Alice_01

The novel is literally titled Surviving as Yeonsan-gun's Chef lol I wasn’t aware that there was even a manhwa adaptation, I only knew about the novel. I just out of curiosity and interest for this show, researched his biography and tried to piece together the connections. That's all. I was interested to see how much of his real life the author and the screenwriter were inspired by in the novel/drama!

The novel is actually based on the 10th king of Joseon, Yeonsangun Lee Yong, though! The name even remains the same in the novel and gets mentioned in the book's synopsis...However, they did change it for the Kdrama adaptation, which I believe was the right decision. Ofc neither the K-drama nor the novel is a biography or documentary, but the inspiration is quite evident. But it's undeniable that the writer has incorporated some elements from the real king's life experiences, although altered a bit so that they fit the narrative. I mean, so far we have seen the Queen's deposition, him abducting women and planning to kill or punish officials who had anything to do with his mother's death...
I am curious to see how far these inspirations were taken and how similar some scenes will be. That's all I meant! Of course, this series is overall a work of fiction; after all, we even have time travel lol

I think he just misses his mother and her warmth so he seeks that comfort from other women since he lost her at a young age. He wants to be "pampered and taken care of" of sorts...
Plus even nowadays some men often behave like grown-up children, expecting their wives to act like their mothers. Although I agree that this situation becomes more complicated psychologically due to his trauma and everything else...

Since I've been enjoying this drama quite a bit, I decided to do some research after learning that the novel it's based on has a real historical background. It turns out that the actual events differ in some ways but they are nonetheless sad and disturbing.

For example, the ML's mother was actually deposed due to her jealousy, she couldn't bear to see the King with other women, to the point that she even slapped him once, leaving scratch marks on his face. The King tried to conceal them but when his mother the Queen Dowager and the officials found out about it, they requested her deposition and exile. Although the King later attempted to restore her status, this only made things worse, ultimately leading the officials to petition for her execution by poison. It's astonishing how someone in the highest position like the King, could find themselves so powerless against his officials and how easily a woman's life could be taken away.

Another notable fact is that the crown prince (aka our ML here) grew up believing he was the son of the next Queen, in contrast to what is portrayed in the drama, as he was too young when his mother died to remember.
During the early years of his reign, he was a wise king and capable administrator who strengthened the national defense and helped the poor. However, he soon began to show signs of violence, particularly after learning the truth about his mother. He resorted to killing some of his father's concubines and many government officials who supported his mother's execution back then, leading to a sort of "mad bloodbath" in the court that even ended up taking the lives of many innocents.
He also did lots of bad decisions and did things towards his subjects and the common folk like suppression of free speech and learning, converting temples into personal pleasure grounds, abducting young girls, forcing commoners into involuntary labor etc. Totally lost his way...

I am curious to see how much of that we will be seeing in the drama...

The one you speak off I'm pretty sure it's the Queen Dowader (current king's step mother) after his mother was deposed, the officials would pressure the King to take a new wife soon after. No king stayed unwed for long because a nation needed its mother to help run it and rule the inner court(harem). His grandma, sitting in the center, is the Grand Queen Dowager and since she is alive, she is above the Queen Dowager and runs the place for now.

There is no way FL can ever achieve the status of Queen in any timeline...She might actually not even be qualified as a concubine unless a noble/royal family member adopts her to raise her status first (similar case of concubine Kang). And yes there is no Queen currently and the one sitting next to his grandmother is probably his stepmother aka Queen Dowager. However, the thing is that back then, the King would have to marry women as a means of establishing political connections, maintaining a power balance among officials in the court, and also balancing the power within the harem. A queen being older than the king, though rare, is not unheard of.

I think he is favoring her/can't be harsh to her cause of the resemblance to his mother maybe?

