#potn s3

[mangajams]

i don’t think either of them can take anymore trauma 😭

From: Painter of the Night

[saezurumurmurs]

How to Steal Seungho’s Soul: A Treatise By Baek Nakyum

First... honestly and purely tell this man you love him flaws and all.

Offer relief from his burdens.

Master that which he has taught you.

Look deeply into his eyes, and give, give, give...

Make him blush...

Addendum: Anyone trying to steal Seungho’s soul other than I, Baek Nakyum, will meet the lion that lives in my chest.

[joestarbuckss]

“I waited and waited for you to come ... Whatever took you so long?”

“I’m so sorry Nakyum.”

[ohmygawdboi]

I cant……that face……that face of realization that someone is truly going to hold him with his heart fully filled with love for him for the first time…..

[huezre]

we got a kitty ver. of them

seungho, as dark and domineering as ever and nakyum, unsuspecting. even though human nakyum wants kitty seungho to leave— even though nakyum is hurt by seungho and wants him to stop being so closed off and abusive— kitty nakyum leaves with kitty seungho because no matter how bad seungho acts, nakyum will follow seungho and nakyum hates that but it’s the way that it is...

i just wish that would change yk bc my man seungho needs to STOP hurting nakyum ISTFG

[awmonomiac]

It's really too cute, Nakyum chatting and Seungho leaning over him, talking to him like a friend. The social barrier is getting thinner and thinner between the two of them.

Seungho annoyed by all this drivel, he endured because he loves NK even though it is contrary to his beliefs

Seungho bends to NK's whims ahah I’m dead.

"why should I apply for this ignorant" There is an air of déjà vu ...

Seungho refuses to let nk receive a poor quality spring poem because he wants the best for him.

NK is dazzled by Seungho's poem. He keeps looking at it without even eating, although we know NK's love for sweets. It is the best gift Seungho could have given to nk because it is something really personal.

It's the most beautiful poem he ever had, probably until then everybody had to take advantage of his ignorance and Seungho who despises social norms is disgusted by that of course.

SH feels no shame, no disdain to write the poem himself for a "peasant"

and he is satisfied to see that finally NK prefers his own poem rather than the one of his calligrapher ahah

“It's all my fault” it's a really trigger sentence for Seungho.

He doesn't want Nakyum's abnegation, he doesn't want a submissive NK.

He wants NK to be good and assert himself despite their difference in status, which is very difficult for NK because he has internalized his inferior status as a lowborn. He has equated his inferior status with his self worth.

In fact Seungho really wants the most authentic intimacy with NK, he refuses that the social norms infiltrate between them two, already because it is in his nature, Seungho this progressive ahah and then because Seungho is terribly whipped!

The moment is so emotionally intense that time seems to have stopped.

Our two lovers are in their own bubble, out of space and time. They seem to be alone in the world, they forget the presence of the calligrapher, who visually disappears. That's why bd zooms in on their faces, because she wants to reinforce this impression by emphasizing their emotions.

The zoom on the brush and the drop of ink which beads underlines this impression of suspended time. All the moments are decomposed in order to underline this effect of suspended time: Nakyum looks at Seungho, zoom on NK fascinated by SH, zoom on Seungho concentrated, then Seungho who looks at NK, Zoom on their exchange of glance and NK's blush...

By the way, can we stop for a second on Nakyum's face? He looks so admiring and fascinated by Seungho! But not only. He is shocked to see Seungho's expression. Seungho, focused on writing his poem, naturally expresses his feelings for NK. As if the facade falls. and NK finally discovers this. This face that NK has never seen is that of a man in love.

The fact that it is Min who reads it is as if it conjures up the right prediction, as if it becomes a bad omen. It's like he's laughing at this anti-misfortune poem because only he knows what awaits NK and SH.

Min is one of those who dream of breaking social norms without succeeding. that's why he admires Seungho so much and why he is obsessed with NK while despising his condition. His disdain is obvious, he ignores him throughout the conversation, doesn't greet him, snatches the poem out of his hands as if he didn't exist.

He sneaks in between them like a snake, he disturbs their peace because deep down he envies them and can't stand the idea that Seungho and NK, a nobleman and a lowborn, can love each other in broad daylight.

Of course it's a thinly disguised threat.

What is he up to?

My theory is that Min would have provoked Seungho so that the kisaengs would witness his reaction with surely the goal to prove something to them. One wonders then what Min could have told them as a story.

Nk makes the ultimate request to Seungho: he asks him the permission to see his sisters.

NK made a huge step towards seungho, that is to say to have confidence in him and to love him in spite of his terrible mood swings.

