az

sometimes i edit music and media i like. or make memes. KPDH fan

[sockiepuppetry]

peak recognizes peak

This movie made the girly whimsy in me happy

[purplecatghostposts]

When it comes to Bisexual Jinu, I have two ways I typically like to write him.

(Content warning for internalized homophobia/biphobia and mentions of period-typical attitudes towards such)

One is where like. Jinu is always a little aware that he’s attracted to men too. It scares him when he’s human and he tries to completely ignore it but in the demon realm, despite all the shame going around, no one really cares who you’re with. It still takes Jinu years, maybe even a century to even let himself think about it, but he does. Slowly, gradually, letting himself feel it because nobody is around to stop him. He never acts on it, but sometimes his gaze lingers. Fingers brush in a casual interaction and he wonders what it might be like if he ever did anything about it.

Then he meets Rumi, figures it doesn’t matter because they’re together now, until she tells him that she’s bisexual and what that is, and something just kinda. Clicks. They have a word for it now. It’s not completely normalized but they have a word for it now.

It takes him a few days to say it out loud, but Rumi smiles at him when he does, like maybe she already suspected as much, and asks him if he wants to talk about it. To which Jinu says, “There’s not really much to talk about.” but Rumi looks at him like she thinks otherwise, so he tries to explain his experience with it so she realizes that there really isn’t. Except, she’s asking more questions than expected, and he’s talking for longer than he thought he would, so maybe there is something notable after all.

The other is that Jinu isn’t aware of it. Or if he ever was, it was buried a long time ago. So when Rumi brings up bisexuality, he’s mostly interested because it’s a part of her. He asks questions to understand, listens to her talk, and doesn’t think about himself much. That is, until Rumi asks if he’s like that at all. Which confuses him at first, to which Rumi mentions noting he stared at their hot waiter for a bit longer than usual the other day, but Jinu panics a little and clarifies that he doesn’t want anyone else, just her, and Rumi has to backtrack and tell him it’s okay, really, it was just looking. It just made her wonder, if they had more in common in that way.

The conversation ends there, but Jinu still thinks about it later. He wasn’t thinking about romantic love much in the demon realm and it’s not like he could think about men that way back when he was human. And he’s with Rumi now so does it even really matter?

Except. Maybe he remembers fleeting moments. Heart racing, thoughts lingering, eyes darting down to lips and wondering what if. Nothing had ever happened but when he thinks about it, did he want something to? He’s never been with a man, but did he ever want to be? If Rumi were a man, wouldn’t he still love her the same as he does now?

Which leads him to teleporting into Rumi’s room late at night, startling her, and blurting out, “Hey, maybe we do have that in common?” with no context.

Anyways. Bi4Bi Rujinu real, why else would they have the bisexual flag colors during Free?

[notnkgm]

go zoey, go zoey, go zoey

[azizann661]

If I may

[starcut-sand]

the cure by olivia rodrigo but with rumi realizing the golden honmoon won't cure/fix her after spending her whole life believing it would and being "unraveled"

oh anon... real and true..........

[azizann661]

alsooo, hear me out, the cure by olivia rodrigo but it's rujinu learning that they cannot use each other to fix themselves (free), only help each other realize the true solution is to act courageously and choose for themselves acceptance/redemption (what it sounds like)

[art-the-f-up]

Do you think they had to listen to that monologue every morning until they could repeat it in their sleep

[the-sassy-owl]

THE collab.

[arelkakleranonaobor0t]

[starcut-sand]

Really though (going off of yesterday), the moment that Rumi shares with Mira and Zoey in What it Sounds Like is SO beautiful. With everything we know about how the honmoon works--it's a tapestry of souls, woven together through the connections souls make with each other. Hunters weave the honmoon by "igniting" the souls of others through inspiring and uplifting them. Once they ignite a person's soul, it can be woven into the honmoon. Like, in that context... first off Rumi inspires and uplifts Zoey and Mira, forging a connection to their souls where the connection had previously been broken.

She ignites their souls.

Sidenote: I find it really beautiful that Zoey's soul is ignited right after Rumi sings "I tried to fix it, I tried to fight it" and Mira's is ignited with the lines "my head was twisted, my heart divided, my lies all collided". The lyrics connect to the girls in question.

Like, Zoey was relentlessly cheerful and fighting to fix what was going on up until the end ("All our songs are in three-part harmonies! How do we--"). She really did try to "fix it and fight it," especially with the context that Rumi is singing in--Rumi is delivering this line about trying to destroy these natural parts of herself because she fully believed that those parts only had the power to destroy and hurt. Zoey, similarly, tries desperately to fix and smooth over all their interpersonal issues because, as a people pleaser, she sees conflict as something that only has the power to destroy and hurt. So Rumi connects to Zoey's personal internal struggles here.

And then, Mira was struggling with intense feelings of paranoia and distrust throughout much of the movie ("I sound nuts...") due to Rumi's lies. Mira's head was twisted and heart was divided, and we saw her clearly grappling and struggling a lot with whether to trust Rumi as a friend or accuse her of something despite their friendship. She pretty clearly went really back-and-forth on it, and wasn't sure what to do--see the confrontation in Rumi's bedroom, where Mira comes in fairly aggressive and point-blank demanding Rumi explain herself, then pretty quickly walks it back and semi-apologizes for being so intense, then leaves clearly dissatisfied and still mistrusting. So Rumi connects to Mira's internal personal struggle here--and then, of course, beyond that, she openly acknowledges that she lied with the line "my lies all collided," validating Mira's paranoia and taking responsibility for it.

