There is something so beautifully complete in this story. Changmin's journey is one where you could argue he starts strong and ends weak, but at the same time argue that he starts weak, and ends strong. It's a gift as a reader to have so much room to interpret.
While others of his kind contented themselves to live within a single drop of water, Changmin... was only truly happy once he existed with a single drop of love, entwined with the emperor.
At least, that's the ending in my heart. Meanwhile, my head tells me they probably had a massive fight with Yunho saying Changmin shouldn't have sacrificed so much for him, and Changmin saying he didn't have a choice, but if he had then he would have still asked for the same outcome.
And that would be that until the lack of power started to burn at Changmin - when the flow of water and the heat of the sun didn't fill him with energy like it once did. And Yunho would see that frustration, even if Changmin tried to hide it, and the guilt would rise up until they clashed again and the hooks of such distress would tear into each of them all the more because they'd both know they were utterly on the same side, but helpless to balance when the sand beneath them was shifting so rentlessly.
Er, but then again, maybe post ending they just shrugged and the biggest tiff they ever faced was that time when Yunho got the royal court artist to sketch Changmin unawares while he was asleep...
But seriously, what I love most about this is that while it reads like something out of Arabian nights - it's made to be read aloud to an audience - you world-build without stemming the flow of the story. The way you work in the mythology of the djinn, alongside the sense of heat and sand and also clearly show us the sort of creature Changmin is in both character and characteristic, shouldn't be so easy to read, but it flows so cleanly and compels the reader on to find out what fate befalls them next.
And then Yunho who is such a contradiction from the word go - a prisoner but with regal bearing. He commands respect from the servants, but is still caged. He could be returned to power at any moment, but gives up one of his most valuable assests to help someone else regain their power.
I love the themes of sacrifice in this. Going with what I said above about them struggling to both justify the sacrifice post-story, Changmin could equally argue that giving up the chance to dream for someone you barely know is a greater sacrifice than changing status for someone you love.
This is why I think they will both come to terms with how they each found their balance. I also want to comment on how sensual this is - it may not have the blatant sex scenes of many of your works - but to me that adds to the fable-like style that you absolutely nailed. There is so much texture in the fabric of this story: sand, metal, silks, water, sweat and skin. It's the sort of tale I want to wrap around me an luxuriate in because it has so many layers and dimensions.
I should also note I love the mirroring at each end of the story - the ghuls being torn apart by dogs, and later ravishing the battleground like dogs themselves: Also the doctor who identifies Changmin as a djinn when he is captured balanced with the medic at the end who says: Medicine is but a part of healing alongside faith and belief, and yet if a man’s time has come, no earthly power can intervene.”
It was Changmin's time to get caught; It was then his time to be freed; It was then his time to see everything he loved lost; It was then his time to arguably be caught once more, but in human form - but somehow in being brought to dust he was truly freed once and for all.
I think this is one of those stories that I'll read again in a week and gather another set of feelings about. The gift that keeps on giving.
Thank you so much for putting Homin into something so poetic and tactile.
Thank you ♥ They would definitely have fought horribly once Yunho realised what Changmin had given up for him #changst
It's going to be interesting to see how much of the sacrifice theme goes into Koto!Chang now. Either way, it's an appropriate theme for the end of the year.
There is something so beautifully complete in this story. Changmin's journey is one where you could argue he starts strong and ends weak, but at the same time argue that he starts weak, and ends strong. It's a gift as a reader to have so much room to interpret.
While others of his kind contented themselves to live within a single drop of water, Changmin... was only truly happy once he
existed with a single drop of love, entwined with the emperor.
At least, that's the ending in my heart.
Meanwhile, my head tells me they probably had a massive fight with Yunho saying Changmin shouldn't have sacrificed so much for him, and Changmin saying he didn't have a choice, but if he had then he would have still asked for the same outcome.
And that would be that until the lack of power started to burn at Changmin - when the flow of water and the heat of the sun didn't fill him with energy like it once did.
And Yunho would see that frustration, even if Changmin tried to hide it, and the guilt would rise up until they clashed again and the hooks of such distress would tear into each of them all the more because they'd both know they were utterly on the same side, but helpless to balance when the sand beneath them was shifting so rentlessly.
Er, but then again, maybe post ending they just shrugged and the biggest tiff they ever faced was that time when Yunho got the royal court artist to sketch Changmin unawares while he was asleep...
But seriously, what I love most about this is that while it reads like something out of Arabian nights - it's made to be read aloud to an audience - you world-build without stemming the flow of the story. The way you work in the mythology of the djinn, alongside the sense of heat and sand and also clearly show us the sort of creature Changmin is in both character and characteristic, shouldn't be so easy to read, but it flows so cleanly and compels the reader on to find out what fate befalls them next.
And then Yunho who is such a contradiction from the word go - a prisoner but with regal bearing. He commands respect from the servants, but is still caged. He could be returned to power at any moment, but gives up one of his most valuable assests to help someone else regain their power.
I love the themes of sacrifice in this. Going with what I said above about them struggling to both justify the sacrifice post-story, Changmin could equally argue that giving up the chance to dream for someone you barely know is a greater sacrifice than changing status for someone you love.
This is why I think they will both come to terms with how they each found their balance.
I also want to comment on how sensual this is - it may not have the blatant sex scenes of many of your works - but to me that adds to the fable-like style that you absolutely nailed.
There is so much texture in the fabric of this story: sand, metal, silks, water, sweat and skin. It's the sort of tale I want to wrap around me an luxuriate in because it has so many layers and dimensions.
I should also note I love the mirroring at each end of the story - the ghuls being torn apart by dogs, and later ravishing the battleground like dogs themselves: Also the doctor who identifies Changmin as a djinn when he is captured balanced with the medic at the end who says: Medicine is but a part of healing alongside faith and belief, and yet if a man’s time has come, no earthly power can intervene.”
It was Changmin's time to get caught; It was then his time to be freed; It was then his time to see everything he loved lost; It was then his time to arguably be caught once more, but in human form - but somehow in being brought to dust he was truly freed once and for all.
I think this is one of those stories that I'll read again in a week and gather another set of feelings about. The gift that keeps on giving.
Thank you so much for putting Homin into something so poetic and tactile.
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It's going to be interesting to see how much of the sacrifice theme goes into Koto!Chang now. Either way, it's an appropriate theme for the end of the year.
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