bloomingtide

The scene is heartbreaking, KYD's portrays his despair so well, but i also love how it illustrates what power she has over him now. Sorang is the only one able to stop him, where he finds comfort and trusts. And of course the evil bastards want to destroy this bond to break Heon for real.

"What if he can never forget her?" Aww Sorang, baby i wanna give you a hug, but i also love that angsty, inner conflict between them. Will make the moment when Heon sees her for herself and lets go of the dead past love all the sweeter.

Ofc the royal garment was fake, as was the CP. Good that they found evidence, but it kinda backfired? Like it enabled the assholes to close in on Sorang and harm her. And they ran right into their trap, ugh. Heon no time to watch that parade border guard thingie, your wifey is in danger :(

Love how smart Sorang is, she has figured out how they gonna smuggle the fake CP woman out of the palace, hiding in plain sight w/ no control of their identity. Oooooh Heon is in on the plan, bless. That is why he is keen on meeting EVERY soldier haha. Nice.

For a hundred soldiers, he found the disguised woman under them quite easily and quickly. I love the look he gives the evil minister, clearly not buying his bullshit excuse why she is there lmao. Arrrrgh this smug smile, i want to plant my fist into it. Repeatedly.

Idk why but Heon is quite hot when he is all serious bsns bc of wifey. Wow what an entrance. go hunny goooo save her. Omg the way he does not hesitate a single to to cover her with his royal robe like.... woah. I love him and he loves her, it is so obvious now. And this treacherous asshole put himself on heon's shitlist right now with insulting/hurting Sorang. "This is not different from hurting MY body. Therefore he will be punished as if he hurt the king." Phew, pissed off, protective heon is hoooot hehe. OFF WITH THE TRAITOR'S HEEEEEEAD 🎉 🎉 🎉

The way he calls her name....he loves her so much 😭 I kinda feel a tad sorry for SW being spectacle to it every time, but i feel it has to be this way so he notices how strong their bond is and he cannot get between it.

"It is all my fault, it is because of me." Excuse me while i sob. Aaaand he ruins the heartfelt reunion in the next moment in calling her the CP's shadow. Heon... darling, baby, my sweet summer child, have you learned nothing? Ohhhhh. Okay, seems he has learned, then? Ofc this sets SR into escape mode "my job here is done." Nah, we are gonna queen you up first, bby. Then it is a job well done haha. "Stay at my side, officially now as Sorang. Thank you for living." OH MY GOD. HE SEES HER. HE DOES. Screaming, crying, throwing up. IT IS HAPPENING.

Okay, like decorating for christmas, the evil bastards are decorating the palace with a body hanging on a rope each year for the CP's death anniversary. That is.... um, a really dark way to keep Heon caught in the past, wow. Bet it is the woman they caught disguising herself as CP, because this gives off the right "imagery" for Heon with the resemblance, seeing her hanging there just like CP did years ago. And a clear warning to Sorang. Which is very effective, as heon is now super scared for Sorang. No wonder the guy cannot move on, they keep him trapped in the past and isolate him with taking everyone he cares for away from him. It is exactly why he was afraid to let his feelings for SR show, thus far 😭

"The closest woman to the king always dies. It is dangerous. Let's leave the palace." Yeah even still, you won't get this woman away from Heon anymore. And i can't help to think while he is worried for her, there is more than a little selfish desire part of the reason why SW it to her. "I will protect you by my side!" GOD HOW MANY TIMES DOES SHE NEED TO REJECT YOU STILL? She is not into you, ffs. And he stops her yet again after she rejected him once more. I just.... LET HER GO I SWEAR YOU FUKKIN IDIOT OF A SML OR I WILL SLAP YOU THROUGH THE SCREEN. Aaaand rejected a THIRD time. This must be a record somewhere, and this man a total masochist. STOP IT GET SOME HELP. It is only pathetic at this point, dude.

"Soranga-ah." Oh god, my heart. He calls her by name, without honorifics, aaaaaaaah. what a whiplash of emotions from anger about SML to having my heart melt from one moment to the next, wow. "Stay by my side." "Yes." She wants to, even if she could die and he is not holding back his feelings for her any longer. OH GOSH, MY HEART. These two. While i love their sheer chaotic energy and shenanigans together, their angsty moments are (almost) even better. KYD's teary eyed gaze says so so much without words at her agreement. AAAAHHHHH

Aaaand Shiwon proves to be a shit friend on top with his "I am only worried about and want to protect you, fuck the king" shtick. What the hell dude? You have been friends with Heon for YEARS but now you are all who cares about that guy? Wow. That is so shitty and the real betrayal here, tbh.

