Ice Fantasy 幻城 - Episode 14 (Recap)
kakashi: Shit hits the fan in this ep. The Fire King gets really mad and shows us how nasty he really is. Maybe he was just too lazy before or thought he could delegate some of the important stuff like beating Kasuo to his kids? Poor Kasuo, as if it were our gentle prince's fault that Fire Daddy is such a bad parent.
SakiVI: what is with this rage against KaSuo, anyway? The person Fire King lost to in both war and marriage (I won't call it love) was the Ice King.
JoAnne: Better hair. He can't get past it.
Li Luo learnt the art of sleeping standing up from Turnip. Funny how no one actually cares about Lan Shang, just how the Fire King might use her.
There's just something fishy about her, I can't help it.
Lan Shang is still in her fish tank and her splashing wakes the old slave. When she hears that her son has been eaten by snakes, she faints. Gross Nobleman comes in and steps close to collect his pearls ... a perfect opportunity for Lan Shang to hit him with her tail and free herself with his knife. He drowns. Good.
Not totally dippy, then.
Wait, though. Who is he? Why is his nose like that? He's just dead, no story? boo.
Lan Shang is free, but she forgot about the fire snake. Oups! Lan Shang is bitten!
These trial of life will make her a stronger, less dippy person. Maybe.
Do we care, though?
Dreamer, the jack-of-all-trades, has "sensed an intense dream of a merchant" who has captured Lan Shang, and because his dreams come with location service, our Ice Princes now know where to go. In the middle of a forest? Seriously? That's where the merchant kept Lan Shang?
Guess so. Far from people who might knock and all that.
Oh looksie! The Fire Princess and Prince also arrive - they must have their own location service. Shuo Gang calls Shi and Kasuo "homeless dogs", haha. They start a fight, Kasuo seems to be burning to kick this asshole's ass, actually, but Shi starts running away - I am guessing to go get Lan Shang, whom they know to be nearby? - but is pursued by Yan Da, who seems determined to kill him.
Shuo Gang is always eyeing up Yan Da. Just ew. (But it's okay for Shi, even if he turns out to be her half-brother, as far as I am concerned.)
Shi gets a free pass, yep.
Conveniently, Shi almost trips over Lan Shang right then and there, who must have run to this forest since we last saw her. Yes, I'm providing all these likely explanations for this completely weird stuff. We need them, though. Yan Da is still following him, looking exceptionally beautiful today. They fight some more and it seems Shi is no match for her. Is he even fighting?
He doesn't fight her. He just lets her take out her rage and is all understanding, and it's okay because we know he's actually powerful enough to win the fight, but he chooses not to.
*insert swoon here*
All of a sudden, Lan Shang turns green and strange. Oh, and she grows long canines! Just like a snake! What kind? It's the curse of the Fire Snake! But she's not red like the snake. Or like fire. No, definitly green. She attacks Yan Da (Shi shouts a warning, awww bless), but Yan Da gets bitten anyway. It looks like the teeth did not really pierce her leather armor though? Shi runs to her defense and gets bitten in turn - there is blood. Lan Shang faints, but Li Luo is riding to their aid at high speed, zooming them up on her horse. This is all extremely funny, especially those puppets you see on the horse.
Nope, Yan Da just lost some armor decoration.
I just...I mean... Well anyway, bless you guys, for continuing to love this the way you do. I like it, but it's definitely WTF and that 'F' doesn't stand for fire. Hmmm. WTF IF...we just throw a unicorn in here, for fun? WTF IF...we have mermaids? WTF IF...the owls talk? Yes, this show is now WTF IF for me.
Lan Shang is put on a makeshift bed (they're camping in the forest now, how romantic!) and the Healer Huang Tuo is called. He recognizes the effects of the thousand-year-old fire snake immediately and is ultra surprised to see that she has already been cured of the poison! Yes, indeed, she's up and hugs Kasuo, first chance she gets. Hands off, Lan Shang! Find your own man. The strange thing about all this is: that particular poison can only be cured by the blood of the Fire Tribe. Weiiiiiird. Shi thinks it's because she bit Yan Da first, but we know better.
Dun dun da dun!
WTF Clue, now.
When Fire King hears of his children's failure, he fire remote slaps them:
Ain't that a bitch!
