I know others have talked about how Shen Wei’s glasses function like Clark Kent glasses, in that he doesn’t need them and they’re more like a disguise to make him look more unassuming. Therefore, it’s really telling to see when he removes his glasses. It represents a level of honesty about who he really is, when he is really being himself. It can also suggest when he feels comfortable enough to be who really is.
As far as I recall, the very first time we see Shen Wei without his glasses is in episode 15:
They are alone in Zhao Yunlan’s apartment for the first time after Zhao Yunlan forces Shen Wei to reveal his identity. Zhao Yunlan has proven that he can be trusted to keep Shen Wei’s secret, and so Shen Wei drops the glasses as part of dropping his act. It’s a demonstration of trust and honesty, and also an acknowledgment that he doesn’t need them with Zhao Yunlan anymore. (Interestingly, this is also post-hair parting.)
In all other locations and situations–at the university, at the SID, while out on a case–Shen Wei always wears his glasses. In fact, the only times we ever see him without glasses is when he’s in Zhao Yunlan’s apartment.
Episode 22 after when they’re eating after Zhao Yunlan regains his sight:
Episode 23 with the infamous confrontation scene:
The lack of glasses is a deliberate show of trust, honesty, intimacy, and vulnerability on Shen Wei’s part. He is literally showing his true face.
We only see him without glasses one other time, and that is telling as well:
He starts off with glasses in the rain, but eventually removes them as he removes his pride. Here, he’s not the Black Cloak Envoy. He is just a man.
I love these character details and what they reveal about the relationship between Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan.
Europeans: “I don’t understand you Americans, if your working conditions, wages, and social safety net are so bad, why do you not simply unionize or strike?”
Americans:
Also there’s literally so many restrictions on unions and strikes at this point that striking on any significant scale is nearly de facto illegal
WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD ABOUT THE LUDLOW MASSACRE, WHY WASN’T I TAUGHT THIS IN CLASS
my grandfather who helped unionize railway workers in the 30s told me about being shot at during strikes and union rallies.
Minneapolis is no stranger to bloody union busting. Some of my grandmother’s cousins were teamsters in Minneapolis on “Bloody Friday”when the flour mills and other businesses brought in the police armed with gatling guns. On July 20, 1934 “police took direct aim at the pickets and fired to kill. Physical safety of the police was at no time endangered. No weapons were in possession of the pickets.” Sixty-seven truck drivers and union supporters were injured, two men—Henry Ness and John Belor—were killed.
Zhao Yun Lan: What is it? Shen Wei: They’re conducting a serum experiment. They want to turn normal humans into mutants!
Guardian, episode 27
It’s easy to forget that Shen Wei is a certified genius and that his special Dixing power is learning, soaking up knowledge, abilities, anything at all. The best and brightest have been working on that formula for months, even years. He comes in and solves it in one go.
Hey, yeah…
Talking strictly drama instead of novel, Shen Wei’s “learning” power (idiotic as some of us feel it to be, and it is idiotic from a plot standpoint, as it is an incredibly powerful power) actually is the perfect set-up for Shen Wei’s geneticist day job. This never occurred to me before. This could have given rise to some interesting moments if they’d decided to own the whole crazy thing and have Shen Wei explain to ZYL how come the Black Cloak Envoy is a scientist…
Speaking as one of the few who actually likes TV!Shen Wei’s power (yes it’s massively OP, but that makes it a decent explanation for why he’s as far above most Dixingren as the Ghost Slayer is above most of the denizens of Hell) – I never realized this angle before, that it could apply to knowledge as well as powers.
This especially amuses me because it implies that Shen Wei’s issues with modern technology aren’t because he struggles to learn them but because he chooses not to…
So, that scene where Harry retrieves Ron from the bottom of the lake and Percy loses his mind? Let’s look at that.
“Percy, who looked very white and somehow much younger than usual, came splashing out to meet them.”
“Percy seized Ron and was dragging him back to the bank (’Geroff, Percy, I”m all right!’)”
And three pages later: “Madame Pomfrey had gone to rescue Ron from Percy’s clutches.”
But you know, as Ron’s always telling us, Percy only cares about his career.
There is a very popular reading of this character that holds that he really is defined by his ambition and self-importance, and that he never does anything to show that he values his family until DH. It’s a reading that most likely comes from taking Ron and the twins estimation of Percy as fact and it completely ignores scenes like this one.
