lee Gon in which Gon is a total failboat at pretending to be a normal citizen, but guess what, so is Captain Jo Yeong.

Destiny's Child- TKEM, Jo Yeong/ Lee Gon, or the Lee Gon Liberation Manifesto

Before You Came- TKEM, Jo Yeong/ Kang Sin jae, in which Kang Sin jae falls for a man who wants to be ravished by God but the dude ends up crossing the space time continuum for someone else entirely. Love works in mysterious ways etc.

Cat Whisperer - Beyond Evil, Han Joo won/Lee Dong sik. What it says on the tin, really. Dong sik ruminates on the acquiring and care of feral felines.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I respond to all comments, even if it's just a one liner or a key smash. If someone's taken the time to read and enjoy and engage with my work, I want to acknowledge that- and sometimes you make friends through AO3 comment space ! :')

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmm, I have several fics which end on a bittersweet note, but none that I think are completely without hope? Deer Heart is probably one of the most emotionally violent fics I've written, but even that one ends on a hopeful note (at least I see it that way.)

A main character dies in the last instalment of The Stars 'verse, but someone bookmarked it with the comment " the hurt no comfort tag is propaganda bc this does hurt yes but there IS comfort and thats because there is love :') " which was honestly a comment that made * me * tear up ! :')

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

HUGE fan of cloyingly sweet endings for my blorbos, but I do think I end up in the bittersweet column most times? But I guess "Instructions for Dancing" may be literally the fluffiest thing I've ever written.

Do you get hate on fics?

No- I think an occasional comment that made me go ???? because the reader apparently wanted something different when they clicked on my fic, but no real hate, thankfully. I've been blessed with really sweet commenters for most part!

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! Not sure what is implied by "what kind" here- hopefully hot (but also revealing something about the characters and the relationship?!) ? :)) Tbh, smut is not my wheelhouse, and I always find the process of writing it nerve wracking.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

It's not something that I find interesting to read or write usually. I have one unfinished and unpublished Black Sails/ Supernatural crossover that I think was a brilliant idea but I ran out of steam.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge!

What's your all-time favorite ship?

I love all my ships intensely, so it's hard to choose! Even if I'm not thinking about them on a daily basis or writing for them or reading fic about them, each of them has a piece of my heart.

What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Argh, don't ask me this! There are so many, so many. But in specific, there's a Black Sails au that I really wanted to write and have written maybe 15k of AN OUTLINE for, but yeah, never finishing that.

What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm generally able to deliver an emotional punch very well.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Oh dear. Everything? And I think that's fine- all craft is practice and discipline and I hope I will get better at "everything" as I write more and hopefully more thoughtfully than I have in the past.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I think there's only one fic in which I've used complete dialogue in multiple languages (with Google Translate as my guide, SORRY). But I'm pretty cool with the idea of it and I enjoy reading fics that have multiple language dialogues as well.

First fandom you wrote for?

On AO3 it was Supernatural , and was left unfinished- I have since deleted it.

Favorite fic you've written?

This keeps changing, and there's things I love and hate in all my fics, but I guess a drivingsideways "starter pack" should have Destiny's Child in it, and the last fic I wrote "Juche" turned out pretty well, I GUESS.

@cupofteaandstars @elderflowergin @haraxvati @sadviper if you want to! :D

#writing things

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radialarch · 1 year

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obviously this was coming: tkem recs for @idrilka

The Amnesiac King's Time-Travelling Husband by rainhat (G | 7936 | Lee Gon/Jo Yeong)

“Your husband’s been at your bedside without a break for nine days. You’ve given us all the biggest scare of our lives, sir.”

if you're like, jo yeong suffers so pretty, i wonder if i can have more then boy have i got the fic for you. lovingly constructed, truly excellent.

Self-praise is no recommendation by hastybusiness (G | 4235 | one-sided Jo Yeong/Lee Gon, brief Jo Yeong/Kang Sinjae)

Three conversations Yeong has about Gon, with three different people.

the sword that was broken by gulpsofoxygen (G | 4295 | one-sided Jo Yeong/Lee Gon)

Jo Yeong loves by giving up everything, one day at a time.

the thing about jo yeong is that a character study is just him pining for lee gon. two fics, deft, vivid, with details i immediately adopted into my heart.

let us flow stream by stream by Teaotter (T | 12024 | poly-v Jo Yeong/Lee Gon/Jeong Tae-eul)

The king’s weekly absences can’t go unnoticed for long.

obviously the way to hide that the king is in love with an unsuitable foreigner is to have him fake date the other person he's in love with. a delight.

