Blah blah blah Yangs rock blah blah Four is hot blah blah caps and MVs. You know the drill by now

[dangermousie]

All the wuxia watching has caught up with me and I am going to bed at this ungodly early hour. But not before leaving you with one last for the night Young Warriors of the Yang Clan post.



I think the reason I love it so much is because it combines the family drama with wuxia/period epic - we have battles and politics but within a family framework with its interpersonal relationships and conflicts. Romantic relationships are important in YWotYC, sure, but in narrative importance and impact they are secondary to the sibling and parental relationships. I especially love it because the Yangs are such a close and functional family - they are not perfect and they have conficts but they are good people genuinely caring for each other. I am by no means a wuxia expert, but a lot of them seem to feature a parentless/lone existence for the hero as his background as a handy shorthand for both his suffering, loneliness and independence (I always think of Yang Guo from ROCH with dead parents and horrible childhood being abused by evil monks). But YWotYC is full of wuxia heroes who are a product of a loving, close, well-adjusted family and function within that paradigm. The closest the drama comes to the loner/outsider background for a Yang is with Four but even there the driving point of his narrative is that he initially had a loving family and how he moves on past his abandonment to become a part of one once again. This family-heroic combo is basically irresistible to me.

Anyway, enough of my blabbering, a few caps from eps 23-24.

I really love Four and Six's interactions. Six is the smartest of the siblings but Four is the only one who can sort of keep up with him that way.






Six and Princess Chai make a teeny forward step in their relationship.




I really love Four and Lady Doc. Also, is it just me or does she have a thing for hand-feeding him? :P









Four rocking those bizarro (but presumably historical) helmets.





ETA: I lied. Am currently watching ep 24. Oh, I am such an idiot but the scene with Papa Yang and Four when Papa Yang tells him how much he missed him and how guilty he felt made me cry. Papa Yang, ILY. And also, this was something Four desperately needed to hear.

Also have a MV made by the awesome calixa which showcases how, despite their prowess on the battlefield, the Yang men are utterly hopeless when it comes to wooing.

Comments

[lady-wu.livejournal.com]

To completely overanalyze this, in Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence Six would be representative of Analytical intelligence (book smarts) and Creative intelligence, while Four is all about Practical intelligence (street smarts). :P But they are both smart puppies that I absolutely <3.

Interestingly, Four and Six are often perceived as something like the black sheep of the family (if it's even possible to say anyone is one!). Four obviously doesn't completely fit in with his brothers, being so independent and all, and Papa Yang tells Six like every other episode "OMG what am I ever going to do with you, you hopeless little brat, can't you just even TRY to learn from your brothers blahblahblah". However, they are the only kids that we hear Mama Yang telling them that "you are JUST LIKE YOUR DAD". Teeheehee.

Isn't that scene with Papa Yang and Four good? I cried buckets. I'm getting sniffly just thinking about it right now. And that shot of Papa Yang on the city walls watching Four and Five leave the city, with a tear in his eye---that totally killed me.

I also really loved how the way Four and Five sorted things out was by Four asserting his birthright (?? Seniority??) over Five, thereby accepting his role in the family. IIRC that's the first time Five EVER called Four "4th elder brother"---all along he's been referring to him by a pronoun or by name directly (which is incredibly rude and inappropriate in Chinese culture--you never address your elders by their given names). A very very nice touch.

[lady-wu.livejournal.com]

PS: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG I JUST WATCHED THE MV AND I DIED!!!!!!!!!!

The song is so perfect! The scenes are so perfect! I have no words to describe how incredibly perfect and awesome and RIGHT the MV is!!!!!

I love all the Yang puppies!!!

*Squeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaal*

Makes me wonder how Papa Yang and Mama Yang hooked up back then. Did the kids inherit their awkwardness from Dad??

*Squeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaal*

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Four obviously doesn't completely fit in with his brothers, being so independent and all, and Papa Yang tells Six like every other episode "OMG what am I ever going to do with you, you hopeless little brat, can't you just even TRY to learn from your brothers blahblahblah". However, they are the only kids that we hear Mama Yang telling them that "you are JUST LIKE YOUR DAD".

I noticed this too and find it both endearing and amusing. Papa Yang clearly didn't get to be top general of the empire by blindly listening to everyone. I do think Six and Four are most like him, ironically - with a few more decades of authority and maturity, they'd be very very similar to him in many ways. As compared to Five, whom I adore, but who is as complicated as a plank - he has no imagination at all. He'd make a wonderful general under someone else but a poor creative/stragetic/outside-the-box thinker.