Yes she kinda seems to be going with the wind kinda trying to enjoy what she can and get away from any trouble at the same time...
Right I really hope he is at least suspecting her cause otherwise we are in for lots of drama lol

Currently watching the new ep and it’s becoming pretty clear our King has some serious mommy issues (understandably so his mother was framed and unjustly deposed when he was just a kid). The Grand Prince (pretty sure that’s his uncle or older brother) seems to have seized the opportunity by sending in a courtesan he took from prison who looks eerily similar to the King’s mother as his concubine. She's clearly meant to keep him distracted and under control with her charms, all the while spying on him...
But here’s the twist, I think our FL seems to genuinely resemble the Queen Mother in personality and will probably achieve all that concubine wished for lol And since the King bonded with his mother over shared meals when he was young, the FL cooking for him now hits on a much deeper emotional level. It’s like she is bringing all those buried memories back to life.

Now my questions are:
1. Is Concubine Kang actually jealous or is she just playing the part and afraid to lose favor? Would she really go so far as to kill the King for the Grand Prince?

2. Does the King have no clue about her true face at all or is he just pretending not to see it while he keeps her close for his own future plans?

As someone who values heart-to-heart friendships more than romantic relationships, something is telling me this series is going to hit hard...Honestly, I’d love to see more shows like this one that are so grounded in reality. They're not afraid to be raw and sometimes painful, but that’s what makes them so relatable. Like this part of the synopsis, it truly spoke to me: “They remained close, even if they sometimes hated each other. Over the years, they drift in and out of contact, reconnecting in their teens, 20s, and 30s.”

Even though I’m still in my 20s, I’ve already felt that with dear friends from elementary or middle school. I guess some people are just meant to walk with us for a brief part of our journey, but that short time still makes all the difference. Those who’ve been a part of our lives, no matter for how long, leave an imprint on our souls forever, even if we sometimes lose touch or reconnect after years.

Yeah so far, but honestly Scarlet Heart had a pretty light opening too. However, you never know what the director/writers might choose to do lol I assume this will lead to some angst later on, though I'm not sure it can reach the same level as Scarlet Heart. Hopefully, they will make it a satisfying HE one!

Whoa now u got my expectations and curiosity to go up haha Okay then, I guess I will patiently wait for it!

From what I understand so far from the first few episodes, both countries appear to have incompetent rulers. On the ML's side, his brother has allowed a concubine to cause quite a havoc in their kingdom. Meanwhile, on the FL's side, the emperor is so suspicious and paranoid that his “precautionary measures” are doing more harm than good. As the saying goes, “If the ruler doubts his general, he destroys his own army.”
It looks like our prince will need the help of the enemy country aka the FL to restore order to his nation.
Btw I have a question for those who have read the novel since I already have some scenarios about the ending lol : Will the ML take over and govern his nation with the FL in the end, or will he leave everything behind to his brother (if he is still alive) or nephew and choose to live with the FL in her country after all the chaos is done? How does the novel wrap it up?

It took me 1-2 eps to get into it, but I'm already on ep 5 now and the whole vamp scene in this ep had me blushing! At first, I thought this show would be like LOTFG without any supernatural elements and kinda lost interest but I'm glad to see that isn't the case! The whole blood puppet/master dynamic between the leads has made the show much more interesting and fun to watch! Plus I'm excited for when the ML's memory will comeback! I mean if I were to have one complaint, it's that FL looks too soft/bubbly and doesn't give me Female General vibes. Her voice being on the softer side doesn't help much either...But oh well I've decided to ignore that for now since I like the actress's acting otherwise.

Actually this is all I am asking for haha Cause with Scarlet Heart we didn't even get that...

Yeah but what can we do other than watch and hope for the best? TT

That scene where he suggested giving her royal favor and adding her to his harem despite her supposedly not being his type, followed by her hard slap, had me rolling on the floor!😭🤣

15th century king vs 21st century woman 0:1

Yes I know hence why I said the above, but why must they stop the cycle before they can meet in the modern world?? I can't take another IU museum scene...That trauma was enough!

I finally couldn't hold back and decided to watch this. And honestly, only 20 minutes in and the book scene has already confirmed my suspicion that this will probably be another "Scarlet Heart" type of series ending wise (I really hope it can be quality-wise as well). I believe her time traveling altered history and she probably wrote that "ancient recipe" book or at least was based on her recipes and the King being called a tyrant gourmet has smth to do with her too. Which also implies that she will definitely return to her world, leaving the King behind... At least I hope that this time we'll get to see the leads together in the modern world!

Thank you!