Nirvana in Fire again
Does anyone want more Nirvana in Fire thoughts? You're getting them anyway, because I still have tonsillitis and feel wretched and sitting on the sofa with blankets and painkillers and lemon and honey tea and Nirvana in Fire is pretty much all I'm good for, as you can tell by the fact that I am now at episode 34. Spoilers ahead.
I found the rift between Prince Jing and Mei Changsu a little contrived, not that Prince Yu wouldn't have set it up, but that the other soldier involved wouldn't have found it suspicious and spoken up a bit more forcefully about being knocked out et cetera, and that Consort Jing wouldn't have been suspicious of how her maid could escape so comprehensively earlier on, since she has plenty of time to investigate it herself before the Prince gets back. So I feel like that was a weak point of some otherwise very fine plotting. But it's necessary, and it gives us a scene where practically everyone else present knows he's addressing Lin Shu while Prince Jing rails about how he can never trust Mei Changsu again because the ghost of Lin Shu is watching him - okay, that was amazing. Also Mei Changsu dragging himself up from his sickbed to stand outside in the snow for hours until Prince Jing will talk to him, way to press every button I've got all at once of loyalty and false accusations and h/c and yeah that scene was written for me.
Consort Jing is amazing and I love her dearly, with her virtuously scheming heart and her complete lack of hazelnut pastries. And I did not see Xuanjing Bureau as the bad guys coming at all, but again, it fits, it fits. Qin Banruo is also wonderfully complicated, and Fourth Sister too. I am hoping to see more of Lin Chen again, because he was a real stand-out from the first episode and I want more of him. Is he a relation of Lin Shu, or is that a coincidence of names? I am somewhat less perplexed by the names, and found a useful bit on tumblr explaining why so many of them have Jing in their name. Now I want to know what the Xiao signifies, it seems to come up in a lot of names in particular situations, Xiao-Shu, Xiao-various of the maids, and I'm presuming it's either a title of some sort or an endearment of some sort, but I don't know what. Oh, and I hope Jingrui comes back again and is less miserable than before, he is so so wonderful and lovely and his farewell speech to MCS broke my heart a little. I am not sure whether to place him or Consort Jing at top of my list of utterly beautiful souls, but maybe Jingrui is ahead by a hair.
Oh, and I love Marquis Yan and Yujin more and more and more. That brief scene establishing his character as the dagger-tongued fearless envoy was incredible. This show is just full of wonderful characters.
Crossposted at https://philomytha.dreamwidth.org/155707.html. There are
comments there.
I found the rift between Prince Jing and Mei Changsu a little contrived, not that Prince Yu wouldn't have set it up, but that the other soldier involved wouldn't have found it suspicious and spoken up a bit more forcefully about being knocked out et cetera, and that Consort Jing wouldn't have been suspicious of how her maid could escape so comprehensively earlier on, since she has plenty of time to investigate it herself before the Prince gets back. So I feel like that was a weak point of some otherwise very fine plotting. But it's necessary, and it gives us a scene where practically everyone else present knows he's addressing Lin Shu while Prince Jing rails about how he can never trust Mei Changsu again because the ghost of Lin Shu is watching him - okay, that was amazing. Also Mei Changsu dragging himself up from his sickbed to stand outside in the snow for hours until Prince Jing will talk to him, way to press every button I've got all at once of loyalty and false accusations and h/c and yeah that scene was written for me.
Consort Jing is amazing and I love her dearly, with her virtuously scheming heart and her complete lack of hazelnut pastries. And I did not see Xuanjing Bureau as the bad guys coming at all, but again, it fits, it fits. Qin Banruo is also wonderfully complicated, and Fourth Sister too. I am hoping to see more of Lin Chen again, because he was a real stand-out from the first episode and I want more of him. Is he a relation of Lin Shu, or is that a coincidence of names? I am somewhat less perplexed by the names, and found a useful bit on tumblr explaining why so many of them have Jing in their name. Now I want to know what the Xiao signifies, it seems to come up in a lot of names in particular situations, Xiao-Shu, Xiao-various of the maids, and I'm presuming it's either a title of some sort or an endearment of some sort, but I don't know what. Oh, and I hope Jingrui comes back again and is less miserable than before, he is so so wonderful and lovely and his farewell speech to MCS broke my heart a little. I am not sure whether to place him or Consort Jing at top of my list of utterly beautiful souls, but maybe Jingrui is ahead by a hair.
Oh, and I love Marquis Yan and Yujin more and more and more. That brief scene establishing his character as the dagger-tongued fearless envoy was incredible. This show is just full of wonderful characters.
Crossposted at https://philomytha.dreamwidth.org/155707.html. There are
comments there.