zhongwans

[zhongwans]

hi, this is very random, but have you heard of the drama stay with me? i am so confused how this passed censorship, did the rules change?

I don't think so. Stay With Me is operating on grey area rn because despite the show being a Chinese production with Chinese actors, it's actually not officially available in China. You can only stream it on overseas platforms.

The show is Youku's but apparently you can't even stream it on the international Youku app. The international app is different from the one that can be accessed in China and often have different contents. Eg. the international IQIYI and Tencent apps have BL in them (as in, straight up BL. Like Kinnporsche levels of BL) but the versions of the apps that are accessible within China don't have these. So if Youku isn't even putting the show on the international app and chose to pawn it off to Viki and Gagaoolala instead, then we can assume that they felt it was not totally safe.

I'm not sure if this is an actual rule but it's always been widely understood that if a show does not get approved in China, then it does not air at all. Even in overseas platforms. That's why it's moot for people to beg for HYX or SPL to be bought by Netflix or Viki or whatever, because the production would probably not want to risk getting into trouble for flouting censorship laws like that. So I'm not sure what the situation with Stay With Me is but it probably helps that it's a smaller production with newbie actors. And I haven't watched the show yet but I doubt they'll go too far with it in terms of explicitness because I remember a while back there was a mini webseries (by Bilibili I think) that had a kiss scene between two male characters. The kiss scene was only included in the international version but it got quite a lot of attention within China that it was eventually excised from the international version too.

Censorship in China is an ever shifting landscape. You just never fucking know tbh. Just remember the golden rule: the more visible to the mainstream something is, the stricter censorship will be. That's why you can get away with certain things in audio dramas and webnovels that you can't in live action dramas. And that's why smaller dramas can get away with certain things that S+ class dramas with big names can't. But in general, I doubt that policies regarding BL will get better anytime soon, especially if even animated danmei adaptations are being kept from airing and stricter policies are being enforced on BL audio dramas and manhuas.

[zhongwans]

I have a feeling the last anon is one of those ppl who think the CN government is a evil cartoon villain who is now keeping him in a torture chamber in some musty old dungeon lmao.

A scummy criminal got reported. He probably won't even get half of what he deserves.

I can only wish they were actually keeping him in a torture chamber in some musty old dungeon. But alas, he's still out there brainwashing vulnerable people, pretending to be a doctor and promoting conversion therapy. He's not even dead so idk what these people are crying about.

[zhongwans]

i know that qv has been extremely helpful but i really wish this fandom would stop coddling her and hold her accountable for some of her actions. i get that we don't like doc creepy but i feel like literally reporting him to the chinese government was going way too far. just saying.

I think you have too much faith in my character. I'm not exaggerating when I say that QV could literally murder that man in front of me and I still wouldn't care.

#i would simply look the other way

[zhongwans]

How ZZH's Instagram account was compromised

aka the question that's been plaguing us all since last year. But now we have enough info to put together a theory. (As always all this info is thanks to the hard work of QV and her friends. I'm just compiling)

During 813, Xie Yihua's son, Abner, said in a comment on Bilibili that ZZH's instagram account isn't actually his. It was set up by staff when ZZH was still under the management of his former boss, Yu Zheng, and that the phone number that was registered to the account doesn't belong to ZZH.

This means whoever has access to the actual phone number can reset the password and take control of the account.

Also how on earth did Abner know the details of the IG's account's security (or lack thereof)? Did his mother tell him? We already know Xie Yihua is ZSJ's handler.

On June 2020, ZZH posted on his IG after months of inactivity, and in the comments section he thanked a woman named Virginia. We can infer from their convo that he had lost access to the account sometime ago and that this Virginia helped him gain access again.

Based on ZZH's IG activity, he did stop posting for a few months and only started posted there again when he started filming WOH. That's when he thanked this Virginia person.

