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Reblog the writers’ fortune cookie for luck!

[bean-in-dice]

A Rec and Appreciation post for a Bilibili FMV I found for The Spirealm :)

IMPORTANT: Contains spoilers for all the way through to the show! You've been warned!

Link to the edit: You don't need an account to watch things on Bilibili, but if you do, remember to give it a thumbs up! 💕

The song used and will be discussed by me in relation to the clips of the drama used in the fmv is 人间不值得 (The Human Realm is Not Worth It) by 黄诗扶 (Huáng Shīfú).

Disclaimer: 1. I'm not Chinese by any means, I only happen to be a student who loves this song very very much for its nuances and symbolism and it always makes me so happy to see a fandom I like has gotten an edit to this song. This post is an attempt to get more like-minded people to appreciate it! All the translations are from here where you can read even deeper to the lyrics and learn the background of the song. 2. I will be posting screenshots from the edit that correspond significantly to the song lyrics for those who'd like some help with noticing the parallels. Again, and obviously, this means SPOILERS! Don't proceed if you don't want to be spoiled. I won't be sharing gifs nor clips from the edit because that'd be straight up reposting and I don't want to do that, and a single screenshot may not be sufficient for you to understand what's happening in the scene unless you've seen the show/fmv.

Without further ado!

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渡口爱上深山, 薄雪中意晚莲 -A Crossing Ferry falls for Deep Mountain, Thin Layer of Snow likes Evening Lotus

A ferry transportation wouldn't be done in an area with deep mountains, it requires a flat and calm body of water. Lotuses don't bloom in the snow-falling season. Aka this means two things that are star-crossed. Hence: 🥲

夕阳熬红双眼 想等来晨钟聊聊天- Setting sun waits till its eyes turned red, hoping it can chat with morning bell Again, the setting sun cannot meet the morning bell. The vidder has used a scene of Ruan Lanzhu sitting with his eyes closed on a bench, waiting for Jiushi- it's not that specific so I'm not including a screenshot.

心上人在梅边柳边 偏不在身边- Person on heart is by plum or willow, but not by (the person singing the song)

A Hongloumeng reference to say that your beloved is not by you but elsewhere, see the link above for more details. -A scene of Jiushi patting Lanzhu's shoulder and going away for a door challenge while Lanzhu stands agonized-

小白蛇浇透临安 许仙却没带伞- Little white snake is drenched in the rain of Lin An, but Xu Xian forgets to bring an umbrella

From the legend of White Snake and Xu Xian, they meet on a rainy day and Xu Xian gives White Snake an umbrella. Here, the lyrics say he forgot aka things didn't happen the way they should've.

-The clip chosen for this line is more happy because they both got to use the umbrella hehe-

少女压坏秋千 书生十年落选- Young girl crushes the swing, scholar fails at exams for ten years

A little girl on a swing and a scholar who passes the exams are nice things to imagine, but the lyrics say the contrary happened. The edit shows scenes from the case of the bullied school girl and the classmate who betrayed her, who both had their youths ruined. :(

命运总是挑挑拣拣 诸事不成全- Fate is always picky and things just can’t be fulfilled

-Scenes from the first case (snow village), not using screenshots because the line itself isn't very specifc and therefore neither is the scene-

小和尚没化到缘 又路过烧鸭店- Little monk doesn’t get offerings, then happens to walk by a roasted duck shop

Describes a situation where your life sucks and then some more.

-The scene of the little beggar fainting from the Child trafficking case put in contradiction with the scene of Jiushi enjoying skewers with Xiong Qi.-

The chorus:

拈杯酒眯着眼 说专心看人间- Pinching a cup of wine and squinting eyes, saying (I/you/whoever) is looking at the human real with full concentration

The song is advising you to take a cup of wine, let go and just observe the world around you. Scenes of Lanzhu and Jiushi having swigs/sips of drinks is followed by them happily gazing up at New Year fireworks. It's pretty self explanatory.

