Three Kingdoms - episode 2. In which we meet our resident HBIC

[dangermousie]

I am sorry, Cao Cao, but for now you have been replaced as my favorite character by the lady above. Her name is Diaochan, she is the first female character we are introduced to, and I have a raging girlcrush on her. Diaochan is not only drop-dead gorgeous (and not afraid to use it), but also razor-smart and ice-cool under pressure. If it wasn't for her, Minister of the Interior and his whole 80-person household would have been gruesomely dead.



I also think she is being set-up as Psycho Legolas' OTP, or at least a crush object. I am all for it because seeing that her adopted father was the mastermind in the assassination attempt on his, this could get really interesting. Plus, when he was around her was the first time he was came across like your normal person and not his usual beyond-scary self. He needs to mellow out. In bed.



First, all the non-Diaochan stuff.

The Warlord is a little too fond of executing people. He needs a new hobby.



Cutest little Emperor ever, yes/yes?



Gorgeousness.









I just really love Cao Cao. There is something about him that just draws you in. I find myself wanting to follow him even through the screen though he's ruthless and cunning as all get-out.



Gaotai (???). The official who follows him into rebellion. You know the thing that struck me - that whole societal rule of "your family goes down with you" is supposed to prevent rebellion but it ends up placing innocents in harm's way for no reason. I bet nobody in Cao Cao's household knew of his plan to assassinate the warlord. And if it wasn't for Diochan's wits, Minister's whole household would be dead too and what did they know? Just like this official's family. They will probably be executed.



This scene was so very horrible. Cao Cao and his friend on the run hide out with a relative, assume his servants want to kill them and slaughter them, only to find out that the killing the peasants were talking about was slaughtering a pig in their honor. Sometimes this drama is depressing enough to make me want to eat my own head. It is certainly a world cavalier about killing. It's horrifying.



On to the more cheery topic of the awesomeness of Diaochan. She finds her father with a dagger, planning to cut his own throat because he knows he's suspected in Cao Cao's assassination attempt.




He explains:





Brainy and cool-headed Diaochan to the rescue!








And then Lu Bu arrives at the house with a whole troop of soldiers.







God, she's so awesome under pressure!






So the Minister gathers himself and comes out.




Good news. He's only here to search the house to see if Cao Cao is hiding here (yeah, it means Warlord suspects him but has no certainty yet, that's something).











So they are searching the house and he sees a movement out of the corner of his eye. It's Diaochan in her quarters but of course he has no idea.








And then he sees her.



Oh my God. I am totally having problems breathing. Mmmmmmm. I think I have got myself a ship. Swooooon. I kinda love how they are both frozen but while she's affected, he's completely spell-bound. I approve of Psycho Legolas experiencing love at first sight.






Oh please please let them be an OTP. Because that is the most entertaining first meeting ever "so yeah, I was there to search her father's house for traitors and if we found them, she'd have gotten executed along with everyone but luckily that didn't happen and instead we hooked up." Or something. You just know he is dying to ask her out for the ancient Chinese equivalent of a coffee date (A public hanging? A sword-fighting exhibition?).






He puts his sword back in its scabbard and I refuse the urge to make the obvious jokes.



This is even more entertaining if you upend "wanna go out with me?" to the end of each of his sentences.




I love how smart she is. Of course everything she says is true. There is just more to it.










He sees what he assumes (due to design and pride of place), Minister's ancestral dagger, one they thought Cao Cao was trying to use in the assassination and why they thought the Minister was involved. If the dagger is still in Minister's house, as opposed in warlord's possession post-assassination attempt, that means he's not involved (or so they think. This is a much fancier replica - everybody believes this is the original when it isn't).









Awww, Psycho Legolas, you are kinda a puppy here.








Why, yes, she does. She's a smart cookie.




Seriously, I hope they are a ship. I mean, can you imagine the wedding banquet?









Does Mousie have a new drama obsession? Yes yes and yes.

ETA: I was looking for some stuff and found out that there is a video game involving TK characters and Diao Chan is very much there. Wanna know what she looks like in gamer world?



My eyes are bugging out of my head trying to imagine someone walking around dressed in this in real life, Ancient China OR modern day. Kinda awesome but I think there'd be a mob stampede wherever she went. Plus, Psycho Legolas would probably hyperventilate to death.

Comments

[tihanasan.livejournal.com]

Aghhhhhh. This looks better and better, download faster cursed machine.
Smart and cunning heroine, love those. Judging by the way he looks at her psycho Legolas is a goner, delicious. If they are OTP then they are probably doomed, this being Asian historical. Never mind, this looks great. Episode one is downloaded, off to watch.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

LOL.

That's how I feel when I download.

If they are OTP then they are probably doomed, this being Asian historical.

This is an Asian historical, thus they are doomed even if they remained virgins their whole lives, so we might as well have shippy fun :)

[mookiehyun.livejournal.com]

This ship gets WAYYYYY 'better'...I'm dangling carrots. U r not far w/ your hypothesis.

FYI: Lu Bu was regarded as the best warrior with not much brains (compared to all the super smartasses around him)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Well, if he was the best warrior, he must have gotten a lot of knocks to the head over time which would probably explain lack of braininess.

