blatantescapist's Favorite

Analysis on the ring and the lighter:
*Contains a bit of spoilers for the following couple of chapters* This is long, so sit tight!

The ring: As we’ve seen before with Joowon (and as is reinforced by the latest chapter), he doesn’t do things for the benefit of others but more so for the benefit of himself. This publication deal looks like it would be beneficial for both parties right, but that’s only if both came to a consensus and agreed, and in this case, Haesoo looks absolutely miserable and wants nothing to do with it. And this leads me to the ring... Let’s think about an engagement ring. When someone proposes, the other party always has a choice; ‘yes, I’ll be with you’ or ‘no’. In this case, Joowon is known to never be one for choices, as it’s either his way, or him coercing Haesoo to have this way. Joowon is going to give Haesoo that ring, but he’s going to give it to him as means of ‘you are mine, and I have already decided for you’. Really, no is not an option. And this leads me to the conclusion that in some way, the ring is kind of like the collar that we see around Haesoo’s neck in the cover art. Joowon (I’m sure seeing from how he posted on social media hoping that Haesoo would see it) would love nothing more than to outwardly show that Haesoo cannot escape from him. The ring is beautiful, but that’s all there is to it— it’s cold, it’s rough, and honestly, Joowon seems to treat it like it’s nothing (he throws it in the seat of his car like a candy wrapper). More importantly, dominance is what’s attached to it, not love.
Moving on to Taku’s lighter!

The lighter: Unlike rings that are worn outwardly, Taku’s lighter is usually hidden somewhere in his pocket, like his own little memory, little secret. As will be revealed in the later chapters, this unassuming lighter has family tied to it, and that’s why Taku always keeps it around even though he doesn’t smoke. Now let me take it a step further and personify the lighter as Haesoo: Haesoo suffers from horribly low self-esteem, and he doesn’t find himself or his work all that important or significant. The lighter is plain, it doesn’t look to significant, and it’s use isn’t that groundbreaking of a deal either. But when the right person opens it up, it’ll light a small but beautiful flame. It only takes a spark to burn down entire cities, and I find it fascinating how Taku always like to open and close the flame. He appreciates the flame because of the meaning behind it, not because it’s useful to light stuff, but because of it’s story. Haesoo thinks that in order to be special, he needs to be useful and make it big, because right now, he’s just a plain ‘loser’ writer stuck in a rut. But worth isn’t based on what we do, how we look or the things we accomplish. Only you can decide that, and that’s why Taku is very important. Unlike Joowon, Taku has always let Haesoo decide for himself (‘he’s not ready yet’), and he always takes what Haesoo wants into consideration. Haesoo has never experienced this sort of warmth before (remember how he said how he’s always cold lmfao), and with Taku, he is finding comfort away from his constant stress and anxiety. We’ll see it in the next chapters, but Haesoo is going to seek out Taku. Haesoo is slowly but surely trying to break free from that leash, and I think Taku will be almost like a mentor to him ( this guy is young and hella wise!) and give him the push he needs to finally step away from his dangerous relationship with Joowon.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Taku’s ultimate goal was to get both step-brothers as the subject of his camera shoot because the illicit, taboo, and toxic nature of it is so twisted, human, and intimate.

Looking at Taku as an artist who “undresses" his models with his lens (be it his eyes or camera), laying them bare emotionally or physically, he’s already seen through to the truth of Haesoo’s article and his enmeshed relationship with Jowoon. It clearly both excites and inspires him. (See his dogged pursuit of Haesoo as a model and sexual partner, whom he presses for details of losing his virginity to his step-brother during their first sexual encounter).

Haesoo as a subject isn’t complete without his equally dishonest and obsessive counterpart, Jowoon. They both made each other what they are. And I think that’s what Taku is drawn too — this obsessive desire both of them have to control, wound, and hold the other that leaves them distorted and hurting, but ever circling.

Taku’s behavior thus far isn’t that of someone who wants to break that cycle, but of someone who wants to observe and potentially participate. And while I don’t think this is an appropriate relationship between a professional artist and his living subject and makes me very uneasy from an art industry perspective, it’s just twisted enough to match the twisted relationship of the two brothers.

Love and Hate is shaping up to be one of the most literature adjacent webtoons to date for its pacing, character flaws, motivations, and relationships. It’s gonna be *peak* messy and I am l i v i n g for it.

So I re-read this and noticed a key detail about the poem written by Scholar Inhun Nakyum treasures that I missed the first time. Lord Yoon, the second he sees it, recognizes it as plagiarism of another scholar/ poet’s work to the extent you couldn’t even call it an homage. Later, when he visits the Scholar in the mountains, he picks up one of Inhun’s books Inhun then snatches away.

I firmly believe Lord Yoon’s trump card over the Scholar Inhun isn’t withdrawing his financial support, but revealing his acts of plagiarism, utterly destroying his future as a scholar of merit or worth. Moreover, revealing the plagiarism will destroy the worth of the poem in Nakyum’s eyes as he believed it to be the original words of a man he admired and loved. And now those words are empty mimicry. Who hates a plagiarist/ copycat more than an artist?

Scholar Inhun may claim he deserves position and power due to his moral integrity — to the point he disparages Lord Yoon’s fortune because of his homosexuality —but he too is guilty of deviating from the "moral" path in claiming other’s work as his own to bolster his reputation. Moreover, his acts of service to the poor are nothing but calculated ambition. He knows that by *appearing* to care for them and teach them to be literate he comes off as kind, enlightened, and generous to any Lord or government official. But he has already admitted to Lord Yoon he does little if any teaching because the place of the poor is in the dirt.

I will laugh so hard if Scholar Inhun’s downfall will be the plagiarized poem he gave as a throwaway to the infatuated child of a kisaeng house — thinking the boy, his art, and the poem were nothing.