we talking suüp?

Mr. Queen is a 2020 Korean comedy about a pompous chef who gets his handsome dirtbag ass isekai'd back into the body of a Joseon-era queen and has to find his way back home amidst the indignities of court intrigue, assassination attempts, and not having a dick.

This show is silly. It's a laugh-out-loud funny tale with exaggerated physical comedy and sight gags aplenty. The Viki subtitlers have done a heroic job keeping up with the sheer volume of wordplay. And it's not just relying on the transmigration gimmick to fuel low-hanging 'dude looks like a lady' jokes -- pretty much every aspect of the show, from the writing to the directing to the acting, is way higher-quality than you might expect from a setup this ridiculous.

If the goofball premise sounds interesting to you, then you should keep reading for five reasons I think you should get on board with this body-swapping, history-bending, genderfucky good time.

1. Transgender Dysphoria Blues

The basic starting conceit of the show is that a cishet man suddenly finds himself the sole owner and operator of a cishet woman's body, in a context where his ability to convincingly perform archaic femininity to the letter can literally be a life-or-death matter. And oh boy, is he upsetti spaghetti about it.

As the show goes on, though, it gets more complicated than that, as the absent queen's memories -- though not her meek personality -- start re-emerging. Then he's got to navigate the territory of still having all his own thoughts and desires and having them encroached upon by all things he now knows about what happened before he arrived on the scene. The narrative voiceover even changes from his to hers (and yes, I can tell the main reason they do this is in preparation for later romance with the king, but whatever), further blurring the lines between the two of them.

I have to take a moment here to say that this 90% of this show's success rests on the shoulders of the actor playing the queen, Shin Hyesun, who knocks it out of the park. She's so funny. Big and bright and manic, she egolessly throws herself at the role. Even watching her merely try to walk in fifty layers of fancy skirts, you absolutely believe that that's a boy in there.

The rest of the cast is stellar, but nothing they could do would make the show work if she didn't make it work. And she makes it work. Do you know how difficult it is to be a woman playing a man who's pretending to be a woman who's sometimes also pretending to be a man? She makes it look effortless.

I'm going to put a slight content warning on this one for all us failed girlies out there (you know, those of us who have at some point in our lives been expected to live up to feminine social standards, only to disappoint ourselves and everyone around us by our inability to do so convincingly): You may find this fun and liberating genderfuck, or it may send you spiraling, and I'm sorry I can't promise which. There's something that happens near the end that might legitimately count as body horror, or might be an aspirational fantasy (or even a kink!), depending on your perspective. This all shouldn't scare anyone off, but it is a thing to keep in mind, especially if you're someone with a complicated relationship to femininity.

So if you need to watch someone having pretty catastrophic gender dysphora for twenty episodes, but it's funny? This is a can't-miss.

Context for the first one is on twitter, it's not my own design. <3

Forgiveness-?

“I- I…”

Her throat seemed to shrivel and dry as she tried to speak.

Every word she might’ve spoken dying far before they could even reach her lips.

“I’m-” Seeing Huisu’s growing panic, Jihyeon seems to choke and stumble over her words.

“Hey- Huisu- Huisu-” She reaches out, gently wrapping her hands around Huisu’s shoulders. “I’m not blaming you- I’m not mad, I’m just…” A few seconds of contemplation don’t seem to yield the words she’s looking for. Jihyeon blows out a breath in frustration, pausing to steady herself.

”I don’t know what I’m feeling right now. This is… a lot.” She murmurs, absentmindedly tapping her fingers against Huisu’s arm. The latter recognizes the rhythm.

How many things will cross our path?

How many things will leave us?

Huisu nods shakily, taking a breath of her own. “It.. Yeah. It is.” The trembling in her arms abates, leaving her feeling oddly numb.

How could Jihyeon not blame her-?

She was the reason her life had been changed like this

Her memories warped

Mixed and twisted

irreversibly.

