#Damian Lau

[fuforthought]

[michelle-yim]

50 Years, 50 Gifs

New Chronicles of the Shadow Swordsman | 新萍踪俠影 [CCTV, 2011]

40/50

[cinemaronin]

Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1979)

豪俠 Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1979) directed by  John Woo

[andy121019]

My @letterboxd review of Duel To The Death (1983)

[randomrichards]

THE HEROIC TRIO:

Three powered women

Team up to find lost babies

Kidnapped by a cult

[gavidbowie]

[nfcomics]

BATMAN AND ROBIN no.1 • cover art • Stanley Artgerm Lau [Sept 2023]

Father and son. Bruce and Damian. Batman and Robin. From Batman vs. Robin to Knight Terrors, a lot has happened to the Dynamic Duo, but now they are back together and ready to fight crime in Gotham--just in time for Batman's most monstrous rogues to team up to turn the city into an urban jungle! A new villain watches from the shadows, intent on revenge, with a plot to turn one of Batman's greatest assets against him! Can Damian help his father solve the case before it's too late? A brand-new fun and exciting father-and-son adventure begins, from DC Comics architect Joshua Williamson and superstar artist Simone Di Meo!

(W) Joshua Williamson (A) Simone Di Meo (CA) Stanley Artgerm Lau

[laufire]

honestly if dc isn't even gonna pretend to bother to coordinate all it's runs to make a semi-coherent (or at least not brazenly contradictory) timeline, I think they should just stop all this crossover/cameos/whatever shit. each run deals with its singular hero/duo/team and everyone stays in their lane except for very occasional, very brief, very surgical cameos.

like at this point there would have to be at least four different bruce waynes running around to make sense of this 😭

[luvly-writer]

XOXO 💋

Ch. 2: She is as beautiful as she is poisonous

-•-

Tim Drake x reader

Fic + Social Media Au

Warnings: Blackmail, she’s a bitch a first, get to know her

Series: Ongoing

Author’s note: Enjoy! Feel free to leave feedback! It is always appreciated <3

Taglist: Let me know if you’d like to be added to the taglist!

Masterlist:

How difficult Christmas time must be for all of those on the Upper East Side?

"Honestly, Tini, what do you get a woman who practically owns everything? I swear I have no idea what to get my mother for Christmas!" Y/n spoke on the phone as she carried quite a few bags in her arms. Dior, Channel, Yves Saint Laurent, if it's expensive and you can name it, it's there. "And to be even more honestly, I regret going Christmas shopping the same day Bartie is doing groceries. Seriously, I should learn to coordinate with my butler better, balancing all of this is getting preeetty difficult" she complained as she rearranged her bags again. "I didn't take the limo because I wanted some fresh air, you know how I get when it gets too stuffy" she laughed as she began to search for her purse. Because of so, she wasn't able to see the tired young man walking directly towards her. "It's silly, I know but- HEY!" and down she went with all her bags.

Tim had had a rough day. Between waking up to Dick and Jason singing Baby its cold Outside highly off-key just to piss off Bruce for making them patrol on one of the coldest nights of the year without their thermal suits; his secretary forgetting to send him a copy of the agenda for today's meeting causing him to practically have to improvise most of his points; Damian appearing on his office and refusing to leave his chair trying to establish dominance for "his future empire" to which if Tim had a say, he would absolutely not get if he kept on acting like this; and finally, with Steph who insisted they went Christmas shopping today only to ditch him and leave him stranded in the middle of the street with all of their presents with the excuse of having to repaint her closet which only translates to "I'm getting your present so bye bye". He was completely exhausted and the stitches on his shoulder were getting more painful by the hour with the cold. He had decided to get some coffee at a cafe down by Wellington Street and had been too caught on his thoughts to see where he was going.

//THUD//

"Hey!"

Tim's and Y/n's bags, both shopping and personal, simultaneously fell, getting mixed up in the way. Both reached down to catch their stuff as fast as they could.

"Sorry, I was-"

" not paying attention, yes I figured. S, I'll call you later, I have a little situation here. "

Tim was taken aback by the attitude he received from this random stranger...this totally absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous stranger who just so happens to not be a stranger at all. If all of his years being lectured about the hierarchy of the Upper East Side had served correctly, he was standing in front of one of the heiress of the city, Y/n Vanderbilt and she was the most dazzling woman he had ever seen...and just as bothered as she was gorgeous.

"Yeah" he said breathlessly, "that" Could he sound any dumber.

"Yes, That. Ugh! The ONE time I get out without Bartie and this happens. How many of these are yours?" said Y/n without looking up. She hadn't recognized him yet and he wasn't sure how to feel about that. Finally, their eyes met and she raised her delicate eyebrow at him and he swore his heart stopped for a second. "Have we met before?" she asked after taking a good look at him. He sure was handsome as hell. Pale skin, dark hair which was a little bit messy but it suited him, sharp suit and even sharper blue eyes who she swore she had seen before.

"Timothy, Timothy Drake Wayne" he replyed cooly.

"Hmm, a Wayne adoptee and a Drake socialite, Gotham Academy?"

"Yes, but I-"

"-Dropped out, yes. Yes, you did, I remember reading the news. Dropped out to become the CEO of Wayne Enterprises."

"Funny" he laughs out getting up after making sure that all of his stuff was there and then looking up at her. "Can't recognize me but seems to know all my business, miss Vanderbilt." he said snarkly.

"Important enough to know, yet simultaneously not enough to get to actually know" she said with a wolfish smile. Touche.

Y/n checked all her bags and smiled to herself. "Well then, mister Drake Wayne, lovely to meet you. Watch your step next time." She said as she looked at him dead in the eye. "Have a nice day, Timothy."

And she walked away, leaving him dumbfounded watching her go.

"Tim Tim Tim! You will not believe the boots i just got! They are sooooo comfortable and warm for night patrol. My toes were freezing last night....Tim? Hey, what's wrong? You have a dazed look in your eyes?

"I think I just met the love of my life...and shes kind of a bitch." said Tim, making Stephanie laugh and link her arms with his.

"Let's go hide these and you can tell me all about the supposed love of your life."

