#like. donghua ending I may not like but I can see what they were going for | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

muninnhuginn · 8 months

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Thanks for the tag, @roseofcards90!

Last song listened to:

youtube

Currently watching:

Move to Heaven (kdrama) - this probably isn't my usual fare, but I think I'm liking it so far? (Finished the first two eps) It's basically about telling the stories of the dead and making sure they get the respect they may not have received in life. One of the main MCs is autistic (as in, literally diagnosed) and the writing/acting seems to have a good balance so far with not babying him by showing he is competent but just has different rules and different people "get" him to varying levels? (There are definitely some little bits like the implication that his dad learnt sign language for him that feels warm rather than some writer just googling "common autistic traits") Will see how it goes anyway. It seems like the story of the day is episodic but the character stuff is building in the background.

Link Click (donghua) - Started watching this when s1 was airing but it was airing in the same period as Oddtaxi so the mystery parts of my brain were focused more on that at the time. To simplify it, it's a time travel donghua where the MC has to go back in time in order to retrieve info without altering the timeline. Season two is airing now and whilst I prefer s1 still overall s2 is still pretty interesting? Season one is more episodic/structured into arcs with a character focus, whilst season two is more full pelt mystery (so it's a bit surprising I prefer s1 tbh).

Jujutsu Kaisen (anime) - I'm an anime-only with this and am probably going to remain that way (especially from what I've gleaned about the manga - I might just watch to end of season two then leave it be?). Season two so far has captured me more than season one, though I've not seen the latest episode yet so will see if that holds when we return to the main cast. Either way, the openings and endings are genuinely so well-made. Even if the series goes entirely in a direction I hate I know I'll always have them.

Again My Life (kdrama) - Lawyer guy gets into trouble trying to take down a powerful guy. Gets killed (shocker). Gets sent back to his younger self to do it right this time. Not a super original plot admittedly, but it's a chill story so far and the relationships between the main cast in it (pretty much all platonic at least at this stage) are all really sweet. It's also doing surprisingly well in giving the female characters interesting conflicts

Adventure Time (US cartoon) - Not watching the whole thing and I have seen a number of random episodes out of order before, but am trying to crash course my way through enough to watch Fiona and Cake. Just finished the episode about Finn's ocean phobia and um, bit more yikes than I was expecting at this stage, but okay. Also, unfortunately, I can entirely see what people mean about Bubblegum&Finn being inspiration for Makima&Denji

Currently reading:

Klara and the Sun - first arc complete, extremely worried about some flags I'm picking up, rip. It's from the POV of a robot (AI kinda deal) and narration-wise, it really shows. Klara's pretty naiive in some ways, but the world-building and clues still make their way through the narration filter

House of Leaves - okay, ngl, I'm not far into this at all, but I've been confused about references to it for years and it seems meta so I'm going to get through it

Will bundle manga in together for ones I'm properly keeping up with rather than checking in every few months to catch up so: Skip and Loafer (monthly release), Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun (monthly), Spy x Family (fortnightly). Webtoons: Rebirth (weekly), unOrdinary (weekly).

Current obsession:

idek what I'd count because I'm into a few things rn and none of them to the extent I've done the whole deep dive? I'm being relatively chill, for me, I'd say. I'll say Link Click, Good Omens, Spy x Family are the things I'm most into nowadays? Good Omens is definitely what I have the most reblogs queued up relating to by far. There's just so much art and meta and I'm not used to being into a fandom here that just has so much. It's a bit overwhelming, honestly

Not sure who to tag but anyone who sees this and wants to have a go feel free (and feel free to ping me in it, I'm nosy) ^^

#tldr I have waaaay too many things pending. I've not included stuff like eizouken and poppy war I stalled on literally months ago #ask meme #roseofcards90

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rosethornewrites · 1 year

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1/10-11/24 NR, E, & M reading

Moving after this so may be a gap.

Finished

Not Rated:

Deliver Us, by b00mgh

When Wei Wuxian gives himself up before Wen Ning and Wen Qing get the chance, everyone who loved him steps in to protect the people he gave his life for.

Don't worry, they bring him back B)

rulebreaker, by straelamo

Wei Wuxian returns to Cloud Recesses, and the world is set right.

in this close hand, by twigofwillow (2nd in a series)

Just a very cozy rainy day in the greenhouse

Birthday Cakes and Bunnies, by Hauntcats

A-Yuan wants to do something special for his a-Die's birthday. Who better to help than Bunny-gege.

Explicit:

lightning in a bottle, by bigbabyjeno

“You don’t see me,” the man hisses, creeping down the corridor with his back pressed to the wall, arms spread like he’s some sort of secret agent on a top secret spy mission.

Lan Zhan watches him for a moment, trying to decide if he’s worth any concern. The man is currently crab-walking behind a row of potted ficus, though, so Lan Zhan is reasonably sure he doesn’t need to alert security about this one.

[Or; Lan Zhan is photographing a wedding when he catches someone trying to sneak in. The man claims to be the bride's brother and begs Lan Zhan to make him his assistant for the evening so he can watch his sister get married. Lan Zhan reluctantly agrees and gets a lot more than he bargained for.]

At the End of the Road, by trickybonmot

It is the stupidest, most transparently terrible idea. Wei Ying’s hand is fisted shut on the fabric of his t-shirt, twisting it up far enough to reveal a glimpse of golden-brown skin. This is the worst idea. Lan Wangji is going to say no.

“How do you imagine that would work?” he says instead.

Wei Ying gives a little half-shrug. “I guess I would jack off,” he says. “And you could, like, spot me.”

The Nines of Winter, by ArcadianMaggie

When Wei Ying misses his flight home from college for winter break, Jiang Cheng arranges a ride home—with Lan Zhan, whom Wei Ying hasn't spoken to in over two years. When the weather takes a turn for the worse, they are forced to stop for the night. Luckily, Lan Xichen's house is en route and they are able to wait out the storm. There's weather (frightful) and a fire (delightful), two rabbits and a puppy, plus Lan Zhan's emergency preparedness kit.

Snow-Covered Jingshi, by squishh

He hadn’t even realized he’d moved until he felt soft silks beneath his palm and plush lips against his own. The pull of those eyes had made him sway forward, drawn in like a spell. His hand was on Lan Wangji’s thigh, his weight pressing his hand down as he leaned against firm muscle. The heat of Lan Wangji’s lips made him feel like he was burning.

Nothing could have ever felt this good. It felt safe, and it felt dangerous. He was in danger of never wanting to do anything else but kiss this man.

______

What I imagine should have roughly happened when LWJ and WWX were in the Jingshi in episode 43 if the censorship laws weren't whack and WWX weren't so oblivious to his own emotions lol

Mature:

Get it right (this time), by AmiraAlzilu (30 chapters)

Death would be a fate too kind for Wei Wuxian. He should pay for every sin he committed.

At least that’s the only explanation he has for this impossible situation. After falling from the cliff he woke up in his 15 year old body, just before his months of study at Cloud Recesses.

So, thinking it was for the best, he decides to disappear when he was supposed to be searching for their lost invitation.

Little does he know someone else came back in time with him.

Reset, by SuperiorJello (11 chapters)

What if things went horribly wrong at the end of episode 50, and Wei Wuxian sent himself and Lan Wangji back in time to Cloud Recesses to save them?

Follows mostly CQL/The Untamed canon, but I have also read translations of the novel and seen some of the donghua, so some of that is in there too.

This fic is part of a series!

Part one only takes place in Gusu, detailing wwx and lwj's arrival in the past and the immediate repercussions thereof. It is now complete.

Part two will continue the story as our characters head to Yunmeng Jiang and forward.

Too Much To Bear, by madwriter223 (10 chapters)

Coming back to life and being immediately thrust into a quest to discover the origins of the demonic arm that had murdered nealy an entire clan overnight was not something Wei Wuxian ever thought he'd have to deal with, but it was fine. He had Lan Wangji and together they were unstoppable.

However he had no clue how to deal with discovering Nie Huaisang was apparently a wreck on the verge of collapse at any given moment. How in the world had this happened?

AKA

this is filed under 'nervous wreck nhs' in my fic folder for a reason

if i had the strength, by agloeian (6 chapters)

Jiang Cheng seethes, gripping the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know how to help you,” he admits, “so I’m sending you to the people that do.”

It nearly slips out then, the truth of the matter. Wei Wuxian opens his mouth to snap back ‘There’s no helping me, not now!’ but the words stick in his throat. Shijie is crying and Jiang Cheng is defiant and Lan Zhan is staring at him so earnestly that Wei Wuxian simply doesn’t know how to tell them all that he’s living on borrowed time.

So he doesn’t.

---

At the behest of his siblings, Wei Wuxian is sent to Gusu to recover from the strain of the Sunshot Campaign.

If only he knew how to do that.

The Yu Temper, by madwriter223 (2 chapters)

How the confrontation between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian in episodes 27/28 could have gone if Jiang Cheng had let loose the temper he'd inherited from his mother?

Jiang Cheng goes apeshit on the morons he's surrounded by and fixes (nearly) everything

A pissed off Jiang Cheng adopts everybody, because fuck you, Wei Wuxian!

Unfinished

Not Rated:

Rise of the Peacock, by JustAWanderingBabbit

Killed at Qiongqi Pass, Jin Zixuan wakes to find himself in an old and familiar scenario; the day he and Wei Wuxian fought in Gusu Lan. The day his betrothal to Jiang Yanli came to an end.

Unsure whether or not he's dreaming, Jin Zixuan decides to seize the chance and change the future. But for that he'll need help from his bastard brother, Meng Yao.

you can have the best of me, baby, by stiltonbasket

Twelve hours after Jiang Cheng and the others escape from Mount Muxi, Wei Wuxian risks wading into the lake and discovers that the underwater passage to the stream in the maple wood has been blocked behind the tortoise’s body.

“It’s sleeping right beside the opening,” he whispers, when he and Lan Zhan are safe in a tunnel of rock too narrow for the Xuanwu’s neck and head. “Judging by the current in the water, that passage was the only way out.”

Trapped in the Xuanwu's cave with no means of escape, Lan Wangji suggests a surprising course of action to strengthen himself and Wei Wuxian for battle: dual cultivation.

The session proves successful, but despite their best efforts, Wei Wuxian's golden core yields unexpected consequences for them both.

Explicit:

unfated; unscripted, by homeybee

Lan Zhan finds Wei Ying on tinder, the first time. He isn't someone Lan Zhan knows, or he would have swiped left. It is his smile that draws him in initially, causes him to swipe right when ordinarily he would have closed his phone again, put on his pajamas, and tried properly to sleep. It is, after all, past his bedtime.

Half an hour later finds Lan Zhan, undeniably not in his pajamas, driving down the highway to the next tiny town over.

...

A series of 'first' meetings.

Discarded, by teawater

Children in Cloud Recesses are succubming to a dark curse. There's one person who may be able to help.

Time Unwinds in a Kaleidoscope of Red, by vamprav

Wei Wuxian falls through time and hits the ground in the Burial Mounds. After taking stock of his situation he decides that things will be different this time, even if it kills him, starting with that disastrous reunion with his brother and future husband.

Heart of the Beast, by WaitForTheSnitch

“Wei Ying?” Nie Mingjue prompted him gently. “Where are your parents?”

“They went on a night hunt,” Wei Ying said, a bit evasively.

“Your parents are cultivators?” Da-ge asked in surprise. “Did they leave you here while they hunted? When did they go on their night hunt?”

“Four summers ago,” Wei Ying said a bit uncomfortable.

“Four summers ago,” Nie Mingjue repeated. “What are your parents’ names?”

“My mama is Cangse Sanren and my baba is Wei Changze,” Wei Ying told him, and recognition registered in Nie Mingjue’s eyes.

“Wei Ying,” Nie Mingjue said, sounding a bit regretful, “Your parents aren’t coming back.”

Or, Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang run into Wei Ying while in Yiling and decide to bring him home. And it changes everything.

We met again but in a different time, by akumanomiyu

Jiang FengMian never found Wei WuXian after he lost his parents, so he spent his life on the street, alone.

He didn't have a clan to protect him and teach him how to become a true cultivator, but he still managed to grow up a strong and righteous man.

People hated him or feared him for the demonic tricks he had to learn to survive. His life wasn't easy but he lived it as he wanted.

Until one day, a good action made him discover an evil plot against the cultivator world and cross path with the Lan clan...

you'll find my heart on the mountainside, by lulu_kitty

After parting ways with Lan Wangji on the mountain path, Wei Wuxian takes some time to consider what it is that he wants with this new second chance at life.