She’d written the book

“Hey, Huisu?“

she’d tempted the devil

“Huisu?”

she’d

“Chaerin?”

Huisu snaps back up, blinking. Jihyeon is looking at her, worry creasing her brows. Her hands have moved up to Huisu’s shoulders, holding them firmly.

“Are you alright-? You zoned out for a second there.” Jiyeon’s grip on Huisu loosens as her confidence that Huisu can hold herself up returns.

Just nod

It’s not worth talking about now

“I’m okay.” Huisu murmurs. A pang of something flickers through her as Jihyeon draws back, pulling her hands back into her lap.

The wind from the air conditioning prods at her exposed arms

just cold enough to be uncomfortable, goosebumps prickling up on her skin

It reminds her of cold nights in her apartment

the heater that was somehow always broken during winter

Of the breezy chill that swept through the classroom

Makeshift blankets and warm bodies piled together to conserve warmth

Cold tile and a patch of floor just barely illuminated by a shaft of moonlight

the soft sounds of a guitar and a girl’s voice

Their warm breaths clouding the air

The look in her eyes-

.

Huisu snaps herself back to reality

There are more pressing things to figure out.

Chewing her lip absentmindedly, she looks up.

“Jihyeon- How long has it been since you…” She trails off, not sure how to explain it. Jiyeon tilts her head, seeming to get her meaning.

“A few days?”

She seems unsure. She raises a hand, flicking her fingers down

one

by

one.

“Four days.”

Huisu notices the bags under her eyes when she looks back up.

”I wasn’t sure what was going on at first- it was. Disorienting, to say the least.”

“But, once I got my bearings, I..”

Jihyeon meets her eyes, something flickering in them that Huisu can’t quite define.

“I wanted to find you. I didn’t know where you were, but.. If there was anyone who was sure to have woken up too…” A small smile flickers across her lips, more rueful than joyful.

“I was sure it would be you.”

Huisu swallows a gulp of dry air.

She isn’t sure how to respond to that.

Her mind is still racing

thought

after thought

after thought

flicking through her mind at a frantic pace

…

Jihyeon scratches her neck awkwardly, noticing the lull in conversation.

“I asked around a bit and some of.. ‘our’ mutual friends told me where you were, but, um.. I haven’t managed to find anyone else yet. I’ve checked social media, but there are- a lot of people with the same names.”

She murmurs, grimacing with frustration.

“Since you wrote the story, I figured if everyone had real counterparts you’d be our best shot at getting back in contact.”

Huisu nods numbly.

“I… I can try to find them.”

The fog in her head is pushing forward again

blurring Jihyeon’s face

slurring her words together

her body feels so heavy all of a sudden.

”Huisu-? Hey-!”

The last thing she feels as she collapes backwards is Jihyeon’s arms,

the comfort of her embrace, (however panicked the action may have been),

and her warm breaths on Huisu’s forehead.

…

Her body feels like it’s burning

Fire licking at her chest, her forehead and face

Her head throbs with pain, and a dull ache ebbs and flows in her limbs

She’s too weak to try to haul herself out of the blaze

if there even is a shore to rest on

The devil must be chuckling at Huisu from wherever she’d ended up.

She drifts in and out of lucidity, catching only bits and pieces of conversations

“Lost consciousness?”

“Under a lot of stress…”

“…Malnourished”

“Her immune system…”

None of it fully registers to her.

For now, she is far away from it

Everything is far away

Floating in a lake of fire

the only sound to reach her ears

the crackling of her own flesh

Her sins crawl under her skin

Skittering like insects

They nestle deep within her chest

And squeeze tight around her lungs

Every breath burns, the air searing Huisu’s lungs as if each brachiole were an open, aching wound

somewhere, far below her, Huisu swears she hears something almost like a laugh echoing up from the depths

It’s what you deserve, no?

You know what you’ve done,

Huisu Kim.

Chaerin Eun.

You know what you did.

Huisu wakes in a cold sweat.

Frantically, her hands search her body for…

what, exactly?

