#da lu wan

[reinaka42]

Wang Chuan Feng Hua Lu (忘川风华录) Masterpost

Wang Chuan Feng Hua Lu (忘川风华录) is a Vocal synth (Vocaloid and SynthV) music project. It consists of songs themed around different figures throughout Chinese history. The project is a collaboration between different artists and creatives, with music and videos featuring prominent traditional Chinese elements. The project's title translates to "The Records of Magnificence of the Wangchuan" - In Chinese mythology, "Wangchuan" (or River of Forgetting) is a river in the Underworld that can rid one of their past life's memories, similar to the river Lethe.

A mobile game adaptation has also been developed by NetEast. Unfortunately, I haven't played it so I can't give much insight on it. However, I assume that its premise is similar to that of the idea behind the project as a whole: all these historical figures meeting each other in the Underworld after they died. Maybe.

You can find all the songs on Bilibili. The official Weibo can be found here. The game's website, which includes all characters appearing so far in the game, can be found here, and its Weibo can be found here.

(If you prefer YouTube, I've also put together a handy playlist. Please know that most of these videos are reposts though, so please watch the original Bilibili MVs if you can!)

This blog is where I will be posting everything I feel like I need to say about the songs in this project. A lot of it is lifted from my Twitter account but will be in much more detail. Note that I probably won't touch collab songs, or songs that don't focus solely on the project's own characters.

Disclaimer: I do not speak Chinese, nor am I an expert on Chinese history. Therefore, I cannot reliably translate the lyrics to these songs, nor my words should be taken as gospel. I am merely a nerd gushing about my hyperfixation.

Playlist

多情岸 【Duo Qing An】 ➼ B link

洛阳怀 【Luo Yang Huai】 ➼ B link

易水诀 【Yi Shui Jue】 ➼ B link

山河令 【Shan He Ling】 ➼ B link

簪花人间 【Zhan Hua Ren Jian】 ➼ B link

栖凰 【Qi Huang】 ➼ B link

心上秋 【Xin Shang Qiu】 ➼ B link

祖龙吟 【Zu Long Yin】 ➼ B link

如见青山 【Ru Jian Qing Shan】 ➼ B link

竹林间 【Zhu Lin Jian】 ➼ B link

天下局 【Tian Xia Ju】 ➼ B link

青鸟衔风 【Qing Niao Xian Feng】 ➼ B link

木兰行 【Mu Lan Xing】 ➼ B link

好字唯之 【Hao Zi Wei Zhi】 ➼ B link

不可道 【Bu Ke Dao】 ➼ B link

水叙湖风 【Shui Xu Hu Feng】 (collab) ➼ B link

是非 【Shi Fei】 ➼ B link

风起甘露 【Feng Qi Gan Lu】 (collab) ➼ B link

谓剑 【Wei Jian】 ➼ B link

万象霜天 【Wan Xiang Shuang Tian】 (New Year event song) ➼ B link

千秋梦 【Qian Qiu Meng】 ➼ B link

易安难安 【Yi An Nan An】 ➼ B link

惊鹊 【Jing Que】 ➼ B link

高歌破阵 【Gao Ge Po Zhen】 (collab) ➼ B link

不赴 【Bu Fu】 ➼ B link

西行 【Xi Xing】 ➼ B link

大航海家 【Da Hang Hai Jia】 ➼ B link

牡丹乱 【Mu Dan Luan】 (collab) ➼ B link

倾国 【Qing Guo】 (collab) ➼ B link

相虎 【Xiang Hu】 ➼ B link

补天裂 【Bu Tian Lie】 ➼ B link

此期盈期 【Ci Qi Ying Qi】 (1st anniversary song) ➼ B link

破云来 【Po Yun Lai】 ➼ B link

归钓吟 【Gui Diao Yin】 ➼ B link

始见千秋 【Shi Jian Qian Qiu】 ➼ B link

临川浮梦 【Lin Chuan Fu Meng】 ➼ B link

将军行 【Jiang Jun Xing】 ➼ B link

妄语人间 【Wang Yu Ren Jian】 ➼ B link

数风流 【Shu Feng Liu】 (2nd anniversary song) ➼ B link

问剑春秋 【Wen Jian Chun Qiu】 ➼ B link

起战令 【Qi Zhan Ling】 ➼ B link

人间应又雪 【Ren Jian Ying You Xue】 ➼ B link

旷古回响 【Kuang Gu Hui Xiang】 ➼ B link

墨隐侠声 【Mo Yin Xia Sheng】 ➼ B link

桃源故人 【Tao Yuan Gu Ren】 (3rd anniversary song) ➼ B link

*Note: The anniversary songs are probably for the game's anniversaries, as the project itself is more than 5 years old.

