schneefink: Caduceus standing in a graveyard (CR Caduceus in graveyard)
schneefink ([personal profile] schneefink) wrote2019-08-07 11:08 pm
Entry tags:

Travel by plane and screen

Accommodation and flight booked for Dublin! Eeee I'm actually going. I'm flying via Munich (unfortunately it was cheaper from there) and I'll arrive on Wednesday afternoon, and I don't have a flight back yet because I'll probably make a short side trip to London&surroundings afterwards (as long as I'm in the area and it's still easy...), but one thing at a time.
Before Dublin, I'm going on a short trip to Hamburg with my family this weekend, that'll be fun too. (Huh, this is my first international travel since 2016, little wonder I feel out of practice and anxious. At least it's in the EU.)

And before my travels, fortunately DD and I managed to catch up with the released&subbed episodes of The Untamed! We are up to episode 38, it's still good and very pretty. I really like that I don't know any spoilers because it turns out the more surprising it is when something terrible happens the more effective it is, not necessarily in general but definitely for me while watching this drama. For example we already knew from the very beginning that Wei Wuxian would fall from the cliff and his sister would die, so I found these scenes sad but I'd already accepted them, and it was a nice surprise that Jiang Cheng did not kill Wei Wuxian or throw him off. Jin Zixuan's death I expected to happen but not at that moment and not like this, so that was still shocking. Wen Qing and Wen Ning and all the Wen cultivators leaving to surrender to the death penalty while Wei Wuxian is paralyzed and screaming was shocking and sad (especially because when I saw that image of Wen Qing and Wen Ning in the intro I thought it was a happy scene!) And the last episode had the tragic story of how Xiao Xingchen killed Song Lan, and hooooly shit that was brutal. I agree with Wei Wuxian, "Xue Yang must die" sums it up nicely.

We knew of course that Wei Wuxian would somehow become reviled as demonic etc. etc., but I did not expect the downslide to happen so quickly and be the result from a single loss of control. Wei Wuxian was the Yiling Patriarch peacefully for over a year (I think about a year and a half?), and was probably out of practice, and then in a high stress situation lost control for one moment and then...
I really loved how he became the Yiling Patriarch btw, I was wondering how he would split from the Jiang clan and I did not expect it to be because he took a firm stance against collective punishment of the Wens, torture, and human experimentation. I loved that. And how obvious it was that while others agreed with his points (Lan Zhan, Jiang Cheng), the rigidity of society's codes did not allow them to do anything, so to help Wei Wuxian had to break with this system as a whole. (Jin Zixun was also a great example: he was so rude that nobody knew how to deal with it, and unlike Wei Wuxian he deliberately worked with the system to exploit it, while Wei Wuxian did not respect the system and that could not be tolerated. He was completely right with his accusations of hypocrisy. (Btw why were Lan clan members involved in that ambush, did I understand correctly that Jin Guangyao sent them with him? For what, to rein him in, since he also sent Jin Zixuan, but how would lower-ranked Lan clan members have done that?))

I was disappointed we saw so little of Jiang Yanli after Wei Wuxian's leaving of the clan. We never even see her reaction to it, or what she thinks of it! That is a big omission. Yes, she's several years older than her brothers and always looked out for them, but she's not just their caretaker, she's a character in her own right, or should be. And we never really got her thoughts on Jin Zixuan and the whole situation either, just a lot of meaningful looks and tears, I wish she'd actually talked about it with someone. I was surprised when she showed up at Nevernight but okay, it makes sense she would want to come, and she has proof that she's able to rein in Wei Wuxian sometimes so it even kind of makes sense that she'd run out to look for him, but she didn't even have her sword with her...
Speaking of Nevernight, at first I thought the second person with the flute was Xue Yang, but now I'm not completely sure. Not many other suspects though.

Also, whoa, Jin Guangyao is clan leader now? And Nie Huaisang?, who is predictably terrible at it, I hope he shapes up, Nie clan retainers must be so embarrassed. So all four major clans have very young clan leaders at the moment (Lan Xichen probably being the oldest), interesting... I still don't completely trust Jin Guangyao, even though I like to think that Lan Xichen is a good judge of character, but idk there's something about his face and constant smiles. (Was it mentioned already how Jin Guangshan died?)
I look forward to finding out more about what happened in the past sixteen years, and what will happen next, and especially to any and all Wei Wuxian&Jiang Cheng scenes. I am more interested in Lang Zhan too by now, and the fall-out from his friendship with Wei Wuxian after Nevernight and so on.
...Huh, I just realized that pretty much all named female characters have died. The only one alive that I recall right now is Mianmian, who I did not like very much except the last time we saw her when she showed she had a steel backbone and left Jin clan for ethical reasons, bravo Mianmian. And Baoshan Sanren, would be cool if she showed up again. (And maybe/hopefully I'm forgetting one or two.)
naye: luffy from one piece making yay-arms (\o/ luffy)

[personal profile] naye 2019-08-08 05:14 am (UTC)(link)
YAYYYY glad it's all sorted for WorldCon! Spontaneous decisions FTW!
tamsin: (Default)

[personal profile] tamsin 2019-08-08 02:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I hope you have a great time both in Hamburg and in Dublin! Any special plans on what you'll do in Hamburg?
tamsin: (Default)

[personal profile] tamsin 2019-08-09 03:29 pm (UTC)(link)
That sounds really relaxing!
cesy: "Cesy" - An old-fashioned quill and ink (Default)

[personal profile] cesy 2019-08-09 05:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Let me know if you have time in London, would be great to see you!