justbookscatsandtea

[justbookscatsandtea]

Oh my God. Since Umbridge I never had such a deep hatred for charactes like I have for Xie Jie and Yan Balang. Just finished the 10th door and I have rarely ever seen such irredeemable people. They are hateful and selfish, so they assume everyone else must be too. Even the NPCs have more integrity and moral character than them. It's amazing. All that for that slip of paper. 🤬

10th door arc is making me mad on so many levels. Like why did they not make the informant open the box? WHY? I could've sworn at least Ruan Nanzhou would be paranoid enough. Yixie who can sniff the boxes and Jiushi who can hear them, as well as having the stupid stethoscope. Just saying that verifying the information given by the shady informant who tried to kill you and held a knife to Jiushis throat when exposed .... should probably not be taken at his word. And how they worked with Yan Balang. So full of trust. When we've actually seen Zhu Meng kick rookies away because other players cannot be trusted.... like how can you trust someone from the 10th door that you have never heard of before. Surely someone that advanced would at least be talked about somewhat. The tired trope of Qianli KNOWING about Yan Balang and no-one giving him the chance to tell was also so stupid. No matter how Yixie rebuffed him ... no way should that stop Qianli from sharing the info with SOMEONE. It's stupid. Also, Qianli saw the scissors ... so why didn't mister special eyesight Ruan Nanzhou? Couldn't Yixie sniff them out? How does the smell thing work?

I hate Xie Jie and Yan Balang but I hate it even more when usually smart characters are dumped down for the sake of making villains successful or appearing more intelligent than they are. So Jiushi figured out how the stethoscope was tampered with but not who stole the scissors when there was only one dude they told that info to... right. Makes sense. Yan Balangs weird smile when he told them that they should open the door was also completely normal and did not raise any alarm bells whatsoever.

Also how can Juishi have his ears open for the sound of the compass but never hear Xia Jie and Yan Balang talking... like how does his hearing even work. How selective is it? Shouldn't he have been able to hear at least something. The powers and their limitations are very shady in this show.

[justbookscatsandtea]

Absolutely love how smooth they are here though. Annoyed yes but also the power of them just basically not even bothering with her. 🤭

I honestly don't understand how she made it this far. I get that it's implied that she's just that good but considering how she is making everyone her enemy... I think she survives because not even the door ghosts want to deal with her. 😁

currently at the episode where they’re in the same door as that insufferable xia girl from the evil organization and ruan lanzhu and lingling both being visibly annoyed is kinda hot

[justbookscatsandtea]

Love this analysis. It really is hard to expect someone to follow the rules of society that were never taught to that person in the first place.

I would also add the point that another problem is the definition of mass murder within that society as well as the morals shown to Xue Yang. During the story quite a few smaller sects were annihilated for some reason or another. The small sects for the death of Jin Rusong. Another few by the Wen Sect even before the war. The small sects who were on the Wens side during or after it. I bet the Su Sect didn't do well after the whole showdown either. So what society showed Xue Yang was that actually if you have the power, whipping out a sect is a perfectly valid response especially if they mutilated you personally. Depending on the adaptation Xue Yang worked for 2-3 CHIEF CULTIVATORS. They are supposed to be the pinnacle of the cultivation world. And yet all of them hired him for murder dungeon activities. To figure out the Yin Iron, to fix the Tiger Tally. To control Wen Ning. So ... he was actually quite encouraged in his world view and that morals are a joke. The picture he had of the powerful was never challenged at all.

The tragedy of Xiao Xingchen is actually that he was raised by an immortal who left the world behind because it was a horrible place full of suffering. He wanted to change it for the better and left the mountain with morals far removed from the reality outside the mountain. He did not understand how the sects worked. How the reality looks like for those abandoned by the world. He is compassionate but he can not understand.

