#and how the heck does she still need to wear a dress?? she's the empress ffs

[akechu]

i love aenon (him struggling with his perceptions abt the world is👌👌) but rereading this chapter... Yeah he deserved that 8-month expedition. In the scanlations I didn't read it as the queen punishing him (it sounds more like she was griping and sent him out on a whim), but now that I read the official translation it's clear that this is a form of punishment (and that he's quite offensive to her, actually)

[chibimyumi]

Redesign Prompt RESULTS!

Alright, thank you everyone who has voted, the results are now in! Overwhelmingly our winner is Ranmao 🐈!

First of all, I need to insert a few caveats here. Unlike with Victorian fashion, I do not have years and years of studying of Qing dynasty-fashion behind me. So whatever results I show here are the product of a fortnight of reading up and meticulous studying of contemporary photographs. a.k.a. I am merely scraping the surface here. But! I do promise that everything shown here is done to the best of my ability to be responsible as a content provider.

Now without further ado, let us dive into Ranmao’s current design, the blatantly obvious inaccuracies, and how I propose to redes...ign... her outfit while keeping the original intact as much.... as possible????  Heck, this is not even worthy of being called a ‘redesign’, this is straight up designing from scratch!

Hair

Let us start with her bangs. Her bangs are in fact surprisingly accurate, as late Qing dynasty women would wear their bangs in a variety of Bettie bangs trimmed well above the eyebrows. Having sides of the bangs growing longer framing the face was usual too, though they would be cut slightly thicker than Ranmao’s. Though, we don’t know how much hair Ranmao has, so I see no reason to alter it.

Twin braids are very much associated with the “China doll look”, but they seem to have been branded into our image of the “Chinese Girl” because it was the go-to look for unmarried women in Republic China (which is many years later than Ranmao’s time, and also has more surviving images.)

In Ranmao’s time, unmarried girls would either wear the bottom part of their hair down, or have everything tied into a single braid behind them. Girls who preferred a more feminine look would often decorate the sides or the top with flowers or other ornaments depending on their wealth.

Yana’s notes say that the flower in Ranmao’s hair is a Chinese peony, which is also called the Empress of Flowers in Chinese as well as Japanese culture. I could find sources on how the peony was the symbol of the Empress of China, and how one better avoid wearing any type of peonies around the Empress herself for fear of being suspected of disrespect. But I could not find any evidence of such flowers being banned for other people, so presumably it was more an ‘unwritten code of politeness’ rather than fashion law.

Hence, I kept the pink peony design for Ranmao, and decorated them in the way Qing women would have.

Neckline

By far the most interesting thing I learned from this redesign attempt was that the “mandarin collar” - the thing that pops up first in most people’s minds when thinking about Chinese fashion - was in fact not at all common.

In this academic work on Chinese fashion history, Finnane writes that the ‘high collar’ was “not a common feature of costume before the twentieth century.” Instead, most costumes would have had a round neckline.

Finnane, Antonia. Changing Clothes in China : Fashion, History, Nation. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. p. 93

The ‘high collar’ gained popularity in early 1900s in China after the Europeans brought with them the beauty standard for high collars, as well as slim-fitted silhouettes. The Chinese increasingly adopted this type of collar and the slim silhouette (the well known ‘china dress/qipao/cheongsam’), and the relatively many early photos that survived helped engrave this stereotype into our minds.

Sleeves

I do not think it requires any mention, but 19th century Chinese fashion did not include boleros... For many of the original designs of Ranmao I can sort of see where Yana got that image from, but this bolero-look truly beats me.

The sleeves worn in the late Qing period were relatively wide, though they were starting to slim down over time. Late Qing women enjoyed much more flexible clothing rules than earlier Qing women, and the width of the sleeves was in great part determined by personal preference, season, but mostly one’s wealth.

Needless to say, the larger the sleeves the more fabric and embroidery it would require, and thus more expensive. Also, the wider the more it would get into the wearer’s way.

I don’t know how much thought Yana put into Ranmao’s original design in relation to her function as elite bodyguard, but considering how the original has zero practicality and only serves to maximise Ranmao’s attractiveness, I have no qualms about giving Ranmao fairly large sleeves too. Besides, let us assume that Lau is responsible for providing Ranmao with clothes. Illegal money tends to fill the pockets quite deeply, I don’t think he can’t spare a few pounds for big sleeves.

Wider sleeves would expose much of ‘a lady’s precious skin’, as such a more fitted layer would have been worn underneath. (The sleeves under the wider sleeves obviously did not have to be orange-ish. This was merely coincidence that both my redesign and the visual source have this colour.)

Silhouette

The figure hugging silhouette x Chinese clothes was - as mentioned above - not at all a thing in Ranmao’s time. In fact, the accentuation of the “female curves” was considered very inappropriate if not downright ugly in the Qing dynasty.

Finnane, Antonia. Changing Clothes in China : Fashion, History, Nation. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. p. 94

Yana’s notes mention that the thing Ranmao wears is just an European corset and that that is the only thing ‘English’ about her attire.

Well... I don’t know where the idea that Victorians wore corsets on the outside comes from, but I myself admittedly was fooled by this a few years ago too... I promise you all now however, Victorians decidedly did not wear their ‘bras’ on the outside. I think even now this look is considered rather ‘questionable’ by most people.

Instead, Qing dynasty clothes were mostly cut wide and straight, loosely dangling around their bodies offering maximum comfort and space. You feared Ranmao killing you in her corset? Now tremble before her now blessed with maximised agility.

Trousers

Well... I considered ‘translating’ Ranmao’s attire to 2020 standard like I did for O!Ciel, but that would not be Tumblr-filter approved. Skirts so short they could be mistaken for a belt are nothing too surprising today, but wearing one with a split that deep is probably a bit too revealing even by today’s standards.

By the late Qing dynasty, men and women, rich and poor alike predominantly wore trousers. Long robes (skirts) were definitely in fashion too, but they were reserved for those who could afford to not have much agility. If you were a farmer, robes would not have been your first option. Perhaps the way long skirts were viewed by the Qing Chinese was not unlike the way we see them now; ‘more classy’ ‘more feminine’ and ‘less convenient’, but not the only way to express femininity.

In these pictures below we can see relatively rich women, married and unmarried alike, all wearing trousers.

Ranmao is predominantly a fighter, and as trousers are plenty feminine in Chinese fashion culture, I don’t see why she would not choose to wear trousers instead of a restricting long skirt. Hence I gave her a pair of trousers.

Shoes

Like I said before, “the shoes are correct...” But the anklets definitely are not!

Golden or silver anklets are something that are worn by very, VERY young children in China. Even to this day it is customary among many Chinese people to gift newborn children at least one piece of pendant, bracelet or anklet, for it is believed to bring the child luck. More practically, this piece of jewellery will become the child’s first piece of property then, which can be sold later SHOULD they ever run into a financially difficult situation.

These anklets or bracelets would not be removed from the child unless they have outgrown them, which happens fairly quick. Ranmao who is probably full grown should have outgrown them at least ten years ago. Hence, seeing these things on Ranmao would probably make it look like she is still wearing diapers or bibs.

Chinese people would likewise not have worn shoes barefoot. Instead, they would have worn cotton socks which were mostly white.

DOUBLE HAMMERS

HERE COME THE WEAPONS! Luckily Yana wrote the following note or I would never have guessed what they are for my knowledge about Chinese weapons is next to nothing.

“These are【SUPER】heavy. They are weapons called 双錘 (double hammers) and they in fact exist. I heard these were used by power-type warriors.”

So, I googled 双錘 and it turns out that the type Ranmao is holding do indeed exist! But... only in fiction and theatre.

The hammers that were used in actual combat were either very thin and long, or short and plump. Such hammers were one of the most primitive metal weapons in China, and quickly fell out of favour among Chinese warriors when more practical weapons such as the metal spear, sword and bows were invented. The hammers mostly retained their value because of their weight in heroic tales and myths about legendary warriors and deities.

I don’t have the full details, but apparently according to some legends or myths, one of such big-ass hammers could deal a force of 200kg, and thus 400kg combined. Regardless of this being realistic or not, it sure does sound very cool! It is therefore no wonder this primitive weapon retains its popularity even today.

Nowadays when these hammers are used, they are either the blown up theatrical versions, or the smaller versions for the sake of preserving martial arts.

I had a bit of a dilemma as to which version to give Ranmao, but in the end I settled with the short and heavy ones because I wanted to keep the idea of this small and innocent looking girl wielding solid metal balls. Two cheer-leading sticks would simply not have the same weight, figuratively and literally.

Alright everyone! Did you enjoy my response to your votes? I hope you did ^^ Non-European fashion history really is not my strong suit, so my deepest apologies if I messed anything up.

Pray tell if I did, I am always happy to learn ^^

[feminaexlux]

A Day or 3 in the Life Of...

It was @bloody-no-kissu‘s birthday a week ago (oTL) and I made a Body Swap AU fic for her! Happy (belated) Birthday Bloody! Btw this is Part 1 of 2 🧡

Rated T for a little bit of language I guess

∴

"Hey."

Marinette was still asleep sprawled out over her bed, sheets pushed off.

"Hey, wake up." She felt someone jab her in the side, so Marinette grumbled and turned away from the annoyance. Oddly enough, that other voice sounded like Juleka. "Are you still Marinette?"