-•-

Y/n paced around her room trying to see where she would hide her presents. Shopping had helped distract her mind from the matter that had been plaguing her mind these last few days. Most of the bags had been cleared by now and she only had three left. As she cleared her final bag, she noticed something strange. Two files. She takes them out curious to see what these are. "Can't be part of my gifts...hmm...let's see"

She opens the first one and sees it is directed to Red Robin?

"What...?" she whispered to herself. "Ivy's exploits on the newest power plant close to Gotham Central Park make a solid case worth observation. Following up on her latest attacks with the reports of Red Hood and Black Bat, we begin suspecting where her next attack will play out....holy shit" Y/n whispered in amazement. She then looked at the rest of the file. Some red yarn here and there. A mixture of scribbles and computer manuscripts. Folded papers and a lot of red ink.

Then she looked at the next folder, a meeting agenda filled with notes directed to one Tim Drake Wayne..."wait a minute.."

These are directed to the same IP address..with the same handwriting, including the signatures...

"Tim Drake Wayne is Red Robin"Y/n smirked, "I believe I found a solution to my little problem"

Y/N went to get her cellphone quick and marked her driver's number. "Donnie, get the car ready, we have a little visit to make"

------

"Where is it?" Tim searched frantically throughout his apartment. In his work bag, there were two very important files. The first being the final agenda of the meeting he had today with all of the notes he took which he needed right now in order to send it back to his secretary. If she wasn't so busy making googly eyes at him, he wouldn't have to waste time on the job and focus on the case. Speaking off, Tim decided to search for that file and found that it was also missing. "Well fuck me gently with a chainsaw, if Bruce doesn't kill me, Batman will for loosing those two things. Where are those fucking THINGS?" If his apartment was a mess before, it was even worse now.

Thankfully, fate is such a humorous thing.

//kmock, knock, knock//

Close to a breakdown out of frustration, Tim walks towards the door only to be pleasantly surprised by a face that had not left his mind.

"Miss Vanderbilt, what a lovely surprise" said Tim as he opened the door, letting the young girl walk in.

"Yes, just as lovely as this apartment. Are you always this well kept?" She responded with sass. Making Tim chuckle, "No, but i made sure to decorate it like this just in case there was a posibility of a pretty Vanderbilt showing up."

"Funny, that won't last long." She said with a tight smile. "I'm here for business."

"What ever business could you have with a Wayne? Our parents are business partners, so there is not related to networking. You have much more money than all of my family combined, so it isn't that. Status won't be either, you are practically modern day royalty. So, what could it be? What..could..it..be?" he said aproaching her. He may be lacking 48 hours worth of sleep, but the detective in him was up and on high alert. You were picking the skin around your nails and your nose had this adorable twitch that could only mean nervousnes and the look in your eye was cunning with a tinge of desesperation. What could Y/n Vanderbilt want from him?

"I need you to be my fake boyfriend."

Tim had always been proud of being observant and with that, came the ability to not be surprised yet, never in his 22 years of life did he think that he'd have Y/n Vanderbilt, THE Y/n Vanderbilt, asking him to fake date her in HIS apartment.

"What's in it for me?" he asked skeptical of the situation.

"My silence, Robin Boy" she said as she got the two files he had been frantically searching for this entire time and showed them to him. "And don't try to deny it, the handwriting is the same, I had the pleasure of taking DNA samples and they match, and have seen enough videos to be well aware that you have the same body type. Oh and worry not, only i’m aware of this information. Unlike Miss Vale, I do have various PI's on speed dial, and the weight of the Vanderbilt name, so any information out of me will be credible." She said with a pretty smile.

"Pretty, cunning, and poisounus. Who would have throught." He said, not confirming nor denying anything.

"And I am sure Daddy Brucie dearest, would just love finding out one of his little birdlings let the family secret out, wouldn’t he?" she said looking at him dead in the eye.

Tim felt his heart stop. She knew about all of them.

"You have until monday, lover boy. My phone number is written in there. Call me when you have made up your mind and if you accept, make sure you clear up your schedule cause that meeting will take a long time. Kisses" She ended as she handed the files to Tim and saw herself out.

"This is officially THE worst and simultaneously best day ever" He said as he threw himself on the couch.

[dairy-farmer]

Tim is trending in arts for some reason, nobody's sure why until they find out that an artist takes to making Tim Drake his muse. The artist draws Tim like... like he was a goddess bathing in the woods, unaware of the eyes seeing him. The artist draws Tim like he was the love child from pureness, naked with just a sheet covering his lower half as his fingers trace over an apple. The most famous picture is the one where Tim is looking at the viewer, smiling so innocently, so purely, so beautifully. A smile no one has seen since years ago, decades ago, a time before wayne. The art gets sold in museums, the artist well-known and face well-spread so it's to only mild shock when the artist meets Tim Drake for the first time and immediately gets down on one knee to propose.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!!!

an artist and his (unknowing) muse!!!! i love the idea of this artist not having to know anything about tim personally, what his life is like, all the good and bad things he did- those don't matter to him. all that matters is tim. tim alone is what drives him, what fuels his art, what gets him up in the morning. he is the endless fountain of genius and artistic love that this artist has.

tim doesn't have to do anything but exist for this artist, they don't even have to have met before and it was tim's existence alone that brought forth so much success and depth to this person's art. so this artist getting down on one knee and proposing to tim!!!

the two of them would be like all those famous art couples only not toxic.

except for tim's family.

at first when tim was found to be trending on social media it was a little funny. just one of those things to laugh over dinner when one of them becomes mainstream enough to be referenced in pop culture. like how bruce is used in rap lyrics or songs when a man wants to talk about getting bitches, or how dick was used as a famous orphan in a countdown youtube video that included people like Annie and her 'daddy warbucks'.

tim's is just something that they chuckle over and laugh about, pulling up photos of the painting and ooing and aahing. it's only when they're going around the table and reach damian that they start realizing something.

damian is tensed with his jaw clenched, eyes locked on his phone and staring intently on a collection of gallery photos belonging to the artist that had boldly proclaimed timothy drake his muse even though tim was sure they'd never met. afterall the artist was someone based in maine, one of the few states tim had never set foot in.

not that it would matter. there were photos of tim on google totaling in the millions. that didn't even count the ones he posted on his instagram to keep in contact with all his civilian friends who were prepping for college.

it's not until jason makes some jab at the artist about choosing a 'shitty' muse and being a two bit talent hack that damian puffs up in defense of his fellow artist. it's one of the times that they're all avidly reminded of how closely damian follows the art circuits, he's likely knows more about this artist's work than all of them combined.

damian goes on some long tangent, slapping his phone down and scrambling for his backpack where he'd cleared his homework away when the dinner table was being set.

damian launches into a lecture like a college professor as he breaks down an analysis of one of the artists' most recent paintings. he explains how anyone, with enough dedicated time and practice can be a skilled artist.