看长安建安与潘安 都想沾一沾- (seeing) Chang’an Jian An and Pan’An, wanting to touch them all

Chang'an was an ancient Chinese capital, Jian'an was a literaty gathering, Pan'an was a historical man who was famous for his beauty and loyalty to his wife (the character Liu Xueyi's was modelled upon for the recently aired drama In Blossoms🤭) aka these three things are unrelated except for rhyming. So it's basically like saying "You want this, you want that too" and to just chill and embrace it all; your mortal desires and sorrows.

The scenes used are from the night street celebrations from the Child trafficking case, and are not specific to the line except for that the aesthetics match that of Chang'an night scenary in Tang dynasty period dramas. (And maybe Jiushi staring at Li Dongyuan's handsome face refers to the Pan'an part heh)

神仙掐指算 此去少圆满- Gods making predictions, this trip shall lead to little fulfillment 得来失 聚了散 千万莫求全- Losing what has been found, parting after reunion, don’t try to aim for perfection at all

Means that sometimes gains and loses just cannot be helped.

-Scenes of Li Dongyuan's last moments- 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

借泥炉烧碗饭 在檐上种炊烟- Borrowing earth stove to make meal, planting cooking smoke on the top of the eave

-cooking scenes from the show, self-explanotory-

管小寒大寒与心寒 都来暖一暖- No matter if it’s Small Cold, Big Cold, Or heart cold, all come over and warm up

Xiao Han and Da Han are two of the wintry solar terms of traditional Chinese calendar. Heart Cold is; well, having lost hope and being unhappy. The song tells you to get together and warm yourself up whether your coldness is external or internal.

好提胆闯人海 再叩风月关- So that you can build up the courage and venture into the crowd, knocking on the door of profanity (of life) Now this line may look simple but is really iconic to the show. It means to build up your guts [lit:gallbladder] (through the power of the warmth from forming bonds as mentioned above), so you can go out and enjoy all the beautiful romantic things in life, and bravely knock on the doors (HA) of each levels of life as you go. The scenes used are Lanzhu and Jiushi marching into door challenges, them sitting and enjoying quiet moments together, and DOORS. Bejeezus...

兜兜转转八十一难 我们走着看- Around and around through 81 tribulations, we shall see how it goes Another cleverly utilized line. 81 tribulations are what the main characters underwent in Journey to the West in order to bring the Buddhist texts, and if you've finished Spirealm, you know the 12 doors are inspired by the 12 links in the Law of Dependent Origin of Buddhist philosophy. In simpler words, the 12 links are the reasons for your mundane sorrows, longings and confusion, and 81 tribulations are the hardships you undergo because of them. The core scene used is Jiushi completing the 12 doors of the game, followed by the friend gang badass-strutting into the case scenes, fitting for the part "let's see how it goes".

竹马去寻竹马 青梅意兴阑珊- Bamboo horse goes searching for bamboo horse, blue plum feels discouraged

Now this is my FAVORITE line 😆 I always love to see what the vidders do with this part when this song is used on a BL edit. This comes from the famous poem line, “郎骑竹马来，绕床弄青梅”:” boy comes on a bamboo horse, circling around the bed and playing with plum branch”. It refers to boys and girls who are meant to be each others' since childhood. But sometimes, the bamboo horse (boy) doesn't go for a blue plum (girl), and will seek another bamboo horse instead, yeah? The scenes chosen are first Lanzhu and Jiushi, chased after by Li Dongyuan, leaving behind the exasperated Zhuang Rujiao 😂 Our poor lil blue plum!

伯牙琴弦摔断 叔夜刚绝交山巨源- Bo Ya breaks the string on his Qin, Shu Ye breaks off from Shan Juyuan

This line is about two legendary friendships, in the first pairing Bo Ya broke his Qin after his friend's death because nobody could appreciate his playing better than his friend, and the latter pairing broke up because of diff ideals.

The scenes used are when Jiushi and his ex bff used to be together, and broke up later.

