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Jujutsu Kaisen spoilers ahead...if you've managed to find yourself to this extremely. long. blarf.

You know what kills me most about Gojou-Getou?

First, a tangent hahaha what is good writing structure:

Gojou isn't stupid.  He knows what he "lacks" in comparison to the average pleb human, on the emotional front, especially.  He knows he’s an amoral asshole whose attachments run shallower than the average person.  This is actually a blessing in disguise for the indomitable machine that the jujutsushi world calls “the strongest.”  

Another person in Gojou’s position who feels as one normally would along the emotional spectrum would be crushed by the pressure that comes with being the strongest.  The sheer guilt that would hit you from the gross amounts of people who die because of the simple fact that you exist would be too much for the average populace.  

Because where does the fault stop being his and just start to be simply a neutral fact of life?  How far do we go?  Are all the people who died simply because Gojou was born strong, thus unbalancing the world’s curse power, his fault as well?  How about all the people who died because he can’t be everywhere, everywhen, all the time?   At some point, all the people who died because he happened to take a nap must certainly also be his fault.  It never ends. 

Hence why I think it’s such a nuanced understanding of human nature for Akutami to write Gojou in this particular way.  Gojou isn’t evil.  He just can’t afford to care more.  Gojou’s heart is small.  He cares for very few.  It only makes too much sense that someone that strong would begin to loathe the weak humans around him.   He’s only trying to live his life like “all of you.”  Why must you all be so weak as to die so easily?  Why must you all abandon him?  淡い夢 喪失の地平 --- 広い世界 --- 置いてきぼりさ いつでも

You don’t want someone with Gojou Satoru’s power and sheer strength to be unbalanced by emotionality.  We had that scenario played out in Getou.  Understandably and tragically, he went insane from the pressure and guilt of watching all his friends die for undeserving, oblivious trash humans.  Why?  ‘Cuz Getou cares like a normal human.  The other option is nervous breakdown -- also not optimal, seeing as Gojou is the nuclear deterrence against curses.

And here’s where it begins to wreck me:

And so Gojou’s moral code isn’t particularly strong.  He doesn’t care too much about the rightness and wrongness of situations and, generally, is unbothered by any chivalrous responsibilities the strong would hold in relation to the weak.  Because why should it be his increased responsibility to expend that much effort for others for something out of his control?  It’s not like he asked to be this strong.  

Gojou was never one for sticking to a strong moral code, but he cared immensely and, dare I say, admired that Getou stuck to Getou's own moral standards unfalteringly.  His own moral compass was faulty, but there had to be something blindingly admirable that someone similar to him in strength and ability took on what Gojou never had the desire or courage to.   Despite always being in verbal and ideological conflict with Getou all through their relationship, Gojou seemed to defer to Getou in final matters of moral decision-making. 

In one of the arguably most chilling scenes with Gojou, he calmly and softly asks Getou whether they should slaughter the room of brainwashed cult members after their failed mission, while “reassuring” Getou he probably wouldn’t feel a thing over it.  He doesn’t just choose to do it.  He asks Getou whether they should.  Gojou recognizes his moral compass is off and so checks with Getou’s unwaveringly strong one.   And sure enough, Getou affirms Gojou’s tired “does it really need a reason” with a strong “yes.”

And that's what Gojou couldn't accept on hearing Getou went rogue.  Because if even Getou’s moral compass could fail, then what hope would he have?   He couldn't do this alone.  He didn't want to do it alone.  Who would keep him in line and watch his back for him?  The writing for JJK is just..so subtle.  Gojou wasn't upset all those people had died; he was upset that Getou, of all people, was the one to slaughter them all for seemingly no reason.  Getou! Of all people!  Killing someone with no reason!  Getou, who insisted all throughout their relationship that it was imperative that they and especially they, as the strongest of the jujutsushi world, should take on the added burden of protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves and should stick to ironclad strong moral codes, regardless of the unequal sacrifice involved.  That Getou Suguru had just slaughtered a village full of people and his own parents seemingly without so much as a second thought, an action that you’d attribute more likely to be committed by Gojou, if anything.

As mentioned above, Gojou’s heart is incredibly small.  There’s only space in it for one, and the one he let in was Getou.  Getou’s his lifetime ride or die; his one and only one.  Gojou took Getou’s “betrayal” especially hard because he had been the one person Gojou had let in, the one person he could count on to have his back, and as usual, Gojou was left behind.  