The answer finds him coming back to Lan Wangji, his zhiji, but after they reunite and set forth to embark on their new life together, an unexpected surprise awaits them on their journey home.

Or, a post-canon CQL/Untamed getting together story: accidental baby acquisition addition.

The Communication Effect, by draechaeli

If only there was more communication, or the right kind then everything would be all right. Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi might be bad when it comes to talking to each other about the important things, but they are still leagues better then the older generation that use communication like swords: concealing, revealing, and striking as they please for their own gain. From apologies, to misunderstandings, to sieges, to rumours and gossip, to cold wars, to lies, to civil wars, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi navigate the world together once their brothers make sure they’re engaged before the classes at Cloud Recesses are finished.

This fic is finished at 186k in 37 chapters + 3 extras

most barren peak and bleakest winter, by WhatTheOwlHears

He drank. Set the cup down. “I understand Wei Ying would not choose to behave that way ordinarily.”

Well that was certainly true, but it felt like a lie anyway. “Haha, yeah.” Wei Wuxian put his elbow on the table so he could put his face in his hand. “Definitely would not normally make attempts on the virtue of my dear dear friend Hanguang-jun.”

Mature:

can't find a way home, by KouriArashi

After giving away his golden core and being thrown into the Burial Mounds, Wei Wuxian takes his revenge on the Wen sect without crossing paths with the Sunshot Campaign.

With no trace of him found, his loved ones have no choice but to believe he died in the Burial Mounds, and go into mourning.

But then strange things start to happen around Yunmeng ... and in Lanling, Jin Guangshan has only begun to take advantage of the power vacuum left behind by the war.

Second Summer, by Anonymous

“So, this is awkward,” says Wei Ying, with a little laugh. It sounds fake. “But I think you have mistaken me for someone else.”

A year after the mysterious death of the Jin heir, Lan Wangji runs across the secret, long-lost, amnesiac love of his life while on a night-hunt.

Tragedy That Befall Upon Us, by xoxoholic

"Hey! What's this?" Jin Ling yelled, pointing at the glowing, black and red orb. Jiang Wanyin marched over to Jin Ling, but the young Jin sect leader had already touched the orb.

"Jin Ling!" Jiang Wanyin yelled in anger. If his golden core was not sealed, then Zidian would be cackling furiously.

"..Oops?" Jin Ling sheepishly smiled as he hid behind his friends. Lan Jingyi laughed at Jin Lings predicament while Lan Sizhui sighed. Ouyang Zizhen laughed with Lan Jingyi in amusement before he was hit in the back of his head by his father.

Hound's Tongue Tied Up, by Stepdavii

“I’ve figured out a way to keep us safe. Forever,” Wei Wuxian replies, still writing out all that he can think of that would possibly help.

“Oh? And whats that?” Wen Qing asks blankly.

“I’m going to make the world forget we exist.”

In which Wei Wuxian figures the best way to keep everyone safe and make everyones life better, he should make it so that his and Wen Remnants existence become forgotten. He just doesn't realize how much an impact doing so would be.

Dreams of Paradise, by Hauntcats

This on begins during the siege of the Burial Mound. Wei Ying is trying to destroy or nullify the tiger seal before anyone else can get it. The results don’t work out quite how he thought they would. His essence is trapped in between time where he witnesses different scenes of the lives of those he cares about. (The 13? 16? Years when he was dead.)

Then he wakes up in a place he didn't expect.

Once again, not Jiang friendly. If you don't like that, please, don't read.

Seeking Solace, by DragonHeart (Taer01), Taer01

Months after the Siege of Burial Mounds against the Yiling Patriarch, the cultivation world gets a rude awakening.

We're Alone Now, by Forever_Marie

"Did you hear, did you hear? Hanguang-jun deserted his clan"

Lan Zhan deserts the Lan Clan in favor of protecting Wei Wuxian and warns him of the pending Siege. They all run for the hills and everything is quiet for a decade until one day Xichen wanders upon him in a market in Yiling.

Impossible Remains, by Jengabears

Jiang Cheng wakes slowly to the feeling of spiritual energy swimming through his veins. Not just swimming. Singing. Flooding. He was filled with it. He didn't know if it was because he had been without any for so long or if Baoshan Sanren had chosen to make him stronger, but he had never felt so powerful in his life. It was glorious. It was everything. He felt alive again. Whole. Better than whole. He had to thank her. He had to scream his joy across the mountain. He was so infinitely grateful.

He ripped off his blindfold, turned to look around him, praises and gratitude resting on the tip of his tongue. Yet what his eyes rested on was a face he never expected to see. His joy and gratitude instantly snuffed into ashes in his mouth. His eyes widened in horror at the sight which greeted him. He wished he could take everything back. Every thought which had passed through his mind since he'd woken.

How could this happen?

Wei Wuxian dies in the core transfer.

Summer Snow, by Forever_Marie

Jiang Cheng dies after Lotus Pier falls and the Jiang are no more. This leaves Wei Ying without family and a home, now and for after the war, forever shattered. He joins the Lan clan (at Wangji's insistence) to fight in the Sunshot campaign as Lan Wangji tries to fill in the cracks left behind.

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #cql #chen qing ling #untamed fanfiction

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aethernightmare · 1 month

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YouTube has been removing views on my videos, and while at first I thought it was erasing what were maybe bot views or people who clicked on only to immediately click back off, that doesn't align with other metrics of engagement a video may have anymore.

As I now have videos with more likes and comments than views. Heck, some of my videos with other forms of audience engagement went all the way down to zero views.

I even tried watching said affected videos all the way through on another account (and device) to see if my own engagement would track, and it didn't. If it did, the video in question should have wound up with at least one view, because I know for a fact it came from a real person with a real account (me), who watched it beginning to end with no interruption, and YouTube still deleted the metrics??

I also already earned my 4000+ required hours of watchtime for platform partnership too, so I know people/bots aren't just clicking on and then dropping back off. Prior to my views vanishing, my data for watch time and engagement was normal. But then the following day, that too gets deleted.

Again, I can't help but notice this is happening around the same time I'm less than 200 subscribers away from getting partnered, and thus monetized. And I can't help but wonder if YouTube is deliberately kneecapping smaller creators, perhaps in an attempt to get them to quit? The fact that this comes immediately after my channel got falsely flagged for "scams" kind of hints at that being the case. As prior to that all of my engagement was normal, and none of my views ever got deleted (the same people were also commenting on the videos).

The only other thing I can think of is maybe YouTube is deleting views that account for less than half of a video? Like if you don't watch the whole thing in one sitting it doesn't count? But then why was my test view deleted? And what disastrous consequences would that have for people who make long-form content (which is frequently watched in chunks rather than all at once)?

EDIT: Bit of a tinfoil hat moment, but I'm noticing most of the people reporting this problem right now are all YouTubers who have any positive connection to China whatsoever? Like not in a political propaganda sense, but maybe they vlog their life there, or talk about learning the language, or just talk about culture or mythology in general. I somewhat do in my videos as well, as someone who plays Hoyoverse games, and I'm someone who always likes to take the opportunity to broaden my horizons with any culture. So this happening to a specific group of people, as well as during my own government's ban on websites like Tiktok...feels really suspicious. Maybe it has nothing to do with it, but the coincidences aren't looking good. 😒

The funniest part of that though, if I can call it that (it's not), is that I'm not even saying anything "offensive", or "dangerous", or "controversial". The latest thing I mentioned was how I was watching an anime (donghua) in Mandarin, and how in one scene there was a whole Forest Grump skit with a cockroach. That's it. That was my latest YouTube 'censorship sin'. I hate this stupid billionaire website, I really do. Go home, Google. You're drunk.

#bren streams games

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dreamingsushi · 9 months

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Eternal Love - Episode 27

So the love story between Yehua and Susu now came to an end, since Susu jumped into the Zhuxian Platform. It is believed that her soul was shattered. But we know that she broke off the seal Qingcang put on her and returned home. However, even if he’s out of danger now, there’s no way to know when Yehua will wake up again, so Donghua suggested they use an artifact that Sujin provides without any back thoughts, right?

Bai Qian decides to forget everything about Susu, because she feels her fate with Yehua was just bad fate. Then Yehua opens his eyes, thanks to the Jipo Light. The Emperor regrets having been so harsh on him since he was young. And Lian Song is like... yeah, he had a shitty life. You were mean dad, but you know that’s life.

Zhe Yan, Bai Zhen and Bai Qian’s parents agree to keep the truth concealed from her, since she doesn’t want to remember. They’ll tell her she slept after sealing Qingcang and that she was born with a latent disease to her eyes, which explains why she can’t see the light anymore, even though Zheyan healed her eyes. Bai Zhen is really a handsome man and I really love how Zheyan always teases him.

Yehua’s mom got a potion to make him forget about Susu, but he doesn’t want to forget about her.

Susu finally wakes up and Bai Zhen gives her a cloth to hide her eyes and protect them from bright light. Then she worries about her master and she rushes to see him only to notice that even without her blood he’s still alright. So Zheyan thinks he’s going to wake up soon. Then she goes to take care of the broken hearted Fengjiu.

On his wedding day with Sujin, which he totally forgot about on purpose, he goes to visit Fengjiu. He wants to find Siyin, because he was Mo Yuan’s favourite disciple, so if he didn’t let him be buried properly, it means he wanted to go against the Heavens and revive him. He wants to know how he did it, so he could revive Susu too. When he asks Fengjiu, obviously she lies and doesn’t say a thing about what she knows. Back at his place, Yehua properly welcomes his new wife. Which is by stabbing her and not wasting one word on her. Unfortunately, she won’t die of such a little injury.

While he’s looking at it, the Yuqi Kunlun fan vanishes: it was called by its master, Bai Qian. Ye Hua rushes to Kunlun to try and see if he can find Si Yin. Bai Qian’s there too, but they don’t cross paths. He gets scolded for not taking in Sujin. He says she may live in his palace, but his room and Susu’s room is where she should never set foot. Then Sujin’s maid begs Yehua to meet with Sujin, because she says she has a way to revive Susu. Big liar.

But we will have plenty of opportunities to yell at Sujin next episode as this is the end of this one. She’s a wicked lady, we all know, so let’s not put our hopes up for her. See you around!

#eternal love #yang mi #zhao youting #dilraba dilmurat #gao weiguang #xuanhuan #xuanhuan drama #costume drama #c-drama #cdrama #chinese drama #drama review #drama recap #drama reaction

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shijiujun · 3 years

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Ooooh yeah okay barely a day later and I’m back with a new rec, I just finished this yesterday (if y’all are wondering if I do anything else but read, I have my binge-reading periods not gonna lie, especially when China bookstores REFUSE to give me a break and keep coming up with new shit)

- Part of Min’s ‘Why You Should Read’ Series -

Summary:

Shen Qiao is the elusive sect leader of Xuandu Shan (Mt. Xuandu) who is known for his legendary sword skills, not that many have seen him before. He battles Kun Xie, the powerful leader of another sect one day, and is sent crashing down the mountain where they had their battle at. Against all odds, he lives, but is saved by leading demonic sect leader Yan Wushi, who happened to be passing by.

Yan Wushi is the opposite of Shen Qiao - he does not believe that there are truly good people in the world and any individual, in the face of self-interest or fear, will turn selfish and resentful. To him, there are only two kinds of people in the world - worthy opponents, or scum not even worth looking at. He is arrogant, borders on the side of insanity, and cares for and trusts in no one.

Having heard of Shen Qiao’s personality, Yan Wushi first saves him out of fun and games. Shen Qiao has lost his memory, and Yan Wushi is curious to see how he will deal with hardship and challenges, including the loss of his martial arts skills, the loss of his sight, and faced with a shidi, shixiong and other elders in his sect who may have sabotaged his battle with Kun Xie, leading to his fall. Yan Wushi actively does things that drives Shen Qiao into despair, and one incident almost causes Shen Qiao’s death.

Shen Qiao treats every person he meets very well, even those who returned his kindness with cruelty, and even after being betrayed, the seeds of resentment do not emerge in him. No matter how Yan Wushi betrays him and dismisses his offer of friendship, Shen Qiao was still willing to go find him when he was in danger. In the end, Yan Wushi finally realizes that this is the one person who has exceeded all his expectations, who is truly good because he can be, and falls in love with him.