知己半路就散 结发总另结新欢- Good friends part half-way, spouses marry someone else

-Yixie crying holding Qianli, the nurse whose lover betrayed her in the sanatorium arc-

小情侣恰好遇见 喜鹊没来上班- Young couples who happen to meet when the magpies are not on duty

Refers to the Chinese fairytale Magpie Bridge where magpies helped the couple meet once every year, and without magpies they wouldn't get even that chance.

The scenes used are: 🥺

长生岂能如愿 古稀尚靠垂怜- How can longevity be fulfilled, it depends on heaven’s mercy to live to one’s 70s

Jeebus, have I mentioned this vidder is a GENIUS? The corresponding scene used is the big baddie of the show standing tall and playing almighty, and the happiness of our good guys is at his mercy, followed by the scene of 50 Years Later HUHU

老病倒比莺莺燕燕 多陪二十年- The Old and the sick somehow gets 20 more years than the happy young couple

LOL the vidder knows how to be a troll, too. As the song says "Old and sick gets to live", Chen Fei and the lady friend (I don't even rem her name) who couldn't have been more background charactery if they tried, and they got to move onwards with their lives in peace while "happy, young" Zaozao and Dongyuan didn't 😔

小嫦娥偷吃灵药 却反而羡人间- Chang’e takes magical elixir, yet feels jealous of the human realm

The moon goddess, who enjoys longevity but is full of regrets about the life she left behind.

-Zaozao, who is finally under the spotlight she always deserved, but... *bawls harder*

The chorus from before repeats, that tells you to have a drink, chill and look at this world, not care so much about this and that, to not push yourself too hard because it isn't worth it, have a meal with your loved ones to chase away the cold instead, build up the courage to endure the beauty and challenges (DOORS) of the life.

Complimentary scenes follow:

人生在世不称意呀 失眠或失恋- Living in this realm is often unsatisfying, losing sleep or losing love

-For "unsatisfying" part, past-and-present scenes of the son and mother from the Triplet case, for "Losing Sleep" part Lanzhu staring at sleeping Jiushi on the same bed and then the chocolate scene, the younger sister's confession being rejected in the Sister Drum case and the Lady in the Rain for "Losing Love" part.-

只劝你来把个盏 侃呀么侃大山- (I) suggest you drink (the wine) up, then have a nice long chat

-The scene where Lanzhu wordlessly empties the can after Dongyuan's incident, followed by memories of when they were eating and chatting together, and also those of Qianli's 🤧

The final part:

喝完大酒撑条船 说今生不靠岸- After a big drink go ride on a boat, saying never to dock till the end of this life 去天涯海角浪个遍 失意当尝鲜 -To the edge of the horizon and corners of the sea, taking disappointment as fresh experiences

-Scenes of Lanzhu and Jiushi together, braving the challenges-

这一路手握剑 身侧有千帆- Holding a sword on the way, with thousands of sails passing by

-The girl from the school bullying case, now grown bright and confident, wielding a sword (that was SUCH a great moment! You go, darling!), followed by the now-regretless Door Ghosts smiling happily in the last episode.-

时不时 回头看看 百味是人间- From time to time, turn around and look, hundreds of tastes makes up the human realm

-Lanzhu looking back at Jiushi for one last time, Jiushi looking back before entering a door- *sniffles

Followed by happy montages of all their friends, and Chestnut.

时不时 也睡个懒觉 醒来多加餐- From time to time, sleep in, and eat an extra meal when (you) wake up

-A scene of Lanzhu tucked in cozily, Jiushi stretching awake from a sleep, well into daytime, and for the "Extra Meal" part, that giant drumstick platter Lanzhu and Rujiao made Dongyuan get for them 😁.-

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AAAnd DONE! Phew, that gotta be one of the longest posts I've made in one sitting. If you are still here, thank you so much for your patience and attention, I hope you enjoyed this brilliant fmv meta! Don't forget to give the vidder the love they much deserve, and read up the AveX link for more thorough understanding of the song itself.

Toodles for now!