And that was the final nail in the coffin for the Yi City arc I think. Xue Yang wanted someone to understand but the person he choose for that is the one who is the most unable to.

actually gonna put my discord ramble character analysis of Xue Yang that i made for my friends here as well because i love this little fucker <3

(disclaimer: not all of this may be accurate. i have not read the novels and i am also not a seasoned analyzer like some of the batshit insane (positive) people on this website lol. also this was all done from memory bc i did this for funsies so i didn't check some of the timeline things-)

as we know, Xue Yang grew up on the streets and has no memory of his parents. actually, contrary to his cruel demeanor when he is older, he used to be a very sweet and trusting kid, as shown when he was eager to deliver a letter for a man just so he could get some sweets. so why did he turn out so bad from something so seemingly small (losing a finger) compared to burning down a whole village?

well, you have to remember that he was seven years old and without any guidance whatsoever other than his own survival instincts. he was abused, whipped, his trust was taken advantage of, he was never shown any true compassion in his life, and on top of all of that he was given an extremely traumatic injury to the body part that has the most nerve endings. like try and tell me even at the age you’re at that you'd come out the other side of getting your hand crushed and finger chopped off by a wagon wheel totally fine and normal. honestly, given how harsh street life is especially in a setting like ancient china, it's genuinely impressive that Xue Yang managed to be so kind for so long before all of that shit went down.

to delve into developmental psychology for a moment: your early childhood years— the "critical period" of development— are where you formulate the basis for everything about yourself. you start by being guided by rules such as social norms, culture, and the morals/principles of your family, before going on to create your own morals that are formed partly by those rules that you learned and partly by your own opinions. that shift occurs around your tween/early teenage years. 

now, to go back to Xue Yang, he had absolutely none of that. the morals/principles that he learned all revolved around survival and self-protection, and the opinions he formed on his own were that all self-righteous people were arrogant and cruel and deserved to suffer because all they would do is mistreat and abuse a street rat like him. it's not that he has bad morals, it's that he has no morals. arguably far more dangerous, because while he can recognize why people look down upon the things that he does, he does not know where to draw the line, what is too much, he very often jumps to conclusions about people, and for this reason his actions are always blown so out of proportion. there was no one in his childhood to tell him why violence and murder was always bad no matter what reason. all Xue Yang is doing is looking after himself. and if that means killing 50+ in cold blood and leaving nothing behind to avenge himself, to make sure he is safe, then he doesn't see anything wrong with that. not when they wronged him so much first.

and as we know, the cycle of violence is vicious. Xue Yang is so far gone by the time he can defend himself and cause serious damage that no one is willing to give him a chance, and for very good reason, because how the hell are you supposed to become all buddy-buddy with a literal mass murderer? Xue Yang wouldn't trust you, you wouldn't trust him, and you would literally have to be as cunning/intelligent/dangerous as Jin Guangyao to be able to remain on his good side. speaking of which, there's an extra called "villainous friends" that focuses on Xue Yang's time in the jin sect, since Jin Guangyao manages to recruit him to aid in the efforts of restoring the stygian tiger amulet. i forget what place in the timeline that is. oh well. anyway. JGY was essentially the only person Xue Yang respected up to that point in his life, and they had quite a good relationship, but it was more on the professional side rather than an actual intimate friendship. so uhhhh shit happens Xue Yang does a massacre gets sentenced to death but escapes and wipes out Baixue temple out of revenge blahblahblah Yi City!

now, why did Xue Yang stay with Xiao Xingchen for so long even tho XXC and Song Lan were the ones to capture and arrest him? why is it that, even though Xue Yang initially thought XXC condescending and self-righteous, he grew to genuinely care for the man? simple: unconditional love. because Xue Yang never revealed his identity, XXC had no reason to act harshly towards him. because by nature XXC is such a compassionate and caring and selfless person, Xue Yang stood no chance against this kindness that expected no debts or payment or cruelty in return. at first, Xue Yang just wanted to use XXC as a form of revenge, as he always does. but when there are no more lives left to take, Xue Yang really just becomes his charismatic side, always making XXC laugh, always trying to help him and a-qing, and for two years they had bliss and Xue Yang was... not really changing as a person but rather learning how to love. but we know this could not have ended in anything but tragedy.

a lot of things can set Xue Yang off. even though it may not seem like it at first glance due to his cruel and callous nature, he is deeply emotionally sensitive. so naturally, his reaction to being called "disgusting" by the only man he loves is to engage in psychological warfare horrible enough to make said guy kill himself. wow no one saw that one coming 💀

it's almost like manipulating and lying to a guy for two years to make him go directly against all of his morals and do awful things and then making him kill his own best friend aka long-lost boyfriend that he he had to break up with in the first place because of you has the possible contingency of making him lose his will to live. who would've thought 😭

...is what a normal person would say. but as we know, Xue Yang does not view the world this way. he doesn't know how to express his emotions properly, doesn't know how to ask for love, and he is trapped in a constant cycle of committing heinous crimes that cause people to revile and fear him, which only leads him to repeat his behaviors... and when you think about it, it's incredibly tragic.

that's barely even delving into the classism, btw (partly because im not super well-versed in that topic). it seems like it might have been so simple to "fix" Xue Yang, if only someone came for him and loved him - just like how Jiang Fengmian came for Wei Wuxian, just like how Baoshan Sanren came for Xiao Xingchen (because BSSR only takes in abandoned/street children, which means XXC was a street kid at one point). but the stars need to align for that to happen, and Xue Yang is just another example of the people who have been forsaken by the rest of the world. there are so many people who will take advantage of the poor. if you don't climb the ranks, you're left for dead. that's just the world Xue Yang lives in, and he had to learn all on his own how to adapt to it.

aaaand that's all because i wrung my brain out dry to type allat 😭

i have So Many Thoughts on developmental psychology and Xue Yang :]

[justbookscatsandtea]

One thing about LoveO2O character Meng Yiran I think is important to note is that she is actually not just a good person that is manipulated by her "friends". Like, do her friends mislead and use her? Yes and that is horrible. But it bugs me that popular opinion has her as just a manipulated naive girl. Because actually.... she is not that innocent. She did destroy Wei Weis chances of internship at her uncles company completely herself. And she didn't just stop at Wei Wei, she actually destroyed her friends applications too just because they are Wei Weis friends. She judges people for being poor as evidenced by her comment on Wei Wei buying clothes from a not high-end shop. To Nanas face mind you. She often makes these kind of comments without ever even realising she is hurting her friend with them. She often acts really immature. When Yu Banshan fixed her computer she stormed out of the room without even thanking him and then blamed Nana for that idea. She throws a tantrum any time things don't go her way. She asks if Xiao Nai didn't come because he doesn't like her at all .... like she just EXPECTS him to like her even though her being the department beauty and rich is the only thing he could possibly know of her and he never cared about these things ... so why does she expect him to just like her? People constantly telling her that he must like her with her personality, looks and background doesn't help I guess. 😂

Anyway, despite being naive in general and letting herself be influenced by others opinions (who tend to have a very negative outview) she is not innocent and does act very entitled often enough. Also let's not forget that at the gala Xiao Nai was very openly together with Wei Wei and she STILL tried to get together with him. It was one thing to try and get his attention when he was single but I can't stand people who try to get with someone who is clearly in a happy relationship already.

I am glad that at the end she does see the error in her ways at least in that department and that her friends are not genuine and she needs those more than anything. But really she needs to be held accountable for her own actions too. Girl ain't innocent.

[justbookscatsandtea]

Fireworks of my heart is really making me think about relationships and the idea of worth.

During the 27 episodes I've watched so far, Song Yan has been told so many times to his face that he is not worthy of Xu Qin and he himself stated that he wants to become someone worthy of her hence his joining of the military. EVEN by Xu Qin herself (she was drunk but alcohol lowers inhibitions so these thoughts must have been in there somewhere).

From all flashbacks we've seen, he'd been kind, attentive and loyal to her. He helped her try out new things when she was discovering her freedom (as little of it as she could during school) and his biggest flaw were always his parents and his "poverty". It really bothers me that no-one tries to refute that at any point. It bothers me that everyone is trying to get him to make up with her despite not knowing the situation at all. Always acting like Song Yan doesn't have a valid reason for not wanting that relationship. We later learn that even his being a "thug" was not because of him starting fights but because Xu Qin was stirring up trouble in her quest for wildness and freedom.

Like I just think it's a bit weird that the focus is always on him being worthy of her. What about the other way around? Is having a good family background and being rich just automatically enough to make her worthy no matter what she does?

Now, don't get me wrong, I do love her growth and her super-rational approach to life (her poor boss 😄). She is smart and competent and a kindhearted young women.

But I find serious issue with defining worth by characteristics you have no influence over. Your parents and financial status as a kid are not things you can control. He wasn't born into one of the higher class families and basing his worth on that is ridiculous.

Jiang Yu who was deemed a good match by her mother is funnily enough the colleague that Song Yan now shares a ROOM WITH you guys. Like they end up at almost precisely the same point in live. The ONLY difference between them is their family status 😭😂

Song Yan has worked in the military where he got honored for risking his life.

He worked as a fireman for 8 years. He is the chief of a fire station and has saved many lifes during his career. At this point I'd say that Xu Qins family is hardly worthy of him anymore considering the callous way they treat their employees (firing people without warning and then refusing compensation of any kind, not showing any empathy to their plight whatsoever).

If two people put the work in to make a relationship work and work as hard as the main leads do, they are worthy of each other and that is it.

Bonus: I LOVE how Song Yan told the brother off. You go Song Yan! I loved that he told him "Your family should not say the word "deserve" to me" because YES, tell him! They speak so much about how he doesn't deserve her when he is probably the only one who does. He loves her and he sees beyond her masks, helping her break out of her shell. Never actually demanding anything from her. He never gave her an ultimatum with her family. He just acknowledged that the family didn't like him and was willing to live with that. THEY demanded she cut ties with him, making her miserable for a decade but what would have been for life probably.

[justbookscatsandtea]

Agreed, it's weird blaming her for choosing her family when she has been conditioned all her life to please them. I only find issue with the way she goes about trying to reconcile. She doesn't really acknowledge his very valid right to be hurt and angry for the cruel way she broke up with him (of course worse from his perspective as she never answered his letters or met up with him after when we know her family meddled). But that break up was cruel as she made it sound like he is unworthy of her and the "novelty" wearing off. I think it would have been better to at least acknowledge that she was unnecessarily cruel in saying that.

Respecting his boundaries would also be a right step in that regard because if she herself knows she'll choose her family, she should respect him saying that he can't go through that heartbreak again.

The point where I really didn't like her was when she was drunk and telling him that he didn't deserve her and never fought for her. It was just so incredibly entitled to expect him to grovel when he didn't even do anything wrong. Her family treats him like dirt and they all yap about him being unworthy of her. What is he supposed to do actually? She broke up with him cruelly, never contacted him in 10 years, told him she'd make the same decision again and then expects him to enthusiastically throw himself into that relationship when he told her repeatedly that he doesn't want to get into a relationship that will just end in heartbreak again.

Like again, I understand where she is coming from. I'd never expect someone to dump their family for love especially as young as they were. But for me she just lacked some empathy for his situation and for respecting his needs and wants. As long as she can't resolve the situation with her family, nothing good can come out of that relationship and I am glad they didn't really make it happen until she grew some courage to stand up for herself at least. Like I really liked the tidbit of her telling her mother that maybe she can come on her free day tomorrow instead of this evening - i mean it didn't work out BUT she was starting to negotiate. That's already a great step to start defining her boundaries.

There was just a lack of communication in general because the whole "needing to know ml will be there" part came after she she told him he's not worth abandoning her family for ... so I think he should have the right to refuse a relationship that would be a strong emotional investment that he won't get over (again) if he can't know if he'll get anything in return.

Ehem, evidently I really enjoy this show too. 😄

Halfway through Fireworks of my Heart and I absolutely adore this show. I started watching for Yang Yang but I fell in love with the story itself, I love the fact that we get to see the story line for so many different characters rather than the usual 2-4.

