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#the defectives
momoliee · 7 months
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Finished Can Ci Pin, time for a review! [Warning: this review will contain some spoilers!]
Priest…that was brutal. You murdered me in cold blood. That was CRUEL. When was the last time a danmei had me crying this hard?!? I genuinely didn’t think you had it in you to do us all like this😭
To start off the review, I will first talk about the plot. The series spans 7 novels, two of the novels being split into two parts along with the extras, resulting in a total of 10 installments, making it one of the longest danmei novels that i’ve read, along with 2ha by meatbun and tgcf by mxtx. It takes place in a futuristic sci-fi society that exists in space, in a world run by technology and Ai with humanity inhabiting not one planet, but instead 8 whole galaxies (no there are no aliens in this series). I guess the reason why it’s incredibly underrated and overlooked, despite being one of Priest’s best works ever (literally on par with sha po land, mo du and lie huo jiao chou), would be its unique and niche genre, not preferred or sought after or appreciated by the majority of the danmei readers in both the chinese and english fandoms. Nevertheless, if you got some time on your hands, i would definitely recommend you give it a go! Priest makes it super easy and uncomplicated to settle into the world with her incredible world building skills (think of the steam punk universe of sha po lang), and the whole plot literally revolves around politics, war, and the struggles between different parties for power, which is smth that’s already pretty popular within danmei!! and the aesthetics are pretty cool too!!! think spaceships and astronauts!! also there are elements of mystery and comedy and action!! come on yall!!!
Now let’s get into the ACTUAL review. In a world where the Interstellar Union is constantly being tossed around like a tennis ball between the Eden Committee and the Military Council (think of the IU as the king/emperor/ruler, the Eden Committee as the prime minister of the government, and the Military Council as the marshal or commander of the military), the struggle for power led to centuries of underhanded and unethical and inhumane tactics and practices being brewed under the surface by all parties involved. On the surface, there was ‘peace’, peace that came at the expense of others, peace that was no thicker than a hair strand, ready to snap at any given second. Our main characters happened to be born in the century in which this fragile and delicately maintained peace is finally shattered, everything fell apart and no more secrets were kept hidden as all was exposed. The story follows so many threads that priest has managed to weave slowly here and there from very early onwards. The first two novels, priest spends them introducing several different plot lines and several different ‘problems’ and ‘issues’ that she later on ties together into one thick huge interwoven heavy plot in the fourth book. Most readers end up abandoning the story after reading the second novel, feeling that the pace is too slow, everything that’s happening is too random and left up abruptly without a satisfying conclusion, there is no one consistent plot line to follow, and the whole thing feels very overwhelming. However, after reaching the fourth novel, where the plot pace is suddenly picked up dramatically and everything becomes set to motion, it is clear the build up was very necessary or else the whole series wouldve turned into one big jumbled mess. There are time skips within the novel, one in the beginning and one in the middle, the one in the middle sort of splitting the series into a ‘before’ and ‘after’. The last detail i’ll mention regarding the plot, would be that the war doesn’t exist between just two sides, it exists between our main characters, the union, two other parties, and the internal strife between the split factions of the union. so you can….already imagine how complicated and intricate this is.
Now onto the characters. There is Lin Jingheng!!! The Man of The Hour. Aloof and cold on the outside, soft and kind on the inside. Ruthless and Merciless on the outside, a big mother-hen on the inside. A former commander turned mafia leader, his heart dead set on revenge, his body a weapon hes sharpened over the years, his life absolutely disposable to him. Keeping his distance, staying away from everyone, closing himself off to the world, he only ever had one goal in mind and it was to tear apart the union that took away his loved ones. Hes the best at what he does and he knows it, and he will absolutely use himself up to the max. He will not hesitate to make cold and harsh sacrifices, if it means he can logically get to his goal as efficiently as possible. Watching him grow as a character, watching him develop attachments and warm emotions, watching him slowly let out his inner child, was worth it. I absolutely love how the more he developed as a character, the more feelings he started expressing, the more bonds and attachments he started to form with those around him, the more he loved, the stronger he got. Unlike what he initially thought, love and affection and care did not hold him back or make him weaker, it only made him stronger and more invincible, ready to take on anything now that he finally has a purpose, now that he has people he wants to protect and more importantly, return to. An absolute favorite of mine, a true gem. His character is easy to grow fond of, and definitely enjoyable to be around.