Every Door in the Universe by oliviacirce (M | 2899 | poly-v Jo Yeong/Lee Gon/Jeong Tae-eul)

Captain Jo Yeong to Lieutenant Jeong Taeeul, greetings.

epistolary communications about the stupid stupid man you both love: extremely good. one letter in particular that made me scream.

Destiny's Child by drivingsideways (M | 16943 | Lee Gon/Jo Yeong)

Lee Gon grew up well. Didn't he?

the inevitable post-canon falling-together. sometimes i stare up into the sky and think about: "It's just that it took me a long time," [Yeong] says, "to stop being in love with you. I had to work very hard at it." it's a lot.

#recs: fic #i love repression and pining. god this ship.#the ratings on these fics definitely reflecting a truth about jo yeong #a man who WILL NOT let himself get laid #it's so bad. what am i throwing a sex-pollened lee gon at him for if he's just gonna fret about designer poisons #duty's just another word for love

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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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theunbelievableinventor · 1 year

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A RANT ABOUT THE KING: ETERNAL MONARCH ENDING

I want to say that this is not a post to hate absolutely anything or anyone, I love the show, I would just like to discuss and expose the directions I wish the story had taken…

I don´t like Lee Gon with Tae-Eul

I think romance is cute? Okay, but their personalities are so different that it doesn't feel right for them to be together… Opposites attract, but I don't think they work out well in the long run, even with Tae Eul showing her more vulnerable side… They are drastically different. Don't complement each other at all… But I'm not a fan of Lee Gon x Jo Yeong either, i will talk more about this later...

After we saw Tae-eul and Sin-Jae's backstory, it honestly didn't improve my view of the Lee Gon x Tae Eul dynamic at all, but it did a lot for me to like the strange companionship between the detective and Captain Jo…

Tae-eul never seems to reflect well on the things that happen around her, she's just reacting or is being impressed constantly (correct me if I missed a scene) she doesn't reflect on Lee Gon's actions, she only cares if they will seeing herself again, but with a magic flute and a boyfriend from another dimension who claimed to 'know' her before she even knew he existed…she doesn't ask Gon any of the questions that we would expect someone in her position to ask. .. it could even be the simplest, things like "Do you really like me for me now? or are you still hoping I'll save you from that night?" "What if I'm not the one you're looking for, and it's someone from a third world? Would you like me any less if that were the case?" you know… the basics

Back to the king and his unbreakable sword, He and Captain Jo are the epitome of what you would call platonic soulmates, it's wonderful that he's the one who walks in beside Gon on the NIGHT OF HIS TRAUMA, AS HE'S THE ONE WHO'S BEEN BY HIS SIDE HIS WHOLE LIFE. They don't need to be romantically involved to want and do the best for each other. Does it have potential? yes, but I can't see it like that. Honestly, I'd rather have Captain Jo with Detective Kang than the King

I WON'T LIE TO YOU, I didn't realize it was Lee Gon himself who saved his younger version until I looked it up on YouTube, it filled me with excitement and joy! I genuinely cried of happiness, it was such a beautiful gesture of self-love that was soon crushed by the persistent idea of the series trying to making us believe that the romantic love he cultivated with Tae Eul was something "magnificent" to the point that after all is over, he used the flute that started all his troubles going after the version he met of her in one of the many universes he now has access to * rolls eyes *

I don't care about spoilers, so I didn't contain myself and did some research, and one of them was the scene of him telling the little boy, son of the now Minister, his name, and it gave me almost the same feeling as when I found out that he himself had been saved. ..

But then they used the magic flute to travel between dimensions and… Ugh, it was kind of cute to see the scene showing the aging of the two, but as it was developed, it didn't make much sense for them being together as a couple.

How would I REWRITE: the child would actually be the son of someone present at the meeting, I don't know, some former classmate of Lee Gon, family member of someone from the court, whatever his parent, who would later become the romantic partner in life of our king, this with the passage of time shown in the final scenes… And yes, Lee Gon would pass his throne to this boy, I think it would be a good way to to make a repair parallel to the great envy and feeling of rejection that Lee Lim felt… I see this child's parent as someone from the "liberal arts" as Lee Gon so often uses the term to describe many around him, I think he would benefit from being with someone like this, since we met him, we know that he has a very sensitive side despite leaning heavily on science... I think it would be a more balanced relationship than with a police officer, due to his affinity with Einstein's theories and the quality of artists to express themselves to walk through what is abstract;

About his relationship with Tae Eul: the portals would be closed forever, but he would always remember her as his first girlfriend, and the person who helped him discover romantic feelings, being a dream for a while, after getting to know her closely. Although in love, and ignoring the factor of living in separate worlds, he would know that in the long run they would not work out.

