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Three Garridebs

@3garridebs.bsky.social

18 followers 24 following 290 posts

Here to talk about what I like, which (among other things) is mysteries. Previously『金田一少年の事件簿』 (Young Kindaichi's Case Files, manga). Currently《成化十四年》(Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, cdrama not novel). SPOILERS. Occasional Japanese & Chinese.

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Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · Oct 20

When I suddenly remembered Akechi can speak fluent English.

Color pencil sketch of characters from Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo (Young Kindaichi's Case Files) warning you about spoilers for this series. Miyuki, Kenmochi, & Kindaichi speak in Japanese, while Akechi speaks in English.

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Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 18

Sadly, this also marked the high point of the show. From here on out, right when the story should start tightening, it begins to unravel. All the emotional moments could not make up for a bloated plot, sloppily resolved or dropped threads, & poor pacing.😔

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 18

Could ep.28 be my favorite in the whole show for this sequence alone?? No wonder they put this in the trailer.😅 丁容's decision, the chain rescue (汪植➡️唐泛, 隋州➡️汪植, 賈逵➡️隋州), 崔媽媽 being like, "My hairstick is a dagger you peon"... (Man this set-up for her moment in the last arc was not followed thru enough.)

Sketches of 3 scenes: Top is Ding Rong dropping a lit torch. Comment states, "FUCK YEAH 丁容!!" Bottom-left is Wang Zhi shooting his gun. Bottom-right is Madame Cui with hairstick in raised hand, about to stab someone. The comment states, "This whole sequence is so epic, it must be the Jackie Chan influence."

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 18

Ep.28 was also when I understood why there were fanvids on bilibili shipping 2 eunuchs lmfao. Yet another apology to 丁容 who I can't draw for shit. 汪植 & 賈逵's silent communication kicked ass (汪: isn't it time to shoot these m- 賈: no), I wanted the whole rest of the show to focus on the 西廠 side.

Sketches of two scenes. Top is Ding Rong yelling, 住手! (Stop!). A comment adds, "This is such a fun episode. So tense &ｗ/ so many different motivations all gathering at 歡意樓...
Bottom is three panels showing Wang Zhi starting to pull his gun out from his sleeve, glancing over at Jia Kui, who gestures for him to desist. A comment states, "OMG love this scene so much (I suck at hands I'm sorry)"

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 18

Help I cannot stop making fun of 隋州's actor I'm sorry. But it's frustrating b/c 賈逵, who has far fewer lines & scenes than 隋州, still pulls off the stoic type better. (賈逵 is 隋州's foil on team 汪植 btw. I wish he had more scenes!)

Also the 汪督公汪大人 line... 你們稱他一聲汪公公會死嗎?

Sketches of two scenes.
Top: Ding Rong and Wan Tong face off. Comment states, "LMAO I'm sorry to 丁容, this looks nothing like him (dgaf about 萬通)
Bottom: A quote from the show, "哪位是汪督公汪大人啊? (Which one of you is Director Wang?)", w/ Wang Zhi and Sui Zhou reacting to it. Wang Zhi is visibly more expressive than Sui Zhou.

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 18

Quick #sketches for ep.28 of #成化十四年. #汪植 & 崔媽媽's relationship is...🤔 but their sighing contest was funny. Her counterpart on team 唐泛 is 東姑, the noodle-shop lady. Once you recognize the foil set-up you can't unsee. Such a shame that the show was too undisciplined to pull off coherence.

Pencil sketches of 3 scenes. Top: Ｗang Zhi sitting at a round dining table being poured a drink by Madame Cui, w/ a comment stating, "Seriously though what is their relationship lol."
Middle: Sui Zhou looking chagrined, w/ comments stating, "隋州 like, FFS did you have to pick this place?? (This actor's best performance in the whole show XP)."
Bottom: Back shot of Wang Zhi standing on the second story landing, looking down on two people below, w/ a comment stating, "Love this shot <3"

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 17

Can't emphasize enough how important it is to show vulnerability for a character to feel like flesh-&-blood. This doesn't mean having them cry all day but it does mean allowing them to experience the full spectrum of human emotion. A character who only shows 1 side is someone we keep at a distance.

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 17

Finally, 汪植 having a mild panic attack after the emperor's threat made him feel so human. Loved the detail of him trying to do this in private but then 丁滿 "random" encounter forced him to shove it all inside.🥺 I wanted to kick 丁滿's ass lmao. Alas I didn't like how the 丁滿 plotline resolved.

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 17

I enjoyed the confrontation w/ 李子龍 (despite rather childish dialogue) b/c of the continuity from 唐泛's meeting w/ him. This sequence further entrenches 汪植 as the 2nd MC & 唐泛's foil. The story makes far more sense when seen this way, rather than being stuck on 唐 as sole protagonist ala the novel.

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 17

Ep.26 also includes 汪植's chat w/ 李子龍 & the introduction of the bomb. The 1st time I watched it, I thought it was a chemical weapon 😆. This was the moment when 丁容 transformed into Bunter from Sayers' Lord Peter series, who "out-Jeeved Jeeves." ❤️ the occasional allusions to detective fiction.