Albums

Vol 1: 溯洄 【Su Hui】 Includes character songs from Duo Qing An to Zhu Lin Jian. Features human vocals.

Vol 2: 踏浪 【Ta Lang】 Includes character songs from Tian Xia Ju to Jing Que.

Vol 3: 数风流 【Shu Feng Liu】 Includes character songs from Bu Fu to Wang Yu Ren Jian, an unreleased song titled 燕双归 【Yan Shuang Gui】, and the two anniversary songs.

Visual character guide:

PRE-QIN | QIN | WESTERN CHU | HAN | THREE KINGDOMS | JIN | NORTH & SOUTHERN DYNASTIES | TANG | FIVE DYNASTIES & TEN KINGDOMS | SONG | YUAN | MING | QING | DREAM

[shookethdev]

a o e i i er ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong i ia iao ie iu ian in iang ing iong u ua uo uai ui uan un uang ueng ü üe üan ün a o e er ai ao ou an en ang eng yi ya yao ye you yan yin yang ying yong wu wa wo wai wei wan wen wang weng yu yue yuan yun b ba bo bai bei bao ban ben bang beng bi biao bie bian bin bing bu p pa po pai pei pao pou pan pen pang peng pi piao pie pian pin ping pu m ma mo me mai mei mao mou man men mang meng mi miao mie miu mian min ming mu f fa fo fei fou fan fen fang feng fu d da de dai dei dao dou dan den dang deng dong di diao die diu dian ding du duo dui duan dun t ta te tai tei tao tou tan tang teng tong ti tiao tie tian ting tu tuo tui tuan tun n na ne nai nei nao nou nan nen nang neng nong ni niao nie niu nian nin niang ning nu nuo nuan nü nüe l la le lai lei lao lou lan lang leng long li lia liao lie liu lian lin liang ling lu luo luan lun lü lüe g ga ge gai gei gao gou gan gen gang geng gong gu gua guo guai gui guan gun guang k ka ke kai kei kao kou kan ken kang keng kong ku kua kuo kuai kui kuan kun kuang h ha he hai hei hao hou han hen hang heng hong hu hua huo huai hui huan hun huang z za ze zi zai zei zao zou zan zen zang zeng zong zu zuo zui zuan zun c ca ce ci cai cao cou can cen cang ceng cong cu cuo cui cuan cun s sa se si sai sao sou san sen sang seng song su suo sui suan sun zh zha zhe zhi zhai zhei zhao zhou zhan zhen zhang zheng zhong zhu zhua zhuo zhuai zhui zhuan zhun zhuang ch cha che chi chai chao chou chan chen chang cheng chong chu chua chuo chuai chui chuan chun chuang sh sha she shi shai shei shao shou shan shen shang sheng shu shua shuo shuai shui shuan shun shuang r re ri rao rou ran ren rang reng rong ru rua ruo rui ruan run j ji jia jiao jie jiu jian jin jiang jing jiong ju jue juan jun q qi qia qiao qie qiu qian qin qiang qing qiong qu que quan qun x xi xia xiao xie xiu xian xin xiang xing xiong xu xue xuan xun

NAKU 🫵

[444namesplus]