Wh-what? Oh no, that's right. Marinette slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She was in Luka's room. In his bed.

In his body. Still.

Which meant that the akuma she defeated yesterday (in Luka's body, that was a surreal experience) wasn't the origin of this problem. She bolted upright, startling Juleka. "Wh-what time is it?!"

"Still Mar, then," Juleka sighed. "It's so weird seeing Lu all… like you, I guess," she mumbled, shaking her head. "Time for class."

"Which class?" Marinette groaned, covering Luka's face with Luka's hands. "Oh god I… I probably… ugh." She needed to… take a shower? Why was Luka's face so itchy? Did Luka need to shave?

Why was Luka's crotch so itchy? Oh no. How did he deal with this every day?

She got a ping on her phone from Luka. They had swapped phones just in case.

Next class is ____, I'll send you directions

Because Luka was in Marinette's body.

This was a very surreal sort of nightmare, but… on one hand Luka seemed very… respectful of the situation. If it had to be anyone, and if it had to be any boy in particular, Marinette had begrudgingly accepted that Luka was the best choice.

Neither Marinette nor Luka answered any calls but they kept sending out texts as needed. For the most part everyone around them didn't find things too strange about either of them. No one but Juleka and Luka's best friend figured it out for Marinette. Surprisingly, Alya immediately picked it up for Luka, but Alya never said a word to anyone else. Alya had followed enough akumas and spoke to enough victims to know that sometimes people were affected in deeply private ways.

But most people didn't notice the switch, which was a relief. Except it was almost heartbreaking that Adrien didn't seem to notice a change.

"Okay, Marinette, you can do this," she said, Luka's voice coming back instead of her own. She still needed to get used to how different his voice sounded when she was in his body.

thanks Luka. Here's my schedule…

how are you doing?

Fine, are you okay?

He seemed to be managing things for her well enough. Marinette wasn't sure if she should be upset or not, but he'd made and sold the excuse that Marinette had caught a cold and was feeling under the weather. That's why "Marinette" had been so… "chillax", as Alya called it.

as ok as we'll be

The only bad thing was he hadn't been nearly as concerned with dressing the part of a Fashion Designer (still in university) as Marinette had hoped for. He had just kinda thrown on whatever seemed comfortable and left her tiny dormitory room. Maybe he might have a better idea today? Marinette wasn't sure. Then again it didn't feel right to expect that from Luka, except for what happened yesterday.

Chloe Bourgouis had stopped him in the afternoon and tried to ridicule him in front of the whole campus. Marinette was there to watch it unfold (mostly because Luka didn't have anything scheduled at the time and Marinette was a natural busybody). Luka stood there calmly listening to Chloe provide a bulleted list of everything that had been such an atrocious fashion faux pas about lame Marinette Dupain-Cheng's choice in clothing.

Luka had looked thoughtful while Marinette was fuming. Chloe couldn't talk to Luka that way! Especially not when he was piloting her body!

Luka (as Marinette) had spoken up after thinking for a few seconds. "Interesting points. I'll consider that. But next time you don't have to be such a bitch about it." He had adjusted the backpack and continued walking off, leaving Chloe and Sabrina (and everyone really) in a relatively stunned silence.

Well, okay, Marinette supposed that was handled… alright. Marinette probably would have sputtered and squawked and made herself look worse but Luka seemed just… observant more than anything.

Now she was just overthinking. She shook her head to refocus on what to do next. Take a shower, get dressed, I should get some breakfast maybe? Head to Luka's class and maybe try to talk with Tikki after to figure out how the heck to break this… curse thing. If it wasn't the akuma yesterday… could it have been another akuma?

Empress was a trickier Butterfly user than Hawkmoth ever was, so maybe Empress had sent out a secondary akuma to wreak havoc more passively while the flashier one took Ladybug (or rather, Red Beetle for Luka's body) and Chat Noir's attention.

God, as if it wasn't hard enough trying to get through university. Now she and Chat Noir had to deal with a villain that was smart enough to use diversionary tactics. She got into Luka's class and sat at the back with Dingo, Luka's best friend. "Hey Dingo," Marinette sighed.

Dingo raised his heart-shaped sunglasses to his forehead and squinted at her. At Marinette in Luka's body. "Hey babes," he said casually. "Still a lil' scrambled, ain'tcha?" Marinette just nodded sadly. "Aww, come on baby girl don't worry. I'm sure Ladybub and Cat Nerd will figure it out!"

"God, I hope so," she said, leaning forward on the desk and dropping Luka's head in his arms. Luka would look like he'd passed out to anyone else but at least Marinette been recording the lessons on her phone for Luka so he'd be able to catch up. That had been what they agreed to when they first found out after waking up that they'd been swapped yesterday morning.

Now that was such a painfully awkward memory. Thankfully Luka was cool enough to accept her pathetic and inane attempt at an excuse to swap earrings. "They're a family heirloom," Marinette had pleaded. "I mean, they mean a whole lot to me! The me me, you know? I… I need to be the one to wear them?"

Marinette ended up being more thankful than anything that it had been Luka that fate had bound her to. He had just nodded and gently took the black studs off, handing it over to her without complaint.

She wasn't going to assume it meant anything more than his taking her word for it. If he knew she'd been Ladybug all this time, that'd… that'd be something, and that something wasn't good. Probably.

Dingo leaned in and whispered "How's Lulu?"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "I thought you and Luka text each other all the time."

"Pfft, like he'd say anything," Dingo snorted. He hid a smile from Marinette. "But you got a way with him, yanno? Maybe that feminine wiles of yours."

"Yeah, like I have any of that right now," Marinette rolled her eyes again. "It's just so awkward though. He's doing so much better than I am and I'm… I just hope I'm not messing anything up for him." She sighed and sat up only to slump down low in the chair.

"You're alright, Mari. Well. Probably. Imma say that maybe this whole body swap thing hopefully won't be permanent or anything you know? Me and Lulu have a gig coming up in a few weeks. You see I'm thinking maybe you didn't pay attention much to his 'guitar lessons'," Dingo had said with air quotes. "Not sure Luka was really teaching you at his best either," he snickered.

"Oh, oh God, I hope it's not permanent! Oh God Dingo why did you have to go and even suggest that?" Marinette groaned, putting Luka's head in Luka's hands. "This is already pretty stressful! Ugh, I wish I knew how to deal with it like Luka does."

Dingo snorted. "Trust me, he's 100% as freaked out as you are."

"No way."

"Yeah? Next time you see him, you take a good look at his hands."

∴

Okay, Marinette wanted to meet up so they could swap notes for the day. This was fine, this was perfectly reasonable. She had wanted to do that yesterday and that went fine, just fine. Everything was just fine.

Luka wasn't going to mention that maybe he spent maybe an hour staring at… himself? Well, okay, at Marinette. He hadn't been sure it'd be comfortable going to bed with her hair still up in pigtails. When he pulled off the hairbands as gently as he could and her hair came undone like it did, it caught his eye and he looked up at the mirror and saw that Marinette was…

Gorgeous, that was the word.

He'd lost his ability to think for a while. She'd never let her hair loose in front of anyone and he had no idea why. He knew she was already pretty and cute and adorable but… something about the loose hair took it up a couple of notches.

So yeah, he wouldn't mention that little detail to her. He'd be seen as kind of a hypocrite after he told her he didn't… didn't really think about her that way. God, why did he say that? "Bodies are bodies, Marinette," he had told her, when she had freaked out about him having to… do anything in the bathroom.

He'd meant it at the time. He'd treat her body like a temple. He did. He really tried to anyway. He just also… appreciated like any good tourist would, maybe? Oh God that was creepy, stop thinking about it Couffaine.

Okay, she was going to get here in a few minutes.

He wasn't going to mention anything about her hair. He wasn't sure how to get it back into the pigtails again but he tied it back in low ponytail. Hopefully she'd be okay with that? He wanted to keep things fairly consistent for her, and he'd never seen her not have her hair tied so he managed a ponytail.

He also tried dressing up, sort of. It hadn't been at all what he intended but he got more attention yesterday trying to dress casually rather than less. That… Bourgeois lady had tried to bitch at him for wearing track pants or something. Along with a hoodie. Luka was honestly baffled at how seriously Chloe took everything about Marinette's clothes. He had heard from Juleka that Chloe was a major pain in the ass, but having to deal with it in person was… an experience. And it was over clothes? Did Chloe Bourgeois have nothing better to do?

He knew Marinette had a little drama and spitfire in her too, but the way Marinette used her force of personality was to help everyone.

Luka loved her for that. Still.

But she wasn't supposed to know that. He did his best to let her know it back 5 years ago when he was 16 and a bit less reserved with his stupid music puns, but she wasn't into him. That was fine, that was totally fine.

Except maybe it wasn't entirely. And this? This body swap thing? Probably pure karma for him just… being an idiot or something. Or being a complete and utter… coward. Now Hawkmoth or Empress or Karma or whatever spiteful Divine Entity had punished him by putting his mind in her body.

The really unfair bit was that she was in his. Marinette didn't deserve any of this crap. Still, it wasn't like he was Ladybug and could fix everything with a Lucky Charm. God he had no idea how to fix this, and it hadn't been the akuma yesterday!

"Hey?" It was something like his voice coming from nearby. Luka looked up and saw… himself, looking somewhat amused. "Did you wait long?"

