#anyway i love xuanji

[tidal123]

LHJD appreciation post (and some headcanon)

So Luohou Jidu, one most under-valued character in the show. Not that the show didn't demonstrate his very awesome full range, but we didn’t get to see him much before the current events, what’s he really like without all that revenge. In the demon’s realm his title was “the respected/revered one”. Not “the feared one” mind you. And Wu Zhiqi, in Zihu’s words ‘the most free, big-hearted person in the world’ admits that among all of the Shuras he admires Luohou Jidu the most. That must count for something. And considering he didn’t overthrow King Shura when he easily could, if he wanted, Luohou Jidu was not motivated by power, even if he have abundant.

Major spoilers and some images below.

It was said in the novel he wanted to become a woman(before that choice was stole away by the real villain and twisted so horribly that he hated being called his chosen female name). In the show this was not mentioned. I don’t like to think that he wanted to become a woman just to be better accepted to love men, that’s too narrow. Instead, I want to give him some back story, where this decision has more to do with his culture and his self-actualization. So Luohou Jidu did not choose to be female because he feels he had to, but because he decided to. It was said that in the novel his people were initially all born with a male form due to their aggressive nature and the wrath energy they control, but could choose their gender as they reached adulthood. I’d like to think Luohou Jidu would choose to turn female mainly because of his own thoughts, nature and aspirations, because being female is considered as much more difficult but a higher choice, something to aspire to, and very few could manage it. I’d like to think for his people being female is not only not ‘less’ but ‘more’, a way to expand your being and ability, because it’d be especially difficult for those who naturally wield the wrath energy to reconcile that with femininity. Most wouldn’t even bother because they enjoy being males more anyway. So Luohou Jidu’s choice would still be unusual, but not completely shocking among his folks.

Besides, becoming female does not mean being submissive—it’s obvious who tops and who bottoms between Xuanji and Sifeng. There was also none of that female must be mild bullcrap involved. Instead, being female probably means not just able to strike but also protect, to have an ability of gentleness on top of their fierce nature. From the beginning it is shown that Xuanji has strong instinct to protect others and be just, so it’d be natural to assume this is also true for Luohou Jidu. He was not a simple brute who is just a vehicle to carry out some of fic writers’ fantasies.

I like how there was superposition and wholeness in the show. LHJD was very comfortable in his maleness, as Xuanji/God of War was comfortable in her femaleness. It speaks to the truth that human nature cannot be constrained by gender norms expected from society. A very capable mind would naturally shrug off such artificial constrictions. I’d like to think a more capable mind can instead enjoy such artificial constructions and be more. And I think this is one of the reason I really like Xuanji/Luohou Jidu being the same being, but in different manifestations. We can see that Luohou Jidu is a more unrestrained version of Xuanji/God of War and Xuanji as a more happy and agreeable version of Luohou Jidu. Yet they would both fall in love with Sifeng and let themself be anchored to the mortal world because of that love. 

#LnD spoiler #Love and Redemption #spoiler alert #cdrama #Asian Drama #head-canon #Luohou Jidu

[mejomonster]

DUDE IM NOT EVEN A MINUTE INTO TILL THE END OF THE MOON AND ALREADY HAVE THOUGHTS:

First, cgi has come a long way from like Eternal Love or The Untamed only a few years ago

Second, they got not just a Nice cgi team but also a unique vision concept wise. It's not like super niche of a vision, but like Love Between Fairy and Devil I can see an actual specific idea they had and realized. And that is going to make the show look and feel unique and like it's own thing. When a drama does Not have this, it has to do more to define itself apart from similar shows. You don't need a high budget to do it necessarily (Word of Honor did super saturated costumes and a LOT with cheap wigs that make it very visually different from say The Untamed or The Legends, Ice Fantasy did a TON to look unique and to this day I still can't think of another xianxia that went that much into left field to really feel like a Different fantasy world than the norm in xianxia, Love Between Fairy and Devil did a really stunning job and it was subtle but they added these genuine like faerie and elf and dark fantasy design choices that made it look distinctly different from the typical Eternal Love/Ashes of Love/Love and Redemption standard look of that show type). This drama COULD go Love and Redemption route, with nice looking cgi but not really a firm visually distinct identity. But it already is hinting at looking like it subtly is different than Eternal Love standards kind of style, so I suspect like Love Between Fairy and Devil it will carve its own particular visual style out.

MAIN GUY IS ACTUALLY DEMON KING? OKAY SO I thought Love Between Fairy and Devil (now calling it cang lan jue clj to type less) changed Dongfang Qingcang into the moon tribe specifically cause of like... the struggle to get a demon to BE the lead romance, BE the lead "hero" that wins the girl etc. Like... I thought that's why it was even changed. In Sifengs case in Love and Redemption, they hold the demon reveal for like 1/3 of the whole show and also Technically in his first life he's like a phoenix? Or part phoenix? So they don't quite make him full Demon Main Love, and Xuanji IS the demon king but like.. they save that reveal for the last 15 eps, and ultimately she's human in her present incarnation. I just. I expected this show likewise to soften it up and make him a idk wood tribe king or something idk. Anyway I LOVE demon leads so WOOH

I just. I fucking love cdramas. I love the cgi fantasy FULL ON battle opening. I love the dramatic costumes. I love it feeling high fantasy, FULL fantasy (I like my grounded urban fantasies a LOT as like my fave genre but like... if you're gonna DO regular fantasy, might as well COMMIT visually and cdramas do). This opening is likewise why I loved Ice Fantasy, just full on leaning into FANTASY WORLD. (I also write a lot of original fairy realm fantasy stories lmao so I have a soft spot for seeing live actions That Fantastical)

#tteotm #lb #AYYYYY

[lasenbyphoenix]

10 Characters I Fell In Love With In 2022

I did this last year and really liked looking back on everything, so I'm bringing it back. In no particular order...

1. Hei Fengxi/Feng Lanxi - Who Rules The World.

He's sweet, he's intelligent, he's graceful, he's cunning, he's loyal, he's got childhood trauma that makes him lead a double life... He's the whole package! (He's also Yang Yang which is a delightful bonus). I love that through the course of the story he gets to shift his place within his family to align with his actual skills, even if the reveal is a hard one, and reevaluates his ambitions and desires along the way.

2. Liu Yihuan - Love and Redemption.

I started LaR with a built in soft spot for Hao Chen because Liu Xueyi, but after hearing the backstory drop of Sifeng's cellmate in episode 7 I was intrigued, and every other appearance of Liu Yihuan since has replaced him as my favourite. He goes back and forth between supportive da-ge to jaded dad, and whenever someone shows up at his door for help he is Just So DONE with it all but helps anyway. If you're anything like me and love to tell your show's characters they're being idiots when they go off on their noble self-sacrificing tangents, you'll also love Liu Yihuan because he calls them idiots to their face. Because he cares.

3. Teng She - Love and Redemption.

He must have been such a fun character to play for Bai Shu, because he is one hell of a fun character to watch. You never once forget that he's a snake enjoying the perks of a human form and is out to have the best time he can. I spent a good couple of months absolutely hating Chu Xuanji and Sifeng for their initial treatment of Teng She (RIP @gaiahenshin who got to hear all about it in real time) which goes to prove how great he is as a character if he can threaten your good opinion of the main duo!

4. Meng Zhi - Nirvana in Fire.

Holy shit, I could fill this entire list with characters from NiF. So in an effort to save some room for other characters, I've reluctantly chosen just one (how do you choose?? *sobs*) - Meng Zhi, an absolute puppy-dog of a man with no poker face to speak of and a heart of gold. He shows that not every character has to be a genius to be valuable to the story, and his interactions with Feiliu are the absolute best.

5. Lee Bag Won - My Country: The New Age

I love how he's introduced with sympathy as the hardworking son who is unappreciated by his father, and then chooses to make that his villain story. By the time he turns his hand to betraying his family to get what he believes he's owed, the audience has already been moved to his plight, so he doesn't come across as a flat baddie, but instead a complex character. And he does it all so, so well.

6. Xiao Jingyan - Nirvana in Fire

Ok I lied. I couldn't stop at just one character from Nirvana in Fire, and Xiao Jingyan has too much of my heart not to gush about. In contrast to Lee Bag Won, in Xiao Jingyan we get to see the unappreciated son be rewarded, although it takes a lot of help to get there. But it's his strength of morals even when things look like they'll never change for him that is what sets him apart. Even appearing cold on the surface, his relationships with his men, his mother, Mei Changsu and Mu Nihuang that prove that he's only cold because he's been hurt, and who can resist a man like that? Also, Wang Kai is gorgeous.