The ending would have a Lee Gon who has overcome his trauma by learning to see opportunities to be happy in the life he has.

#eternal monarch #jo yeong #lee gon #tae eul #the king eternal monarch #lee lim #jo eun sup

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vminimoni · 4 years

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captain jo yeong's visuals appreciation post

can we all just take a moment to appreciate real art?

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moviesstoriesandbooks · 4 years

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I'm watching the king : eternal monarch again and it's amazing how much i missed the first time i watched it. Like the glaringly obvious fact that captain jo is in fact a closeted bi , and is in love with the king .

#the king netflix #the king eternal monarch #captain jo yeong #woo do hwan #lee minho #netflix drama #netflix #kdrama #korean drama #time travel #sci fi #lee gon #he's canonically bi and so much of the drama points to it #i mean i knew it the first time but it was still is he or isn't he #but the second time while watching you get how much the writers were shouting HE ISSSSS #he's in love but he can't let it happen #honeslty him and shin jae i feel so bad for #atleast he gets a happy ending

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stn5 · 4 years

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youtube

WOO DO HWAN || Annoying himself and getting annoyed by himself.

#the king eternal monarch #tkem #woo do hwan #jo yeong #jo eun sup #captain jo yeong

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dean-winchester-is-my-cherry-pie · 4 years

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My wallpaper 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

#the king eternal monarch #the king: eternal monarch #tkem #woo do hwan #eun sup #eun seob #captain jo yeong

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shen-anigansinterrupted · 4 years

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Captain Jo Yeong finally bested.

By a kid.

#i’m wheezing #must have watched that scene a thousand times #i also love how he stumbled over eun sup style to grab his piece #eternal monarch #the king eternal monarch #netflix #woo do hwan #captain jo #jo yeong #yeong

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kitkatsudon · 4 months

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KitKat reads the TKEM Novel: Chapter 2

That night, a broken flute

So. Chapter 2. If you haven’t guessed already by the title of this chapter, it covers the topic of that fateful night back in 1994, when Lee Lim kills Lee Ho, little Gon comes in, gets traumatised, they both leave with half of the Manpasikjeok, etc etc. That’s kind of… the first half of this chapter? The whole chapter is definitely affected by this, but after this there are two more scenes in this chapter: one where Gon is looking at Taeeul’s ID card in his Alice in Wonderland book (notably skipping over “Are you having fun, Captain Jo?” and that subsequent conversation between Gon and Yeong which is one of my personal favourite scenes, but anyway. They do reference it, but it’s not the same), and then the scene where Gon is at the stables, he hears the sound of the flute, and he runs away on Maximus and goes into the portal.

My first thought? Not enough Yeong. Again. For real this time. Yeong has one line of dialogue, and that’s just a radio call to Hopil and the others to chase after Gon, there’s no new insights about Yeong in this chapter, absolutely nothing. And I know, I know that I can’t really judge a chapter like this on its Yeong content when none of these scenes contained Yeong in the first place, but like… they could have included that conversation between Gon and Yeong in Gon’s study? Instead, the allusion to it we get is this:

Why didn’t ‘he’ who saved him come back? Wasn’t it worth coming to see him at least once?

Yeong said that he didn’t come because Gon had grown up so well that he didn’t need anyone’s help, but Gon wanted to ask, ‘didn’t he want to come and see how well he had grown up?’

There it is, folks! That’s all we’re getting! And look… it’s easy enough to tell from the scene in the show that Gon isn’t really satisfied with Yeong’s answer, but a part of me does feel disappointed that this heartfelt conversation between those two in the first episode was boiled down to this in the book. None of the tenderness, none of the warmth, just “idc yeongie i still want to see my saviour :/.” And then… hoo boy. I can already tell that this book is going to test my patience as someone who is not particularly a taegon enjoyer, because a few paragraphs down we get this absolute gem.

