#past hunter groups

[stumbling-towards-the-light]

Don't think about how the natural state of the tree/shin-mok in the Hunter's Santuary/Graveyard is implied to be little to no wind with the linen strips remaining completely still.

Don't think about how the only time we see them actively moving is when the Honmoon is literally fracturing.

Don't think about how the appearance of Rumi during the confrontation scene makes the linen ribbons go still again. Rumi, even in her darkest hour, is literally returning a sense of order/naturalness to a place that's actively having those qualities being striped away.

Tree (shin-mok) in its natural state:

Shin-mok while Honmoon is actively dying:

YOU CAN EVEN SEE THE RIBBONS GO STILL WHEN RUMI SHOWS UP:

[stumbling-towards-the-light]

So, on my millionth rewatch of kpdh, my brain decided to latch on to Rumi's first breakdown scene, the one where we first see the Demon Voice™.

Cuz here's the thing. That scene is very much framed like a conversation between Rumi and the Honmoon, with the same cuts/shots being used to indicate who is currently "speaking".

Rumi starts the conversation, standing, and tries to sing the ridiously high chorus of Golden. She can't hit the note, her voice cracks, and she falls to her knees in despair, with the impact of her knees causing a specifically blue ripple effect.

And then Rumi asks her questions that reveal her deep, deep insecurities ("Why now when I'm so close?"). In response, the camera cuts back to the Honmoon, and it's noticeably different. Or at least one part of it is. Do you see it? The colors are shifting oh so subtly.

I should also point out this particular shot, also has a very subtle music cue that none of the other Honmoon-specific shots do.

Finally, we arrive at the Demon™ Moment, where Rumi asks screams her final questions, while simultaneously slamming her fists down. Here is where we see the infamous pink band effect.

Right after this moment, Rumi looks justifiably shocked and terrified, so she runs away. She doesn't see the last shot of the Honmoon, pulsing bright blue again, like nothing happend.

So why dissect this scene like this? Why view it through the lens of a conversation?

Because I think we've been framing the situation between Rumi and the Honmoon wrong this whole time. Rather than Rumi manipulating the Honmoon, I think the Honmoon is mirroring her.

The Honmoon's shifting colors represent it trying to comfort Rumi, in its own way. Only when it realizes how deep Rumi's despair goes that it flashes pink.

But why show a color that signifys a damaged Honmoon to a trained Hunter like Rumi?

Simple, a pink band is the only way the Honmoon can contextualize being hurt. So, the Honmoon shows Rumi a pink band to demonstrate to Rumi that it understands how much she's hurting.

But all Rumi sees is a pink band, which has always meant a hurt Honmoon and she panics.

[stumbling-towards-the-light]

Broke: The Honmoon's relationship to the past generations of Hunters is like that of an uncaring entity obsessed with tradition

Woke: The Honmoon views its Hunters as its own daughters. The Hunters view themselves as their mother's protector. The Honmoon wants to protect its Hunters so badly. Every single generation ends dies the same way, with the last Hunter standing firm and dying in glory, knowing her sacrifice was not in vain.

("I'll protect you, Eomma"

Nononononono, stopthisplease, d̷͖̹̒̋̉̀̈͌͐͌̀̈́̐̌͘͘ö̵̪̮́͆́̽̀́̒̇̋̈́̓̏͗͘͘ņ̴̬̥̦̠̩͚̺͇̉͂̆͌̉͋͒̀͋̿͒̈́̏̒̚͜͜'̷̢̛͙͕̘̺̠̠̠̱͍͛͛̓̈́̽͝ͅt̷̳͋͐̆͝ ̷̧̡̥͚͕̼͙͖̳̀̀̏̓́͒̚͝͝l̷̡̧̮͇̼̯͉̰̣͚͉͌̀̌̂̅̃̍̕͜ͅe̵̞͍̼̪̜̱̦̺͕̞̺͉̖̜͐̿́͆̒̒͛͂̾̀̅̀̌͒͘͜͝a̷̡̢̧͓̣̳̟̰͈̳͓̭̼͓͖͓̒͛͛͂̍v̷̙̞̺͕͎͕̖͔͐̓͆̓̈͌͊̓͋̒e̴͙̲̯̰̙̭̰̔̽̄̽,̸̧̢̡̱͎̲̩̜̘̱̤̤͚͖̩͛̀̔̈́̒͛̂́̍͂̒͝͠ ̸̨̛͓̭̽̿̄́̊͌s̸͈̗̲̠̹͎͇̟̽͛́̈̽͗̇̽̏͌̇̂̿̊t̸̲̳̪̗̰̜͙͌̇͋̏͑̎̄̆͆͑̀̆͆͌͊͘͘͜ͅͅą̵͈̥͓̯̯̻̳͇̦̗̘̭͋́̌̑̈́̄͒͗̈̀̾̃̑́͘͝y̵̹̱̞̙͇̎̑̊̽͆̇̋̇͐̾̈͋͘̕ ̸̡̧̛͙̞̟̣̜̤͍̥̰̦͚̯̥͜͜ẇ̵̹̖͕͔̻̦͉͓̳̯̹̳͕͙̳̍̍̍͂͒̓͗̈͘ͅͅi̶̲͙̠̹͛̂t̶̛̗̟̗͍̺̮̞͖̣̝̗͖̝̟̭̝̎̓͊͌̒̍̅̕͝͠h̶̨̢̧̲͎̺͖̠̝̪̞̣̯̬̀̿̀͗͑͌͋̄͘͝ͅ ̴̨̢̡̹̩̮͍̞̖͋͜ͅm̷̰̗̰͗̂͋͂͆͌̚͜͠e̴̩̺̤̳̺̺̋̽̽́́̆̽̚ ")

