One thing I really like about Jung Jae Chan is how imperfect he is as a prosecutor. He goofs off, he stresses out, he’s sometimes afraid. Sometimes he doesn’t see the consequences of his actions. Irregardless, he always moves forward with what he believes in. His moral compass and values point straight and true. Though it wavers from time to time, the people around him support him through it.
I think the same can be said for Hong Joo who despite her confident and fearless exterior, is actually vulnerable and fearful for her life.
I like this mutual support and growth between all the characters in the series c:
Dumping all my past ramblings for Shin x Yeo for future ref heh I rambled so much tbh
I mourn for all those ideas that will never come to fruition through drawings or writing. Anyway, hope you enjoy all these write ups/ analyses. Long post is long. None of these pics are mine ofc, if u edited them, lemme know and I’l remove it!
Not organised in any particular manner, use the photos as reference.
"Please, kill me."
"Kill you?"
-Ep 13
Yeo felt so guilty he thought it was fitting for Shin to take revenge by killing him. As God's sick joke, Kim Shin cannot do even that, kill Wang Yeo. Something he has given thought to for 939 years of his life. In a world where Wang Yeo didn't betray Kim Shin as he did, perhaps there could have been a happier ending.
"We all loved you." -Kim Shin EP 13
Want to add a poem by Langston Hughes:
I loved my friend.
He went away from me.
There's nothing more to say.
The poem ends, softly as it began.
I loved my friend."
Kim Shin trusted Yeo, enough to share with him his laughter and heartache. Shin told Yeo of the most painful betrayal he had felt in his life time, of Wang Yeo's betrayal. Enough to share how the punishment dealt out by God was wearing him down, god who "thought too highly of him". But Yeo is at the epicenter of both Shin's relief, joy and pain. Their relationship shattered and it hurts them both.
In the end, they do piece things back. Because they've shared so much of each other with each other. When Yeo does leave, there's something off about the goblin home. Something not even Eun Tak or Deok Hwa's absence could cause. Because Yeo became Shin's home, the one to return to, to share his sorrows and joys with, his punishment and his relief. Unfortunately, the pillars of a temple stand apart.
"It's nice, having someone to welcome me home."- Kim Shin ep15
Kim Shin was losing all hope of returning to anyone he knew. Even the Yoo family that has been with him all his life. Even that was thought to be lost to him. He was likely regretting on returning, what hope is there left for him? His friends and family, all mortals with lives of their own. His presence in theirs would only bring ruin to them. He is a burden to everyone alive. Always has been. When he finds out Yeo remembers, it gives him so much hope that things will return to the way they were before. So much so that he's willing to try connecting with Eun Tak, Deok Hwa and Sunny again, even knowing they would inevitably cause heartache. Maybe Yeo remembering him was just enough for him to say "Even if I don't have them, I still have you." And that friendship, love, support, was more than enough for him to aspire actually living in society again.
"Our souls were made from the same materials, carved by the same heartache." Quote from a friend.
Now I'm imagining them as tragic soulmates, fated to meet again and again despite the painful past. They were fortunate to have resolved it in their present lives as goblin and grim reaper.
Back when everything seemed normal and fairly peaceful (in their terms). Do you think Shin thinks back on moments like this? The times he had meals where he wasn't alone for once? How much would he miss Yeo, for the little things he brought to the mansion. When Deok Hwa leaves and he's left with another Yoo servant who has little time for an immortal goblin, how much would he miss Yeo and everyone else?
Imagine if you had a heart to heart with the person who caused all your pain. Would you still love them? Would they be allowed to love you back? Their irrational answer is yes, they still love each other even after all that. As sad and messy as things are they can't help but spin a tale of sad love.
Yeo acting as king for the final time, Shin acting as general for the last time. The supposed final farewell. The closing of the door to the past. Supposed closure for any future between them too. As Yeo tips his head in honour of his general's late service, he tells himself that this will be their goodbye. They end it, whatever it was they had before this, on equal grounds. Defeating the eunuch by reuniting one last time, neither expected to ever reunite again.
Because rationally, this was supposed to be their last and bitter departure from each other. It is not sweet nor is it bitter. Finally a chapter in both their lives closed. There is not meant to be more.
But they were once human and humans make choices and give answers to god's questions.
9 years later, Shin comes home to Yeo waiting for him with arm wide open, strings of apologies and Shin nods, he knows. They loved each other so much from this short meeting as Goblin and Grim Reaper, it surmounted the pain and suffering of a bloody past.
They replied God, who thought what was was mercy, that they wanted to go home.
Their home is found in each other and they found it in the end.
