{ haunt me, then. }

sea (she/they), writer & gifmaker, tracking #seamayweed • baldr & thorki will always have a special place in my heart • current obsessions: nam seon-ho in my country: the new age (2019) & alicent hightower in house of the dragon (2022)

[seamayweed]

I have just gotten in mctna clearly very late to the party. Thank you for all the beautiful gifs. ❤️❤️❤️🍑

I just wanted to know if you knew any meta posts or discussions about the characters out there I can delve into?

Yaaay, welcome, welcome, we are always happy (starved) for fresh blood in the fandom! \o/ 💙💙💙 Ahhh sdjfklsdflsfd thank you for paying attention to my gifs and calling them beautiful!! 🥰 *dances in a circle like an overexcited puppy*

Please beware: these are most likely not spoiler-free!

For the older meta/discussions, @convenientalias and her ‘my country the new age’ tag (starts at page 20) is a good place to start. I remember this Seon-ho meta and also love reading everyone's responses to this mctna list of questions she created. There’s @dangermousie and their ‘my country’ tag (starts at page 11), @hedvig-ulrika has a lot of good meta posts as well, right now I can only think of this one (marketplace scene) and this one (Seonhwi scene towards the end), and this one for Seon-ho & Sung-rok. For Seonrok stuff in general, platonic or otherwise, the ‘seonrok’ tag by @pashminabitch is a treasure trove, @sadviper has great thoughts about them too (and I enjoyed reading their top 5 mctna scenes), @valarinde has meta about this very heart-wrenching scene, and @eohachu has written compelling meta about them too; their ‘seonrok’ and ‘nn meta’ tags are def worth checking out. @strandedchesspiece has an amazing series of mctna meta posts. I really love @the2headedcalf ’s Seonhwi meta (1, 2). @ciriwrites has written this excellent meta that led to an interesting discussion and other meta, @staidwaters has this headcanon about how Seonhwi became best friends, and @rain-hat has a lot of intelligent and eloquent meta in her ‘my country the new age’ tag and got a lot of mctna asks a while ago. You can also read @crayonflop 's very entertaining commentary in their ‘my country’ tag (starts at page 28), then there’s @husberttee with an interesting discussion about Sung-rok and his scar. This funny text post about Sung-rok + Seonhwi by @petekaos always makes me smile. This one is good too - all the Seon-ho feels! @bienmoreau has meta posts like this one about Seon-ho and his brother and @tlanwen has good meta and web weavings too. And @elderflowergin 's description of Bang-won's voice is perfect. There are others like @crithir, @eremin0109, @asena-queenslayer, @monstersqueen, @mctna, @doorhine with a scene comparison here and dozens of others who I remember writing mctna meta, in the tags or otherwise! This anon ask sent to fatallist (who has sadly deactivated) about the water/river symbolism is interesting too. 

For more recent stuff, we have @howlingmusketeers ’s Bang-won meta, @nubreed73 ’s thought-provoking commentary here (you can find more in their ‘meta’ or ‘my country the new age’ tag), @wangkuans here (there's more in their ‘my country the new age’ tag too), @navramanan has this edit/tags-meta and meta, and @itsza recently watched mctna and has made some posts too.

Of course, you can also feel free to check out my ‘mctna meta’ tag or ‘color meta’ tag! :D

I’m sure I missed a lot of the early discussions since I only discovered the fandom a year after mctna was airing... Please forgive me, friends, if I missed anyone /o\

A small caveat: I’m very clearly biased towards Seon-ho who's my fave, and there are some Hwi-resenting meta posts/tags you may encounter on my or other people’s blogs. I started out being quite critical of him, but after many good discussions with some of my friends I’ve come to understand his side of things more. As such, I'm trying to avoid being too harsh on him and am determined to love the boys more equally now!

There are a few critical takes on Seon-ho or Bang-won or Hui-jae too, but I think it’s a sign of what amazing, complex characters they are that they elicit such strong emotions in us and we feel compelled to take sides!