What Rowling does here is a brilliant example of showing instead of telling. When not in crisis mode, Percy is very verbal; he’s always talking about his accomplishments or work business that no one finds interesting but him. Here, he’s all action. He completely fails to act the part of a cool, impartial judge because his little brother appears to be in distress, and his affectation disappears. What remains is a very Molly Weasley-esque kind of concern: You’re alright? Ha! I don’t believe you. Let me smother you with affection until I’m satisfied that you are correct.
As funny as the image of Percy checking over Ron like an agitated mother cat is, my favorite part of this scene is Harry’s amazement that Percy looks young. He’s eighteen, only four years older than Harry himself. He IS too young to be taking his boss’s place in this capacity, but Harry has bought into the affectation too. I think people sometimes forget how unreliable Harry’s point of view is.
There is no lack of evidence showing that Percy is quite different from what he pretends to be and how his siblings see him; you just have to tune out all the noise they all make about him to see it.
IS THE IMPERIAL INTERIOR DESIGN LADY ASKING DARTH VADER IF HE’S PLANNING ON DOING ANY ENTERTAINING
YOU KNOW THERE’S A MANTRA GOING THROUGH HER HEAD OF, “PLEASE DON’T ASK ME FOR A SEX DUNGEON,
PLEASE DON’T ASK ME FOR A SEX DUNGEON,
PLEASE DON’T ASK ME FOR A SEX DUNGEON”
THE MINECRAFT CASTLE OF BULLSHIT AND SADNESS MUST BE SUCH A RELIEF AFTER THE HORRORS THAT WOULD HAVE CROSSED HER MIND
So I was taught a lesson in how to get rid of a migraine in 30 seconds and omfg listen my migraines don’t go away ever but I was shown what part of my body to touch and like???????????????
It’s witchcraft????????? Like I would be burned at the stake if I lived in ye olde days knowing that information?????
What the fuck??????
Spill it! Lol….Hooooowwwww?? Had migraines since age 9….😓😓😓
Its called the T4 push, but I literally can’t find the info online????? I guess I’m not searching good enough? These medical fuckers are holdin out on us lol.
It’s best to have someone do this for you while you stand up and relax your muscles as best you can, but if you’re alone, a tennis ball and a flat surface will probably work. Alternatively you can lie on the edge of a bed at the pressure point. (But no really do try to find someone to do it for you)
Find the area in your spine between either the first, second, third, or fourth vertebrae. It should be sore and uncomfortable to press down on, so look for the one that’s most painful, and press down with as much pressure as you can on that area for 30 seconds.
Realize that 80% of your pain has magically disappeared and keep the info secret if you live in a small puritan town, lest you be tried for witchcraft.
If you don’t have to worry about being burned or hanged, then share the info with your migraine suffering friends.
As someone who wrote a 10k word paper on pressure points for a high belt ranking test in her martial arts class, I can tell you that you just found a pressure point used in acupressure and acupuncture to relieve pain, particularly that in the head. :)
Hand to god we discovered this by accident when my husband was rubbing my neck and I nearly collapsed it felt so good
This post was sent by literal angels??? I’ve had a persistent low-level headache for nearly 24hrs and now it’s gone??? In 30 seconds? What gods did you sacrifice to for this information!?!?
As a medical massage therapist, I thought I would give my two cents.
This is good for tension migranes and normal migraines, but actually pretty useless for sinus migraines. It’ll help for a hot second, but quickly come back. (These are usually the migraines behind your eyes, in your ears, and behind your forehead. Sometimes it can feel like jaw pain or TMJ) for sinus migraines, behind the ear in a divot. Press down firmly and pull towards your collarbone. That’ll drain your sinuses. Also, pressing around the eye socket on the cheekbones help. There is also a little triangle up away from the eye in the eyebrow bone. Press and hold pretty hard and that’ll relieve that behind the forehead pain. Also, ear pulling is great to help move sinuses around.
Don’t forget the temples too! Press firmly and hold. Open and close your jaw while holding your temples. It’ll feel weird, but it’ll help with jaw pain. It’ll work a similar way if you hold the jaw joint under your cheekbone.
And never underestimate the power of a foot massage!! Give minutes can be all the difference!! Our feet are our base. If they hurt even a little, somewhere else in your body will hurt. Treat your feet and sinuses kindly!