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 17

I was rewatching #成化十四年 ep.26 when I got inspired to draw quick sketches of fav scenes rather than more involved sketches. I REALLY enjoyed eps.26-29, the mini-arc about imposter!錦衣衛, culminating in the hostage situation at 歡意樓. The way this show later crushed my burgeoning expectations.😭

Pencil sketches of scenes from episodes 26 & 27. Top: labeled Ep. 26, note says, "One-man bomb squad 丁容" showing the character handling a grenade-like object. Lower left: note says, "汪植 like, 'Oh shit I'm holding a bomb,'" showing the character clutching a box by the handle and looking distressed. Lower right: labeled "Ep. 27" with an accompanying quote in Chinese, 不聽朕話的人, 一個不留. This translates to, "None who disobeys me can live."

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

To conclude, the mystery itself was a little unmemorable; felt like a lot of waiting around for bad guys to slip up. I also think famine is too serious a topic for such a lighthearted work; dinner scene was fun, but having your hero heartily chow down in the aftermath of ppl starving is...a choice.😅

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

#spoiler Anyway, their amusing banter over dinner is reminder 564095 of why 汪直 is a welcome character in the book: he makes 唐泛 feel like a human being. Also, we discover 汪直 doesn't like sweets, in the author's ongoing crusade to overcompensate for him being a eunuch. He is MAN, you understand? MAN!!

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

#spoiler Then, in the segue to the next arc, he & 唐泛 have dinner to catch up, wherein we hear about all kinds of fun politics that happened offscreen 🙄 I for one would like to see this unfold rather than have it narrated to me. If it's not possible, just cut it out & focus on mysteries.

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

#spoiler The highlight of the arc was 汪直, who really is the highlight of the whole novel. Even his apps in the author's notes are funny. In short, he sweeps in on horseback, stops an attack w/ a flick of his jade thumb ring, then reads an imperial decree from on high. I'm here for it.

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

#spoiler Also 隋州's "role" here...boy this character is sad. His whole personality is that he wants to bang 唐泛. He was here to wash the guy's feet & save him from some assassins.😭 I had thought he was underdeveloped in the show, now I see that they didn't have much to work with.

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

#spoiler Halfway through, the author even made 陸靈溪 go all the way to the capitol w/ a message for 汪直 (or 懷恩, author insisted on adding so we don't forget who to blame for 陸 lmao), then had him get sent back by 汪直. I--just make 汪直 responsible for 陸 from the get-go ffs!

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

#spoiler I like 懷恩 the historical figure so it's nice that she put him in, but since he's obviously NOT important, I don't see why he was mentioned. The fact that 汪直 has a (hugely epic) cameo at the end makes 懷恩's involvement even more pointless.

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

#spoiler Yes, they do have brief roles here, but 隋州 appearing in a Beard Disguise ala 汪直 in the Tang Family Drama arc seems an unnecessarily roundabout way of getting him involved. Instead of 陸靈溪 being sent by 懷恩, you could just have 汪直 & 隋州 pulling strings to have the latter join 唐泛 from the start.

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

#spoiler 100 chapters in & you introduce a "love rival" that is no threat whatsoever? WHY?? Can't we just have more time w/ the existing characters?! Why can't the situation be written so that 隋州 & 汪直 have more scenes? I don't even care about 隋州 & I still think he should show up more!

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

#spoiler The 吳江 famine arc (ch.110-121) has a solid premise w/ an easy moral victory. No need to waste time feeling sympathy for the bad guys, simply bask in the light of justice as they are schooled by our heroes. Sadly the arc was ruined by 陸靈溪, an annoying, clingy little brat I wanted to kick.

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

Since I'm on ch.137, it feels weird to continue my #ImmediateReactions thread for the #成化十四年 #webnovel that stopped at ch.30. I figured I'd do reactions by arc from now on. The last couple have been "Chinese mystery classics" haha, famine cover-up followed by cheating on national exams. 1st, famine.

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

(I have nothing against magic, btw, & read fantasy all the time, but it needs to be REALLY well done for me to accept in mysteries. I thought we were going to get a cool trick, not magical nighttime sandstorm hiding dudes standing in an 8-point formation. 真是哭笑不得)

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

I badly wanted the novel to scratch this itch but most of the politics happen offscreen & 汪直's machinations never work unless he's helping 唐泛 b/c 唐泛 is the only ally worth having.😭 Later on literal magic happens in the prelude to a historical battle. I-- Disappointment all around.

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

This scene makes me laugh in retrospect b/c it led NOWHERE. I thought we were going to get more corruption cases ➡️ political purges, & 汪植 putting in allies while working w/ 隋唐. Instead we got...uh. (Listen, if 2 of your 3 MCs can't fight, the climatic confrontation shouldn't be a big battle.)

Three Garridebs @3garridebs.bsky.social · May 11

Reference screenshot. It's dawned on me that giving up on the background meant I didn't draw the light from the window & now all the shading on his clothes makes no sense.😶‍🌫️