#Li Jiu Lin

[dangermousie]

I won't be continuing with this because I simply have no time but if this man was the ML instead of SML, I'd MAKE time.

Sticking a raisin with legs as a ML and sex on legs Li Jiu Lin as SML is an act of truly demented casting.

[purplehanfu]

Rising Feather: Episode 1

notes: Spoilers! Master list of all recaps

We start with… oh my.

Have not seen this before in a cdrama.

But we don't have time to dwell as we need to keep the story moving- we only have 12 minutes per episode, after all.

We meet our male lead Yun Huan who is out in the woods, exterminating Princess Huai's rebels. Just as he finishes the fight, a messenger arrives with a letter. It must be important to be delivered in the dead of night in a remote wooded location, right? Not really- it's Yun Huan's father-in-law Lord Mu announcing that he's taking in a new concubine. Yun Huan heads home immediately as instructed.

And when I say home, I mean a brothel where the concubine-to-be is dancing a solo. Tonight's lucky lady is the female lead Qing Que, who has a complicated past, if all the flashbacks are anything to go by.

Qing Que begins to make meaningful eyes at Yun Huan as soon as he arrives, and tries to incorporate him into her act.

Yun Huan shoves her away but steals a sachet from her as they tussle.

Later as she walks back to her room, Qing Que has a flashback where we find out Que is an assumed name and she's targeted Lord Mu's family on purpose. The ultimate goal: assisinate Yun Huan. And speak of the devil, he's in her room waiting for her.

He tells her he knows there is poison in the sachet. Instead of turning her in, he gives it back to her and essentially says good luck murdering your new husband. He also makes the following observation:

(This will become important in less than a minute.)

After she returns to the party, Lord Mu grabs Qing Que and starts to remove her veil.

The veil comes off and Lord Mu recognizes Qing Que. So does Yun Huan. Cut to flashback!

It's snowing and no one is wearing a coat but everyone has an umbrella that they can dramatically let fall to the ground at just the right part of the OST.

We find out that Yun Huan and Qing Que had a relationship.

A relationship that ended when Yun Huan found out that Qing Que was Lord Huai's daughter.

Oh noes, those are the rebels he was fighting back at the start of the episode! This level of betrayal merits a stabbing.

oof, right in the ovary

Yun Huan lets Qing Que slide gracefully to the ground and sadly makes the following promise:

Naw dog, I'm good. Qing Que is still alive, but Yun Huan roots around her clothes and steals a broken jade ornament.

Then he walks to where his current wife is waiting for him and they leave.

Cue the single tear. End episode.

why do I keep switching directions?

Final Thoughts This is either a masterpiece of non-linear storytelling or a hot mess.

Master list of all recaps

[movielosophy]

Circle of Love | You don’t remember?

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Decreed by Fate (2022)

Her dream 🤣😅🤭 #decreedbyfate

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FqHHR8pca5s

[binging-asian-dramas]

Time Flies and You Are Here. 7

Story: 8

Acting: 9

Chemistry: 10

Comparable to: ? a lot of historical cdrama’s that have backstabbing relatives

It’s a repeat rinse cycle with both main leads and what I mean by that is they fight a lot…..a lot lot, make up, then fight all over again without learning anything. If that’s not your thing then you’ll definitely hate this drama. I really enjoyed the chemistry between the two and the overall storyline it can get a bit overdramatic at times. It’s by no means perfect, but it’s an enjoyable watch if you fast forward with remote. It’s one of those it’s so bad, but why can’t I stop watching drama.

[pizzaandcoffeeintherain]

Decreed by Fate

More people need to see this drama. It has the best love triangle chemistry. Also stars that bodyguard from the long ballad.

Case in point: hot, hot kiss

[kokuto-lijiulin]

Shuang Mian Fan Hua Schedule

Looks like 24 episodes. VIP dropped 6 today, and then it's going to be 2 per day for a couple of days, and then one per day. Non-VIP will start on June 19th with 2 episodes, and then it will be 2 episodes per day, for a quick 2 week finish. I'm not sure, but I think this is a short drama, again.

Also, I hope they photo shopped the heck out of that pick, cause Li Jiu Lin did NOT need to lose more weight. He looks way too slender there.

[scorbleeo]

Drama Gossip: The Spirealm (致命游戏)

Source: Google Images

It started off peculiarly; first, his domestic cat refused to let him cuddle it. Lin Qiushi soon found that a sense of disharmony and incongruity began to pervade everything around him. Then, one odd day, he pushed open a door, and he discovered that the hallway he was familiar with turned into a boundless corridor. At both ends of this corridor were twelve, identical iron gates. Thus, the story began.

Source: MyDramaList (2024)

Action, Adventure, Augmented Reality? Sign Me Up!