The government ID in his hand was the only trace he had left behind, and it was a question. Every day, Gon would ask the woman on the card, ‘Do you know why he saved me? Why I survived?’ Thanks to this, the woman had become a habit for him. After twenty-five years, she was more familiar than anyone else. For Gon, it was comforting. Before he knew it, she had become the reason he was alive.

I’m sorry. I’m sorry, whAT?! The reason he was alive? His reason for living?? More familiar than anyone else????? Bestie… she is a piece of plastic!!! As far as you know right now!!!!! If this is your reason for living… Gon, blink twice if you need to see a therapist. Oh, wait, hang on, this reminds me of another passage in this chapter…

Was he really dead? Suddenly, he felt a surge of doubt.

Maybe it was because that night, twenty-five years ago, was still so vivid. The stickiness of stepping through the blood of innocents, the smell of blood that stung his nostrils. The pain of the strangulation, the thinning of his breath. The sight of his father’s lifeless body in front of him. The underlying dread, the fear. The emotions were as sharp as the sensations.

However, now that Gon was the king, they were emotions he couldn’t show anyone. Walking slowly to his desk, Gon composed himself as he sat down. The good news was that he wasn’t weak enough to be consumed by the memories of that day.

Oh, well, that’s ok then! Don’t worry everyone! Gon is fine, actually! Sure, he still has very vivid memories of that awful night, he still hates people touching his body, he can’t wear a tie without getting flashbacks to that night, he doesn’t feel like he can share this with anyone because of his status as the king, but don’t worry! He’s not so weak that he’s super affected by this or anything, that would be totally cringe.

Gon, I’m going to say this once again, blink twice if you need to see a therapist. Because this… my god. That’s an unhealthy thought pattern if I’ve ever heard one. I think the show wants the solution to this to be “gon is fine enough to be a great boyfriend, but if he ever does need to talk to anyone, this will only ever be taeeul because he the king to her.” What I’m hearing, however, is “gon needs to trust his loved ones, and learn to be comfortable with the fact that he’s both the king and a person, and he needs to be comfortable with communicating with people like yeong and lady noh and prince buyeong who have loved him for a very long time and want gon the person to be alright.” Like… surely the message here isn’t just that Gon can never ever trust anyone from the Kingdom with his emotions, right? Where’s the growth there? Finding someone from another universe is the most convoluted loophole in this situation, when he could just like… talk to his best friend? Even if that’s hard for him, growth is hard! But it’s important!

But *ahem* anyway, sorry, this is meant to be about the novel, not my wider thoughts about the show in general…

You might be wondering, hey KitKat, you said that this chapter was half about the night of the treason, so why haven’t you spoken about that? And that… is because I don’t really have that much to say? It’s mostly just an action sequence, there aren’t really any character moments that made me like !!!!, like the other parts did. The main detail is that it really hammers in the detail that Lee Lim feels unfairly treated because of the nature of his birth. He’s jealous of his brother and his nephew for being born into a life where they never really had to struggle.

Actually, you know what? I am going to share this paragraph, purely so I can go on another side tangent.

Prince Imperial Geum. Lee Lim was crowned Prince Imperial Geum at the age of thirteen. He was the firstborn son, but his mother died before she could become queen, and she was posthumously declared a noblewoman. So, his younger brother, who knew nothing and was only good, became the king.

Now, let’s do some maths, shall we? Both Lee Lim and Lee Ho have confirmed dates of birth in the show. Lee Lim was born on 27th February 1951, and Lee Ho was born on 23rd October 1952. (Another fun fact is that Gon’s mother was born on 8th August 1965, so when Gon was born on 28th October 1987, his mother was 22 and his dad was 35, and I know that age gap relationships can be perfectly consensual and loving but man… I can’t deny that something there feels a little bit icky… but anyway.) Assuming neither Lee Ho nor Lee Lim were born prematurely, this implies that Lee Lim was conceived in May 1950, and Lee Ho was conceived in January 1952. If their father, King Haejong, was doing everything by the book, if Lee Lim’s mother was his official partner, and the earliest that she died was 27th February 1951, this means that King Haejong moved on from this love of his life to get to the baby-making stage with Lee Ho’s mother in less than a year. It’s… plausible? But if Lee Ho was legitimate, then King Haejong and his new partner had to be married somewhere between February 1951 and October 1952, and it would have had to have been a big royal wedding with a lot of planning, and… mmmMH I don’t want to make any conclusions, because there are a few explanations for this quick timeline and it’s much more fun if this is left up to individual interpretation, but what I am pretty sure on is that this situation with King Haejong and his lovers wasn’t as simple as “:( lee lim’s poor mother died before she could be made the queen.” It’s giving… less tragic, more scandal, somewhere on this timeline. Either way, I am narrowing my eyes at you, King Haejong.