[stumbling-towards-the-light]

What do you mean the creative team of kpdh has low-key confirmed that Celine's home (aka the Hunter sanctuary/graveyard) is on Jeju fucking Island!?

And they has extremely detailed notes for all the background plants/trees just to make sure that the environment is certifiably Jeju Island!?

Does this prove Mi-Yeong was from Jeju Island? No.

Does this mean the creative team has acknowledged Jeju's insanely diverse muism tradition and therefore increases the chances of Mi-Yeong being from Jeju? Hell yeah it does!

(Credit: @baeksimon , visual developer at Sony)

[stumbling-towards-the-light]

Third Sunlight Sister Headcanons

her given name is Sori (소리), a name meaning "sound, voice"

it can also be written with the hanja for "laughter" which I felt was fitting

her stage name is Zhinü, the name of a Chinese goddess of the constellation Vega, (aka the Weaver Girl of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl folktale fame)

identifies with her stage name in a similar way that a drag queen identifies with their stage name (on-stage, she's Zhinü, off-stage, she's Sori)

she does not know that Rumi is half demon, Celine was too afraid of her reaction (is that.......generational cycles? In my headcanons? It's more likely than you think.)

I legitimately do not know how she would've reacted to finding out

Mi-Yeong had it in her will that Celine and Sori would have joint custody of Rumi, Celine overrode that when she took in Rumi

Sori knows Celine hasn't been handling Mi-Yeong's death well, but Celine pushes her away everytime she asks

she's basically Rumi's distant auntie, that she only sees every once in a while

she has become responsible for maintaining the Honmoon while Celine is raising Rumi/building Huntrix

launched a solo career to cover this (imagine a mix of HyunA, Lee Hyori, and CL)

she is Blasian

her grandfather was an African-American soldier stationed at a military base in Seoul after the Korean War

and her grandmother was a member of one of the proto-rock bands that sprang up around the military bases

her entire family is involved in music in some way, shape, or form

has the most functional family out of the Sunlight Sisters (tho that's not saying much)

not an only child, she only has brothers tho (either the middle or the youngest)

was the Sunlight Sisters' proto-choreographer and secondary lyricist

her weapon is a pyeongon, a large flail used by martial artists from at least the 1700s onward (live demonstration of a pyeongon can be found here)

[stumbling-towards-the-light]

Headcanon:

The Sunlight Sisters performed using stage names.

So, Celine is not Celine's actual given name, but she identifies with it more than her actual name.

Why do I think this? Because Mi-Yeong as a name does not mean anything close to "light" or "star" or "sun" or anything even vaguely alluding to Sunlight Sisters and my mind couldn't handle a lack of THEME ok.

Celine, meanwhile, is a name very obviously alluding to Selene, the Greek Titan of the moon. This is good, this is very on theme with the name "Sunlight Sisters".

My logic is, as ever, immaculate.

[stumbling-towards-the-light]

There are two Big Thoughts inside of me when it comes to characterization of the Honmoon and/or the past generations of Hunters.

It works really well for Celine angst if Celine has to go against her remaining family/order to raise Rumi.

Vs.

The Honmoon itself allows Rumi to manipulate it to a truly insane degree.

Decisions, decisions.

[stumbling-towards-the-light]

Brace for fucking impact people. Imma about to start posting all of my KPDH headcanon drafts. This includes HCs on the past Hunter groups and character analysis. You fucking ready bitches?