I do not consume everything that has the 'entering a virtual game with real life consequences' plot-line but when I do, I more or less will enjoy them. The Spirealm is exactly that plot-line and after just finishing 19th Floor (another Chinese drama with similar concept), I was expecting more and hoping for lesser disappointment.

This drama did not disappoint at all. Lets first talk about the roles and the cast. Brilliant job on the casting, everybody pulled off their role so wonderfully, it felt like they were made for their roles. As for the characters these actors portrayed, wow. I haven't been obsessed with a fictional Chinese character in such a long time but Ruan Lan Zhu is so easy to be obsessed with. The writing was brilliant because I very quickly grew attached to the main people and when shit hit the fan, yeah, I felt everything as if I was a part of them.

Spoilers going on from here so if you haven't watched the show, go and watch it now, please?

As I was saying, I was so attached to some of the characters, I really, wow... Say Li Dong Yuan first. I actually already was spoiled with his death, I even knew which door was going to cause his death yet when it happened, I physically gasped. Then his farewell scene came about and goodness gracious, Xiao Zhuang's reaction was absolutely heart-wrenching. It really did not help that right before getting stabbed, the door Dong Yuan went through for Ling Ling was one of the most entertaining and comedic doors.

After that Zao Zao's death? She was already trying her best in the real world, she tried her best in the spirealm. She gave one of the best speeches ever. Yet that chandelier... I never hated chandeliers as much as I do now.

That's the thing about The Spirealm. This show has plenty of heartbreaking scenes but at the same time, it has a bunch of hilarious scenes too. You really can go from laughing one second and then depressed the next. Exactly like when Cheng Yi Xie sacrificed himself for his brother? One second I was laughing at Lan Zhu begging for Ling Ling's forgiveness and suddenly I was pissed but before I could even get real mad, I was hit with a broken heart. This may sound like a complain but the roller coaster of emotions made this drama ten times more interesting than other dramas.

Moving on to the game or doors or levels (however you want to call them). I really, really enjoy shows with this concept but many a times, the stakes just aren't high enough. Not The Spirealm though. I mean, look at Dong Yuan, Zao Zao and Yi Xie. They are part of the main leads and that world did not go easy on them. As much as I hate that they died, I really appreciated the high stakes in this drama. It made watching the show so much more worth it.

Anyhow, despite thoroughly enjoying this drama, I have so many questions. First things first, did I miss the significance of the necklace Lan Zhu gave Ling Ling during the first door?

Also (this is not that important by the way), when the time comes, the players have no choice but through the door. We've watched Ling Ling enter his doors plenty a time. Now tell me how did Wu Qi survive?

I may be someone who loves an ambiguous ending but if the theory that everything was not real is in fact real, I hate it. Yet, everything being a part of Ling Ling's dream or "hallucination" does make sense, as much as I hate it. Remember where Ling Ling walked into upon completing the first door? He entered the door in the middle of the road and exited it into his house? The discrepancies started right from the beginning. Which (if I did not miss anything) might explain the lack of significance behind the necklace. It will also explain why Ling Ling's time between each door is never long yet Wu Qi's not worried about his next door when he witnessed Dong Yuan's death? Or that Chen Fei's advancement is so much slower than Ling Ling. Furthermore, I'm supposed to believe the crew learnt about a mysterious man who helped Xiong Qi reunite with Xiao Ke in the spirealm and they did not investigate more?

I really do hate the everything was not real theory but I also cannot deny it's the most reasonable one. There was another theory I chanced upon on Douyin a while back and have since forgotten most of the information. However, I like that theory a lot even though it was quite farfetched. Long story short, the user theorised that after Lan Zhu walked into the portal and cleaned the program, Ling Ling woke up and regained consciousness after being hit, right? That's not reality but the 12th door and the door god for this last door is Lan Zhu. That was all I remember but the user did provide explanations and timestamps for their theory and upon reading it, it did make sense too. Therefore, if I ever come across that video again, I will link it here.

In the meantime, let's wallow in the conclusion of The Spirealm. It was a quick and short ride but an extremely memorable one.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)

More productions from China here: 19th Floor (19层) | Under the Skin (猎罪图鉴)

[dangermousie]

EXCUSE ME?!

The censors have died.

[ginsoakedgirl80]

[movielosophy]

Circle of Love | trying to escape?

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Her Fantastic Adventures (2024)

Gifs of Intro of cdrama "Her Fantastic Adventures"

【Multi | FULL】 EP01 Song Yiren traveled back to ancient!😜 | Her Fantastic Adventures 第二次“初见” | iQIYI

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql2pwhzWQLA

[ihavedonenothingright]

An Update to the Shendex

Hello all!