Then, teach them the methods to use. Also, anyone else find him a strange person to be a dad of such grown-ups? Maybe he just looks too good, wonder woman styling aside.
The disgruntled parent has had enough. He knows who is to blame: Kasuo! He is done underestimating him. Oups. He really means it when he says he'll put an end on this once and for all.
If he's really able to put an end to things once and for all, then he has been wasting time.
She makes a good point, Kakashi.
Kasuo et al. deliver Lan Shang to the Mermaid Saint - luckily, their abode is currently floating on the water. It can also submerge and down there, nobody can breath without the Teardrop Charm. But ... it's a trap!!! The Fire Brats are already there! And Daddy Dearest!!!! Crap crap crap! He has the Mermaid's ice crystal!
Do they only need one Teardrop Charm for breathing? The Mermaid Saint should have one.
I've been wondering about that myself. Is it one charm per person? Or is it more like a mosquito zapper, one charm works for a particular radius?
He demands the rest of the crystal leaves from Kasuo in exchange for a painless death, but Kasuo decides to fight this one out. Oh no! Kasuo!!!
Kasuo is not really a warrior for all his talents in fighting and magic. There is not that desire to destroy.
What's Kasuo going to do, that lovie? Death by muffin doesn't seem all that intimidating.
Oh no! All your painfully collected ice crystals!!!
Arrrgh!
This Fire King is really a pain in my ass.
And then, in a maelstrom of fire, he kidnaps Kasuo and plunges him, white haired and blue eyed again, here: Desperadom (DF) or Globe of Despair (viki).
And we'll find out why.
I mean, Desperadom? Subbers don't just generally invent names out of whole cloth, and that name is cheesy enough to be on par with WTF IF. I need these discrepancies explained! I wish the two groups would get together and make a post about how they decided to do certain things. 'WTF IF: Translations'
Poor Kasuo. He looks happy, watching the soap bubbles. He's that kind of guy. He is happy until he hears the Fire King say: "This is Desperadom, a place no one can escape from or enter freely!" And there he is, the Fire King, gazing down on him.
That can't feel good, Kasuo.
Yeah, soap bubbles get sticky fast. And they leave stains on delicate fabric, too!
Fire King - now materializing inside the globe - has thought of something particularly cruel to end Kasuo's life. For immortals, the worst thing isn't losing their friends or their family, he says. But it's the worst if they have to witness these events helplessly.
That's probably true for everyone, Fire King. It's not like you had some particular insight on this.
Kasuo tries to fight Mr. Fire with all he's got, but he stands no chance against the Fire King, who has created the rules of this place. And this is what he plans to do to Kasuo: destroy his immortal powers. Make him feel true despair. Oh shit.
I supposed this is their immortals version of hanging and quartering.
Well no, because hanging and quartering would kill you. The whole goal here is to keep Kasuo alive but helpless, so I'm thinking it's more of a Boxing Helena situation, minus the unhealthy romantic obsession. Although I'm not entirely ruling that out, either.
The pain Kasuo feels because of Fire King's fire is excruciating, but he is holding on... his family needs him, his tribe needs him, the death of his siblings cannot be in vain. He must restore the Ice Tribe's glory. Oh, smirks Mr. Fire, then you must really want these back? And he floats all the ice crystal towards Kasuo ...
.. and shatters them right in front of his face. Goddamit.
Wow. This Fire King is one very handsome jerk!
That was just stupid. The whole idea was to collect all the crystals so that he could control all the tribes. Uh, what now, Fire King?
He thought that torturing Kasuo was way more fun.
Shi, who escaped the fire soldiers with the others, feels a horrible fiery pain in his heart and knows his brother is in serious trouble. Their bromance is too intense for me to be comfortable with it because I ship Shi with Yan Da. Also, I suspect Shi is just prone to heartburn. He happens to look up into the sky and sees Fire King's magic... and his own (the ice version) reacts, strongly, and he's pulled off his feet and up into the globe.
So, Shi has two magics within him.
He's both Fire and Ice, I guess - shouldn't he be even more fabulous than either, then? He's quite restrained in his appearances, generally.
Up there, Kasuo is still fighting. Did you think he would be that easily crushed, Fire King?
I suppose Kasuo's natural power was a good reason for the Fire King to be obsessed with him.
Hotness. The Ice Prince's hotness makes the Fire King burn with passion.