One thing I really enjoy is watching the FL story play out, flashbacks of her shy self to her being outgoing and enjoying life to the shell of person we see at the beginning of the show. We’re starting to see her slowly show actual happiness being around the group while slowly letting her guard down.

Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t realize how hard that is for anyone to do who has been raised the way she has majority of her life. You see in the show the impact her upbringing has caused on her and she’s trying to break free of her family’s control but it’s not that simple.

I’ve seen so many people get mad about her personality but they keep forgetting that she has been threatened about being kicked the family since she was younger. If you spent your whole life trying to please your family and live up to their expectations, could you just turn your back on them and leave? She is petrified of losing the family she has (no matter how horrible they treat her) that she ignored her own wants/happiness her whole life. She has stated she was ready to leave everything behind but she needs to know for certain that ML will be there with her, that she’s not giving up everything for her to get nothing in return.

It feels like she is slowly learning that it’s okay to be happy while learning that she has people in her corner now that care about her. I’m really excited to see how her confidence grows through the rest of the show.

[justbookscatsandtea]

Well, on the surface I'd say they are both well-matched. Both are part of the gentry and well-educated. Both have earned their skills through hard work and both are not used to hand-to-hand combat so they'd be evenly matched in awkwardness at least while figuring this out ... at least on the surface.

Fan Doubing as we first meet him (pre-Xiangyi-Taijian as inplied by OP) is still figuring out his fighting style. He is good no doubt but when we see him fight experienced fighters, he understandably struggles because he is young and has been sheltered from the world pretty heavily. Especially during his childhood where most of his focus was on training his body to be capable of performing martial arts at all. But he is tricky and quick to think up solutions so he'd be at least an unusual opponent... especially if you count his immaculate trash-talk XD

Now we have Jiang Cheng. People often make it look like he was a weak or mediocre cultivator when he just ... wasn't. Part of the problem is the whole "Wei Wuxian has always been better" and sure, Wwx was a PRODIGY and even the Twin Jades (well at least LWJ) were not able to beat him in combat yet no-one questions their power. Frankly, being able to keep up with Wwx at all and being second place after him (at least in the sect) is already all the proof we need that he is a good fighter. Anyway I digress.

So he is a good fighter and has as stated by the author herself a "knife-mouth" so in terms of trash-talk they'd probably be even if in different nuances. I know it said just fair hand-to-hand combat but frankly I cannot imagine them doing it quietly XD

The real problem with comparing them is... What version of Jiang Cheng are we talking about? Pre-war Jiang Cheng would probably tie with if not loose to Fang Doubing but Post-war Jiang Cheng has years of battle experience fighting in a bloody brutal war. So no way do I think Fang Doubing even post MLC would be able to beat him because their fighting experience is just not on the same level at that point even if their ages are similar. Not to speak about post-wwx-resurection Jiang Cheng who is now an almost 40 years old sect leader and has experience in a wild variety of everything. Leading a sect, raising a teenager, staring people into submission.

So I think against most versions of Jiang Cheng Fang Doubing would loose because their experiences are just so vastly different. MDZS was a story about war and the devastation of rumors, image and manipulation while MLC is more of a story about looking at the Jianghu and realising that legends come and go and that there is beauty and peace to be found in the smaller, simple joys of life and most importanly the people you share them with.

.

Explain your answer- you can add a little story if you want.

No kissing- just fighting.

Also like I say no help- which means none of the people in their live can help them in this fight.

It's not a death fight.

Fang Doubing can't use any of the fancy fighting skills that Li Lianhua taught him it has to be a fair fight.

Don't be rude.

I got the idea for this one because both of their actors are hot.

[justbookscatsandtea]

Kind of wild when you think about it happening in real life 😅

Respect for the actor for staying strong. Conceal, don't feel. 😁

Visitors get to live out their guzhuang drama fantasies interacting with in-character NPCs as the heroine get pinned to the wall

[justbookscatsandtea]

A few years later I am still trying to figure out Xue Yang and his actions in contrast with the society he lived in.