It's not so much a physical dependence.  In all the ways Gojou lacked emotionally, he could always count on Getou to rein him in and keep him grounded.  He wanted someone to have his back, someone to see him as just an overly powerful human and not the monolith machine that is "the strongest".  He needed someone to ask if he was okay from time to time.  I think this is the bit of their parting that gets me the worst, that ever since Getou, Gojou has never found another person he could say this to: “Besides, I’ve got you, right?”  

Are you Gojou Satoru because you're the strongest or are you the strongest because you're Gojou Satoru?  That's what you asked, Getou, but you forgot the third option:  He's Gojou Satoru, the strongest, because he has Getou Suguru.

The Gojou of today wouldn't exist without Getou.  Gojou's amoral nature is so plainly obvious to everyone that quite a few of the other jujutsushi consider Gojou going rogue and mass murdering people not to be an overly surprising option for Gojou if he so chose to.  Mei Mei points this out; Ijichi isn’t particularly surprised or shocked when Gojou offhandedly states it out loud.  He’s just nervous.

The Gojou we see today is not his first instinct.  You want to see unbridled, pure Gojou?  Toji vs. Gojou.  That's Gojou in his element.  That's Gojou free of everything, just flexing his power in psychotic, giddy glee.

Ten years later, the Gojou today is a meticulous and deliberate choice.  He stuck to the Gojou that he was when Getou was around.   He kept to all the restrictions and codes Getou placed on him and did so to machine-like perfection.  He works himself to exhaustion, trying to keep a curse tsunami from flooding in.  He chooses the soft, patient route of nurturing the next generation into healthier and more progressive mindsets.  And he did so all on his own.

And it all coalesces to that moment Getou appears before Gojou in Shibuya, and Gojou chokes and freezes.  

Ten long, long years later, and Getou checkmates the all powerful Gojou Satoru because Gojou remained purely and unfalteringly the same Gojou that Getou had left behind all those years ago.

Ah, this kind of writing, Gege... the strongest's weakness was simply that he was too human.  I hurt.

That's what kills me.  This amoral asshole took everything you gave him, held fast and true to it and soared, not because he had changed, but because you had simply meant that much to him.

Gojou chose to honour the short, short time he had spent with Getou by dedicating the rest of his life to dismantling the system that failed Getou and rebuilding it so it'd never fail someone else, all the while carrying the burden of being the strongest.

Please tell me you're a little proud of him, Getou.

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MUSICAL CHAIRS PERSONALITY SWAP.  HAHA.  ;___; *whispers*  I would be happy with just like...an “extra” episode, like...an OVA or something 8(.  Plz.  Plz, drama makers. Pretty please 8(

Innocently thinks “Oh there’s only 2 chapters and 2 extras left, I can finish this easily.”

*too many hours later*

Of course the final chapter is extra longggggggg.  *mentally dies from lack of sleep orzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

The extras were also long, but 8DDDDDD I now need the whole book from Lu Yi’s PoV please!  And need more excerpts from their married life together.  Or just them together in general.  Need more YiXia~~~~ 

Now on to the incoherent rambling because really am sleep-deprived XD

Keep reading

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錦衣之下 25

And thus begins the next subtle change in YiXia: Serial Repeat Mutual Handholding.

Jinxia has noticed the opera troupe leader’s weird behaviour and has taken to stalking the guy everywhere.  Skipping along this part, Jinxia sees the guy paying respects to a dead someone, accidentally makes noise, spooking the guy, but is saved by the cat, who was stalking Jinxia.

YiXia come back to investigate the place together, and I noticed this little interaction between them for the first time:

Lu Yi is totally trolling her over her ghost fears.  Eventually, the two come upon the scene of the previous crime that if memory serves me correct is the first time I’m mentioning it in my summaries.  HAHA.  I won’t even bother explaining it.  IT’S NOT IMPORTANT.  The important thing is that it’s related to the current case, so YiXia go to inspect it further, much to Jinxia’s dismay.  

Wuxia-historical hallucination-inducing techniques prove to be extremely strong, as somehow YiXia hallucinate the exact same things. together.  8D  #justwuxiathings    Or are they just that in tune.

