INITIUM

that’s awesome. your dad sounds like a great parent :) i appreciate the in depth answer!

So I think when it comes to the arts, I'm the proverbial black sheep in my family on both sides. My grandpa was a carpenter back home, but I think that was borne out of necessity more than it was a desire to create. I think I was always inclined to creating, my dad always talks about how I was drawing and colouring since I was a baby. But a formative memory for me, is seeing Lion King in the theatre. I was really young, but I remember being in complete awe that people drew it all. I didn't know how exactly, I was like five, but I remember thinking, however they did that, I wanted to do that. And I kind of passively, and then with intention, geared my entire life towards that goal. Every few years I'd see another Disney or Dreamworks movie that would really solidify for me that I wanted to be an artist, or that my choice to pursue that career was right and felt true to my being. It happens less often now because late stage capitalism sucks, but I remember feeling to same way when I saw Arcane for the first time. No one really influenced me per se either, I think my dad more just...facilitated my pursuit. He didn't discourage me the way I hear a lot of other Black/immigrant parents have to their kids, but he did push me to, when it was time to do so, think about what art as a career would look like and find some stability, which I appreciate now as an adult.

I really liked the time they spent in Lin'an getting to know and rely on each other and be a family.

I liked small details like when the dummy emperor was being obvious, they cut to the plaque overhead that says "guard your thoughts" or whatever it was.

I liked that all the men around the marquis sort of just took it in stride that he found someone out in the bush after he almost died, and facilitated their being together.