Cue Yan Wushi having to chase an oblivious Shen Qiao back who no longer believes in a single word Yan Wushi says.

This is a story of two people with entirely different and mutually exclusive world views that somehow come to understand and love each other, while still retain their own views. Yan Wushi thinks that Shen Qiao’s kindness is weakness and that he is gullible, but Shen Qiao is not so much as gullible as he is just willing to give someone else the benefit of the doubt first, and he does learn to look at things with a more critical eye after spending time with Yan Wushi. Is Shen Qiao still kind and gorgeous and everything? Hell yes. Does Yan Wushi still tease him for it? Of course. Similarly, Shen Qiao is unable and also unwilling to change how Yan Wushi approaches things and people, but for Shen Qiao, Yan Wushi is willing to make compromises in action, even if he doesn’t agree with what Shen Qiao thinks.

*Not as angsty as I made it out to be but the subtext is quite amazing - BUT!!!! You get like a lot of vague kissing for most of the novel. Shen Qiao remains firstly oblivious, then secondly goes straight into denial, while Yan Wushi looks on adoringly. The romance starts... for real... from the epilogues onwards HAHAHA I cannot even!!!!

Read:

Novel (Online) | Novel (Print) - Not Available Now | Novel Translations | Upcoming Donghua - 山河剑心 | Audio Drama - S1 & S2

Characters:

1. 沈峤 Shen Qiao (Right) - He's described as one of the most beautiful/handsome men the wuxia world has ever seen, and is his deceased shifu’s second disciple. He was chosen as the successor to the sect leader position of Mt. Xuandu, which has stayed neutral for decades (in a world where sects can ally themselves with emperors/kingdoms etc.). He is poisoned on his fated battle day with Kun Xie by someone he trusted, falls off the mountain and is rescued by Yan Wushi.

For the first part of the novel he’s visually impaired but this helps him to train his hearing. Wanted to be friends with Yan Wushi because he believed they could be, but is betrayed by him shortly after and loses all his power to fight his enemy. Instead of dying, he is saved by his to-be disciple Shi Wu and realizes the secret to cultivating his powers because of that.

He’s kind but not gullible, he gives everyone the benefit of the doubt, but he’s definitely not weak or soft. Despite losing his martial arts and skills twice, he comes back stronger than before. He doesn’t understand if Yan Wushi is toying with him or is being real especially after he loses trust in the man, but their fates are intertwined together (or Yan Wushi is actually that shameless and a stalker lmao).

He faints a lot, throws up blood a lot, is carried by Yan Wushi A LOT.

2. 晏无师 Yan Wushi (Left) - A little insane, a little sadistic, takes joy in seeing someone despair. He’s very good looking, has a streak of white in his hair and ranks second (or first) in terms of martial arts and skills. He also has an official role in the palace and is advisor to the Zhou emperor. Every other demonic and good sect in the world fears him. Is also kind of a hoe.

He told Shen Qiao once that he does not need friends, only worthy opponents, before he surrendered Shen Qiao to an enemy of his. He also plants a demon heart seed into Shen Qiao (so that he can go through demonic cultivation), much to Shen Qiao’s fury and devastation, but Shen Qiao manages to survive that. After he recovers, he hears of plans to get rid of Yan Wushi and goes to save him instead, not because he trusts/thinks of Yan Wushi as a friend at this point but wanting to prove to Yan Wushi that even though he pushed Shen Qiao to the brink of no return, Shen Qiao survived, under his own terms, and stayed true to himself.

Because of that, Yan Wushi does a 180 on Shen Qiao, starts believing in him, starts thinking he’s cute and everything. Starts shamelessly flirting (and getting rejected by Shen Qiao) and finally gets his man when he’s in utmost danger at the end.

Other Things I Like in the Novel:

Shen Qiao is so damn cute?!!! And so skilled?! Like because everyone looked down on him after he failed the battle with Kun Xie not knowing that he was poisoned and sabotaged, and the next moment he flashes his sword out in a fight and they’re all like damnnnnnn

Yan Wushi is hurt severely once and as he recovers, his consciousness is split into four parts, and two of those personalities come out to cling on to Shen Qiao, and Yan Wushi gets jealous of himself

Shen Qiao’s two disciples are super cute!!! And then he picks up another cute boy along the way closer to the end

He faints a lot and throws up blood A LOT if they were doing a live-action for this I’d vote for Zhu Yilong for the role, and he also keeps getting kidnapped?! It’s hilarious

Whenever Yan Wushi tries to be nice to him (feed him, kiss him) Shen Qiao will flush and tell him to please be respectful and then they’ll exchange parries and blows as Yan Wushi DOES NOT GIVE UP on feeding him and Shen Qiao is TRYING TO AVOID THE SPOON

Yan Wushi knows that Shen Qiao has feelings for him in the end but is just too prideful and embarrassed to admit it, and so he pretends to be cold to him and Shen Qiao panics and is confused, then goes and asks random strangers on how to woo a “crazy, stubborn, more skilled” significant other - In the end he initiates his first kiss with Yan Wushi and Yan Wushi forgives him LOL

They go to an inn the first time they sleep with each other and then the help at the inn hears like noise coming from upstairs right, and asks the innkeeper “oh my god are they okay” and innkeeper says “they’re doing things that deities do” ????!!

Yan Wushi likes to squash Shen Qiao’s face when he’s not awake so that his lips form like an unglam pout, then he laughs at it - Ownself amuse ownself

#qian qiu #thousand autumns #千秋 #梦溪石 #danmei recs #meng xi shi #danmei #min's why you should read

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danhoemei · 3 years

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What do you think of the reconciliation of Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng that is confirmed (post canon) in Lan Wangji's letter?

Tbh I just learnt something new from you anon lmao.

First of all, let's establish the post canon here, as I found that it's from cql. I come from the novel so I had no idea about it.

Although all adaptations spring from the same source, all of them have smaller or bigger differences and divergences. Thus, it's not that easy to say what is "canon" here, e.g. something that happens in the drama doesn't mean that it's canon for the novel as well, and the other way around, and as I've seen so far both are quite different in some aspects, maybe even with a few contradictions.

Another thing is the source of the information. For me the strongest will always be the source material, and additional bits of information from interviews, author's posts etc. can be treated with less weight. I had experiences in other fandoms or media where the author started spewing nonsense out of spite, or literally contradicted what was in the original story, so since then I take additional bits added post-release as a free candy which I can take or not.

Now, coming back to mdzs's adaptations. The manhua and donghua are considerably close to the novel, so I consider the novel as the scroll of truth here. However, when it comes to the drama I kind of think of it as an alternate version with its own rights, and I personally pretty much separate these two. So I'd say that the letter could be treated as canon for cql, but not necessarily for the novel.

So now the question is, do I take this candy?

Gods in all heavens, heck yes.

Even though I treat all adaptations more or less separate, there are certain parts which I will fiercely headcanon no matter what, in all of them. And one of these things is that yunmeng bros need each other and will gravitate towards each other whether they want it or not. Initially, the main reason could be only jin ling. They love him and care about him, so even if both of them avoided each other they would still have this connection and possibly bump into each other from time to time. Jin ling is the last part of their family who they loved very much, but both of them are also these last bits of it. And it is very clear how strong a family instinct they have. Yunmeng is also wwx's home, where he grew up and what he longed for many times, no matter how much time passed. He would want to come back there from time to time, even if he was thrown away from lotus pier. What about jiang cheng, who threw him out? Even when he shouted at wwx to leave (before the whole golden core revelation), to me it seemed like another thing he spouted in the heat of the moment when his emotions and grievances took reins, as he instantly froze and tried to stop wwx who complied and turned away. So I don't imagine him taking excessive steps to keep wwx away later on, especially after his approach changed quite significantly towards the end, even towards wen ning who he initially hated with every fiber of his being.

And don't get me wrong - I don't see them as sweet bros longing for each other who just need to sit down once and talk and it'll be dandy. They have a ton of issues (mostly on jiang cheng’s side) and unspoken secrets between each other which are not easy to disclose but which hold them back very significantly. Mostly jiang cheng needs to change for this to happen, let his thick as hell walls drop a bit to be less on guard and be more open, and stop constantly hurting others because of his lack of control and toxic coping mechanisms. All that stems from childhood trauma, severe inferiority complex, pathological parents who didn't give him support and love he needed. But not one thing from these justifies his behaviour and how he compensates or lashes out when anything triggers him. Still, in the root of his being is love and care for his family, which could be seen so many times when he made sacrifices in order to protect his loved ones or the whole sect, each time when he's overprotective of jin ling, also each time he helped wwx despite being very vocal about the opposite. He's a contradictory character with tons of issues, which he unfortunately takes out on others.

So their reconciliation in my eyes is not gonna be easy and fast. It's a long and bumpy road, began with a long period of absence from each other's lives, then featuring arguments or clashes, unsaid feelings, secrets, and sacrifices finally spilling (probably in shouting voices and tears). I like to think that with time jiang cheng could mature emotionally and learn to be healthier, not only thanks to being surrounded by people who love him and care for him, but also because maybe those people could open his eyes on his behaviour and teach him a bit. As jin ling grows older, he could get bolder and more confident, and say what he doesn’t like about his uncle’s way of being or treating others. I also like to imagine wwx being more direct in his grievances or reproaches and basically being done with jiang cheng’s bs, because he is now happy, with lwj by his side, and may learn to prioritise himself instead of constantly giving to others and sacrificing himself and his own comfort. If jiang cheng is like that then why should wwx deal with him, if he doesn't feel like it? So what if it's jiang cheng who needs to swallow his pride and finally make the first move, if he actually wants any kind of contact with his brother? Maybe there is a banquet at yunmeng after a long time passes, and he invites wwx. Maybe it doesn’t go so well but later on they still keep bumping into each other and having smaller or bigger conversations, maybe meanwhile jin ling gets involved in something and they collaborate to help him. Bit by bit, I like to think that they both slowly (and finally) learn and understand each other more. And that at some point they'd be like a true and close family, not the one they were - something different, more grown up and mature. That they can travel to each other, have casual conversations and goof around, maybe steal some lotus pods together again, but this time with more mirth and fun than those competitive teenage years way back.

I just... want these two to be happy and there for each other ;__; They lost so much, but they still have each other and I don’t want them to forget that as well, especially when they clearly have so much love and care in them ;___;

So yes, I am very much into taking the letter as a general canon for me, because this is already what I headcanoned anyway ;d

And just a reminder! This is all my own self indulgent headcanon based on my interpretation of these characters and their relationship (rather from the novel’s perspective, I can’t talk with confidence about the drama). Take what you want from it, or don’t take anything at all. These are stories made for us to enjoy and reflect on, not fight or spread hate over, so go wild with your imagination and headcanons, enjoy and have fun <3

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kukuandkookie · 3 years

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As someone who’s recently gotten more into Chinese media, all the news surrounding these “gritty live-action” adaptations from the west has me feeling a little more grateful for cdrama adaptations of popular novels/manga.

I suddenly feel lucky that since I’ve gotten into Chinese media, these live-action adaptions by China have generally turned out to be of good quality.

Like The Bad Kids—which is the most recent cdrama I watched in full for a neo-noir presentation assignment for my film noir class—it was so good!!

And I know it’s not the same thing since Netflix adapting something like The Winx Club is more international and the Chinese entertainment industry may run a little differently.

That being said, when a cdrama adaption does go a little more international by adapting something from Japan like Boys Over Flowers, Prince of Tennis, and Hikaru no Go, they generally do a good job and are well-received (mostly in part thanks to them respecting the source material NVKSJFJSHD).

Like I’ve heard so many good things about Prince of Tennis and Hikaru no Go (which I’m currently a little obsessed with) from fans of the originals.

And as someone who was so ready to be disappointed by The Untamed and who worried it would be cheap and unlikeable in comparison to the original novel I loved, I was so pleasantly surprised when I fell in love with the show!

Because even with censorship, even with the rewriting, even with the softening of characters, even with the rearrangement of the timeline, even with the additional stories... It’s still really good?

The crew clearly respected the original novel, and the actors also did a great job.

The same can be said for Guardian and The King’s Avatar—both live-action adaptations of novels that had different vibes from the original source material, but had enough respect and care put into them that even fans of the original who were ready to hate it ended up enjoying it.

Many of them also draw inspiration from the animated (donghua) and comic (manhua) and audio drama versions of the novel they’re adapting, and that once again shows respect to the fans who already like the donghua/manhua/audio drama.