They snap out of that hallucination and decide to leave because it feels dangerous.  Ahem.  Let me draw your attention to the fact that Lu -- I don’t like physical contact. dont touch me -- Yi quickly grabs Jinxia’s arm to leave.   

He could very easily just use his words, but here he is initiating physical contact voluntarily by himself.  It’s interesting to note that Lu Yi doesn’t grab her hand because that’s a rather intimate act in historical settings.  Proper Lu Yi is proper even when being assaulted by CG snow.  Oh no, our YiXia couple have walked themselves into another hallucination.  

He lets go of her until she trips into his arm, and we get this sequence of little actions:

Again, these are all very small acting/directing choices, but added up, they provide a very traceable and complete road map of their relationship.  Jinxia has already nurtured the habit of apologizing for accidentally or subconsciously touching him or bumping into him.  Here, there’s a mild evolution to their interactions.  Jinxia is surprised.  This is twice he’s been the one to reach out to her.  It can’t be just a coincidence or a one-off event.

I just want to also point out the tight dialogue here.  I’ve been devouring cdramas lately at frightening speed, and some of these series’ scripts, I swear, are padded with repetition just to hit the runtime.  Jinxia and Lu Yi are now walking through an endless CG snow landscape, so Jinxia tries to start some small talk.

“If you don’t believe in ghosts or gods, what do you believe in?”

“Myself.”

This little exchange’s purpose ends up being three-fold.  One, it shows that Jinxia and Lu Yi get along well enough to talk about random, mundane things and mutually enjoy it enough to continue talking about it.  You very quickly know if Lu Yi doesn’t want to interact with you.  He very simply will not.  He will just stare at you.  Two, it reinforces Lu Yi’s lonely, self-reliant upbringing.  And three, it becomes a callback later on during poison hot potato arc.  Thank, directors.  Thank, scriptwriters.  Thank, author.  Thank whoever paid such conscientious attention to YiXia dialogue.

They walk around for what seems like a few hours until Jinxia is finally sick of seeing the same CG tree and sits down to rest.  Now, we could say that Jinxia just doesn’t care anymore and is too cold, but that would be not giving Jinxia enough credit.  Jinxia is especially sensitive to small, minute changes.  Though she may not always be able to suss out the exact reason, very few behavioural cues pass under her radar.

Jinxia has realized that Lu Yi has begun to mind less and less about her touching him, reinforced by his actions just slightly prior.  I absolutely love that she’s like, “Whelp.  If I’m going to do this, I might as well go all the way.”  *Bear hugs around both legs.*

Lu Yi, of course, doesn’t feel cold because his heart is layered in years of permafrost.  Here’s Jinxia pouring her heart out, giving her final will and testament just in case she dies, and Lu Yi’s just like : |.

Jinxia takes this opportunity to air all her grievances at him, since “I might be dying, anyway.”  It always cracks me up that when Jinxia thinks she’s dying, she never fails to berate Lu Yi in her dying messages.

If it’s not clear by now, Lu Yi has a bit of a twisted/morbid sense of humour.  It’s easy to miss because Lu Yi doesn’t laugh out loud, but he’ll randomly make jokes that border between “haha, so funny” and “haha, <nervous laughter>”, like his “sink you in the river” joke and his “my hands are covered in a lot of officials’ blood” “joke”.  So despite the fact Jinxia thinks she’s dying, Lu Yi still finds a bit of humour in the fact that she saved her last words just to insult him.

In particular, she says, “If you’re like this, no girl’s going to fall for you.”  Famous last words, Jinxia, famous last words.  Just also pointing out, all her descriptors of him are accurate -- unsociable and weird, off-putting, etc.  :D

Here begins also the thematic throughline of “I’ve always had to make my way through life alone, but now that you’re here, I have someone I can depend on.” 

“But now that 大人 is beside me, I feel like even if the sky fell, there’s someone to hold it up.”

Lu Yi torpedoes her sentiments and half-jokingly asks whether that means she thinks she can slack off now since someone else can do all the work.   HAHAHA.

I know Lu Yi’s backstory is different from his novel origins, but there’s something bittersweet to me in the parallel of Jinxia and Lu Yi in the drama, where they’re both fiercely independent types but not in an arrogant “I don’t need nobody” way.  Rather, it’s an independence born out of necessity, specifically one born on the backs of mothers who loved them and made the ultimate sacrifice for them.  Certainly, Jinxia doesn’t know this until far later, but being left an orphan most definitely contributed to her self-reliant attitude.  Their natures are pretty opposite on the reticent/reserved - open/outgoing spectrum, but at their core, they’re quite similar.