Thank you for the ask and have fun in the mctna fandom!! <333

[seamayweed]

@godotismissingx So I remembered slash dug up more (don't ask me why I've got all these links saved in my gdocs) /o\

(loooong post underneath the cut)

Thanks to @nubreed73 's recent very articulate and perceptive cultural/queer/gender studies mctna meta with some good points about Hui-jae, I recalled other people's meta about her too, like here by @nichester (about Yeon too) and here by @discountalien-pancake. I clearly remember @crayonflop & @rain-hat having complaints about the writing for the women and wanting justice for them, but they were def not the only indignant voices in the fandom!

This post by fatallist that inspired people to share various translations of the iconic line "your sword still feels affectionate" from different languages/subtitles remains legendary (please check out the responses in the notes too!). I finally found this big-brained review by @rain-hat who has also expressed wanting to rewrite Hui-jae's story and is one of the people whose fave was Bang-won, and I think @setsmaker was a Bang-won fan too before vanishing, so you can def check out her 'my country' tag as well (starts at page 9). My friend who was setsmaker's friend told me that the she did some color meta too, though I never managed to find it... if anyone has got it reblogged/saved anywhere, I'd be very grateful if you shared it with us! For all things Hwi - meta and otherwise - the best place to go to would be @nubreed73 and their blog (as they have also already helpfully mentioned in the replies to this post! ty bb <3). They have a Hwi/Yang Se-jong agenda, which has my full support and brings much-appreciated enrichment to this fandom!!

Here are some more Seon-ho metas I liked: this one by @lavenderbyun, this one by @thenotsosecretbits, this one by @jasminsssiii, this one by Heather/dowo___on, this one (talking a bit about his abuse) by Aibi/aibeast, this one by @dangermousie & this one by @hedvig-ulrika since they matched my feelings when I was watching the show for the first time. This is also an interesting and gutting take on Seon-ho's behavior in Uiju by luca/crownedroi.

Some good metas about Seonhwi (and their differences): here (scheming vs. impulsive) by @convenientalias & here (analysis of their respective posters) by Dani/namjhyuns. I think it goes well together with the above mentioned red/blue color coding meta by the2headedcalf too. Also I forgot to add @sadviper 's reply to an ask about their niche Seonrok corner & Seon-ho, this post by them commented by @smylealong (quite Hwi-negative, so beware if that upsets you), and this discussion between @bienmoreau & @hedvig-ulrika (after some DMs with @nubreed73 I revised my position a bit and agreed that Hwi was not at all to blame for not telling Seon-ho since he was suffering in that situation too and is only human, and if there's anyone to blame then it's the others for not inviting him). This is one of my fave Seonrok meta posts by @hedvig-ulrika with great commentary/discussions by @lordchirayoju and @sadviper. @angryteapott has some interesting thoughts about the politics in mctna and military tax, though I think that was more in discussions underneath fics... but they should have good tags-meta as well!

Here is a post by @lavenderbyun, along with twitter threads here (reacting to @dangermousie 's post-ep. 12 thoughts) and here by Melolatte/drama_fan33 & other people (for another, later controversial scene) that shows the different sides, the understandable, visceral reactions people had, and their heated discussions while it was airing.

For more historical context, these two posts about Seon-ho + his slave status and Bang-won + the Yi family etc. respectively by @sageukfilms are a really good start. For a deeper dive into history, you could check out @bodashiri 's well-organized analysis posts about the historical drama Six Flying Dragons that covers the same time period and historical characters. They also said that Nam Jeon is probably based on two real historical figures here. @discountalien-pancake also wrote a post about Hwi being in Liaodong for a few months at most and not 4 years.

For interviews we've got @sadviper who very kindly translated Woo Do-hwan's and the director's thoughts on the show/filming/Seon-ho here, here, and here. You can also check out meta about a certain Bang-won scene towards the end + a tidbit from a Jang Hyuk interview + a discussion about Bang-won & Seon-ho by ePhoenix.13/BillyRocks_13 & Melolatte/drama_fan33 here and here. And this is a post about how Bang-won's fan wasn't actually part of the script by @ciriwrites.

Not very meta-y, but here are some fun mctna memes I really love too: here, here, and here by @the-marron, and some more recent ones like these two by @itsza.

Also here is a very entertaining twitter liveblog for eps. 1-4 (you'll need to scroll to the top). @fatalism-and-villainy has an mctna liveblog tag too (starts at page 7).

