Choices LIs ruined me. Oh, and I love writing.

seeing your almost girlfriend cry

then suddenly one day; out of nowhere; yihyun ask taeseok to get saebom out of the apartment, and on top of that, ask to protect her; saying it's his last wish. It's a given taeseok know right away he's infected; the sole reason the stubborn slash confident man become helpless and beg for his help instead.

* i'll keep this updated frequently. I try not to write historical facts that can be spoiliers to the show. I'll write spoilery facts after it is aired.

* if anyone has any questions, my ask box is open. I'll answer as long as i know

This drama is based on historical novel with the same title "옷소매 붉은 끝동(the red sleeve)". This is a fiction based on real people king jeongjo(real name yisan), the 22nd king of joeseon and his noble consort seong deok-im(aka uibin, the title that was given as a noble consort)

Yisan was a son of crown prince sado who lived and died tragically. The granpa king yeongjo was a great king but was a horrible abusive worst father of all time. Yeongjo wanted a perfect crown prince but sado was far from it. Yeongjo started to hate his own son. He gaslighted and psychologicaly tortured sado too much since very young that sado develped serious mental problems. He slowly lost his mind and got insane. at some point he started to murder his servants. It is estimated that he killed more than 100 people. When sado planned to assasinate his father, yeongjo, his mother(the woman that yisan called grandma who died in the begining of the drama) had to tell it to the king. Because it was too late to save her crazy son sado but she could save her grandson. If sado lives on and does more crazy stuff that will make his entire family killed including yisan. So she told the king about sado's plan. And the king had sado go inside a small rice chest. King himself nailed that chest so that sado can't get out. he did himself because if someone else do it than sado's son yisan might revenge him. It was mid summer hot day. The crown pince sado died in 8 days with dehydration, heatstroke and starvation Sado was 27 and yisan was 10.

This traumatized little yisan. As he was the son of the sinner, the traitor sado, people that were involved in sado's death did not want him to be next king. He had many assasination attempt since kid. He studied all night long because he had to stay alert for the assasination. That made him the smartest king of joseon(along with the great king sejong and seongjong) ironically.

Sado made some court ladies his concubines. That wasn't desirable but not really serious crime but his father yeongjo was furious about it. He hated that crown prince made children with low class women(yisan had half siblings). And he scolded his son harshly for that. In red sleeve, yisan doesn't want to be close with any of court ladies because of that. Yisan never should do anything that would angry his grandpa. He shouldn't be like sado. He should be the flawless crown prince that grandpa wants: doesn't play, doesn't like women too much, only study, have traits of tru king. If his grandpa abandons him and makes other royal son the next king, he's dead. They will all kill him. Yisan has to survive. And he has to be a great king. (Yisan(jeongjo) was indeed the last great king of joseon, the revolutionary king, the king that 18 century needed)

Hong Jung-yeo from red sleeve who doesn't want yisan to be king is noron. Noron is like a political party to simplify. They were the one that made yeongjo the king but their power was too strong. Too strong for the king to suppress. Noron was sado's political enemy. They pleaded to the king that sado must die. Therefore Noron was yisan's enemy. They did anything to stop him from becoming the king and when he became the king they did anything to stop whatever he does. Hong jung-yeo was yisan's maternal grandfather's younger brother. Yisan's mother's family hong clan was leader of noron. They did not help sado when he was executed.

Yeongjo in red sleeve may looks like a toxic old grandpa which is ture.. but he tried his best to make joseon better for all people, common people who can't raise their voice. He made many policies for common people. In his time, so many political parties fought against each other like hell. Yeongjo tried to balance them and strengthen royal authority so that he has the power to suppress privileged elite nobles who exploit commoners. He used to gathered commoners around infront of the place and have them tell him whatever they want. This is called "인문(inmun)". He did inmum 29 times in his reign. thousands of people went to see the king every inmun. As i said before he was great king but horrible father.

King's daughers are not actually all the same princeses. Daughters of legitimate qeen are titled 'gongju공주' and daughters of concubine(=noble consort)'s are titled 'ongju'. Ongju is lower class. Princess hwawan is ongju. (Imagine the rudness. how dare ongju thinks she is higher than the queen in red sleeve) Her and sado's mother was concubine who was originally a court lady. (Yes. Yeongjo made court lady his concubine. Actually he himself was a son of former court lady who became noble consort after having a son. However he hated when his son sado did the same)

Yeongjo favored some of his children more for no reason. He despised his heir sado but somehow he loved sado's younger sister, princess hwawan

Joseon's royals usually married around 8-10 and lived in the court for more years (for they are just children) then went out and live their life. Yisan married when he was 11 and his wife queen hyoui was 10. In red sleeve yisan is not married yet but he should already be married by now if it was historically accurate. He and his queen's relationship was bad when they were young because princess hwawan and other people came between them. But later they became close partners but had no children

In history, Yisan asked deok-im to be his noble consort when he was 16 and she was 15. But she rejected because yisan's legitimate wife hadn't have children yet. Yisan respected her words. And also as he didn't want to make same mistake as his late father, he didn't pursue more. But he later wrote that he always thought of her as his consort even after the first rejection.

Normally court ladies are from lowest class. But deok-im wasn't. Her family was like a middle management class. Not noble but not commoner either. Her father worked for yisan's mother's family. Deok-im became apprentice court lady aroud 8. Yisan's mother kept her and raised her as her own daughters are all married and lived elsewhere. So it is believed that yisan and deok-im knew each other since they were kids

As yisan's queen couldn't get pregnant, yisan had to have noble consorts (concubine). It wasn't his will but it was one of his most important duties to produce an heir. The first noble consort was wonbin. Guess who that is? Deokro's little sister. That 13 year old girl married 28 year old king yisan. Of course deokro forced that marriage. The poor girl didn't adapt to court life and died 1 year after

Yisan had a concubine, hwabin from noble family but she didn't give him a child either. He hasn't had any child until he was 30. This was very late for him.