A little while ago, I made a post asking people to send me a list of main characters or love interests in danmei with the surname "Shen" in order to create a comprehensive list. That received a bit more traction than I thought it would, but not much in the way of new Shens. I am happy to announce, however, that I have googled the hell out of this and found an additional 20+ Official, Honorary, and Supporting Character Shens to add to the prospective Shendex. Here is the list (at present).

The Current Shendex

Seven Seas Danmei

Shen Shiliu/Gu Yun (Stars of Chaos)

Shen Qiao (Thousand Autumns)

Shen Qingqiu/Shen Yuan (The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System)

Shen Wei (Guardian)

Shen Zechuan (Ballad of Sword and Wine)

Novel Updates

Shen Ci (Vase Cannon Fodder Is Pampered by the Group Again)

Shen Gurong (Transmigrated Into The High-Risk Profession Life As A Master)

Shen Jin (After Being Moved to Tears by the Sworn Enemy’s Pheromones)

Shen Jin (Agreement Mark)

Shen Jue (A Hundred Ways To Kill A Heartthrob)

Shen Junci (Insights of the Medical Examiner)

Shen JunXi (Transmigrated into the Pastoral Scenery)

Shen Ke (Dandy Escapes From Marriage)

Shen Kong (The Professional Three Views Rectifier [Book Transmigration])

Shen Li (After the Accident, My Boyfriend Got Straight)

Shen Lin (Welcome to the Game Room of Supremacy Luck)

Shen Mofeng (No Money)

Shen Qi (Applaud for Happiness)

Shen Qianling (Everywhere in Jianghu is Wonderful/The Jianghu is Full of Local Tyrants)

Shen Qingcheng (Please Stop Pretending To Be a Cute Newcomer!)

Shen Ruo (Turned out I am a Scheming Little Cannon Fodder)

Shen Tanqi (The Male Lead Ran Away With My Ball)

Shen Tingzhou (I’m a Family Doctor in a Domineering Boss Novel)

Shen Ye (Accidentally Marked The Archenemy)

Shen Yu (Silent Concubine)

Shen Yunxing (Pregnant With The Pup Of A Wealthy Old Man)

Shen Zhixian (It's Not Easy Being a Master)

Honorary Shens

Fu Shen (Golden Terrace)

Lu Tian Shen (Dramatic Fake Young Master Holds the Group’s Favorite Script)

Luoshen (Let Me Go, I’m Not Pregnant)

Tang Shen (The Kingdom That Never Sleeps)

Xu Shen (Transmigrating to 1983)

Supporting Character Shens

Shen Jiu (The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System)

Shen Xingtang (Genius Mechanic)

Shen Yi (Stars of Chaos)

Shen Yuanting (Transmigrated as a Cannon Fodder Who Married into a Wealthy Family)

Now Onto Business...

Now that I have enough Shens to justify the existence of the Shendex, the question becomes how to format it. I'm not the best with this sort of thing, so anyone who wants to help is completely welcome (just DM me). As for how it should look... let's put it to a vote.

My aim is for every entry to include the characters used for each entry's name, a picture if possible, and a quick description of their story as well as a link to it. This could take a while, so I think I'll update it in bits and pieces. As always, you are welcome to send in a Shen if you please---just make sure to stick to danmei because otherwise this thing is going to get looooooong.

See you all next update!

[binging-asian-dramas]

GO Into Your Heart. 5

Story: 7

Acting: 7

Chemistry: 8

Comparable to: Skate Into Love (cdrama) ; My Unicorn Girl (cdrama); Falling Into Your Smile (kdrama)

You know how there’s simply some dramas you just can’t get into, well this one is one of them for me. I tried to hang in there for at least nine episodes, after that I sadly couldn’t manage to last any longer. It felt repetitive after awhile. It’s very stretch out and I guess they had to considering it’s 41 episodes long. That’s not to say this is a bad drama, I can definitely see it’s appeal for others. For me though the pacing seemed off, it was cliche’ to the point on borderline cringe sometimes. It’s basically a cutesy romance series very reminiscent of other storylines that’s more geared for the younger watchers. Now sometimes I really enjoy watching them, sometimes I don’t 🤷‍♀️. Honestly I think I have to be in the right mood to truly appreciate and enjoy them. With that said it’s a mix bag to choose.

