My Country The New Age - Tumblr Posts
it’s the “i thought i had nothing to lose. but i realized i do have something i don’t want to lose. i’m talking about you” and the “your sword still feels affectionate” and the “he is my dearest friend” and the “my country was just one step behind me. if only i had realized it sooner” for me
two very different characters
same name
two different dramas
watching at the same time
Weird.
NAILED IT.
Nailed all the issues I had with her character.
This is it, folks.
I feel like they tried too hard to appeal to the audience with her characteristics rather than trying to give those characteristics a good story that would itself be compelling for the audience. That's why she's all wishy-washy, try-too-hard-in-really-random-moments-and-not-at-all-in-the-right-ones.
...also yeah...the romance scenes...they really were not it. ("this is your super obvious reminder that our MLs are just frieeeends!!!!!!!!!!!") (I have no problem with them just being friends...I actually love it bc it makes their story that much more powerful. I just think that if that was their - the writers' - goal...shouldn't they have stuck to it??? idk)
MC is such a strong story, could've been even stronger if HJ hadn't been in it at all, or if the writers had just gotten a grip, a goal for her, and carried it out
Ask meme! - Hui-jae: underdeveloped character and a *diaster* leader
strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree
Like an 85% agree?
Disaster leader--I want to say strong agree. Madam Seo kept Ihwaru safe her whole life by maintaining its political neutrality, only selling secrets here and there, never actively taking sides. Hui-jae jumps into politics before becoming Ihwaru’s head and never adjusts to being neutral once she does get that role, and the reckoning does come--I’m not sure how many of Ihwaru’s people got killed or wounded by Seung-gye’s attack, but at least a decent number. And Hui-jae’s reason for siding with Bang-won over Nam Jeon is not about helping Ihwaru or what is the right path for Joseon, it’s about helping Hwi and getting revenge for her mother’s death. Understandable reasons but her priority as Ihwaru’s head really should have been Ihwaru.
(Technically everyone at Ihwaru is free to leave and she in fact tells them not to be there when she’s expecting an attack. They choose to be there and to follow her. But the fact that they don’t listen to her does say something about her leadership--and also, she’s still responsible for putting them in this danger. Ihwaru is meant to be a gisaeng house that dabbles in spying. It’s Hui-jae’s job to keep it from having to face this kind of direct attack.)
On the other hand, she also says that she paid off her gisaeng workers’ debts so that they’re free to leave and that’s pretty cool. I mean “freeing slaves” is always a good thing. Bang-won does this just once, for Jeong Beom when he burns his papers, and it’s a very emotional moment. Hui-jae does it for a huge number of people offscreen. Admittedly doing it offscreen kind of undercuts it, and they never explore it--it’s more like a side note of “just to make sure you know Hui-jae’s a good person despite running a gisaeng house, you should know all of the gisaengs chose to be here.” Which.... I mean, I would indeed have a hard time rooting for someone who ran a gisaeng house with lots of women being forced to work as gisaengs there, but it also feels like the writers want to preserve her moral purity as the main female character/love interest, which is not a courtesy they give almost anyone else. Still, as far as leadership goes, that’s pretty good.
Underdeveloped character--Well yeah. For me I think it’s less that she’s not developed enough and more that she’s developed inconsistently? She is willing to risk her life to protest the oncoming war, but you don’t see her speaking out against it again after the first episode, and that view doesn’t seem to be why she throws in with the queen-to-be, supporting Yi Seung-gye. She’s in love with Hwi, but they also are constantly separated, and she only seems to prioritize their relationship at the exact worst moments. She at first wants to leave Ihwaru to gain influence working for the not-yet-queen, but then leaves the now-queen and returns to Ihwaru for no clear reason. She becomes leader of Ihwaru and seems like she’s going to prioritize them, but then puts them in danger with her lack of neutrality. It’s hard to track her motivations.