The scene with Four and Papa Yang totally killed me. I really think it was the final piece needed for Four to accept his place as a Yang. Because before he made his individual peace with some of the members - Mama Yang, Six, Seven and Eight, but it was clear he still viewed himself as an outsider in some ways (though his conversation with Papa Yang before duel with Pan Bao indicated he partially accepted his role earlier). This finally makes him commit 100%.

Re: Four and Five sorting things out. I think this was the best way to work it out - Five is the most traditional of the family and an appeal through traditional norms (both insofar as Five's own role is concerned within the family and in Four accepting his own) is the best way to do so. I don't think Four and Five will ever be BFFs - their personalities are too clashing, but now they can treat and view each other as brothers.

And speaking of Five - I loved that he and Lady Blacksmith finally worked it out. I was incredibly amused that it was on Lady Blacksmith's initiative. Oh, Five is soo invincible on the battlefield but so hopeless at wooing.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh, now I want a prequel. That would be hilarious. You can totally tell by Papa and Mama interactions that Papa used to be a total puppy himself.

[lady-wu.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was gigglesnorting so hard too when Lady Blacksmith initiated the conversation. Five was so clueless. Aww, how I love this ship. I suppose Lady Blacksmith reflected a lot more on their relationship than Five did. Not just because she's a girl and girls tend to be a bit more sensitive to such things, but also she had to deal with Yelu Xie's attention and really work it out for herself what she wanted. Whereas for Five, it just happened, and he had no frame of reference whatsoever.

And also because Five is a total plank, like you said.

I don't know why Papa Yang keeps trying to make Five his successor in the army. As a second-in-command, Five is great. He knows the ins and outs of war and is organized and steady blahblahblah. But if he's put in charge of the entire Song military, the empire would be run over by the Liao in like a week. If Five doesn't get bulldozed over by the evil PM first (granted, Papa Yang is a bit naive when it comes to politics too, but his EQ isn't really that bad plus he has the humility and patience to negotiate sticky situations at court. Five is really too hotheaded and unimaginative).

I don't think Five will ever have a BFF. He doesn't seem to me to be the kind of person who has BFFs. Him pledging to protect Four with his own life is probably the closest he'll ever come to that.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Lady Blacksmith and Five will have an entertaining marriage - he'll love her (and any future kids) dearly and have no idea what is going on at the same time.

I think Papa Yang wants to make Five the successor is because he's the best in battle (possibly barring Four) and the least likely to cause him trouble so he thinks this is good. (Also, I think if he had to pick a favorite son, it would probably be him. Mama Yang would probably be torn between Four and Six but then pick Four).

I actually think all the Yangs except for Four and, to a degree, Six, pretty much are not match for evil Pan politically - they are too honorable and straightforward and have been happy together for too long. Four, OTOH, has enough stree-smarts and cynicism for the rest of the family and Six, while not a cynic, is both incredibly flexible and very very smart - a little more experience and Six will pretty much be unbeatable.

Yeah, Five would need to relax a little more and/or be a bit more self-reflective to have bfs :)

[lady-wu.livejournal.com]

Eight vs. Evil Pan?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Eight. In two minutes flat.

You know, I should have been in bed two hours ago. This drama is like an illness! (Also, by now it takes me nearly two hours to get through an ep what with rewatching and capping. Heeeelp!)

[lady-wu.livejournal.com]

Go to bed!

Or else I won't get this RL work done either (and I have to send it off in a few hours). You have no idea how hopelessly I'm addicted to your LJ. :(

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Sorry not really - I love having someone to spazz with over this

My husband just got home so I am probably going off LJ for the night :)

[arabesque05.livejournal.com]

I'm completely tickled by that MV. ♥ Just the other day I was listening to the song and wishing someone would set YWotYC to it: the original music video of that song, with these super dorky looking guys trying to woo the girls across the street, just makes everything so much more adorable hilarious. The lyrics are also so perfect for their total fail 8DDDDD Anyway, thank you for sharing!

Re: hand-feeding. I had thought it was a reference to his mother-complex issues--the first time she hand feeds him were with those candied fruits to sweeten his medicine, which mirrored an act between him and his mother when he was a child. I don't normally go for mother-complex kind of relationships, but it makes total sense here, given his need for that kind of completely unconditional love. And her love for him really is stringless. Also, no spoilers but given how much you love their mutual support of each other and his respect for her agency, I think you're really going to like the next few episodes.

Also also? That moment when he walks into the shop and she's looking through her books, busy, and he stops, quiet, and just looks at her with that infinite fondness, before she turns around and sees him and smiles: in my mind, that's probably the most beautiful distillation of their relationship. Wordless, but so comfortable, so tangible.