No fire

No bugs

No voice speaking to her

No warm arms around her.

Jihyeon..?

She whips her head around,

more machines than before surround her

beeping and glowing and doing..

whatever they did

behind the wall of screens and lights that surrounded her

there she was

slumped over on an uncomfortable looking stool

back pressed into the closest corner beyond Huisu’s metal walls

She’s still here.

“Jihyeon…”

Huisu murmurs weakly

It’s all she can choke out

Jihyeon jolts up almost immediately, head whipping around to see who’d called her.

Her eyes land on Huisu

Oh, her eyes.

Huisu has never seen more relief wash across a person’s face

especially not because of her

“Chaerin-!”

Jihyeon staggers up, stumbling and reaching a hand to the wall to steady herself as the blood seems to rush up to her head. Huisu sits up, concerned, but Jihyeon holds out a hand.

“Agh- Nope, keep lying down.” She gestures at Huisu, regaining her bearings. “Please-?” The request is tentative, seeing as Huisu still seems to want to get up and rush over to Jihyeon.

Reluctantly, Huisu lowers herself back down to her pillow. Her arms, now past their initial rush of adrenaline, tremble with the effort, and she simply collapses down the last few inches to her pillow.

Blowing out a relieved breath, Jihyeon pushes off of the wall, reaching out and scooting some of the less essential looking machines

out

of

the

way

Inching closer, she sits on the edge of Huisu’s bed.

Hesitantly lifting a hand

Reaching out

Her fingers (radiating a sort of warmth) just barely brush the skin of Huisu’s arm

but

She pulls back,

fiddling idly with her hands as if looking for a proper place to settle them.

Oh.

Huisu can’t help the way something in her feels… almost disappointed.

Her hospital bed is so cold

The thin blanket and papery scrubs don’t do much to keep the cold out

.

“You, um…”

Jihyeon begins, reaching a hand up to massage her temple.

“Fainted. Malnutrition, they said. That, and too much stress right after waking up.”

Her mouth twitches guiltily. Huisu blinks, taking in the sight of her.

Jihyeon looks… tired.

Her eyebags seem deeper, darker than the last time Huisu had seen her.

Her clothes are messy, thrown on hastily and without much care

Creases decorate her face, stretching across her brows and down to the corners of her eyes.

Her eyes

Her eyes.. are bloodshot, her eyelids red and slightly swollen.

As Huisu watches, a tiny droplet, glittering like crystal, slowly rolls down her cheek.

Is she… crying?

Jihyeon notices Huisu’s gaze, cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment.

“Oh- Right.”

She moves a hand down to wipe her eyes self consciously. “I’m sorry, I probably look like a mess right now.”

Huisu shakes her head, wincing even with the slight movement.

“Not worse than I do, I’m sure.”

She can feel it herself. The weakness in her arms isn’t simply superficial. Her limbs are thinner, layers of muscle having atrophied away during her “absence” from her body.

Wincing, Jihyeon scrunches up her face. She seems to be trying to come up with any sort of comforting retort.

“Nnnnnoooooo-?”

Huisu lets out a weak laugh at her pained expression, waving it off.

“Joking, sorry.”

A tired looking nurse holding a clipboard walks in, striding over to Chaerin’s side and giving each of the machines by her side a glance.

She turns to Jihyeon, lips pressed together sympathetically.

“Visiting hours are ending soon.” She states, pointing up at the clock on the wall.

10:50

Huisu glances up at Jihyeon, her brow furrowing

“Jeez, how long have you been here-?”

Scratching her head, Jihyeon shrugs sheepishly.

“Probably too long. I guess I should go. But, um..”

She trails off, fiddling with her hands.

Seeing her hesitation, the nurse’s gaze softens.

“I’ll let you two wrap things up. However, I expect you out of this room by eleven PM sharp, Ms. Jung.”

Hints of a smile slip through her rough demeanor as she gives Jihyeon a brisk pat on the back.