"Not really. What's up?"

Marinette, in his body, sat down and pulled out her phone. "Just wanted to send over the class notes before I forgot. Also I wanted to check in and um, I guess, see how it was going with you?"

"It's fine." It was fine. It was all just fine. He finally noticed she was staring at his hands, and he looked down and saw that he'd been tapping the little café table with her pen. Apparently hard enough that he made a slight indentation to the wood top. Whoops. "Oh." He stopped and put the pen back in Marinette's bag. "Sorry about that."

"Hey, Luka, you know it's… Are you sure you're okay?"

He stared up… into his own face. God that was going to take some getting used to… then again he really didn't want to get used to having a literal out-of-body experience. Somehow even though Luka was a generally expressive guy, Marinette being the pilot meant that the facial expressions on him were slightly… more? Maybe not exaggerated but definitely more obvious. He actually thought he looked kinda goofy and winced. "Uh, just… it's still weird. That's all."

"Yeah. I'm really hoping it's something Ladybug and Chat Noir can fix. And soon."

"Oh, did something come up?" Luka asked.

"Er, um. Well, no?" Marinette stumbled. "I just meant I'd… not that your body's like bad or anything but I'd love to be back in my own body! I'm sure you hate being in me." Marinette choked. "I-I-I mean… oh god." She facepalmed. "A-anyway, ahem. Yeah." She pushed her phone out toward him. "Here, uh, just so you're not missing anything relevant!" She laughed nervously.

"Do you think it's actually an akuma?" Luka asked, suddenly hit with a suspicion. "I'm wondering why the Ladybugs didn't… fix this. Do you know anyone else that's going through this?"

Marinette blinked, then frowned, putting a finger to her chin. His chin. Whatever. "No, actually. Not even the LadyBlog mentioned anything like this. But what else could it be?"

"I don't know. I'm throwing it out there just in case it's not the obvious answer. I don't have a suggestion on what it could be though."

"Ugh," Marinette groaned, resting his head on the table. "Why is this happening…" She raised his head back up. "Oh, good choice in clothes, by the way."

He stifled a laugh. "Thanks. Didn't want to get you in trouble with Chloe again."

"Pfft, ignore her. She's just petty."

"Did you have to deal with that before?" Luka asked, feeling slightly guilty that he'd unintentionally made Marinette an easy target.

"For the past 10 years or so, yeah. Don't worry, she's always been kind of a bi--bothersome." Marinette had caught herself in time before uttering anything untoward. "Where'd you find that jacket? I thought I lost it a while back," Marinette giggled.

Oh crap. He probably should have thought about what to say about all this but he had… he really had gone through her closet and dresser trying to find something that he thought Marinette would wear. He wasn't a designer in any sense of the word, but he kind of remembered Juleka talking about some of the clothes and the styles she'd modeled when she got steady gigs from a punk design house.

He also figured that Marinette would look good in red and black.

It'd been a somewhat self-indulgent early morning of him trying out a few different outfits Marinette had, and trying to figure out what she looked best in. He had grabbed a red half-jacket and a slim, short black dress and almost tried wearing heels but went for the practical ballet flats Marinette usually wore. He wanted to be stylish, not accident-prone.

"Hey?" Marinette waved a hand in front of him.

"Sorry, was trying to remember where," he smiled. "But I can't. I'm just glad you approve," he said. Oh, that… that was another thing. "And… a couple of other people approved as well." This was going to hurt. "Adrien said you looked lovely in this." She did, but it felt kind of wrong to say that while he was inhabiting her body.

"O-oh really?" Marinette had blushed and tried to cover it up by coughing. "That's nice!"

This was really going to hurt. "Yeah. He asked you out, by the way, but I said you… you'd think about it. He says he's good next weekend for dinner and a movie."

Marinette looked pale. Which was pretty odd in his skin tone. "We have a problem," Marinette groaned. She took her phone back from in front of Luka and scrolled to her messages.

Hi Marinette, it turns out that I didn't have next weekend free. Let's meet up tomorrow!

"I didn't know what Adrien was talking about until you just explained it," Marinette said anxiously.

"Maybe you should tell him no?" Luka half-asked, already knowing that she'd never shoot down Adrien. He knew it was the one chance she had to finally have Adrien notice her as more than just-a-friend. Only Luka was the one that looked like Marinette right now.

"I-I think… I mean we could… we could wake up back to normal tomorrow?" she laughed, brushing hair away from her… his face in a nervous gesture. She stopped, staring down at something. He looked at the same place and noticed she was staring at his… her hand.

Luka had been unconsciously tightening Marinette's hands into fists so hard they had white knuckles.

"You're… right. I should say no, I'll go ahead and say no." Marinette said simply. "If we're still in… this mess tomorrow it's… not fair to you." She smiled down sadly at Luka, reaching out with his hands to unclench and massage hers. It felt… intimate. And… it felt like he was asking Marinette to keep silently suffering like she'd been all these years. He knew how much that sucked.

"I'll do it," Luka said impulsively. "If we're still… like this tomorrow, I'll go ahead and… make it work."

"Luka, you don't need to…" Marinette trailed off, their hands still intertwined.

He tried to smile. "Hey, I think it's time, right? Finally Adrien's noticed. You gotta take this chance."

Marinette looked back down at their hands. "Adrien noticed… the outfit," she muttered to herself. "And he noticed you…"

"Mar--"

"But… if you're willing to help me out, I… I think this is a good opportunity. I've always wanted to see what would happen, and… maybe this is a blessing. You won't be a wreck like I'd be, anyway!"

Luka had his doubts.

∴

Marinette had a plan. She had almost decided on an outfit for Luka to wear except… well that wasn't what Adrien had noticed. She had asked if Luka wanted to style himself again, but… his reply was oddly sweet. Luka had just said "This is your date. I want you to feel comfortable and be happy with it. That includes wearing whatever you want me to."

It wasn't as if she hadn't already planned out the whole date thing in her head about 25 million times and 25 million variations. She knew exactly how she wanted it to go: what to wear, which movie to see, where to go for dinner that encompassed both convenience and privacy. She'd tried to be considerate of Adrien Agreste, semi-permanent bachelor supermodel (and how it might look to other people). She had checked the weather and the sunset time and if certain places were open for the day and if everything was walkable. She just had to adjust for the fact that it was Luka that would actually be on the date and not her.

Actually, if she thought about it, it was a lot better this way for multiple reasons. She'd be free to go out and do her Ladybug duties if the need arose, and Luka was a mirror-surface lake compared to her turbulent white water nerves.

Marinette and Luka had agreed on a somewhat discreet earpiece if there was something that had to be communicated immediately. Marinette didn't want to admit it to herself, but… there was something about this whole situation where she felt… her future was safe in Luka's capable hands. She owed him big time.

Which was why when the date ended, she was so, so thankful that she'd been in Luka's body instead of her own.

∴

"Hey, that was fun!" Adrien said cheerfully. "Next time we should bring Alya and Nino with us."

That sounded… wrong. At least, that sounded like it didn't belong in a romantic date. "… What do you mean?" Luka asked. He'd been doing everything Marinette had asked and it still lead to this? Did Luka really ruin this somehow?

"It was great to hang out, just the two of us, but I think the more the merrier right?"

Luka was confused. "… Hang out? This wasn't a date?"

"Yeah, like a friend-date, right? You'd been so down recently that Nino said I should take you out to cheer you up!"

Oh jeez. "Are… are you kidding me, Agreste? You invite a girl out to dinner and a movie and you say it's not a date?" Luka asked, an edge of acidity in his voice. "How could you lead a girl on like that?"

Adrien looked taken aback. "We've been friends forever, Marinette. You've been feeling down. I thought friends did things like this to cheer you up?" Adrien started looking panicked. "Oh no, did… did you think this was a date? I-I thought Kagami was just being weird when I said you wouldn't think of me like that! I should have listened--"

"What the hell does Kagami have to do with all of this?"

"I'm dating Kagami, Marinette! I've been with Kagami ever since you got us together! That's why I didn't think you'd mistake this for a date!"

"Luka…" he heard Marinette sigh shakily over the earpiece. But no, this was… this was bad. And Luka was angry.

"For a man who's a freaking model and supposed to be meticulously worried about your image, can't you pull your head out of your ass for one second and take a good look at what's happening? You do not take a girl out to dinner alone, especially a girl that's been in love with you for ages, and say that it's not a date after it's done."

"'In love'?! Wh-what? Marinette, I'm… I'm sorry that it happened this way but… I don't understand. I'm with Kagami!"

The Couffaine Chaos energy nearly overtook Luka and he realized he had drawn back Marinette's arm and fist in preparation for decking the ignorant blond. But… this wasn't going to help. Luka lowered her arm and started breathing to calm himself down, realizing a little after the fact that Marinette was yelling at him over the earpiece. "Okay. Fine. If you wanna play it this way, Adrien, fine. I have to tell you, though. I hope you treat Kagami better than this." Luka got Marinette's jacket back from Adrien and threw her evening bag over his… her shoulder. "I'm out. I'll make my way back home."

"Marinette, I'm really sorry!" Adrien yelled after her, trying to grab her arm.

Luka spun back around, batting Adrien's reaching arm away and said "Shut it if you know what's good for you, Agreste. Don't touch me."

