It always destroys me, how Mei Changsu plays up his shemingness and ruthlessness, pretending to be evil strategist, just so Jingyan doesn't accidently start liking him. Like, he knows, he has to, that Jingyan might like him anyway, even without revealing his true identity. And that if he likes him he will put him above the crown in his list of priorities. Just...
I have been in a love/hate relationship with this video for 2 years, making sure it was perfect, but I'm so happy and proud of how it turned out. This is my first Nirvana In Fire video, and hopefully, I will be making more.
This video is dedicated to @not-saying-revolution-but after she made me a gifset from Guardian.
Drama: Nirvana In Fire (琅琊榜)
Song: This is War
Artist: Thirty Seconds to Mars
Edit: imsorryandthankyou
Falling in love with their boyfriend's more scheming, sickly identities and actually appreciating and caring about that side of them before they find out that their boyfriend is actually the bright, glorious sun that was their childhood love
Here we have the brightest boy in Jinling City - Zhang Zhehan as the young Lin Shu from Nirvana in Fire.
The inspiration for this fig is pulled from several different places in the show, but the primary inspiration was brief flashback scene near the end of Episode 40. It's been cut out on the version on YouTube, but it is watchable on Viki, starting at 39:00 in the episode. I can't download it from Viki, but I do have a small clip I downloaded from somewhere years ago that plays out this scene:
Apologies for the lack of attribution, I am not sure who originally posted this.
I took a couple screenshots in better definition so you can see more of the detail:
I hate to admit this, but I have not watched Nirvana in Fire yet despite it's epic reputation. BUT I'm hoping to start next week! I have a long flight ahead of me and plenty of time to get started on it's 54 episodes.
I loved this clip when I saw it because of how delightful it was - the young Lin Shu is adorable, with a smile that can really can light up the city.
He arrived safely tucked into his polystyrene box. The little cutout to the right side of him didn't have anything in it. My guess is that it was originally for his lantern, but (very thankfully) it came pre-installed. We won't need to have me sweating over trying to carefully slide it into his little hand.
The pearl is definitely as big as a chicken egg!
The (fish? frog? tadpole?) lantern in his hand is SUPER cute. It's also from the show as well, since I recall seeing a clip of him carrying it, but unfortunately I don't have a shot of it. When I watch the show I will keep an eye out for it, and come back and update this.
This is also a good angle to see the beauty mark on his left ear. This fig maker always adds the beauty marks to Zhehan and Gong Jun's ears.
The lantern is really too cute. Look at the little feet! I'm a complete sucker for those claymation animals with the googly eyes, and this totally reminded me of it. I'm so, so grateful that this didn't arrive broken and once again that I didn't have to wrangle glue on it to stick it into his hand.
The scales on the lantern! Such great detail.
I love figs with cloaks. Here you can see the little bit of detailing for the fur trim.
As you can tell by the fig stand, this little guy did not stand up on his own. You might think the weight of that enormous pearl might drag him forward, but no, the weight of his head kept tipping him back. I glued him down right away - no chance of this little cutie falling and breaking something!
He's not in his full armor here like he was in the clip, he's wearing clothes that Lin Shu wears elsewhere. I think it was a good call by the fig maker to have the clothes be recognizable enough without being overpowering. It really allows the pearl and the lantern to take center stage.
I love this fig, I think he's just so cute.
The fig maker really captured the youthful roundness of his face, and rendered his hair perfectly. The detail on the fur trim on his cloak is subtle but very nice. Just a great execution all the way around.
He's wearing black pants tucked into his black boots, but it's a little difficult to see due to the color.
It's easier to see from this angle.
You can see more detail on the guan here, and we have a nice shot of his hand holding the pearl and the googly eyes on the lantern.
I like the hair a lot on this fig, it's a great look.
This fig maker always has great box card art, and you can see the name of the fig here - Pearl of the East China Sea.
I knew Lin Shu will die, even when I watched Nirvana in Fire for the first time. I knew it now even better, since I was rewatching it. And yet, why does it always hurt anyway?
someone needs to write an essay on how Lin Shu is angry & jealous that Jingyan falls in love with Mei Changsu while Mei Changsu is please as punch & smug as hell that Jingyan falls in love with him bcs it doesn't matter whether he's Lin Shu (gallant, chivalrous, & full of vigor) or Mei Changsu (frail, pathetic, & always scheming), Jingyan will always love him