Mmmh… anything else? Maybe this:

In the Cheonjongo scene, Yoo Gyeongmu, Lee Lim’s second in command, says to him that they need to leave because the “Golden Army” is coming. In the official English subs on Netflix, this is just translated as Royal Guard, BUT it’s definitely a different word. Royal Guard, in the book, has always been 근위대, but Yoo Gyeongmu specifically refers to a certain 금군, and this had specific Hanja next to it in the book, so it must be a thing. What is this Golden Army? Will it be referenced again, other than in this scene? It’s not a code name, little Gon also thinks to himself that his saviour is leaving because the Golden Army is on their way. Is it a specific task force within the Royal Guard? If so, what do they do?? I have a horrible suspicion that we’ll never know.

Oh, and one more thing before I bullet point exactly what we’ve learnt from this chapter.

It was said that the prince was a prodigy, a genius who could read, write, and do mathematics at an early age.

*quietly adds ‘hyperlexia’ next to ‘savant mathematical abilities’ onto my imaginary list of evidence of gon being autistic*

That post will come eventually. But not for a while.

So!! What have we learnt in chapter two?

Somewhere on the palace grounds, vaguely near Cheonjongo, is a gingko tree!

Where Lee Lim was described as being bold and cruel, Lee Ho was described as having a “cool temperament that could be considered weak.” Even if Lee Ho isn’t in my good books for getting a 21 year old pregnant when he was 34, that still feels kind of mean.

Cheonjongo was home to “various treasures, from crowns to cash, ceramics to swords, treasures handed down from generation to generation.”

The current Captain of the Royal Guard died that night, stepping in front of Lee Ho.

The Netflix subs miss out Lee Ho saying something that roughly translates to “What the heck?!” before he asks “Brother, what do you think you’re doing?” which is something that I wish they’d kept in.

When Lee Lim killed his brother, he was happy to prove that Lee Ho was weaker than him.

Gon was commended as a little genius, and this is the only measure by which Lee Lim thinks he might be better than his father. That doesn’t change the fact that Lee Lim still has to kill him, though.

Even in that horrible moment, and despite Gon being seven years old internationally, he was actively thinking about strategy, wanting to strike Lee Lim with the Four Tiger Sword while he was laughing, because it was a moment of weakness.

Lee Lim got his royal title when he was thirteen, Korean age, so presumably he was 11/12 years old internationally.

The first time little Gon heard the flute music was when his saviour came for him, not before, which begs the question as to why he went to Cheonjongo that night in the first place. Maybe because his dad wanted to show him the Manpasikjeok?

This “Golden Army” section of the Royal Guard existed, at least in 1994. Maybe it still does in the present. Maybe it doesn’t. That remains to be seen.

The official story was that Royal Guards shot Lee Lim dead on the beach, not that he was found washed up dead like I assumed in the show. Maybe this was just a detail in the show that I forgot about, but I’m including it here because it confused me at first.

Lee Lim’s “death” had always seemed futile and meaningless to Gon.

Apparently, according to Gon, all the fear, grief, and hurt has already faded away from that night with time, and the only thing he still has is the question of why his saviour hasn’t come back for him. Apparently.

Please imagine a strained voice for this next point: Jeong Taeeul’s ID card became Gon’s reason for living. *sigh.*

This is something I’d noticed before, but this whole scene where he looks at the ID card in his book, and everything in the show immediately preceding it that the book cut - this all happens on 10th September 2019. Is there a significance to this date? YES! THERE IS! IT’S YEONG’S BIRTHDAY! THEY CUT OUT YEONG’S SCENE ON HIS GODDAMN BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

The Royal Guard was on high alert after the shooting at the rowing competition, and yet Gon still managed to escape? He’s quite impressive.

The main reason Gon was suspicious that Lee Lim wasn’t dead, despite them having a corpse, was because Lee Lim risked everything to get the Manpasikjeok, but his half wasn’t found on this corpse. This is what Gon is thinking about as he’s looking at the portal for the first time.

As Gon is riding through the place in between, in the portal dimension, he’s thinking of the passage of Alice in Wonderland that he read to the children a few days ago, of Alice following the clock rabbit into the rabbit hole, and then falling further and further down.