Jokes aside,these two missed each other so much. Shin, listening to Yeo's voice, one that he knows, trusts and has come to love. Disbelief, heartache, disappointment, all these complicated feelings towards Yeo but still, he picks up the call and listens. Because he loves him so much he cannot withold himself from picking it up. Because the clearest thing he's feeling from the jumble of emotions is that he misses Yeo.
Meanwhile Yeo straightened when he realised who was on the line. To just hear Shin breathe through the phone speakers must have hurt. How much Yeo wishes the past had not been so. How greatly he wishes he wasn't the foolish king that ruined his best friend. He deserves nothing but silence from Shin. But he will grasp for even the soft whisper of the goblin's breath by his ear.
This quiet reunion is tinged with so much longing it almost physically hurts. It hurts so much neither can speak. But it also means neither are willing to end the call, grasping at the wisps of each others' presence.
When I think about my shipping Shin and Yeo together as objectively as possible, I wonder about this: Yeo is the cause of all of Shin's present problems, his hurt, his curse, his goblinhood. Shin gave his love and loyalty to the crown but received years of torment for it. Why then should these two still be together?? Maybe it's because, though late, Yeo has this chance of atoning himself, to give his love to Shin where he had failed as a young king. It's 900 years later that he learns what love actually is, and finally gets to give it as a Reaper. Manipulated by the eunuch, Yeo had no idea who was in his side. Though this doesn't excuse his actions as an executor, it does tell us he had no idea what he was manipulated into sacrificing. As a grim reaper, he learns and he does his best to atone for it, because this Reaper is free of any form of manipulation. We see the true king that could have been.
Shin's anger is warranted, definitely. In fact it's almost unreal that he still has enough heart to grace Yeo with his forgiveness. That's how emphathetic he is as a character. Though unhealthy, he forgets himself as deserving of care and love. In many ways, he is the self destructive/oversacrificial opposite of king Yeo whom only thought of himself. Neither positions are good.
But as Goblin and grim reaper they became dependent on each other, not just for fun bickering, but also support and love. Yeo can return the love he had no chance to give, shin can receive the love he has never accepted for himself. Their relationship stemmed from a seed of hatred and bloodshed, but bloomed because that is not all there is between them.
They have been through enough, and deserve a soft epilogue.
First he was loved with the loyalty of a general on oath to a young king.
Second, he was loved as a friend that made a house a home filled to the brim with life from their bickering.
Third, they fell in love, a 939 year old enemy, a friendship of one year more comforting than all the people they've met this far.
Against the odds, they chose to love each other, one by apologising and another by forgiving.
Love is both fate and choice for them, who came full circle, despite the irrationality of their resolution. They love each other, in every spectrum of love that exists. It is indeed a sad love, but it is their choice.
Because no sadness lasts forever, no happiness lasts forever. You are obligated to live and be happy with the love you have been given. ---- In which every Goblin quote matches their storyline and I cry because of how canonically complex and intertwined they are .
More write ups along the same lines:
Shin loved Yeo as his king in the past, it was a relationship that was built from a sense of duty. These words uttered in 2016 however, now hold both his new love for Wang Yeo the grim reaper and the disappointment towards Wang Yeo the king. His love for the grim reaper from the present battles with a 939 year old disappointment, anger and thirst for revenge (mostly disappointment because referring to Shin's sense of duty, he was already willing to die for Yeo). And do you know what happens? Love wins. Shin forgives him, accepts Yeo's apology. Yeo now learns that he should return the love he was given and Shin, who has always been selfless, learns to receive it.
Idk what sort of friendship constitutes of this level of dependency, to be willing to forgive your family's killer and the cause of your immortal punishment. Even Sunny could not forgive Yeo in this lifetime. Similar to Eun Tak but knowingly (Eun Tak could not fathom the pain immortality brought) pleading for Shin to stay alive. Yeo, the cause of Shin's curse, the listening ear that comforted him in their time together, chose differently in this lifetime, he chose to care for another being. "I don't want you to die" is so significant when the entirety of their backstory is revealed. Even after all the pain and suffering, I don't want you to die. Because love is an irrational choice, and their choice is a sad love.
YOU GOT TO HIM IN THIS LIFETIME. I'm going to cry
Kim Eun Sook had to cut up onions by making Yeo listen to all of Shin's heartache, most of which was caused by his foolish king self (that he regrets so much). They were given the opportunity as Goblin and Grim Reaper to make up past animosity, to apologise and forgive.
You want first love??? Well this one took 948 years to finally manifest. Godamnit
These two had not ONE but TWO goodbyes together. (Three of you count Goryeo). Let's be honest, this goodbye was so fucked up. (Pardon the language BUT IT IS)
Shin, saying goodbye to one of the few people he thought would stay with him for as long as he lived. Yeo, telling him to not make it rain, to be happy. These two have gone through so much together, they care for each other so much that when it is time for them to part, they wish each other the best.