"but do you know why those youtubers who do realistic colored pencil portraits of celebrities don't have their work hanging in the guggenheim but this person does?" damian is glaring at all of them at the dinner table that's suddenly a lot less light hearted in the face of damian's fierce indignance. "soul! depth! passion! meaning! anyone can create a souless bit of art with enough technical skill to get a few admiring sounds but this is real art!"

damian launches into another tirade of how artists used their crafts the same way a writer does their pen, to transmit meaning, deliver an understanding, a revelation, make a statement about something.

damian punches his finger against his screen so hard they're all surprised it doesn't break. the painting that just went up in a gallery somewhere in new york features tim dripping with rich animal furs, each of their heads visible as he cradles a bowl of pears close. the painting shows juice dripping from tim's red lips, his mouth parted and opened for another bite as he glances away from the viewer, staring at something in the distance.

the painting is done ins browns and greens, dark colors aside from tim's skin and the bowl that he's holding which shines brilliantly with gold leaf.

damian is almost frothing at the mouth and frustrated with them for not understanding the layers upon layers of meaning and depth packed into this one work alone. the pears! a fruit that across many cultures is known to mean abundance, to signify divinity, and femininity! the shape of the pear alone implies the soft slopes and curves of a woman. it's no coincidence that the artist chose pears rather than apples and oranges! look at how timothy in this painting has bitten the pear from the bottom, how juice drips down his lips- if the pear signifies femininity and timothy is eating it with visible evidence streaming down his lips- do they think that's a coincidence! then the furs! the animal heads are clearly perked up and alive! the foxes ears are at attention and listening to timothy, presumably as he chews. timothy is eating a divine fruit and wearing a coat made of living animals. the bowl! golden and made with gold leaf! gold leaf has been used very sparingly in the past and only for something of deep meaning or importance. such as the tombs of kings. but the artist was an anglo-christian raised in america and studied art in italy, meaning the golden bowl was not a bowl but rather a nimbus, a golden disk usually used to imply divinity- popularly seen in depictions of mother mary and her son jesus christ.

can all of them truly be so blind to what the meaning here is!! the artist is trying to convey that timothy is a god who descended among them, cast away divinity to be among mortals and walk as they do!

damian is almost trembling with fury and eventually turns and stomps away because he 'cannot stand to be surrounded with such idiocy for much longer!'

after that dinner is quiet, everyone too into their own heads to notice how tim is blushing so hotly.

after that the family is paying much more attention to this new artist. more than a few of them have bruce shifting uncomfortably because they have tim near naked on a stretched canvas. bruce resists the urge to call up his lawyers and have them contact this artist because timothy is still very much a minor and bruce's son.

but damian would likely protest. he said something about how art deserves a pass and cannot possibly be subjected to the ever-changing sensibilities of society. the rest of the family is discomforted by this artist and their near...obsession with tim.

damian insists that they just don't understand. they don't get it.

this man has found his muse. his muse.

the thing that powers his mind, that guides his brush, and leads him to create.

every time a painting is put up for sale bruce is tempted to buy it...just so no one else can have it. after all what kind of person wants a near naked painting of bruce's son hanging in their living room.

some of the paintings are bordering on obscene even though the internet and this artist are intent on lauding him as a genius.

to bruce they're just....inappropriate.

this stranger shouldn't need to reveal so much of his son's body in such a public way just to convey his "meanings". dick is of the same opinion. very much firmly grossed out by this near fifty year old artist who's developed an obsession with his little brother.

jason is more silent on the matter and bruce isn't sure what to make of that. he's walked past the library and the sight of jason with an open laptop on that artist's website and a book on analyzing art.

when the gotham museum is holding a big charity event and invites both their wealthiest donors and artists- bruce doesn't even need to look at the guestlist to know who will be there.

this artist has made a killing selling his paintings of tim, what few he does sell because even though he's an artist he's apparently very reluctant to part with some of his work.

bruce doesn't like that.

it just gives him a strange...feeling about it.

he instructs dick to keep tim in his sights at all time at the party. bruce needs to mingle and feign getting drunk. he can pay attention to tim but tim is slippery and bruce has more than once lost sight of him at an event.

and it's not strange for bruce to do that. often times bruce will pair dick or jason up with damian and tim to make sure they all keep each other in check.

something must go wrong.

because bruce is mid-swish of some dessert champagne when soft gasps run through the crowd like a wave, people gathered in a circle around something and murmuring to each other.

if anything unusual is happening that's usually a sign for bruce to check it out so he shoulders and stumbles his way through, apologetically grinning and jovially slapping people on the shoulder until the sight reveals itself to him.

the sight of that....that artist that bruce had spent hours digging up information on.

kneeling. on the marble floor of the museum. cupping one of tim's hands so tenderly and reverently, staring up at tim who was frozen and wide-eyed.

bruce sees the man mouth words but with the hushed silence of the room he may as well have yelled it.

"marry me."

bruce isn't sure what he's more shocked at.

the man's proposal. or tim's response.

a soft, breathless "yes".

[fuforthought]

A quick dose of swordplay from the TVB series, Poetic Sword Li Pai.

The swordsman in white is Damian Lau (from Duel to the Death) and the swordswoman is Candy Man aka the real life sister of Yuen Qiu )the landlady from Kung Fu Hustle).

[michelle-yim]

50 Years, 50 Gifs

Chronicle of the Shadow Swordsman | 萍蹤俠影錄 [ATV, 1985]

14/50

[blackbutlercharacterpoll2023]

The following is the lineup for the polls by date, made using a random number generator. New characters introduced in chapter 199 will automatically be added to the end of the roster.