∴

Marinette slumped down in her chair outside the theater. Well, that could have gone worse, maybe? she thought at herself. She shook her head and jumped up, running after Luka, who was more or less stomping away in her body. If she'd been able to see clearly she might have commented to herself that basically everyone in Luka's path dove out of the way of his murder walk. But she had… some problems seeing that had nothing to do with the nighttime or Luka's vision and more to do with the fact that she'd been crying.

Because she made Luka have to go through that.

Because she felt more relief than anything, after the fact.

Not because of the final nail in her Agreste Infatuation coffin sinking in and closing off forever her already long-dead feelings over Adrien.

"Luka!" She yelled at him. With his voice. "Luka, wait."

He spun and looked back at Marinette. At himself. He was… he was both angry and extremely worried. "Marinette, I am so sorry," he said to her. "I… I'm sorry. I messed this up for you. God I am so--"

Marinette started laughing. She wasn't sure what had come over her, but Luka was actually acting like she would have and it looked… comical. Because he did nothing wrong. She brushed the tears from Luka's face and sighed. "No, don't be sorry, Luka. You didn't mess anything up. I… I think we were set up!" Marinette laughed again. "God, I'm glad that's over," she breathed out.

"Are… you alright?" Luka asked, as still and as quiet as a mouse. He tightened his grip on her bag and she knew he'd been trying to hide his discomfort.

"I'm… I'll be fine," Marinette giggled, a spillover of the increasingly bizarre reaction of hers. "I'm just… I gotta take a few to um… process this," she continued giggling.

Luka continued holding her bag in a death grip. "Alright. I'm… we should head home."

"No, wait," Marinette said, reaching for… her own hand. "Wait." She gently unfurled Luka's grip and straightened out the fingers, massaging the hand again. "We should talk. Let's… let's get a drink. Like a smoothie or something, not like at a bar. I'm not sad, really."

Luka looked skeptical and Marinette had to laugh. The less exaggerated doubt on her own face was somehow more effective than the overly dramatic disbelief she usually had. "Sure," he said, still doubtful. "But… Juleka's probably at Rose's right now. Let's head back to my place and we'll talk there."

"Better yet," Marinette said, her giggling finally under control. "Let's go back to my place." She didn't have to worry about roommates, at least.

"Hey. I really am sorry about the whole thing," Luka said quietly.

Marinette smiled at him. "Luka, you're…" She pulled him into a hug. "You're wonderful, I hope you know that. You did exactly what I asked for. None of this is your fault." God she was so tiny in his arms. "Thank you. For everything."

"Right," he said slowly. "Okay. Let's go get some smoothies."

∴

End pt 1

[hidge-resource]

submission: Galra AU

Chapter 1 - Caught in Moonlight~

It was late at night, the ship was asleep, dark and quiet.

Hunk was patrolling the corridors when he heard talking.

He began to run before he was discovered.

“Halt! Show yourself!” The person yelled.

Hunk sighed and turned around.

His heart stopped at the sight, It was Phi.

Oh god.

Oh god.

He’s going to get in so much trouble-

Phi walked over to him, her cloak flowing behind her.

“What are you doing out so late?” She asked, in a stern tone.

“I- Uh- I was- patrolling. I just wanted to make sure there was no intruders or anything because recently the security has been lacking and it’s been like real bad and-“ He spluttered out, nervously.

“Security is none of our concern right now. Return to your room. I don’t want to see you again.” She said, dismissing him.

Hunk nodded and walked off, he felt his ears drop.

He closed his eyes, as he paused.

He let out a long sigh, before he opened his eyes once more and walked once more.

He strolled into his room and fell onto his bed.

Lance, his best friend sat up.

“Where have you been?” He asked.

Hunk groaned.

“I was patrolling and I was caught.” Hunk said.

“Who was it this time? Was it that cute girl from last time?” Lance said, smirking.

“… Yeah.” Hunk admitted.

“You’ve got to tell me who it is!” Lance said, giggling like a teenage girl.

“Promise you won’t judge or tell anyone?” Hunk said.

“Won’t tell a soul.” Lance replied.

“The last 10 times have been Phi. As in, Empress Haggar’s Phi. But, she hasn’t done anything. Like, usually she does something to them but she hasn’t done anything to me.” Hunk said.

Lance went silent, blinking.

“Hold up. You’ve met Phi??” Lance said, in disbelief.

“On multiple occasions.” Hunk said.

“Look, If she hasn’t done anything, she probably likes you. In anyway, or she feels sorry for you. Don’t you like have a tragic past or something?” Lance Asked.

“No, my Dad just left. That’s it. I wasn’t even born when he left.” Hunk said.

“Huh. Strange.” Lance said.

They both laid in silence before Hunk felt himself drift off.

He woke up early and got dressed and ready.

Hunk sat down, sleepily at a table at breakfast.

He placed his head on the table, after a few minutes with no vision he heard someone sit down.

He shrugged it off.

“Oi.” A voice said.

Hunk blinked and sat up.

He was met with Phi, sitting across from him.

“I have a job for you.” She said.

Hunk sat upright.

“My personal guard went M.I.A. I was wondering if you wanted to take up the job.” She said.

Hunk stayed silent, processing what he just heard.

“Excuse me? I don’t think I heard you correctly. You want me as your personal guard? Do you know me?? I’m clumsy as heck, I sometimes get lost around the ship and I’m gullible-“ He started.

“You have potential. You said you have a problem with the security, right? You can change that if you take the job.” Phi said.

Hunk thought for a second.

“Y-Yeah! Sure!” He finally decided.

Phi grinned.

“Well, I’ll see you around then? Just meet me outside the Med Bay. Okay?”

“Mhm.”

And with that, she disappeared into the crowd.

Her seat was soon replaced by Lance.

“Hey! Diabaazal to Hunk!” He said, waving.

Hunk shook his head.

“S-Sorry. I was just.. processing something.” He said.

Lance raised a brow and his ears perked up.

“Processing something?” He repeated, curiously.

“Yeah. I talked to Phi.” Hunk said, rubbing his neck.

Lance looked at Hunk, his mouth open.

“Phi talked to you??” He repeated.

“Yeah, Guess who has a new job, she asked me to be her personal guard since her old one is M.I.A. I’m meeting her after breakfast.” Hunk said.

“I mean, that’s a step in the right direction for your plan, right? You went from a cell century to a personal guard! Now you just have to aim for Emperor.” Lance said, nudging his friend.

“What?! Emperor?! Me?! Hah! Definitely not. I’d make a really dumb mistake or something.”

“I think the only big mistake here is not thinking she likes you. She definitely does, friend or not. But you’d actually be great as Emperor. You could actually change stuff around here. How much longer do you want to be pawns in a huge game of chess, Hunk?! We’ll just be toy soldiers for the rest of our lives. Do you really want that?” Lance asked.

“Mhm… I mean.. You aren’t wrong.”

Lance laughed.

“Hunk, when am I ever wrong?” Lance said, smirking.

“… You are usually wrong though.” Hunk said, looking up.

“HEY!” Lance said, offended.

Hunk chuckled.

“But I’m never right either, we can be wrong together.” Hunk said, smiling.

Lance scoffed and crossed his arms.

“Yeah. Yeah. Now you go get yourself a girlfriend.” Lance said, walking off.

“LANCE!” Hunk yelled, his face going bright red.

He sighed and he too walked off, towards the medical bay.

He spotted Phi with a screen looking at a tube with yellow liquid in it.

Hunk walked over, tilting his head.

“What’s that?” Hunk Asked, curiously.

“Quintessence.” Phi Said, not looking up.

Hunk blinked.

“Oh wow. It looks… very bright and glow-y.” Hunk said.

“What else were you expecting?”

“I don’t know, like, more… life-like? Maybe like a galaxy sort of thing, it’s in everything right? Quintessence is universal then. I don’t know. This just isn’t what I was expecting.” Hunk said.

Phi looked at him, finally.

“I guess, anyways. I need to be at Zarkon’s ship. You’ll be coming with. You may bring one extra person, and we’ll only be there for 30 minutes. You will wait outside.”

“Oh- Uh, Okay!” Hunk said, before walking off to his room.

He opened the door to his room and was only met with the shadows on the walls.

“You here, Lance?” Hunk Asked.

There was no reply.

Hunk sighed and turned on his heel and started the search again.

He found Lance talking- or more arguing with another Galra.

“Keith! What the fu-“ Lance began to yell.

Hunk tapped him on the shoulder.

Lance spun around.

“Oh hey, Hunk!” Lance said, completely erasing the anger from before.

“We need to head to Zarkon’s ship, we won’t be long so uh.. after you can go back to…. arguing? I guess.”

“Oh alright! Let’s go!” Lance said, wrapping an arm around Hunk and strutting off.

“… Are you serious or were you just trying to get me to stop?” Lance finally asked once out of earshot.

“Yeah. Phi just told me.” Hunk replied.

Lance blinked before nodding.

Soon they arrived at the ship, where they found Phi talking to another Galran.

Phi noticed the two and turned to them.

“By the way, I never got your name.” She said, looking at Hunk.

“It’s uh.. It’s Hunk.” Hunk said, rubbing his neck.

Phi raised a brow.

“Really?” She asked.

Hunk nodded.

“Yeah, I don’t know why.” Hunk said.