abl aci acr age aid aki ala all als alt ami ana ann ant ape arc are arm ato aun aur aut avi awa axi bab bac bai bak bal ban bar bas bat bea bec bee bel ben bes bet bia bik bil bin bir bit ble blo blu boa bod boi bol bom bon boo bor bos bot bou bow bra bre bro buc bul bum bur bus but buz caf cag cak cal cam can cap car cas cav cel cen cha che chi cho cit cla cli clu coa coc cod coi cok col com con coo cop cor cos cou cov cra cre cro cub cul cur cut dal dam dar das dat daw day dea deb dec dee del dem den des dia dic die dir dis div doc doe dol dom don doo dos dov dow dra dre dro dru dua duc duf duk dul dum dus dut eac ear eas eat ech edg edi els env epi eur eve evi exa exi exp eye fac fad fai fak fal fam far fas fat fea fee fel fil fin fir fis fiv fla fle fli flo flu foa foi fol fon foo for fou fre fro fuc fue ful fun fur fus gai gal gam gan gat gav gaz gea gen gif gil gir giv gla gle glo glu goa goe gol gon goo gor gow gra gre gri gro gul gur hai hal han har hat hau hav haw hea hee hei hel her hid hig hik hil hin hir hol hom hoo hop hor hos hou hug hul hun hur hyp ico ide idl ido inc inf int iri iro isl ite jac jai jak jan jav jaz jea jee jil joe joh joi jok jos jum jun jur jus kee kem ken kep kha kic kil kin kir kis kit kne kni kno koh kyl lac lad lai lak lam lan las lat lav law laz lea lef len les lev lie lif lik lil lim lin lio lis liv loa loc lof log lon loo lor los lou lov luc lum lun lur lus mad mai mak mal mam man mar mas mat may maz mea mee meg mel mem men mer mes mic mik mil min mis moc mod mol mon moo mor mos mov muc mus myt nai nam nav nea nec nee nes new nex nic nin nod non noo nor nos not nov nud nut oat obe odd odo oka onc onl ont ope ora ott our ova ove pac pag pai pal pap par pas pat pea pec pee pes pic pie pik pil pin pip pit pla ple plo plu poe pol pon poo pop por pos pou pra pre pro pul pum pun pur pus qui rac rag rai ram ran rap rar ras rat rav rea ree rel ren res ric rid rin rio rip ris rit roa roc rod rol roo rop ros rub rud rui rul rus rut sac saf sag sai sak sal sam san sav sca sco sea see sel sem sen sep sex sha she shi sho shu sic sid sig sil sin sit siz ski sla sli slo sna sno soa sod sof soi sol som son soo sor sou spa spi spo spu sta ste sti sto suc sui sun sur swa swi tac tai tak tal tan tap tas tax tea tec tee tel ten ter tes tex tha the thi tho thu tic tid tie til tim tin tir tob tol tom ton too top tor tos tou tow tra tre tri tro tru tub tuc tun tur twi typ ugl uni upo urg use vai var vas vei ver ves vet vic vie vin vis voi vot wad wag wai wak wal wan war was wat wav way wea wee wel wen wer wes wha whe whi who wid wif wil win wip wir wis wit wok wol woo wor wra yan yar yea you yua zer zin zon zoo

[eyenaku]

Ji ji fu ji ji

a o e i i er ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong i ia iao ie iu ian in iang ing iong u ua uo uai ui uan un uang ueng ü üe üan ün a o e er ai ao ou an en ang eng yi ya yao ye you yan yin yang ying yong wu wa wo wai wei wan wen wang weng yu yue yuan yun b ba bo bai bei bao ban ben bang beng bi biao bie bian bin bing bu p pa po pai pei pao pou pan pen pang peng pi piao pie pian pin ping pu m ma mo me mai mei mao mou man men mang meng mi miao mie miu mian min ming mu f fa fo fei fou fan fen fang feng fu d da de dai dei dao dou dan den dang deng dong di diao die diu dian ding du duo dui duan dun t ta te tai tei tao tou tan tang teng tong ti tiao tie tian ting tu tuo tui tuan tun n na ne nai nei nao nou nan nen nang neng nong ni niao nie niu nian nin niang ning nu nuo nuan nü nüe l la le lai lei lao lou lan lang leng long li lia liao lie liu lian lin liang ling lu luo luan lun lü lüe g ga ge gai gei gao gou gan gen gang geng gong gu gua guo guai gui guan gun guang k ka ke kai kei kao kou kan ken kang keng kong ku kua kuo kuai kui kuan kun kuang h ha he hai hei hao hou han hen hang heng hong hu hua huo huai hui huan hun huang z za ze zi zai zei zao zou zan zen zang zeng zong zu zuo zui zuan zun c ca ce ci cai cao cou can cen cang ceng cong cu cuo cui cuan cun s sa se si sai sao sou san sen sang seng song su suo sui suan sun zh zha zhe zhi zhai zhei zhao zhou zhan zhen zhang zheng zhong zhu zhua zhuo zhuai zhui zhuan zhun zhuang ch cha che chi chai chao chou chan chen chang cheng chong chu chua chuo chuai chui chuan chun chuang sh sha she shi shai shei shao shou shan shen shang sheng shu shua shuo shuai shui shuan shun shuang r re ri rao rou ran ren rang reng rong ru rua ruo rui ruan run j ji jia jiao jie jiu jian jin jiang jing jiong ju jue juan jun q qi qia qiao qie qiu qian qin qiang qing qiong qu que quan qun x xi xia xiao xie xiu xian xin xiang xing xiong xu xue xuan xun

[yoona87]

Wolfie/Lord Bo x Xing'er - I finally pay you back

[wedreamedlove]

From now to anniversary, there is a recollection section. You can only choose 3/5 significant events to describe your impressions of each chapter. I’m just recording mine here.