Lol, watch evil minister throw evil guard to the wolves, because they always do. The real joke here is how this dude believed he would actually leave the cell alive. Guess he hasn't watched any sageuks because this is rule 101 with evil guys there. Always.

I love head court lady and sorang. She is like a mother by now to her aaaaw.

And they poked the bear named Heon one time too much. This is a man on a mission if i ever seen one. Men getting shit done in order to protect the woman they love (or the other way around, i am not choosy) are one of my most favorite tropes. So hot.

I WANT TO PUNCH HIS SMUG SHIT-FACE SO HAAAARD.

AGAIN. AGAIN. AND AGAIN. ... ahem, well this asscramp is so sure to not be able to caught that he kinda revealed himself as the main enemy to Heon and SW. High I AM SMORT energy here, for sure. You know what they say:The higher they fly the harder they fall. CANT WAIT.

Oh they found the robe. I bet the rest of the drama will focus on uncovering the truth and find a way to punish the ministers involved. But i also hope we won't lose the chaos that is Heon and Sorang together without all the seriousness. Come to think of it, this is the most serious episode we had of the drama yet, not a single moment of comedy to find so far.

Still, i love those three sleuthing together. Just pls no more love triangle bs, bc it is pathetic at this point for SW.

I hate these two assholes so much, YES BE AFRAID SORANG WILL BE QUEEN. Sleep with one eye open from now on, bc you are going to have a bad time, evil mom.

And i really still don't care for these side-characters. They add nothing to the story other than annoying me/eating up episode runtime/drama namecalling through books. Oh no, the unimportant female sidekick got kidnapped.... anyway. Bet it has been done to draw Shi Won away from Sorang and she is their real target.

TOLD YA. Why the fuck does she not stay at the palace at times like this? Why does she think it is a good time to wander about at night... alone? Like? The logic, maaaan. it is not there. Good thing SW bought her such unique shoes at least?

Shiwon is a dicey situation, completely outnumbered. Aaaand i bet Heon makes a hero entrance every moment now to save his wifey , just watch😏

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES, I KNEEEEEEEEEEEW IT. Heon baby to the rescue, bless. TIME TO ROYALLY FUCK THEM UP. (pun intended) That purposeful slow walk, maaaan. You know none of these low lives are leaving their hidey hole alive. THEY ARE SO DEAD, and i can't wait! Sadly.... I will have to, for almost two weeks bc MBC hates us and does its award show on the exact airing date of TFM 😭

That preview tho... is she coming clean to him about who she is? 👀 That is some queen shit (pun intended) Either way, I love how Heon is so down for her, committed to the max once he let loose of everything else, his fears, his hesitation to let go of CP. The way he goes at LENGTH for the woman he loves reminds me a lot of Mr. Queen's Cheoljong, hell yeah.(aka the guy who did say how kings do not run, but ran as soon he heard his queen had collapsed. SO FAST, and this was early in the drama heh)

And in a way the fake CP helped to speed up the process and brought him closer to SR instead, wow. I hope we get some happy moments next time for them and also that the lie standing between them won't tear them apart *prayer circle*

Episode 6, impressions/watch as i go, under spoilers: (COMPLETE NOW!)

He has already feelings for her as early as episode 3, he is drawn to her lively chaotic ways that shake up his life of standstill. But he is still unsure about his feelings due to his fear of forgetting his old love, and also does suppress him because he is afraid of Sorang ending up dead like CP (which is actually part of the evil party's scheme to kill off anyone who gets too close to the king in order to isolate him and drive him mad.) But yeah they are both falling in love with each other and not him with her as his crown princesses shadow (which is still a conflict between them so far, but it lessens more and more as he starts to see/love her more as/for herself not as the spirit medium of his late wife)

Yeah that scene where they told Sorang more and more juicy details about the rumors and CP being Businesslike had me wheezing. SW was enjoying it until they said he was keeping the king company each night 😆 And while Sorang paid them I doubt they did lie much. The money was most likely just so they would come and talk to her than a full seized scam.

Yeah I don't mind love triangles much where the lines and feelings are clearly defined and sml does stay respectful about it throughout and ideally moves on with a love line of his own. Both is the case with TFM here, so outside of SW dragging her away it wasn't annoying thus far, and with Sorang rejecting SW I doubt the love triangle will continue much longer anyway.

"The royal wedding dress will look GOOD on you, " says the guy who creates the royal garments to Sorang.

This was really as subtle foreshadowing as a brick to the face tbh 😂😆

Could be a random number or could be SK's fucked up justice system tbh. And yeah, while it was so messed up what AH did, i really liked how the drama humanized him instead of making him a random cliche evil character. He just wanted to live a better life but went about it in disregarding that of others. Or as Taehee said "Don't try to reason it. It is all just excuses."