April 19th - April 26th

Chlaus

Rian Stoker

Lord Ackroyd's son

FOL Orphanage staff

Timber

Claude Faustus

Tanaka

Conny

Emily

Baldroy / Bard / Baldo

Finnian / Finny

Sharpe Hanks

Mabel

Burnett

April 20th - April 27th

Soma's elephant

Beast

Sophie Smith

Theodore

Finny's hat

Funtom Corporation's unicorn suit

Karl Woodley

Oscar

Chris Heathfield

Sieglinde Sullivan

Fred Abberline

Stella Rose

Charles Phipps

the orphan that called Sebastian an old guy

April 21st - April 28th

Nick

Joanne Harcourt

Purple House dorm master

Agni / Arshad Satyendra Iyer

Yana Toboso

Grete Hilbard

the Mad Dog of Venice

Abbie

Johnny

Mina

Rachel Phantomhive

Charles Phipps's chicken

Haku

Sascha

April 22nd - April 29th

Jumbo

Mrs. Mayell

Goethe

the Rowdy Count

Georg von Siemens

Margaret Connor

Al

Cedric Brandel

Mathilda Simmons

Wendy

Sam / Old Man Sam

Grelle Sutcliff

Ellery Nixon

Eric Slingby

April 23rd - April 30th

Edward Midford

Luka Macken

Queen Victoria

Lord Ackroyd

Layla

the other children in the lab Finny was kept in

Betty

Reaper trainees

Green House dorm master

Vincent Phantomhive

Drossel Keinz

Kelvin

Lawrence Bluewer's sisters

Charles Grey

April 24th - May 1st

Margaret Turner

Akashi

Snake

Edgar Redmond

Derrick Arden

Ronald Knox

Aurora Society member

Bloodbath Johnny

Wilde

Soma Asman Kadar

Claude's birds

Sebastian's silverware

Chef Rickman

Susannah Connor

April 25th - May 2nd

Susan

Artie

Damian

John Brown

Saneatsu Nekoma

Peter

Lawrence Anderson / Pops

Chef Wollest

Chris Heathfield's maids

demon Crow

Nina's assistants

Ludger

Prince Albert puppet

Miranda

April 26th - May 3rd

Blavat Sky

Vicar Rathbone

Julius Pitt

walking stick shopkeeper

Grimsby Keane

Ciel's horse

Edward V

Jay the Undertaker

Gregory Violet

Canterbury

Jeremy Rathbone

Doctor

the cat from the live action movie

Henry Barrymore

April 27th - May 4th

Lawrence Bluewer

Prince Albert

Higham

the Panzer

the train kidnapper

Donne

Heinrich

Chef Lach

Dagger

Doll / Freckles

Sam's grandson

Bitter Rabbit

Japanese man with a katana

"Ciel" Phantomhive / Our Ciel / O!Ciel

April 28th - May 5th

Mey-Rin

Undertaker's mourning lockets

Webster

Purple House prefect from Vincent's year

Patrick the Grey Wizard

Diedrich

Johann Agares

Bronte

Carter

Othello

the cultists

Baldroy Jr.

John Brown's horse

Sphere Music Hall staff

April 29th - May 6th

Jackknife Haywood

Nina Hopkins

William's death scythe

Angela Blanc

Wolfram Gelzer

McDowell

Ronald's lawnmower

Arthur Randall

Aleister Chamber / Viscount of Druitt

Keats

Annie

Terry

Hao

Maria

April 30th - May 7th

Irene Diaz

Polaris

beggar boy that Soma gives a necklace to, mother, and baby brother

kenpo master

Red House dorm master

Ran-Mao

Shiori Genpou

Cedric K. Ros

Lau

Clayton

William T. Spears

Patrick Phelps

Japanese woman with a lunchbox

Oliver

May 1st - May 8th

Arthur Conan Doyle

the bear

Grelle's chainsaw

Trancy / Former Head Trancy

Richard

Aristocrat of Evil with the scarred face

the archeologist

Joker

Jan

the cats Sebastian rescues from the rain

Hilde Dickhaut

Rin

Cloudia Phantomhive

"Deer"

May 2nd - May 9th

King's Bear prostitutes

McMillan

"Her"

Undertaker's death scythe

Daniel

Ginny

Sieglinde Sullivan's father

Charles Bennett Sato

demon Ciel

Ada

Arnold Trancy

Ciel Phantomhive bizarre doll / Real Ciel / R!Ciel

Arihito Genpou

Thomas Wallis

May 3rd - May 10th

Chef Tarpin

Queen Victoria (Season 1)

Lau's ladies

Fennian

Harold West Jeb

Nicholas

Professor Sullivan / village crone

Anne Drewanz

CGI horses / driver

Margaret Connor's father

Ciel Phantomhive child / R!Ciel child

Jane

Paula

Wordsworth

May 4th - May 11th

Maurice Cole

Alexis Leon Midford

bizarre dolls

the turnspit dog

the "werewolves"

O!Ciel's land renters

priest

Pluto

Sebastian the dog

Red House prefect from Vincent's year

the Sebastian Roomba

bizarre doll horses

Baldroy's cow

Undertaker

May 5th - May 12th

Hanae Wakatsuki

the iceberg

Alan Humphries

Ash Landers

Thompson

Snake's unnamed snakes

Milly

Munemitsu Aoki

Alois Trancy / Jim Macken

Elizabeth Midford / Lizzy

Aurora Society purified water seller

Drossel's dolls

the timetable guy

Herman Greenhill

May 6th - May 13th

Azzurro Vanel

William's pigeons

Joanna

Reaper managers

Dove

Countess Trancy and her baby

German countryman

Scotland Yard officers

Haku's henchman

Lorraine McDowell

demon "pet" (the xenomorph)

Hannah Annafellows

Angelina Dalles / Madam Red / Aunt An

Pitt

May 7th - May 14th

Vincent Phantomhive's staff

Paul Jones

Francis Midford

Sebastian Michaelis

Cheslock

Phantomhive family ring

James

Edward Abberline

Baron Ridley

Sebastian's owl

[theersatzcowboy]

Executioners / 現代豪俠傳 (1993)

Director: Johnnie To

Cinematographer: Hang Sang Poon

Starring Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui, Takeshi Kaneshiro, and Damian Lau

[xueiing]

OMFG Elena Kong won a Best Actress

To me, this story starts a long time ago. I don’t recall exactly how long ago, maybe 2005 or 2006, when they were showing War of In Laws in local television at dinner time. 