That's how Rumi connects to their souls and inspires them. Because she's being vulnerable, not only do they understand her better, they also see themselves in her and feel seen. It's a true and deep connection because through Rumi's vulnerability, the three of them are able to understand each other on a new, deeper level that they hadn't been able to reach previously. Which is why Mira and Zoey join in singing the same song, and it almost feels blended... like, it feels like they could be singing about their own struggles or expanding on Rumi's own. Because they're forging this connection through a deep shared recognition that the three of them have been struggling in such similar ways.

And then--

This is literally the girls using the way their connection inspires and uplifts them to magically tie their souls together and create the first knot in a new honmoon. Again: this is literally the girls using the way their connection inspires and uplifts them to magically tie their souls together.

Like, it's really so beautiful? When I talk about Jinu's sacrifice and how that shared moment between them is important to Rumi, I don't mean to discredit or discount this moment at all. I think this is such an intense and profound display of love between the three girls, I really love it so much. (And it's also visually beautiful as well, but we all knew that.)

[fazbearoromeo]

Zoey has a new partner in yapping about films (they talked through the whole night)

[lightningbreath]

[azizann661]

rehearsed aura farmer and gwi-ma troller despite the dire situation before launching a crazy plan that just might work

x

rehearsed aura farmer and gwi-ma troller despite the dire situation before launching a crazy plan that just might work

Imma be real they were so extra for singing Jinu's Lament / Hunter's Mantra. And waiting for the most dramatically opportune time to crash the party. Like Rumi ily but I swear to god everyone was about to walk into fire

Also not her keeping her demon eye out for a good 45 seconds while giving Gwi-ma the light of day when she could've reverted at any time. Just to bait and switch him. As with Jinu mocking him. Lmao Bonus:

*smugly* "I'm about to end Rumi's whole career (I'm out of options)"

vs.

*smugly* "I'm about to end Jinu's whole career (caringly) (I'm out of options)"

[starcut-sand]

seriously though he really DOES look like he's tearing up here doesn't he???

[starcut-sand]

just listen just hear me out okay I'm not crazy just listen just hear me out

[azizann661]

not tearing up

vs. tearing up

[azizann661]

here's that edit ("Black Sheep" by Metric x KPDH!) I alluded to with my last post where I gif'd my fav parts

[azizann661]

"I can't wait to see you on that stage tomorrow"

Bonus:

I can't wait to see you on that... plane tomorrow?

[tenyai]

As promised, Rujini aquarium date part 2! This one was supposed to be a more dramatic/romantic piece compared to the first, apologies I legit forgot how to draw these people and they're different in most panels but alas, enjoy. And some crackpost Jinu shenanigans at the end cuz I can't not.

[anna-scribbles]

probably just beginner’s luck

[azizann661]

KPDH Core 4 symbolism I've been rotating in my head

(has this been explicitly done before? idk)

everyone has some kind of duality:

Rumi is half-hunter half-demon

Jinu lived a past life in the Joseon period and a new one as a demon into the modern day, while his memories were retained. (+ if he returns in some form in a sequel while continuing to retain his memories, same deal, just starting another new life)

Zoey is korean american

Mira was raised in a traditional family but broke that mold

which gives everyone the potential to be a bridge:

Rumi bridging between human and supernatural life/realms

Jinu bridging between past and future, old and new life/times

Zoey bridging between different cultures (western and eastern, and of course there are cultures outside this split but that's what my girl is working with)

Mira bridging between traditional and new values

one way to look at this:

Rumi and Jinu together bridge different worlds in a spiritual sense

Zoey and Mira together bridge different worlds in a non-spiritual sense

a parallel among them if you really squint:

Rumi and Zoey both bridge across space (places.. realms.. locations.. type beat)

Jinu and Mira both bridge across times (with Jinu it's obvious, with Mira tradition relates to the past and novelty relates to change and the future)

The spacetime continuum of Jinutrix. Or: everyone's a bridge. That's it that's the theory

oh yeah if we pair them up in the remaining possible way:

Rumi and Mira together represent balancing traditional and new hunter duties as the relationship with demons changes

Jinu and Zoey together represent connecting people across geography and history (ok this is just restates what they individually represent but my ocd brain wants to complete the symmetry)

My strong feeling of the general arcs these guys will have in the sequel or other future stories: Each character will learn how to be the bridge they're supposed to represent

Huntrix's whole thing is connecting people but cultural/value differences can make this challenging. As Zoey and Mira learn how to deal with these challenges on a personal level, they strengthen the Honmoon too.

Zoey still deals with the insecurity of being neither Korean enough nor American enough and will learn to fully connect the two cultures she straddles rather than just play one side or the other. Y'know because the Honmoon will depend on it somehow.

Mira would continue to learn how to build/unburn bridges with people, and maybe she'll need to do this with a family member assuming at least one relationship is salvageable. ... Y'know because the Honmoon will depend on it somehow. Or she could be the linchpin in a reconciling a growing divide between Huntrix and Celine

I believe the hunters' whole thing should be to connect not just people, but all beings with souls. And they've recently learned it's possible for at least some demons to have souls.

Enter Rumi learning how to unite/protect human life and supernatural life for the good of both. She'll need the help of Jinu, the said demon with a recovered soul, who previously stepped up one (1) time to save her and throw a wrench in his own world-ending scheme, and who now needs to learn to actually step into a guardian role.

While Jinu made past mistakes that hurt his original family and helped Gwi-Ma, he has a second chance to keep helping Huntrix, using the special fact that he's a soul with memories that span across centuries. (Memories no longer manipulated by Gwi-Ma's voices!). He is their link to the past beyond Celine and recent hunter generations. And potentially he's their link to the afterlife if they ever need to talk to (other?) souls who passed on there. And of course he can help them learn Demon 101 (again, going beyond what Celine and recent hunter generations know).

And Rujinu will soulmate so hard that together they restore spiritual balance to life, death, and reality itself. Nothing big really