Shin loves Yeo and Yeo loves Shin. This is fact. In whatever spectrum of love that exists, it is undeniable that they cared for one another. Enough to conquer the grudges formed in the past 948 years ago (the 9 years Shin was in limbo taken into account). Tell me, a love that blossomed in a year versus a near millennia of hatred, pain and loneliness.
What wins?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you reached here, I congratulate you. All this is the result of about several months of babbling. I’m awfully sad this ship didn’t explode as I’d have loved to see. Though it may sound like I bash on the series a lot (which I admit i do lmao), i do love it for the range of emotions it put me through (and the friends I made in the process of all the screaming!)
:’) Goblin will always be thought fondly in my mind.
Because I don’t think I’ll be able to explore all these ideas in fic/drawings, I decided to make a sort of photo essay rambling about the various ways Shin and Yeo are intertwined in the narrative. Maybe this was borne out of my saltiness™ over Episode 16.
Long post ahead.
*Edit* Upon Rereading this essay is so messy and rushed and all over the place lol. Next time I’ll write better when I don’t have assignments killing me over.
Shin and Yeo in the Narrative’s plot
I’ve often spoken about how Shin and Yeo’s friendship within the show is basically drawing upon the two main lead couple’s canon narrative. Here’s a summary of Eun Tak and Kim Shin, as well as Wang Yeo and Sunny.
“Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) is a goblin and protector of souls. He lives with a grim reaper (Lee Dong-wook) who is in charge of taking deceased souls. Shin doesn't want immortality anymore, but needs a human bride in order to end his long life. Meanwhile, Ji Eun-tak (Kim Go-eun) is a high school student who despite her painful reality, remains optimistic. She summons the goblin by chance and through various encounters, ended up falling in love with him. Sunny (Yoo In-na) is an owner of a chicken wing shop, and is a bright and attractive girl who is loved by all men. Everything changes when the grim reaper and Sunny meet.” - From Wikipedia
It is 2016 and what can be considered Shin and Yeo’s “second life” as the Goblin and Grim reaper. In this life, they meet as fate would have it, two past enemies in Goryeo (if you want, Shin and Yeo could have been lovers that time but I’d not like them to be because of the age difference* and greater tragedy of their meeting as goblin and grim reaper)
*I really don’t want to expend my breath on this since I’ve given my two cents before.
Similar to Sunny and Yeo, Shin has no idea who Yeo is and Yeo has no clue about Shin’s past during Goryeo (nor of his involvement in Shin’s curse). In the time they spend together, Shin tells Yeo he doesn’t care about who he was in his past life, an immediate gesture of friendship with the amnesiac reaper. It’s done as part as their penchant to bicker with each other and to us viewers it’s amusing. To Yeo though, that must have meant much since he’s been living for 300 years listening to reapers dismiss his concern. Here, Shin has told him it doesn’t matter, because the reaper in the present, what he does now in 2016, is what matters. It’s adorable, how he’d hate him just the same.
(taken from heartou)
And it’s true, what Wang Yeo is in this lifetime is a Reaper meant to repent for his sins. And he does, by showing he cares for the people around him. Here is Yeo’s chance to ‘return the love he was given.'
Full speed ahead, we get all the funny moments of Shin and Yeo bickering like a married couple under a domestic setting over petty household matters. Eun Tak and Deok Hwa join in on the fun! (I like to joke that Deok Hwa possessed by god is probably the biggest shipper, for putting the goblin and grim reaper under the same roof) I’ll gloss over these moments because I think these scenes are already pretty iconic. As time passes, Shin and Yeo grow closer, becoming genuinely concerned for each other. Here are some of the hilarious but sometimes heartwarming moments they attempt to comfort each other.
Shin has always been shouldering the guilt of his family’s death and the loss/ grief from it. In addition to seeing his loved ones (the Yeo servants and likely any human he befriends) die. Here is Yeo, finding out about it. In the moment, also addressing his own conflict, his past sin he can’t remember.
“One is suffering from losing the memory of the previous life while the other is suffering because he cannot forget. The two are depending on each other” -Grandfather-
Shin has always wanted to die. (that’s a big can of worms) Perhaps, he feels guilty for letting Yeo kill him and his family, for being too late in stopping Park Joon Won. The Yoo family have always been the only ones that asked him to continue living, Yeo is likely the first other person to say this to him, being aware of his goblin-hood.
(Yeo even offered a hug after when he won’t even let Sunny touch him, you sweet thing ahhh.) Later, we’re given a more serious admission that Yeo doesn’t want Shin to die bc he cares for him as a true friend.
Some other moments where they’re there for each other. Shin has never spoken to anyone about his past. (Funny, how he divulges it to Yeo whilst Eun Tan overhears it.)