And that’s it! I’m… actually surprised at how long this ended up being, because I definitely found the first chapter a lot more entertaining than this one. Though to be honest, that was mostly the shameless Gon worshipping. There was definitely some of that this chapter, but not at all to the same extent. Next time… I haven’t really looked very hard at the next chapter, but I think it’s going to cover Taeeul and Gon’s first meeting, from their very first interaction to Gon’s time in the police station. And now I say that, I’m suddenly realising that I’m quite excited to find out what Gon is thinking when he sees Eunseob for the first time. But not too excited. I don’t think it’s wise to have expectations that are too high with this book.

Final thoughts? Underwhelming. I know this book can’t deviate much from the show, but I was disappointed with how little extra information we learnt about Lee Lim in the Cheonjongo scene. Does he really just want *gestures vaguely* power? Is it really just because he feels it’s unfair that he wasn’t born to be the king? Come on, where’s the flavour? Does he want to be more powerful than God because he just wants power? Does he want to rule Corea? Does he want to rule the world? The multiverse??? What is his endgame here??? He gets the Manpasikjeok, then what??? I was hoping that the book would give us some more insight, but it absolutely has not done that so far. Ah well. I suppose it’s only Chapter 2. There’s still time.

Other than that, my main takeaway is that Lee Gon is taking a long, long swim in a certain river in Egypt in regards to how he’s Totally Fine And Ok after the night of the treason. Did he ever get therapy after that night? If so, his therapist didn’t do a very good job if he still thinks that he can’t tell his loved ones about his “weak” feelings because he’s the king. If he didn’t get therapy, then I want to have serious words with whoever looked at this child who just saw his father murdered and almost got murdered himself, and decided “yeah, he’ll probably be ok.”

But of course, he’s fine! It’s below the king to have these so-called “mental health struggles.”

#kitkat reads the tkem novel #tkem #lee gon #lee lim #I can’t believe they snubbed Yeong on his birthday #actually I very much can believe it #that feels very right for this show #I don’t think I have that much more to say #other than that gon being a gifted kid who could read and do maths at a very early age #but is now trying to convince himself that he’s totally perfectly fine and he can’t tell his loved ones about his problems #gon baby… so many people on this here internet can tell you that this is a slippery slope

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casdecns · 4 years

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episode twelve, the king : eternal monarch

#why 😩😩😩#CAPTAIN JO YEONG !#the king: eternal monarch #the king eternal monarch #jo yeong #BRUHHHH HE GOT SHOT WHAT #my gif #mine

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radialarch · 1 year

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trying to motivate myself to finish sex pollen by reminding myself i love sad blowjobs

---

movement. his majesty breathes out, explosive, wipes a hand through the equations with a sudden violence. jo yeong’s already halfway to him when he stumbles down onto a knee.

"your majesty." the labored breathing, and sweat-slick throat. he's never seen his majesty's eyes so dark. "this isn't sustainable." they're running out of options. there are no poisons— the flex of his majesty's fingers against his thigh. his breath on jo yeong’s wrist.

"the cameras are inactive," jo yeong says. he has already imagined his majesty's marital bed; this is just logistics. "the detail's been dismissed. you'll have full latitude to take care of your symptoms when i retire. please—"

"it's worse." his majesty, each syllable bitten off. "when you're not here."

when jo yeong was twenty-four— opening ceremony for a museum. an anti-monarchist had worked construction, smuggled in a receiver cast in polymer. the makeshift gun was only good for one shot, but they hadn't known that.

jo yeong remembers covering his majesty, caging in his shoulders, head down and low. in the enclosed space the smell of gunpowder was thick and stinging. his majesty had gone still beneath him the way he'd been trained, and jo yeong had half his attention on his majesty's pulse, the other half on the comms. hostile detained. atrium cleared. weapon recovered. he hadn't registered the heat in his side until the all-clear, shifting himself off his majesty.

"yeong," his majesty had said. his hand was on jo yeong’s jacket, sticky and wet. "you're hurt." and jo yeong had thought, with a peculiar relief: good. he'd been afraid he'd lose his nerve.

this isn't worse than being shot. this isn't anything. jo yeong's body has been a tool for a long time; it’s not his.

he's on his knees. his majesty's robe is only loosely tied, and jo yeong has wanted this for as long as he's known want.