Seeing she sank the ship in rejecting him, and is all "head empty only heon" yeeeeeah very unlikely.🤣;)

The best thing about episode 5 was honestly all the different shades of done Sorang was with Heon treating her like CP shadow and hanging onto her, She had like three "forget her forget her forget her" rants this episode, which was totally not motivated by her own jealousy, nope 🤣

Like the length she went to prove to Heon that CP not really loved him. She is getting impatient, whoops.

Yeah that is where i am watching it too atm :D

idk, korean humor is weird sometimes and does not translate well culturally into other ones. Hence also the many many poop jokes (in other shows). Just roll with it🤣

SW dragged her away out of selfish desire, not to protect her. Heon was fully in his right to be as pissed as he was. Epic sword duel between them in which Heon whoops SW's ass, love to see it. Furious Heon is furious, nearly striking him down. Sorang steps in between, not for Si won's sake but the king's, to save him from himself. She tells him they had planned their night (forgot name/title for it and am afraid to go back bc of buffering hell)

Everybody leave! Heon is still pissed and eunuch/head maid duo slink away, Sorang stays. "I meant everybody! Ouch. Sorang: "Am i something to you? I am nothing! Double ouch. "Are you saying i acted like a jealous man"? SR may not, but damn you totally have Hunny. Plus hurt pride, feelings of betrayal etc on top of that. Powderkeg mixture. What an emotional heavy encounter between them, bc she is questioning him in everything regarding her, is aware he is leaving many things unsaid. Ouch. Both men are sad beans, and this episode starts waaay too serious for my liking haha

Heon gets to know Sorang was attacked and if not for SW would not (have) be(en) safe. He still wants to throw SW's ass out of the guards and away from Sorang, and tbh, i do not blame him for that after the stunt he dared last night. But every year on the dead anniversary another maid is killed so he cannot afford to "fire" him.

The next day, Si Won is friendzoned ONCE AGAIN by Sorang, lmao. Did you never see me as man? Not a single time? "Yes, not a single time. So let's keep being friends. Don't cross that line." The SML noticing he is SML counter is working in overdrive right now 🤣 Joke aside, this is as clear a rejection as it gets, so yeah Sorang just sank your SW ship, whoops.

Again there is a lotta difference between her reactions toward Heon and him. With Heon all is leaden with emotions and a want for more but also a lot of sadness bc he does not really see her. She is raw and real with him whereas with SW she stays guarded, maybe a bit sad of how things could have gone in the past but laying down clear boundaries. It is obvious for whom she is feelings for. Spoiler Alert: It is not Siwon.

Queen candidate gathering which means Siwon wont be a sad boy for long as his future wifey is under them and our second loveline. Heh. Bitch daughter is also under them of course.

CP is spooking/haunting up that lake and all the washing maids fainted in fear, lmao. I bet it is a new scheme to drive Heon mad.

I think the most amusing thing about the annoying sidekick scene is the author spoofing more kdrama titles with his books, now it is extraordinary you, lmao

Heon is continuing to lay down boundaries where Sorang stopped. "Protect her. But don't get close to her. Don't have feelings for her." He just burned the remaining pieces of the SW ship left and stomped on its ashes 😏 And SML notices he is second male lead once more and ofc, plays it dirty "have you forgotten everything about the CP already?" Wow, talk about a dick move, asshole.

Which causes him to dream of CP and her accusing him he is forgetting her, and in the end she fades away and Heon yells out for her. Lmao, if looks could kill he would be dead by now and SR his killer. aaaaand her mind is as vivid as herself, lmao. The way she rants at him when he asks if she can be possessed right now and shakes him. Was it just a joke when you hugged me, a misunderstanding when you kissed me? GHOSTS ARE NOT REAL YOU HAVE BEEN FOOLED BY ME ALL THIS TIME. In her mind she tells him everything she wants to but can't. She does follow the possession request, but lmao gurl is jealous so her own feelings are coloring her act "Your only fault was to love your husband!" "It was...not love"😠🤣"What?You loved me so much!" "Rather than love it was... worry. And whether i loved you or not.... it is ALL IN THE PAST."Lmao, SR is keen in cutting off that loveline for good too, i see.

Sorang is 1000000% done with being CP's shadow and i love her for this.

Oh no, she broke him 🤣"Was i too harsh?" Seeing he has switched into zombie mode, maybe a little xD In a way tho, this was needed because he is romanticizing her picture waaaay too much when CP was always quite distant/cold to him. So much needed food for thoughts here.

Former Father in law is not helping bc he repeats how loyal he was to the king, whoops. So it turns into a date... i mean quest for Sorang and Heon to find her handmaiden and find out if CP loved heon or not. Cool. Whatever helps you move on.