One thing that always bothered me was the "it's just a finger" argument. It was actually his whole hand that was run over and one finger was crushed into paste. Now when treated properly that is not a mortal injury. But there are things to consider like shock, blood loss, possible blood poisoning, infection... and point is that Xue Yang was a street kid. Healtcare is a difficult business as a pennyless street kid. So, we have to assume that either someone had pity on the poor kid and helped OR Xue Yang survived on spite alone. Nonetheless that could have been a death sentence to him. And it was done out of complete apathy at best. Now loosing the small finger doesn't seem like that big a problem but it does limit your ability to do things considering that humans work a lot with their hands. He lost a big chunk of fine motor skills and probably the ability for a strong grip. Now not only was he beaten up by the person he brought the message to, he didn't even get the reward out of it which frankly would not have cost the man anything (in the sense since he is rich, so the money for a few sweets is nothing). And when he pressed the matter he was brushed off, whipped once if I remember correctly and then mutilated for life. I am not saying that it warrants the death of a Clan but then that is modern perspectives. The Jin Clan did use the death of Jin Rusong to wipe out another Clan and no-one even twitched at that. So killing the whole Clan for a transgression is not a new concept Xue Yang invented. So frankly the only difference is that while obtaining a potentially fatal injury, Xue Yang was not part of a Clan, no-one important, he didn't even have parents or anyone to stand up for him. It was basically kicking a stray dog. A cruel thing for which there is no reason and no excuse but it's nothing anyone is going to really do anything about.

So, had Xue Yang killed only the responsible one, the Clan probably would have started hunting him down and he would have ended up in a similar situation. Propably killed the Clan members hunting him anyway.

I mean Xue Yang was a cruel person himself at that point in time. He was twisted and he had no moral compass or morals or a compass. But he also never had a positive relationship with anyone. Later in life he had something... well in that direction. But never during the years in which the brain actually develops immensely. The emotional responses. The sense of self. Morals are also shaped by the people around you and he had no-one for that.

For those who made it until here, there is no point to this. 😁

Just thoughts.

[justbookscatsandtea]

So I heard that in the books the reader did not even know that Li Lianhua was Li Xiangyi until the reveal to the rest of the world and ... just imagine if they did somethings like this in the show. Like we meet Fang Doubing first and see him do his "I am the apprentice of Li Xiangyi" thing. That scene is the only information we have on Li Xiangyi and we know from that that he died but Fang Doubing thinks he is missing. Now we continue down the mountain with him where he meets Li Lianhua. And from that point on we only follow Fang Doubings knowledge and perception of events until we find out that Li Lianhua is Li Xiangyi with him.

I mean it would have been SO GOOD in a different way. Like "what do you mean that lying liar b*th pathetic wet cat" is Li Xiangyi? I mean I love the show and how we could follow Li Lianhua and his 1000 situationships BUT I also think that only having an out-of-the-loop-outsiders pov on him would have been great in a different way. 🤭

[justbookscatsandtea]

Xiaoge - king of all trolls XD

Restart: Daily Life - Lost. aka Xiaoge is a troll

Translation mine, please correct me if there are errors!

[justbookscatsandtea]

Nothing is as powerful as the love between a man and his pet that he didn't actually want

🐇

Xiaoge and bunny ♡

[justbookscatsandtea]

The not so secret powers of cats 😸

OP: My kitten can feel my flow

Cnetizens: it's true

[justbookscatsandtea]

They are so cute! And honestly LLH totally would and DFS would not be able to stop him. 😁

my herd of small llhs and their closet is growing... dfs needs to come home he already has three husbands and they're wearing his clothes.

[justbookscatsandtea]

Just keep fishing 🤭

Mysterious Lotus Casebook (2023)

[justbookscatsandtea]

In a time of cosplay and a world of giants...

tall chinese cosplayers

[justbookscatsandtea]

Did not expect this but you are absolutely right. Someone feed these people.

Youtube: humichu

I love seeing these wonderful actors eat. I just wanna feed these beautiful people sometimes. Some of them are so thin and getting pressured to loose even more weight for their roles. What do you need weak men for, hm?