“Hmm… Are you sure your parents were Galra?” Phi asked.

“I’m pretty sure, I’ve never met my dad.. so..” Hunk said, looking away.

“I see… He might’ve been a future seeker.” Phi said, turning on her heel.

The Galra she was talking to before snickered.

“Oh my god… Phi, are you serious? Did you actually just say that?” The Galra Asked, following her.

Lance looked at a very red Hunk.

“Oh my god. She does like you.” Lance said, holding back a laugh.

Hunk nudged Lance and began to walk, shaking his head.

Lance finally let out the laugh and ran after him, poking at him.

“See! I told you! You should’ve listened to me, man!

{meanwhile}

Phi paced, her face growing red.

“Did I seriously just say that?” She asked, walking back and forth.

The Galra nodded, laughing.

“Uh, Yeah! You did! Where’s the real Phi and what have you done with her?” He asked, still laughing.

“Oh shut up, Matt. I sort of panicked because I thought he was flirting so I sort of did it back and gah! I shouldn’t have done that! He’s my person guard, damn it!” Phi said, crossing her arms.

Matt raised a brow.

“He’s your personal guard? Out of every single Galra in the Galra empire, you chose him? Have you even seen him fight? How long have you know him?”

“No… and I’ve seen him patrolling every night for a while now.” Phi confessed.

“Oh wow, you actually may have a chance then.” Matt thought out loud.

“What do you mean?” Phi asked, shooting her head at him.

“Uh… I think you know exactly what I mean, Phi Brain.” Matt said, bending down.

Phi instantly went red.

“What?! No!! Definitely not!! I get it! You’re my brother but you don’t have to be a pain in the ass the entire time!” Phi said, angrily.

Matt gasped.

“Phi! Language! What would Mam say??” Matt said, shrilly.

Phi sighed, rolling her eyes.

“We haven’t seen Mam or Pap in years, Matt. I was 15. You also went at 15. Everyone does. It was a miracle we even found each other.” Phi said.

“Yeah… Hopefully that changes. It sucks not knowing where our parents are, How they are or… if they are even alive.” Matt said.

Phi looked at him.

“I’m sure they are alive, somewhere. They could literally be anywhere.” Phi said, glancing out the windscreen.

“Anyways, we better start going.” Phi said, crossing her arms.

Matt nodded and sat down in the pilot seat.

“You may bring in your future boyfriend and best man-“ Matt said, grinning.

“MATT!!” Phi yelled, walking over to the door.

After her face cooled down, she opened the door again, looking at Lance and Hunk directly in the eyes.

“You may come in.” Phi said, before going to sit down.

Hunk looked around.

“This is a nice ship.” He said.

Matt smiled to himself.

“Thank you! I’m not a General for nothin!” Matt said, cheerfully.

“Oh! You’re a general?” Lance said, perking up.

“Yeah! Wonder how I got the eyepatch?” Matt Asked, turning around, pointing to an eyepatch covering his left eye.

“He actually doesn’t need the eyepatch, he only wears it to act intimidating, and to cover up a scar.” Phi pointed out.

“To be honest, the scar is more intimidating.” Phi added.

Matt scoffed.

“Also because Pap gave me it, before had to be sent off.” Matt said.

Hunk nodded.

“All of my 10 siblings and my moms have orange headbands, so we can find each other.” Hunk said, smiling fondly.

Matt did a double take and turned to him.

“You have 10 siblings?!” Matt said, shocked.

“Yeah. 5 sisters and 5 brothers, including me.” Hunk explained.

“Though, some are twins, some are triplets. And only 4 of my siblings are actually blood related, the rest are adopted.” Hunk added.

Matt sat back.

“That must’ve been chaos.” Matt said.

Hunk nodded.

“Yeah, But it was my family. Thankfully, we all got along, so it wasn’t too hectic. Unless if we were all playing tag or something.” Hunk said.

“We used to break everything. Plates, Vases, anything we could get our hands on.” Hunk added, smiling.

“Me and my siblings usually fought quite a lot. Once we tore down a wall, Everyone broke at least one bone, for me it was my leg.” Lance said, chuckling.

Hunk blinked.

“That must’ve been sore.” Hunk said.

Lance nodded.

“Yeah, it was.” Lance said.

“Sorry to ruin the mood, but we are here.” Matt said, standing up.

Everyone then waddled over to the door and stepped out.

Hunk blinked.

“This place is massive.” He thought out loud.

“What are you expecting? It’s Zarkon’s ship.” Phi said, walking off.

Hunk, Lance and Matt followed closely after her.

After about 10 minutes of walking they arrived at very large twin doors.

“You three wait here, I won’t be long.” She said, going through the door.

Not long after she exited, she came back.

“Emperor Lotor is Dead.”

(After like, months of procrastination, the first part is actually done. Also: Besides 2 English projects this is my only half planned story, anyways I’m just going to go work on Chapter 2 :D)

[abadpoetwithdreams]

Nirvana in Fire Episode 3 Reaction

I’m back with more long-winded babbling about this incredibly complicated show! I mean that as a good thing–this plot has so many plates spinning at once, and so many layers of character interaction, and it’s all done really well and we haven’t even really started yet! This is still just setting the stage! By the end of this episode, however, it feels like things are actually getting ready to kick off more. The basic foundation that we need of who all these people are and what their agendas are is firmly established and now we are ready to see where the story goes. Or not ready? Ready in the mind but not in the heart.

Note: this reaction is really just a glorified recap. I tried shortening it because, uh, LONG, but this episode is SO FULL OF IMPORTANT EXPOSITION that I couldn’t really comment on my reaction to any one thing without having to contextualize it with other things, and any of the few seemingly non-important things were all really fun character bits so I want to talk about them and. Um. I guess I’ll alternate how I format my reaction posts between more streamlined bulletpoint reactions and long-winded recapping depending on episode content.

Also! This was the last episode I watched where I took any kind of notes until episode like 12 (I’m on ep 17 now guys help but I’m holding off watching more so I can write these. Barely). When I write up eps 4-11 I’ll keep my later knowledge from coloring what I remember my initial responses to be as much as possible.

(And a HUGE thank you to everyone who has welcomed me to this fandom and to those of you who have sent me feedback on my recaps and helpful commentary! I LOVE THIS SHOW. I will reply to your comments in a separate post because I want to foster this dialogue, because I LOVE THIS SHOW and want to talk about it! So thanks, guys, don’t hesitate to send me messages or whatever, every one of them makes my day!)

We resume the story in this episode exactly where we left off in the last one (as seems to be the norm with this show): with Ni Huang and Lin Shu–I mean, Mei Chang Su–I mean, let’s be real he’s always Lin Shu whenever Ni Huang is around–ok let’s start over. We resume the story with a slave child getting beaten by a eunuch. When the eunuch realizes the boy has a book on him, his rage only increases, but I’m immediately interested because this slave can read?? Hm.

The eunuch taunts the boy, telling him the fact that Prince Jing favors him does not protect him because no one likes Jing, lol. But Chang Su instantly looks even more interested in the scene, and speaking of Jing, he comes running up, and insists the eunuch stop hitting the kid. The eunuch responds by listing the boy’s punishable offenses (among them “talking back” and like lol did you forget which Prince you’re talking to??? I’m pretty sure all you did was make Jing high5 this kid mentally) and trying to pull rank via the Empress, but while Jing just stands there tongue-tied and stormy like he seems to be a lot (I really love him and his Serious-Sad-Grumpy face) Ni Huang interrupts by WHIPPING THE EUNUCH FROM LIKE SIX FEET AWAY.

Have I said I adore Ni Huang? Because I adore Ni Huang. I love how she uses her popularity and power to sort of defend Jing. Based on the last two episodes we can see what a good match she is for Lin Shu, as she is brilliant and charming and you can see how they click intellectually (even as he tries to disguise himself from her, their minds work together too easily) but here we can also see what a good partnership she has with Jing. I don’t mean romantically. I just mean she is exactly the friend he needs. “Thank you for your help, but I can handle a servant,” he tells her gravely. No, Jing. You can’t. It’s adorable. While Ni Huang kindly explains to Jing about how politics works, Chang Su, who has been watching this all with poorly concealed heart eyes, hurries over to comfort the boy and ask his name. THAT gets the immediate attention of the other two. Jing looks worried as he suddenly remembers that Chang Su is there. Iiiiiiiiinteresting.

The boy’s name is Ting Sheng, and he’s eleven. The big battle that killed Lin Shu’s father? Happened twelve years ago. Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinteresting.

Jing doesn’t seem pleased at this line of questioning. Chang Su looks startled when Jing speaks up, like he was so interested in this kid he had forgotten he was not alone. Whenever he looks surprised about something or like he’s scrambling about something I can’t help but wonder if it’s legit or if he’s just playing what he wants the others to see. This time, it looks genuine to me but he recovers fast.

Meanwhile, back at the tournament, the Crown Prince and Prince Yu look bored out of their minds because Chang Su isn’t around for them to fawn over. As soon as they realize he isn’t coming back, they ditch. I know that doesn’t sound funny on paper, but trust me, it’s funny as heck. I love these actors so much. Their mannerisms as they squabble (both when they’re actually arguing and just in the tension whenever they’re near each other) are hysterically funny, but their power and motivations in the story are very serious, so they remain formidable opponents for our Hero With Three Names. It’s a wonderful balance that the show’s writing and these actors manage to achieve, and I am enjoying it a lot.