And I guess that’s the thing? Like you don’t have to adapt something perfectly. Just...respect the original. Respect the fans. Care about the product you’re making. Put some effort into it.

I didn’t even mind Riverdale (1st season), and I say this as someone who liked to read the comics occasionally. It wasn’t perfect, but some of the storytelling surprises and mystery was fun (and Bughead was very cute), but that’s in part thanks to the Archie comics being so damn flexible in the first place (Archie can literally go from goofy fun to fighting zombies if you wanted).

But the more Riverdale pulled away from the comics, the more off it seemed to get, and since fans began critiquing it, I haven’t kept up with any of its news (I also stopped watching back in season 2).

But the Powerpuff Girls live-action and the Winx Club live-action? Idk they lack the flexibility of the Archie comics, and while some elements of their shows could be good for live-action adaptations (PPG could lend itself to a grittier superhero show if you really wanted; Winx could probably make for a cool fantasy show in a school setting), you have to respect the original!!

And I don’t see how what we’ve seen of Fate the Winx Saga is respectful to the original or to the fans (whitewashing, renaming a character you whitewashed because of fan backlash—ignoring the fact you’re still basically replacing a WOC with a white woman, ignoring some of the elements in character/aesthetic of the original, and erasing other characters)??

I was never into Winx Club as a kid, but even I recognize this is quite a...butchering of source material, to say the least. Not everything has to be edgy/gritty to be cool, you guys.

As someone who loves the Powerpuff Girls and was big into the fandom for years, this makes me more concerned for the live-action. 😬

But also while I’m still hesitant and cautious in my excitement for the upcoming Tian Guan Ci Fu live-action adaptation, it’s at least a bit of a relief that they’re in better hands than the western live-action adaptations. At least they’re in hands that will respect the source material more...

Besides having to balance the same struggles as the western entertainment industry (which parts to adapt, which to change, how to draw in new fans but keep old ones, etc), China literally has censors the creators may face in adapting gay/supernatural/violent stories.

But if they can still make something good that both old and new fans enjoy, then what excuse can the west turn to?

#winx club #fate the winx saga #the bad kids #the untamed #chen qing ling #the king’s avatar #guardian #zhen hun #hikaru no go #prince of tennis #cdrama #kuku rambles #riverdale #tian guan ci fu #kuku88

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lenmatcha · 3 years

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Xiao Yuliang related video recs from Bilibili!

P.S.

If the live comments section is too distracting, you can turn it off by clicking a button on the bottom that looks like this:

Anyways, Enjoy

Xiao Yuliang edits:

【肖宇梁｜手书动画】to Rainco.小月亮，欢迎回来！【Xiao Yuliang| Animatic】to Rainco. Welcome back!

This artist spent only a month making this animatic.

Check it out, it looks cool!

这TM才是一人千面的蛊王！【肖宇梁 · 欲向病娇感】 Man with a Thousand Faces 【Xiao Yuliang·Yandere-Themed Edits】

Compilation of magazine photoshoots

Very smexy

Highly recommend :)

Zhang Qiling edits:

旦脸武生① | 不靠后期剪辑直接就能打到这种程度！ | 肖宇梁 | 打戏花絮和训练视频混剪 | 周大侠 Fight Scene Behind the Scenes and Training Compilation

FIGHT SCENES

If you feel unsatisfied by how UN or Shahai had edited their fight scenes, watch this video, many fans say his behind the scenes stunts are more satisfying to watch than the final products.

Or you can just spend the time watching him doing flips and stuff

三次元漫画男们的高燃打戏视觉��宴，进来爽一下【佐藤健/肖宇梁｜绯村剑心/张起灵】【Sato Takeru/Xiao Yuliang| Himura Kenshin/Zhang Qiling】

A crossover between Ruroni Kenshin and Ultimate Note

both were known for being well-accepted live action adaptations and their impressive fight scenes

The transitions are really smooth, almost starting to see a resemblance between the two

Recommend for anybody who loves watching fight scenes with swords

显微镜看剧 | 肖宇梁 | 从瓶盖漏出的一些瞬�� & 一位百岁老人比较可爱的一些瞬间 Xiaoge Cute Moments Compilation

This is a baby xiaoge appreciation video

There are a total of 4 videos under the same title, they should show up in the recs

【张起灵|肖宇梁】雪山上那一幕回眸，在我心上烙下一道白月光啊【Zhang Qiling| Xiao Yuliang】That Glance Upon the Snowy Mountains, Left a Ray of Pale Moonlight Upon My Heart

This video used one of my favorite songs when it comes to XYL edits

This was made before UN aired, he was already many ppl’s favorite ZQL even tho he only had minutes of screen time

【肖宇梁】带你沉浸式体验张起灵的百年孤独 Experience Zhang Qiling’s Hundred Years of Solitude

THE FEELS

There’s no lyrics in the music, so you don’t need to understand Mandarin to have the same experience

The video uploader recommend you to watch the video in full screen and turn off the comments for the full experience.

“你听说过藏海花的故事吗”【台词向|请笃信一个梦】 “Have You Heard of the Story of The Tibetan Sea Flower”

Another one of my favorite songs, 请笃信一个梦， sang by Zhou Shen (周深）， some may recognize him for drama and donghua ost’s

Zhou Shen’s voice is incredible, but also the part there the child was singing, made me really think about xiaoge’s life and how NPSS said he is the most innocent character out of the DMBJ series

The lyrics are also surprisingly fitting. If you ship WX&ZQL, you might find the song heartwarming

Ship edits:

【邪瓶丨秦昊x肖宇梁】枕黄粱（互动剧情有！！！）【Wu Xie x Zhang Qiling| Qin Hao x Xiao Yuliang】Zhen Huang Liang (Interactive routes!)

This edit is based off of a Xieping fic

Basically while ZQL was in the Bronze Gate, he subconsciously materialized another version of himself.

The other “him” died after telling him to go home with Wu Xie.

ZQL, feared that he is an imposter himself and that WX is going to find out, buried his other “self” in a stone-piled grave before meeting with WX.

ZQL went home with WX, trying to keep the materializing thing a secret, but one day the secret was exposed by Hei Xiazi, who found the buried body on Changbai Mountains.

If you’re watching from your computer, at the end of the video, you can choose different endings by clicking one of the buttons.

【黑瞎子×张起灵】【黑瓶】||无问|| 为什么亲吻他的伤疤，却又不能带他回家【Hei Xiazi x Zhang Qiling】||No Question|| Why You Kiss Him on His Scars, But Unable to Bring Him Home

The singer Mao Buyi was well know for his angsty songs

I’m surprised not that many ppl ship them now

These two had known each other many times before, although ZQL might have forgotten many of those memories.

Every time xiaoge loses his memory, Hei Xiazi had to introduce himself again

Being the two characters with longer lifespan than the rest, they can keep each other company as time goes on.

Crack ships???:

“我集齐宝石，付出一切，只为砸开青铜门接你回家” I’ve Gathered All the Infinity Stones, Sacrificed Everything, Only to Bring You Home

Thanos x ZQL (yeah you read that correctly, it’s the Thanos from MCU)

ASDFGHJKL JUST WATCH IT

What terrifies me is that it has a coherent plot....

Never in my life did I expect to see Thanos and xiaoge in the same video...

肖宇梁 ●○ 失忆蝴蝶丨爷孙就是最屌的 Xiao Yuliang· Amnesia Butterflies

Zhang Qiling x Mi Ruo

Yes, it’s the two characters both played by XYL.

Fans always joked about how he looks different in every drama and almost like they’re played by different actors.

So here we are, a video edit of “What if Mi Ruo’s grandpa was actually Zhang Qiling”

Also, Mi Ruo and UN Wu Xie were both voiced by the same voice actor

#xiao yuliang #肖宇梁 #ultimate note #终极笔记 #dmbj #盗墓笔记 #zhang qiling #张起灵

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dangermousie · 3 years

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Heelo mousie! Love your blog! Do you mind recommending some of your favourite Chinese BL novels or shows?

I've seen the untamed and read it. I'm currently reading heaven's official blessing and I saw the donghua. Anything other than these two?

Awww, thank you!

Novels: I am gonna be lazy and literally copy/paste the entire danmei section of my top 10 web novels post (except MXTX’s stuff since you are already reading it.) Let me know if you need help finding any of these.

Lord Seventh - I am only partway through this so far, but it’s already on the list because it’s smart and somehow intense AND laid-back (not sure how this works, but it does) and is honestly just a really really solid and smart period novel, with the OTP a cherry on top of a narrative sundae. Plus, I love the concept of MC deciding he is not going for his supposedly fated love - he’s tried for six lifetimes, always with disaster, and he’s just plain done and tired. When he opens his life in his seventh reincarnation and sees the person he would have given up the world for, he genuinely feels nothing at all. (Spoiler - his OTP is actually a barbarian shaman this time around, thank you Lord!)

Golden Stage - my perfect comfort novel. Probably the least angsty of any danmei novel on this list (which still means plenty angsty :P) It also has a dedicated, smart OTP that is an OTP for the bulk of the book - I think you will notice that in most of the novels in this list, I go for “OTP against the world” trope - I can’t stand love triangles and the same. Anyway, Fu Shen, is a famous general whose fame is making the emperor antsy. When he gets injured and can’t walk any more, the emperor gladly recalls him and marries him off to his most faithful court lackey, the head of sort of secret police, Yan Xiaohan. The emperor intends it both as a check on the general and a general spite move since the two men always clash in court whenever they meet. But not all is at is seems. They used to be friends a long time ago, had a falling out, and one of the loveliest parts of the novel is them finding their way to each other, but there is also finding the middle path between their two very different philosophies and ways of being, not to mention solving a conspiracy or dozen, and putting a new dynasty on the throne, among other things. It always makes me think, a little, of “if Mei Changsu x Jingyan were canon.”

Sha Po Lang - if you like a lot of fantasy politics and world-building and steampunk with your novels, this one is for you. This one is VERY plot-heavy with smart, dedicated characters and a deconstruction of many traditional virtues - our protagonist Chang Geng, a long-lost son of the Emperor, is someone who wants to modernize the country but also take down the current emperor his brother for progress’ sake and the person he’s in love with is the general who saved him when he was a kid who is nominally his foster father. Anyway, the romance is mainly a garnish in this one, not even a big side dish, but the relationship between two smart, dedicated, deadly individuals with very different concepts of duty is fascinating long before it turns romantic. And if you like angst, while overall it’s not as angsty as e.g., Meatbun stuff, Chang Geng’s childhood is the stuff of nightmares and probably freaks me out more than anything else in any novel on this list, 2ha included.

To Rule In a Turbulent World (LSWW) - gay Minglan. No seriously. This is how I think of it. it’s a slice of life period novel with fascinating characters and setting that happens to have a gay OTP, not a romance in a period setting per se and I always prefer stories where the romance is not the only thing that is going on. It’s meticulously written and smart and deals with character development and somehow makes daily minutia fascinating. Our protagonist, You Miao, is the son of a fabulously wealthy merchant, sent to the capital to make connections and study. As the story starts, he sees his friend’s servants beating someone to death, feels bad, and buys him because, as we discover gradually and organically, You Miao may be wealthy and occasionally immature but he is a genuinely good person. The person he buys is a barbarian from beyond the wall, named Li Zhifeng. It’s touch and go if the man will survive but eventually he does and You Miao, who by then has to return home, gives him his papers and lets him go. However, LZF decides to stick with You Miao instead, both out of sense of debt for YM saving his life and because he genuinely likes him (and yet, there is no instalove on either of their parts, their bodies have fun a lot quicker than their souls.) Anyway, the two take up farming, get involved in the imperial exams and it’s the life of prosperity and peace, until an invasion happens and things go rapidly to hell. This is so nuanced, so smart (smart people in this actually ARE!) and has secondary characters who are just as complex as the mains (for example, I ended up adoring YM’s friend, the one who starts the plot by almost beating LZF to death for no reason) because the novel never forgets that few people are all villain. There is a lovely character arc or two - watching YM grow up and LZF thaw - there is the fact that You Miao is a unicorn in web novels being laid back and calm. This whole thing is a masterpiece.