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More posts by me

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You know I know which is which for all the titles above😌

As for mine... uh I usually come up with the titles once I'm done... oh geezus you just reminded me I actually had thought of a great title for one of the ideas I had and I never wrote it down and I don't remember it!! I HATE YOU

So, no vidding wips. Hopefully not for a long time to come lol

For fics

1. The 10000 RMB

2. Ash, bones and... UGH I DON'T REMEMBER!

3. A baby Pangzi fic

Omg my brain is blank

I need to write things down😐

But also

Writing things down means they will never happen for me

WIP Tag

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have wips.

For Eternity

Friendline

KeixYaku: Abunai Aibou

Mignon

恨君不似江楼月 | Killer and Healer

Oil and Water

White Cat Legend 5 + 1

Tagging: @clawbehavior @sunriseverse @fourth-quartet @godotismissingx @missfangirll and anyone else who wants to play

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the white vault

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Ohh what a surprise to wake up to @missfangirll

3 Ships I like:

Pingxie, as evident by the existence of this very account. I like me some deep rooted longing vibes.

Weilan, again because yearning.

Bai Yutang/Zhan Zhao (what's their ship name again), I'm in love with their unusually uneventful romance, their sheer luck of being together since literally birth with nothing standing their way, they've always been fully confident and convinced of each others' feelings.... it's pretty wholesome and the stuff of every other pair's envy.

Also me liking that ship proves I'm not a complete sadist. Only on odd days!😉

First Ship ever:

Oh easy. Percabeth😆🥰 I was like 13, 14? With them, I entered the age of giddy squealing heh

Last song you heard:

Time of Flight by Long ge and Bai Yu😁

Favorite Childhood Book:

The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series (and of COURSE The Blue Castle), Astrid Lingren's books... I grew up on gentle cottagecore classics.

Currently reading:

SCI The Mystery book 4, Pingxie fanfics, starting up Guardian novel

Currently watching:

Great Dance Crew season 2, started for Gao Hanyu, stayed because the dancing is impressive and I'm learning new things.

Currently consuming:

Fruit juice. It's 40 degrees over here.

Currently craving:

I have some jumbo shell pasta and I'm daydreaming the ways I'd cook it even though I don't wanna move

Tagging: Noone, I don't know anyone closely except you 🙈

9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better:

Tagged by @the-marron, thank you very much lovely! <3

3 Ships You Like: I'll pick some less obvious ones for a change; Chang Dong/Ye Luixi (personally, I thought Parallel World was banger). Chu Sangwoo/Jang Jaeyoung (in case anyone has missed my recent descent into Semantic Error obsession). Kang Yo-Han/Kim Ga-On (guess who just finished a The Devil Judge rewatch).

First Ship Ever: The first ship I remember being into and being aware of as a ship is, oh god can't believe I'm admitting this but, Ryden or Rydon however you want to spell it I AM NOT PROUD OF THIS okay I was young and obsessed

Last Song You Heard: Liars - The Blackout. I'm not bitter it wasn't on the setlist on Monday, nope, not at all.

Favourite Childhood Book: The Jolly Postman Or Other People's Letters always brought me a lot of joy.

Currently Reading: The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods.

Currently watching: Well, I haven't decided what to start next yet?

Currently consuming: some not brilliant homemade choc chip cookies. I had to improvise because I had no eggs but a determination to make cookies to make life seem better after a day at work last night.

Currently craving: endless amounts of money and a chauffeur so I could go to another The Blackout gig tonight instead of sitting at home 😔

Tagging: @miss-ingno @sasamelons @justacoyote @missfangirll @omaenanimonoda @endof-vanity @lacommunarde @baiyubai @bladedweaponsandswishycoats No pressure though! Just if you feel like it :)

[bean-in-dice]

Ryo Takemasa "Railbus through Rice Fields" (2022)

武政 諒

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Another year in dramaland.

My outtake is that people continue to be fucking unimaginative, they see someone shipping a pairing that is "Not canon CP" and immediately go: "Oh repressed straight girls are projecting their fantasies onto characters."

Like???

I will ship a tree and a monkey together if I spot two minutes of chemistry between them and I'm definitely not straight. I don't need a story to continuously push overly-heightened het kabadon scenes in my face to decide if a couple is worth shipping lmao

Try it. It's freeing.

And once you do, you will also open the door to an amazing community of like-minded people that you didn't notice before because you were too busy policing others' harmless fun.

[bean-in-dice]

Pingxie/Xieping Chinese Fic Recs

Part 7

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

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1. Making Tangyuan together

【瓶邪】元宵节

2. Xiaoge on having to sleep on couch if he comes home too late

桂花载酒

3. A Tooth Story

【瓶邪】大江照月

4. Xiaoge's birthday

【瓶邪】生日这件事

5. Another Yucun getting together fic. (I simply can't seem to get enough of these)

【瓶邪】闷油瓶玩弄了我的感情

6. The story of Pingxie, rearranged and retold different

【瓶邪】求仁得仁

7. Xiaoge and smart watches

小天才手表

8. Xiaoge starts asking Wu Xie for daily "encouragements" and Wu Xie is NOT ready for the onslaught

【瓶邪】老张也需要鼓励！

9. The reason why Xiaoge likes baby chicken

大瓶小邪

10. It's a battle to withdraw from snake venom, for both Wu Xie and Xiaoge who has to handle him. Very good hurt/comfort.

【瓶邪R18】诱导臣服

11. Another Yucun daily fic

【瓶邪】自己的对象自己宠

12. Where Wu Xie reverses time and battles Bronze Gate for himself and Xiaoge

昨日重现

13. Sweet period AU where innocent clueless puppy Wu Xie marries A-Kun of secret identity

【瓶邪】盲婚哑嫁

14. Where Wu Xie gets rejected by Xiaoge (dw it's a HE)

【瓶邪】有花堪折直須折 莫待無花空折枝

15. Author's words: "I want to write a story that doesn’t mention love in every word, but is filled with love everywhere. HE."

【盗墓笔记/瓶邪】《爱意》（寿命梗）

16. Everybody read this oh my gods it's a LOST HORIZON AU!

【盗墓笔记/瓶邪】消失的地平线（年少相遇梗）

17. What's in Xiaoge's bag

【瓶邪】闷油瓶的包里装的什么

18. Pingxie vs insomnia

【瓶邪】夜半离人归

19. Pingxie on what animals they want to be in next life

【邪瓶】鲸

20. Cold storage manager in a meat processing factory! Wu Xie and Security guard! Xiaoge.

What a setup heh

唯一

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See here for Non-Pingxie fic recs

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Nothing to see here just Jiemei bonding 😌

Look gifing isn't one of my talents but I just scrolled down the Journey to Love tag and saw noone has made a post on this scene so I had to remedy that alright

Look at the baby eager for praises hehehehehehe

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Journey to Love Thoughts

Ep 4

1. I can usually absorb information at a fast pace so I normally watch everything on 2x, but I can't even 1.5x this one. There's SO much happening every second! Not a single moment is wasted.

2. The Powerpuff Bois are VERY nice when they aren't doing the BANG entrance thing which just degrades the serious tone.

It always helps when the supporting actors are not complete newbies but have experience leading their own dramas, it really shows. I love the combined main character energy 😍

3. I love it even more when a show has a meimei character whom all the main lead geges want to protect

Like, she's living the dream

(Xiuxiu from DMBJ disagrees)

4. Our girl Chen Xiaoyun is killing it 😌

Ep 5

1. I know I'm being redundant but what a powerhouse cast. I love how Liu Shishi precisely controls her commanding presence just so to hold her above and mature above the rest and at the same time to be just another corner of their league. And her character behaves exactly like how you'd want a trained assassin/spy to, thank goodness. I also really really love Yang Ying, she's so REALISTIC for someone in her position but not annoying at all and so wholesomely attracts everyone's empathy. Qian Zhao with his deadpan humor and bombastic side eye, Shisan with his glorious Wen Kexing-ness... etc etc etc... it's not easy for a huge ensemble drama to give all the characters the spotlight they due and not tire out the audience!

2. Speaking of Alen Fang Yilun, I really want to see him as Zhang Qiling in a DMBJ adaptation now. His facial structure reminds me of Xiao Yuliang. He has enough experience playing both main leads and just as charismatic second main leads, he has enough commanding presence. Sharp gaze, fluid moves….

And he's such a funny lil guy lol

Ep 6

1. Ning ge and Ruyi jie making meimei understand what it means to be a nepo baby and feminism gotta be one of the most wholesome things I've ever seen in a while. That was immaculate.

2. Gaah this show is so good!!! How I wish the color palette, costuming, hair and screen scaling was complimentary to the vibe, it would've looked SO epic!

Ep 7

1. Thanks for that lil treat for gays 😌

2. Thanks for that BIG treat for lesbians too🤭

[bean-in-dice]

Journey to Love Thoughts

Ep 1, Ep 2 & 3, Ep 4-7, Jiemei bonding

Pingxie/Xieping Chinese Fic Recs

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Non Pingxie Chinese Fic Recs

Part 1, Part 2

[bean-in-dice]

Journey to Love Thoughts

Ep 2

1. The opening theme song starts out giving CLJ and LY7T opening theme vibes.

2. Ooh here comes the didi-shaped sidekick in poor health issues with fluffy bangs and sass for days.

3. I'm like so confused isn't returning home from army when your freaking leader the King is held hostage and stuff considered deserting? In ep 1 I thought he's going to live a runaway life in hiding from now on! But he's here out in the open and rocking babygirl hair and white night robes? I guess he's really that privileged.

4. I like how the characters with so much confidence and presence a second ago just drop off dead in the very next in this show. Yeah, death in brutal and absolutely unexpected like that I guess.

5. Mmmm the An kingdom's Marquis Changqing is a tsundere

6. Here comes the lil meimei character whom all the characters AND the viewers swear on protecting! Goodness she holds so much raw willpower but is going to get put through absolute wringer isn’t she

Ep 3

7. Hell yeah she is. Prayer circle for her starts now 🙏

8. FL, ML and ML's didi guy's dynamic feels like MJTY's SGQ, GSJ and GYZ dynamic but made more reasonable, grounded, leaning comparatively more towards bite side in bite/bark spectrum AND with less bling blings. (Also I have to say I'm more biased towards Yuanzhi didi regardless 😂 The only person I could tolerate the over-the-top ness in that show)

Really, Journey to Love keeps giving me feels like it's the show I wanted MJTY be, which was all surface level glamor and barely anything underneath.

If Journey to Love could have some of MJTY's sleek production values it would've looked really good (seriously it bothers me why JTL isn't on movie-scale screen, the full screen scale doesn't seem to bring out that extra *something* that needs to be the there. It seems awfully cramped? Especially with all the action scenes and TaLL that's going on?

9. I have never seen a more honest antagonist Prime minister character. I support him. Very cool. (Granted he keeps his principles)

10. Ning ge (lol I'm loving we can legit keep calling him that, as his character is also Ning) has started winking for every minor thing and I'm not sure if I like that. I sense a major off-balancing of the tone of the show!

11. Didi flies a drone!!!

12. Ey what was that look in Shisan's eyes when he saw Ning ge lol. I'm loving Shisan already!! All the badass teams in the world need their laidback heartthrob boy.

SO many actors I already know and love are in this show! 😍😍😍

13. Errr the tone has shifted from Serious historical vibe political detective adventure to Wuxie team-travel adventure with Politics like in Sword Snow Stride and I'm starting to feel this role is more like Zhang Ruoyun's forte..... it's not the easiest to sell if you keep jumping among personalities and not stick with one... stop winking and crossing arms like you own the place! You were different just one ep ago!

14. OK it has officially gone off the rails.

What the heck was that. It's giving the polar opposite genre of what I thought you were going to be, show!!!

I'm officially confused. Dreading clicking on ep 4 now.