(I hope Yu Jin and Jing Rui can relax and have a bit more fun now that those two have left the premises, btw. I want only happiness for those sweethearts. Ha. Haha. Don’t mock me in your replies to this, fandom. I know it’s a foolish hope. Don’t crush my dreams, not this early in the show.)

Back with our dream team, Jing is suspicious of Chang Su. In this whole conversation, Ni Huang plays an intriguing role in both supporting Jing but also defending Chang Su. Chang Su asks Jing why he cares about this boy. Jing, after an uncomfortable pause, says the kid is literate and his mother was a disgraced woman who could read and so Jing feels bad for him and that’s all. And okay, granted, I haven’t been given enough time yet to get to know Jing very well, but what I do know is that he is a TERRIBLE liar. Even Ni Huang looks like she feels a bit sorry for him. I believe what he’s saying–up to a point. But no way does Jing care just because this kid wasn’t born a peasant. There’s more to this for sure.

Chang Su offers to help teach the boy how to read, as I guess he is technically literate but not very good at comprehension yet. The boy is excited, but Jing seems even more unhappy at the attention Chang Su is showing the kid. Poor Jing. Learn to stop wearing your unhappiness on your sleeve, man.. Be like Ni Huang. Everyone should be like Ni Huang.

Then we get some exposition courtesy of our favourite princess, explaining that as a slave Ting Sheng cannot come and go freely, and only a decree from the Emperor could free him, but not only does the Emperor never free slaves, he dislikes even the suggestion that he free them. Thus Jing, who is already on dangerously thin ice in court, has had to keep quiet on the subject, which also explains his worry at Chang Su shaking things up. Our sneaky drama boy just smiles and says he’ll think of something. Attaboy, Shu.

Jing asks aggressively why Chang Su is so very interested in helping this kid, Chang Su replies with what I can already tell is his patented “I’m sorry could you repeat that I can’t hear you over the sound of my illness and harmlessness” smile. Hilariously, Ni Huang then cuts in to turn the question back on poor Jing. Chang Su’s smile turns just a shade smugger at that. He’s got to control himself around Ni Huang. She already clearly suspects him, and he’s only been around her for like ten minutes.

Anyway, I’ve spent way too much time on this scene because I loved it so much (I love these three people so to see them all spar together for the first time was super fun) but the scene ends with Jing walking away with the boy and looking quite adorable as he does, and saying he will wait and see what Chang Su does. And Ni Huang continues to be very intrigued by Chang Su.

Back at the tournament, Ni Huang’s baby brother arranges to have one of his men test Chang Su somehow because he’s alarmed that this strange scholar has been getting friendly with his sister. It’s hilarious that this brother thinks that Ni Huang needs protecting, but also that’s very sweet of him. I guess.

The show is unnecessarily cruel by having the old Dowager’s calling to Lin Shu play as VO as Chang Su walks pensively out of the palace. I’m never getting over that scene. But then he gets attacked by baby brother’s man and doesn’t so much as blink when the soldier charges because Fei Liu is there to save him! THIS KID. He is all ready to Hulk Smash the soldier, but Chang Su almost amusedly makes sure he doesn’t. (Side note: The attacker mentions Chang Su looks weak. I can’t help but wonder more and more if Shu is frustrated about how his body has (apparently?) failed him, leaving him with only his mind and charisma as weapons against the people who wronged his family? Since he’s such a great thinker, I am assuming he must have been a prodigy in warfare as well when he was younger. Since filial piety is a huge thing for his culture (basically virtue #1 if I remember my Chinese studies from college accurately) I am guessing a major motivation for him isn’t just revenge for his sake but for his father’s sake somehow. That’s a huge task he has set up for himself, but his means to accomplish it have been very handicapped, and meanwhile all these other characters get big action sequences and stunts and he just has to. Stand there. And smile blandly. And bury every part of himself that IS himself deep down inside. Related to this, I wonder if the actor himself found it frustrating at times how he just has to dress up and stand in the background of all the fun wirework scenes, lol. Maybe he gets to let loose a bit more later in the series. I have no idea.)

But things only get REALLY interesting here when who shows up but that general I liked last episode!! He’s still great, and dismisses the soldier angrily: “You’re not leaving yet? Are you waiting around to have a meal with me?” -best burn of this show so far, oh my gosh.

BUT THEN.

“It’s been twelve years. You’ve finally made your way back.”

!!!!!!

HE KNOWS WHO CHANG SU REALLY IS.

Not only that, but they apparently were corresponding for five years now, and he is worried because he had repeatedly warned Lin Shu that it would be too dangerous for him to return. But, now that he’s here, he’s 200% ready to do whatever Lin Shu wants and to help him do whatever it is he’s trying to do in whatever way he can. This guy is an AMAZING friend. And, given his high status in the palace as the head of the guard, from what I can tell, he’s an immensely valuable ally. I’m so glad!! I’m honestly also surprised, as I did not expect people to start recognizing Lin Shu as early as episode 3..

(“I’m finally home,” Lin Shu says, and ugh, isn’t that depressing.)

Also, it’s confirmed that he planned to have Fei Liu attack the general so that would serve as their sneaky introduction, because Lin Shu is ridiculously dramatic. Was he always this way, or is that just one of the ways falling off a cliff Mufasa-style changes a soul?

They arrange to meet at his house on Jing Rui’s dad’s estate that night(it’s called Snow Cottage, apparently? Cute name) to talk more freely. Cut to that night: Ni Huang is furious at her brother for his horrible attempt at protecting her. The actor who plays her brother plays the character as so much more casual and spontaneous than 99% of the characters on this show, and it makes him seem both very likable and very young. Don’t hurt him, show. Pls.

Ni Huang explains that Chang Su isn’t just a random scholar friend of Jing Rui’s: he’s the lord of that Eastern Yangtze Alliance and he sent tactical help once when she and her brother were having difficulty defeating their enemy at some battle. She’s convinced there’s more to him than meets the eye.

Then we cut to mister mysterious himself, who has fallen asleep sitting in his chair all wrapped up in his robes and then if that isn’t cute enough Fei Liu hurries up to tuck furs over him and I nearly died from this cuteness squared. Then, alas, the moment is ruined by the arrival of the general–Commander General Meng, actually, seems to be his name proper. Fei Liu still hates him because of their fight, and Meng is concerned that Lin Shu is burning coals in a brazier even though it isn’t that cold. Remember: he’s sickly. The show keeps throwing up little “HE IS UNWELL” flags like this, but so far there isn’t any evidence really of what exactly is wrong with him beyond his restraint in action and his apparent sensitivity to cold. I’m guessing this is planting seeds for episodes to come.

Something else that jumps out at me is that for the first time Lin Shu admits he isn’t 100% sure of what his plan is. He has obviously planned ahead a LOT (he did have 12 years to scheme, after all), but there is a certain amount of winging it that seems to be happening, too. Part of the fun of this show so far is trying to figure out how much of what happens is Lin Shu influencing events 20 moves ahead like a chess master, and how much is him being very adaptable and fast on his feet with strategy.

Meng insists on being Lin Shu’s ally in whatever he’s doing and will continue to pretend they don’t know each other well. He is apparently this loyal because he was part of the Lin army at some point. He asks how many people survived the battle. Shu says as far as people Meng would recognize goes, it’s only him and someone called Wei Zheng. I don’t think we’ve been introduced yet?

Meng then asks what happened in the battle. YES. TELL US THIS.

Flashback time!!!! … It shows nothing we haven’t seen before, though. Dangit. But when we cut back to Shu’s face, he’s got actual tears in his eyes and it’s all very intense. Poor boy is still traumatized, seemingly. And angry. He tells Meng he’ll reveal all when the time is right. I want to argue that the time could be right right now, but oh well. I can wait. Maybe.

Meng agrees, because he is a Good Friend and can see how the topic affects Shu. Then he basically asks for orders, and I guess we will find out what those are later! Next day, Yu Jin and Jing Rui are leaving for the tournament and are greeted at the door by literal wagonloads of gifts from Prince Yu and the Crown Prince. This got a good laugh out of me, I love how their very serious rivalry manifests in absurdity at least in this stage of the game. I also love Jing Rui’s frogface expression of “I am not amused but secretly I rather am.” Protect him, show. I’m worried about how close his story is tied with Chang Su.

Montage time! Jing Rui looks splendid in his fight at the tournament, and Yu Jin actually looks almost as good! They’re both great fighters despite being so laid-back, and that makes me love them even MORE. “You could have won with 58 stances, but you had to stall until the 65th to show off your gorgeous pose,” Jing Rui tells a very, very pleased with himself Yu Jin, and it’s so Good. Just. I want these two to run far away. Now.

Btw, I’m assuming they’re in the tournament to try to take two of those top ten spots, not because they actually want to marry Ni Huang. I’m pretty sure it’s established she could defeat them in combat anyway.

There’s a brief shot of a giant hairy wall of a man who is winning his bouts by punching out swordsmen. I am guessing he will be important as the tournament progresses. Oh, and the boys do get spots in the final two. Yay! I’m very proud of them.