Stains of Filth (Yuwu) - want the emotional hit of 2ha but want to read something half its length? Well, the author of 2ha is here to eviscerate you in a shorter amount of time. This has the beautiful world-building, plot twists that all make sense and, at the center of it all, an intense and all-consuming and gloriously painful relationship between two generals - one aristocratic loner Mo Xi, and the other gregarious former slave general Gu Mang. Once they were best friends and lovers, but when the novel starts, Gu Mang has long turned traitor and went to serve the enemy kingdom and has now been returned and Mo Xi, who now commands the remnants of his slave army, has to cope with the fact that he has never been able to get over the man who stabbed him through the heart. Literally. This novel has a gorgeously looping structure, with flashbacks interwoven into present storyline. There is so much love and longing and sacrifice in this that I am tearing up a bit just thinking of it. If you don’t love Mo Xi and Gu Mang, separately and together, by the end of it, you have no soul.

The Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun (2ha/erha) - if you’ve been following my tumblr for more than a hot second, you know my obsession with this novel. Honestly, even if I were to make a list of my top 10 novels of any kind, not just webnovels, this would be on the list. It has everything I want - a complicated, intricate plot with an insane amount of plot twists, all of which are both unexpected and make total sense, a rich and large cast of characters, a truly epic OTP that makes me bawl, emotional intensity that sometimes maxes even me out and so much character nuance and growth. Also, Moran is my favorite web novel character ever, hands down.

Anyway, the plot (or at least the way it first appears) is that the evil emperor of the cultivation world, Taxian Jun, kills himself at 32 and wakes up in the body of his 16 year old self, birth name Moran. Excited to get a redo, Moran wants to save his supposed true love Shimei, whose death the last go-around pushed him towards evil. He also wants to avoid entanglement with Chu Wanning, his shizun and sworn enemy in past life. And that’s all you are best off knowing, trust me. The only hint I am going to give is oooh boy the mother of all unreliable narrators has arrived!

The novel starts light and funny on boil the frog principle - if someone told me I would be full bawling multiple times with this novel, I’d have thought they were insane, but i swear my eyes hurt by the end of it. I started out being amused and/or disliking the mains and by the end I would die for either of them.

The Wife is First - OK, this one did not make my top 10 web novels but it’s a sweet, fun gay cottagecore fest. Our ML, a royal prince, and his spouse, a smart if delicate aristocrat, keep house, eat noodles, play with their pet tiger, make out and spoil each other rotten, while occasionally fighting battles and outwitting their court enemies. It’s so very mellow. That couple redefines low drama - they are both nice and functional and use their brains. It’s as if a nice jock and a nice nerd got together and then proceeded to be wholesome all over the place.

I mean, the set up could be dramatic - our ML the prince, lost his fight for the throne and is about to be killed. The only person who stayed loyal to him is his arranged husband the aristocrat guy who ML never treated nicely since he resented marrying him (marrying a man in that world is done to remove someone from the ability to inherit the throne.) And yet the husband stood by him not out of love but beliefs in loyalty blah blah. Anyway, he transmigrates back into the past right after their wedding night and is all “I got a second chance OMG! I don’t want the throne what is even the point? I want to live a good long life and treat the only person who stood by me really well!” And he proceeds to do so to the shock of the aristocrat who had a very unpleasant wedding night and generally can tell the man he just married would rather eat nails than be married to him. But soon enough (no seriously, it’s not many chapters at all) he believes the prince is sincere blah blah and then they get together and they pretty much become cottagecore goals.

In terms of dramas, I only do period dramas (or novels) so I am not the person to be able to recommend any modern BLs. There is a flood of upcoming (hopefully) period BL dramas but it’s relatively thin on the ground now. The two I will recommend is Word of Honor (which is AMAZING) and Winter Begonia (which I just started watching but which owns me already.) I have a tag for both - the one for the former is huge and I cannot recommend either strongly enough. I’ve heard good things about The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, but I am not big on mysteries so haven’t watched it for myself.

In terms of the upcoming BLs, the ones I am most looking forward to are Immortality and Winner Is King, but The Society of the Four Leaves also looks promising.

#asks #cdrama #cnovel

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franniebanana · 3 years

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CQL Rewatch - Ep15

I forgot this guy’s name, Yao or something? Honestly, I don’t care enough to research this, like, at all. I hate this guy. My friend and I now refer to him as the Hype Man, so I might just call him that from now on. But I wanted to say that I didn’t realize he was in it so early, so when I saw him, I was like, “That fucking guy!!” And I also totally missed that the point of Jiang Fengmian leaving was to take this worthless piece of trash somewhere. I wish he’d died haha. But then I guess there’d be less reason to hate him, and I enjoy hating him.

I can’t believe this is the first paragraph that people are going to see. If you’re reading this now, you’re like, why do I want to read this crap? And y’know what, I can’t blame you. The next few episodes are gonna be rough. I don’t even know if there will be much to say on my end. My friend, after watching these few episodes commented something like, “Huh, that really dragged.” I could only agree, pulling my hair out from the headache these few episodes were giving me.

Okay, but seriously, Yao is so pathetic here! Talking about how he never thought they’d end up like this, and, “Oh, we were just a small clan, woe is me!” It’s amazing that he turns into the biggest prick, always right there hyping up the scapegoat-blame game rhetoric. Sorry, I hate this fucker.

A rare nice moment from Madam Yu. It was sweet having her show a caring side, packing medicine for her husband, snacks for her daughter. But of course, it was because Jiang Yanli had come to say goodbye to her earlier. Jiang Cheng is really like his mother—they can’t do anything for kindness’s sake, there’s always an obligation to the kindness.

I hate Wang Lingjiao, but I love her, and I love hating her. I’m conflicted. She’s just such a fun, evil character, more fun than Xue Yang in my opinion, probably because she actual interacts with the main characters in the story. It will forever annoy me that Xue Yang gets so much attention for appearing in a long-ass flashback (via empathy) and what should have been a flashback (Chang Clan) but wasn’t because they wanted it to be padding, I guess.

Anyway, Wang Lingjiao. She’s fun, she goes completely nuts—what’s not to love about her? She’s also someone who is so similar to Madam Yu, but because she also is ambitious and wants to take over Lotus Pier, Madam Yu wants her dead. Haha!

While Madam Yu is, objectively, a horrible person, I actually really like how her bodyguards aren’t treated like servants. I like that there’s mutual respect there, as there should be when you’re talking about protecting someone. Unfortunately, I think Madam Yu treats them better than her own family in most cases. It’s cool that the Jiang Clan doesn’t rely on servants to get food and tea and whatnot. These are things that the disciples and leaders must do for themselves. By contrast, the Jins have so many servants—it’s almost obscene by comparison.

Also I want to point out how hot-headed Jiang Cheng gets here, while his mother is just cool as a cucumber. It really shows you how unready he is to actually lead (which she points out). He’s so emotional, quick to anger, yet he has none of the foundations to really lead a group of people. Even when the disciples are explaining to them what happened to the kid and the kite, it’s Wei Wuxian who is keeping everyone calm and asking the questions.

I love that his first reaction here is to insult Wang Lingjiao’s intelligence. We’re basically getting a parallel to how he reacts to Wen Chao, which is fun because you can see how his behavior hasn’t changed at all. He uses his wit in both situations and is easily able to outwit both Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao. What’s kind of interesting is that Jiang Cheng will speak up now when he wouldn’t before. And I wonder is it because he is guilty for being silent earlier with Wen Chao, or is it something else? I think ultimately Jiang Cheng blames Jin Xizuan, Lan Wangji, and Wei Wuxian for what happens to his parents and to Lotus Pier. Even though, logically, it would have been destroyed anyway, he still wants to place the blame on someone who he can reach. All this is to say, I don’t think Jiang Cheng regrets not speaking up at the Wen Indoctrination. So I think he feels superiority over Wang Lingjiao really because he thinks she’s a stupid woman. And duh, she is not that clever. But she is smart enough to be able to use what talents she has to get ahead. She apparently is favored over Wen Chao’s own wife (who knew he was even married—not me lol), and you have to be ambitious and have some smarts to get that far. That’s not to say that Jiang Cheng wouldn’t treat a man this way too—I think he would. I think he picks and chooses who he’ll stand up to. He’s on his own turf, she’s an invader, she’s a woman—she only brought a few henchmen, right? He’s also been charged with watching over Lotus Pier in his father’s absence. Maybe he just wants to look big for once. Just a thought. Take it or leave it.

So, I think Madam Yu is enjoying this. She’s getting two things she wants: the Wens are going to leave and she gets to beat the shit out of Wei Wuxian. She doesn’t even have to be prodded to punish him, right? She barely waits until Wang Lingjiao has finished speaking. This has something she’s wanted to do for a long time. I think she’s hit him before, yes? But she can go all out right now, since Jiang Fengmian, his only real protector, is gone.

Also Jiang Cheng! Man, he’s torn apart! He hates to see this happening to Wei Wuxian—yes, he blames him for all that shit, but he doesn’t want to see this happen to him. It’s actually harder to watch Jiang Cheng in all of this than Wei Wuxian, who mostly remains as stoic as he could possibly be while she’s whipping the shit out of him. And again here, we get Wei Wuxian telling Jiang Cheng not to interfere, because the last thing he wants is for Jiang Cheng to be penalized too. He’s fine receiving this punishment because it’s a “better me than him” kind of a thing. It’s harder to watch someone else suffer than to suffer ourselves, right? I’m like that, idk if you readers are, but I think a lot of people are like that. I mean, I’ve always been that way, but it’s been amplified since I became a parent. And not only is he accepting of being whipped by Zidian, he’s ready to lose his fucking right hand. The hand that he wields a sword with. His dominant hand. He is ready to lose it with absolutely no fuss. That’s how much Wei Wuxian cares about Lotus Pier. His response is, “I’ll have to learn how to use my left hand.” It’s a passing line, a line when you can’t even see his face—but do you get how big that is? Jiang Cheng is up there losing his mind, completely emotional, crying, yelling at his mother to stop—Wei Wuxian is just silently gritting his teeth and taking it. They’re both brave (I would not want to stand up to Madam Yu), but different kinds of brave, y’know?

I do love this part. I’m not gonna lie. Seeing Madam Yu slap Wang Lingjiao around is something that’s deeply, deeply satisfying. I guess it’s just nice to see Madam Yu’s anger turned towards an actual villain, since up until this point, it’s been directly mainly at Wei Wuxian and her own husband. I think this part is forever tainted if you know how the story goes, because Madam Yu is just on fire! But if you’ve seen this series before, which hopefully you have (otherwise spoilers abound), you know it doesn’t end well for her. I like this plot device here, making you think that the good guys are going to come out on top, and then reversing it so quickly as soon as the Core-Melting Hand shows up. One minute, you’re cheering, the next, you’re…not.

I also want to point out how quickly things reverse here as well. Jiang Cheng is trying to protect and comfort Wei Wuxian throughout this whole scene, which is something we’re definitely not used to seeing. This has always (and I mean always) been more of Lan Wangji’s thing. But in kind of a nice twist of fate, we actually see Jiang Cheng caring for Wei Wuxian. But then, boy, do things change! We see a complete reversal of this behavior—first Wei Wuxian has to be there for Jiang Cheng’s emotional state, and then his physical one. And the man does not complain about it at all.

I want to say that I didn’t cry in my first watch of CQL until episode 50. That is 100% the truth, so help me God. However, when I watched this scene in the donghua, I cried like a little bitch. Cried probably isn’t the right word—how about sobbed. I sobbed. I think because I knew it was coming when I watched CQL, it didn’t really affect me (plus my husband was right there, not paying attention, but still on the couch with me, so I tend to not cry as much when he’s around. I like to cry on my own, okay?). Having said that, the second time I saw this scene, I fucking cried, and I really didn’t stop until after they told Jiang Yanli, because that sweetheart crying makes me cry, okay? I have a really hard time watching things about children and parents, because I always think about my own parents and my own kid, so it just makes me really emotional. The idea of never seeing your parents again, especially in such a traumatic situation, at the age of what—17? That’s something I can’t even begin to imagine. In a word, horrific. Traumatic isn’t even a strong enough word to describe the emotional and mental turmoil that a teenager would be going through. But I can probably ramble about that later.

And my heart breaks for Wei Wuxian here too. Even though she hated him, even though she treated him so poorly, I’m sure he still thought of her as something akin to a mother. She was the only mother figure he had in his life who was still living, so there was definitely an attachment there (and this is proven later). Even being acknowledged by her here must mean something to him. She may hate him, but she trusts him to keep her children safe and to protect them. It’s honestly so sad.