[bean-in-dice]

Journey to Love Thoughts

Ep 1

1. That's some pretty nice camera work. Knows exactly where to put emphasis on and stylistically so but not overdo it and rely overly on slo mo (ahem like in MJTY. This is NOT a hate on MJTY btw, don't come after me lol). The lighting and coloring isn't exactly complimentary to the level of camera work (I liked the cinematography in League of Nobleman) in my opinion but it's quite good comparer to most costumes dramas.

2. Ooh Dou Cheng from The Lost Tomb! Hii

3. Music is already very beautiful. Just first 10 mins and there's a track inspired by actual historical Chinese tunes?? Wow I hope they release the full version soon.

4. 1. Wow I really like the Spy girl group. This is exactly what I wanted MJTY Spies to be. It's such a pity to have a badass female assassin to go all "Oh no I don't really mean to be bad, I have this tragic backstory and I'm trapped here, romance will save me!" Like girl sure, you can be a good person but you still need to have a convincing performance if you want to function in your ranks and also your character needs to show the results of your cutthroat upbringing. The only thing worse than that is when fans excuse this as "but that's because censorship and there cannot be any openly ruthless main leads" and I'm like ????? No? That's just wimpy writing?

4. 2. The setup and characters are convincing. They aren't pretentiously mysterious but with 50% amount SLAY and 50% rational. The costumes, world building... all sound legit even if this is not a real historical drama. Way too many period dramas use "but it's imaginary!" excuse to write absolutely over the top and ridiculous universes (This was the problem I felt about Kunning Palace from as early on as first 15 mins, and from what I hear it got worse?)

5. Chen Duling hi again girl you are going to occupy a place in "Most Watched Actresses of The Year" category in my Mydramalist 2023 wrapped for sure😂

Also your neck looks hella weighed down by that updo, you are holding it so stiff.

And hiii cat boy from Reset!

6. The info dumping is not done in an in-your-face way, nor are information deliberately hidden. The story gives you hints and maximizes visual storytelling and spell things out *just* enough. That's very respectful to the audience's intelligence.

Liudao Hall- Detective Organization

-Three Virtue Paths (Calvaries)-

Heaven path: In charge of Royal security

Human path: Monitors the officials

Asura path: Works on prostitution (uhh I think what they mean is like not observing from the "outside" like the prev two but the detectives in disguise placed among the entertainers?) Very cool that they are not prudes and this path is among the Virtue paths😌

-Three Evil Paths (Scouts)-

Hungry Ghost Path: Trap masters

Animal Path: Spies (Uh what, Isn't that more or less the same as Virtue path?)

Hell Path: Assassins Intellect gathering from Prisons aka good stuff like torture

(I still have SO many questions but thanks for the exposition fairy)

7. The pacing is very good and even. There was never a boring moment, I haven't seen something NOT in 2x for so long.

[bean-in-dice]

i love you. i want to live with you

yes, i have mentioned it before: fanghua has me in a chokehold

[bean-in-dice]

[bean-in-dice]

Non Pingxie Chinese Fic Recs

Part 2

Part 1

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1. Heihua fic where Xiaohua works overtime and Xiazi tries to get him to talk about stress and relax.

【黑花】变成猫咪就可以尽情害怕

2. Xiazi talks to Wu Xie about the difficulties of raising flowers and cats, and Wu Xie is as dumb as always

【黑花】养花不养猫

3. Li Cu on Shahai era Wu Xie (and about what he's heard about Zhang Qiling)

【瓶邪】摩挲。

4. Li Cu and Su Wan get lost and Wu Xie gets called by police.

【瓶邪】苏万说我好大了，我二十了（上）

5. Heihua snowball fight

【黑花】一个脑洞

6. A short and sweet Heixie in training era

领如蝤蛴

7. Huaxie hang out in one of Xiaohua's remote places

Instant Noodles & Cigarettes

8. (Same author. Highly rec everything by them) Shahi era Heixie.... I don't know how to describe this. You have to read it.