The emperor is pleased that most of the final ten are not foreigners and thus make his kingdom look good. The lady who I think is the Crown Prince’s mother tries to coyly convince the emperor to favor a candidate she likes, but he replies that the Empress has already asked the same thing, just for another candidate. Ha. He then says that it doesn’t matter anyway because he’s not going to judge the exams: some random impartial scholar Ni Huang recommended is going to.

Good Lord, Emperor. You are making a mistake. It’s almost pitiful how wrong you are.

(I am distracted throughout this scene by how beautiful the woman’s eye makeup is. I tend to paint my eyes exactly those colors when I do my own eye makeup, so I feel vindicated. I guess it’s the Chinese ancestry in me coming out in mysterious ways.)

Chang Su’s reaction to the news he is to grade the exams is curious to me. I don’t know for sure, obviously–but it looks like the wheels start spinning very quickly in his head. I feel like Ni Huang requesting him as the examiner was a power move on her part; I do not think he was expecting it and now he has to adapt fast. I could be wrong. But I think his question of “how does the emperor know about me?” is him genuinely thinking out loud. Did he not plan on being this conspicuous this fast?

The giant man at the tournament is Baili Qi, and he is from Northern Yan, so outside the kingdom. This is problematic, because he totally demolishes another one of the finalists in a single punch, leaving the three boys (Ni Huang’s little brother, and the duo) thunderstruck. I LOVED Yu Jin’s tentative “maybe we could beat him together?”/Jing Rui’s incredulous face/Yu Jin conceding that nah, they’re toast. These two. I believe in you guys! Defeat him with the power of friendship!

The Emperor is LIVID. Marrying Ni Huang off to a former enemy would strengthen that enemy with her considerable following and would potentially embolden them to new war. He asks the Princes for a solution, and for once they are dead silent. Meng says when asked that he does not think Ni Huang can defeat Baili Qin, but I wonder if he has something up his sleeve here because he looks a little shifty, and in his nighttime meeting with Chang Su he did ask for orders … He looks uncharacteristically calculating as he watches the princes, is all I’m saying.

Meanwhile, Ni Huang’s little bro (whose name I must learn) is even MORE LIVID. He is acting like he is the one that’s getting married, lollllll.

Ni Huang, however, seems weirdly calm until she asks gently, with a pensive smile: “Do you know what a perfect match is?”

AAAAAAND CUT TO MEI CHANG SU.

I live for obvious editing like that. It was very satisfying. Oh this sad couple.

Now here comes what feels like one of the most important scenes in an episode filled with important scenes (this show is ridiculously dense, guys. I can’t believe I’m only on 3?????): a long bit of exposition explaining the significance of Jing Rui’s name. Told by a gleeful Yu Jin. Can he do all exposition for this show? He’s so fun.

I’m not ashamed to say I rewatched this scene twice to make sure I followed, because it just feels like such an important story I don’t want to be confused ten or twenty episodes on. But basically: Jing Rui was named so to mark him as being related to the Imperial family. This is because (I THIIINK) his mother is the current emperor’s sister??? HOWEVER. When he was born, there was a plague or something that made it necessary for his mother to leave the palace and go to some remote area for her safety. Because the princess is a kind person, she let another traveling pregnant woman (who I guess is from a powerful family in her own right but is not royalty) stay in the same place while she was there, and they became friends. They also ended up going into labor at the same time, and birthing sons the same stormy night. During the storm, however, the lights were doused and in the confusion the babies were misplaced so when the lights were restored, no one could be certain which boy belonged to which mother. This problem was compounded when one of the infants died the next day. So each family had equal claim to the living baby. Instead of solving this problem like Solomon would have done, the Emperor just declared Jing Rui is the son of both families, so he has two moms and two dads I guess but he only lives with one set of parents? Anyway his name signifies that. So it could confuse foreigners into thinking he is the emperor’s son, which we see borne out when one of the Northern Yan delegation bribes a eunuch to find out this whole story.

In addition, him being the son of both families has bound his families together into one big happy family??? The son of one set of parents has married the daughter of the other set and it’s all very confusing but Jing Rui seems comfortable so ok. I don’t know if I’ve met both his sets of parents. I know I’ve seen the princess and the Marquis … Xie? Something like that. Roundish face, beard. But I don’t remember seeing a Zhou or Jing Rui interacting with a Zhou, so. Hmmmmmm.

This story is too detailed. It’s gotta come back to bite us later. I don’t know how, but I’m already upset.

Jing Rui plans to challenge Baili Qi at the feast for the final ten suitors, in hopes of injuring him enough that Ni Huang will be able to beat him. He’s so pure. Ni Huang’s brother bursts into the manor like a breath of fresh air and literally drags Chang Su away, babbling at him about how he trusts Chang Su to defeat Baili Qi and totally steamrolling Chang Su’s attempts to keep his usual reserved and polite man of mystery facade intact. The unspoken rule of this show is that everyone hangs of Chang Su’s every word; Ni Huang’s brother just cuts him off mid-sentence lol. Arguably the best-delivered line of the episode: “If you can’t handle him, I’d have to have him beaten up.”

And then! Chang Su! Is announced! In the palace! Well, it’s his other fake name but whatever. He walks in and Ni Huang looks very pleased with herself and the theeeeeme music plaaaaaaays

The music feels very internalized. This moment isn’t important to anyone except Lin Shu right now but it’s SO important to him, so–MUSIC.

I also got a bit giddy at this whole scene because the camera keeps cutting to show all these characters gathered in one place and it was like–oh. OH. Everyone is here. Our major players are here. The game is officially started. It was a pretty cool moment.

And he gets to sit next to Ni Huang, so he’s already winning. And so is she, judging by the look on her face XD

Prince Yu suggests the finalists duel each other as entertainment. The Crown Prince, of course, immediately bounces up to argue against this idea, but hilariously in the middle of his pompous speech he notices Chang Su ever so slightly shake his head: no. The lame, stuttering backtrack the Crown Prince clumsily manages is beautiful to behold, and Yu looks very smug. Both princes seem to think Chang Su is helping them, which I feel like might lead to problems later, but for now Lin Shu is just having fun with playing them both like a couple of bratty, red-gold fiddles.

Oh, and intercut with this is the harem of Emperor concubines (is harem the right term here? Idk. You know what I mean) discussing Ni Huang’s upcoming marriage, but it isn’t that interesting a scene so I’m glossing over it. It just reinforces that the emperor’s actual wife and favourite concubine hate each other and are playing power games of their own, trying to one-up each other. Meanwhile, Jing Rui’s mother is both angelically lovely AND angelically nice, apparently. I really like this actress’s voice.

Ok but enough of that scene. At the feast, the emperor happily agrees to this idea to have the men fight, and good ol Jing Rui immediately jumps up to challenge Baili Qi. Ni Huang watches keenly, but Chang Su is seemingly entirely absorbed in peeling a tangerine, this jerk. He is having waaaaay too much fun with this.

To be fair, tangerine peeling is a task that requires 100% attention. Gotta get rid of all those white fibers that stick to the segments.

Jing Rui gets into this amazing stance that almost kills me from how pretty it is, and then–fight, fight, fight! This is my favourite bit of combat of the entire show so far (admittedly there hasn’t been THAT much fighting anyway) because of the contrasting choreography. The styles are very distinct and the camerawork is so smooth. I also feel SO BAD for those actors, because filming complex choreographed sequences while wearing all that fake hair and layers of satin and silk must be the WORST. I would know; I’m an Irish dancer.

While Jing Rui easily looks the faster and more disciplined fighter, however, it’s like he’s hitting a wall; Baili Qi is simply too strong. So our boy ends up only barely holding his own, much to the Liang crowd’s distress. Except for Chang Su, who still only looks mildly interested as he chews what looks like the entire tangerine in his mouth. This jerk. I love him so much. No one is even watching him and he’s still gotta be extra.

Yu Jin, worried about his friend, calls out that for the match to be really fair, Jing Rui should have a sword, because that’s what he usually fights with; he’s not a brawler like Baili Qi. The emperor nods, and so Meng CHUCKS A SWORD AT JING RUI. I would not feel like that was a greaaaat help if I was him, but Jing Rui has much better reflexes than I do and so he does this fantastic flip-kick-the-sword-into-the-air stunt and tries to maneuver Baili Qi under it. Alas, he forgets that he is not the stronger of the two, and Baili Qi easily spins so Jing Rui is under the sword instead. In the nick of time, however, Jing Rui snatches the sword out of the air BEHIND HIS BACK and presses to the attack. Once again, however, Baili Qi wins the upper hand and manages to both snatch the sword from Jing Rui AND send Jing Rui flying into a table, smashing into and over it and scattering fruit everywhere.

(“Oh no, the tangerines!” Chang Su says for the benefit of anyone listening, or at least I’m headcanoning this is his reaction offscreen. In the wide shot literally NOBODY ELSE in this entire hall is eating except him. Extra funny: he looks like he’s having issues swallowing that ridiculously large mouthful of fruit he took earlier. He needs to curb that part of him that likes Drama, because if he wants to be inconspicuous he shouldn’t be so obviously flagging that he’s impartial and uninterested here, good lord. LOOK AT ME IM SO NOT WORTH LOOKING AT, he screams. I wonder if he was a prankster growing up, as he seems to get a prankster’s delight out of stuff like this. It isn’t all grim and dark on his journey to do whatever it is he’s doing. Not yet, anyway. I still don’t trust his friendship with the boys. And he’s already manipulating the heck out of everyone, including Ni Huang–although that latter might be a mistake, because she clearly knows something is Up with him.)