The jokes cease when Jinxia starts to faint from being “too cold,” at which point Lu Yi kneels down to check on her, and then. this. moment:  

      She’s hugging his knee.  Yes.  Thank.  JYZX is this wonderful, little series that is just a collage of all these kinds of moments.  It’s a series built on these sorts of small little things that somehow make their relationship more intimate, despite the lack of “I love you” and “intense kissing.”

Lu Yi figures out the snow is actually CG fake and breaks the hallucination.  They find themselves back where they started in the abandoned opera house. 

This time Jinxia is doing the handholding and dragging Lu Yi out of the creepy place, and he lets her hold onto him all the way until they’re outside.

Jinxia struggles with her fear of ghosts vs her duty as a cop.  Her duty as a cop ends up winning out and also her reluctance to leave Lu Yi behind and  HAHA.  THE SCENE CUT HERE.  It has Jinxia climbing out of a hole she just dug.  Can you imagine that conversation?  Lu Yi clearly made her do all the digging.  HAHAHA.  Lu Yi leaves her to investigate the long-dead corpse herself, as he wordlessly leaves to go re-collect evidence.  She finds evidence but discovers him gone. 8D  Lu Yi, unintentionally trolling her with her ghost fears.

She sees what looks like a freaky ghost child shuffle by her and decides she’s had enough of today, what with all the freak CG blizzards and ghost stories.

Lu Yi returns to find her scrunched into a ball and pokes her in the head.   Heehee.  Poor Jinxia attempts to swat away the poking ghost in a blind panic.  

This next segment made me laugh when I first watched it ‘cuz it was all slo mo set to background music, but I’ve come to ..... I wouldn’t go as far as to say “appreciate” (HAHA) the filming choice, but in some sense, it’s like a visual representation of a moment that both of them have filed away into their memories strongly for reminiscing when they go, “Ah, yeah.  Looking back now, that’s one of those times where we had a moment.  A thing was definitely going on between us then, even if we didn’t consciously notice at the time.”

Jinxia at this point is completely rattled by the absolute weirdness of this place and can’t help but grab onto Lu Yi...just. a little. very little.  I really like this specific look of Lu Yi’s.  It’s the perfect example of that behaviour quirk of Lu Yi’s I sometimes point out, the one where he’s not irritated or angry but just curiously, silently observing what’s happening.    

Jinxia has actually begun to forget their boundaries whatsoever by now but promptly remembers.  I have to say by this time, it’s not even romantic love.  It’s simply a case of “we co-exist well together.  I find comfort in your presence.”

This last little exchange sort of solidifies the day’s developments.  Lu Yi recalls her “even if the sky were to fall” statement, and it marks the first moment where he consciously allows Jinxia to hold onto him.   In fact, it’s the first time he’s  offered, not just initiated.

I didn’t gif it all, but this is another thing that slowly increases in frequency:

Their mundane banter as they walk to and from places together.  In this instance, specifically them pushing the responsibility of cleaning up the corpse on each other.  He doesn’t want to do it.  It’s dirty.  She doesn’t want to do it.  It’s “dirty.”  :DDDD  :DDD  

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jade-swan said: lol did drama scriptwriter/director create this scene just to do a cross-series jab? XD hahaha

Possibly a case of perfect opportunity.  “It’s an opera troupe case, sure, why not.”  HAHA.

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SCREEEE.

THIS. 錦衣之下 BTS.   THIS NEW DELETED SCENE THAT WAS RELEASED NINE MONTHS LATER.    IT’S FIVE AND A HALF MINUTES LONG, AND IT’S 90% COMPLETE.  THANK, VGA TEAM.   THANK FOR COMPLETE 啊德 BACKSTORY.

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1FJ411J7HX?p=13

Aiyoooo, 張承德, He has a full name.  TT____TT.  

 I’m just going to insert this into my JYZX canon, thanks.

“所以就算他親口跟我説他為了利益殺害自己好兄弟, 我也不信”

“So even if I heard it from him personally that he killed his close friend out of self-interest, I still wouldn’t believe it.”

“人終究是人,又豈會真的冷血無情“

“In the end, a human is still a human.  How could we really be completely cold-blooded and heartless?”