After director Yoo’s death, Yeo asks for Eun Tak’s help.
Post comforting a sad reaper:
To continue, I think the link similarities between Shin and Yeo’s storyline and Sunny and Yeo’s storyline are easy enough to spot: Yeo is Shin’s killer. It’s tragic that they were fated to meet again and be friends and (in my dreams) fall in love.
When they confront each other, there is the same betrayal we see in Sunny and Yeo’s plotline. What’s worse, is that Shin and Yeo never wanted to be friends in the first place. Just give me a moment to process this fanfiction-level story of tragic lovers, from enemies to friends to lovers to (as revealed) mortal enemies to lovers again.
As for Shin and Eun Tak’s storyline being mashed into the Shin and Yeo plot line:
“Mass isn’t proportional to volume.
A girl as small as a violet, a girl who moves like a flower petal – is pulling me toward her with more force than her mass.
Just then, like Newton’s apple, I rolled toward her without stopping until I fell on her with a thump.
My heart keeps bouncing between the sky and the ground.
It was my first love” -Kim Shin
Did they want to be friends? Did they want to meet each other in this life? No?
But they did. Yeo is this strange new person in his long life (as is the curious case of the goblin’s brides’ abilities and Eun Tak’s charisma). Likewise, Shin is an anomaly in Yeo’s 300 years of unchanging duty to serve tea to deceased souls. (as is the appearance of Sunny, whose old painting causes the same heartache every year, when Shin writes 'Wang Yeo' on a lantern.)
When they first confront each other on the topic of Yeo’s identity, Shin can’t hurt him. Because this Yeo, still without his memories, is the Yeo he knows of this time, has lived with and has been cared for by. He walks away because he doesn’t want revenge, not anymore. How could his best friend betray him like this? How could the reaper still consider himself Shin’s friend?
In the interlude, Shin leaves the house and lets Yeo continue staying in the mansion. Because he’s helpless, he cares for Yeo as Yeo has shown him in this lifetime.
In the second conflict, we have Yeo wanting Shin to kill him, because that is what Shin deserves. The reaper knows of everything Shin faced because of him, because he gave that cowardly royal command. But Shin cannot kill Yeo, because in this lifetime as goblin and grim reaper he has seen what the young king (who did not deserve his loyalty but he gave it anyway) could have been. Shin's disappointed that the reaper would believe that his death would give Shin solace/peace from his curse.
They have the famous phone call break up scene, just as Sunny and Yeo promised never to see each other again. Honestly there’s more to talk about these scenes, I think this essay is hardly exhaustive.
Moving on, we have the tear jerking scene of episode 13, when Shin and Yeo work together to kill Park Joon Won. Finally, Shin has completed his duty to his king. Finally, Yeo can pay him his due respects and thanks.
Finally, Shin and Yeo can let go of their ties to the past in Goryeo: They are no longer General and King.
At this point they are finally equals, not owing each other anything. When Shin comes back from limbo, Yeo gives and apology 900 years late. And Shin, makes a choice, his own choice, to forgive him.
“I should’ve done this 900 years ago. Please forgive me for saying it so late. Please forgive me for not protecting my love or you, who protected my Goryeo. I had received love, but I didn’t love anyone. Please forgive me.” -Grim Reaper
Shin forgives Yeo even when Sunny could not. Yeo remembers Shin even when Eun Tak could not.
This reunion was a choice.
Shin forgiving Yeo is a choice.
Human choice is a big theme in Goblin and here Shin and Yeo decide to acknowledge their past, forgive and accept it. Shin didn’t need to forgive Yeo, could have exacted his revenge. But he chose not to.
Here are a few quotes for you to chew on in context of Shin and Yeo deciding to continue loving each other after all that conflict:
“Your choice is the only answer in your life” -Kim Shin
“It’s been almost 1000 years, I can’t stay sad for that long. I’m a brave Goblin who has accepted my fate. Even the deepest sorrow cannot last a thousand years and the most profound love cannot last a thousand years” -Kim Shin
“Fate is a question that I ask someone. And the answer… is something you must find yourselves” -Deity
“If you two had been fated to pass each other by, you would’ve done so. And if you two had been fated to meet, you two would’ve met” -Ji Eun Tak
I think i’ve read posts that talk about the lack of a resolution for Shin and Eun Tak due to immortality and limited number of reincarnations. Sunny and Yeo got theirs in the next life. It warms my heart that Shin and Yeo resolved theirs in this life as Goblin and Grim Reaper.
Obviously, this analysis wasn’t exhaustive, the drama having so many layers and facets to explore. Just thought I’d share some thoughts with y’all so I don’t have to agonise over it myself in fic I’ll probably never finish.
Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions! Here are some pics of them just to punch you in the heart.