Sadly, the Fire King has all the power - Kasuo is still bound by the painful fire chains that sucks his immortal powers away. But suddenly, Shi appears ... white hair and blue eyes. Look how beautiful he is.
I'm looking. Le Sigh.
Wow. He's so pretty, isn't he? Love the restraint with the hair and the headpiece. We could use more of that around here.
Shi runs towards Kasuo and the Fire King attacks - but Kasuo throws himself between the fire and his brother. That's too much for him. Kasuo: out. But he is not dead, says the Fire King, after warding off a rather powerful attack by Shi. He has a bit of his soul left, so that he can experience the ultimate punishment for gods: utter powerlessness.
That's a horrible fate for anyone, actually.
Shi takes his lifeless brother back down to earth (the Ice Fantasy version of earth, that is), where Huang Tuo does what he can. But Kasuo is too gravely wounded, all his organs are basically steak. There is only one thing that can save him: human blood and mermaid scales for medicine that then needs to be applied to all his organs by hand, after which he will be stitched up again with immortal grass. No mistakes allowed. No, I did not make this up.
I believe you!
Huang Tuo does not look too enthused about the job ahead of him. I still think he looks like Si Won's less attractive brother.
Coincidence has it that both human blood and mermaid scales are available and the horribly dangerous procedure can be done. Thus, Kasuo keeps his life - but there is absolutely no magic left in him. The Mermaid Saint (now released by the Fire King, she is so unpleasant!) allows him to recuperate on her island, but she thinks the Ice Tribe is done for. At episode 14, I somewhat doubt that. But Kasuo sure looks ill.
He just had major surgery, and so would look sick. But the surgery didn't kill his magic, it was the Fire King, right?
Yes, the surgery saved him. But not his magic. It's been fried away.
Does he lose immortality as a result?
Yes.If so, bonus: no problem with him and Li Luo getting busy with making the world's cutest babies.
In the meantime, the Fire Brats distribute ice dildos to our tribe leaders. It's a summons. By the Ice King and Queen.
'You better get here right now or I will fuck you up.'
Hand is up. I thought the Fire King would lose for sure, especially once Shi got in there. He is, indeed, an Evil Jeyneeus.
Well, but if the Fire King lost, doesn't the story end? The good guys have to lose in order for the story to keep going. We're not watching a story about the bad guys who keep on trying until they eventually win, after all.
SakiVI: what is with this rage against KaSuo, anyway? The person Fire King lost to in both war and marriage (I won't call it love) was the Ice King.
JoAnne: Better hair. He can't get past it.
Episode 14
For whatever weird reason, Li Luo stands in the courtyard with her eyes closed the next morning. Kasuo is quite worried, but she was just sleeping and the Lord of Dreams sent her a warning in her dream (extremely delayed, but hey, better late than never): The Mermaid Saint is under house arrest. Lan Shang has escaped but the Fire Tribe is after her. The problem: Mermaid Saint hat the last ice crystal, and Kasuo thinks she'll give it to Fire King if he threatens Lan Shang's life. They must find her first! But where?Li Luo learnt the art of sleeping standing up from Turnip. Funny how no one actually cares about Lan Shang, just how the Fire King might use her.
There's just something fishy about her, I can't help it.
Not totally dippy, then.
Wait, though. Who is he? Why is his nose like that? He's just dead, no story? boo.
These trial of life will make her a stronger, less dippy person. Maybe.
Do we care, though?
Guess so. Far from people who might knock and all that.
Oh looksie! The Fire Princess and Prince also arrive - they must have their own location service. Shuo Gang calls Shi and Kasuo "homeless dogs", haha. They start a fight, Kasuo seems to be burning to kick this asshole's ass, actually, but Shi starts running away - I am guessing to go get Lan Shang, whom they know to be nearby? - but is pursued by Yan Da, who seems determined to kill him.
Shuo Gang is always eyeing up Yan Da. Just ew. (But it's okay for Shi, even if he turns out to be her half-brother, as far as I am concerned.)
Shi gets a free pass, yep.
He doesn't fight her. He just lets her take out her rage and is all understanding, and it's okay because we know he's actually powerful enough to win the fight, but he chooses not to.
*insert swoon here*
Nope, Yan Da just lost some armor decoration.