Next is Lu Bixing, aka, my absolute favorite. Starting off as the naive, charismatic, funny, hyperactive and handsome little engineer and scientist, neither the series nor priest are kind to him😭😭😭😭 priest, you’ve truly put our sunshine boy through a LOT. i’ve cried several times. tears were shed. Lu Bixing underwent a dramatic character development due to extreme pain and trauma (im still recovering from this) and was stripped off of many of his most endearing character qualities to become a sharp blade ready to take on the world. but despite everything, the seed of kindness in his heart wasnt gone, all it needed was a bit of rekindling and healing and by the end of the series, we had our beloved son back again!!! His character started off well, drifted off the rail due to the harsh circumstances, then came back again, stronger and more mature than ever but still retaining his flirty and bright and active spirit and personality. I absolutely LOVED his healing arc, i love how no one gave up on him even when he gave up on himself, and i love how he came back to us again. Priest truly did his character justice, and didn’t let him off to be this “forever cold and heartless because of my trauma” character, the way many other authors wouldve.
One more thing that i loved, is how priest gave detailed and thorough attention to the side characters in this masterpiece of a work. Priest has managed to make sure that almost every important character in the series had a whole backstory and arc going for them, making you care about all of them and get attached and grow fond, even if some of those characters were already dead years before the novel even started. Priest dedicated several extras to some of those already dead but important characters, and it was the best decision she couldve ever made, making you all nostalgic and sentimental while reading.
Now onto the romance, definitely in my top 5 favorite danmei parings. The commander and his engineer. If Lu Bixing was a crown prince, then Lin Jingheng would be his knight. If Lin Jingheng was a sword, Lu Bixing would be his shield. A relationship that is also a partnership, where theyre both standing on equal ground, where they both need each other’s strengths and talents, where they both trust each other endlessly both on and off the battlefield, whether it be with each other’s lives or with each other’s hearts. It’s like those countless queer quoted shows and movies where two generals or two soldiers go through everything back to back, except this is a danmei so they DO end up together and it doesn’t end up being dismissed as a ‘friendship’. I love their hot and cold dynamic, i love how well they complement each other and how they somehow complete and balance each other. i love how they bring out the worst and best in each other. i love how they always wanna live one more day to come back to each other. Also Lu Bixing’s attempts to win over Lin Jingheng in the beginning were a 10/10 entertainment, definitely had us all, readers and side characters, rooting for him and cheering him on to get that cold commander’s heart!!!
This series will make you laugh, make you cry. There are intense action scenes, complex war and politics scenes, brutal bloodshed scenes and extremely funny and light hearted scenes. Even the romance gets its fair share of attention, the relationship building up at a perfect and reasonable and natural pace, as you grow to love the characters individually then love them together. it was cute, adorable, embarrassing, sexy, angsty (oh the ANGST) all at once!
Would definitely be rereading this, would definitely be giving this a 15/10.
[Here is my favorite scene from book 2 (i hope the humor convinced yall to pick up this incredible series!!!)] :
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bitterflames · 8 months
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LIE HUO JIAO CHOU / LIU YAO / CAN CI PIN ENGLISH TL LICENCES ANNOUNCED
LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOO
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akatsuki-shin · 2 years
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whenever you find a badass military general character in danmei, you can be sure they will be the shou most of the time 😂
I mean... Marshal Gu, General Fu, Commander Lin
and then the gong would be puppy eyes specialist
(not that I'm complaining tho) 👀
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cryptidafter · 2 days
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I’ve breezed through the first twelve chapters of Can Ci Pin in one day and I am endlessly impressed by the way priest tackles class divisions and social inequality.
And the way she world builds is so fun to me because she really throws you right in and has you learn as the story progresses which - as someone who can’t stand paragraphs and paragraphs of environmental details - is so nice. I can picture the world really well without feeling like I’m being inundated with superfluous stuff.
Of course, the characters really carry the story because priest knows how to craft a realistic narrative. Lin Jingheng and Zhanlu are my favorites so far (because I love a mean asshole and his faithful AI companion). Lu Bixing is a big weirdo but endearing in his own right; I love how dedicated he is to teaching his wild students by any means necessary lol. Lin Jingshu also compels me for obvious reasons.
I’m excited to keep reading and check another of priest’s books off my list!
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yaoioioay · 2 years
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timetodiverge · 2 months
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wake up babe new personal motto just dropped
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radiance1 · 3 months
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Damian: [brushing his teeth]
The shadow hanging over his shoulder: [Gets its teeth dangerously close to Damian's shoulder]
Damian: [Shoves a toothbrush into said shadow move and starts brush]
The shadow: [Pauses before starting to let out a contented purr]
Damian then spits out the foam and washes out his mouth, then makes the shadow do the same and then picks out pjs.
Damian: [Currently decided if he should go with the cat, dog, or knife imprinted one]
The shadow: [Starts getting dangerously close to Damian with, toxic green spirals it calls eyes]
Damian: [Throws the dog imprinted one behind him at the shadow and takes the cat imprinted one for himself and tells the shadow to put it on]
The shadow: [Stares at the clothes before hesitantly putting them on before letting out a noise of distress]
Damian: [Turning around to find the shadow somehow stuck in the pjs, lets out a sigh, then starts to help them fit]
Damian then moves over to the bed, he points to one side and tells the shadow to go there. The shadow listens, laying down as Damian also lays down, grabbing the sheets and covering them both.
It barely took a few seconds for the shadow to fall asleep, and Damian stared at it. Damian wasn't quite sure why the shadow of his dead twin was following him, nor why it was even able to and seemed to hide itself from anyone who isn't Damian.
Nobody besides him knew about it, and Damian decided that he liked it. This could have been his younger brother, if the other had survived, and they would have probably been told to fight to the death to decide an heir.
At the very least, that won't ever happen.
Even if his brother was slightly unusual.
===
Danny did not remember much of the before, he remembered people with blurred faces and features, blurred colors. He remembered a lot of colors, then red, then white, then pain.
He doesn't like pain, he believes.
Then he remembered going to sleep, and then he woke up. It was dark and slimy and cramped when he woke up, especially when he realized someone else was in their with him.
Then he fell asleep again, then woke up to that same dark and slimy place, then fell asleep again, all in some weird cycle. Then, moving, and pain.
It hurt, and he was sluggish when it eventually stopped. Then came pain again, and he was asleep.
Then he woke up, again.
He didn't know what was happening, wasn't really aware of too. But he woke up next to the other who was in that dark and slimy with him, and decided he wanted to stay with them.
He wasn't aware enough for most of the things that happened when Damian grew up, but he still stayed regardless, and hide from everyone else.
Danny loves his brother, and he thinks his brother loves him too. Even if he was slightly unusual.
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sugar-grigri · 7 months
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hug ‼️
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uncanny-tranny · 10 months
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The whole "breasts shouldn't be politicized because the primary purpose of breasts is to feed babies!" can be a fine jumping-off point, but I really wish people thought deeper than that when we talk about the ways in which bodies are politicized and restricted.
Like, why's it that when we talk about breasts, they must have some Higher Purpose? It's true that breasts aren't inherently sexual, but they aren't valuable solely because they can potentially feed a baby. A human body doesn't have to serve a Higher Purpose in order for it to not be legislated against or policed, and I just wish people would remember it isn't always about babies, about other people, about anything else other than the people who have that body.
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kiksniko · 10 months
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hold me like you'll never leave
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bet-on-me-13 · 5 months
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Danny was born as a Halfa
So! Jack and Maddie are a little More insane in this.
When studying Ghosts, they become convinced that the only way to defeat the Ghostly Threat is to make a Ghost of their own. One who will fight on their Side. And they do believe that a "Good Ghost" is Possible, but only if fused with a Human to balance out the "Inherent Evil".
So, when Maddie gets pregnant they take the opportunity to try and make one of these theoretical "Halfas" by testing on the Baby in the Womb.
Jazz if Born, and she is not a Halfa. She is merely an extremely Liminal Toddler, so Jack and Maddie consider the experiment a Failure. They raise Jazz as per usual, and then 2 years later Jack and Maddie try again.
They have Danny, and this time he is a True Halfa! They did it! Now all they have to do is turn the Baby into the perfect Weapon against Ghosts!
Danny is raised less like a Baby and more like a Weapon. His Parents still treat him well, and give him some amount of love, but there is never any doubt in his mind that his only purpose in Life is to be the perfect weapon against Ghosts.
The only person who really treats him like something more than a Weapon is Jazz, who likes to sneak into his Room and play with him when they parents are out of the House.
(Later addition: They also have Ellie as a Kid a few years later, but because they messed up the process she is not as Stable as Danny is. She is 4 years younger than he is)
Then, they day he had been preparing for his whole life comes. When he is 10, a Ghost manages to sneak through a Natural Portal into Amity Park, and the Fentons send him to go deal with it as his First Test Run.
But when he gets there, he doesn't find an Evil Ghost bent on killing everyone in town. He finds a Teenage Girl, with blue flaming Hair, crying to herself.
(Idk how long ago Ember died, so lets just assume she died around 6 years before Canon)
He doesn't attack immediately, and when the girl sees him she invites him to sit with her. Against his better judgement, he agrees and sits with her.
She talks to him for a bit, and eventually explained why she was crying. Apparently she only died a few weeks ago and had finally found her way back to the Living World, back home. But when she got there she found that nobody really cared about her Death.
She had died in a House Fire, and because she had spent her entire night waiting for her Boyfriend to show up for a Date, she was too tired to wake up in time to escape.
Her Parents had obviously mourned, but her supposed friends and her boyfriend had hardly cared. In fact, it turned out that her Boyfriend had stood her up because he was cheating on her. So she had run off into the Park and sat down to Cry about it, where Danny had found her.
And Danny is confused.
His entire life, he has heard that Ghosts are Non-Sentient Killing Machines. That they don't feel any emotion aside from Malice. That they aren't People.
But this Girl is as Human as anybody else he has ever known. Perhaps even More Human.
He decides to ignore The Fentons Orders, and lets her go back through the Portal she had come through.
When he gets Home, the Fentons are less than pleased. They are Livid in fact.
Their Perfect Weapon was a Failure after all! It's too much like a Ghost to ever side with the Humans! It's just another Spook!
And they know what to do with Spooks.
They lock him up in the Lab, and decide to cut him open Later to figure out what went wrong.
They'll be successful next time.
Thankfully, their jeers to Danny are heard by Jazz in the other Room, and she doesn't like this one bit. So that night, she takes Danny and Ellie with her and Runs away. They need to get out of Amity Park, out Illinois even. They run and run, sneaking onto Buses, hitchhiking, even jumping on Trains.
Eventually they end up in a place called Gotham City.
...
Ages at the end.
Jazz: 12
Danny: 10
Ellie: 6
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catfindr · 5 days
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redzombie · 3 days
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laurence leaves byrgenwerth, original cutscene restored
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sableeira · 1 year
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sure ango may have betrayed every organization under the sun but tachihara put in the effort to build up the perfect stereotypical gangstersona and act his silly little heart out for the perfect plot twist so we all know who deserves the award for best port mafia betrayal
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why dont u just replace him leon
dbh au
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gamelpar · 1 month
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"why have i been activated"
i get the impression that the shadow clones wouldn't be the type to question their "activation" for a mission like that... unless... this one is a bit... deviant from the rest... and how crosshair said in his case he was too defective to become one... but tech was the one who said "we are more deviant than defective"...
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