Ugh, this is hard to watch. As a mother, the idea of sending your kid adrift when you know you’ll probably never see them again is so heartbreaking. The connection you have with your children is something that no other relationship can match, whether you physically bore your children or not. They are a part of you. Like, let’s be real, raising children is difficult—they can test your patience, make you angry, make you sad and hurt (toddlers don’t care about you, yeah, I said it)—but you love them in spite of it all. And for me, I can never really hate Madam Yu. I can find her attitude and treatment of certain individuals deplorable, but at the end of the day, she loved her children. Was she a good mom? No, probably not. But I don’t think Jiang Fengmian was a good dad either (although I think he tried a bit harder). But I think she loved A-Cheng and A-Li, and I think she trusted Wei Wuxian to protect them. I think she gave him that shred of respect at the end.

In case you’re wondering, I fucking cried through to the end of this episode. I mean, Jesus, Yanli just gets immediately thrown into another boat and tied up with her brothers, after finding out that her mother might be dead already, and then her dad abandons them too. I just can’t.

I’m sorry this was short (maybe I’m not sorry, depending on how much you like the episode). I’m going to try and knock out more than one episode per week because I just don’t have a lot to say. These are mainly getting through the plot episodes, if you know what I mean.

Other episodes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |

#wei wuxian #jiang cheng #cql #the untamed #jiang yanli #jiang fengmian #madam yu #wen zhuliu #core-melting hand #wang lingjiao #jiaojiao #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #cql rewatch #wwx

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sleeplesscenarios · 3 years

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Big Eyes and Little Glasses random headcanons

aka Lang Qiao and Xiao Haiyang (from Mo Du) because they need more appreciation and content!! some very random stuff that popped into my mind while plotting, enjoy! (@9kghn i’m tagging you here too <3)

Look at their nicknames, they’re opposites of each other just like their personalities!

According to donghua team, Lang Qiao is 165 cm which is normal girl size and Xiao Haiyang is 192 cm which is fucking giant size. Also Lang Qiao is 2 years older.

So now Xiao Haiyang keeps calling her “Xiao-Qiao-jie" which is heckin’ cute and canonly makes Lang Qiao’s heart skip a beat and it’s especially cute because it has the “you’re older than me but you’re smol tho” meaning instead of the previous “you’re younger than me but i call u jie bc u work here longer”.

On that note, Xiao Haiyang is an awkward giant which means his posture is probably terrible and he’s always slouching. Imagine Lang Qiao just rambling about something and he’s blinking down at her because “*oh shit I have no idea what she said I was distracted by the smol & cute even tho she could kick my ass haha-* Yes, I was listening!”

Xiao Haiyang is terribly touch starved and doesn’t understand social cues and rituals which are very important to Lang Qiao, however, she’s luckily pretty flexible.

It could result in small fights but nothing an apology (instead of a 5 pages self-examination not even touching the important subject) can’t solve.

More on the touch starved point: I mean he’s just awkward and doesn’t really have friends so I imagine he’d probably freak out if someone let alone his crush touched him in any way.

Exhausted Lang Qiao resting her head on his shoulder and Xiao Haiyang doesn’t dare so much as breathe in fear of disturbing her.

Lang Qiao purposely flustering him by leaning a bit too close to him or just poking him.

Xiao Haiyang accidentally keeps flustering Lang Qiao because after she realizes her own feelings, even standing close to him can fluster her and she’s lowkey losing her mind about it.

Xiao Haiyang firm member of the “hugs are better than kisses” squad because he can occasionally get some hugs without having to admit his humongous crush.

Confessions can go two ways, no in-between:

1. Lang Qiao notices his very obvious crush, corners him and bluntly asks him about it (imagine normal sized girl kabedoning giant sized boy)

2. Xiao Haiyang rediscovers his courage and prepares a speech but his eidetic memory fails him and ends up being a stuttering mess then gets annoyed and just starts complaining how it’s unfair that she keeps doing this to his heart.

FIRST DATE WHILE WALKING AROUND GETTING STREET FOOD!!

After being in a relationship, Xiao Haiyang always buying little snacks for his girlfriend. He can’t get used to how “girlfriend” sounds. He also can’t get used to how “boyfriend” sounds from Lang Qiao’s mouth.

Xiao Haiyang constantly experiencing mini-heart attacks because Lang Qiao is too freaking cute and also pretty and hot and everything perfect.

Insecure Haiyang is a petty bitch who gives the silent treatment then starts yelling smh. Lang Qiao is having none of it and yells back. Xiao Haiyang ends up sitting on Luo Wenzhou’s couch asking Fei Du for help because he believes with all of his heart that every word of President Fei is the absolute truth. Fei Du teaches him the ‘immediately apologize then say I love you for good measure’ tactic – LWZ gets annoyed. It’s, however, successful.

Lang Qiao is ready to fight off everyone who would flirt with Haiyang but unfortunately, there isn’t really a competition so that one time, when they’re questioning witnesses outside and this girl takes a liking to Xiao Haiyang she’s ready to square up because finally she can establish dominance over her man. Poor girl.

Xiao Haiyang giving small presents for no special reason just because he remembered Lang Qiao said she wanted or liked them or just saw something that reminded him of her.

Cuddles are heaven because as stated above, Xiao Haiyang loves them and Lang Qiao would be more than happy to tackle her tall ass boyfriend any chance she gets.

On that note, BACKHUG BACKHUG BACKHUG!!

Also, piggy back rides because she’s tired from working and obviously can’t go from the parking lot to her door on her own feet, not if she has a boyfriend ready at the princess’ command. “Why are your legs shaking, I’m not that heavy.” “Well, you kind of are-” “Not another word or we’re through :)” “Yes, ma’am!”

Xiao Haiyang promptly changes his opinion about “hugs are better than kisses” after their first kiss which is either him awkwardly knocking their lips together or Lang Qiao grabbing his collar and pulling him down for a proper one (or both).

Lang Qiao going in to the office and casually pecking Haiyang on his lips, cheeks, wherever she can reach that morning. The whole office just stares. Xiao Haiyang is beet red. There are clapping and whistles. “Oh, shit I forgot we haven’t told them yet.”

“Imperial Father, may I ask for permission to court the Eldest Princess.”

Xiao Haiyang has all of these petnames in his head from the numerous sleepless nights he spent pining. Never gets to use any of them because Lang Qiao just calls him a little baby sarcastically and then he calls her a midget and they just know that there’s not gonna be any of that “love” and “darling” and “sweetheart” shit. (At least for now.)

Office romance is all fun and games until they move in together and realize that it was pointless, they spend 90% of their time in the bureau anyways.

On day offs they make attempt to cook something and Xiao Haiyang has a bunch of recipes in his head because he knows Lang Qiao loves trying new food but somehow, things go a bit different when he actually tries to cook. Kitchen is a mess, something is on fire, they spend the time they wait for take-out cleaning up.

There’s one time when Lang Qiao realizes she’s not wearing make-up because she just woke up and she can’t let Haiyang see her like that to which Xiao Haiyang just says, “You do know that I literally fell in love with you while you were running around the office with disheveled hair and bags under your eyes after pulling all-nighters, right?” “You sure know how to flatter a woman, huh?” XHY: *is this sarcasm or not, did I say smth wrong again???*

“Jie, I bought us a cat.” “Please tell me you’re kidding.” “No, Captain said the key to a prosperous relationship is a cat and you love cats and I was passing by a shelter so...”

Lang Qiao is constantly asking herself why she’s dating this walking disaster then she catches a glimpse of the light in Xiao Haiyang’s eyes when he just stares at her and sighs. Who could not fall in love with someone who looks at them with so much affection?

#mo du #silent reading #lang qiao #xiao haiyang #ship name???#that's all for now #yes i know it's xhy based #also i haven't explored how impulsive this guy can be but #this is a good start i think #no read more because i want everyone to read mo du and love this couple

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i-shall-never-repent · 3 years

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If you love a femme fatale in MDZS, here is a canon one for you.

This going to be long post with pictures, please remind yourself that skim reading or read just half of a post and then kick a fuss is unbecoming of an intellectual being humans suppose to be. Any discussion after finished reading the whole post is welcome. Also I’m not an expert on Chinese culture, just amateur with passion, and English is not my first language, if any grammar, spelling, or context error have been detected, please let me know, politely. I’m always willing to learn and improve.

From my observation, there is not a small part of this fandom salivating for a gorgeous seductive manipulative duplicitous bitch. Please believe me that we already have one in the canon, even with a fan. Though the correct term would be a Homme Fatal, a male equivalent of Femme Fatale.

Some of you may think of this man [Pic Source: Manhua]

No, not him. Not Nie Huaisang. This is a plot device for shock value.

You may have ask, then it must be this man right, but he doesn’t hold a fan? [Pic source: audio drama]

Also sadly no, not Jin Guangyao either. This man need to a kick and ‘son of a whore’ commentary from Nie Mingjue to motivate himself enough to kill him, too masochistic sentimental and not enough of ‘seducing’ evidence.

Homme Fatal, by the definition from Wikitionary, is “An ultimately seductive and dangerous man; a womanizer.”

Who fit this description most in MDZS? It’s this man, Jin Guangshan.

Let me introduce you to the real sexy manipulative scheming duplicitous mastermind of MDZS. With a fan. [Pic source: Donghua]

Now you might want to scream, this piece of trash, a man whore, slimy power hungry scumbag of the cultivation society Jin Guangshan? Are we talking about the same man? Yes, we are. And now I will elaborate.

First, look at his face, even though it might be universal agreement that he is not a good man, his appearance and his mannerism are indeed a seductive handsome man. Let me remind you again that these are his children.

From left to right: Jin Zixuan, Jin Guangyao, Qin Su, Mo Xuanyu [All pics are from Manhua]

They are undeniably, gorgeous. Jin Zixuan was rank 3rd in the young master list, that’s enough evidence of his good look. Jin guangyao may get most of his look from his mother - according to Guanyin statue that model after his mother’s face but people still thought it was his - but he still has his father’s charm. Qin Su is a beauty, even though we know nearly nothing about her, and Mo xuanyu’s face is definitely not shabby. Jin Guangshan’s gene is indeed worthy of a Jin’s name.

Second, Jin Guanshan is a dangerous man, might have been the most dangerous one on par with Wen Ruohan, even he was the weaker one in term of cultivation, at least you will have a gist if Wen Ruohan want you dead, you mostly still in the dark and not even wondering on your dead bed that did Jin Guangshan had a hand in your downfall.

People like to forget that this man was Lanling Jin sect leader, sit on the throne in the viper pit call Jinlin Tower. That sect full of backstabbing people, gossips, and a lot of maneuvering in the dark. I’m still curious how in the heavens Jin Zixuan grow up to be the man he was in that kind of environment to be honest.

I can’t remember that Jin Guangshan was the oldest one in his generation or not, but we could assume that he surely at least had a sibling of main family line, because we have Jin Zixun, a man in ‘Zi’ generation who close enough to main family to share the ‘Zi’ character in his courtesy name, raise next to the clan heir as a spare one, and he call Jin Guangshan “uncle” (Can’t remember which one between Bó Fù/older paternal uncle or Shū Fù/younger paternal uncle).

Which mean he already a winner of his generation, when the story start, Lanling Jin was his domain, he was the highest authority over there with no contest, we never see anyone from Jin sect disobey him. Madam Jin can only voice out her displeasure, but can’t do anything regarding of her husband conduct. Their marriage, arranged as they were, is what tied Jin clan and her family together, which mean her maternal clan also on a good term with Jin, she cannot kick a fuss, as a marriage in ancient time never a matter of two people, it’s a matter of two families.

And he was in process of securing his legitimated son place too. He raise his nephew as a ‘second best’, making sure that Jin Zixun will not have any ambition to ‘go above his station’ as we can see in the novel that Jin Zixun is Jin Zixuan’s fanboy or his lackey, he always praising or cheering Jin Zixuan, behave obediently toward his uncle, like that was his job. Jin Guangshan definitely win this one over already.