I cannot.  I am ded.   See, the way Lu Yi’s backstory is told here, no one is privy to what actually happened that day, not even Cen Fu.  And in fact, it’s likely no one ever will.  Lu Yi is not the type to justify and excuse himself.  Jinxia’s right.  Lu Yi would simply say he killed his best friend and never clarify further.

Cen Fu just states the obvious, having gone through a similar process, but Jinxia isn’t repulsed by the fact.  In so, so, so many other series, such a reveal would be grounds for an initial distancing and cooling off period between the two, blahblahblah, big talk between the characters justifying what happened and making up.  Verbal communication is often touted as the basis for a healthy relationship.  I, though, very much appreciate a series that builds a relationship up not through verbal communication, but through unspoken communication, through gestures and expressions. 

Jinxia firmly knows there’s more to the story and simply trusts that Lu Yi would -- could never do such a thing.  It’s not a trust through the lens of blind love, but a trust and understanding built up slowly through daily interaction and observation of consistent behaviour.  

It’s a beautiful storytelling choice to have Jinxia simply believe him without direct confirmation, where we as the audience alone are given the emotional payoff of her trust.  She doesn’t need the confirmation.  She already knows.  She hears the grisly facts from Cen Fu, and her heart only aches for Lu Yi, nothing more, nothing less, and it is urehguhuhguehg. =w=  I cannot.  me too, Jinxia.  Me too. 心疼大人wwwwwwwughwughwugh.  

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錦衣之下 24

Continuing on......

The next set of gifs are just Jinxia being very enthusiastic about her fake opera role and Lu Yi wondering what magic she cast on him that left him in these weird sleeves and this weird outfit.   This whole segment is a perfect display of their usual dynamic.  

First, Lu Yi hates it and everything about it.

Then Jinxia’s enthusiasm startles him.

She tries to rope Lu Yi into her hijinks.   Lu Yi adamantly refuses.

This is like the perfect example of typical Lu Yi - Jinxia interaction.  Lu Yi doesn’t want to do any of it but won’t actually say anything.  He’s content to just stand there creating awkward silence, while Jinxia sighs at him but remains unperturbed.

I can’t.  Jinxia again takes the opportunity to jab at Lu Yi in his silence, saying his memory is terrible.  Lu Yi gives her the equivalent of a “wot u say about me, mate” look.  Darn you, RJL, and your exceedingly precise expressions.   They’re all irritated expressions but somehow mean markedly different things.  Hahaha.

Eventually, Jinxia starts going off script, which legit cracks Lu Yi up.  You can try all you like, Lu Yi, but she’s irresistible in her weird charm.

As adamant as Lu Yi is in not joining opera practice, Jinxia is equally adamant that he will try it and he will like it.

It’s a small, small moment, but at this point, Lu Yi has really begun seeing Jinxia as “my people.”  He doesn’t flinch away at her touch or look irritated.  He’s just doing the Lu Yi thing of curious observation.  

Until, of course, he figures out what she wants and fights her like a petulant child.

Jinxia is unflappable and just continues along in her one-man play.

He just really hates those sleeves.  By this point, the play has deviated completely from the original, and the opera troupe member asks her what’s going on.

And here’s the 2nd of the two fourth wall breaking moments, as Jinxia insults Lu Yi across series.  The play she’s doing is Legend of the White Snake, but instead of going off with the main lead, she has the White Snake pair up with the Green Snake in a womance, because Xu Xian is “weak and cowardly and doesn’t deserve her.”  HAHA.

Who does RJL play in the 2017 adaptation of the White Snake?  That’s right, Xu Xian.  Did I also watch like 30 episodes of this to understand this joke?  I SURE DID.

One last little thing from this scene:  I love that Lu Yi stands there listening to her anti-Xu Xian rant while considering her points.  It’s just, again, one of those small things about this series, where it shows in very subtle ways how a relationship builds.  Him listening to her isn’t the focus of this scene.  It’s just a small acting/directing choice of someone or someones who understand that two people who begin to deepen their relationship together will naturally begin to pay more attention to each other’s little idiosyncracies.  It’s not unlike someone telling a joke in a group but looking to their best friend first to see their reaction.

I lied.  One last, last thing:

Heehee.  They both leaned in together to look at the drama repertoire.  Hue.  (*´艸`*)  Ahem.  Just ignore me.  What is wrong with me.