 War of In Laws was, as far as I am aware, my first exposure to Hong Kong dramas. And I hated it. I really hated War of In Laws. I probably still hate it. I hated how well, 野蛮 the 奶奶 was, which really, is the entire premise. It’s probably why to this day I do not like Liza Wang (whether this is her fault or not, I really don’t know, and I’m not going to watch the drama again to find out). 

My view of Hong Kong dramas improved within the next few years after seeing the following shows on local television (whether at dinner time, or sneakily later on during the night), the order of which I do not exactly recall: 

Ten Brothers / Bar Benders / Trimming Success / The Gentle Crackdown / Healing Hands III / La Femme Desperado

But then one day at dinner time, maybe sometime in 2008, it was showing Flaming Butterfly. It was 40 episodes and really draggy (I was, and still am, accustomed to Hong Kong dramas being quick and snappy at 30 episodes maximum.) I can’t comment on the artistic merit of Flaming Butterfly, and have no interest to rewatch it to find out. This was the first ATV drama, as far as I’m aware, that I watched, and suffice to say that I didn’t like it. The only good things about it, as I recall, was that the female leads (Rain Li, Monie Tang) were pretty and the second aunt or third aunt (or whoever she was) caught my eye and I wanted to see more of her. But she had pitifully little screentime and in my brief google, I failed to find out who she was or anything about her. 

Due to The Gentle Crackdown, I had become a fan of Michelle Yim, and sought out quite a few of her dramas to watch on my own volition (Into Thin Air, The Academy, Heavenly Sword Dragon Sabre 2000, The Brink of Law, Law and Order (aka the 1988 ATV show with Damian Lau), The Awakening Story, Heart of Greed, Moonlight Resonance, Beyond the Realm of Conscience). For clarity, I don’t think I had watched all the mentioned shows before Flaming Butterfly was shown on local television, but I believe that I had probably watched some. Michelle Yim subsequently also won a best actress for her work in Moonlight Resonance in the TVB anniversary awards and the Asian Television Awards. I have to admit that I didn’t think she would win the Asian Television Awards, but did not express my view to anyone at that point, but I hoped she could win it. I had however, said to a fellow fan of Michelle Yim (who had become an online friend) that I don’t think she’s going to go home empty handed if she’s flying to Singapore. I maintain that that’s what I said, but it was misinterpreted to mean that I didn’t think she would get it (well yes I thought so before I heard she was flying to Singapore, but I didn’t say anything about the matter prior). I tried to explain but I had probably used too many double negatives (and yes, I was guilty of thinking that she wouldn’t win), so that wasn’t very successful. We fell out because of that. 

Nonetheless, I was interested in watching The Seasons of Fate when it came out. At that point, asianfanatics was still alive, and I had met two (other) online friends on asianfanatics who were also interested in watching Michelle Yim in The Seasons of Fate. She was acting someone who had lost her memory and acted like a teenager. There was also Esther Kwan, Roger Kwok and Ng Wai Kwok. 

 Even though I didn’t like Michelle Yim’s character much for most part of the show, it was a good show. It had a great theme song which I love till this day. And Ng Wai Kwok’s character was in love with Michelle Yim’s character (both before and after she regained her memory). Oh he was also married to Elena Kong’s character AND having an affair with his secretary Mimi Lo’s character.

 Elena Kong caught my eye. She didn’t have that much screentime, but she had things to do (cute scenes with Oscar Leung who was acting her adopted son), and basically express her frustration and jealousy (justified) over Ng Wai Kwok’s character’s affair with Mimi Lo’s character or one sided crush on Michelle Yim’s character.) At some point I thought she looked familiar and wondered why, and then after doing some googling, I managed to figure out that she was the one acting the second aunt or third aunt (whatever it was) in Flaming Butterfly. 

I would again, watch Beauty Knows No Pain as it came out. It had a shit theme song (if you even call it a theme song), but it was a great show. I loved the show. I liked all of Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yim, Joyce Tang and Elena Kong in the show. And they gave such cute interviews together about how much they enjoyed working together etc. I wondered how that was possible seeing that Michelle Yim and Joyce Tang are firmly protagonists, Elena Kong is firmly an antagonist and Maggie Cheung is probably a semi-villain. (I liked her Jackie alot when I was watching the drama back in 2010, I can’t say that I would like Jackie watching it now, but I did then. Yes, more than Michelle’s Noble, because I didn’t agree with how she dealt with her husband, the baby, as well as maybe Gordon Lam’s character.) Elena Kong was a really likeable antagonist, and I was not the only one who thought so. 

 I think by this point in time I was a fan. I don’t exactly recall the order in which I watched her shows, but I believe that I must have been a fan by this point because I wanted her to win Best Supporting Actress in 2010, and I recall monitoring whether I thought she had a chance to win or not. So I think I was already a fan. I can’t comment on whether I had watched No Regrets or Gun Metal Grey at this point, but my guess is probably not. However, seeing that she had just transferred over from ATV to TVB (Flaming Butterfly was her second last ATV drama, and The Seasons of Fate was her first), there wasn’t really much. It was really not easy (I’d probably say impossible) to find her ATV dramas online (except for Forrest Cat) at that point. 

 So, I kept an eye out of her, while watching dramas with other actresses I liked (Michelle Yim, Maggie Cheung, Louisa So). I also liked Kenix Kwok, Gigi Lai, Melissa Ng Mei Hang, Nnadia Chan after I had first watched them in their respective shows, but I don’t believe I sought them out to watch after watching that initial show. In part, this was due to the fact that I knew that they were retiring and/or getting married (or had already done so), and as a matter of self preservation, I didn’t want to become a fan of someone where there wasn’t going to be new content and I had to keep looking backwards. 

I think a similar logic applied to Elena Kong, I knew that I had to wait for content to come out instead of getting into it now. 

I believe that chances are I had watched Lives of Omission prior to watching River of Wine. And I think it was only after that that I started watching her guestings (like Only You, Gun Metal Grey, No Regrets etc). I was definitely a fan by the point that I had watched River of Wine. Yes, even though reviewers would write things like portraying the love interest who is the carbon copy of the righteous male character, the third time’s a charm or she’s perfected the art (of doing so) or something like that. Or saying that she is a competent actress but spoke too calmly with perfect diction (specifically on River of Wine). Whatever it was, I liked her, I liked her acting, and that was that. 

Specifically on River on Wine, loved the drama. Really loved the theme song. Literally can’t watch the happy ending when the theme song is playing with Bowie Lam and Elena Kong’s characters sitting around the table and with Bowie Lam’s character narrating his letter to his family without crying. Other scenes which are so good: Elena Kong’s character asking Bowie Lam’s character helped the Sung family to bully her, 天大地大的确是没有我们两个容身之所 (ep 17), 你就当我们有缘无份吧 (ep 24), 所以如果你有什么不测， 我一定不偷身在世，我今天来，是要让所有人知道，我要堂堂正正地去爱你梁正尧 (ep 25). All tearjerkers. This doesn’t even consider the ones before that. To this day this is probably my favourite Elena Kong role. 

I think somewhere around this point, The Other Truth was showing on local television, and Kristal Tin had a guest role in the last few episodes. I liked her in her guest role, and I believe I either knew or quickly found out that she was an ATV escapee, like Elena Kong. I believe I wanted to watch more, which is I think how I ended up watching Only You (came out in the same year, and sounded more interesting than her other 2011 drama). Since Elena Kong had a guest role in it, so directly went to the episodes which Elena Kong was guesting in to kill two birds with one stone.

I really really liked Elena Kong in Only You and thought she did really well there. I must have come out of watching those 2 episodes liking Elena Kong more than Kristal Tin because I’ve never finished watching Only You. (To be fair, I got the impression online that Elena Kong and Raymond Wong had really touching guest story so it wasn’t really apples and apples. In addition, I really liked the interaction between Elena Kong and Evergreen Mak when he won his Best Supporting Actor, and also some of the behind the scenes they were posting from No Regrets.) 2012 was a slower year in terms of non-guest roles. I’m reasonably sure that I watched both Ghetto Justice (where I recall she had pretty good role) and Tiger Cubs. 

Started on Silver Spoon Sterling Shackles, and based on my records, I probably got until episode 15 (without clicking) and quite enjoyed it before going right to the end to see if the ending was something I was prepared to watch through 40 episodes for. The ending was great, and somehow I didn’t feel like I had to watch what happened in between. To this day I’ve never finished it. I think this might have come down to the fact that I didn’t like her acting the third wife of Damian Lau. I’ve never really appreciated her acting with Damian Lau, which I think is affected by the yawning age difference, as well as the fact that I am a fan of Michelle Yim. I also had Kristal Tin content to watch that year, No Good Either Way (which I enjoyed regardless of what the reviews were) and King Maker (stopped watching at episode 24 when she died. She was a very very likeable character, and I so wanted her to have a good ending with Wayne Lai.) 

2013 rolls around, and yes, I like Triumph in the Skies II. Honestly I also like many characters in Triumph in the Skies II (but definitely not all), as much as I’m happy to admit that it is a potato chip for the brain. Yes, I ship her and Kenneth Ma’s (characters) together in Triumph in the Skies II, and get really annoyed at how people keep insisting it’s a May December romance when the age difference is all of three years, and no one EVER says anything when actresses act with actors who are like 20-30 years senior. Brother’s Keeper also comes out this year and I love Kristal Tin in that, and I watched all of the Macau scenes, but hardly watched the Hong Kong scenes. There was hype for Elena Kong to win Best Supporting Actress and for Kristal Tin to win Best Actress. If I had it my way, I would have wanted both of them to win. But I didn’t think (and I don’t think I was wrong) that they would give both the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress to ATV escapees. I had then decided that I preferred Kristal Tin to win Best Actress, because my view was that Elena Kong would win her Best Supporting Actress eventually. She had always been in Best Supporting Actress contention since 2010 when she made first made the top 5 for Beauty Knows No Pain (which wasn’t even a show that did very well in terms of ratings), and by the time 2013 had rolled around, people generally did not talk about Best Supporting Actress without her name coming up. I think I also wasn’t sure if I wanted her to win a Best Supporting Actress for Triumph in the Skies II, when people were saying that she didn’t have much to do, and would have preferred her to win for other shows eg. Bounty Lady, Silver Spoon Sterling Shackles, even Lives of Omission. I hate Bounty Lady as a show and would hate it if she won for Bounty Lady. Also, I considered that Elena Kong would have other opportunities to win Best Supporting Actress, but this might be Kristal Tin’s only chance to win Best Actress. Given who 2014’s Best Supporting Actress went to, I think I am reasonably confident in saying that she could’ve won it for Line Walker, given the success of the show, as well as the amount of acting she had to do there. 

Given the kind of shows she was doing prior to 2013, I think my view that this might be Kristal Tin’s only chance to win Best Actress is not poorly founded. I do think that her career benefitted greatly from winning the Best Actress. 

I couldn’t find a stream, and had to keep refreshing asianfanatics for the results. I was already in disbelief when Elena Kong won the Best Supporting Actress. I was not the only one who viewed Elena Kong taking the Best Supporting Actress as detrimental to Kristal Tin’s chances of winning the Best Actress, and I think I was already prepared for that outcome. And then Kristal Tin wins the Best Actress. And then still manages to win the Favourite Female Character award. I was speechless. I’ve said that no award show would ever top that for me. Ten years later, I think that is still true. 

Then came along Line Walker (which I liked, and more than came around to her and Michael Miu’s relationship in the show despite it’s dubious beginnings), Ultimate Addiction (lousy show, and I think affected by the changes in casting), Smooth Talker (I liked, despite the reviews being poor), Come With Me (approaching the level of Bounty Lady difficult to get through because I didn’t like her character, or pretty much anything about it). 

On a Kristal Tin aside, after watching Return of the Silver Tongue (which I liked), I watched Black Heart White Soul as it came out. I really liked it. Pretty much watched every minute of it at the edge of my seat. Can’t say that I’m sure that it has rewatch value (since I’ve never rewatched it since), but while I watched it, I was engrossed. 

Tiger Mom Blues came out at a time when I had to study, so I couldn’t get to it immediately, but I had heard negative news about her in relation to the show. I think the whole concept of Tiger Mom Blues hit too close to home, and I think in part because the reviews were good, and she was the female lead and Michelle Yim was in it, I had wanted to watch it with full attention (not clicking through) to give it due respect. I’ve only watched 4 episodes of it to date. 

 Watched The Unholy Alliance together with all the speculation on who was the big bad, and then decided that My Ages Apart was too many episodes, and it had Kristal Tin in it so it wouldn’t be a quick activity. 

I had already suspected that there was something up between her and her boyfriend because he almost never showed up on her weibo anymore, and when I first started following her on weibo, he did use to show up on her weibo, and he would go with her to events too. Not only that since she was filming River of Wine (and crossing the road together with Pierre Ngo) there were rumours that he was cheating on her. So when the rumours about her breaking up with her boyfriend, I knew that they were true. I’ve never really liked him anyway, so it’s whatever. Breakup rumours became divorce rumours, and for a long while the news in relation to her was pretty much about the breakup turned divorce. 

I knew that Sandra Ng helped her get her job at tvb (I believe she introduced her to some tvb executives), and that her boyfriend/husband was involved in her career (and might have been her manager at some point). There were rumours that she got frozen by tvb due to Tiger Mom Blues that looked more and more reliable given she was not filming anything. Then her contract with tvb changed to a per series contract, and I backed away from it so hard. Because I knew that we would be in for lean and difficult times with nothing to watch and for a good while everything that would come out would be about the divorce. I would be back when there was things to watch. There was no need to read a constant stream of bad news. I have admit that I didn’t know whether there would be things to watch anymore. 

At this point, I think Kristal Tin also didn’t have many (if at all) shows, so I found other ways to occupy myself. 

That was the state of affairs until Death By Zero. The first positive signs were the articles about her studying how to play a prostitute. But Death by Zero was finally upon us, and this was Elena Kong’s first drama since 2017. Watched this on a per week basis as it came out, and enjoyed it. I was really happy to have Elena Kong back with us, though I didn’t necessarily regard this as a positive sign for future shows because as far as I was concerned, a prostitute who was supposed to be the love interest of Wayne Lai, had her name written all over it. 

I was excited about Line Walker 3, since I liked watching her with Michael Miu in Line Walker. I heard that it was a guest appearance which did not bode well (because why??). I was innocently on instagram one day, when it had just started broadcasting, and the scene where she passes away was plastered in an instagram story. Then, I didn’t have sufficient background and didn’t believe that she dies, but I googled it and she did die in Line Walker 3. The reason why it was plastered in an instagram story was because it had been released in advance on a Chinese streaming site. For that reason, I didn’t watch Line Walker 3 because as far as I’m concerned, they lived happily ever after in Line Walker. (I have watched this after she won the Best Actress.)

Fast forward to 2022. I was aware that she had work, because I was seeing that she was filming, but I had no indication on what kind of stuff she was filming, and didn’t really want to look into it in case it got my hopes up. Towards the end of 2022, I knew that she was leading Get On a Flat. I didn’t know who Lam Man Chung was. The poster looked very low budget family drama. However, burned by the Tiger Mom Blues incident, I knew that just because she can lead the show doesn’t mean anything. For all you know it’s back in the freezer for the next 5 years. 

I suspected that it was doing well because of the number of promotional activities and the vibe I got from her was positive. Then she was asking people to vote for her for Best Actress. Because of that, I figured that she thought that she had a shot of winning Best Actress (and I had googled it by this point and realised that Get On a Flat did very well in terms of ratings). I didn’t want to jinx it by thinking about her winning. 

The night of the awards ceremony, I was at a friend’s wedding. 

I woke up for work to her instagram post holding an award. I googled it right away. There was an instagram story which showed them annoucing the winner, and I got emotional right after they announced her name. Was very very emotional watching it. The fact that Michael Miu was presenting the award to her, and she got a full standing ovation from anyone who was nominated helped. 

I think it’s quite a miracle that she’s managed to pull it off, after being frozen by tvb back in 2017. Yet here we are. 

Congratulations on winning a Best Actress!! 

I don’t believe this is the end of the story and look forward to watching more shows from you.

[I would embed the video, but tumblr is protesting and won’t let me.]

[readingandwritingandreading]

Yours ~ Part 16

My Blurb: Hi, sorry it’s been twenty years since i posted. There’s been a lot going on and it felt like every time I opened a doc to write I got interrupted. I am going to try really hard to get back into a regular rhythm. As always if you didn’t write it don’t post it anywhere. And if someone else is interested in being added to my lil tag list feel free to message me!

Disclaimer: No T-Bar, no Retribution, doesn’t exist here.

Summary: Skye Simmons is all set to start her new career and join her boyfriend in Florida. Until she finds out her boyfriend is in a feud with her soulmate. But does she even believe in soulmates? And will she choose to stay with what’s familiar and safe or take a chance?

Pairing: Dominik Dijakovic x Skye Simmons

Warnings: Arm grabbing

Tagging: @pioched​​  @sirhunterwalker​  @snarkandsarcasmftw​  @miss-tipton-is-beautiful​​ @pikapuff316​​  @jumbledmindofmonet​​  @aura-ravenora77​​ @imperiumdumptruck​​  ​  @kyrathegreat985​​  @nightelf230​  @ms-novel​  @allelitedevils  @rocca09​  @kurtisdefender​

Read First: Yours Masterlist

Also Check Out: Main Masterlist

“Dominik put me down this second!” Skye squealed as he headed towards the water with her thrown over his shoulder. 

He replied with a laugh and a squeeze to her butt, “You are in ocean water all the time at work.”

“That is temperature controlled ocean water!” She grumbled, switching tactics from trying to get out of his arms to trying to climb him to stay out of the cold water splashing against his legs. 