There's an interesting comment under Flora's tweet saying that when they first read this, their interpretation was that this Virginia helped ZZH gain access to his account by setting up a VPN for him. And I was the same. That's also how I initially interpreted it, that ZZH wasn't able to access his IG because of the Great Firewall. But with all the info that has come to light, it looks more like ZZH was unable to access it because it was set up by someone else, with a number that didn't belong to him. And Virginia probably helped him by contacting whoever it was that had access to the account in Yu Zheng's management.

So if all this time ZZH's IG account was under the control of someone from Yu Zheng's studio, how did it wind up in the hands of ZSJ's team?

Recently, Yu Zheng was seen promoting the hat from ZSJ's brand. (Photos from bluebird and QV)

It's worth noting that Yu Zheng doesn't seem to like ZZH very much. He interacted with a ZZH anti and implied that it's ZZH fault Zhao Ge did not air. So why is Yu Zheng promoting "ZZH's" brand if he doesn't even like him?

The person Yu Zheng interacted with literally has the username 'zzh liar' and is an active ZZH anti.

And for those who don't know what Zhao Ge is, it's the show where Yu Zheng asked ZZH to come back for additional shoots while he was still recovering from his knee injury. This is widely understood to be the reason why ZZH's knee was messed up for good. More details here.

Zhao Ge was already running into problems way before 813. The script had a lot of elements that likely got it into trouble with the censors, plus in December 2020 more than a hundred industry folks signed a letter calling for a boycott against Yu Zheng and another person for being notorious plagiarists and all around shitty human beings. If it's not the script that sank Zhao Ge's chances of airing, then it's Yu Zheng's awful reputation as a plagiarist amongst his peers. Even before 813, the chances of Zhao Ge airing were not looking good.

Yu Zheng was brought to court by Taiwanese author and producer Qiong Yao for plagiarizing one of her novels, and a Beijing court later ruled in her favor. He was ordered to pay her millions. So you know...Yu Zheng is quite literally a criminal. That along with the script is probably why Zhao Ge will never see the light of day. ZZH should actually be the angry one here because his knee was pretty much ruined forever just for a shitty drama that will never even air.

A document that was circulated amongst ZZH fans last year and associated with him can also be linked back to a lawyer that once worked on Yu Zheng's legal counsel. Coincidence? Maybe. But it's interesting how many times his name comes up in relation to ZSJ.

And this is just personal speculation but I wonder if Yu Zheng was pissed when ZZH blew up after he was no longer within his management, and he could no longer reap the benefits of ZZH's fame for himself. Remember during the WOH concert ZZH mentioned that a lot of old friends suddenly came up to him after WOH's success, asking for all sorts of favours and whatnot, and then him apologizing for not being able to attend to them all. Looking back on that, it's interesting that a lot of people involved in the scam had more or less a connection with ZZH in the past. The Chens from the teashop, Xie Yihua, Zhang Su, Xiao Chu Nada, etc. And now Yu Zheng.

So yeah this is it. Yu Zheng's involvement with ZSJ was the last piece of the mystery behind the compromised IG account.

#zhang zhehan #张哲瀚 #813 #yu zheng #zhang sanjian

[zhongwans]

Anle Zhuan is doing pretty well. Anle and Han Ye's dynamic is hilarious! Wild bandit queen and conservative crown prince 😂 Give it a try if you're tired of the usual couple dynamics in BG cdramas

#the legend of anle #安乐传

[zhongwans]

It must be because I pray sincerely every day so that I might have the chance to be alone with Taizi Dianxia.

THE LEGEND OF ANLE, EP. 2

#the legend of anle

[zhongwans]

English added by me :)

[zhongwans]

Han Ye: You must look into the other person's eyes—

Anle: 👁👄👁

#this ep was fun #the legend of anle #安乐传 #gong jun #dilireba

[zhongwans]

THE LEGEND OF ANLE 安乐传 — 2023, dir. Gary Sing, Jones Ma, Jason So

#the legend of anle

[zhongwans]

Gong Jun 《安乐传》迪丽热巴、龚俊 杀青特辑《The Legend of AnLe》Wrap-up  (x)

#the legend of anle

[zhongwans]

Ren Anle’s bride price is a fleet of thirty thousand, but the crown prince’s dowry is the whole country of Jing.

#the legend of anle

[zhongwans]

The Legend of Anle 安乐传 just started airing!

#only one episode on the youku app and behind a paywall #wtf youku #warning that the english subs are horrible #sighhh #cant youku put more effort into this #the legend of anle #安乐传 #dilireba #迪丽热巴 #gong jun #龚俊

[zhongwans]

Anle Zhuan stills from their official weibo

#安乐传 #legend of anle #gong jun #龚俊 #dilireba #迪丽热巴 #dilraba dilmurat

[zhongwans]

Ma Tao aka our Ma-jie, the producer of WOH, has passed away.

Aside from the fact that I'm very grateful to her for giving us WOH, I've always adored her for the amount of care and respect she has shown for the show's BL origins. She knew exactly what kind of show she was going to make, what kind of audience she was trying to cater to, and embraced it fully. WOH pushed the limit as far as it could instead of playing it safe with the mainstream audience. Because sometimes, in this whole complicated censored dangai/bromance business, there's always this feeling that despite danmei fans (supposedly) being the primary target audience for these types of shows, we're always somehow considered an afterthought compared to the sensibilities of mainstream audiences and the allure of a larger viewership. But WOH made it so that Wenzhou's portrayal was unapologetically romantic (at least as far as censorship would allow, and boy did they push that limit)

Of course the success of WOH should be attributed to the entire team, but Ma-jie was ultimately the one who guided them all to the direction the production ultimately took. When it was suggested to Ma-jie that the references to classical poetry should be removed because they might confuse the audience, she declined and said that the audience can always learn. It's really this respect for the audience as well as to the nature of the original source material that makes WOH so loveable to me, and that obviously extends to the amazing woman that held this entire production together.

A lot of viewers used to describe WOH as a love letter to Wuxia, but I think it can also be described as a love letter to the danmei/BL subculture.

So thank you so much to Ma-jie for giving us Word of Honor, and hopefully someday it will be restored to its rightful place.

#word of honor #山河令

[zhongwans]

WORD OF HONOR  —  episode thirty-four

[zhongwans]

People on reddit talk about zhehan's case and all of cpfs as a kind of wild exotic animal they have fun watching lmao I don't even mean cdrama but all throughout like in hobbydrama, just regular uninvolved people of the internet. Really puts into perspective how much of a shit show this has become. We are a joke.

That's great tbh!! I'm 100% all for that. I hope they don't get bored and continue to observe us. I want as many eyes on us as possible when the truth comes out. We should probably act more unhinged. Put on a show for our audience so they are entertained enough to stick around for the conclusion.

[zhongwans]

Since QV is talking about the groom from the Nogi shrine wedding again, here's a summary of relevant info:

Aside from the Yasukuni shrine related smears, ZZH was also accused of attending a wedding held in a "politically sensitive" shrine with "far right-wing Japanese nationalists" in attendance as wedding guests.

Is the Nogi shrine really politically-sensitive?

Not nearly as much as the slimeballs behind 813 want people to think. The shrine was dedicated to a Japanese commander called Nogi Maresuke who was involved in the Battle of Lushunkou in the First Sino-Japanese war. According to his Baidu page, he was the head commander of the battle and was the mastermind behind the Lushunkou massacre which took place right after. But all of that is actually incorrect. The real head commander was an entirely different person, a man called Oyama Iwao. Nogi was only the leader of the 1st Infantry Brigade and was under the command of Lieutenant General Yamaji Motogaru, who was in turn under the command of Oyama Iwao. And furthermore, before the battle of Lushunkou ended, Nogi was commanded to head up north to reinforce Jinzhou, so he wasn't even present when the the massacre happened.

So what happened here was that all that false information was edited into Nogi Maresuke's Baidu page on the evening of August 12. And the Nogi shrine's Baidu page did not exist at all before all of this and was only created at the same time Nogi Maresuke's page was edited. So when all the smears dropped and people went to Baidu to do some research, this is what they all saw. Before this, the Nogi shrine was only really known in China for one thing: it was a popular wedding venue.

Were there really far right-wing nationalists in the wedding?

One of these so-called right wing nationalists was an older male wedding guest who people claimed was Motoya Toshio, the president of APA group. APA group ('Always Pleasant Amenities') operates in the Hospitality industry and runs Japan's APA hotels. Now this Motoya Toshio dude actually is a piece of shit. Aside from being the president of APA group, he's also an essayist who writes and distributes political propaganda touting Imperial Japan's WW2 atrocities as "fabricated stories made to dishonor Japan". He distributes his essays and other material containing historical revisionism through his very influential APA group, so you can see why so many people hate this rotten piece of horseshit.

But that old man in the wedding was not him. As far as we know, the only thing they have in common is that they're both old asian men and that's apparently enough for people to claim they're the same person.

The other supposed "right-wing nationalist" was Madame Dewi, the wife of former Indonesian president Sukarno. According to the smears, her husband was anti-China and perpetuated the genocide against Indonesian-Chinese people, so she in turn must be guilty as well. But the reality is that the one responsible for the genocide was a man named Suharto. Their names may sound similar but these two men were very different. Sukarno, Madame Dewi's husband, was a friend to China and the founder of the Bandung Conference. In fact, a major reason why he was overturned was because of his pro-Communist position. And the very man responsible for it (and eventually replaced him as president) was Suharto, who then launched a bloody genocide targetting Indonesian-Chinese people and anyone he deemed "communist friendly". Suharto's rule was considered to be one of the most violent and corrupt dictatorships of the 20th century.

So what happened here was that Madame Dewi's Baidu page was edited, and her husband's name was changed from Sukarno to Suharto. And this falsified information was what people saw when they went to Baidu to research the validity of the smears. Plus, people were claiming that Madam Dewi was a high-ranking right-wing politician in Japan, when she's actually a celebrity and socialite who is largely uninvolved in politics.

People were also pushing the story that ZZH and Madame Dewi were close because they took a photo together, but it seems they did not know each other at all and she only took a photo with him for her blog (where she then criticized his oufit as being unsuitable for a wedding).

Back to the groom:

So at the height of the controversy, the groom posted an apology letter on his instagram account:

I grabbed this from a reddit post because the groom's IG account is now private and I can't be bothered to install the app again to verify. I don't even remember his username or even the password to my own account, so uh...

Also note that the post contains the misinformation on Nogi Maresuke and the Nogi shrine from the maliciously edited Baidu pages.

This seemingly well-meaning apology ended up indirectly "confirming" the false information surrounding the Nogi shrine and Madame Dewi. "Sorry I didn't research the history of the shrine, sorry I did not know Madame Dewi's political background,"

Apologizing like this seemed to suggest that the falsified info was legitimate. It essentially had the same problem as ZZH's apology letter, which frustrated the fandom at the time as it was such a dumb move and only ended up making it look like he was admitting that the smears were correct. There's speculation that the apology letter was not actually from ZZH (or if it was, he was deliberately counseled in bad faith). The statement he gave months later in the presence of other government officials and Li Xuezheng, where he asserted his innocence, was a much better one.

At the time, it was believed by the fandom that the groom had panicked, and in his haste to defend ZZH, did not have time to fact-check the claims or reach out to a lawyer or PR firm. So while his apology only added to the flames, nobody really held it against him. But recently QV pointed out that the groom is friends with an influencer who had a hand in spreading the smears. The groom follows the influencer on social media and QV says (I have no idea how she knows of this, just keep that in mind) that they are also friends in real life. If true, then it's something to consider. Because the groom's "apology" absolutely did add fuel to the flames, and if he had only clarified—truly clarified—instead of apologizing for things that weren't true and making them look true, it really would have helped ZZH in that moment. And if there is a chance his terrible apology was made terrible on purpose....well.

#zhang zhehan #张哲瀚 #813