Although I love Ubisoft ever since “Prince of Persia”, “Beyond Good and Evil”, Ezio Auditore, and much more, I absolutely not approve of another pop-cultured Scandinavian lore. NOT AGAIN! Hollywood did it, game industry did, for over a decade this has been a special kind of mainstream. Please do not consider this as anything negative towards the developers - I believe the game itself, as their job at Ubisoft, is tremendous! As usual :)
Our world is a wonderful place, full of unbelievable civilizations. One of those is Mesoamerican. Imagine yourself being an Assassin, a trusted face of El-Dorado city that has promised to the tribes keep this Isu city away from the guns of Spanish Conquerors.
A local Apple of Eden, Isu Artifact is an earthly representation of the Sun and/or Gods, the Isu. Imagine the conquistadors being like the templars, like the Cult of Kosmos to the cradle of South American civilization.
I was instantly inspired while discussing it with my friend, and I only hope this will come true in “Assassin’s Creed: El Dorado” some day.
There’s no trace of a sophomore slump here. After giving us a raw and introspective view of events on her 2014 full-length debut Life As A Dog following a string of EPs, LA-based singer/MC K.Flay (aka Kristine Flaherty) delivers a rougher, tougher, more abrasive slab of late-’90s/early-’00s rock-inspired theatrics on her second album Every Where Is Some Where that sees her trying to make sense of life, love and politics in a time of chaos.
Great review of a great album. Similar to twenty one pilots, K.Flay really taps into the anxiety of our generation and of this time, while melding that with her own personal narrative of struggles with substances like love and alcohol. To add onto this review, the closing track, Slow March, is such a bittersweet triumph at the end of a long trial. It ends a truly intense and anxious album with a sense of accomplishment and hope that makes the whole ride worth it.
You may have seen my posts about this already, but, in case you didn’t, I’ve got a new video out. It’s quite different from all the rest of the videos on my channel (except, maybe, some of the vlogs).
Either way, if you want to give the whole thing a watch and let me know what you think, I’d certainly appreciate it. I need to know if I should do more of these.
This is my personal review and does not represent the entire audience
Summary:
During the ruling of Chenghua Emperor in the Ming Dynasty, political affairs were rife with conflicts and bitter rivalries between officials as multiple factions were fighting for their monarch’s favor. The Emperor himself was a fickle man of superfluous personality, putting little focus on matters related to governing the country. Furthermore, his widely known bias towards his favorite consort, Consort Wan, allowed her wishes and preferences to affect imperial decisions, which became a weapon used by many corrupt officials to turn the tides in their favor.
In the fourteenth year of Chenghua, Tang Fan, a young and bright scholar, transferred from the prestigious Hanlin Academy to become a sixth-rank Judge in Shuntian Prefecture. During the investigation of an alleged murder of a nobleman’s son, he noticed peculiarities in the seemingly simple case, yet his superior’s incompetence pushed for the case to be wrapped up early as it was, which ended up drawing the attention of various contending factions among the higher-ups. Eager to establish their merits in front of the Emperor, investigation was reopened with each side itching to be the one to resolve it.
It was during this time that Tang Fan unexpectedly came across Sui Zhou, an aloof, tight-lipped seventh-rank personnel of the notorious Brocade Guard who was also tasked to delve into the matter.
Two people as different as heaven and earth, they ultimately worked together to discover the truth, not knowing that they would share countless moments of life and death in the line of duties.
STORY: 8/10
If I have to summarize my impression on this novel in one sentence, I would say “It pissed me off”……but not in a bad way.
Evil monsters and cruel villains made for fascinating antagonists, but more often than not, we may not be able to relate to them enough to actually hate them, because their characteristics are simply too far from reality.
However, selfish husbands, unfair in-laws, corrupt officials, cowardly men who readily abandoned all loyalty when cornered were something that we could find and see with our own eyes to these days. These people might not have as many kill counts as monstrous fictional villains, but their mere existence in a story could be so extremely annoying because we could easily relate to facing people like this in our every day’s life.
And “The Fourteenth Year of Chenghua” is full of those people. In fact, all of the cases presented from start to finish are related to these very issues.
I haven’t come across too many mystery/detective-historical-political stories before, but “The Fourteenth Year of Chenghua” should be one of the best I’ve read so far.
(my most favorite book of this theme so far is actually “Wu Shuang”, which was also written by Meng Xishi, so… )
The cases in the story were interesting and engaging, with the right amount of suspense, action, and intense elements to keep me on edge throughout the way. Especially because it kept dragging the main character into it, one couldn’t help but want to root for him and see the resolution as soon as possible.
The story mixes political and social conflicts well into the plot and cases. While the main goal in the end was to clean up all the political conspiracies in the palace, many of the cases came from non-governmental people and/or ordinary family matters, but it doesn’t make the story looks inconsistent. In fact, it becomes a set of stairs that the main character, Tang Fan, needed to climb in order to reach the final stage.
In regards to this, I would like to give kudos for the story’s solid and detailed setting, both in the political and social aspects. It is evident that the author has done a lot of researches and is well-learnt about history. Even if us as the readers aren’t familiar with how life was during the Ming dynasty, as well as the history of ancient China in general, the illustrations provided in the narrative are more than sufficient to at least give an overall picture of the circumstances.
Furthermore, the plot, conflicts, and characters all fit perfectly into this historical setting, not excluding the real historical figures who were present in the plot. Nevertheless, the way these explanations were presented in the narrative were often too lengthy, jam-packed all at once in between scenes and dialogues that it ended up disrupting the story flow, not to mention that these explanations were sometimes repetitive.
While I understand (and very much appreciate) every bit of information regarding the historical aspects since I DO need it, I wished the way it was presented could be more well-distributed instead of having a bunch of information being dumped just like that in a single section. Sometimes, because the explanations were too long, by the time they returned to the plot, I almost already forgot what the characters were talking about beforehand.
CHARACTER: 7/10
I love Tang Fan and Sui Zhou’s dynamic. One is friendly, witty, and pleasant-looking while the other was stoic, strict, a man of very few words who wouldn’t easily socialize with just anyone. However, inside they could both be opposite of their outer appearance.
Tang Fan appeared gentle on the surface, but he had a tough heart and strong principle, preferring to break rather than bend. As for Sui Zhou, though it was mostly reserved for those he cherished (Tang Fan being the most frequent receiver), he was actually quite soft-hearted and a very caring man. He could also be witty and smart in his teasing, something that he exclusively reserved for Tang Fan alone.
They were admirable when working together to chase after the truth, and at the same time they were adorable when the world finally gave them a time to rest for just the two of them.
In a sea of corrupt officials and selfish people who were only thinking for their own benefits, having main characters like Tang Fan and Sui Zhou were like a glimmer of hope that despite so many bad people ganging up together, dragging the country into ruin, there were still those who were genuinely determined to do good things and keep their conscience clear.
Even character like Wang Zhi, despite his original motive being wanting to achieve great things for himself, ended up learning that he could still obtain his goal without playing dirty like many others around him. Actually, his character development was one that I appreciated the most, especially after reading his struggles and background story in the extras.
That said, perhaps I’m being too skeptical, but I feel that characters like Tang Fan, Sui Zhou, and Wang Zhi are rather exaggerated and unrealistic in real life. Tang Fan, especially, is borderline flawless if not for the torrents of misfortunes befalling him due to being righteous. I honestly could not imagine any real person nowadays would insist as hard as they did in this story, let alone being extremely smart like Tang Fan who practically always had a solution for 90% of the current and future troubles.
But again, first of all this is fiction and secondly, if not for characters like them, who would stand against those selfish and corrupt villains in the story? Despite me saying that the characters being a bit unrealistic, I actually enjoyed seeing those three burning the bad guys whenever they could.
I do not know what the author’s motivation was when she decided to write this novel in the first place, yet I couldn’t help but feel that it might stem from frustration towards corrupt government and injustice in families. Thus born a story where those insolent people were punished.
But of course, this is nothing more than my personal conjecture.
If I have to point one downside about the characterization, then similar to the way-too-lengthy-explanation mentioned above, there are also too many description on the characters’ “character” that it left little room for readers to imagine, because the narrative already dictated that “this character is definitely this”, “that character would obviously do that”, etc.
Honestly, the placement and repetitions of these descriptions are actually one of the main reasons Tang Fan’s character felt unrealistic because instead of discovering it on my own, I’m being choked full of dictations that I must perceive this character as such, allowing no opportunity for analysis.
TECHNICAL ASPECT: 7/10
Description of environments were clear and detailed to the point that I can almost visualize the scene in my head, including people’s gestures and expressions.
The only complaint I have about it was probably the info-dump and repetitive explanation that I’ve already mentioned above.
OVERALL SCORE: 7.3/10
One of the greatest things about Meng Xishi’s works that I’ve realized so far is that she always managed to tie everything nicely in the end, leaving no loose ends. The good ones were rewarded, the bad ones received retributions.
It’s a long story and reading it would sometimes prove to be exhausting, but it is gratifying and deserve another re-read in the future (if I manage to find the time to do it).
I just wish there had been more sweet personal moments of Tang Fan and Sui Zhou because most of the time, they always ended up getting interrupted by other people and their works. xD
Finally touching Priest’s work again after a long time~
Note(s):
(Very) long post ahead
Contains spoiler
This is my personal review and does not represent the entire audience
Summary:
Born into a life of poverty, at ten years old Cheng Qian was sold by his parents to a shady cultivator for the price of a silver ingot. Following his new Master, he became the disciple of a sect—questionable and unheard of—the Fu Yao sect.
Here, his path on cultivation began alongside his laid-back Master, a narcissistic and overly pampered eldest shixiong, a troublemaking second shixiong, and a former beggar, good-for-nothing shidi.
Life was peaceful and ordinary for the teenagers, despite having difficulties to get along due to their contrasting personalities and background. However, following a rare trip down the mountain with their Master, their undisturbed days came to an abrupt end and their life was turned upside down.
Forced to grow up in the face of unprecedented and seemingly unending hardships, the young disciples of Fu Yao sect found themselves entangled in conflicts dating back to the days of their predecessors centuries ago.
Being lost and found, separated and reunited, they must thread on the arduous path to reestablish their tattered family and sect.
STORY: 7/10
A story packed full of adventure, familial bond, growth and struggles to protect what one holds dear.
Throughout the story, we are presented with chronicles of how their predecessors—the ones that still lived and the ones who had passed—attempted to achieve greatness, some even straight out defy the will of Heavens, and a journey of the young disciples of Fu Yao sect from being a bunch of naive kids to gaining immeasurable strength after being thrown into a sudden tribulation.
Some failed, some were successful. Some was able to find peace at the end of the road, while some others strayed into a twisted path and causing ruin to themselves.
One could say it is both a typical “shounen” and “Xianxia” story, but the plot is so condensed and detailed from start to finish with no holes and fillers, laying out the intense journey of the once innocent youths as they grew into a much more reliable version of themselves.
A few parts of the story, especially in the later half, might be lost or confusing to those unfamiliar with Xianxia genre in general, but overall I feel that the story is written and closed nicely.
The earlier part started out rather slowly, but it served as a good and detailed introduction of the characters, making their character development in the later part of the story more “visible” and ‘tangible".
It has a great plot twist towards the end. Albeit rather typical, the execution was very well-done and it certainly made for a good closing after all the conflicts spread from start to finish.
Regarding the true villain itself, perhaps I’m the one who missed a few plot points while reading. I feel that his motive for doing all the bad things he did has a rather awkward position. If he became the way he was because of the wish made by Fu Yao sect’s former leader, then it meant his motive was “created” by fate and was “forced” onto him. But if I’m not mistaken, that wish of Fu Yao sect’s former leader was in the end not granted at all, so not only the villain became the way he was on his own accord, Fu Yao sect’s former leader also ended up jeopardizing his entire sect, all over an unachievable wish.
And finally, although the story overall was great and not lacking in intensity, I feel that I personally am no longer capable of vibing with this type of story. Some people may rate “Liu Yao” with a 9/10, but I could only give it 7/10. It’s neither the story or the author’s fault; the fault seems to lie entirely with me. If I were about ten years younger, I might have been mindblown-ed reading this. Unfortunately, I seem to be too old to get excited over a story of youthful growth and adventure. :’))
CHARACTER: 8/10
Clear, detailed, and accurate portrayal of character growth from naive teenagers to adults tempered by hardships. It was truly refreshing to see them rise from children who could do nothing but swallow humiliations, to great figures that others didn’t dare mess with, all through their own efforts.
As youths who knew nothing of the world, they were suddenly separated from the only adult figure in their life and was forced to mature on their own. They went from being disconnected and not getting along to inseparable, then a tribulation caused some of them to be lost, until they were reunited again much, much later.
It’s like a classic RPG-kind of story and characters. Each of them have a unique personality, strength, and weaknesses, and together they complemented each other very well like a perfect house with all the fitting parts in the right place. Although they aren’t immediately likeable for me at the start, they have good dynamics and this was further enriched as the story progressed.
I also quite like the awkward, yet adorable development between Cheng Qian and Yan Zhengming. The way their feelings grew until it was reciprocated was true to their characters with not a single moment of being out of place.
TECHNICAL ASPECT: 8/10
Great pacing, not too fast and not too slow. It’s just perfectly right to serve this type of story from start to end, the ups and downs are presented very well.
Sometimes there could be too many descriptions or explanations in-between scenes and dialogues that disturbed the flow a little, but it isn’t too much of a flaw.
Also, good sense of humor as usually found in Priest’s narratives.
OVERALL SCORE: 7.6/10
A great story of familial bond, growth, love, struggles, all packed in an intense adventure. I already said this before, but it really is like looking back on the stories of some of the most classic RPGs out there, with all the epic battle spread throughout the plot.
Again, I feel that I am already a bit too old to be able to enjoy this youthful growth and adventure. Thus, if you see people giving a higher score for “Liu Yao” than this, don’t be surprised, this story actually deserved it).
To sum it up, for me, “Liu Yao” is a very well-written story that I will read only once (twice, at most), because finishing it was really that exhausting (yet fulfilling).
Uploaded a new episode of DEVEREAUX’S LABORATORY. Changing things a bit from the first episode, dropping the Podcast and going for a straight up Vlog. In this episode, Dan, Todd, Mike and myself wax the first three records and try to decide what constitutes CLASSIC KISS. Enjoy…
While Paris is currently kicking off its collections, I’m reviewing this last collections shown in Milan from January 16th to 20th. I admit I’m not quite impressed with the overall style I’ve seen down the catwalks, but as usual there are some highs - very interesting highs. Let’s see together the best looks, day by day.
Day 1
Well I don’t actually know if Day 1 can be counted as first day of the fashion week, as the grand opening was exclusively given by DSquared2. You basically cannot help talking about it, as they were the only ones showing on January 16th, but in general I didn’t like the whole collection, celebrating the anniversary of the brand; it was obvious, predictable, boring.
Day 2
With day 2 the game was already at its full. Corneliani presented a collection with lovely furry coats and jackets with jersey lapels, while Ermenegildo Zegna (photo 1) left its usual classic style for something more innovative, at least in materials: from the waterproof wet-looking fabrics chosen for coats, windbreakers and even jackets and formal blazers, to the velvet going total look in some cases, everything had a glowing aura which made clothes look richer. The last part lost some of its charm, but overall it was a great great collection.
Edmund Ooi (photo 2) excited me with a collection I can just call avant-garde. Origami treatment to fabrics, gender crossing to its extremes - I would personally do without the little dresses for men, but they were anyway doing their job without appearing too strange -, optical prints, activewear style with formal suits: there was everything and yet nothing looked too much. Andrea Pompilio (photo 3) is one of those designers that I’m discovering more and more every new collection. This time the line gave me a feeling of sport in the 60s - which was, at least in clothes, much more elegant than activewear nowadays. I loved the colours - peach and sky blue above all - which were a sort of borderline pastel/neon - I know it sounds like a contradiction, but look at them! - going very bright in some instances - the red flashing down the runway in suits and jackets or the lemon yellow of the fluffy pullover at the end (now I know I need a fluffy pullover).
As usual with Jil Sander, the brand offered a collection for the minimal dandy of today, with basic coats, pullovers, and parkas, baggy trousers, everything brought to another level by the exquisite details. Les Hommes went for geometry with optical patterns on jerseys, shirts and even quilted on coats.
After womenswear collections in September, I was again blown away by how Versace (photo 4) is changing. Or better than changing, it’s still exactly the same, but in a new way: exaggeration, a key feature of the brand, is more subtle, more centered on proportions and quality of materials than in bling and ‘flamboyantness’. Loved the special closures for the jackets, replacing the classic buttons and I found very interesting the contrast in shape between oversize trousers and leggings.
Day 3
Calvin Klein Collection (photo 5) must have called this collection 'An Ode to Grey’: the most basic colour for one of the most basic brands, that’s it. I didn’t quite like the first part, but I really appreciated the second half with the plasticky loose trousers, high-waist military bomber - I think they were one of those pieces which you don’t really like at the beginning but they grow on you the more you look at them - and the maxi raincoats.
When I was looking for a suit for my graduation in February last year, I knew I wanted something classy but still with an edge, maybe in pattern, and I couldn’t really find it, so I had to buy the fabric and have it made to measure (but this is another story really). Anyway, now I know Vivienne Westwood (photo 6) understands me - not that I’ve ever had any doubts about that. It’s incredible how easy mixing patterns looks in these outfits - what about stripes and checks together? It goes from the very eccentric explosion of prints to the reassuring softness of the maxi pullovers. What I also liked was the range she showed: different types of crotch for the trousers, different length, different proportions.
I think my head is convinced of the fact Miuccia can do no wrong, but I know that even if the collection Prada showed in Milan these days could border boring for some people, I enjoyed it a great deal. I absolutely loved the fact she went for something we don’t usually expect by her ever-genius mind with its twists and coups de théâtre: the colour palette reduced to only black, different shades of grey, very dark navy blue, a little beige - and only one print, a tartan womenswear coat. Then I saw the shine in the black fabric of the first looks, and understood that all the twists and shocking details were more subtle this time. I saw the perfectly cut coats, and the girly shapes of the womenswear looks with a manly twist - are those bows in front of the dresses mimicking bow ties? Marvelous Miuccia.
To finish with the third day, it would be impossible not to talk about Moncler Gamme Bleu collection, designed by Thom Browne, who always manages to give the audience a great show. It was amusing and still a simple idea if you just think about it: coordinating the suits with the bomber they came out with. Genius.
Day 4
I’m not one of those who worship Giorgio Armani - or any other designer, with the exception of Thom Browne, maybe - for everything he does. But this Emporio Armani (photo 7) collection blew me away with its details. First of all, the delicate 'brushes of dirt’ giving light to some of the looks, from coats, to blazers and trousers; secondly, the fact that it was all about soft comfy knitwear - how comfortable must a pair of knitted trousers be?; last but not least, the maxi zippers designing diagonal lines on pullovers and trousers.
What Gucci (photo 8) showed on Monday was truly incredible. Just appointed creative director Alessandro Michele made me forget about Frida - still, I love her <3 - with a real miracle. I cannot help but thinking about the most obvious and stupid word for this collection: FANTASTIC. The biggest achievement of the line was, in my opinion, the whole rethinking of the now-so-cool concept of gender crossing, which in Michele’s hands became gender switching: menswear really looked like womenswear and viceversa. Men were wearing chiffon shirts with bows, lace tops, long bright coloured coats, while women went for suits for the most part. In Italy we say 'Il buongiorno si vede dal mattino’ (that literally means 'you can tell it’s a good day from the morning’, if something starts well, it’s going to continue well). I really hope that’s true, because this was an amazing morning.
Canali is the last brand of this day I want to talk about, relaxing my eyes with a smart, wearable collection of horizontal stripes in cream-coloured tones or black-and-grey, but most of all I was obsessed by the perfectly squared bags with zippers. I want one.
Day 5
Not much to say about this last day, even if some big names showed their collections, no one really caught my attention. It was instead Stella Jean (photo 9) who achieved something the others didn’t manage to do. I must admit I was excited to see this collection, and I wasn’t wrong. I loved the fact her style is recognisable even in the male wardrobe but in a toned-down way, more manly indeed. This time she travelled to India to find her inspiration for this amazing collection, where the simplicity of cut of the Asian country traditional clothes was perfectly mixed with the flamboyant prints we’re used to seeing in her work - which, after all, really suits India with its bright popping colours. It was a fascinating trip, and at the end I promised myself I will save some money to have one piece from her collection before next year. This girl is gonna be big.
Pros: A great training aid for golfers who struggle with the “flying elbow,” or staying connected during the swing. The Swing Shirt is simple and easy to use, eliminating the learning curve we see with some training aids.
I don’t understand chemical kinetics at all. Finals is in 2 days, and we still have 1 chapter left. I don’t even know how I will survive this quarter. T.T
I started learning French by using Duolingo. French is a very interesting language for me. The pronounciations are very hard, but with practice, I hope I could sound better.
Just spent a very overwhelming 2 and a half hours on my chemistry lab report. I have a chemistry exam tomorrow and to be honest I am not ready for it. T.T
Guess who is freaking out because the college sent out an email that UC applications for fall 2020 is now open? Me. I then just frantically search for like every single university I thought of and the application deadlines. I am 15 years old I am not supposed to suffer like this…
Today is super busy. There are 3 math homeworks due tomorrow, a lab report and prelab. Should’ve known better and started doing it since last week but procrastination is bae♀️
Today I am surprisingly productive! Studied math for a quiz tomorrow and done math homeworks that are due in two weeks. Also made notes for chemistry chapter 9. What is wrong with me?
I had chemistry lab today, and being the clumsy person I am I decided to spill sulfuric acid all over my hand -_- Thank goodness it is fine. Tomorrow I have chemistry exam and it is the first exam of the quarter! I really want to do well that’s why I am having late night reviews. Hope for the best tomorrow!