@staidwaters, aside from having great headcanons and fic ideas, tends to reblog anything mctna-related, so their blog probably acts as a good archive, and @capkdramas often copies/saves the tags from who they reblog from, so that's a good source for recent mctna tags-meta too!

[seamayweed]

ahhhhhhh just remembered some meta about Prince Uian/Yi Bang-seok too, by @fatalism-and-villainy here and here, and by @wayvmunstersofallthings here, which I'm very glad to see!! I really love this post by @staidwaters with bts pics of the actors that contemplates a possible friendship between Hwi & the little prince in an AU.

Aside from bodashiri's timeline, @avauntus also created a very impressive timeline for their own fic, which I'm sure can be very helpful for others too. And this meta by @convenientalias about Hwi having his whole squad vs. Seon-ho only having Sung-rok is def a must-read!

(anyway, as you can tell, this is a work in progress and I will likely add more stuff if I find it or it suddenly pings my brain haha)

[seamayweed]

okay, so here's some more that I missed:

(more underneath the cut)

Firstly, a very unorganized assortment of mctna metas I love: here by an anon & @rain-hat (Seon-ho & Seonrok), here (Seonrok early interactions) + here about the post-ep. 12 opium den scene (Seonhwi) + here about Seon-ho & his scars (Seonrok & Seonhwi) by @hedvig-ulrika, here is more about scars (Hwi's vs. Seon-ho's) by @nichester & @thenotsosecretbits, here @blueberry-cheese-pizza raises a really good question for ep. 7, this Seon-ho blorbo rating by @convenientalias, this feelsy text caption by @lethal-desires under their ep. 12 gifset, this very good web weaving (with a parallel between Banghwi & Seonhwi) by evakant, this one by @tlanwen, this heartfelt appeal for more people to watch mctna by @apocketfullofhobbits, this assessment of the relationships in mctna (love/unrequited love/hate) by @mctna that I find sums it up really well; @fulltimehabibti & @utterlyhooked have a lot of meta in their respective 'my country the new age' tags too.

These hilarious mctna reactions/memes: here by @winteams and here by @devil-breaker. These two by @wizardslizards are a classic! Then there is this Sung-rok one by @bienmoreau, this one by @pendraegon (they also have an 'ellian's mctna lb' liveblog tag), and here is some very funny, well-deserved Nam Jeon hate by @crying-crow and @eight-of-cups.

Rewatches: @winteams did one recently and has an 'mctna rewatch' tag, though most of the posts you'll have to search for in the 'k.txt' tag. @baek1nho did a rewatch two months ago, not sure if she had a tag for that, and @convenientalias did one back in April with very meaty and delicious reviews/thoughts for you to dig your teeth into!

Seon-ho & Yeon meta: I can only recall this post by @navramanan right now... but I'm sure you'll find more by @iskarieot (really entertaining reactions in the tags for 'my country the new age' posts in general) or @rotblut (has a 'you make flowers grow' tag for them) - aside from their respective beautiful graphics & gifsets which you should def check out too - who were/are big shippers of them.

Bang-won meta: here and here by @navramanan, this funny exchange between @navramanan & @afroasiamerican, this rec (of a very sexy Bang-won fanvid) by @drivingsideways with comments/discussions about mctna and other characters like Seon-ho or Hwi in the notes (but be warned, it's rather Hwi-negative). In this post @utterlyhooked and more people are losing their minds over that same fanvid and Bang-won + his fan too, and this post about the historical person is a hilarious must-read for any Bang-won fan!

Lady Min/Queen Wongyeong (Bang-won's historical wife) meta: she did not actually appear in the show, but @bending-sickle would have loved to see her in mctna and shares a few facts about Bang-won & her here, and @rain-hat wove a compelling version of her into an amazing Seon-ho/Bang-won ficlet, sparking an interesting discussion in the notes between @rain-hat & @angryteapott about how Hwi took over parts of Queen Wongyeong's role + how there should have been more women in mctna in general. Also, here are more of @rain-hat 's thoughts about Bang-won & Lady Min + concubinage/polygamy in Goryeo + some comparisons of mctna to Six Flying Dragons.