7. Kang Yohan - The Devil Judge.

When you present me with a character that looks fantastic in a suit with a voice to match, is scarily competent at his job, talks affectionately to his robot butler and is awkwardly afraid of his teenage neice, I'm going to adore him. His pathos is so well balanced by his weaknesses in a great example of Korean drama writing, and makes his journey such an emotional rollercoaster to follow.

8. Gu Ying - Tientsin Mystic.

Even in a show with Zhang Mingen in it, what I loved the most about Tientsin Mystic was the depth and strengths given to it's female leads. They may have needed rescued once or twice, but also were the rescuers just as often. Embodying part of the 'mystic' side of the story, Gu Ying was written as exuberant and whimsical, but thankfully not goofy or simple because of it. Her fight skills and her knowledge were just as valuable as everyone else's, and - spoiler for the end of season 1 - it was refreshing to see her turn out to be the 'fated child' rather than Guo Deyou. And she had some absolutely fantastic outfits.

9. Yu Xiao Gang "Grandmaster" - Douluo Continent.

Although Douluo Continent was less memorable than other shows I watched in 2022, it's characters were lovely to follow. Much like Liu Yihuan, Yu Xiao Gang is another grumpy recluse who is over the whole young person's drama happening around him, but drawn into the middle of it anyway due to caring too much about the protagonist to let them wander off without any guidance. I very much appreciate dramas that have this category of character as I'm at an age where I can no longer identify with the coming-of-age type of main character, but still like them enough to want to shake some sense into them, and these sarcastic mentors get to do it for me.

10. Su Mengzhen - Heroes.

I haven't finished Heroes yet due to not having the bandwidth for it's levels of tragedy, but the gravitas of Su Mengzhen (and the beauty of Baron Chen's swagger and real hair) deserve to make the list, especially because starting the show this year means he wont be eligible for next year's list. He makes a big impression showcasing his skill, his drive and his illness right off the bat to make your heart start to break for him from the very beginning. I'm very much looking forward to being ruined by the rest of this show in 2023.

Tagging @gaiahenshin @psychic-waffles @xcziel @dongfangqingcang @eirenical @faradheia @nope4ever and anyone else who is interested, but no pressure!

[ohsehuns]

Love and Redemption | First meeting after the 10th reincarnation

#love and redemption #琉璃 #cheng yi #yuan bingyan #cdrama #chu xuanji #yu sifeng #gif #all #gif:cdrama #gif:liuli #I fked up her name in the gifs adsafsdfasd #anyway I'm so happy this finally aired after years of delaying ;-;

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: Nirvana in Fire, Episode 02

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff)

Warning: Spoilers for All 54 Episodes!

A Cunning Plan

Let's start by checking in with the in-progress schemes. Nirvana in Fire features many, many overlapping schemes that stretch across multiple episodes.

Princess Nihuang's Marriage: Princess Nihuang is betrothed to a dead guy, and that's fine with her. If she needs tender emotional care she's got Xia Dong. Xia Dong is married to a dead guy so this works well for both of them.  

The Emperor wants to marry Nihuang off, because she's got a loyal heap of troops at the southern border, and he's a paranoid old fuck, who doesn't like anyone to have the power to overthrow him. Marrying her will sort of force her to hand her troops off to her impulsive younger brother, or something.

The Emperor has a soft spot for Nihuang, however, so he's allowed her to set a bunch of impossible conditions on the marriage, including a martial arts contest. NIF is a hybrid palace drama and Wuxia drama, so there are courtesans and backstabbing and sneaky maids and sneaky eunuchs but also, people can fly.

The two main power seekers, Prince Yu and the Crown Prince, have flunkies that they want Nihuang to marry, but their flunkies suck at martial arts, so if they want her to marry one of their dudes, there will have to be cheating.

Note that Nihuang's good friends Jingrui and Yujin are taking part in the contest to marry her, which might be weird, except they both know she can beat their asses so they seem to just be joining in for fun & prestige. 

The fact that she doesn't want to marry either of these loveable cuties means that she's pretty serious about staying betrothed to her first love, despite his apparent deadness.

(more after the cut!)

Recruiting Mei Changsu / Killing Mei Changsu: Team Prince Yu wants to recruit Mei Changsu. Team Crown Prince wants to recruit him or kill him, if recruiting him doesn't work. 

Mei Changsu acts like this is so tedious; all he wants to do is rest. But they only want to recruit him because he and his pal Lin Chen made them believe he is the answer to their problems.  Whenever Mei Changsu acts annoyed at something, it's probably something he actually orchestrated. "Pork chops again?" (secretly buys more pork chops).

The Duke Qing/ Landgrab Case: In Episode 1, the Jiangzuo Alliance protected some witnesses against Duke Qing in an enslavement/land grabbing case. It's difficult for me to find anything about historical land grabbing in China because Google is full of 21st century land grabbing information. Anyway Duke Qing works for Prince Yu, so the witnesses are (whether they mean to be or not) on The Crown Prince's side. The Emperor has an interest in this case, because land grabbing is bad, apparently, even by corrupt-emperor standards. Xia Dong is in charge of investigating.

The Chiyan Army Case: This is the big conspiracy that the entire show is about. 11 years ago, the Emperor received evidence that Prince Qi, Lin Xie (Mei Changsu's father), and the entire Chiyan army were going to rebel. This was supposedly reported by Xia Dong's husband, Nie Feng, before Lin Xie supposedly killed him. The emperor ordered executions for everybody.

Prince Jing thought this was a bunch of bullshit and didn't hesitate to say so, which got him sent off to distant regions to do army things for years at a time, and landed him a place high up on the emperor’s shit list.

The Hazelnut Pastry Scheme: This is a small scale, benevolent scheme, in which Concubine Jing will eventually stop making cookies with hazelnuts in them, because Mei Changsu is allergic to them. 

Ok, that’s the scheme roundup for this episode. On with the show!

Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

After a quick expository chat between the Emperor and Gong Gao, laying out the reasons for the Nihuang Marriage Scheme, we go to Prince Yu’s place to watch superhot Meng Zhi, commander of the emperor's guards, whip some ass. Not, alas, literally.  Despite his leather shoulder thingies and his handsome beard, and his commanding ways on a battlefield, when it comes to interpersonal relations he is pretty much a labrador retriever puppy in human form.

Meng Zhi is kicking the asses of Prince Yu’s fighters to determine if they're qualified to compete in the Marriage contest. They are not. He points out to the Prince that they can't put such terrible wimps into the competition because it will make the country’s defenses look weak.  

This beatdown is observed by Prince Yu and by Xie Yu, who Prince Yu thinks is on his side. Xie is 100% on the Crown Prince's side, but is carefully hiding that fact; he has his son working for Prince Yu as part of his cover.

In determining how severe an ass kicking is, everyone talks about how many moves it takes to defeat someone, like it's chess. Meng Zhi can beat literally anyone else in the show. He's number two on the Langya List of fighters & we never meet #1.

Fe Liu Was Fast as Lightning

Mei Changsu is hanging out in the garden at Xie manor while Fe Liu jumps around. Fe Liu wants Mei Changsu to play Roblox with him, and pouts when MCS opts for staying in the garden and reading a book.

Fe Liu is utterly devoted to Mei Changsu; I really love their relationship. Fe Liu’s backstory isn't fully explained in the show, but apparently he was raised from an early age to focus on being extremely lethal, and didn't spend much time learning to talk or other skills, making him the epitome of the asynchronous/ gifted teen. Mei Changsu isn’t who raised him to be like this; MCS and Lin Chen rescued him, which is why he is now Mei Changsu’s personal murder pet.

Fe Liu is both a complete fantasy character and also a really believable teen, beautifully acted by Leo Wu, who DMBJ fans know from Tomb of the Sea, and who Xiao Zhan fans know from Battle Through the Heavens.

Fe Lui promptly gets into a fight with Meng Zhi, who's visiting Xie manor. All Fe Liu was doing was leaping about the rooftops like an assassin, but since Xie Yu is the sort of guy that a lot of people would like to kill, Meng Zhi doesn't think this is so good. They have a hilarious, entertaining fight with many, many wire-assisted moves.