Now, one did not become a sect leader of a Great Sect and stay in power by being an incompetent moron. His habits of sleeping around may disgust people, but here me out, this is not unusual for a man of his status. His affairs with prostitutes [i.e Meng Shi] are easiest to take care, by the contract of transection, therefore he is blameless in the eyes of gentry class, they could only scold him for being ‘overindulgent’ or ‘lustful’, and he always go for the best one around, so some people might even praise him for his taste. Commoners and gentry class ladies [i.e. Second Lady Mo] are different, sleeping with those gentry class young miss not only a pleasure for him, it also could be a great way of getting information and blackmailing people too. Because if he let the public know which young lady he had already ‘conquered’, his reputation suffer nothing, but the lady in question will be ruined beyond saving, that’s one of the reason madam Qin decide to keep her raped quiet. And the lady’s reputation is link to her family, they will do many things just to keep Jin Guangshan happy and not to be shamed in public. Or if anyone want to have a problem with him, they still need to look at the social standing he had, both from his position as Sect Leader Jin and his extensive connections from all parties he threw. And if you think he would care about non-cultivators’ opinions, you have mistaken, to quote Tywin Lannister, "A Lion Doesn't Concern Himself With The Opinions Of The Sheep". Unlink Jin Guagyao who need his reputation to be spotless or else he’ll get a canon ending, the only ones he need to at least pretend to care are his cultivator peers of the same gentry class.

Sadly, him kicking Meng Yao down the stairs also ‘acceptable’ by the society standard of that era, because it’s Meng Yao who ‘trying to reach where he didn’t belong’ in the eyes of gentry, illegitimate children, if not acknowledged, have nothing to do with their father’s family. Cruel? Yes. But nobody care, this even become a famous joke, enough that people like Nie Mingjue know.

This prove that even he was a handsome man with a bad bitch vibes, many ladies still want to sleep with him, society still on his side, what a skill to have in one arsenal.

He was the only sect leader - in the Great sects categories - to get along with Wen Ruohan or play his card right, compare to Nie sect that lost the previous sect leader to a blatant assassination plot, but could only endure, the Lan’s Gusu was burned, Qingheng-Jun’s death, Lan Xichen need to flee for his life and his clan’s legacy, the Jiang’s Lotus pier suffer a massacre, and then you have Lanling Jin who sit on the fence with no damage.

Then Sunshot campaign happen, he let his heir lead the Jin force while stay at Jinlin Tower, he feigned ignorance over Nie Mingjue’s letter concerning Meng Yao, if Meng Yao die, he would have one less problem in his life, if he survive then Jin clan still get a soldier to be used, no big deal. And when Meng Yao become a spy, this also benefit him greatly, if the Wen wins, he could say that he sent Wen Ruohan a good tool and was force to join the Sunshot side, pulling “Look at how unwilling I was, the Jin not even try that hard you see”.

We already witness he jump in full force to reap the benefit after the Wen lost, Jin Guangshan is smart and skill enough to wait for the clear victory, legitimize Jin Guangyao to take the war credits, with a ‘Guang’ name to exclude him from succession line, with a connection to Lan and Nie clans via Sworn Brotherhood. The best of all is no one can publicly complain anything, Jin clan is the most intact great clan after war, Lan need money for their rebuild their home, Jiang need to be rebuild from scratch, Nie Mingjue lack seniority to scold a man of his father generation, Lan Qiren who is in the same generation lack a position to do so, smaller sects also need his backing to rebuild, want to be on his good side or risking annihilation when no one can help them. He rope in the Jiang clan by Jiang Yanli’s marriage, for the society, he is the benevolent man who honors the promise of two clans even when the Jiang is still in ruin, he is a kind man who help the younger generation, what a good father-in-law to be. Now do you feel that this man is scary? He come out of war, lying in his own house but still emerge with enough political power to maneuvering society, that’s an achievement on its own.

Then he look at Yiling Patriarch, his next goal. If he cannot control this dangerous man then let him be destroy and let him create the one that will belong to Jin clan. Not dissimilar to the opinion in Cold War related to nuclear weapon. First he sow a discord between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian, play the insecurities of young sect leader who has no family backing, pressure him with society, even though losing his heir was out of the plan. He used his ‘spare son’, who has a great work resume for shady business, to do all his dirty work and supervise demonic cultivation experiment that if society found out he could have a perfect scapegoat, after all, it’s not surprise for ‘a son of a whore’ with ‘dirty blood and upbringing’ to be like that. Daggling his ‘love and legitimize’ over Jin guangyao’s head to ensure loyalty and obedience. Getting Mo Xuanyu into the clan also sent a message that ‘I can always replace you with any of my spare’. He let Xue Yang have fun with the Chang clan, a revenge massacre while tasting demonic cultivation experiment, win-win for then both, Nie Mingjue went to talk with Jin Guangshan on this matter but Jin Guangyao end up taking all the blame of his father’s conduct, wow. Correct me if I’m wrong here, Jin Guangshan was the one who order Nie Mingjue’s death wasn’t he. If yes, then his plan to establish Jin sect as the main power after the war is really clean cut, ‘get rid of the one I can’t control’.

Let’s be real, Jin Guangshan must be the best politician of his own generation, Wen Ruohan is too strong for this skill to be essential, but doesn’t mean he isn’t good (may be next essay then), Jiang Fengmian wasn’t a bad sect leader, but he just too mild for that political climate, late Nie sect leader was too careless in whatever spat he had with Wen Ruohan, and Qingheng-jun was a fail sect leader. Yes, marry for love must be so romantic, but then he just throw all his responsibility onto Lan Qiren’s shoulder, poor man, what a disaster older brother to have, madam Lan debacle must be a political nightmare.

Jin Guangshan’s mistake was he overvalue himself in Jin Guangyao’s eyes, and underestimated how low his bastard son willing to sink to before rise up, but need to give it up to him though, poetic justice of his death is so iconic. Not many people can claim they die while doing what they love aren’t they.

#mdzs #femme fatale #With a fan #nie huaisang #jin guangyao #jin zixuan #mo xuanyu #qin su #jin guangshan #nie mingjue #my analysis #Real bad bitch of MDZS

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ancienticecream · 3 years

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The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Final Thoughts [EDITED]

Finished the main novel of Scum Villain's Self-Saving System this evening - still have the extras to go. Overall impression? It's clearly MXTX's first attempt at a novel - it certainly doesn't have the storytelling power of Mo Dao Zu Shi - but it was definitely entertaining. Spoilers below the cut.

The story follows a familiar plot device found in a lot of anime and games - a person is sucked into a book/TV show/game and becomes part of the canon world. In this case, it's Shen Yuan, an incel-type who obsessively reads "stallion novels" - male power and sex fantasies in which a Gary Stu-ish hero commits acts of over-the-top violence and has plenty of sex with a harem of women. The book he’s reading as the story begins is Proud Immortal Demon Way, which follows the exploits of the half-demon Luo Binghe as he collects women, defeats men, and eventually unites the human and demon worlds - physically. Shen Yuan finds the plot preposterous even by stallion standards, and he loudly criticizes the book with what turns out to be his dying breath. (The novel implies Shen Yuan has been ill for some time, the donghua had him choke to death on a meat bun). His soul is thus drawn into the book by a mysterious cyber-entity called The System, where he is given the chance to reform the plot from within. The catch: He doesn't fuse with the protagonist of the novel. Instead, he is dumped into the body of the villain, Shen Qingqiu - whose fate in the original canon was literally to be torn limb from limb by the hero. (The donghua softens this by having him imprisoned in a pickle pot instead). His mission: Transform Shen Qingqiu from a villain to a sympathetic character without going OOC. If he fails, he will be either sent back to his home world - where his body is already dead - or suffer the fate of the original villain.

As one might imagine, the result is filled with humor. Shen Yuan - who immediately begins to think of himself as Shen Qingqiu - fights a constant battle with The System, clashes with other characters and keeps up a running mental commentary on his situation. Slowly, he begins to change things - a character who should have died having his life spared here, a bully getting his comeuppance there. And above all, he seeks to improve his relationship with Luo Binghe - who, at this point, has not discovered his demon heritage and is a sweet and agreeable disciple who was abused by the original Shen Qingqiu. Things turn around, however, when Shen QIngqiu finds himself having to commit an act of cruelty that The System will not let him out of. From here, the fates of both Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe are dramatically reshaped - as is the world around them.

The best thing about this novel is watching Shen Qingqiu mature before the audience's eyes. He may not have the depth of Wei Wuxian or Xie Lian, but we see him go from your typical "netizen" - someone with a huge entitlement complex and a need for gratification - to a person who has love at the center of his life, and is willing to sacrifice for that love. It's his growing up that reshapes the novel world around him, until it literally changes genres from "stallion" to "danmei." One of the best sequences is when he's able to view scenes from the past of the original Shen Qingqiu and suddenly understand the actions of the villain he had despised when he was a mere reader. By the end of the book, he's dropped his notions of a black and white world and realized that anyone can be a hero or villain - you are literally in control of your own story. The whole thing is both a commentary on creating your own reality and MXTX's Valentine to fanfiction authors, and how their tinkering with canons can completely transform the orignal.

Another thing I liked was how she emphasized the “We’re all people, and believing stereotypes and rumors of others are bad” theme (which would also be at the heart of MDZS) by making her antagonists OBJECTS, rather than humans or demons - in the end, the villains were a mind-controlling sword and an obnoxious computer.

As for the sex (really closer to rape) scene at the book’s climax . . I originally had a lot to say about that in the first draft of this review, but I’m just going to say this: It was necessary to the plot and I can see why it was deliberately unpleasant to read, but it was also the most problematic thing in the book and I’m glad that the donghua will, out of necessity, be taking that scene in a different direction.

Overall, though, I enjoyed the book, despite that one major flaw. It's not an all-time classic like MDZS, but it doesn't deserve its status as the poor stepchild of the MXTX canon, either.

By the way, Team Donghua has been doing an excellent job with this material so far, and I am very much looking forward to the rest of the series. (One plot point from the original that will never make it into the donghua is the running gag about Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe being the subject of a popular bawdy ballad. That was damn funny and a telling commentary on memes and rumormongering. It's a shame that they can't use it in the animated version.)

#svsss #scumbag system #mxtx

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syncogon · 4 years

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[QZGS meta] what’s in an OP? dawning glory (pt 3)

(part 1) (part 2)

This is the third and last post in my little series analyzing the opening theme of The King’s Avatar Season 2! Honestly, this whole thing became way longer than I was expecting. I guess this is what happens when all my immense amount of love for this series, accumulated over years of no-donghua-updates, overlaps with my immense amount of love for anime openings.

Watched the first and second episodes yesterday, and they really sparked a lot of joy. :D I missed Blue River so much :D

Yesterday, they released the OST for Season 2, which includes the TV cut and full versions of the OP and ED, as well as two insert songs, and the instrumental versions of all of the above. I’ve yet to find anywhere that lets me download the audio files (hoping they’ll be reuploaded to youtube or bilibili soon), but in the meantime you can listen here. They’re really good songs! https: //www. kuwo. cn/album_detail/15792659

Anyway, let’s finish up this OP analysis!

Now here, we reach the true climax as we enter the chorus section. This next segment is definitely the highest-energy part of the entire opening. It’s a montage of Happy’s characters showing off their moves, timed to the music; there’s not too much deeper meaning, but damn if it doesn’t look fantastic. The animation flows from one character and scene to the next so smoothly, so beautifully, it’s just incredibly hype to see. This is what you get when you specifically choreograph/animate sequences for the opening instead of just reusing shots from the main show! (Parts of some of these shots appeared in episode 1, but I do honestly think that it’s more likely that the show reused shots from the opening than the other way around, just because of how perfectly the OP fits together. I also don’t think it’s super noticeable in-show; I’ve just been watching this obsessively.)

In particular I love the line that kicks this all off: “just put on your battle armor and step onto the road to the unknown.” Specifically, though, the rhythm of the lyric is, “jiu pi shang zhan jia ta shang wei zhi qian fang,” with emphasizing accents on the -ang sounds. This isn’t how you would divide the phrase naturally, but because the (syncopated!!) melody accents these notes/syllables, the rhyming effect really stands out and it feels as clever and satisfying as a rap lyric. Moreover, the emphasis times juuust right with the attacks of Soft Mist, Steamed Bun Invasion, and Windward Formation, a perfect example of how music and visuals mutually reinforce each other for maximum cool effect.

It’s generally easier to rhyme in Chinese than English, because of a smaller phonetic vocabulary. From the chorus onward, the key rhyme is on the “-ang” sound (think “ahng” or “ong”, not “aang” like the Avatar), which is a good choice - powerful, reverberant. The asymmetry of the syllable’s use in this section - the song’s lines are all different lengths at this part, so you’re kept on your toes as to when the pattern will reappear - helps add to the engaging excitement of the song. This is also the syllable used for most of the rhymes in the second half of the first OP.

jiu pi shang zhan jia ta shang wei zhi qian fang

hui qi shou zhong wo jin de na shu guang

you ni men zai lu shang__

shi li liang

I really love One Inch Ash’s design. Concealed Light had a big redesign for this season, and honestly I like it as well. And notice here that he’s holding a book - exactly how we left Luo Ji when we saw him last!