Yian asked deok-im to be his consort second time when they were around 30. She rejected again! This time yisan punished deok-im's inferiors so deok-im accepted it. Deok-im was the only nobel consort that he chose himself and only court lady he ever had interested in unlike other joseon's king. If producing an heir was his only purpose he would have chosen more noble ladies in late teens but he chose his first love who was in 30. Because he always only wanted her. Deok-im got pregnant immediately after becoming the noble consort.

Deok-im really did trasnscript novel "곽장양문록" with yisan's two sister when she was court lady. It is believed that she was close with yisan's sister as yisan's mother raised her. There are three more people that transcripted the novel, bok-yeon, young-hee, kyung-hee were their names. In red sleeve they are deok-im's close friends

Yisan though novels are worthless. That is why he bought "real books" to her in red sleeves

Yisan later revealed that deok-im was smart, intelligent and wise and that he counted on her. He said he loved her so much. this was unusual because joseon's kings do not express their love for a woman. He wrote a short biography of her when she died. Normally king's concubines are forgotten from history since they are insignificant but yisan couldn't let her be forgotten like that. So we know about deok-im, yisan's love and how he was rejected two times through his writings

Yisan's mother lady hong wrote "The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyeong" detailing her life as the ill-fated Crown Princess, her husband's descent into madness and the deeds for which he was eventually put to death. We should take grain of salt reading this because like i said earlier her family was noron. Her own family was against sado. Yisan's grandfather's younger brother, hong jung-yeo was against yisan. Some historians say lady hong wrote that book to make exuse for her family.

If anyone wants to know how yisan's father sado got insane and how traumatazing yisan's childhood was, watch 2015 movie "사도(english title: the throne)" parasite's song kang-ho star as yeongjo and yoo ah-in star as crown prince sado.

Deokro was indeed good looking man. Deokro is his pen name. His real name is 홍국영(hong guk-yeong). Yisan's mother wrote in her memoirs that deokro had a pretty face

Abuse as love, abuse as part of love - this is so so so fucked up and made more horrifying by the fact that the old King genuinely loves Yi San as much as he can love anyone AND is someone who both has the means and the temperament to chop off his head if he breathes wrong.

The ghost of Sado hangs over this entire story - both because that is why the King goes unhinged at any hint of Yi San not being perfect - he wonders if it’s the slide into homicidal insanity of Yi San’s father and because all their interactions, all of Yi San’s reactions are informed by the knowledge that the King loved his father too, and yet murdered him in a deliberate and horrific manner and so there is no safety net for him, just knowledge that he can always be next. 

But yes, when the old King keeps saying “you can change” and keeps hitting him hard enough to draw blood - it’s utter lack of surprise on Yi San’s face that gets me. It’s horror and despair and animal mute endurance, but absolutely no surprise because this is not the first or the tenth time it has happened. And you can tell the moment Deok Im realizes this too.

You know, it says giant volumes for the kind of person Yi San is that this type of insane upbringing didn’t turn him into an unhinged monster. Because pampering and concept of being above everyone mixed with uncertainty and regular abuse are not how stable people are made!

And my mind flashes to how the King killed Sado - locked him up in a rice chest and had him die of hunger/thirst/lack of air. This isn’t it or anywhere near, but the whole being locked up alone is a sliding scale of same and you know it occurs to Yi San as well - that this humane imprisonment can easily turn into a much more confining and deadly form of lock up.

And as much I want to comfort Du Shik, I don't blame the people blaming him. Just like PDnim said, it was a bad luck all across.

Du shik lost a person that had absolutely adopted him as a brother and the survivor's guilt was enough to eat him up. But he already was trembling before the accident. It would have been easier for him carry on if there had been no accident, but bad times never rings a doorbell. In this case, the truck of doom didn't even bother slowing down. Damn you truck of doom.

So I don't blame the wife. She was a new mother and lost her better half. And while she knew about Du Shik, her own emotions got better of her. So I don't mind that she didn't apologize. The person Du shik needs a final closure is from himself. The pain he goes through is somehow far more internal. And boy is so so kind. The things that happened to the guard was nowhere Du shik's fault. He didn't have to pay for his bills. He didn't even have to check up on him. He had no such obligations. And yet he suffered. I'm glad that Do Ha apologised but it absolutely broke my heart that even in that moment Du Shik was blaming himself.

Anyway. Hye Jin best girl. She stayed, listened, held him and let him cry and smile. That is how relationships are supposed to be.

Homcha said no useless breakup in this neighbourhood. we do straight up divorces and reconciling. (I'm sorry. the attempted backhug of Hwa Jeong and Yeong Guk was the only laughter in this pillow-wetting episode. Even the kids were working overtime to make everyone cry.)

His inner demon was himself so the only person that could really allow him to heal was HIMSELF and he did it!

Despite out current situation, if you can promise that you’ll someday open up to me, I could wait. I’m not asking you to open up to me right now. All I want is for you to aknowledge the possibility. Am I part of the future you paint? And do you think that you could see a future with me? That’s all I wanted to know.

he lives his life equating his worthiness with how helpful he is. the more helpful he is, the better and of course people will want him around. because they need him. and when people look to someone else for the same things he’s helped them with, his immediate thought is to go “oh they don’t need me”

and if people don’t need him, why would they want him around? it’s why he gets jealous and petty and then goes to hide at home without telling anyone he’s hurt physically or mentally. it’s why it’s so significant when hye jin tells him that it’s sad to be alone when you’re sick, why she’s confused that he doesn’t understand that. he literally doesn't understand it