They're pretty evenly matched, and Xie Yu watches them with extreme interest until Mei Changsu shows up and tells Fe Liu to stop. Xie Yu is watching because he needs to know how many dudes he should send to assassinate Mei Changsu. Answer: more. Always more.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately since it’s probably all part of MCS’s plan) Fe Liu's extreme skilz make it obvious that his boss is someone important. Mei Changsu discusses this with Jingrui and Yujin in an open-air setting where Jingrui's brother Xie Bi can totally hear them.  In no time flat, father and son have reported his identity to their respective princes.

Over at Prince Yu's place, Qin Banruo and her awesome eye makeup join the party. She's Prince Yu’s advisor/manipulator, working for the (fallen) Hua kingdom, led by the (deceased) Princess Xuanji . She has a network of spies who work for her, that she deploys for Prince Yu's schemes. Her ultimate goal is not to help him, however, but just to fuck up the Da Liang Empire, which conquered the Hua.

(Nearly) Everybody Hates Jingyan

Xia Dong heads out on her assignment in the Land Grab Case, and Nihuang goes to see her off. They talk about gender expectations and how annoying it is to have to marry a dude, and briefly hang out being WLW goals with their mutual devotion, excellent fashion sense and deadly fighting abilities. Nihuang, in particular, wears the prettiest things and also stands at attention like she's commanding an army; I adore her.

They're interrupted by the arrival of Prince Jing, who is greeted cheerfully by Nihuang and eye-rollingly by Xia Dong.  

He's wearing an awesome brass-and-blue armor that we never see again after this episode. It's too bad - it's a good color for him and it has a cool vampire cloak with a high collar.

Prince Jing takes the opportunity to snark at Xia Dong about her investigation and the Xuanjing Bureau’s penchant for inventing finding conspiracies, and then rides off before she can reply.

This leads Nihuang and Xia Dong to get into their chronic argument about the Chiyan Conspiracy and the Lin family, and then Xia Dong hits the road.

Prince Jing and his subordinates stand around outside the palace waiting to report to the emperor while the emperor ignores him. They get sweatier and sweatier while they wait. which makes me like the Emperor a little bit more.

Prince Yu and CP Xian are busy sucking up to the emperor as they look at a manuscript. They are a bunch of assholes and you can see that Gao Zhan isn't a fan of this bullshit.

Eventually Gao Zhan reminds/persuades the emperor to summon Prince Jing, whose brothers snark at him like a couple of 12 year old girls while he radiates manly vigor and handsomeness.  

Consort Jin is bummed that she can't see Prince Jing for another 5 days, and her maid sidekick says random comforting things. This maid, Xiao Xin, is actually a little snake, who works for Qin Banruo's network. We don't learn that until sometime later.

All of the maids have this same hairstyle. If you are a westerner and you think this hairstyle is crazy, have a look at some Roman and Byzantine historic hairstyles. I'm not saying this hairstyle is NOT crazy, mind you; just that crazy hair was a feature of many, many historical empires.  

Consort Jing has someone deliver her hazelnut cookies to Prince Jing; she doesn’t know about Mei Changsu yet so hazelnut is still on the menu. Nicest mom. Also smartest, helpful-est mom, as the story develops.

Suck-Up Contest

At Xie manor, Xie Bi tries to get Mei Changsu to go meet the Empress, who has stopped by with Nihuang specifically to meet him, as part of the Recruit Mei Changsu scheme. Jingrui says nope, fuck that, he's not going to be a pawn in your political games, fuck off. We get to see Jingrui being steely and righteous, which is both cool and hot. Nihuang should totally marry him.

The Empress is annoyed that Mei Changsu doesn't show up, and Nihuang is like, it's ok, I don’t actually give a fuck about meeting new men. But I did want to meet his murder puppy Fe Liu.

Grand Princess Liyang says they don’t need to bother meeting pugilists, despite her son being one and her supposed best friends/co-parents also being pugilists.

Grand Princess Liyang will probably be glad Mei Changsu didn’t come to her little party, once she realizes what tends to happen when Mei Changsu comes to a party.

Then we go to the suitor tournament, in which everyone more or less sucks.

The princes really want to go over to Mei Changsu’s balcony to meet him, and they have a hilarious silent interaction where they both try not to be the first one to move. They finally cave, and go together.  

Then they compete to see who can be the most cringe and blow the most smoke up Mei Changsu's ass.

They ply him with gifts and flattery, which he mostly manages to resist.

Cookie Time with Granny

Then they get summoned to go meet the grand empress, who is (I think) the mother of the previous emperor, the grandmother of the current emperor, and the great grandmother of basically every highborn character of the current generation, including Nihuang and Yujin, although it’s not clear where they sit in the family tree. Historically, cousin marriage - particularly of maternal cousins - was no big whoop in China, so it's not surprising that a lot of nobles would share a great-grandmother.

The Grand Empress is a sweet lady with dementia. She can’t figure out who the hell anyone is. First-time viewers feel the same way.  

Her dementia is pretty well depicted, unlike a lot of TV dementia, or at least it matches up to my experiences with my own elders. She remembers the distant past more vividly than recent times; when she understands who’s in front of her she connects with them emotionally, but she falls off track easily. And she projects the identities of people she misses onto people who are around her.

Like many other grannies, no matter who is visiting, she wants them to 1. get married 2. produce offspring 3. eat something, you’re so skinny

When Mei Changsu meets Granny she immediately calls him Lin Shu, either because she recognizes him or because she really misses Lin Shu, or both. She calls Nihuang over and joins their hands, and Mei Changsu grabs onto Nihuang's hand and holds it for a while.

Everyone thinks it's adorable that Granny has dementia and is confused about that guy who was horribly killed, except Nihuang, who was already checking Mei Changsu out and is somewhat verklempt. She might have to revise her anti-man feelings a little bit.

Everyone leaves, and Nihuang hits up Mei Changsu to take a walk with her, casually mentioning that she could have his hand cut off for touching her, but since she's not in the mood, he's ok.

She prods a bit to find out what he's doing in town and what he's up to. “Do you have a girlfriend? Like a serious girlfriend or just a stalker who works for you?” She asks him which of the two princes he's going to support, but they’re interrupted by a eunuch beating a slave child. That’s the price you pay for trying to have a date in the palace, I guess.

#nirvana in fire #langya bang #nirvana in fire gifs #restless rewatch nirvana in fire #canary3d-original #my gifs

[eigwayne]

I should work on something- one of the twenty or so fic WIPs I’ve got going, the RPGMaker game I was working on last week, pick up my linguistics studies again- but I finished Love and Redemption last night after basically doing nothing but watching that show this week, and now I’m just like... Bleh what do I do with myself???????????

The show was great, by the way. 59 eps but WORTH IT. There were only a couple places where is could have used some paring down, unlike say, Princess Weiyoung which needed to cut out like 20 eps, it was so bloated with repetitive arcs. This didn’t have that problem. Each arc was different from each other, and built into a progressing story. And the soundtrack was fantastic (Liu Yuning, Zhou Shen, and Ayanga, three of my faves, are all on it, and Colored Glass is a banger).

Also there may be some obvious greenscreening but the special effects were leagues ahead of The Untamed, which came out the same year. Sorry, CQL, I still love you, but let’s not pretend about the awkward sword flying and Basement Dog. 

Below are some thoughts, mostly on characters because I don’t want to spoil the show. TL;DR, so many Lost Tomb actors and they all did great jobs! New respect for middle-of-the-pack Zhang Qiling and angriest Wu Xie. Love and Redemption > Ashes of Love and Eternal Love.

The characters in Love and Redemption are mostly very well done and the female lead is Crystal Yuan/ Yuan Bingyan, who is fantastic. This is the third drama I’ve seen her in (the others were Ever Night and The Mystic Nine) and she’s great at all her roles. If you can get past the first couple eps where the character is somewhat tiresome, she really shines.

Also I finally understand the hype about Cheng Yi. Yeah, he was Zhang Qiling in The Lost Tomb 2, which I thought was a fun season of DMBJ but Cheng Yi’s Xiaoge is like, middle of the pack, for me. But seeing him in another role was good. I think I’ve mentioned that I liked him better as Zhang Buxun than Zhang Qiling, and I think it’s just that Cheng Yi is more fun to watch when he gets to emote more. Also HUGE props to his make up artist who did great work, except for that one scene where his lips were a distracting and uncomplementary pink that didn’t do him any favors. You don’t need to highlight Cheng Yi’s lips, friend, they highlight themselves. Anyways, Yu Sifeng’s complexion was always spot on for his state of health and his sickly with dark circles was so realistic, I was worried about the actor for a bit.

