Possibly the best episode of anything ever

[dangermousie]

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Comments

[ockoala]

14 may be preachy, but he is a damn good man. In ways that 8 and 4 can never be because both have so much baggage and issues. It's sorta not fair that 14 is pretty much the "perfect guy" because it's just by sheer luck he got that way.
His mommy loved him, he was so young as to avoid the older brother issues and fighting early on (novel tells us he's the same age as RX, so both were 14 when they first met), and he's by nature a good natured guy with decent sense of principles, so when all shit goes to hell, he ends up being the Emperor's favorite kinda by default cuz everyone else by then has disappointed the shit out of the Emperor over the years.

Anyways, what's so sweet after the 4/8 angst in the rain is that afterwards, 14 kneels down and gives her smuggled biscuits. It's not passionate or angsty, but it's just what she needed because she's starving at that point. She takes a bite but then realizes that Emperor never said she was allowed to eat. But 14 laughs and tells her she might as well keep eating since she's already taken a bit.

If 4 is the passion and 8 is the romance in RX's life, 14 becomes her bedrock. I love 4 to death, but sometimes I wished RX could have just fallen for 14, who would have happily moved far far away from the capital with just her and lived in eternal happiness. Which 8 refused to do, and which RX can't ask of 4 because he's supposed to be the Emperor that that would totally fuck history over 6-ways to Sunday.

[dangermousie]

I think she might as well try to fuck up history and attempt to move with 4 - I mean, who cares if history is changed? One OK emperor is much like another and who knows what she's already changed merely by being there.

I am kinda amused that 14 is the good son by default - Kang Xi seems awfully high-handed, arbitrary and exacting so the less chances you have for interaction with him, it seems the better it is.

I did laugh about the romantic gestures v. food. How true. (A more pressing question than snacks - how does she go to the bathroom if she keeps kneeling?)

I think it's X' bad luck to get tangled with the most complicated brothers - 4 and 8. 10, 13, and 14 are all less complicated and thus much easier to live with.

[ockoala]

RX picks the two "bad boys" to fall in love with. Who wouldn't, since they are clearly the hottest brothers in the bunch, and the smartest.

What made me a RX-4 shipper for life isn't just her chemistry with him, it's how their love story really takes off after the kneeling in the rain scene. All the little things 4 does for her immediately makes me grab my heart in hurt.

8 is the master of the romantic gesture, but 4 is the emperor of the heart-searing actions.

He takes an arrow aimed at her, when asked why, he says "because it hurts me more to see you hurt." Serious, who the fuck wouldn't love this brother.

He brings LW-13's baby to visit RX. He tells her he's going to raise the baby for them because house arrest is no place for a baby to grow up. 8 acts all friends with his gang of brothers, but 4 treats 13 with such love that it makes me breathless to watch.

[fuyuko00]

I wonder if 8th ever feel close to any of his brother, the kind of closeness like that of 4th & 13th. I think 8th never truly open his real feeling/heart and trust anyone. He only surrounds himself w/ those people to help him gain the throne

[dangermousie]

Oh wow, these scenes sound amazing. I cannot wait.

[karened]

That short sequence of Fourteen and Ruoxi was really sweet, and reminded me of childhood times where one gets punished and the good friend would come over to help ease the boredom/hunger a little. How sweet. Yeah, I'm desperately waiting for a time travel tale to the Qing that does not involve Four and Eight. It gets repetitive when the two contenders for the heart are the same two contenders for the throne.