Before Baili Qi-with-sword (aka Baili Qi the Grim Reaper) can take Jing Rui out, however, the emperor yells for the fight to stop–and that’s the cliffhanger ending of this episode.

Will Baili Qi marry Ni Huang? (HA. As if.) Will Jing Rui be okay? (I have my doubts about the long run because he is Too Good, but for now I think he’s pretttttty safe.) Will Mei Chang Su manage to swallow that tangerine fast enough to say whatever it is he needs to say to spin this situation to his advantage? (50/50 chance on that one.) Only one way to find out–on to episode 4!

[dramaclover]

Justice Bao: The First Year - A Rant

This drama was not a fun ride. AT ALL. I watched it for the cast and by the cast -specifically Nancy Wu & Raymond Cho, along with the case guests Zoie Tam, Roxanne Tong, Katy Kung. This drama took like 5 months to film, with them travelling to China to shoot outdoor scenes. It is by all means considered a big production.... so I was caught off guard by how badly it turned out.

The Bad

The cinematography was beautiful unfortunately, that seems to be the only thing done right. The sets that were filmed in the studio looked very fake. In fact some of the sets looks like they just reused from a 80s ancient drama. There were also times where you can tell they were standing in front of a green screen. CGI effect was waaaay off. The makeup on Justice Bao - the main character was so very blotchy. You could tell that wasn’t his natural colour. I don’t get how they managed to make that error? They should be able to tell just by looking at him, that’s how uneven the make up was. Angles and lighting has nothing to do with that. The clothing for the main characters were boring. Of course it’s not gonna be as pretty and elaborate of other dramas but it’s like they didn’t even try. Especially the case with Fuk Lan played by Grace Chan had the most cheap looking outfit. She literally looks like she’s wearing a dress bought from a Halloween store. It looks like the fabric could be ripped easily. I know she’s a guest star so maybe tvb just didn’t bother making her a good quality costume? I guess I can’t blame them on that end.

The Ugly

Actors & actresses are very crucial. Ranging from acting skills to straight out popularity and of course the dreaded favouritism. And because of TVB choosing who to push, some ended up getting miscast. I think we can all agree Owen Cheung as Chin Chiu was the ultimate miscast over here. His built was very small and that’s not his fault. Unfortunately when he stands or even sits next to Justice Bao played by Shaun Tam & Gong Sun Ce played by Raymond Cho, he just looks tiny. It doesn’t look like he is capable of protecting them. If anything it looks like they need to protect him back. Owen just does not have that ‘hero’ feel, he’s just small. He’s not bad looking, he’s acting isn’t bad but physically he doesn’t suit the role. And I’m pretty sure he garnered more haters due to this. Dumb part on TVBs end considering Matt Yeung was the first choice to play Chin Chiu before they decided to go with Owen instead. Elaine Yiu as Gei Nim Nim, now acting wise she’s good. Elaine has always been stable when it comes to acting, especially her crying scenes. What went wrong here, is that she portrays a young maid. A maid of a princess that is obviously years younger than her - by a lot. With Elaine’s age she should be a nanny to the princess or in charge of some department. It just felt awkward to have her portray someone that’s supposed to be that much younger. It’s even weirder cause she’s supposed to be the personal maid of the princess. (Personal maids tend to be younger or same age as them) I felt uncomfortable and it didn’t help the princess was so young looking.

The Terrible

I start thinking - okay maybe the cases will be so good you look past all the other bad stuff. Well I was wrong. The cases ranged from predictable to boring to straight up confusion. It’s like they thought hmmm “Let’s not make fantasy cases” to “never mind”. All the cases were by all means caused by other humans. Except Fuk Lans case went down the make belief road. Fuk Lan is a princess of a tribe and she can live forever. She also holds a flower that once is eaten, they can never die. She basically experiments with people and have them drink concoctions that turns them into zombies accidentally. This is the part I don’t get. Why all of a sudden add a fiction element to a straight laced drama? And honestly that arc was boring and I’m still hella confused on what happened to Fuk Lan in the end. Like did she see a mirage? Did she die in the end? But how can she die if she’s supposed to live forever? Was that village real? So she experimented on innocent people that caused deaths & she gets away scot free? Like what on earth is going on. I was pissed that its never talked about again. They literally moved onto a different case and pretended all this fantasy stuff never happened. What a waste of my time on that arc. Whatever moving on. Tam Wai Guk played by Susan Tse is a miracle doctor that saved countless lives with her medical skills. What did she do wrong? She helped someone die aka Euthanasia. The one who passed away was bind to a wheel chair and basically became ‘worthless’ & his father is basically torturing him by having him stay alive. The doctor understood and agreed to help him with death. In this case they went around in circles choosing between letting her live or having her die. In the end Justice Bao was fiercely against having her live - to him killing is killing doesn’t matter even if it’s what the other person wanted. So she gets killed off. Okay no problem. Euthanasia has always been a touchy subject and heavily debated upon even today. The problem is Justice Bao is an idiot. His wife Gei Nim Nim turns out to be an assassin sent to be by his side. Throughout the story she has killed countless of people even an innocent little boy. What does he do after he finds out his wife is a cold blooded murderer? He just accepts it. Like ladeedada my wife is a killer BUT she has her reasons. She was threatened. She didn’t mean to hurt those people. WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU. You literally just chopped the doctors head off cause she did a mercy killing. ONE mercy killing where the victim knew what he was getting into. Never mind the doctor has SAVED so many people. Never mind so many people were against the doctors death. She had to die. While your wife killed so many but let’s pretend that didn’t happen. Anyways Justice Bao tries to save her and protect her. Despite him going on a spiel about murder is murder in the previous case. So dumb. And I’m disgusted with Justice Baos actions. I know this was supposed to be a sentimental love story about his undying love for his wife. His wife that he thought was kind and caring. But actually is a ruthless killer. But I was not feeling it. Maybe if the doctor arc never happened I wouldn’t feel this way. Other cases I didn’t mention means it was too predictable or it was so boring I forgot what even happened. I only remembered these 2 so clearly cause it pissed me off and was so ridiculously written.

The Horrible

What kind of stupid ending was that? Pong Zik played by Lee Shing Cheong was a villain. He did a lot of evil deeds and was just not a nice person. He gets accused of killing his wife played by Strawberry Yeung, but that gets resolved. So what, cause he’s not the killer, he’s allowed to go back to being the great chancellor? He doesn’t even like his wife, so with her death - he’s literally roaming free. Like with Fuk Lan the bad person gets away free. He’s still a chancellor so he’s still rich and living a comfortable life in the palace. What happened to punishing those who do wrong? Because that’s not what happened here clearly in 2 DIFFERENT CASES. The Emperor is a literal piece of shit that should be dethroned. He’s a puppet to the Empress Dowager & all he cares about is being the Emperor. Like your consort that you basically begged to marry you, died along with your child. Not only do you not try to get revenge you try to play it out like everything is fine. You are just a horny good for nothing person that only became the Emperor cause of your stupidity. Ugh he’s literally the worst character in the drama. Tong Hui San played by Kelly Fu deserved better than this lustful Emperor. One minute he says he loves her & she’s her one and only, next thing she crowns another concubine behind her back. I know. I know he’s the Emperor. No way is he just gonna have have one wife. Well then don’t make empty promises & then go behind her back. She only entered the palace cause she believed you really loved her. Instead she just suffered there. The last 15 minutes of the last episode made ZERO SENSE. What were the writers smoking when they wrote that? I’m not even exaggerating. I can’t even explain the ending cause I don’t even know what happened. I know what they were trying to do. They were trying to aim for a sequel that will NEVER EVER HAPPEN cause this was a failure of a drama. I gotta give props to them though cause it got people talking. Cause people like us are trying to make sense of what happened. Ugh I don’t even know. I’m wasting my time being so frustrated with this crappy ending. Usually open endings makes me want a sequel just so it can resolve the questions... but for this NOPE. I DONT WANT IT. I’m just gonna pretend I’ve never watched that. I can live not knowing what the eff happened.

The Only Silver Lining

Only interesting case was about Wan Chin Yu played by Nancy Wu, her Father played by KK Cheung and her adopted sister Tong Hui San. But their case unfortunately plays out throughout the drama, so you cannot just skip episodes or you’ll be heavily confused or you just won’t be as invested. I do admit that the last few episodes featuring the 3 of them were very good. It was gripping. When you find out that the Father was evil all along and killed Hui San. It was shocking - I really believed he loved them both despite them being adopted. He was always so attentive and supportive. To find out he was using both of them the whole time and just discarded them when he no longer needed them shocked me. Hui Sans death was so sad. She was so innocent & didn’t even understand what was happening. This arc, the cinematography, stellar acting by KK Cheung & Raymond Cho were the only saving grace in this drama. But even with these good points it’s still a drama not worth watching.

Final Thoughts

DONT EVER WATCH THIS DRAMA. The writers literally stuck up the middle finger to the viewers hoping to see a NORMAL ending. SKIP THIS DRAMA. You are not missing out. Waste of the actresses & actors used in this. Waste of the viewers time. Also tarnished the Justice Bao name. Excuse me while I go bleach my brain.