[krudy7kk]

Analysis of Spirealm's ending

Never posted anything on my tumblr but I have the most unholy Spirealm brainrot rn so I'm posting my analysis of Spirealm's ending. The preface, a lot of people interpreted the ending of Spirealm as depressing and the series to be very tragic overall, but, I feel like the ending is mostly happy, and here's why;

Crossposted on MDL as a review

Heavy Spoilers

Spirealm ended with seemingly “it was all a dream” type of ending but my interpretation of the ending was that Lin Jiu Shi , through the act of completing the game, “saved” the game as his childhood friend intended. “Saving” the game in this scenario, reverts all the tragedy the game has caused without erasing anything that’s happened… kind of. The way the story goes about it is a little convoluded but through picking up the themes of this story, is not indecipherable. 

Proving that the game did all happen; there are three main points that infers this. The first, most tangible point is that, at the end of the series, LJS wakes up in the middle of the traffic. Assuming everything that’s happened after the traffic accident at the end of the series was dreamt up, it does not explain why the internet cafe boss at the beginning of the series– who’s seen the game before the traffic accident– has no recollection of LJS having played the game. The second point, if everything in the game had not happened, it would make no sense for LJS to accurately know the name of people he’s never met before. The third point, which is the most confusing one, explains one of the main themes and why the director probably chose to take this route. 

One of the main themes of Spirealm is the legitimacy of the “virtual world”, where the characters have debated multiple times if everything that happens “virtually” in the game is real or not. I forgot which episode it was but, LJS in the latter part of the series pondered “If the feelings in Spirealm are more sincere than real life, what really is the difference between virtual and reality?” ( Also not a direct translation, I’m too lazy to go find the exact episode and translate it) The point of this quote is, even if the memories don’t exist anymore, the feelings and relationships that were formed during the time in Spirealm were “real” and sincere. We can see this through the way Chen Qian Li fhaving familiarity towards LJS at the end of the series, despite acknowledging that he doesn’t actually know him. This is a little more debatable but you could also argue that the differences between the depiction of the people around LJS before and after he woke up also shows the effects of the game. One could interpret Tan Zao Zao being an influencer instead of an actress as something unconsciously influenced by the events of Spirealm. While being in Spirealm, TZZ felt like she constantly had to mask herself as an actress, you could argue that her being a influencer instead of an actress in the new world as a choice she made unconsciously due to the feelings of restriction she’s felt in Spirealm. Same with instances like Chen Yi Xie watching horror movies as a hobby and Li Dong Yuan being content working as a street vendor that makes little money.

In the last scene of the show, when LJS goes back into Spirealm, he sees TZZ where she tells him “it feels like I woke up from a long dream”, referring to life outside of the game. This further emphasizes how the game is actually “real” too, since when LJS is outside Spirealm, Spirealm is referred to as a “dream”. Whichever reality they are in is the real one, so by proxy, they are both real.

Another point to consider is the relationship between LJS and RNZ. If everything was a dream, then essentially, LJS dreamed up a lifelong companion (boyfriend) in elaborate detail seemingly out of nowhere… It makes more sense if RNZ did exist, but was simply erased from existence due to the game also having been erased. The whole last arc of the story also repeatedly states that he would be erased once the 11th door was complete.

The game bringing people back to life, erasing everyone’s memory, and altering reality also seems entirely reasonable when the whole basis of the game is based on its ability to kill people and warp time. Realistically speaking, there was no real way to depict RNZ and LJS saving the game besides erasing the game completely, therefore, the erasure of everyone’s memory and the game’s existence is the intended effect of “saving the game”.

I also believe that LJS reprogramming the game essentially is the equivalent of him fulfilling his friend's wish of  “restoring the game to its original state” as the game he ended up recreating was essentially the original intended game. 

I believe that the ending of Spirealm was the perfect happy ending, Everyone is alive again, they get to live their life to the fullest, and in the end, LJS finishes the game where he likely decides is his new “reality” with RNZ. They all live together happily as Chen Qian Li wished for in the 11th door. This is the 12th door, LJS’s completed door of happiness.

That’s mostly all I wanted to say, I’ll probably rewatch the series when Subs (that are comprehensible) come out so I can make exact quotations and give actual episode numbers (plus there are probably more things I have missed). But for now that’s all I’ve wanted to say. I’m open to debate the ending since I feel like the ending was definitely left a little ambiguous but I feel like a lot of these things were changed from the novel with the intent of creating this ending specifically. (ex. Slight novel spoiler: TZZ being a famous and acclaimed actress in the Novel while being mildly unpopular in the series) 

Add my discord if you want to talk about this show with me, it lives in my head rent free: krudy7kk

TLDR: Spirealm was not a dream, everything that happened got erased due to LJS completing the game. Everyone gets transported into an altered reality where they are living their happiest lives (indirectly bc of games events) and LJS reunites with everyone towards the very very end where they all live peacefully together.

[kokuto-lijiulin]

Shuang Mian Fan Hua

New show drops June 2 on WeTV for VIP. The rest of us have to wait till June 19 for the non-VIP.