Also, Liu Xiuyi was amazing in this as Hao Chen. I don’t think I can say much without spoilers but he was dignified, a bit withdrawn when needed, more emotive without chewing the scenery too much (although I personally don’t mind a bit of scenery chewing if it’s fun or works with the scene), just fantastic in this role. You really felt his conviction even if you didn’t agree with what he was doing. Also, super handsome, which is a nice bonus.

Also super handsome is He Zhonghua as Chu Xuanji’s father. Another DMBJ actor I enjoyed (This cast was full of them, btw. We’ll get to Bai Shu, but also keep an eye out for TLT2′s young Uncle Three, Hou Xiuxiu, and Dou Cheng). Yeah, I admit, I think Chen Pi Ah Si was handsome. He’s also a great actor. The character was frustrating at times (Untamed fans will have flashbacks to dealing with the sects, for real), but also he struck a great chord between stuffy sect leader and doting father.

Now. Bai Shu. Bai Shu, where do I start with you? He gets some flack for his Wu Xie being so angry and antagonistic, and I too would have preferred to shave some of the rough edges off (and if I may be ridiculous for a moment? He was mean to Pangzi waaaaah ;_;), although I can understand the choice. But as Teng She/ Flying Snake? He did great. He was bombastic and cocky, and that perfectly fit the character.  His physicality was clearly snake-like and that really emphasized how he wasn’t mortal and was proud of being who he was. You knew he was a serpent (and not a metaphorical one like some of the other characters) just from the way he moved. And the interactions with Qing Long (translated as Green Dragon in the YT subs) were fun, too. Teng She was  delightful character and I have new respect for Bai Shu.

Oh, and for Word of Honor fans, Ye Baiyi’s actor Huang Youming does a fantastic job as an antagonist. He’s a creep and a villain, but he’s interesting to watch.

Shit, that was a lot about actors and nothing about plot. I guess that means there were no spoilers, lol~ Anyways, I stopped watching the other shows this gets compared to, Ashes of Love and Eternal Love (Three Miles of Peach Blossoms, to specify, since there’s like two other shows called Eternal Love or something similar). The female lead of Ashes of Love and Love and Redemption have similar set-ups, but LaR’s Chu Xuanji stops being annoying sooooo much faster. And I got real sick of Eternal Love’s memory loss arc. It was so tedious, I wasn’t willing to watch any longer. I had no connection to the lead couple, couldn’t feel the male lead’s affection for the female lead, and the secondary couple was awful (I was actually hesitant to watch The Long Ballad because I hated Dilraba’s character so much in Eternal Love. But Dilraba is soooo much better when she’s not Fengjiu). So I paused on Eternal Love and Ashes of Love last year some time, and haven’t bothered to go back. But I felt Yu Sifeng’s affection for Chu Xuanji so even when the Sifeng torture got tedious (he spits blood so many times. Sooo many. Their fake blood budget must have been higher than The Untamed’s entire effects and I’m probably not the only one to make that joke? So you know it’s bad), I stuck with it. Because I was rooting for them. I didn’t give a damn if the leads in Ashes of Love or Eternal Love got together or not, which isn’t a good thing in a romance drama.

So if you’re struggling with the other big name love-centered xianxia dramas like Eternal Love and Ashes of Love, watch Love and Redemption instead.

#Currently Watching #love and redemption

[sarah-yyy]

i don't watch love and redemption so the only idea i have is that you are watching a long tv show about a cute couple (with miss bangs & pining side-part hair guy) and another couple that's just bloodied and dying all the time (who might be the same pairing just with different hair). is there a plot or does this show just contain the torture of pining cuties?

hoo boy i haven’t done one of these in a long time, but this is probably a good show for that, so.

links first so i don’t forget by the end of the post: eng sub (note i don’t watch with subs so idk how good the subs are) // unsubbed 

OKAY where do we start? this is yet another period cdrama with a cultivation/xianxia-based focus so this should be familiar to y’all the untamed buddies. there are five major sects - miss bangs and pining side-part hair guy are from different sects, and meet at one of the conferences/competitions, it’s all very romcom meet cute. 

this is miss bangs - chu xuanji. cxj was born with some fault in all her six senses (she can’t feel pain, can’t taste food, can’t see colours etc), so her cultivation level is HMM even though she’s the daughter of the main sect leader. she gets by lazing around and being doted on by her elder sister and various shixiongs.

this is pining side-part hair guy - my favourite soft boy, yu sifeng. he’s the most talented cultivator in his sect, and essentially in line to become the next sect leader. he is soft and beautiful and i wanted only good things for him the moment i saw him, but i soon learnt he was clearly set to go on a whole ride of pain.

ysf’s sect rules requires them to wear a mask at all times when they’re outside the sect. this mask must never, ever, ever be taken off in front of outsiders. three guesses what cxj does. :)))

same, girl, same. i was shaken by his beauty too.

ANYWAY this all happened when they accidentally broke into secret vault in cxj’s sect. the mask is left there while they escape the vault. cxj gets locked up in an ice cave over this; ysf is going to get punished once he gets back to his sect if he cannot retrieve the mask. they make a deal to help each other, and end up becoming friends. ofc in the process, ysf also falls head over heels. :’)

is this the part where i mention that cxj doesn’t understand/cannot feel love? and also that ysf’s terrible sect also has a rule against falling in love? yeah? yeah.

宝宝你太难了 :((((((((

ysf tragically has to go back to his own sect after the conference is over. he doesn’t even get to say goodbye to cxj because she got injured before ysf had to leave, and didn’t wake up in time to see him leave. :(  

they never really did get ysf’s mask back, so the evil 2ic of the sect tries to get ysf punished over it. ysf eventually does submit to the punishment for losing his mask and also falling in love (which he freely admitted to the sect leader!! we love one earnest boy!!!). he’s made to go through 18 levels of trials in the ~punishment realm~ to prove his worth to the sect, and MY BOY DOES IT ALL!!! the whole time he thinks about cxj, and their promise to meet each other again!!!! 

and then!!! he gets told that to complete his punishment, he must put on a new mask, a cursed one this time to deter him from falling in love again - if he goes through three heartbreaks, he dies. :( 

this is just the beginning of our sweet boy’s pain. it just. gets exponentially worse from here for ysf when they meet again four years later. 

i won’t go into any more detail, but this show features fun cdrama tropes that i 100% endorse like: unrequited love related misunderstandings; you hurt me in every single previous lifetime; sweet boy can’t be happy for more than 15 mins of showtime at a time; so much whump and crying; how can we be together when your family was responsible for my mother’s death; everything i do, i do for you, but you never believe me; and etc. 

the last maybe 5 eps of the show i thought were a little hmm, but the rest of it was fun to watch! it’s not all about pain and sadness, there are some very cute scenes, and we get to see ysf be happy in a lot of parts! (ofc he does almost always immediately have that ripped away from him, i was NOT kidding over the weekend when i kept screaming that his life was too hard.)

would rec if you enjoyed either ashes of love, eternal love, or the like. :D

#tv rec #cdrama #heukheuk #asks #long post for ts #it's really been a long time since i liked a show enough to do one of these posts!! #i did enjoy this quite a bit even though it was Frustrating to see sifeng being tortured like this - i binged like 59 eps over the weekend #the acting in this was p solid actually i wasn't expecting much from them but it came out p good! #this post got too long but there were some fun side characters as well although i'm still salty over what they did to linglong #and xiao yinhua #but overall!! one of the better period cdramas of the year i reckon #i'm keen to start something else perhaps less painful if anyone has recs

[andoqin]

LaR Rewatch ep 7-9

My watch continues and ohhh we’re finally starting to get into the juicy “How long does it take for Sifeng to suffer” hours.

It uh does not take very long at all because after being locked up thanks to losing his mask (and the viewer getting introduced to Liu-ge aka one of my favourite side characters) he gets sent to Turbo Ice Hell and it does not go well for him, but good for me, because look at this, he suffers Oh So Prettily.

Meanwhile, Xuanji keeps getting gaslit by the psycho Shixiong who is obviously more than a mere shixiong and whenever he says anything I keep getting rage blackouts.

Here is Xuanji, expressing a very Normal interest in possibly regaining her senses and he’s all HOW DARE YOU, STOP IMMEDIATELY I FORBID YOU. (It’s probably *not* a homosexual metaphor but man it is so so easy to make it one) and of course he tries to literally MINDWIPE her so she can’t have independent thoughts and only be what he allows her to be. 

