AoS S2 was good but it could've been better. So, here is my attempt at it. I've also gotten ideas from other authors and their works and have given them due credit. Basically it's an amalgamation of their and mine ideas. And if you want to make sense of this post its best to read them all if you haven't already.
I hc that Jin Bu-Yeon was fully healed in 1½ years and the rest ½ year was for acclimating. She sstarted escaping in the 3rd year.
In the show, when Ju-Wol tries to have JBY caught for a thief Park Dang-Gu is there on the premises (a parallel to S1E1) and he is the one who catches her but comes to the conclusion that she is someone from Jinyowon.
JBY decides to run along with it and tells PDG and JW that she is from a noble family who have decided to send her to Jinyowon to become a priestess but it's not the life she wants so she this is her rebellion and umpteenth attempt at snatching her freedom. It's truth anyways.
I also hc that all those Jinyowon guards are female members of minor nobility. Honestly, since in S1 we got to see the life of male mages at Jeongjingak, in S2 that same treatment should've given to women in Jinyowon. They could've shown more about what divine powers actually are
In that year JBY becomes friends with JW too. I seriously missed their friendship in S2. (S2 denied us so many female only moments. Seriously they should've stuck to 20 episodes.)
She become friends with PDG too. They often met at Chwiseonru and he taught her all sorts of business knowledge. JBY tells PDG that he need not be happy in front of her all the time 'cause she doesn't hide her hopelessness from him. (They made PDG so one dimensional. Another wasted character)
JBY has also met Go Won during that year and not after her marriage. And just like in the show over here too both are unaware of each other's identity. They do congratulate themselves for hiding their identity so well.
Has anyone read Ghost Marriage by @repeatinglitanies? If not go ahead and read it now.
In my AU Jang Uk after slayed the soul shifter in Jinyowon strikes the deal with Jin Ho-Gyeong but HYG is far too obsrinate and outright rejects him. Its when Uk is about to leave he encounters JBY and it all follows just like in the show.
Before the wedding Jin Cho-Yeon confesses to JBY that she had another suitor who could've freed her. Hearing her description JBY realises its Uk and tells her of meeting him and the offer she made to him. When the barge goes JCY concludes that it's Uk's doing but pretends otherwise. She too doesn't want the horrible fate her mother has decided for JBY to come true and at the same time wants to see what PDG would've done on the knowledge that it was her wedding. (S2 did JCY and PDG so dirty. JCY had such potential for a great arc and Yoo In-Soo never got to show his range.)
I just love the whole bridenapping arc especially since the bride herself has staged it. The dumbstruck look on everyone's face when JBY tells them that it was her idea is priceless. Not to mention Uk being given all sorts of motivations for actions and none of them reaching close must have exasperated him so much.
The whole Jinyowon's lantern scene I like to imagine happen along the lines of Every Rose Has Its Thorns, Every Light Has Its Shadow by vanillascribble. It makes Uk seem less of a bastard than in show. His high EQ really took a hit in S2 but that's given since he was actually depressed and suicidal.
I also love when in Ep2 after Park Jin asks Uk why he abducted JBY on her wedding day his answer was, 'She was pretty. I was mesmerized by her beauty.' He tries so hard to sound cheeky when it's the truth. (The bts scenes of the tracking bracelet where Lee Jae-Wook improvised are proof that he was running on same wavelength.)
Anyways, JBY after 3 days are finished is scared that Uk will abandon her and learns that her other betrothed is looking for her and the rest of the events are like in the show.
Uk returns from killing another soul shifter to a missing betrothed, all sorts of rumor running through the capital and a turned off Jinyowon lantern.
PDG and JCY are present at the Unanimous Assembly. This is where PDG and JBY learn who other one actually is.
Their declaration at Unanimous Assembly is iconic. All the fragile peace Daeho had managed to keep for 3 years is spectacularly ruined by these two.
Plus I love Go Youn Jung's expressions when Uk enters. She portrayed JBY's disbelief, desperation, and hope so well. It was the moment she truly sold the character.
After Uk destroys the tracking spool, Kim Dojuu has him brought back the next morning 'cause unless he is slaying soul shifters there is no reason to avoid his wounded wife.
In The brazier on a summer day by Apple_95 JBY admits to Uk that kissing him before the thread torture reminds of another kiss and how wildly different they were.
In this AU Uk is stunned that she has a past but decides that at least this will mean she won't keep holding on unnecessary hopes. Though he does spend days wondering away from home who this man is that she remembers even after memory loss.
JBY upon learning that her friend is also her sister's former fiancé invites both of them and Yul for dinner at Jang household. She also invites JW and Won but both decline.
