Sword Stained With Royal Blood: the end
Aug. 24th, 2007 03:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreNot really a proper writeup, as most of my opinions have been stated in other posts. Just some randomness.
1. An Jianquin: The character I NEVER thought I'd like who I ended up loving. At first he was just a random, relentless killing machine, pretty much there to be one of the few people on a par with Chengzhi. But as the series progresses, we learn that he is a man of honor, even if he once gave that up to get ahead, but thatthat cost him his wife. He has, however, been looking for her, and his daughter, ever since. When he finds his wife, he tries to reconcile with her and save her, only to learn that as far as she's concerned, he's been dead to her ever since he became corrupt. He doesn't stop trying, though, and he uses his dying wish (when he could have asked for literally anything because he saved the emperor) to ask the emperor to pardon them. Then he asks his mortal enemy to take him to her so he can tell her (and then hopefully die in her arms, which works out well for him.) Don't get much more redemptive than that...
2. That 5 Poisons sect woman got the wuxia necrocuddle of all necrocuddles when she dug up her dead lover's skeleton and hugged it. After he'd been dead for 18 years. (And never loved her in the first place...)
3. Chengzhi is really, really lucky Golden Snake died long, long before he met Qing Qing. Man would have put him through hell. For that matter, Hui's boyfriend is lucky An Jianquin he died about 5 minutes after being reunited with Hui...he probably would have been worse. Worse yet would have been if both men had decided Chengzhi would have been a good son-in-law...
4. I swear, Jin Yong must has used Ah Jie as revenge against every princes ever who won the guy in favor of the cute and spunky girl. One sided love, repressed life, father slaughters entire family in front of her and lops off her own arm in the process, loses everything...Seriously, I can almost understand why people want to say Chengzhi loves her instead of Qing Qing...give the poor girl SOMETHING of a break. Except...you know, I'm a Chengzhi/Qing Qing girl from start to finish...
5. What the heck was with Jiao Wan'er suddenly deciding she liked Chengzhi when Qing Qing was kidnapped? It was like she went "oh, I only ever felt friendship for him before and I've always known that he loves my friend, but Qing Qing is gone...hmm...let me try to just completely take her place and do what she did and maybe he'll just love me instead." I mean, seriously. Dressing like her and doing all the things she always did and asking to pretend to be his page boy like Qing Qing and...eeeh...and she was such a good character before that. It was especially irritating as he was very visibly displeased and uncomfortable...he looked like he wanted to run evertime she did a qing Qing thing. I feel bad for her Senior, too, he deserved better than to be her second choice.
6. I think Jin Yong really has a thing about people getting their arms hacked off. Jiao Wan'er's cool senior lost his arm because of the bratty daughter of heroes who had an infant in trouble (sound familiar?) and Ah Jie lost hers...
7. I adore that Face Chengzhi got everytime someone threatened Qing Qing. It ranged from "grr...don't throw sharp things at her...I must now beat you up" to "I am now pondering 20 ways to kill you and I will keep pondering them and I may still do it even though I'm going to let her fight you because she wants to." Then of course, there was the part where he pretty much went into a berserker rage when the soldier attacked and hurt her and killed them all...then hunted down the ones who went after the bandits because he was still mad. Which is actually a good thing, as several of the bandits ended up his closest allies...not to mention Ah Jie... Really, though, Chengzhi is probably themost protective wuxia hero I've encountered, even if he is a complete idiot about girls.
8. It got slightly odd about midway through when I realized the actor who played Li Yan was the monk who raped Xiao Long Nu in Return of the Condor Heroes. Of course, the characters couldn't possibly be more different. And Li Yan would likely make rapist monk regret ever being born if they met. He also took a mild hot pill in the last couple of eps, which was a touch odd...
Anyway, great series. Not perfect, but very good. Highly recommended.
2. That 5 Poisons sect woman got the wuxia necrocuddle of all necrocuddles when she dug up her dead lover's skeleton and hugged it. After he'd been dead for 18 years. (And never loved her in the first place...)
3. Chengzhi is really, really lucky Golden Snake died long, long before he met Qing Qing. Man would have put him through hell. For that matter, Hui's boyfriend is lucky An Jianquin he died about 5 minutes after being reunited with Hui...he probably would have been worse. Worse yet would have been if both men had decided Chengzhi would have been a good son-in-law...
4. I swear, Jin Yong must has used Ah Jie as revenge against every princes ever who won the guy in favor of the cute and spunky girl. One sided love, repressed life, father slaughters entire family in front of her and lops off her own arm in the process, loses everything...Seriously, I can almost understand why people want to say Chengzhi loves her instead of Qing Qing...give the poor girl SOMETHING of a break. Except...you know, I'm a Chengzhi/Qing Qing girl from start to finish...
5. What the heck was with Jiao Wan'er suddenly deciding she liked Chengzhi when Qing Qing was kidnapped? It was like she went "oh, I only ever felt friendship for him before and I've always known that he loves my friend, but Qing Qing is gone...hmm...let me try to just completely take her place and do what she did and maybe he'll just love me instead." I mean, seriously. Dressing like her and doing all the things she always did and asking to pretend to be his page boy like Qing Qing and...eeeh...and she was such a good character before that. It was especially irritating as he was very visibly displeased and uncomfortable...he looked like he wanted to run evertime she did a qing Qing thing. I feel bad for her Senior, too, he deserved better than to be her second choice.
6. I think Jin Yong really has a thing about people getting their arms hacked off. Jiao Wan'er's cool senior lost his arm because of the bratty daughter of heroes who had an infant in trouble (sound familiar?) and Ah Jie lost hers...
7. I adore that Face Chengzhi got everytime someone threatened Qing Qing. It ranged from "grr...don't throw sharp things at her...I must now beat you up" to "I am now pondering 20 ways to kill you and I will keep pondering them and I may still do it even though I'm going to let her fight you because she wants to." Then of course, there was the part where he pretty much went into a berserker rage when the soldier attacked and hurt her and killed them all...then hunted down the ones who went after the bandits because he was still mad. Which is actually a good thing, as several of the bandits ended up his closest allies...not to mention Ah Jie... Really, though, Chengzhi is probably themost protective wuxia hero I've encountered, even if he is a complete idiot about girls.
8. It got slightly odd about midway through when I realized the actor who played Li Yan was the monk who raped Xiao Long Nu in Return of the Condor Heroes. Of course, the characters couldn't possibly be more different. And Li Yan would likely make rapist monk regret ever being born if they met. He also took a mild hot pill in the last couple of eps, which was a touch odd...
Anyway, great series. Not perfect, but very good. Highly recommended.
A couple more icons even though I'm probably doing a proper icon post tomorrow or sunday:
