#琅琊榜
Chinese Dramas ft. Snow and 1 Movie
First Slide (t to b, l to r):
1. Goodbye My Princess 东宫 2. Yanxi Palace 延禧攻略 3. House of Flying Daggers 十面埋伏 4. Killer and Healer 恨君不似江楼月 5. Tomb of the Sea 沙海 6. Nirvana in Fire 琅琊榜 7. Legend of Zhen Huan 甄嬛传 8. Word of Honor 山河令 9. Scarlet Heart 步步惊心
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Lin Shu mentioned that his handwriting changed because he didn’t have strength in his wrists anymore to write with thick, strong strokes.
However, in his final letter to Ni Huang, the handwriting wasn’t the plain, thin brushstroke of Mei Chang Su. It was Lin Shu’s original handwriting.
Did he force himself to write in his original handwriting? Because he wanted his final words to Ni Huang to be from “Lin Shu”?
I am sad.
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“I should’ve recognized him”
All those times when Jing Yan almost figured out Mei Chang Su’s real identity and made my heart squee (in vain)
Restless fingers
Not enough to put two and two together but enough to remind Jing Yan of his beloved Xiao Shu. Off-topic note: Hu Ge’s hands aresobeautiful.
Water buffalo
Squee moment for me and it was such a strong clue because only Lin Shu called him that. But Mei Chang Su diverted it to Ni Huang. Jing Yan, why are you so gullible?
Jiu An mountain
Royal Consort Jing’s reaction and the way Mei Chang Su drew his sword to explain his strategy and knowing the secret passageways in the mountains… Jing Yan didn’t buy the Ni Huang excuse this time. I was so excited!
Mei Shi Nan
This broke my heart. I was 99% sure Jing Yan had it all figured out. Even the way he replied Mei Chang Su, “After asking you, I’ll go ask my mother as well”, almost like he’s saying, “Don’t try to bluff me anymore, I got you cornered.” Even Lin Shu was uncertain if he could maintain the pretense. I was so happy until his mother’s response and seeing Jing Yan’s shock because he was so sure that his wildest hope had come true. ☹️
On the other side of things, Lin Shu’s expressions are hard to watch too, the way his fist clenches in order to suppress his own emotions. He probably longs for that friendship to go back to what it once was but having chosen a one-minded pursuit of justice and clearing his family name, he was ready to give that up as well.
The situation surrounding Lin Shu and Jing Yan makes me emotional, never mind that I spent almost the whole series of the same mind as Meng Zhi, who was probably as desperate to reveal Mei Chang Su’s secret to Jing Yan as much as I was, even though I understood why he had to keep his identity a secret.
The resulting situation is a case of Jing Yan not realizing that the Lin Shu who he dearly misses is the very person standing right in front of him. Episode 33 has one of my favorite Lin Shu-Jing Yan moments. The doubt in Jing Yan’s heart regarding Mei Chang Su is saddening, all the more for Lin Shu who is clearly sincere and loyal to him but this is hidden behind the manipulative image of a strategist. Lin Shu’s face when he kneels before Jing Yan trying to stop the latter from going a suicide mission is heartbreaking because he can’t really defend his sincerity towards the prince considering his Mei Chang Su identity at the same time he doesn’t really know what caused Jing Yan to suddenly think the worst of him.
It culminates in a fantastic exchange in the heavy snow. Although Jing Yan is about to embark on something strategically stupid, what’s obvious is his pain over the Chiyan case where he couldn’t help Lin Shu. It’s still causes him grief to the point where he’s insistent on rescuing Wei Zheng, more to alleviate his pain over the loss of Lin Shu than anything else, to compensate for not being able to do anything 13 years ago. It’s an emotional scene because Lin Shu is aware of how Jing Yan feels and is terrified that the latter would just willingly throw his life away in vain because of this matter. This is why Lin Shu doesn’t reveal his identity.
After all is said and done, I feel bad for Jing Yan because he wants so badly to be able to help Lin Shu, 13 years ago and in the present. But 13 years ago, he truly couldn’t do anything other than fall out of favor with his father and 13 years later, yet again, he couldn’t really help Lin Shu the way he wanted, couldn’t even convince his friend to resume his original identity. In fact it’s Lin Shu who gives him power and the empire, sacrificing his name so that there’ll be no talk of traitors around Jing Yan’s reputation and sacrificing his life to protect his land.
In some ways, Lin Shu really died at Mei Ling, and Mei Chang Su is a living shadow of what he used to be hence his final insistence to return to the battlefield to join the rest of his fallen comrades. But for those who are still alive, for Jing Yan, losing his Xiao Shu again and this time without the luxury of a preposterous hope that he could somehow still return but with actual finality is emotionally brutal. And yet again, he could not ride out to battle beside him.
Being so close yet separated by the fallout of the Chiyan case is what makes this bromance tug at the heartstrings.
When I think about it, it’s insane that I missed out on this drama back in 2015. The irony is that I was aware of the crazy buzz around it but it was a long time since I last watched any c-dramas, long as in like 10 years, and was just too preoccupied with other shows like Game of Thrones. Now I realize what a mistake it was to give Nirvana in Fire (NiF) a pass back then because I’m certain I would’ve jumped on the bandwagon straightaway since this show satisfies all my dramatic cravings: the emotionally epic bromance, the complex plotting, the historical setting, well-developed characters (including the supporting ones), the grand score… I’m late to the party but I guess better late than never.
A large part of my love for NiF stems, of course, from Hu Ge’s sublime performance as Mei Chang Su. The crazy thing is that I’ve heard of Hu Ge, the actor, but never knew that he was the face of all those Emporio Armani ads that I’ve seen. So my brain was initially swimming in confusion thinking, “He’s not actually a model??” That was fun, trying to assimilate the face I knew with Hu Ge, the actor. Mei Chang Su is such an enchanting character, not just in his physical beauty and graceful carriage but also in the wealth of emotion hidden behind his calm facade.
Just this performance alone has me converted as a Hu Ge fan. His eyes express so much as Liu Tao mentioned in her interviews and I can completely understand why she’s so fangirl-y over Hu Ge in some of the press they did.
On a side note, why did they choose such a cryptic Nirvana in Fire as the English title? The Chinese title translates to “The Langya List” which makes more sense considering the context of the show.
As much as I love Jing Yan and Lin Shu’s bromance, Prince Jing and Mei Chang Su’s master-strategist dynamic is pretty intriguing too especially when you’re re-watching and know how close they were in the past. Prince Jing makes it clear from the very beginning that he despises strategists for the way they manipulate people and situations but he accepts Mei Chang Su’s offer on the condition that the latter does not use unscrupulous methods. By all accounts, their relationship does not require anything more intimate than discussing court matters and how to maneuver a situation. That is why when Prince Jing asks why can’t he visit Mei Chang Su when he’s ill, the latter is taken aback by this notion. In that scene, Prince Jing did have a matter to discuss but his teasing is surprising. It could be that he was impressed with Mei Chang Su’s ideas when he invited him to his mansion previously but somewhere in the back of his mind, he’s thinking that maybe he doesn’t have to be so cold and formal to his strategist. And then he starts to notice the little things in Mei Chang Su that remind him of Lin Shu.
Later, it’s clear that Jing Yan cares a bit more about Mei Chang Su than he needs to. This is made even clearer when Meng Zhi becomes part of their cabal and it’s obvious how different Jing Yan treats them even though they’re both his allies and technically working for him. I like that the show gives you just enough exposition to makes you wonder just how much of Jing Yan’s attachment to Mei Chang Su is due to his seeing bits of his best friend in his strategist. And how much of Lin Shu is he projecting onto Mei Chang Su? Lin Shu’s absence is still very painful for Jing Yan and now he meets this person who tugs at his Lin Shu heartstrings.
Come episode 33 when their relationship seems about to fall apart, Jing Yan’s anger is understandable but also close to unreasonable. He refuses to give Mei Chang Su the benefit of the doubt or a chance to discuss matters despite all the previous occasions where he has proven himself to be unlike other strategists. Jing Yan tells Zhan Ying that he’s disappointed hence his extreme action of wanting to sever ties to the strategist but his response is obviously someone who’s emotionally hurt that Mei Chang Su isn’t the person that he imagined or perhaps wanted to be. It takes someone like Zhan Ying, who’s not emotionally involved, to be able to consider the situation with a calmer perspective.
When Mei Chang Su is arrested by the Xuan Jing bureau, Jing Yan so badly wanted to go rescue him but was restrained by Zhan Ying’s reasoning. I can totally see Jing Yan spending those three days pacing about furiously and helplessly in his room with the fear of history possibly repeating itself. What if he couldn’t help Mei Chang Su in the same way that he couldn’t help Lin Shu previously? By the time Mei Chang Su is summoned by the emperor for questioning, Jing Yan was willing to lead a rebellion to rescue him like one would for a brother-in-arms not a mere strategist. This time he’s not miles away when his best friend is in trouble. To Jing Yan, Mei Chang Su must seem like something of a second Lin Shu except of course, you see the irony in that statement.
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I don’t know if it’s just me but I always feel like Zhen Ping is taking a tiny jab at Jing Yan’s conscience in this scene where he stops them from seeing Mei Chang Su after the latter falls ill from his ordeal at the Xuanjing bureau. Zhen Ping’s way of speaking and mannerisms are completely polite but it’s what he says that got my attention. In this scene, he tells Jing Yan that his master’s health has been worse ever since the winter started. This is kind of sufficient explanation by itself, in that cold weather is detrimental to Mei Chang Su. But he goes on to bring up the incident where Mei Chang Su stood in the snow in order to stop him from recklessly trying to save Wei Zheng. In other words, his master is sicker than usual because of him. Poor Jing Yan was already pained from wrongly judging his strategist to be heartless and immoral, and here he looks even more guilty when Zhen Ping mentions this.
The amusing thing is that Jing Yan’s subordinate (I didn’t catch this guy’s name) looks at him and breaks the awkward silence by saying that Jing Yan wasn’t here to trouble Mei Chang Su. He just wanted to see how he’s doing, like he’s not going to make Mei Chang Su stand in the freaking snow again.
Am I reading too much into this scene? LOL.
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I know that you’re my Lin Shu-gege…
One of the scenes in Nirvana in Fire that I find myself re-watching every now and then. What I really liked about it is that Ni Huang realizes that Mei Chang Su is Lin Shu from the emotion in his face, not really from some cross-examination of his words or behavior. For a moment after she finds that Mei Chang Su doesn’t have the mole/birthmark that Lin Shu has, Ni Huang is actually in despair that she might have mistaken his actual identity. But then she looks at his face and Mei Chang Su’s tears give him away even though he managed to verbally parry all of her probing questions earlier.
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We always used to go to battle together. I’ve yet had to watch you go first, while I remain behind.
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babies ( ¯ ³¯ )
P.S. made a lofter for langyabang stuff: banafria.lofter.com
I’m starting to forget what I have / have not posted, brain too full of 琰琰
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It’s just that…in the past we always went into battle together. I’ve never had to watch you go while I could only stay behind.
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However it’s exactly because Prince Jingyan is this kind of person, that makes him the good friend that Chiyan’s young general could befriend way back then, and the future lord that Mei Changsu can support today.
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但是在骨子里面，他卻還是那個好心腸的蕭景琰，還是那個……有時欺負我，有時又被我欺負的好朋友……
But deep inside he’s still that good-hearted Xiao Jingyan, and he’s still….. that good friend who sometimes bullied me, and sometimes got bullied by me…….
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