Uk runs into Yul and PDG when they are leaving for dinner and bewilderedly tags along. They also happen into Heo Yun-ok and PDG being a meddler at heart extends the invitation.
JCY is decidedly not pleased to see HYO and even more to learn who invited her. Neither is Kim Dojuu but she is far too happy that the house is filled again with friends and laughter.
JCY introduces HYO to JBY as 'the girl whose only tragedy is her feelings aren't returned by the man she likes'. Uk too is aware of HYO's feelings for him and avoids her politely and deftly as always by making Yul sit between them. (He does this in show too as seen in S2E6)
When leaving JCY all but drags HYO out claiming she'll escort her home after all she is a skilled fighter too. PDG and Yul go to Chwiseonru and by the next day entire capital knows of this dinner.
Uk admits to JBY that this was the most happy he has been in a long time and he is grateful to her for arranging this. (This post by @fake-married-my-dead-fiance gave me idea for this)
Uk is surprised to know that JBY has been friends with PDG, JW and some eunuch from the royal palce for quite some time.
The gossip next day is ranging from 'Will Songrim and Jinyowon be allies again?' to 'Those Jin Sisters are stealing 2 of Daeho's most eligible bachelors'. Neither of the adults are impressed.
But it still doesn't convince people that Uk and JBY are truly married, most believe its a ploy by Uk or a political move.
The whole JBY staying home all day waiting for Uk was nonsense. You are telling me a woman who entered in a marriage with a complete stranger to gain freedom would voluntarily choose to stay at home? NO! Absolutely Not! JBY is living her life to the fullest, yes she does miss very much Uk but he is a stranger to her like she is to him.
At the Stone Tower when Uk points out that he has found a use for JBY for the first time she realises that he too is looking for someone in her stead just like JHG.
Jin Mu has fake!Naksu attack JBY at Chwiseonru but JBY has recollections of her earlier life and beheads her. This clue JW that she is actually Naksu|Mudeok, who cooks up a story that Master Lee was the one who sent aid their way.
JBY keeps on wondering how much of those skills were a result of the jade egg or her own abilities.
JBY is justifiably furious at being used as a pawn and insists that she too is going to participate in the fake!Naksu downfall plan. Look, JBY kept finding new methods to run from Jinyowon, it's a waste of her character potential to not utilise it.)
Jang Uk isn't happy but JBY puts her foot down and everyone has to go along with it
JBY starts spending more time at Songrim much to Uk's chagrin, he is running out of places to escape her. Until one evening he finds her drinking with Master Heo and bemusedly joins them.
When Seo Yun-oh and those pathetic lackeys of Cha Beom ask for JBY at Chwiseonru, Yul isn't there to stop her. So, when she goes there those scumbags are talking about how despite being hunted by Naksu she isn't worth Uk's attention and doesn't matter to him as much
But the only thing JBY thinks how fortunate she is to have escaped marriage to such a horrible man and when she turns to leave things get ugly. She fights them (though this time no memories appear) by hitting them with anything she can find but it's useless. Thankfully, Uk appears and hands over Naksu's sword to JBY and beats the shit out of them without using Ice Stone's power.
It's an important moment for Uk as he realises that it's his neglect has made others disrespect her.
But all JBY can wonder why holding Naksu's sword was a comfort, when she was feeling so much rage, frustration, helplessness?
JW suggests that JBY take up sword dancing to see how much of that skill is hers. Much to JBY's surprise apart from fleeing from her family this is another time she doesn't stumble or trip.
There's more action at the Queen's Banquet (Open to everyone's interpretation)
Please read this gorgeous analysis by @tansu-bomb of S2Ep4 ending Ep5 beginning.
After their return from the royal palace Uk gives the same spiel he did in the show but here JBY tells him that he truly is like her mother. The only difference between them so far was that he left her to her own devices, but now? Maybe she has escaped one prison for another.
At So-I's gambling den JBY is present and the real one uses her powers to save So-I (Seriously, why did they kill her?)
Heo Yun-ok blames JBY in Master Heo's earshot who reprimands her for such unseemly behaviour.
Uk does promise to JHG that he'll send JBY back but at Sejukwon gives her money and tells her to go anywhere she pleases.
Master Lee doesn't tell Yul that Naksu's soul will disappear but to JHG and asks her to let the nature run its course.
Their reconciliation happens as in the show but Uk goes to visit Won not that day but next.
That night Uk and JBY are about to reach second base but are interrupted by So-I appearing at the Jang household. She confesses to them and Kim Dojuu that Mudeok was given a potion by Jin Mu which made her run wild.