【Main Story Recollection】

CH1: In order to achieve my dreams, I returned to the country and participated in a Warson Prize Designer Contest. In this moment, the gears of fate closed and the rotation of light and night pulled up the curtains—

Osborn and I met on the roof for the first time

I laid out my beliefs to Sariel

Evan saved me when I was being shadowed

CH2: After I received an offer, I officially joined Warson and became a junior designer. A new journey started here.

I ran into Osborn when I was collecting materials in the museum

Evan and I were trapped in an elevator

I was responsible for designing Lin Yao’s dress

CH3: Under the manager’s demands, I began to alter Lin Yao’s dress. But my life seemed to gradually be drawn into an inscrutable conspiracy.

An An asked me to interview Osborn for her

Osborn and I investigated the manager’s kidnapping

I discovered I had the talent “empathy”

CH4: Lin Yao left the entertainment circle and decided to pursue her own dreams. I also had to continue working hard and moving forward on the path of a designer.

Osborn gave me a self-defense brooch

Sariel became my mentor

I asked Old Zhong to teach me shoe designs

CH5: Just when I was carefully preparing for the company fashion show, the Lu Family’s darkness gradually surfaced underneath their clean appearance.

Evan was exiled to England by his grandfather

Evan brought me to Hygge for a meal

Sariel altered the dress for me

CH6: The dark clouds of open strife and veiled struggles enveloped Guang Qi City’s sky and, when the line between dawn and dusk grew increasily chaotic, how was I to choose?

I was “kidnapped” by Osborn into a car

Lu Ting employed a bounty hunter to kidnap me

Charlie intercepted me with bodyguards

CH7: I woke up on Charlie’s airplane. He demanded me to fulfill the marriage contract, but I already made the decision to pursue the freedom and respect I desired.

Charlie gave the ruffians at the bar a lesson

I ran into Charlie at the hospital

There were frequent fires in Guang Qi City

CH8: The designer centre began to arrange independent external jobs for new designers and the task I received brought a surprising reunion.

Jesse and I reunited behind the scenes of the program

Zhao Ze pretended to be Wen Wan and kidnapped me

I was saved by Osborn who rushed over

CH9: When I was feeling deeply anxious preparing for the spring and summer fashion show, a fire suddenly occurred beneath my apartment.

Osborn charged into the fire and rescued me

I saw Evan’s past in a phantasmagoria

People who self-combusted had been treated at the People’s Hospital

CH10: My talent seemed to become stronger and stronger. Maybe I could use my talent to do something...

Charlie and I wanted to treat Yang Yang’s grandmother

The hospital autopsy room suddenly caught fire

Sariel promised to gift me a ball of fur

CH11: The fires in Guang Qi City continued to intensify and the shadows concealed in the darkness already bared their claws and teeth at us.

Zha Zhaopeng and Lu Ting began to collaborate

Sun Taizhong killed Tian Zhen

Charlie gave me a black feather bracelet

CH12: Jesse made a deal with Zhou Weicheng and saved Yang Yang. Everything seemed to unfold in a positive direction, but an unexpected thing happened—

Osborn accepted my investigation commission

The elder and Blood Clan conspired to frame Sariel

Sariel collapsed at the fashion show

CH13: In the ambulance, I saw my past meetings with Sariel. Those were all my memories that had been erased. This was when I realized that our fates were out of our control long ago.

Osborn told me about his past

Sariel became a little fox after he woke up

Osborn saw the other half of his soul

CH14: Yu Da Academy’s crimes were deliberately buried in a pile of old papers that no one cared about. But intuition told me that this hid the tip of the iceberg of truth—

I met Evan when I was investigating the academy

Charlie stabbed Sun Taizhong’s right hand

Jesse used his magic arts to save me

Starting from that day, the winds of fate wrapped around me and I stepped on an unexpected journey. When gales and dark clouds enveloped the city, I held a torch and walked to the other shore of truth together with you. The moment day and night alternated, you held my hand and together we ran towards the future that belonged to the two of us.