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CAN CONFIRM.  Lu Yi is a serial hand-holder.  At least in the drama, he clearly prefers this as his method of showing and receiving affection. :DDDD.  

Didn’t I say I needed a break from JYZX?  HAHA I LIED I NEED A BREAK FROM WERK orzzzzzzzz

And I should have known.  I should have known that this couple (cough Lu Yi) will either kill me with double-meaning words or drown me in sugary stares/glances/glimpses/every-other-word-for-eye-contact and hand-holds (am I just now noticing Lu Yi takes a lot of opportunities to hold Jinxia’s hand??).

JINXIA DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST SAID XDXDXD  Did you intend for the hidden meaning or was that an accident?? Jinxia is both genius and clueless so I can’t tell lol

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At this point, their drama selves have infiltrated my consciousness too deeply, so even if it’s Novel!YiXia, I’ll probably still feel oddly fond of them.  OTLLLLLL  StupidwonderfulYiXiagetouttamylife.

锦衣之下 84

YiXia are a couple now.  Because I’m a nerd, I had to compare the two’s progress: chapter 84 out of 134 vs episode 35 out of 55.  Pretty much at about the same point.

Finally at a point that I can rant a bit about this couple and continuously wonder why I enjoy reading/seeing them so much.

Keep reading

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ERB.  Just reading your recap makes me squishy for some reason.  URGH...must.. resist.  I... don’t... understand. the allure...  MAYBE I WILL REWARD MYSELF after werk today =w= and start the novel.  Sigh. 

锦衣之下 84

YiXia are a couple now.  Because I’m a nerd, I had to compare the two’s progress: chapter 84 out of 134 vs episode 35 out of 55.  Pretty much at about the same point.

Finally at a point that I can rant a bit about this couple and continuously wonder why I enjoy reading/seeing them so much.

Keep reading

[sionnac]

LOL.  Is this just Jinxia misunderstanding idioms and repurposing them for her own meanings again.  HAHAHA.  8D I too have never heard of this idiom, but it is indeed a real thing????

天下掉馅饼这种事情，今夏向来是不太敢去想的，她向来觉得，天下只要不下刀子，就已经是老天眷顾。 

Things like meat pies falling from the sky, Jinxia has never dared to think about before.  She always felt that as long as knives didn’t fall from the sky, the heavens are considerate enough.

***

Is this a real saying??  LOL why have I never heard it before?  Otherwise, I’m pretty sure this is a Jinxia-saying - it’s very her. XD  lololol 

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跳崖cp

Omg, the nicknames for Da Yang/Shangguan, they kill me every time.  HAHA.  

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jade-swan said: Thanks for the Chinese slang lesson~~ I figured the 13 must have meant something but I don’t know enough slang lol. And yessss these two need to act more together - their teamwork is so good!! >w<

I had to ask a friend for this one.  It’s actually a versatile slang that sometimes doesn’t really even mean an insult either.  Like, Lu Yi has this hilarious nickname among the fan circles --->  “大明 bking” ...Something like a “bking” is a king of “装逼“ which is someone who does cool stuff effortlessly or everything they do is unusually “cool” (?) except Lu Yi seems to do it particularly effortlessly and especially unintentionally, so he’s the 大明 bking.  DON’T ASK ME.  CHINESE SLANG IS A WHOLE OTHER UNIVERSE.  LOLLLL.

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錦衣之下 23

Scene swapping again, we have Lu Yi and Jinxia “undercover” in plainclothes to investigate the opera troupe where a member of its troupe died in the same way as their jailed not-really-thief, but Lu Yi is still kind of grumpy over Xie Xiao’s existence.  

Once again, we have Jinxia’s shameless appreciation of pretty people as she sits there staring fixedly at plainclothes Lu Yi.

There’s a thing I love about Lu Yi when he reacts to people commenting on his looks.  He always looks at himself and sort of absorbs what they’re saying like, “....oh, is that so?”  

If you squint, you will catch just the hint of his expression softening when Jinxia says that the plainclothes look makes him more approachable.  Jinxia is the friend we all need.  Jinxia would keep us all well fed on compliments.

“大人, bear with this for a little while longer.  This is the best plan I’ve got for getting close to the Chunxi troupe.”