Thankfully the narrative doesn’t allow him to do it, since he can’t use his magic in the mortal realm (first inclination of who he is) so Xuanji can keep that part of herself, but he does maneuver it so she doesn’t contact Sifeng for the whole time she is training and he is in Icy Turbo Hell. This is a time period of LITERALLY YEARS. jesus christ poor Sifeng. 

And just before he spends years in ITH he gets visited by his Master and the Vice-Leader and tells them to fucking stuff it because Sifeng is my favourite kind of hero. Yes he suffers, but his belief system is pretty unshakeable and he knows what’s right and what’s wrong.

I gotta say tho, CWN would like to have a word! there’s no need for uncalled for plant dissing Sifeng! Plants can have feelings!!! 

This is just here because Mickey He has ginormous Claws and I want to congratulate whomever made that costuming decision I hope they got a raise. 

But things can’t go well for Sifeng of course, whenever he expresses his opinion (the correct opinion btw) the universe punishes him for it, so he hears Xuanji talking about how she loves her 6th Martial Brother and that’s when Sifeng is like .. you know what maybe cutting off my feelings is a Good Idea Actually and puts on the lovers curse mask. 

Cue Several Years later and Xuanji is no longer the useless rube who can’t cultivate but a badass who dispatches evil ghosties with her umbrella with ease. 

She, her sis and 6th bro meet up, get to go down the mountain and explore without adults for the first time in their lives. Xuanji and her sister have an extremely cute reunion that warms my cold black heart and i’m honestly so happy that the relationship is as good as it is. 

And wouldn’t you know it, they meet up with Sifeng (whom they were trying to reach anyway since he’s ignoring Xuanji’s calls) and he is all “oh i am totally above everything I dont care about you Xuanji, not at all. “

He does give Xuanji the peice of Bahuangbut Xuanji can’t read the rooom and is all “oh i dont need it anymore “ which makes him go even harder at OH OKAY I GUESS I HAVE EVEN LESS NO FEELINGS NOW THIS IS COOL.

Xuanji is sort of understandably confused, but girl you ghosted him for like 4 years what was the poor dude supposed to think.

She does not let this get her down tho and as she continues to be around him, his resolve to not have feelings for her melts like ice in the sun, quite literally bc he starts sweating VERY quickly hahahah. 

I dont blame Sifeng entirely though, because who could stay mad for long with Xuanji being cute and adorable around you. Especially when you have as big a crush on her as Sifeng does. 

#love and redemption #lar rewatch #sifeng just give in #you stand 0 chance #cdrama

[mousieta]

Where the Heart Resides

Part 2

Fandom: Love and Redemption (cdrama)

Pairings: Sifeng/ Luohou Jidou ; Sifeng/Xuanji

Summary: In which Sifeng and Xuanji talk about possibilities and Luohou Jidou and Sifeng warily begin to spend time together.

Rating: T

Previous Part | Series Page

Sifeng stepped into the main room of their home, arms piled high with rugs. He shivered. Winter had finally arrived in the last couple of weeks and this far north it was bitter cold. He hovered by the fire, warming himself and peering around.

“Xuanji?” he called.

I thought I saw her here, he thought.

He placed the rugs in a heap on a chair and wandered towards their kitchen. Perhaps she was upset? “I’m sorry I forgot to beat out the rugs earlier like I said I would but they’re done now-” only a couple of days late. He gave himself a mental kick for loosing himself so strongly in his meditation that his promise had slipped his mind. He had to get better at that.

“Xuanji?” She was nowhere to be found.

He headed towards the bedroom. Maybe she’d decided to lay down after changing the bedding.

Suddenly she pressed up behind him, arms tight around his waist. He froze and huffed out a laugh that turned into a sharp gasp as her hands slid up his body slowly until her fingers rested over his nipples, beginning to peak underneath his robes.

She stood on tip-to to whisper in his ear, voice low and husky, “What were you doing?”

“Laundry,” he managed to gasp out around a moan as she pinched him gently.

She hummed and nipped at his nape before sinking back down, letting her body slide over his. His face flushed hot, breathing growing heavy as he felt her pressed against him. She gave a little laugh and pushed him forward onto the bed, and he fell, bent at the waist. Hands stroked up his sides, down his back; he closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, arching up into her touch.  

One of the most wonderful revelations of married life was this lusty side to Xuanji’s personality. She took and gave pleasure with such abandon it was all Sifeng could do to just follow her lead.

Sifeng woke alone; it had been weeks since the last time he’d done so. He lay, cozy with the pressure of several blankets cocooning him, watching the moonlight flicker over the snow falling outside the window. His body was still loose and relaxed, warmth that had nothing to do with the low fire in the hearth or the thick blankets flowing through his veins, languid and rich.

Drowsing, he could fall right back to sleep, a subtle shift and closing his eyes was all it would take. The edges of his dream beckoned.

Luohou Jidou likely didn’t want him interrupting his reverie, he told himself.

But moments before he could roll over and slip away he imagined Luohou Jidou out there, in the cold that had been bitter just a few hours ago. He imagined the thin robe he’d been wearing last time they’d been out there together, when he’d sat on the floor of the front porch. Sifeng could picture it and added snow falling inches from him.

He stood and pulled on his thickest robe, tying it tight, and grabbed the heavy outer blanket from the bed. Opening their front door, however, he was forced to pause and catch the breath stolen by the sharp wave of cold. At least there was no wind but the air itself was sharp and dry.

Like before, Luohou Jidou did not acknowledge him when he stepped onto the porch. Sifeng covered him with the blanket and took his usual chair, anyway. Lifting the brazier that usually lived between his and Xuanji’s chair, he positioned it in front of himself, beside Luohou Jidou. A small surge of power bubbled up from within him and he balanced it onto two upraised fingers, a small spark flaring. With a sharp wave, the small fire darted from his fingers to light the brazier.

Sifeng sat, expecting conversation to emerge, like last time, but he found he could think of nothing to say. Questions still rolled through his mind, curiosities, wonderings, but he found he could not break the silence, no words would come to his lips and so silence stretched between them.

Because he was watching, he caught the slight shift of Luohou Jidou when he leaned towards the warmth of the brazier and he felt a twinge of satisfaction. Luohou Jidou continued watching the snow, though, saying nothing. And Sifeng continued watching him.

The light of the moon bounced of the soft powder dusting the ground, reflecting up on Luohou Jidou’s face, bathing it in a soft, beatific glow even in profile. The stillness of the night seemed to have settled deep within him, or perhaps this was part of who he was. His breath the only movement, emerging on soft puffs to be caught, suspended and crystallized, catching the light before disappearing.

Sifengs mind wandered, perhaps he dreamed a bit, formless nebulous thoughts without words.

Eventually, Luohou Jidou stood and, holding out a hand, pulled Sifeng up. They stepped across the threshold and it was Xuanji who pulled him across the room and towards their bedroom.

“He was asleep earlier,” Xuanji mumbled as they settled back into bed.

Sifeng pulled her into him, wrapping her in his arms as he hummed in question.

“He wanted me to let you know that - earlier - when we were together-” she blushed and , understanding, he felt a matching heat rise up in his own cheeks. She cleared her throat. “He wasn’t paying attention.”

“But he knows it happened,” Sifeng said, more as a matter of stating fact than a judgment.

She nodded. “I’m sorry,” She sounded pitiful, sad, and she buried her face in his side. “He’s part of my body - I can’t stop him from knowing.”

“No, no-” Sifeng tucked a finger under her chin and pulled her head up. He squeezed her tight for good measure. “Please-” he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Please, do not be sorry.”

“I know-” her voice hitched and he squeezed even harder, “I know it is all so strange, that I am strange. A woman and a man at the same time, two completely different people. I know it must be so uncomfortable for you-” a sob interrupted the breathless fall of words giving him the space to interrupt.

“Xuanji, stop.” He rolled her onto her back so he could look down at her; he needed her to see the sincerity of his face. “Look at me.”

Her eyes, red rimmed and full, met his.

He traced a finger down her cheek. “I love you. I love all of you. Everything. There is no part I do not love.”

Her brow furrowed. “Even him? How can you love him, he made you a slave!”

“I chose to be his slave,” he corrected. “I chose, Xuanji, just like I chose to marry you.”

“A whole woman, a single person. You didn’t know he would come back.”

“It doesn’t bother me that he did.” And it was true. Perhaps there was nothing about Xuanji that could truly bother him. God of War. Demon Star. Luohou Jidou.

They were all part of her and she part of them but none of that had any affect on the swell of feelings in his heart that she filled.

Luohou Jidou was now a fact of their lives.