Bang-won & Seon-ho meta: this exchange between @navramanan & @afroasiamerican, this meta by @navramanan, thoughts about Seon-ho/Bang-won + playful by @convenientalias that I really love to read and reread. I also rediscovered this interesting conversation (most of it in the tags) @eohachu & I had about Bang-won & Seon-ho and how these two aren't the only 'antagonistic soulmates' in mctna. Fatallist saw them as swordmates too (iirc) and def had a lot of good posts/playlists/web weavings about swordmates in general (for mctna & other media), such as this or this (@fulltimehabibti has reblogged most of the other parts of that swordmates series, I think). Also @hedvig-ulrika has this swordmates post (Seonhwi).

[seamayweed]

so there's even more!!

I very highly recommend watching and reading this beautiful, intelligent essay in vid form + accompanying textual meta by @nubreed73 about the horrors and trauma of war and the different treatment of bodies in relation to social position and how both Hwi & Seon-ho were nothing but weapons in the end for the powers that be. Thoughtful, poignant and absolutely heart-wrenching distillation of mctna's overarching theme of the senselessness of war (and, to an extent, of politics too)!!

[seamayweed]

alright, so @godotismissingx & @sadviper asked for some good Nam Jeon meta analysis here, which wasn't easy to find since he's the most hated character in the fandom lol.

(as usual, please mind the spoilers)

Honestly, I've got a not-so-secret love for this burning trashfire of a man. In fact, my first gifset for the mctna fandom (or for any fandom) was about Nam Jeon and the only (short) essay I could find were my tags underneath that first gifset (careful, this has BIG SPOILERS for ep. 12 & Nam Jeon's storyline). I've also got a 'nam jeon' tag + a 'rs: you did more than enough' tag for the complicated father-son, master-retainer/sword, master-slave relationship he has with Seon-ho.

Otherwise here are some brief thoughts about Nam Jeon's ideology by @convenientalias & here is some appreciation for Nam Jeon being so unapologetically evil in the tags by @laughingstcrs. I love the Nam Jeon POV and exploration of his relationship with Seon-ho in @rain-hat 's fic Begets Kindness & @convenientalias 's fic dreams of the mother; I also just discovered the mind-blowing fic they must be very tired, those ghosts by TolkienGirl on AO3 that deals with their painful father-son relationship in such a succinct, powerful, lyrically beautiful way (you can also check out TolkienGirl's two other short mctna fics that are great metas/studies of other characters).

I've got more thoughts about Nam Jeon too, about his morphing father-son relationship with Seon-ho & how - after some closer analysis - you can clearly divide it into 3 big sections over the course of the show (which I think is significant for both of their characters), and also about how he was done SO dirty in ep. 12, though I've never dared to share those metas before since the fandom hates him so much and Nam Jeon posts seem to be unpopular in general haha. Anyway, I'll try to write down some of my thoughts/analyses sometime soon!! :D

Moving on from Nam Jeon, here are some other really good mctna text posts I managed to unearth:

These Seon-ho meta tags (for that soul-destroying Seonrok scene) by @xcziel that I copy-pasted because I really loved them, also this Seon-ho & Hui-jae meta (mourning the lost potential for a friendship between them) + these incorrect mctna quotes by @laughingstcrs that will make your belly ache with laughter with how strangely accurate they are!! Also, come to think of it, I've got two versions of an incorrect quote for Bang-won/Seon-ho too! Other than that, the tags by @navramanan underneath this Seon-ho gifset I made + the respective tags by @navramanan & @petekaos for my other Seon-ho gifset really stood out to me and I always reread them from time to time. Lots of Bang-won & Seon-ho thoughts by me and other people underneath my antagonistic soulmates gifset for them too; these tags by @feng-zhiwei and these ones by @fulltimehabibti are very insightful, though I truly love everyone's tags on each gifset I've ever made. @springkitten has written this and other such breathtaking, hauntingly beautiful poems about Seon-ho. There's this funny text post meme by @sassyrecaps, and @candlewinds (aside from all her gorgeous mctna gifsets!) usually has very entertaining reactions in her tags underneath 'my country the new age' posts too.

[seamayweed]

happy to now add @godotismissingx 's liveblog to the list too! You can find it in the tag 'godot watches' (eps. 1-2) or 'godot watches stuff' (eps. 3-16).

@laireshi did a translation of the iconic line "your sword still feels affectionate" & research on the word jeong and @radialarch found another instance of jeong for further (devastating) analysis and comparison, both of which are good additions to fatallist's post (which you can find above in my first reblog of godot's ask).

also you can find amazing meta about hwi's and seon-ho's respective fighting styles and how it corresponds to their characterization here by @nubreed73!!!!

@nubreed73 has started a livetweet thread for their mctna rewatch which you can find here.

and here is a very entertaining presentation about why everyone should watch mctna by @whenas-in-silks.

@ everyone:

I really wanted to reply to every comment in the notes individually, but since I ran out of spoons I'll just say - A BIG, BIG THANK YOU to all of you for being part of this tiny fandom and shaping it, no matter how small you think your contributions may be; without every single one of you there wouldn't be an MCTNA fandom in the first place and I wouldn't have been able to make this compilation at all. You are very welcome and, again, thanks for being in the fandom with me!! 😊💙💙💙

[deokmis]

the most useless useful guide in the world

[deokmis]

My Royal Nemesis [dir. Han Tae-seob]

[deokmis]

My Royal Nemesis [dir. Han Tae-seob]

[deokmis]

↳ Upcoming June K-Dramas:

Doctor on the Edge (June 1, 2026)

Teach You a Lesson (June 5, 2026)

See You at Work Tomorrow! (June 22, 2026)

Manager Kim (June 26, 2026)

(Other months)

[theerakits]

MY ROYAL NEMESIS | 멋진신세계 (2026) — EP.07

[seamayweed]

THANK YOU @convenientalias FOR KNITTING ME THE COZIEST CUTEST MOST BEAUTIFUL SOCKS IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!! 🤍💙💜🤍💙💜🤍💙💜

[itsza]

MY COUNTRY : THE NEW AGE (2019) 1.04

[seamayweed]

WOO DO HWAN x Allure Korea (May 2026 Issue) | Behind the Scenes

+ Bonus:

[inmyvampireempire]

I love tumblr because somehow I can end up being mutuals with a celebrity (someone that wrote a fic that I loved)

[rhaenys-queenofkhyrulzz]

Nsfw mctna fic idea

Modern AU: Nipple Rings + SeonHwi

Idk why but I really wanna do sth with Seon-ho getting nipple rings (Hwi goes crazy over it ofc)

Set when seonhwi are around 26 years old

Seon-ho changes his style to rebel against Nam Jeon after he leaves home. It's a way to reject the control Nam Jeon had on even the smallest aspects of his life for so many years.

He grows out his hair (refer to my headcanon on why they both have long hair in a modern au) and eventually comes to the decision to pierce his nipples

Think Geto Suguru alt fanon owwlly style

But yeah Hwi and Seon-ho have had a messy off and on relationship over the years cuz of multiple misunderstandings and whatnot.

So maybe I can have the fic be where they’re on one of their breaks and they unexpectedly meet up somewhere like an underground club in Seoul’s gay scene (Itaewon). 

Seon-ho is tipsy and Hwi is riding off a high from the meds he took earlier (he’s become dependent on them for his chronic pain)

Hwi came by himself hoping to get laid tonight so he can just get Seon-ho off his mind for a while.

Hwi goes on the dance floor to join some guy with long hair he sees by himself. 

Internally, he ignores the voice telling him to pick someone else because he’s supposed to be keeping his mind off of Seon-ho, not trying to get with someone just like him

He slips behind the stranger on the dance floor who welcomes Hwi’s hands on his hips.

They grind against each other with all the strobing lights and heavy bass pulsating around them 

The guy turns around to face him but Hwi’s mind short-circuits for two reasons:

1) The face in front of him belongs to Seon-ho

2) ohmygod Seon-ho’s tits—

Seon-ho clearly has bad coping mechanisms 

Here he is in front of Hwi in a sheer, black bodysuit that was strategically ripped to show off his newly pierced nipples

The metal barbells winked at him in the low light, taunting him and begging him to touch. 

Seon-ho scoffs when he realises it’s Hwi and they get into a little argument like they always do. Hwi asks if he just did it to piss off Nam Jeon further but Seon-ho says it’s none of his business.

They try to move away but the throng of people around them keeps on pushing them together 

Next thing you know they end up making out and the scene cuts to them stumbling out into the back alley to fuck against the wall 

Hwi’s sucking on Seon-ho’s nipples and playing with them the entire time

Seon-ho’s always had sensitive nips after all. So it’s no surprise the amount of noise he makes when Hwi gives attention to them.