The father-son scene between Papa and Four was wonderful, though the moment between Four and Five might have been my favorite. It's just a beautiful moment when Four really steps into his role as the older brother of Five--when he invokes that elder sibling status, he's demanding the obedience of Five, but he's also accepting all the responsibility and caretaking duties that comes with being an older brother. For someone whose entire motto during training was that you can only rely on yourself, it's really quite significant that he's placing himself in Five's care for the duration of the mission, and that he's taking responsibility for Five's well-being by virtue of the fact that he's Five's older brother.

[calixa.livejournal.com]

Hee! You have no idea how often I get random comments on that mv. There was even a squabble over which brother is the best one (???)

FOR SHAME, YANG BROTHERS ARE (MOSTLY) EQUAL IN THEIR AWESOMENESS.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, I thought that about the hand-feeding too. Not even necessarily an explicit connection (though I am fine with it like that too) - but a sign of tenderness and caring and maybe even babying/spoiling him a little - seeing that he was left to fend for himself as a small child, that is something he's never had enough of. He's a very self-sufficient person physically but emotionally he's probably the neediest of the brothers. And her caring, which is a huge part of her personality - part of the reason she is a doctor after all, really really is something that makes him happy but also something he needs.

I really love that she's both very caring and yet not clingy. It's a perfect, if rare combo, for someone with his issues. I love that.

how much you love their mutual support of each other and his respect for her agency, I think you're really going to like the next few episodes.

I can't wait! I really do love how their feelings are mainly unspoken but they understand each other's needs and wishes and feelings perfectly. They basically have a perfect understanding and trust and compatibility.

For someone whose entire motto during training was that you can only rely on yourself, it's really quite significant that he's placing himself in Five's care for the duration of the mission, and that he's taking responsibility for Five's well-being by virtue of the fact that he's Five's older brother.

It really does show how far he's come. And it's even more significant than when he e.g. helped Seven escape jail because that was a lot more personal and this is a lot more family-oriented/ritualized if it makes sense (he and Seven are friends, really, by that point while he and Five are not - but he and Five are brothers, and he's Five's older brother, and that matters the most, regardless of whether they get along or not).

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I know! I can't pick! It's like multi-flavor chocolates.

I have no idea why it took me years to get to this drama.

[lady-wu.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Evil Pan, I WANT HIM TO DIE A HORRIBLE HORRIBLE DEATH!!!

Yes, I agree with you that the emperor needs a brain transplant. But so far his first inclination has usually been to side with the Yangs and Eighth Prince, and when Evil Pan isn't around he's pretty nice to the Yangs. Even if it doesn't mean that he loves the Yangs, at least he's not too brain-damaged to realize that he needs them desperately. It's only at the PM's insistent provocation that he does stupid s*** to the Yangs.

And the PM, what exactly is in his mind? Vengeance, ok, I can understand that. But then what, who's going to defend China? Was he going to give up his comfy position as the PM (the Song dynasty made it a policy to favour civil officers over military officers) and switch back to his old military job? He has very little to gain by collaborating with the Liao, and without a son there was no effing point in taking over as emperor (and what made him think that the Liao would tolerate him running a little rival kingdom?). As Cao Cao would say, it's way more comfortable controlling an emperor than being emperor yourself. But I guess we've established that Cao Cao >>>>>>>>> Evil Pan in terms of brains. Sorry, moot point.

Enough analysis. I just want him to die. Someone needs to get him infected with that crazy poisonous parasite.

I can't even cope with seeing him on screen! Whenever he appears I switch to a different window on my computer and just seethe by listening to him.

Ok, ep 28 now! I think Seven and Eight return in this one! Should be a happy episode! (Not the the previous few aren't fantastically full of happy Yang family love and heroics, but one scene with Evil Pan left a really bad aftertaste and I can't wait to get rid of it.)

[lady-wu.livejournal.com]

Ep 28! You need to be there! Papa Yang romances Mama Yang!

And Seven's hilarious and awesome OTP!

And Four and Eight and the whole gang! This is the happiest episode ever. I can't get over it. The Yangs are so awesome. They're so well-adjusted and functional and secure it's unreal (in an awesome kind of way). I love them to bits. I want this moment/part to last forever.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am on ep 26 now so almost there :)

I love that while they are more awesome than your average family they feel real enough.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

PM is an idiot. He seems to want to accept YX's plan to be a puppet emperor which is idiotic - better a PM to a powerful ruler than a puppet ruler yourself (plus, as if Liaos will allow him to rule for longer than a week). You are right, Cao Cao will eat him for breakfast.

Also, his daughter is beginning to freak me out as she's developing a thing for Six and we know everyone in Pan family is a violent maniac.