It's seungho's turn to trust Nakyum.

[erchomai-owari]

What a blessing for me ❤️❤️❤️

[slinkykinkyjou]

PotN S3 Finale spoilers

I believe that SH might be THE king of the yandere archetype, but he did not do anything to warrant this violence against him (Min and his cronies see NK as a belonging of SH’s - the rape is to punish SH, and have a “good” time). In the end, SH wept. Prediction: SH might blame himself, which will drive a wedge between him and NK in S4. Thoughts?

I’ve given a lot of thought over course of the book to Min’s motivations, and here’s where I land on this. Min was a spoiled, bored noble with a clever, under-stimulated mind and too much time on his hands. I was bullied by people like Min as a kid.

But even orgies, booze, and partying got monotonous after a while. He may not know how got there, but Min can see that resident dom SH is Fucked Up with a capital F. Everyone knows SH to be radical, rebellious, taboo. He’s a comet blazing bright and destined to burn itself out young; in a conservative Confucian society, he’s a spectacle. He’s /interesting/. SH can do the taboo things Min can only fantasize about, because SH doesn’t care about the consequences he barrels towards. Min considers himself a spectator to SH’s messy demise. “Oh ho ho! How novel! How droll!”

I believe Min was motivated by cruelty and sadism, like a zoo visitor stabbing at an abused tiger stuck behind bars (the bars here a metaphor for societal expectations and filial/civic duty). Ultimately, Min got too close to the cage and the tiger tore him apart.

SH is living with severe PTSD. Nightmares, self-destructive and self-loathing behavior - he’s been on the highway to hell ever since he came limping out of Confucian Gay Conversion Therapy, and up until he fell in love with NK, he had nothing to live for. Why not waste away the days in hedonism and despair?

But now he is in love. And has someone that, (toxic Stockholm pornographic fantasy sexiness or not), loves him back. Is it too late? I think maybe... In his traumatized shitshow of a life, SH has burned every bridge he’s come across. Dangit. He’s burned bridges with: his father, Jihwa + his family, his servants are a rotating door, Heena (maybe — what do you all think?), the gang rapist nobles he killed, and InHun the Insufferable Twat. His only allies are Nakyum, who holds zero social clout, and real GOAT Mr. Kim. (Mr. Kim is fucking legend, I stg.)

It was so satisfying in the moment for SH to kill the gang rapists. They deserved it. But that’s just a temporary hit of dopamine that feels good in the moment and will come back to bite SH soon. SH has been stockpiling ill will and S4 is going to explore the consequences of it. Which I hate. I just want them to cuddle and be safe and in love. Please Byeonduck pleeeease let them live happily.

Prediction, please don’t shoot the messenger here: I think S4 is going to be torture for us. I think we’re going to see SH’s topknot cut. I think we’re going to see Mr. Kim, NK, and/or SH flogged. I think InHun the Insufferable is going to prance back in all fancy and taunt SH, and do his best to ruin his life. I think we’ll see NK more helpless than ever before, and I think SH is going to be humiliated at bare minimum. And I hate that. So much. That said, despite all my sad predictions lol, I have hope for a happy ending. I can go into that more if people want to hear my thoughts on that, just lmk.

Re: the art… wow. The angelic panels of NK’s sweet little cherub face all bruised and bloodied were really lovingly drawn. You can see she’s communicating his innocence; NK represents all things good in SH’s life, and hope for a better future. The light haloes on NK like a religious figure, elevating him to this iconic/unearthly status that I interpret as a metaphor for SH’s path to healing.

The panels with SH’s face are always a show stealer. The hurt on his furious murder face was a new variation on his usual psycho white-eyed murder look. In the past his eyebrows are usually stiff and almost blank, but before he kills Min, his eyebrows are furrowed and he looks pained. He took it VERY personally that time, there was a hint of befuddlement (“Why have you gone this far, Min? What the literal fuck is wrong with you?”) and disbelief (“Please let this be another nightmare right now and let me wake up in bed with NK safe beside me.”) I read those flavors into his expression.

The final panel of SH staring into NK’s eyes, weeping, stabbed me in the gut like the dude in purple. His eyes were that blank, shocked, buffering-in-progress stare again, but tears were just drizzling over uncontrollably. Have we ever seen him cry from sadness before? He seems like the type to cry from frustration or rage, but in this panel my dude is grieving.

Discussion questions for the class here, lol.

What do you think happened in the past with the Yoon family? (I’m still not clear on that myself.) How is that going to affect what happens to SH in S4? Where do you think Heena is, and if she is alive, do you think she’ll be a problem or unexpected ally in S4? Is there any hope for a happier ending in your opinion?