Ep 13 thoughts

[dangermousie]

You know you have reached the heights of insanity when you find this particular look not only hot, but hotter than the way the actor looks in real life - i.e. with normal hair. Send help!



I loved this scene with every bit of my shipper heart even as I went "ouch". QC tells Eight that she's volunteered to go to a nunnery to accompany some dead royal to get away from the rivalry between him and Two over her. And when he's about to storm off to ask the Emperor to reconsider, she asks him what will he do then? Anger the Emperor again and get a death sentence again? And she tells him that he saved her life and she's grateful but she's saved his and they are even, so to please leave her alone. One of the things I love about QC is that (a) she never lies or leads on anyone - not intentionally, at least and (b) she's pragmatic. She just doesn't want to be in the middle of a royal fight because that might very well end up in her death (she saw how it can go earlier where she was almost burned at the stake and then had to run around like mad trying to save Eight, who saved her, from execution in his turn). I mean, I ship QC/Eight rabidly, but I can't help but admire her attitude - it would be different if she loved him, but she doesn't (at least not on any conscious level - clearly she's attracted to him and has a good time with him but tries to push it down because it's dangerous and also because she knows from history how he ends up).








Anyway, she withdraws her hands, and I love how he just looks at them, frozen and stunned, and walks off as he yells her name.








Poor thing, he's trying to drink himself into oblivion.




I like Su Yan. I find her oddly pathetic in her unswerving love of Four, who manipulates her so transparently, but she's been a good friend to Qing Chuan and she's a woman of her time.



Yup, have some manipulation. In continues to amaze me how much I adore Four as a character even as I loathe him as a person.






Next morning, his brothers are worried, but Eight finally comes out and declares that he's thought it over and he's giving up on Qing Chuan because (and oh, his reason kills me), she's right, when it comes to life or death, he cannot protect her. Oh, you idiot idiot awesome boy, this is not the message you were supposed to take from her break-up! (Though technically, yes - in this absolute rule society, nobody can truly protect QC from death except the Emperor. Even if Eight is in better position than most people, Emperor still trumps and can have QC or anyone else offed with a wave of his finger).




Clearly, it's a rule. If Eight starts crying, so do I. Booooo! His brothers are telling him QC is leaving and he should go see her off and he says there is no point as it won't help her in any way. ARGH LOVE HIM LOVE HIM LOVE HIM, Idiot Woman! You aren't going to find a better choice in 18th century, or our own, for that matter!



And then he declares he's going to try to make himself more powerful so he could protect her better in the future. Um. Um. Four ain't going to like that.