Ooooh it is a quest for three, as SW tags along as undercover as them. Nice, i love their trio time outside of the love triangle bs. And they have not even left the palace walls and i am already howling. Not her kicking heon to get up the wall "Have you heard of death by dismemberment?" lmao. Aww ahd the poor man got it now from two very reliable sources that his deep love was.... one-sided. Ouch. CP's love was all Bu Si Es (aka business/loyalty) Hope he will be able to see how different Sorang sees him, aka as a man, and (future) lover, first then as king. It is what he needs.

Oh okay, might have been just a scam, but whatever works in SR's benefit hahaa

"Promise me you won't love his majesty. Promise me you won't have feelings for him." What the hell? None of your business, Shiwon and also, too late. The way her face fell tho, bc this is one promise she knows she can't keep. heh.

Aww, heon is drinking away his sorrows, getting more shitfaced with every bottle haha.... and Sorang is so done with him that she lets him. So he feeds the fish the next day.... you know and gets another "forget her forget her forget her" chant of SR. This gurl ain't wasting anytime.

So spooky fake CP visits her father in full royal wedding gown and so they investigate the royal garb maker undercover as couple. Not the guy telling her that the royal garment will look good on her, haha. Such foreshadowing, much wow.

CP daddy still has the royal robe under lock, so why is the impostor with it? Definitely part of the plan of these bastards who are circling in on Sorang now to kill her in order to drive the king mad for good.

They have such a strong strong bond already and finally SW sees it too. As she is the only one able to hold him back from throwing himself into the lake where he saw fake CP and despaired. I love my semi-royal pair. And the preview, ouch. Shit gonna get real.

Episode 5 thoughts under spoiler, watch as i go style and as far kisskh lets me out of buffering hell, lol:

welp kisskh shit the bed bc all the other dramas start without probs and immediately. But with TFM I can watch like five seconds before it is back to endless buffering. Rinse and repeat. Gonna watch it raw elsewhere.

Afaik it is a joke and the armpit hair fake. They just did it for shit and giggles like blurring out poop when there is ofc none.

Despite the sadness in the first half, the story is wrapped up on a very positive note with all loose ends tied up. Leads stay together all the way through, no breakup whatsoever. The don't expect much in regards of romance scenes in the last episodes tho as the writer has put their focus on the themes of grief, moving on and helping people fully and till the end. It carries a nice promise of them growing further together and being always there for each other as couple/ family bc they were meant to be that from the start, for the leads tho.

Couldn't agree more. For a story using supernatural elements to meet dead people it was an incredibly down to earth and relatable one, particularly how grief and the loss of loved ones (the silence the morning after (no usage of music) , the emptiness of it all and all the things left behind in their homes as though they would enter through its entrance at any moment 😭) was portrayed. It was raw and real.

I'm positively surprised that so many people liked the drama as with comments particularly after last week's episodes, it sounded way more like the opposite being the case.

Goes to show that more people are motivated to comment when complaining while the ones content with it just kept watching till the end heh. (kdrama reddit's clown comments of 'they ruined this romcom with a complete tonal shift in the second half' will never fail to crack me up tho, bc it was never a romcom to begin with )

As for me, while initially a bit bummed by the lack of romance scenes, I have come to like the ending and how all came together a lot now. It is beautifully done. Especially with how Taehee was involved in all this. And just like that you also get an explanation for his burn scar and why the author was keen on mentioning his age and have him five years older than Dongjoo. He is paying back his due now, so to speak in being Dongjoo's family now, ensure she is loved and never alone and getting all this in return from her as well. It is such a nice take on the 'destined to be together' trope 😍😭🥺 Plus them meeting on the street in the end scene carries a lot of symbolism beyond them not passing each other by as strangers any longer. With their jobs Taehee represents life (saving them) and Dongjoo death (honoring/accompanying them on their last way as funeral director) and they both meet halfway. Such a nice touch 👀

I really enjoyed the up and downs of the drama to deep-dive into the story and characters' heads to understand them better and found myself relating a lot to the struggle of getting back on your feet when/after dealing with bad things in your life. Quite the ride indeed, so thanks to everyone who made these weeks in the comment section as engaging and interesting as you have. Will miss the discussions and show, and will re-watch it for sure down the line 🥰

thanks for it anyhow as it helped me decide to put it back on my PTW list for now as this is the exact type of drama i do NOT watch at the moment (or never, depends on how it goes lol)

Oh you meant the actor who did that not the character in the drama, I see. Well hope he rots in jail either way.

Yeah i am so happy when kdrama writers remember or discover that nuances exist... because it happens all too rarely, alas 🤣