“Waving the light clenched tightly in our hand” - that is to say, brandishing our light as our weapon, no matter what form it may take - a sword, a book, our hope and determination.

On a purely musical note (ha), right at this point, specifically the measure beginning with “那束光,” you can hear a three-note “ooo” harmony line in the background, and wow it’s so subtle but I love it so much! A similar three-note line actually appears earlier too (during the “crossing the frozen finish line,” right as the music is building up), also to great effect.

We follow Concealed Light’s gaze upward to the building to see Deception running along the wall, from which he does a flip and slashes downward with twin blades. I love that transition a lot, but my favorite transition of this entire sequence has to be the following one:

Yes! Deception’s cross slash resolves perfectly into the cross held by Little Cold Hands. It’s so fast and so natural you don’t even notice it, and that’s the absolute beauty of it. The first time I saw this, I was in awe - the animators really brought their A-game to this, far better than I ever would have dared hope for this series.

And Little Cold Hands is so pretty! When we got our first art of her official design, the comments were filled with people simping for her, and honestly, valid. I’m surprised her hair is purple instead of pink, but that’s just a minor thing.

There’s something especially powerful about how she raises her cross in time with the lyric “having you all here [with me] on this road,” and then the cross flashing brilliantly with “it’s power.” More than any other role, the healer is a team player. And this theme of team togetherness is particularly important for An Wenyi, who is deeply moved by the team’s perhaps illogical faith in him. Remember that analogy Ye Xiu tells him, of the straw tied to the deluxe mitten crab?

An aside: listening to this, I always thought the line should be 有你们在身旁 instead of 有你们在路上, because it still fits the rhyme, because my past experience has somewhat conditioned me to expect that phrase, and because the full message of “having you by my side is power” just makes me wanna tear up like what a good line! So it felt like a missed opportunity that they didn’t use that. But as it turns out, the final iteration of this chorus in the full version of the OP does, in fact, use “by my side”! And I think making this tiny tweak to the lyric the final time you here it just makes it that much stronger :’)

I’m also just a big fan of the “it’s power” melodic flourish in general, since it comes as a surprise. You kind of expect the melody to end with the previous phrase, but the extra notes here add a really nice emphatic beat to finish off the line.

So to recap the transitions: we see Soft Mist falling from the sky and get a close up of her face as she stabs her spear; this takes us to a closeup of Steamed Bun’s face facing roughly the same direction before we zoom out to his torso and he slashes from lower left of the screen to upper right; following the motion of that slash we see Windward Formation’s torso rotate in that direction as the camera zooms out farther; we follow the rays of his attack to see One Inch Ash drawing his sword; we zoom in on the flashing blade and zoom out on Concealed Light’s glowing book; we follow his gaze upward to see Deception running along the building behind him; Deception leaps and slashes and the slash becomes Little Cold Hands’ cross, which raises up and triggers an explosion. It’s just so dynamic and smooth even without taking place in one continuous setting, and it just really, really gets you hyped.

Also, starting from Happy’s team picture at the start of the chorus, which is during the day, it feels like Soft Mist and Steamed Bun’s moves are at late afternoon, Windward Formation and One Inch Ash take us to nighttime, and then you can see the first rays of morning in Concealed Light and Deception’s segments. This continuity also definitely helps with the feeling of natural flow through these scenes.

Anyway, this entire action segment is just so beautiful, I could watch it on loop. But we still have the final segment of this OP to analyze, so let’s keep going.

After the action sequences of the climax, we settle down a bit now as we approach the end. Here we see the Excellent Era team picture, in the same style as the team pics we saw earlier, but presented separately. It makes sense, as the role they play in the story is different from the roles of all the other teams.

Sun Xiang, Liu Hao, and Cui Li are at the bottom. Because we’re panning up, these three are the first we see. At first glance, the way they’re positioned is fairly consistent with the team pics we’ve seen already: Captain Sun Xiang at center-right, the largest figure; vice-captain Liu Hao, manager Cui Li in the background.

Sun Xiang’s position and expression is really the only one that fits the healthy pattern of the teams we’ve seen already - looking toward the camera, a confident (though arrogant) smile. He might be misguided, but there’s hope for him yet. Notice how Liu Hao isn’t even looking at the camera, which as we’ve seen before is somewhat of an indication of how unified and focused the team is toward its goal; instead, Liu Hao is doing his own thing, determined to prioritize his own desires over what’s best for the team. And manager Cui Li is in this image too, despite not even being a player. His sinister presence reflects the unhealthy interference of the business side in the gaming side. Excellent Era’s downfall comes about because of its prioritization of profit over victory.

As we pan up, Excellent Era’s logo comes into view. It’s larger than any of the other team logos we’ve seen so far, spanning around three-quarters of the screen whereas the others looked to span no more than half. Excellent Era’s legacy is a weighty one, to date the only team to have ever won three championships, and consecutively to boot.

It’s this immense, shining logo that seems to be casting Tao Xuan on the left into shadow. He cuts a large figure, reflecting the deep impact his actions have had upon the main plot of this story, even though he’s only now appearing for the first time in the donghua.

However, he’s also turned away from the camera, such that we can barely even see his closed eye. Because of that, it’s difficult to read his expression, but the impression given by this pose is not one of vindictive pride, but one of shame, as though he can’t quite bear to face what he’s done. On some level, no matter how he might try to rationalize it as necessary, Tao Xuan knows that his profit-driven betrayal of Ye Xiu was a pretty awful thing to do. It might be this amount of guilt that leads him to offer Ye Xiu a wish granted, a tribute to their years of friendship and partnership before their ties are severed completely.

In the end, Tao Xuan’s greed leaves him with nothing really to show for it. What had he gained? What had he lost? Those realizations are still a ways off in the story, but I like how this OP is already hinting at the depth of his character. Tao Xuan isn’t some glasses-flashing, evil-laughing, one-dimensional antagonist; he is in fact very realistic for the setting. We can condemn his actions and priorities, but at the same time we can understand how he ended up here.

As for Su Mucheng, her eyes are closed as well. She’s brightly illuminated, but pointedly turned away from all of the others in Excellent Era; she knows the direction of her future, and that it no longer lies with Excellent Era. Her loyalty was always to Ye Xiu, and as soon as he was banished, her relationship to the team was professional and nothing more.

“This light hidden in my heart is burning” - there are many ways to read this lyric and what exactly the light referenced here is, but because the line is paired with this image, I naturally think about Su Mucheng’s situation. Despite her pretty-vase, sweet-girl appearance, she holds a deep, profound anger at everything that happened regarding Excellent Era. It’s a testament to her immense strength of character that she lasted the remaining one and a half years of her contract in this hostile environment.

Yet even as she resolves to cut ties, there’s a sadness in her expression. She was here from the very beginning as well, when Excellent Era was no more than an internet cafe, and it pains her immensely that the powerhouse, championship team that they and her brother had built from the ground up would ultimately meet this tragic end.

It’s interesting to note that both of the “redeemable” characters here (namely Su Mucheng and Sun Xiang) are on the right, more brightly-lit side of the screen, so there’s a nice little dividing line you can draw there. Sun Xiang’s eyes are still looking toward the left, though, revealing how his character development still has yet to play out.

From there we cut to Ye Xiu holding Lord Grim’s account card. He’s standing back on top of the roof from the beginning of the OP, now in full daylight.

As mentioned… the animators really went ham on the bangs animation.

Ye Xiu turns away from the railing, the camera cuts to an image of Happy’s logo on a flag waving in the wind, and then we zoom out to see the current members of Team Happy gathered together in uniform, standing proud in the light of day. Left to right, Steamed Bun, Tang Rou, Luo Ji, Ye Xiu, An Wenyi, Wei Chen, Chen Guo. Presumably, this will be Happy’s lineup by the end of the season.

Up until now, we’ve only seen the real players separate from each other - they’ve all been in different places, never even in the same frame together. (This, of course, also contrasts the pro team pics that we have, which show everyone together.) Halfway through the OP, we got the group shot of them meeting in game with their characters. And now, they’ve finally met up in the real world as well.

One thing I like about this final pose is how it compares to the final pose of the OVA OP. It’s the same kind of power-pose vibe, but there we only had Ye Xiu, Chen Guo, and Tang Rou. Look at how we’ve grown since then! They’re well on their way to being a proper pro team!

And that’s a wrap! With this final image of Team Happy gathered together, we’re ready to enter the episode proper.

So let’s talk about the OP as a whole. Generally, an OP serves a couple of main roles: a) tells you a bit about what the show is about, b) gives you an overall feeling / mood for the show, c) gets you hyped and ready to watch the upcoming episode.

How well does this opening achieve those goals? Pretty well, as we’ve seen. Past OPs did a pretty good job of setting the mood, but they honestly just put some pretty visuals on the screen, only vaguely aligned to the music, and called it a day. This OP, however, has a cohesive storyline to tell, framed around Team Happy’s coming together (following the tagline of this season). Even in such a short span of time, it manages to convey so much information about its story and characters, both overt and implicit (as I hope this series of posts has managed to convince you). Paired with the music, which has its own deeper meanings encoded in the lyrics, the OP becomes incredibly effective and memorable as it makes its statement.

I mentioned an “interest curve” earlier (interest in the sense of interesting, not the money); this is part of the standard formula for anime opening songs, in my experience. I’m a little too lazy to draw a graph myself, so take a look at this image:

(source: https: //www. researchgate. net/figure/Example-of-an-interest-curve-for-a-successful-entertainment-experience_fig1_333917625 )

Although not all of the relative heights and segment lengths are accurate in this specific case, hopefully the general shape of the interest curve is enough to demonstrate my point. You’ve got the A-B peak at the opening instrumental segment, the C-D peak/arc over verse 1, the D-E-F peak/arc over verse 2, then the sharp F-G-H peak over the chorus before dropping off for a smooth landing right into the episode. This general pattern is effective at holding the viewer’s focus and managing their excitement over the course of this one and a half minutes.

Visually, the OP is just such a treat for the eyes. I’ve already talked about many of the little details I love - lighting, character designs, animations, transitions, etc. - but all in all the new animation studio is doing a really good job here. An OP is how you hook people, and I’d definitely feel comfortable using this to try and bait people into watching this show.

One comment I want to add is about the incorporation of the credits, which we didn’t see until the episode premiere. I don’t think there’s anything too exciting to say (and I also don’t have access to any images right now since the OP was only shown in episode 2), but the fonts and styling were a nice choice - it gave a gaming vibe, but if I recall it still used a serif font, so it didn’t feel overly modern - and the text positioning generally complements instead of distracting. I also liked how they showed the lyrics! I didn’t really expect them to include them onscreen, or if they did, I thought they would just be plain subs like they were in this video. But in the actual OP that plays at the beginning of the episode, they’re as much a part of the art as the credits!

If I had to make any criticism, my biggest complaint about the OP is, I think, the singers. I think having two different singers trade off can work nicely, but in this case, the switches are jarring because their voices are so different. The first singer has a lower, gravely voice, while the second singer’s voice sounds much brighter and more nasally. Furthermore, the first switch doesn’t come until we’re fully halfway through the song, which means that by that point we’re already used to this first singer. It’s also strange that they’d switch back to the first voice at the climax of the song, when I think the second voice would suit the high-energy segment much better. Switching from second to first right at this point feels like we’re actually taking a step down in energy, which is the opposite of what should be happening here.

Still, my main problem isn’t with the voice switching but with the voices themselves, and I think the voices are something I could get used to. The third switch, going from the first voice back to the second voice during the shot of Excellent Era, is much less jarring than the others - I actually like how it feels like the solo is passing naturally from one person to the next, emphasizing the ideals of this not being a single-player game and all that. For that transition in particular, I think (because of the added “it’s power” flourish) it happens too quickly for one person to sing it comfortably, so having another person pick up the line works best. And I do like how the voices sound when they overlay together for the final lines of the song.

So, overall? Overall, this OP is really damn good. It’s everything I could have asked for and more. After such a long wait, the OP, at least, does not disappoint, and I’m extremely excited to see what the series has in store for us.

If you’ve read to this point, thank you! I like this series a lot, as you can probably see, and I’m treating it as my glory :)

#quan zhi gao shou #qzgs #the king's avatar #tka #全职高手 #mine #qzgs commentary #synco talks

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