[nutty1005]

Exclusive Visit of 72 Hours! Full Record of “A Dream Like A Dream” Behind the Scenes

Original Article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/yI4arm9P9nJwE3RMSUW-5Q Original Author: 杨晋亚 Translator’s note: The original author is part of Yuli Studio, this article is published in Yuli Studio’s Weixin Official Account on 23 Apr 2021 as a part of “Behind the Screens” Volume 640.

On 22 Apr, “A Dream Like A Dream” Wuhan Charity show was still in the midst, countless related topics were already on Weibo Hot Search.

This is probably the hottest play on the internet till date.

A big intellectual property that lasted for 21 years, and now with the addition of the hottest celebrity, debuted for the first time as a Charity Show in honor of the heroes of the pandemic last year, “A Dream Like A Dream” contained stories on stage and backstage.

Before the official start of the play, Yuli Studio walked into the backstage of “A Dream Like A Dream”, and entered the dream in advance.

“A Dream Like A Dream”

Celebrity Cast

On 19 Apr noon, 15 minutes before the first full dress rehearsal for “A Dream Like A Dream”, there were not much audiences, they were all in the lotus pond seats.

Overall producer Wang Keran was suddenly notified that there was someone recording secretly, he immediately called the executive producer Da Shan to check, who had already expressed multiple times that audiences were not the take pictures. Wang Keran face turned gloomy, loudly accused Da Shan of incompetency, stood up, “Trusted friends who are currently seated, I hope that everyone would protect the actors, stop filming.”

Afterwards Wang Keran told us, his anger then was actually “for show”, that situation needed him to make a stand, scold Da Shan so as to alert everyone else, “I needed to kill two birds with one stone, control the scene, protect the actors.”

Xu Qing, Xiao Zhan, Zhang Liang, Huang Lu… the addition of many celebrity actors, caused the interest in “A Dream Like A Dream” to increase.

Protecting his actors, was something that Wang Keran always did ever since he built this group.

Yanghua Theatre and Baoli Theatrical Center collaborated and did some massive and intricate work, in order to ensure that protection project was as per usual, “The theaters put in a lot, the meager profits that this project is giving them, can’t completely cover their massive investment.”

Wang Keran also helped to block countless signature and photograph requests for Xiao Zhan, his good friend had came from afar to Wuhan just for a photograph with Xiao Zhan, but Wang Keran did not agree, “I promised a clean creative environment for my actors.”

The “A Dream Like A Dream” group tried their best to give all the actors an equal, harmonious creative environment, and in here, there is no celebrity actor Xiao Zhan, only Patient No. 5 B.

In the backstage of the Wuhan Qintai Theatre, the plaque on the door of Xiao Zhan’s resting room was not labelled “Xiao Zhan”, but “No. 5”.

Director Chen Limei and Zhang Rui said that the group did not treat Xiao Zhan specially as a celebrity; Actress Huang Lu, who portrayed the role Jiang Hong, had the most scenes with Xiao Zhan, she said that everyone was just actors.

Privately, Xiao Zhan would treat Huang Lu fruits, as well as recommend good motives to her, Huang Lu said, working with Xiao Zhan was not much different from working with other partners, the only difference was that there were suddenly a lot of Xiao Zhan fans leaving messages on her Weibo, most of them were messages of encouragement and support.

“A Dream Like A Dream” , Xiao Zhan, Huang Lu

During the very initial rehearsals, the director closed Huang Lu and Xiao Zhan into a small practice room, in order to cultivate tacit understanding.

“When we were rehearsing the French portion of the play, I knew he was from Chongqing, I would suddenly use French translated to Wuhan dialect to talk to him, what d’ya wanna eat what d’ya wanna eat, and then he would suddenly reply me in Chongqing dialect.”

Huang Lu remembered, when Xiao Zhan entered the group, he had already memorized all of his lines, the tacit understanding between them were built up within 3 or 4 days, and on the details of the performance, they would also inspire each other.

For example, the biggest reaction from the audience in the Wuhan show was the scene in the Parisian apartment, actually contained Xiao Zhan’s designs, when they spoke the lines “Monday Wednesday Friday Tuesday Thursday Saturday and Sunday”, Xiao Zhan suggested that the two of them would lean their heads on each other, so as to give a better effect.

When the two of them were conversing in comedic Japanese scene, there were traces of the old version of the play, but there were new creativity as well, “Pikachu” was from the old version, whereas “sleeping” was an idea that Xiao Zhan came up with.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xiao Zhan, Huang Lu

The duration for “A Dream Like A Dream” was long, the lines voluminous, there was once during rehearsal, one of the actors had a sudden breakage and his lines became more and more scattered, voice lower and lower, that day Director Chen Limei gave him a stern talking to, but in the director’s memory, this problem never occurred to Xiao Zhan.