When she leaves Uk breaks down, he finally has proof but she isn't here and at times he did wonder if Mudeok did kill him for revenge that's why he wanted to know what were her last thoughts. He hates himself for doubting her.
But JBY points out that too much trust and love is dangerous just like too much rain causes floods. Mudeok wouldn't be upset with him.
Uk doesn't agree with her and confesses the truth of his birth. He tells her of the conversation he had with Park Jin right after he was resurrected, where the latter plainly told him that from his mother's death, PDG/JCY's wedding massacre and Naksu all happened because he was born. It's all his fault. (Seriously, Park Jin does it so many times in the series.)
JBY furiously denies it but after a lifetime of thinking it and being told by almost eery other adult (except Kim Dojuu, Master Lee and Master Heo) Uk can't wrap his head around it so easily.
I also would like to draw attention to how deeply misogynistic Daeho society is and how they hate Jinyowon 'cause it doesn't adhere to their norms. They panic when Yul is attacked but Naksu and So-I's mistreatment is nothing to them. So, when in the future the truth comes out people are willing to forgive Yul 'cause he wasn't fully healed but Naksu's murder spree at the wedding despite being proven was due to Jin Mu's machinations is still loudly protested against.
When next day Uk goes to visit Won, JBY goes to Songrim and rains a tirade on Park Jin that it's his fault Uk is this much depressed. (It's the truth, in both seaons Uk was depressed after Park Jin blames him. Not surprising since he is the only father figure Uk has known his whole life. It's only thanks to Cho Yeong's machinations each time he finds something else to focus on.)
Over there JBY runs into Yul who offeres to take her to Danhangyeokk. Still reeling from her encounter with Park Jin, she thoughtlessly agrees. There Yul confesses that this was the place where they met for the first time and stabs both of them. [See Ep6 for reference] (It wasn't removal of blood parasite that changed Yul's feelings but Master Lee's revelation and even then he kept on saying that they would make each other unhappy.)
They are saved by the timely appearance of Master Lee along with Uk and Won.
Everyone except Master Lee, JHG, JCY, JW, HYO is confused by Yul's actions.
I also want Uk and Yul have a discussion like they did in S2E5. This time on how Yul readily killed her and gave his own life too while Uk pretended he didn't know who she was both times to protect her. It also makes any guilt CY feels equal to Yul's.
Uk is by JBY's side the entire time of her convalescence.
On the day JBY is released from Sejukwon, HYO attacks her with . And Cho Yeong's memories return.
CY rejects Uk like in Ep 8 but here Uk does recognise that the one standing before him is his master.
He lets her go because they both need to come to terms with it, there is Jin Mu and his organization to deal with and Master Lee to confront.
Master Lee tells him that if had told Uk truth from the beginning they would've been attached to each other in a very unhealthy and obsessive manner, something similar to JHG aand JBY. So, no he doesn't regret hiding things from them.
Uk makes his plans like in the show and CY starts gathering her own allies. JW tells her that she knew her real identity all along and that she would help her. JCY's arc goes more along the line of Apple_95's story (It's so good, I won't ever make any changes), she recruits So-I and Won too after all they too were used like puppets by Jin Mu.
CY purposefully runs into Jin Mu and pretends that she is done with Uk playing hot and cold with her feelings, how disgusted she is to be hold on the same standard as Naksu. Jin Mu falls for it hook, line and sinker.
And yes CY tells Won the truth. It goes along the line the conversation they have in Gwido. He is angry, terrified but relieved too. He is also pleased that they've become good friends now who can speak of their insecurities without any fear unlike when she was Mudeok they only told each other their ugly feelings, all the while wondering how to hold this over each other.
This is also when Won goes to ask Uk in riddle that does he know who his wife really is? Uk is so offended when he realises that CY told Won truth but not him. Won as their canonical relationship therapist tells him to go have a conversation with her and clear the air.
This is when the Uk arriving at Jinyowon scene is. It happens ditto to the show. But given that here Uk knows her true identity, it adds another layer to the conversation they have. They basically revert to what they actually are. CY merciless to everyone including herself and Uk manipulative to the end.
Uk is furious and hurt that she will keep on this pretenc no matter what. But he is also scared that when she keeps on saying she is still in love with her previous lover, does that means she prefers him from 3 years ago?. It hits him harder as now with hindsight he can see that this is his payback for telling her that to him she was merely Mudeok's substitute.
(Ok, I love that Jinyowon Annex scene, it's one of the few scenes where Uk is so visibly out of control and desperate, he has shockingly properly mourned Mudeok and placed her in his past, has astonishingly found love again and now she is rejecting him for a man who from her past, who doesn't even recognkse her. So far I've only seen only 1 version of this scene from Uk's PoV. It's keeps switching on and off by varoque.)
In the Gwido, CY saves herself from the wraith. Read What If.... by JustWriteIt13 if you want to know the fight scene in detail.
Uk's revelation doesn't shock CY much. She knows him and it's not that surprising that he knew it though she can't help but think of their last conversation in Jinyowon's Annex conversation in different light.
O' Sword, Beloved by OLadyofHallowedHeights is a conversation CY holds with Uk before they are married since she is concerned of his plans after she dies.
After real JBY takes control of her body, plot goes according to Last War by Monmonie2003. It's so good and personally I'm of the opinion that the fight with the Firebird was very underwhelming.
But I am going with repeatinglitanies and vanillascribble that CY is the Firebird. And like the latter's story CY convinces everyone to let her deal with firebird so it can bid its farewell to the Ice Dragon. She strongly feels that their situation mirrors her and Uk's.
Even without the Firebird, the rest have a lot to deal with. Jin Mu's organization, the Unanimous Assembly, the King and royal guards, etc.
And the 7 stars with King's star are Cho Yeong, Jin Bu-Yeon, Jin Cho-Yeon, Park Dang-Gu, Go Won, Seo Yul and So-I.
The Unanimous Assembly holds a rain making ritual, where CY has to act as the Jinyowon's head priestess but JBY is the one who runs the show.
And while I do agree that CY not picking up sword again makes sense for her character arc but it's JBY who should've killed Jin Mu with that cursed ice stone and CY should've beheaded him. They are the ones whose life was ruined by him since childhood.
CY almost dies in the process but is revived by the Ice Dragon in gratitude. (I also kind of like to imagine her with short hair since she was caught in a literal inferno.)
When CY wakes up JBY informs everyone that to restore Jinyowon she'll require time. And its time they need since entire Daeho is convinced that JBY's real face belongs to Naksu and CY's to JBY. A revelation like this can't come so quick.
So, the next year goes with CY continuing the pretense of JBY while the latter fixes Jinyowon and the former along with Uk carches the escaped relics. This goes like Alchemy of Souls Season 3: Virtue's Monster by @gossamerorigins. It's canon for me at this point.
anyways master lee will always be an arospec icon who only experiences romantic attraction extremely infrequently (as in every 200 years) to me. and yes he's also ace.
the chastity tea? being very openly disinterested in pursuing romantic or sexual relationships? receiving social ridicule for his lifelong commitment to celibacy and singlehood from his fellow mages? all the while finding wisdom and magic and meaning in life without a hint of romance? and being the most powerful and compassionate mage in all of daeho?
and then being totally lost and dumbstruck when he experiences attraction for the first time in his more than a century long life? his devastation because of how rare feeling that way was to him?
one of the most aroace coded characters of all time. extremely greyromantic and ace behavior all around.
One of the fascinating trope subversions in Alchemy of Souls is that Jang Uk is a Chosen OneTM, but instead of the usual paths, where he's specially trained, or hidden away for safety, or famous or something, everyone who knows Uk is special is actively trying to hinder his progress.
And not just the bad guys! The good guys too. It's like if every single teacher in Harry Potter was Snape.
His father cripples and abandons him, Park Jin will not let him be trained and actively encourages him to be lazy, and Jin Mu writes him off as useless but also refuses to train him. All the other important mages dislike and refuse to train him (though they don't know the whole truth). Master Lee is the only person in the entire series who knows Jang Uk is the Prophecy King Star Baby and actually helps him.
Now of course, if you try to mess with destiny, destiny messes back. So obviously Jang Uk would find the most terrifying possible trainer, a soul-shifting murderer, who is willing to help him. Which is just perfect because that's tootally what happens narritively when you try to prevent a prophecy, it just finds another way to come to fruition. Everyone is acting like the king and queen in Sleeping Beauty, thinking they can just destroy all the spindles and nothing bad will happen. She will always find a spindle, you fools!
What's just great karma is that they end up with a Chosen One who doesn't believe in their morals at all. Seo Yul is more like what they would want, a person who will sacrifice themselves to save the world, but instead they have Jang Uk, who will burn the world down to save one person. And it's their fault! They made him that way.
Also, how picky to be like, "Well the Prophecy Baby wasn't born in a way that I like so I don't think he should be the Chosen One." Do you people realize you could have all died? And again, Master Lee is there being like, "I don't care how he was born, if you guys got a King Star baby it's because you need one. Ya idiots."