Jihyeon bows her head gratefully. “I will be. Thank you, Nurse Ham.”

And just like that

the two of them were alone again

Huisu looks up at Jihyeon, the latter’s eyes cast away from her into some uninteresting corner of the room.

“But?”

She tilts her head, leaning closer to Jihyeon.

“I don’t know,” Jihyeon begins, fingers still twitching with anxious energy, “I guess I just wanted to tell you..”

“I don’t blame you, Cha- … Huisu.”

Huisu’s brows crease.

“Huh-?”

But-

Jihyeon raises a hand, scratching at the back of her neck.

“We should- probably talk more about this later. I just wanted to tell you, I guess?”

She finally settles on clasping her hands in front of her, swaying lightly back and forth.

“I’ve had some time to think it over since the last time we talked, and...”

“As… Surprising? As it was to find out that I’d.. had an entire character written after me, and as hard as it’s been adjusting to the new me, I don’t want you to blame yourself for that.”

Jihyeon finally looks up, meeting Huisu’s eyes.

“You saved that half of me, Huisu.”

Huisu feels tears begin to prickle at her vision.

Jihyeon… Didn’t blame her?

It had been hard enough for her to adjust to her new body, her new reality, and she’d already had her memories since the start

For her to go through all of that as well

And not hate her-?

The tears finally break free, rolling hot down Huisu’s cheeks,

“Hey!” Jihyeon exclaims, placing a hand on the bed railing and leaning down to awkwardly envelop Huisu in a one armed hug. ”I said all that so you wouldn’t cry-” She murmurs, half joking, half concerned.

There’s a slight choked tug to her voice,

as if she’s trying to hold back tears of her own.

Huisu chokes out a laugh. She tries to lift her arms and reciprocate the gesture, but her exhaustion seems to have caught up to her again.

Every fibre of her body bemoans the movements she forces upon it, crying for rest. Still, she leans forward, managing to at least rest her hand on top of Jihyeon’s.

She’s warm…

“Ahem.”

Jihyeon and Huisu both swivel around.

Nurse Ham is leaning against the doorframe, one eyebrow raised.

“Out by eleven, hm, Ms. Jung?”

“Ah-!”

Startled, Jihyeon gives her eyes a quick swipe and straightens up.

Huisu almost laughs at Jihyeon’s pin-straight posture and panicked expression. Words begin to fall from her mouth rapidfire as she quickly gathers up the tote bag she’d left by the stool in the corner.

“Right, I’ll be back tomorrow, Huisu. After work, i mean, but as soon as possible- Try to rest as much as you can, I’ll try to do the, uh- get in contact with those people.”

Almost falling out of the doorway, she gives one last wave as she leaves.

“Sorry, Nurse Ham!”

Nurse Ham blows out a breath, chuckling under her breath.

“Every time.” She murmurs fondly, walking up to Huisu.

“As for you. How are you feeling?”

She reaches out a hand, examining Huisu’s arm and the IV slipped into her wrist. Her grip is firm, but gentle. Warm.

“Tired.”

Huisu murmurs honestly, feeling her eyelids beginning to droop.

Nurse Ham snorts. “If that ain’t the truth.” She lays Huisu’s arm back down, giving her a cursory glance. ”No discomfort or other concerns, eh?”

“Mrhmmm..”

A weak hum is all Huisu can muster. Gravity has taken its toll on her, pulling her deeper into the thin pillows and mattress of her hospital bed.

“I’ll leave you to rest, then.”

The voice is far off, muffled, almost. Reluctant as she might be to experience dreams like the ones she’d had before, the lure of sleep is too strong for Huisu to resist.

She lets herself drift away

Slowly

Slowly

Slowly

A familiar melody chimes in her mind.

So that they can stay there forever

I’ll put them in a box in my heart

And never open it again.

“If there really is a ‘real world’ for us all out there,”

“You’ll find me, won’t you?

“I believe you will, Chaerin. After all,”