I wish the writers had given her a more coherent plot arc because she has individual scenes that do slap--her almost killing the guy who killed her mother, for example, or Madam Seo’s death scene and Hui-jae taking on the mantle of head of Ihwaru, or her seeking out the not-yet-queen and demanding employment (actually I liked that whole arc and enjoyed her dynamic with Bang-won a lot). But yeah, they seem to say “Hui-jae should be in this episode--let’s give her some random plot-relevant thing to do” without considering whether it suits her character arc. I’d have a hard time even saying what her character arc is. It’s all over the place.
Also, on a side note, the main issue with selling her romance with Hwi is Seon-ho and I don’t even say that in a “I ship Hwi/Seon-ho too much” kind of way--I DO ship Hwi and Seon-ho too much but also. Every time she and Hwi are having a romantic scene it’s either directly before or directly after a more compelling scene with Seon-ho. Their cute little kite scene and walking home with Yeon on Hwi’s back? Seon-ho just had a dramatic confrontation with Chi-do and is sadly going home to nurse his wounds alone and you KNOW that’s what we’re thinking about. Hwi and Hui-jae’s reunion when she tracks him down to his shack? I’m not 100% sure I’m remembering this correctly but wasn’t Seon-ho just in a tense meeting with Hwi in that shack and isn’t he still hiding back there like he’s Hwi’s secret mistress while Hui-jae and Hwi are talking? Hwi and Hui-jae have a Meaningful Conversation in the last episode but Hwi has a Meaningful Conversation with Seon-ho like right before it and I’m distracted. Listen. They needed to not distract me with Seon-ho if they wanted me to invest in this ship!
But anyways, tangents aside--yeah they should have done more with Hui-jae. Or rather, they should have done less with Hui-jae in that they should have figured out her plot arc and stuck with it instead of bouncing her around.
⚔️🛡️🗡️ my country: the new age (2019)
⚔️🛡️🗡️ my country: the new age (2019)
It warms my heart that when the whole world treated Seon-ho like an unloveable piece of trash, there was still Sung-rok
Just saw this and… because I haven’t said it in a while, I love Nam Seon Ho. The broken beauty.
When it comes to Hwi and Hui-Jae, I can’t help but feel that he just didn’t want her enough like that to start a life with her. She asked him to. Several times. But Hwi always prioritized his revenge, his sister, his army buddies and his dealings and feelings for his soulmate-nemesis over her.
He could have walked straight to her when he came back from Liaodong, but instead he just let her think he was dead. For four years! And that could have turned into forever if she hadn’t accidentally run into him.
Then he told her he was busy with things, but that she could wait.
However, after he stopped being busy, he skipped town. For six years!
Then he returned, being busy again, and told her again that she could wait.
After he achieved his goals and stopped being busy, he was mostly seen with his old army buddies on his free time. Sometimes feeling blue because his soulmate-nemesis skipped town after he hurt him so badly. This went on for almost two years! During this time one of his old army buddies, who had been as busy as him, had time to court and marry one of Hui-Jae’s friends.
And eventually he became busy again with what Bang-won needing his help and his soulmate-nemesis reappearing and Hwi trying to charm him back.
So, I don’t know, I think he loved her, but maybe more like a friend after the initial crush faded. I want to think that he just never had the heart to tell it to her face rather than leading her on on purpose. She was also his one chance to start a traditional family if he should feel like it one day. It can be hard to close that kind of door permanently. Especially when things at that time were more on the nemesis than soulmate side with Seon-ho.
(To me My Country: The New Age is ultimately a love story between Hwi and Seon-ho. (With some delicious flirting from a prince, softness from a faithful sword wielder and bisexual confusion sprinkled in.) I’ve also given up and started skipping all Hwi & Hui-Jae emotional scenes, because I don’t feel like the chemistry is there and those scenes disrupt the pacing of the main plot. And I just grew tired of seeing those passive tears.)