I just...I mean... Well anyway, bless you guys, for continuing to love this the way you do. I like it, but it's definitely WTF and that 'F' doesn't stand for fire. Hmmm. WTF IF...we just throw a unicorn in here, for fun? WTF IF...we have mermaids? WTF IF...the owls talk? Yes, this show is now WTF IF for me.
Dun dun da dun!
WTF Clue, now.
Ain't that a bitch!
The disgruntled parent has had enough. He knows who is to blame: Kasuo! He is done underestimating him. Oups. He really means it when he says he'll put an end on this once and for all.
If he's really able to put an end to things once and for all, then he has been wasting time.
She makes a good point, Kakashi.
Kasuo et al. deliver Lan Shang to the Mermaid Saint - luckily, their abode is currently floating on the water. It can also submerge and down there, nobody can breath without the Teardrop Charm. But ... it's a trap!!! The Fire Brats are already there! And Daddy Dearest!!!! Crap crap crap! He has the Mermaid's ice crystal!
Do they only need one Teardrop Charm for breathing? The Mermaid Saint should have one.
I've been wondering about that myself. Is it one charm per person? Or is it more like a mosquito zapper, one charm works for a particular radius?
He demands the rest of the crystal leaves from Kasuo in exchange for a painless death, but Kasuo decides to fight this one out. Oh no! Kasuo!!!
Kasuo is not really a warrior for all his talents in fighting and magic. There is not that desire to destroy.
What's Kasuo going to do, that lovie? Death by muffin doesn't seem all that intimidating.
Arrrgh!
This Fire King is really a pain in my ass.
And we'll find out why.
I mean, Desperadom? Subbers don't just generally invent names out of whole cloth, and that name is cheesy enough to be on par with WTF IF. I need these discrepancies explained! I wish the two groups would get together and make a post about how they decided to do certain things. 'WTF IF: Translations'
 |
| I'm surprised he didn't put the Ice King in this. |
That can't feel good, Kasuo.
Yeah, soap bubbles get sticky fast. And they leave stains on delicate fabric, too!
That's probably true for everyone, Fire King. It's not like you had some particular insight on this.
 |
| Do you think he had a nose job? |
I supposed this is their immortals version of hanging and quartering.
Well no, because hanging and quartering would kill you. The whole goal here is to keep Kasuo alive but helpless, so I'm thinking it's more of a Boxing Helena situation, minus the unhealthy romantic obsession. Although I'm not entirely ruling that out, either.
Wow. This Fire King is one very handsome jerk!
That was just stupid. The whole idea was to collect all the crystals so that he could control all the tribes. Uh, what now, Fire King?
He thought that torturing Kasuo was way more fun.
So, Shi has two magics within him.
He's both Fire and Ice, I guess - shouldn't he be even more fabulous than either, then? He's quite restrained in his appearances, generally.
I suppose Kasuo's natural power was a good reason for the Fire King to be obsessed with him.
Hotness. The Ice Prince's hotness makes the Fire King burn with passion.
I'm looking. Le Sigh.
Wow. He's so pretty, isn't he? Love the restraint with the hair and the headpiece. We could use more of that around here.
That's a horrible fate for anyone, actually.
I believe you!
Huang Tuo does not look too enthused about the job ahead of him. I still think he looks like Si Won's less attractive brother.
He just had major surgery, and so would look sick. But the surgery didn't kill his magic, it was the Fire King, right?
Yes, the surgery saved him. But not his magic. It's been fried away.
Does he lose immortality as a result?
Yes.If so, bonus: no problem with him and Li Luo getting busy with making the world's cutest babies.
'You better get here right now or I will fuck you up.'
Comments
Holy moly, I really liked that Globe of Despair stuff! (including the bubbles) Hand up if you, like me, did not believe that the Fire King would be successful! The cruelty of "ending" Kasuo's life, but not by having him die - no, by making him someone of no use whatsoever to his family and tribe. Showing him just how useless by shattering the one thing that could have saved the tribe and its ice veil - right in front of his face. It's so brilliantly mean! Seriously, I feel like applauding. It's a turning point I absolutely did not expect.Hand is up. I thought the Fire King would lose for sure, especially once Shi got in there. He is, indeed, an Evil Jeyneeus.
Well, but if the Fire King lost, doesn't the story end? The good guys have to lose in order for the story to keep going. We're not watching a story about the bad guys who keep on trying until they eventually win, after all.