狗牌

9. I dunno why but don't usually like actor aus (maybe because they kind of give an RPF vibe without being rpf? Idk) but I enjoyed this Actor!Xiazi and Scripwriter!Wu Xie story

【邪黑】潜规则（正文+番外）

10. Cute and short Racoon!Xiazi and Kitty!Xiaohua au

【黑花】A Fair Tale

11. Huaxie marry off meimei

【盗笔|秀花邪】我们仨

12. Huaxie hangout at a bar after work

【盗笔|花邪】布鲁斯之夜

13. Huaxie in a world that NASA predicted will end in 30 years. An amazing read.

【盗笔|花邪】如果一生只有三十岁 大纲

14. Huaxie in a world where all romantic pairings are decided and enforced by a system.

【盗笔|花邪】第1001次重逢

15. Xiaohua hears a rumor that Xiazi is impotent

众所周知，黑瞎子是个阳痿

16. Heihua soulmate au

解雨臣四次嫌弃他的灵魂伴侣，一次他认命了

17. Heihua being wholesome fucked up weirdos (what's new). No dolphins were harmed in the making of this fic (I think).

鱼丸粗面

18. The only two Pangxie Chinese fics I was able to find :(

【胖邪】走了

【胖邪】一辈子都可以

19. Epistolary HeiXie

【邪黑】致吾友

20. HuaXie, Wu Xie gets to see what it's like when Xiaohua is drunk. It's Explicit and idk why it's labelled All Xie, it's not

All邪娱乐圈——流欢17

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See here for Pingxie fic recs

[bean-in-dice]

Non Pingxie Chinese Fic Recs

Part 1

There won't be many of these, as I mainly filtered AO3 for Pingxie and the following fics are what I happened to accidentally come across or found in the profiles when I clicked on the authors I wanted to follow. I'm sure there are so many more of great fics but I have only so much time and need the help of filters to retain at least some of my sanity.😭

Part 2

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1, 2. In which Wu Xie observes Heihua relationship, I love how despite all the bluff how he genuinely cares

【黑花】但医沈约重瞳健

【黑花】去似朝云无觅处

3. Cockroach infestation while Xiaoge is away

【黑花】蟑螂不在家

4. Heihua kid and Pingxie kid posting on social media about life with their parents, pretty sweet and fun to read

知乎 | 同性恋家庭的孩子是怎么样的？—蟹爪兰的回答，已获得4.7k赞同

5. Heiping fic that made my heart hurt

【黑瓶】三千夜

Another by same author 【黑瓶】风雨河

6. Xiazi teaching a Philosophy class at Wu Xie's uni

为人师表

7. Su Wan being low-key traumatized by Wu Xie's midlife crisis thoughts, but it's cute and sweet

【瓶邪】我很在乎

8. Heihua fic where they reminisce about Er ye and overall warm and sweet vibes with the rest of the gang as well

【黑花】当月亮像盏灯

9. Xiazi and Xiaoge childhood friends

【黑瓶】无名之辈

10. A short, one sided HeiXie and HeiPing

邪黑邪瓶

11. Lin Liuren's story

竹林

12. Wu Xie and Xiaohua talk about Xiaoge and Xiazi

【黑花】东风唤不回

13. Xiaohua's seal has something to say!

【瓶邪/群像】解雨臣的印章

14. Wu Xie goes inside Zhang Ancestral Building and yells for Zhang Qiling, accidentally waking up all the Zhang Qilings lol

【瓶邪】假如当年进了张家古楼前辈诈尸了

15. Shahai era XieHei

【邪黑】月下

16. A (somewhat) one sided Huaxie, Xiaohua pov on them and Pingxie

【花邪/瓶邪】他的香烟与缄默的指尖

17. Wu Xie meets an old friend (OC) from school. Introspection.

【瓶邪】同学会

18. Heihua stays over at Yucun and Wu Xie has opinions over raising idle people

【瓶邪黑花】我套呢？

19. Xiaohua tells Wu Xie about how he and Xiazi got to know each other

【黑花】《好骗》

20. Excellent Heihua fic from WX pov in the post-canon where Xiaohua is still trying to cure Xiazi's eyes. CW: Brief speculation of child death

【黑花】逆缘

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See here for Pingxie fic recs