Gratuitous desperate messy rough sex. Hwi got a jealous spike of possessiveness that he doesn’t want anyone else to see Seon-ho like this and take him home tonight

And ending off with Hwi asking Seon-ho to come back to his apartment

(Imply that they’re vers)

[vampirekatt]

How can you not obsess over Seon-ho’s chest when it looks like this…

Like c’mon 😩😩

[vampirekatt]

I love this scene so much. It fuels my twisted Gunwoo/Myeong-gil fantasy. The way Myeong-gil displays such calm authority, towering over Gunwoo, complementing his grit, and fixing his zipper. It’s casual, gentle, yet so cruel in this moment. Then, as if disregarding the fact his men just ambushed his mother’s cafe and threatened her life, Myeong-gil offers Gunwoo a job. It shows just how powerful Myeong-gil feels.

Gunwoo, just like all the other men in his crew, is nothing more than a tool for him to use for his own benefit—a plaything he can use and discard as he pleases. But Gunwoo, being his steadfast and determined self, does something many wouldn’t dare to. Even when he’s down and beaten, he stands up to Myeong-gil. Gunwoo spits in his face—his defiance so sexy—and Myeong-gil is forced to react. He has to put Gunwoo in his place and set an example for his men. Myeong-gil is not to be messed with.

So he decides to cut Gunwoo’s face, carving a mark into him that will last for a long time. It will serve as a reminder every time Gunwoo looks at himself and sees that awful scar: Myeong-gil has claimed him. It’s violent and intimate—and so hot.

[deokmis]

So you think of what to say Then save it for another day 'Cause you just never had the heart Now they just drift further apart From you

[theerakits]

MY ROYAL NEMESIS | 멋진신세계 (2026) — EP.06

[deokmis]

@userdramas event 25: refresh [a premise/actors/characters i found refreshing]:

↳ characters that were branded as villains but were actually just lonely people trying to survive: shin seo ri/kang dan shim and cha se gye/yi hyeon ↳ actors that gained fame playing villains playing positive main leads: lim ji yeon and heo nam jun [tarot card insert: here]

[tlematimun]

collect them all!

@userdramas event 25: refresh - love of silom (2026), dir. pepzi banchorn

[rhaenys-queenofkhyrulzz]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 7/? Fandom: 나의 나라 | My Country: The New Age (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Nam Seon Ho/Taejong of Joseon, Nam Seon Ho/Seo Hwi, Han Hui Jae/Seo Hwi, Hwang Sung Rok & Nam Seon Ho, Nam Seon Ho/Other(s) Characters: Nam Seon Ho, Yi Bang Won, Seo Hwi, Han Hui Jae, Hwang Sung Rok, Nam Jeon, Seo Yeon (My Country: The New Age), Nam Minho Additional Tags: Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Forced Prostitution, Dubious Consent, Slavery, Period-Typical Sexism, Period-Typical Homophobia, Suicidal Thoughts, Politics, Angst, Smut, War, Contracts, Whump, Canon Rewrite, kisaeng!Nam Seon Ho, Pining, Unrequited Love, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Hurt/Comfort, Y'all are gonna hate me by the end of this, aight time for those smut tags, Kissing, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Blow Jobs, Power Dynamics, References to Ancient Korean Religion & Lore, Period Typical Attitudes, Incest, Alternate Universe, Hand Jobs, Rough Sex Series: Part 1 of Saudade Summary:

Saudade- (n.) a nostalgic longing to be near again to something or someone that is distant, or that has been loved and then lost; “the love that remains”

When Seon-ho’s brother survived that fateful day, Nam Jeon sold him to Ihwaru in a fit of rage. Years later, an 18-year-old Seon-ho is now the most shamefully sought after kisaeng amongst Goryeo’s rotten upper class. His reputation reaches far and wide- even to the ears of the young nobleman, Yi Bang Won, who intends to find out the reason for these rumours himself. This leads to years of painful love, a relationship of convenience and something dark and twisted that seeks to consume them all.

OR

kisaeng!Seon-ho has to deal with his political ambitions colliding with his messy love life for many years down the road