They had chosen to have a beach day after a stressful week for both of them. Skye had lost a sea turtle that was brought in injured and another altercation with Damian had caused some trouble for Dominik.

Skye screeched but managed to hold on to Dominik to bring him in with her when he went to dunk her in a wave. They came up laughing and sputtering. Skye jumped back into his arms using her legs wrapped around his waist and arms around his neck to anchor herself to him. 

“You’re going to pay for that later.” She promised, glaring at him playfully. 

Using his arms to hoist her closer to him, Dominik kissed her on the forehead. “I look forward to it.”

Skye blushed at the knowing look in his eye and felt herself respond to him. She had never considered herself someone who craved sex, but since meeting Dominik that had changed. She had admitted that to him once, causing him to laugh and tell her it was because she hadn’t been having sex with him, before proceeding to prove it to her until her legs felt like jello. 

She leaned her head against his shoulder while they floated in the water, watching a group of seagulls diving in and out in pursuit of lunch and Skye sighed happily. The three months since meeting her family and becoming an official couple had been some of the happiest of Skye’s life. Dominik was a supportive and caring partner. He sought out her opinions on things as small as changes to his ring gear and what colors he should paint the spare bedroom now that she slept with him. He asked her thoughts on big things as well including his career, something Damian had simply done and informed her about later. He listened when she was frustrated about work and cheered wholeheartedly when they were able to do something good, taking a concentrated interest when she explained how things worked. 

Dominik squeezed her in a hug, feeling the joy flowing from her and the thoughts she didn’t bother hiding, despite learning how to do it several weeks ago. “You put a new heartbeat inside of me, Skye. I love you because I was made to, and you make it impossible not to.”

Grinning at the look of shock on her face at his confession, he tossed her into another wave, laughing when she came up spluttering and pushing her hair from her face. 

“You can’t tell me you love me and then throw me into a wave!” Skye squealed before splashing him and jumping on him when he turned to shield himself. The momentum was enough to knock him under as another wave swept over them. 

They both came up laughing and Skye escaped his arms to run to shore with him right behind her. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist with the look on your face.” Dominik grabbed her and turned her to face him, lifting her face to his. “I do love you Skye, you don’t have to say it until you are ready but I can’t spend another minute keeping it in.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skye’s phone started ringing with Dominik’s tone as she pulled into the arena. It was a takeover tonight and he had originally been scheduled for a match against Roderick Strong but an injury had pulled Roderick at the last minute and Dominik wasn’t sure if he would still have a match on the show. 

“Hey babe, I just got parked and am heading your way.” Skye answered, grabbing her purse and locking the car behind her. 

“Thank God, Vince is here, he’s changing most of the show. Rumor has it he’s scouting for the next round of call-ups.” Dominik’s voice was hushed and the closer she got to the building the more she could feel his nervousness. 

Skye picked up her pace, showing her pass to the security guard at the door who let her in with a wave. “Holy crap, that’s a big deal! I’ll be at your locker room in just a minute.” She hung up and tossed her phone in her bag, waving to the people she knew before coming up short as a familiar shadow loomed in front of her. She looked up at him with a small smile, forcing herself to meet his eyes. “Hello Damian” 

He looked rougher than the last time she had seen him, darker circles under his eyes and his normal olive tone looking pale. She had tried not to keep tabs on him but he was frequently on the same shows as Dominik and she had noticed he had turned to a party, rock star lifestyle. A warning from Hunter after yet another altercation had kept him away from Dominik for the most part. She sniffed at the faint smell of alcohol on him already. 

“Skye, you look great…” he trailed off when she took a step away from him, smoothing her dress down nervously. 

“Don’t do this, you never liked my flowery dresses. Don’t pretend now.” Skye went to step around him but he grabbed her arm as she passed, pulling her when she tried to pull away. “Let me go Damian.”

“Baby, can we just talk? I..I miss you.” Damian pulled her towards him despite the people staring at them.” 

“Get your hands off her now.” The near growl from behind her caused Skye to sigh in relief as Dominik appeared at her side pulling her arm from Damian’s grasp and wrapping an arm around her. She curled instantly into him, her racing heart calming in his presence.  

A murmur from the parting crowd caught Skye’s attention as Damian and Dominik glared at each other, her eyes widening and she squeezed Dominik’s side as Vince appeared looking between the two men. 

“Ah there you two are, and already looking ready!” Vince’s voice boomed. “I heard there was some animosity between you two and you’re going to settle it on the show tonight. We need another match!” He disappeared as quickly as he came, turning and walking back through the crowd barking orders. 

“Thirty minutes to show time” a timid looking backstage manager announced, breaking the tension that was left. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It doesn’t matter to me you know?” Skye whispered as Dominik prepared to leave his locker room and head to gorilla. He had been tense and quiet since Vince’s announcement. His arm hadn’t left her when they headed to his locker room but once safely inside he had changed and started warming up in silence. He had blocked his thoughts from her and by the time they had announced his match was on deck Skye was about to explode from the tension. “If you beat him or not. I still choose you, I…I love you.” she continued, her voice grew firmer when he froze. 

She rose from her seat and crossed the room to him, turning his body so he was facing her. “I love you”, she poked his chest and he grabbed her hand, “Whatever happens tonight, tomorrow, ten years from now. I want to spend it with you.” she smiled when he brought the hand to his mouth for a kiss.

Dominik sighed and relaxed his body at her words. “I’m sorry, I’ve been in my own head.” Smiling, he pulled her body close to his. “You don’t know how badly I have wanted to hear you say those words.” Skye smiled, reaching up and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “I’m still going to beat his ass for touching you.” 

“My hero” Skye sighed dramatically, “I would expect nothing less.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The match wasn’t as bad as Skye had expected. Dominik’s fury at Damian for scaring her quickly overcame the pitiful defense Damian put up. She was quick to cheer when Dominik’s hand was raised, she blushed when he pointed to her with a wink. She was blowing him a kiss when Vince’s music hit and he appeared at the top of the ramp. 

He cleared his voice before announcing, “And the new recruit joining us on RAW monday night, the decisive winner Dominik Dijakovic!”