"i can—" his voice is unrecognizable. his head, bowed, nearly touching his majesty’s shoulder. his shuddering heart. hasn't he been giving it up all this time? it doesn't change what he is to speak it. "if you wish it, i—"

his majesty gets to his feet. "you're dismissed, captain."

jo yeong had a deployment to the east sea, once. it was mid-february; his father warned it'd be cold. the wind didn't let up for three weeks. jo yeong remembers: flecks of light glinting off ice at night. the clear slicing cold stealing his breath, shocking until he went abruptly numb.

“you’re ill, your majesty,” jo yeong says. “i can’t leave you in this state.” this is the first rule jo yeong teaches every new recruit. his majesty’s life over obedience; everything else can be forgiven.

“if i ordered it,” his majesty says. he's barefoot. jo yeong's eyes catch on the skin stretched over the knob of his ankle. "if i said, yeong, stay and have sex with me. you would."

his majesty can be callous, careless; he is not cruel. jo yeong holds himself still so he won't flinch. "you need it."

his majesty, moving. his hand on jo yeong’s face, delicate, tilting him up to meet his eyes. "ah, yeong," he says, almost tender. "what i've made you."

“no, your majesty.” this is an old argument. the night before jo yeong joined the royal guard. his majesty, with uncharacteristic uncertainty: will this change you. jo yeong’s answer is the same now as it was then. “i am what i chose to be.” he would do it again, given the chance. his majesty belongs to the kingdom, but the boy, consumed with grief, and nothing between him and the world— he’s jo yeong’s.

his majesty is close, bright and brittle-eyed. his thumb is sliding along the edge of jo yeong’s jaw. “i won’t ask you not to be angry with me,” he says. as if jo yeong could. as if jo yeong hasn’t already surrendered, his miserable pounding heart laid bare for taking.

his majesty’s mouth, hot and damp. jo yeong’s ribs sliding open for the knife.

#putting your hand on your king's dick while calling him your majesty the whole time: hashtag just jo yeong things #trying not to watch more of my country until i finish this fic but this has not been helpful lmao #gotta get the unhinged sex pollen loyalty kink blowjobs out of my system before i fully fall down the impending woo do hwan rabbithole #who does gay yearning like him. no one.#some wip nonsense

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coreancitizen · 2 years

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3 times Lee Gon shoots down Koo Seo Ryeong's royal ambitions

Koo Seo Ryeong is not a stupid woman. And yet she can't seem to get the hint that the king of Corea has no interest in her whatsoever beyond how she serves the kingdom's interests as its prime minister. Sure, we saw the king play along with her photo op game, but that was BJTE era -- Before Jeong Tae Eul. After finding, meeting and falling in love with Jeong Tae Eul, Gon has no qualms whatsoever in setting the record straight with the prime minister in the bluntest royal speech possible.

Here are the three times Lee Gon firmly shoots down Koo Seo Ryeong's royal ambitions.

WHEN SHE SHOWS UP UNEXPECTEDLY IN FRONT OF THE KU BUILDING

In episode 6, the prime minister's aide delivers urgent information: The royal helicopter was granted permission to land atop the KU Building. Koo is surprised; the king is in Seoul at this late hour? The aide informs her this is something men usually do when their girlfriends miss the last train or bus back to Busan, they pick them up. But since the king has no girlfriend, that couldn't possibly be the reason for his late-night visit. And so Koo hightails it to the KU Building, where she of course finds Lee Gon with a stranger -- a woman, a young and very pretty woman.

Koo Seo Ryeong: "I'm seeing you at an unexpected hour in an unexpected place with an unexpected person, Your Majesty."

Lee Gon: "You're right. And you've put me in an awkward situation. This is a very personal occasion."

I love Gon's response here. He draws a clear line with him and Tae Eul on one side and the prime minister on the other. This is a "very personal occasion," not state business. The message here is Koo has no part in it.

Even the way part of this scene is shot illustrates this divide. These shots actually show up at the end of episode 5, where we get a shorter version of the beginning of this meeting. Right after Gon says "And you've put me in an awkward situation," we get these two quick shots. See how Gon and Tae Eul are grouped together in one and the prime minister on the other?

WHEN SHE ASKS THE KING ABOUT HIS MARRIAGE PLANS

In episode 9, the prime minister joins the king for an all-nighter as they pore over the year-end reports. Jo Eun Sup as Jo Yeong joins them, with the king attributing the presence of the captain of the Royal Guard to increased security in the palace.