You don't need to dangle carrots - I am obsessed with this drama as is. Just finished ep 3 and how does it get better and better? I am in love with Cao Cao which is disturbing me because the man is a monster but I can't stop!

Re: ship. I am pretty unspoiled (as I am for most everything in the story except I know that eventually Cao Cao gets to be Mr. N1 Warlord), except I rewatched a vid I posted when I just started and I realized that it was all about the final fate of the ship. Me being me, the kind of stuff that ended up happening made me even more obsessed :) Sometimes I wonder about my tastes and then realized I must have read too much angsty French adventure novels as a kid and got warped.

[mookiehyun.livejournal.com]

the ship gets 'better' for delicious angst soon, I think it's sth u r not expecting. ;)

I havent read angsty French adventure so I wouldnt know if that's a trope u can guess happening... but I expect u spazzing and we'll have a ball tagging along HAHAHA

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

OK, now you got me madly curious. I am still not looking it up though because for once I am enjoying being unspoiled :)

My two fave French adventure novels involved (1) evil dude killing heroine's husband and kidnapping her due to grudge against her husband and her husband has to track her down through half of Africa and fight off crocodiles and (2) famous duelist falling for woman married to Prince d'Anjou's favorite with a lot of adultery and grisly ending thrown in.

Unlikely to find either crocodiles or Prince d'Anjou in China :)

[mookiehyun.livejournal.com]

Oooooo those r goood! It's quite a standard trope for offing hubby to steal pretty wife in ancient middle kingdom. I promise, u'll totally flipping out loving what's in store for the ship. It kinda involves husbandry....and blood so stay strong and unspoiled. U maybe able to guess but still flip. The otp goodness is yum, but just u wait. (Sorry for being annoying tease, but imagine a grade school me flipping a manga version of RoTK and saw that upcoming twist involvin lady Diao....my jaws dropped)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oooooo those r goood! It's quite a standard trope for offing hubby to steal pretty wife in ancient middle kingdom.

Pretty common in the middle ages in Europe too, as long as she was either pretty or had a huge property. Note to self - am glad I live in modern times.

I am totally unspoiled but madly curious. I foresee a marathon. :)

[coronanl.livejournal.com]

"You just know he is dying to ask her out for the ancient Chinese equivalent of a coffee date (A public hanging? A sword-fighting exhibition?)."

Hahaha, this nearly made me fall of my chair :D

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't think he can take her to a teahouse. I don't think any ladies except for those of easy virtue would go to one with an unrelated man :) I guess you had to be more creative back then. Maybe he could invite her to watch him fight various enemy soldiers from the battlements or something? Though a public hanging sounds like a more peaceful alternative, seeing that they are from enemy political factions, with her being on the 'rebel' side, there would be a good chance someone hanged would be a friend of her family which would put a damper on the dating atmosphere.

Life is hard if you are a warlord.

[missraiya.livejournal.com]

OMG no more dramas my lady! I am going to go crazy trying not to watch all your recommendations ahahahaha! I have enough Korean, Thai, and now Cdramas to follow, I definitely do not have time to add any more to the list! Life and work get in the way of all my drama love (sighs) maybe in another lifetime I will speak Mandarin, Korean, and Japanese just so I can watch all my dramas at leisure!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

First, icon!!!

Second, I love to spread my obsessions. But no hurry with this one - it's still being subbed.

[laleia.livejournal.com]

So I've never actually read the book or watched any of the adaptation of this (not even Red Cliff); but once my dad realized my Chinese would never get good enough to wade through the thick classic in the original Chinese, basically told me all of the stories about what happened. :D So I'm pretty sure I know where the Diaochan storyline goes!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

For once I enjoy not knowing :)

I did get an English translation of the book but I am holding off until I finish the drama :)

[ambergold.livejournal.com]

sigh so I assume you'll be posting about Cdramas for the next month? not but what they don't look great, but 12312 episodes and sad endings are not my thing :) Luckily I'm not around LJ much these days anyway so I"ll just check back in a month:)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Well, period cdramas are my favorite genre. If more of them were subbed, this LJ would probably be a cdrama-only zone, to the horror of a significant portion of my flist. So my joy to discover two of them subbed at once (3 Kingdoms and Jade Palace) sort of took over my life :)

I love long dramas and I adore sad endings if done well so...

This said, don't worry. At the pace I am burning through 3K's 28 currently subbed eps, it will take more like a week :)

[celestialdescent]

I'm really tempted to watch this because I actually played a few of the games based on the Three Kingdoms (Dynasty Warriors). "Psycho Legolas" is a pretty accurate description for Lu Bu; he's the most feared character in the games. And yeah, his love for Diao Chan is there too. Well, it has been awhile since I watched any Asian dramas. Hmm...

And if you think Diao Chan's outfit is bad, you should see some of the other women in the game. Dynasty Warriors = not known for realism. XD

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It's really really good!

I always had a thing for Legolas, way before the movies made him a big crush object. LOL.

[rectherapyfreak.livejournal.com]

I have the Dynasty warriors game!!! It really got me interested in the Three Kingdoms history. It also lead me to find an anime. I never got around to watching all of it. I am totally going to watch this series after Jade Palace and the ones I already started and need to finish.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Woo-hoo, it's really good!