Aiyo, Lu Yi, you tsundere child, you.  Just by the dialogue, we can tell Jinxia had to persuade you to come with her, but you totally dressed...down and you’re now sitting here executing her plan with her.  Stop pretending you don’t want to be here.

“Why didn’t you ask Yang Yue or Cen Fu?  Why’d it have to be me specifically?”

“Because 大人 is a lot more attractive than either of them.”

YOU SILVER-TONGUED CHILD, JINXIA.  HAHA.  I cannot.  The acting for this part is just so carefully measured.  Jinxia’s look of innocent surprise is such a good acting choice.  It relays to us, the audience, that her compliment is both given without even a whit of personalized romantic attraction and that she’s surprised Lu Yi can’t figure out why.  And then couple it with Lu Yi’s equally innocent brief pause of pleasant surprise -- yes, thank for these two actors.  Plz, moar togethar, yas?  OTL  I LIVE IN HOPE.

“Aside from postures and voice, looks are important too.”

“This is the most accurate thing you’ve said in all the time since I first met you.”

HAH.  DON’T TRY TO HIDE IT WITH CONFIDENCE NOW, LU YI.  You totally were taken aback when she said you looked good.   Again, one of the things that makes YiXia couple overly sweet is this.....innocent sort of back and forth with the compliments.  Jinxia shamelessly butters him up, while Lu Yi follows up with the equivalent of shrugging and jumping into her vat of butter.  It’s sweet because you get the sense that Lu Yi actually rarely thinks about his looks on an everyday basis and is really just following along with Jinxia’s banter.

Cen Fu continues to be best side bro as he acts out the part of a thief whose robbery attempt on the opera troupe boss is foiled by Jinxia, who then uses the fake robbery to worm her way into the opera troupe in typical Jinxia fashion.

Jinxia takes this opportunity to mess with Lu Yi in what is the first of two 4th wall breaking gags.  She introduces them both, not letting Lu Yi introduce himself and bestows upon him the name, “Lu 13.”  HAHAHA.

Here comes the Chinese slang lessons.  How do I even begin to explain the “13″ here?  Basically, 13 = B = ....bluntly put, it’s the phonetic equivalent of “cunt” in Chinese and technically means the same but ....somehow not to that exact level of insult.  The flavour of the insult is something closer to “asshole,” but it can also be a playful sort of jab between people who are familiar with each other.  Long story short, in a 4th wall breaking way, Jinxia is more or less calling Lu Yi an asshole.  HAHAHA.

The next set of gifs are just Lu Yi waffling between “nomg” and “curiously interested” as Jinxia spins her woeful, pity-me tale.

The funniest thing about all this is we later find that Lu Yi is on par with Jinxia in roleplaying characters and goes to similar shameless lengths to stay in character.  8yrsold!Lu Yi, best Lu Yi.  Truly, they deserve each other.  :DD

Finally, Jinxia’s one-man play culminates in the dichotomous “yes, yes, yes!” “no, no, no!” reactions of the two. 

If you’re wondering who wins, it’s Jinxia.  It’s totally Jinxia, as she drags Lu Yi off to join an opera troupe with her.

Once at the opera troupe, one of its members suggests getting them set up with clothes and some warm up.   Lu Yi is thrilled to be doing theater.

Thrilled.

Unfortunately for him, Lu Yi finds his rotating knives-filled glare is casually brushed aside by Jinxia’s cheery, gung-ho attitude. 

What. a shame.  What. a. shame.  :]  Next up:  Lu Yi enthusiastically blends into the opera troupe.  Enthusiastically.

[sionnac]

錦衣之下 22

It’s the infiltrating opera troupe portion, but first these little moments before it.  

Zhai Lanye has figured out who Lu Yi is and has come to pay him a visit, expressing interest in him despite his earlier deception but is really here to glean information.  Lu Yi takes this opportunity to question her further, with both of them fake flirting with each other, resulting in her eventually touching his hand.   

This brief “What is she staring at?...Oh.” moment in which he then instantly pulls back his hand and Jinxia scuttles away like a startled mouse is the most interesting part of all this.   He’s just pretending to be interested for the case, and she really shouldn’t care a bit who he may or may not be flirting with, but both find themselves feeling awkward anyways when the other notices 8D.   It’s the focus on the subconscious mutual interest in the other’s activities rather than any jealousy plot point that makes this moment rather unique in romantic series.