At one point, while they were taking a break with some snacks -- and after Eun Sup nearly exposes himself with his "Made in the Republic of Korea" kimchi -- Koo asks Lee Gon if he isn't getting married.

Lee Gon: "That's a rather random question. Why? Do you want to marry me?"

Koo Seo Ryeong: "Can I?"

Lee Gon: "No. I already proposed to someone else. What's the next agenda?"

Eun Sup finds this all quite "aggressive" -- and it is. Gon matter-of-factly informs her he has made his choice for queen -- and it certainly is not the woman who has been angling for that position for years. Koo Seo Ryeong is left with no doubt as to who the king is referring to after their previous exchange about the "traveler" who had returned to her "daily life."

WHEN SHE CONFRONTS THE KING ABOUT HIS DECLARATION OF JEONG TAE EUL AS THE FUTURE QUEEN

At the end of episode 12, we see Koo Seo Ryeong finding out about Lee Gon's announcement of the future queen after a bloody street battle with the followers of the traitor Lee Lim. She rushes to the palace to confront the king, which is rather bold considering there was never any relationship or promise of one between them beyond that of a king and prime minister. The exchange is quite lengthy as Gon tries to determine what made Koo side with the traitor while the prime minister insists on discussing the king's declaration.

Lee Gon: "You were sick for a while. Are you feeling all right?"

Koo Seo Ryeong: "Yes, Your Majesty. An unexpected* piece of news made me get up."

Lee Gon: "We'll go over that once I'm done talking. Prime Minister Koo, you eventually pulled the gag. What's your reason? For tying me down, I mean."

Koo Seo Ryeong: "If I hadn't tied you down, where would you have gone? To make a marriage proposal?"

Lee Gon: "All right, let's talk about that first. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to talk. Everything in the news is true. She's the woman I love. I support her every step and every moment."

One of the criticisms about Gon -- and by extension, Lee Min Ho's portrayal -- in "The King Eternal Monarch" is how dispassionate he sometimes appears to be. He's been called dry, even robotic. And some have cited this scene where he is supposedly declaring his love for Jeong Tae Eul before Koo Seo Ryeong as an example.

Critics are misreading this scene, and Lee Gon. He is not declaring his love for Tae Eul here as much as informing a subject of the facts of the situation. He is not trying to convince the prime minister of his romantic choice, he doesn't need to. He is king. He doesn't care what Koo thinks. His main concern has more to do with Koo shining a spotlight on his disappearances from the palace thereby tying him down.

The scene in episode 12 actually ends with a lightning strike and the painful fiery veins showing up on Koo's neck. Gon realizes just how entangled in all this she is. But episode 13 picks up the same scene with more dialogue.

Koo Seo Ryeong: You're always so honest, Your Majesty. Even in moments like this. That woman has a criminal record. Are you to deceive the entire country?"

Lee Gon: "I'm not asking for your support on this."

I'd actually forgotten this part of their exchange. After Koo tells Gon that "that woman has a criminal record," Gon merely says he's not asking for her support. Again, this goes back to him being king. He doesn't need to explain himself. And he fully intends to handle the eventual hullaballoo over his choice of queen on his own. Let's not forget, royal marriages ARE considered affairs of state -- at least that's what all the Korean historical dramas, the sageuks, keep telling me.

And we see a bit of this in the aftermath of the street battle with the traitor's followers. The members of the Jinsun Party gather to talk about the king's declaration of the queen. They want to know what kind of family Tae Eul is from, worried that an "outsider" would gain enormous power. Having the prime minister on his side on this issue would have been helpful. But Lee Gon doesn't care. He's made his choice and it's certainly not up to Prime Minister Koo Seo Ryeong and/or the kingdom's political party in power.

At the beginning of this scene in episode 12, we see Koo staring at the throne in the main hall through the glass window in the king's office. I'm not sure it was mentioned in the drama when becoming queen became her goal but we'd seen her move closer to that throne -- at least physically. She started in the back of the hall and eventually found herself standing in front of the king, accepting her confirmation as prime minister. Maybe that's when she began dreaming about queenship. Unfortunately for her, political savvy and looking good together in photos were not on Gon's list of attributes he looked for in a woman, or a future queen. Lee Gon needed someone who saw him as a man first, who loved him for who he is, not what he is. Koo Seo Ryeong never understood that, never understood him. And that's why she was never going to become Corea's queen.

#the king eternal monarch #lee gon #the king: eternal monarch #koo seo ryeong

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