He kissed one cheek then the other. “I do not mind that he is here, truly.” He kissed her brow. “He is part of you.” He kissed her lips, whisper soft. “There is no part of you I do not love.”

“You already said that.” There was a short hitch to her words but a smile played at the corner of her mouth.

“Because it is true, and I need you to know it.”

He rolled back onto his back, pulling her into him again. “So- are you saying that you love him?” It could have been teasing, or jealousy but there was a shadow in her voice, something else that, again, had him questioning how much bleed-through there was between them. He let it go, though, because it truly didn’t matter.

“No,” he answered honestly. “How can I love him? I don’t really know him and - our experiences of one another was -” he paused, “complicated. But I think that, perhaps, it may be possible to love him given time.”

He froze as he said the words, wondering if he should have held them back. Who tells their wife of only a few months that they could fall in love with someone else? Even if that someone else was really them. Except not.

He let the regret go almost as soon as it came. He was done with holding back anything from her, and a moment later his faith in her prove true.

“Really?” she asked with wide eyed, expectant hope.

He nodded. “I really do believe part of me is glad he came back, and that part of me hopes that he will stick around and maybe I can get to know him - you - better.”

So it was that any time Sifeng woke to Xuanji missing, he gathered the blankets and shuffled outside to cover Luohou Jidou, to light the brazier, and to sit with him.

Their breathing would sync after a while. He noticed that after a few nights. Soft clouds caught in frosty air that matched in size in shape for a brief moment before disappearing. They shared no looks or words. They did not move and yet, in unison, their breath left and returned as they sat together.

Eventually, every night, whatever internal timer Luohou Jidou had set would run out and he would rise, offer a hand to Sifeng and together they would head into the house, Xuanji returning as they crossed the threshold.

Sometimes Xuanji would chat with him, they would exchange soft murmurs of love that always seemed to carry more weight in the darkness before they drifted back down into sleep.

They never spoke during the daytime, he and Xuanji, of those moments that seemed more like dreams. Those moments existed between himself and Luohou Jidou . But, every so often they’d catch one another’s eyes conspiratorially, while cooking or sweeping the floor, while folding laundry or walking through the forest together, and they would smile like sharing a secret. He learned to recognize it as a signal that he’d wake alone that night.

It was the dead center of winter, when it was at its darkest and bitterest, the moon gone so they were lit only by the gold glow of the brazier, that Luohou Jidou broke his silence, whatever timer he’d set on Sifeng running out.

“It is beautiful,” he said - voice a whisper, delicate to not break the stillness around them.

Sifeng blinked, mind waking as from sleep. He opened his mouth but before he could speak - before he could agree that the night was incredibly beautiful when dimly lit by starlight - Luohou Jidou spoke again.

“The Deamon Realm.” He looked back at Sifeng and his confusion must have shown on his face. Luohou Jidou gave a half smile then turned back to the yard.

“You asked, once, what it was like.”

Dimly, Sifeng remembered back to his last question their first night and nodded, then waited, letting Luohou Jidou choose what to do next, unprompted.

“It is dark,” he said, “like this.” His eyes met Sifeng’s. “And in that darkness is beauty.”

Previous Part | Series Page

#love and redemption #yu sifeng #chu xuanji #where the heart resides fic #mousie writes

[its-chelisey-stuff]

Love and Redemption, episodes 1-10 (thoughts so far)

So, I have a problem and I'm basically almost never able to recognize it and accept as it is: I'm unable to follow my watch list of dramas faithfully.😱 You see, most of the time, a drama pops up out of nowhere (seemingly) and I end up checking it out and sometimes, obsessing about it. May the lord have mercy on my soul if that drama has completed airing or most eps are out!🤭 because then, I only breathe and live for the show and these fictional characters.

So this is me admitting that I ignored all of those dramas waiting for me to watch them and went ahead to check out the cdrama Love and Redemption.

And I love it.😍

Let's address the elephant in the room and confess that yes, even before watching ep 1, I knew about the premise (what convinced me to watch were spoilers everywhere on tumblr) and it reminded me a lot of Ashes of Love, which was what pulled me back from seeing it because I dropped that drama like a hot potato. I know it's a very popular drama and many people love it, but the only reason I ever dared to check it out was because of Luo Yunxi and, despite what many say about his screentime, I found that it was not enough for me, at least in the first few eps, to draw me in. Secondly, I have to be in love with OTP's love and I couldn't get into the romance or the chemistry 😅 oops. Thirdly, and I’m sorry to the fans who love it, but it bore me to the point where I fell asleep. And it happen more than once.

Anyway, back to Love and Redemption. I feel like I know a bunch of spoilers but at the same time don't know a lot of the story that's to come for me, because I'm missing context. So I will not make assumptions about it and I'm only gonna talk about the blooming romance I've seen so far, the heartache of the male lead and the lack of the six senses on our female lead (which tbh, seems to be more of a problem for our ML, poor boy has the worst luck). Boy, that's an angsty ride right there, one that I do not actively go looking for but the stories that I love normally come with them lol

So, I'm weak for male lead falling completely head over heels in love with female lead at the beginning of a story (bonus points is she is completely oblivious about it but not intentionally) and I don't really mind insta-love as long as the OTP has amazing chemistry, which imo these two main leads have. And a lot. The romantic in me is getting well fed with sweet interactions and longing looks.🥰 but suffers with all angst and pain hehe.

As for the rest of our characters, as someone very close with her own sister, I'm finding the relationship between the sisters very endearing and I love that they care for each other so much. Not really sure what to think of their senior brother that looks like he has a crush on the oldest sister but does act sketchy sometimes with making Xuanji keep secrets between them, he could be worried, just being protective, but I feel like there's more. I have my eye on him. Or maybe I’m a paranoid. Dramaland, you know?

The dude that trained Xuanji for four long years without allowing her to contact anyone and deprived her of her belongings is definitely on my black list, but I gotta recognize he is interesting and so far, the only major character that seems to know our FL from her time as a God. It's just that, uh, can't he tone down the possessiveness?

Speaking of people I don't like, there's the Lize sect but I don't think they're actually really bad or something to worry about, just yet. Oh, and whoever that girl who suddenly appeared on ep 9 beside our ML is, I also don't like her 🤭 she appeared out of nowhere so, can she maybe dissapear just as easily and pronto?

My favorite character is obviously ML, followed closely by FL. While Xuanji does make me roll my eyes sometimes or groan in frustration, she's a good person and cares about others and likes to help, and she actually got better at cultivation after she put effort into her training (I'd hate for her to be powerless and to be damsel in distress on top of everything else), plus, I feel like her whole backstory is full of surprises and twists. I'm excited to know more.

And then, there's Sifeng. Ugh. I love him and I'd die for him and it's only been 10 episodes and he has had it the hardest! The whole thing at the Tower of Oblivion or whatever, was hard to watch and it kills me that what got him through it was his love for Xuanji, until he got his heart broken by a misunderstanding and eventually put on that awful mask!

I was very surprised that given the laws of his sect, his very reserved persona and the fact that he had never seen a girl before Xuanji, he let down his barrier around her and others, he made friends and he embraced his feelings, even when he knew it was against what he had been taught. I don't want to see him hurt more, but lol shit is just gonna keep coming at him, isn't it? Especially because of Xuanji, who, as long as she doesn't get her six senses back, she’s just gonna keep causing misunderstandings and pain to others, and the number one on that list is Sifeng. Fun times are ahead. Yeeiiiii!!

On to episode 11!

Btw, haven't seen a lot of cdramas, so this is my first time watching the leads but I gotta say, they're so good, I'm loving the acting!

#love and redemption #cdrama #crystal yuan #cheng yi #chu xuanji #yu sifeng #yuan bingyan

[functionalasfuck]

Love and Redemption is doing Xuanji dirty

My last post was about how people need to stop blaming Xuanji for Sifeng’s suffering and how none of it is actually her fault.

So IMAGINE how I felt when I read this article

[picture of an article about Love and Redemption. Highlighted text says “They said that the script seems to be skewed towards Sifeng as the hero by ‘dumbing down’ Xuanji’s character.”]

This is from an article “Love and Redemption Writer Criticized for Creating Drama for Drama’s Sake” on dramapanda (links aren’t working so this is enough info for a google search if you’re interested)

THE POINT is that people who have read the book (which, sadly, I have not) are pointing out that the show is portraying all characters that aren’t Sifeng as dumber than they should.

I was recently talking to a friend about how much I hate it when cdramas stupify everyone except the male lead just so his brilliance can shine through at the expense of everyone else.