FR
Acting Master Class - MicroExpressions, (feat. oh cmon yall know wtfish this post is gon b about-)
K so we all kno WDH is lyk amazing at acting & fish right? but may i present, in a scene that lasts LESS THAN TWO MIN, NO LESS!!! a sampling of just WHY our boi so webdinged good at wut he does!?!
enter the master;
sit yo fine ass down,
and let me show yall what im on about.
a. lip quirk;
b. eyebrows;
c. eyes,
d. face in gen.
And here, theres MOISTURE in his eye(s). Like, unshed tears. WTAFISH.
e. nose squinch.
Ohh Dohwan, DH, how DO you do it!?!
"Well let me tell you-"
BONUS: JAW! CLENCH!
WOO DO HWAN as NAM SEON HO JANG HYUK as YI BANG WON
in my country: the new age (2019)
Costume Appreciation: Woo Do Hwan in My Country: The New Age (2019) » Nam Seon Ho + armor
I opened that incorrect quotes generator thingo and tried it on MCTNA and uh, ¯\_( ᐛ)_/¯ . Anyway, to anyone having a crappy day !!
(But like, also bad luck, y’kno. Definitely bad luck.)
Excerpt of conversation that took place right before tragedy:
This works both ways 😭
Hwi and Seonho every time they rendezvous in that sad little shack.
This is Episode 12.
In another perspective, MCTNA is a comedy.
The quarantine in reference is just those couple hours between Bangwon letting SeonHwi go at the end of Episode 15 and then changing his mind at the start of Episode 16.
This is pre-canon SeonHwi.
Alternatively, Moonbok and Hwi.
SeonSeong beginning their partnership:
(Seongrok is also probably an atheist).
This is them in that two-year time skip in Jurchen village.
He’s right.
Some reparations for being a migraine, Hwi.
It’s funny because it doesn’t work the other way around but Seonho is actually Seongrok’s boss lmfao.
(This is a rant about the lack of Seongrok in canon).
This is Episode 14 when Bangwon was like, “Oh, you’re back :/” and Seonho was all [bloodshot eyes, breathing heavily], “I Would Literally Eat Your Entire Family For Breakfast.”
…
Here’s the link for anyone who just wants to have a serotonin-boost or carry out any creative endeavours with the over-100 prompts, have fun :D
I kept thinking abt a post you did pointing water = death in mctna... and yes! if we think yeon as a cloud/rain/water.... it adds a new meaning. that scene in ep 01 when they're all happy is by the river. when hwi is with the troops he thinks abt yeon and hui-jae by the river. yeon dies by the river. when hwi tries to kill himself is by the river AND HE TALKS TO YEON. seon-ho talks to yeon by the river.... the last episode everyone is reunited BY THE RIVER. still grieving but they carry on with the good memories they have of hwi, seon-ho and yeon.
Everyday i woke up and think abt mctna jsgshagaga (im losing my mind)
exactly exactly!!!! also seon ho's brother died in the river as well, and they scattered yeon's ashes into the river that's why hwi and seon ho were both talking to her by the river. it's all cyclical and connecting and clicking and Fateful and i Love it!!!!
i can't stop thinking about mctna either afsvdbdh ✊🏼🙃😅 this is fine 🥴👁👄👁
– will you continue to fight? – ask my sword.
WOO DO HWAN as NAM SEON HO in my country: the new age (2019), dir. kim jin-won
🌙 NAM SEON HO + that kiddo 🌻 My Country: The New Age (2019)
nam seon-ho is just *helps seo hwi* this is the last thing i do for you *saves seo hwi’s life* this is the last thing i do for you *saves him again* this is the last thing i do for you *bleeds for him* this is the last thing i d—
MY COUNTRY: THE NEW AGE — episode fourteen
I always thought I only had two choices in life. The worst and the second-worst choice.
- I didn’t order her to do that. She did because you couldn’t let her go ! - You’re wrong ! It’s because you pulled us apart. It’s because… you stole me from her. WOO DO HWAN as NAM SUN-HO in MY COUNTRY : THE NEW AGE.