________

Swapping scenes, Xie Xiao gives Jinxia a clue as to how the guy in jail died, so she goes back to check his corpse.  Jinxia finds the murder weapon and.... 

.... also finds Lu Yi stalking around behind her.  Lu Yi, stop using your ninja skills to scare your future wife.  The ensuing banter is 😂:

  “大人, were you born in the year of the cat???  Why didn’t you say anything???  You almost scared me to death!”

“Only people who have done dishonest things can be scared to death.  What, has Constable Yuan done something dishonest recently?”

“How could I do dishonest things!  I’m honest, forthright, unlike you.”  

There’s this pause as he processes what she tried to slip in at the end there, hahaha, before she corrects it under his irritated glare.

“You’re very honest and forthright as well~ :) ”

Jinxia hastily switches topics and asks why Lu Yi happens to be here.  Lu Yi has absolutely become accustomed to Jinxia’s reliable observations and once he heard Jinxia had a lead, he apparently waited around the corpse for her to arrive.  You totally just hid out of sight to scare her, didn’t you, Lu Yi.  Hahahaha.

Anddd here begins Lu Yi’s conditioned response to Xie Xiao’s name.  What started as just mere distaste evolves into full-blown jealousy later, but it’s this hilarious sort of grumbly jealousy that Lu Yi just walks away to process alone, sulkily.

Look at him, absconding away.  

[sionnac]

LOL.  THIS IS CDRAMA.  THEY’D JUST DUB OVER WITH JAPANESE VOICE.  They already dub the Chinese voices, what’s even more..dubbing.  ahhahaha.  45+ Japanese pirates sound like a budget constraint.  :DDD  Though, I heard there was a huge fight scene they totally cut out of the series 8(.  *Always grumbles about cliffs and drunk pining scenes and nonsensical censorship*

I guess it’s a good thing the drama didn’t show Lu Yi can speak Japanese - because dubbing rarely sounds good, lol.  But totally missed out on this awesome fight: Lu Yi vs 45+ Japanese pirates. 8D  The drama’s version was just not the same….

I must praise the author for being able to describe this action sequence so clearly - because action sequences are really difficult to describe or draw.

And in the middle of it all, Lu Yi still has the time to smile at the thought of Jinxia. X3  Really, this couple.  Killing me here.

[sionnac]

NOP.  CONTINUE TO SPOIL ME.  IT JUST GETS ME GIDDY AND LOOKING FORWARD.

锦衣之下 Chapter 59.  I didn’t think this couple could get any better.  But bringing back words under the same circumstances but with a totally different meaning - THESE TYPES OF SCENARIOS ARE MY WEAKNESS.  And this couple (Lu Yi especially) keeps recalling past words and gestures.  :DDDDDDd

Jinxia, Lu Yi is totally confusing with his tsundere actions, but that right there.  In fact, the WHOLE conversation right there.  How can you not notice that??  Oh, wait, I see.  It’s not only Jinxia who worms her ways into people’s hearts, it turns out Lu Yi does the same thing.  They’ve gotten so comfortable with each other that you can’t even tell when the feelings have changed. X3

Maybe spoilers under the cut??

Keep reading

[sionnac]

Watch me months from now....just blogging about the same things you do....  I MOVE ON SLOWLY.  I CAN’T EVEN MOVE ONTO THE NOVEL YET OTL.  Luckily, I’ll have jade’s outstanding chapter bits to look out for.  Huehue.  Thanks, frand.  On a sidenote, I read that there was like....some extra chapters somewhere that showed ? the first? chapter or so from Lu Yi’s PoV.  Not sure if that’s included in the normal versions of the book/webnovel.  

锦衣之下 Chapter 59.  I didn’t think this couple could get any better.  But bringing back words under the same circumstances but with a totally different meaning - THESE TYPES OF SCENARIOS ARE MY WEAKNESS.  And this couple (Lu Yi especially) keeps recalling past words and gestures.  :DDDDDDd

Jinxia, Lu Yi is totally confusing with his tsundere actions, but that right there.  In fact, the WHOLE conversation right there.  How can you not notice that??  Oh, wait, I see.  It’s not only Jinxia who worms her ways into people’s hearts, it turns out Lu Yi does the same thing.  They’ve gotten so comfortable with each other that you can’t even tell when the feelings have changed. X3

Maybe spoilers under the cut??

Keep reading