Further, when I started watching this show, it was very clear that the show was meant to be about Xuanji. But further down the line it’s been more about Sifeng and his endless quest to protect her, pushing Xuanji’s story of finding herself, her past, rooting out her trauma, and growing as a person into the background.

Now don’t get me wrong, I fucking love Sifeng. But not only does focusing on him and solely him do a disservice to all the other characters, it also does a disservice to him because I have to watch him suffer ALL THE FUCKING TIME I SWEAR TO GOD HOW MANY TIMES CAN HE COUGH UP BLOOD BEFORE HE HAS PERMANANT INTERNAL DAMAGE?!?! STOP DOING THIS TO MY BABY!!!!!!!!

Anyways, long story short: does anyone have a link to the translated novel??

#love and redemption #yu sifeng #chu xuanji

[tidal123]

I’ve seen people making metaphors of LnD:

LHJD=revolution

Sifeng=reform

Bailin/HC=oppression

and the ending of LnD is reform taking over and appeasing revolution to subside. That is a nice kind way to conclude the plot isn’t it?

So for the metaphors, then what does Xuanji represent? Perhaps, the deceived public.

Deliberately kept in a maimed state, with their intrinsic ability to anger, hate etc amputated away(attempted anyway), to reduce the possibility of resurgence from the root without having to fix the real conditions that led to the negative responses.

So that’s why although I like the way LnD concluded its plot, I see that it could totally go the other direction. If reform failed, what comes should be revolution, or else an evil order will be perpetuated.

Until its eventual self-destruction (what a grander scale firework that would be).

So no matter how much I love Sifeng, I totally disagree that Xuanji should follow Sifeng’s words as order if he died. It would be a farce if Xuanji just become someone holding over memory of past good times but losing the actual person she loved so much. It would means the world had taken away too much from her/LHJD, and played her like a fool by killing innocent to destroy her will to fight. It would mean to perpetuate a ‘peace’ built on the back of endless ‘virgin sacrifices’. I’d hate for her to fall for that. If that, she absolutely should tip over the Cauldron of Primeval Chaos and let the order of three realms reset.

That would be a much better path than the alternative, in every sense.

#love and redemption

[mejomonster]

Jin Mi from Ashes of Love, Xuanji from Love and Redemption, and Tantai Jin could all start a club about how it’s going having no emotion growing up

Jin Mi: was going great, excellent, until her friend went missing. Was still doing great, gender didn’t matter to Jin Mi and neither did ridiculous romance, but the people around her SURE thought it SHOULD matter so. ;-; it’s not going great for our babe.

Xuanji: doing AMAZING. she WAS bullied for the no feelings thing, and also nearly frozen to death, but her dad does love both his daughters AND xuanji’s sister babies her AND she’s got a shixiong looking out for her, AND a very sweet demon boy becomes her friend and is very willing to help her too. So a lot of her bad times (at least before the plot’s rolling) are more to do with her willing to suffer Endlessly for friends. she is bullied but like... when her sister ling long is intent to kill the bullies there’s only so much damage they can do, with ling long there to attack them and try and comfort xuanji after in her abrasive way. Xuanji also has quite a knack for accumulating friends anyway, which also helps. perhaps the worst part of the whole ordeal is mr. Abusive Controlling Gaslighting ex-from-another-life Bai Lin creeping around and STILL trying to control her, and the lack of emotions make it just that Bit extra hard to notice the red flags he’s throwing off and recognize the way she’s getting trapped.

Tantai Jin: honestly would’ve maybe done alright (i’m only in ep 4 though lol) if only bitches hadn’t CONSTANTLY wanted to harm him. Dad blamed him for his mom’s death and that’s not fair, so starvation and bullying here they come. The Jin palace likewise were just DICKS because to be mean to Tantai Jin was to do what the king would be happy with, then he got traded as a hostage where YET AGAIN the king would appeased if he’s suffering since he’s a hostage. So everywhere the poor kid went people wanted to beat him for status perks. Then to top it all off, poor kid can’t cry just like xuanji, and that made one of his maid caretakers think of him as a monster instead of just different (which sure didn’t help), that made the people beating him feel they could keep beating him hoping for more of a reaction, and just ;-; He seems like if he’d been given ANY friend or nice sibling, like xuanji, he would’ve probably did fine. But he didn’t have anyone on his side from like the one maid leaving onward to until he got his crow friend so. :c To top things off? Of COURSE he attached to Xiao Lin, the first ORDINARY person treating him NORMAL. And Xiao Lin had the status to make punching Tantai Jin not worth the social benefit of doing so. I would like the acquaintance friendship/admiration/parallels but differences explored more (both princes but one can feel and one cant, one has a mom who’s favored and one is an orphan whos hated, one seems to do only good in society’s eyes while the other can’t do ‘good’ even if he behaves the same). I really like the idea to parallel these two. I love this kind of writing. I’m also thinking... Xuanji could’ve been quite similar to him given the same childhood situation (and vice versa he probably would’ve turned out quite heroic and sweet if he’d had steadfast close emotional connections growing up like xuanji).

#tteotm #love and redemption #lb #also no im never gonna be over how lol i was hoping for an aromantic hero journey for ashes of lov #where jun mi searches for her friend and ignores romance and ignores gender mostly #(loved her nonbinary hinting until the show shamed her for not wearing dresses or looking fancy) #and when it veered obviously Away from that my heart started hurting but i knew it was coming

[dangermousie]

I love love love that Liu Dage figured it out and is all “if you are the star of Mosha, I will eat my third eye!”

Knowing Sifeng’s luck, it’s definitely the latter!

But honestly, we just saw them fight and Dijun stabbing Sifeng in the back (how apt) and even then Xuanji could not bear to kill Sifeng but saved him; she got attacked by Yanran after that and also believes he has broken his word yet again (he promised to release the righteous sect warriors but then did not, not for a while - she doesn’t know it’s because Dijun entered the Lize Palace by back door and killed a ton of noncombatants and he wants to rightfully kill Dijun.) And still, all she did and all she said was to tell him she is cutting all ties (which - ummm - giant fights with swords usually convey that anyway), she still couldn’t bear to attack him. Those two are goners for each other.

He has a point. Honestly, I have decided that for Sifeng’s well being, he really should take the unfeeling pill and forget her, but we know he won’t. And yeah of course Xuanji would be the only one he’d sacrifice everything for but I want her to know and understand how much he loves her and what he is doing for her; I don’t want this life to end like the rest though at least in this life she does love him back. He keeps immolating himself for her over and over and I want it to stop!

And then he sees that two of the three feather marks from the curse are no longer on Sifeng’s wrist and really freaks because he knows next time it activates, Sifeng gruesomely dies. And it kills me because Sifeng is all no it’s OK, it won’t activate because I knew she’d fight and try to hurt me so I expected it so it wasn’t truly hurt and the curse didn’t activate so it’s OK. Oh, Sifeng!

And Liu Dage points out that he’s driving Xuanji further and further away and making her hate him and sooner or later the curse will activate and his response?

Oh you poor, deluded darling! Nothing good is going to happen to you any time soon.

#cdrama #cheng yi #love and redemption

[goyurim]

i was tagged by @dingyuxi, @gimme-a-chocolate and @lavenderbyun to remake my first gif! thank you so much for the tag lovelies, this was fun! 🥰

unfortunately my first gif on this blog was a dark scene which i still struggle to colour lmao but i learnt to chill with the over-colouring at least? i was obsessed with the denoise filter for some reason and also with reealllyy sllloowww gifs but i finally realised kdramas are not music videos. anyway, i’m still new to this and i have a long way to go, seeing just how amazing you all’s gifs are, but hopefully i can learn more from y’all along the way!

i’m gonna tag these amazing ccs: @koreandragon @changsun @itsjeonsjungkooks @yoonsoo @stanbap @xuanjis because i am a huge fan of all y’alls works. only if you guys wanna!

#sorry if you've already been tagged! #tagged #fun stuff #moon attempts ps

[yue-muffin]

The muffin watches Love and Redemption (insert preemptive crying here)

Aright, I finally FINALLY finished live blogging this episode. @mejomonster my thoughts are aplenty! I actually wrote way too much! 

Edit: I’m an idiot, I forgot to mention a prediction/observation.

Episode 1:

The CGI is actually very nice in this drama, I’m pleased. I will definitely watch dramas with cringe-worthy CGI, but it’s always nice when they manage to integrate it with the actors and set pieces well, which is even harder to accomplish in Xianxia.

Wait, what did the god of war do to deserve the reincarnation out of the heavenly realm punishment? Didn’t she defeat the Asura/Mosha guy? Was it because she used his weapon or something? And in the first place, why does that half of the Mosha guy’s soul qualify as a celestial that can be reborn? I suppose everyone is subject to reincarnation, but this batch is explicitly for those who have committed crimes in the heavens and wasn’t he on the demon/asura side? Or…maybe he was a celestial who betrayed them? Who knows, I’m just wildly speculating…

The scene definitely suggests there is a lot the narration is not telling us about how these two ended up being reincarnated - yet.

If she lacks the six senses, then why can she see and hear just fine? She apparently can’t feel pain, which would count for the deficiency of touch. Hm.

Xuanji, I relate to just wanting to go back to sleep and not deal with visitors so much lol.

HA, that little look of alarm one of the shixiongs (Liuzi?) has on his face when Linglong tries to convince Xuanji it’ll be fun because they get to check out the handsome guys. So is Linglong supposed to be her twin since they’re both 16 years old?

The dragon wolf thing moves a little funny, but at least it doesn’t look glaringly out of place and the camera doesn’t focus on it for too long, as is typical of CGI monsters. Kudos to them!

Cheng Yi is low-key really good looking in action scenes, just putting that out there. I didn’t think I would adjust to him in period clothing and long hair so quickly, since it usually takes me a while to make the switch (after seeing him in The Lost Tomb 2), but nope! He looks really good!

Ah, so this is the ruthless sect. I love how their first rule, which is literally more important than anything else they may value or encourage in their members, is to not show their entire face when outside the sect…also, what’s the point in hiding only half your face?? Sifeng’s mask only covers one eye, his forehead, and cheek on one side…at least have it cover the entire upper or lower half like everyone else in the sect (I know it’s so we can actually see the actor’s face and not supposed to make sense in-universe)?? I actually do like how they designed it though, it’s far less clunky than the full-face masks we saw in the opening sequence, probably due to the curves.

Sect leader…Sifeng is 16, he IS little pfft. Even adjusting for the times, he is a BABY haha. As I grow older, I realize more and more how young a lot of protags in fantasy stories really are. Also, sect leader is a drama queen, like he’s just lounging on his chair with this dramatic laid-back pose, takes a deep breath, and turns his chin up. So extra.

Aw, yes, I want to see more of Cheng Yi’s easy smiles. He’s so serious in TLT2, except when the warmth seeps into this expression when he’s smiling fondly at Wu Xie…

These devil/asura people have a weird bowing pose. I can’t help but think their hands make them look like…eagle claws or something lol.

Ah, a classic ‘I forgot my invitation’ situation. Well, Xuanji doesn’t have to feel too bad, apparently none of the other Shaoyang disciples know how to fly on a sword either lol. Her sister was tied down by that spell, but could none of the others have attempted to chase after the jerk who grabbed her? (Side note: I really love the color of his sect’s outfits.)

:3 I like Xuanji’s expressions, they’re just cute? So cute. Like her little huff when she’s defending her big sister from the jerkass. Also, I love characters who are like little kittens who puff up and try to protect their friends/family even though the one they’re trying to protect is probably more capable than them.

Jerkass really does take it too far when he just DROPS HER FROM THE SKY. Like, I can accept if youthful teasing goes a little far in that he snatched her and took her for a joy ride, but when it’s apparently that she really can’t summon a sword, it’s 100% not okay to just drop her and laugh it off. If Sifeng didn’t catch her, she could’ve died, and how exactly do you plan on explaining THAT to her father, huh Mr. Jerkass? He had like a dozen witnesses too.

Well, what can you expect from a guy who forgot to bring his invitation and literally was too arrogant and entitled to wait for his teacher to come out and let them in. :p Not the smartest cookie, is he. Even if you got in trouble for forgetting your invitation, you’d get in x10 more trouble for murdering a girl. Good thing she has plot armor and Sifeng was conveniently in the right spot to catch her lol.

Small note, he left her on his sword and she fell off after a bit - so…how exactly is HE flying? Can people fly without the help of their sword? Is he able to make more than one?

Lol Xuanji tugs at him like she does to her sister, it’s cute. But he’s so PANIC every time she touches him haha poor guy. He’s so awkward…why is it so endearing…

It took me a second to realize that he stutters, also that he has a voice actor this time! Idk why, Cheng Yi has a good voice. It would’ve fit this role just fine, unless there were parts they were concerned he couldn’t do. They did a good job matching the VA to his lip movements though, it’s really hard to tell it’s not his voice. It’s been a while since I heard Cheng Yi on video, but listening and comparing, now I can tell that it’s not his in this drama. Anyways, this might be my only complaint lol. Both he and his VA do a good job conveying the stuttering though!

Cheng Yi, you’re playing another character who’s good at disappearing in the blink of an eye lol…

Aah, so normally her sister’s personality type is the annoying sort, which is why she works well as a supporting character. I love how she turns her brattiness up to eleven in order to help Xuanji get out of a scolding by their father. I just really love how these two are so supportive and defensive of each other.

Edit: Alright, but Xuanji did you really just raise a flag for yourself so early in the show. ‘I think tears are the most precious things’. I WILL EAT MY HAT IF THIS DOES NOT BECOME RELEVANT LATER.

And instead of holding onto Sifeng’s name tag for like 50 episodes, she remembers she has it and goes to give it back + some birthday snacks because it’s his birthday too! GAH Xuanji is too cute.

I love how the guy who answered the door just his back only to turn around and smoothly give an explanation for his friend’s disfluency lol (so it’s a language thing!). AND THEN HE GOES ‘carry on!’ AND TURNS AROUND AGAIN. Idk why I find this funny but.

? Why all that effort for dew from a peach blossom tree. Is this one a special peach blossom tree. Why is he making tea with it. OH OK it’s good for cultivation.

He’s so vicious ha, he’s clearly perplexed by her - I mean, he’s the top disciple in his sect, so likely he doesn’t get how she can live so carefree and not have any desire to cultivate or anything. It’s perplexing and kind of total opposite to his worldview, so he reacts harshly.

Ah, I really like Cheng Yi’s acting! He goes from flat/indifferent face to reacting angrily to her picking the snake up, then a subtle worry as his eyes drop down from her to the snake.

I don’t know why I like this snake scene but I dooo. xD Also, it’s interesting how she doesn’t feel any strong emotions (she’s actually rather intensely curious tho!), while he puts on a mask literally/figuratively to seem like he doesn’t and yet gets worked up quite easily.

I’m glad she stops imitating him when he tells her to and is explicitly angry/upset, I get enough of people being assholes and making fun of others for things they can’t help like their speech impairments or mannerisms, it’s just kind of a personal thing that irks me.

AW HE’S SO PROTECTIVE OF HIS LITTLE SNAKE.

Why is it always the peach tree forests?? They’re always weird places that trap people. I can think of two other dramas where this happens haha. I know peaches do have significant symbolism in Chinese culture, so maybe that explains it.

Lol he still flips out a bit when she gets close. Poor girl, getting dropped from the air AGAIN.

Ah, this is the lake! Where they sealed part of that Mosha guy’s soul! This can’t be good.

Aw, look at his face, he’s genuinely worried for his little snake. CHENG YI YOUR RANGE OF EMOTIONS. GAH. 

I CAN’T OPEN IT. Oh wait.

WHY DID YOU GO IIIIN YOU JUST SAID YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING AND HE TOLD YOU TO STAY OUT, YOU LITTLE IDIOT. If he’s Little Stutterer, you can be Little Idiot, ok.

Here’s an idea, she finds the snake, you fight the dragon, and then all three of you get out of there.

OH the mask comes off!! Ok, but you have seen like most of his face already…Hahaha the look on his face ‘wait…why do I feel a hand why is she touching me there…OH NO’

Ah, a nice detail I didn’t think they’d think to add in: his stuttering got way worse without the mask on, since he was so upset/shaken.

?? What just happened with her blood lol.

Final Thoughts:

An interesting start, with nice character dynamics revealed and a dangerous situation to move the plot right along. I have been informed the drama really differentiates itself from the typical setup that has been supplied thus far, and I’m excited to see it unfold.

For now, I have a tiiiiny crush on Cheng Yi and I’m interested in where they take Xuanji’s character. Also, what disasters will result from their little excursion into the super lake where a demon lord thing was sort of sealed away a long time ago...

#the muffin's liveblogging adventures #love and redemption