“Xiao Zhan was very serious, we could all feel that, every night after he went back, he definitely thought through his scenes once more, so that he would not make this kind of mistake.”

Xiao Zhan expressed that his familiarity with the lines had gone to the state that he could say it “whenever”, he was more focused on the “current feeling and the chemistry with his partners.”

Xiao Zhan was very strict with his own expectations, on the 19th after the first full dress rehearsal, there were many audiences who gave his performance good reviews, but he said, “I’m not quite satisfied with today, it wasn’t as good as yesterday.” Although the audiences did not spot any problems with the lines from the scene ”Monday Wednesday Friday Tuesday Thursday Saturday and Sunday”, but after the performance ended, Xiao Zhan himself felt that there were some slight flaws.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xiao Zhan

The lotus pond seats in “A Dream Like A Dream” to Xiao Zhan was a challenge, it made it easy for him to lose concentration, and once you had lost it, it would be easy for the scene to scatter, he described, “the feeling in concerts is that you need to interact simultaneously, plays to me meant that I need to make myself lonely”, so he needed to make sure he could ignore the audiences.

Wang Keran invited theater critics to view the play for the 19th’s full dress rehearsal, after the upper half ended, they were exclaiming in praise of Xiao Zhan’s acting, Wang Keran also proudly recommended this newly found actor to people around him: “He had a different layer of creativity process, the first day we’ve finished the script, he surprised me onstage the second day, it was green but came with a lot of accurate instincts. He constructed the character to be intricate and abundant, but yet layered, not just emotional scenes, everyone could burst into emotions, but he was intricate, lively and entertaining, he conveyed the soul of the character, his sense of pace was this good.”

“A Dream Like A Dream” Performance Stage

The story of “A Dream Like A Dream” and Xiao Zhan had to begin with the Cao Yu 110 Anniversary Special Event last year.

In 2019, Wang Keran heard of Xiao Zhan’s name, but he quickly forgot about it. “Then I was in Wuxi, there was a large excited crowd of people, said that the hottest actor, Xiao Zhan, was in there.”

Until 2020, a psychiatrist friend told Wang Keran, to take note of this actor Xiao Zhan.

“Before then I was an older person, I’ve always picked actors above 35, but after the psychiatrist finished talking, I started subconsciously noticing this person, and then I found out that this person was really interesting.

How interesting? There were a lot of people attacking him, I thought I’d understand what these attacks were, I found out that these people were a contradiction of the most realistic things and most hypocritical things, this era’s idols were different from 5 years ago, they are now placed on a pedestal as a symbol, as something to be fought over or stepped upon. Via Xiao Zhan I noticed the new pulse in the development of society, understood this movement, art should be something that is most compatible with the times, my personal view on plays is just like this, plays should be the current drama action of this moment, and the emotional relationship of the people here and now.”

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xiao Zhan

The commemoration event for Cao Yu, Wang Keran needed to find a young guest who could have a conversation with Wan Fang, a colleague suggested Xiao Zhan, Wang Keran suddenly realized, this was perfect, “The complexity on Xiao Zhan would fully represent the complexity of plays.”

The first time he met Xiao Zhan, Wang Keran captured the mysterious sense of fate behind his back, but yet he also gave a sense of youthful obtrusiveness, gentle and warm. Wang Keran gave Xiao Zhan a list of books and asked him to go back and read, after which Xiao Zhan finished the books in a few days, even wrote some 10 over questions to Wan Fang, the questions were simple but deep, and moved Wang Keran.

On the Cao Yu Commemoration Event, Wang Keran studied Xiao Zhan, and found that his sense of stage was fantastic, and immediately invited him to join “A Dream Like A Dream”.

To Wang Keran, the similarity between Xiao Zhan and Patient No. 5 was that they were both trapped in the uncertainties of fate.

Xiao Zhan’s portrayal of Patient No. 5 gave Wang Keran a pleasant surprise, as to whether he would continue as Patient No. 5 after this year’s shows, they had not spoken about it, but Wang Keran felt that “A Dream Like A Dream” already gave Xiao Zhan some rewards, “I feel that via this play, he can prove that he is a good actor, I feel that ‘A Dream Like A Dream’ gave him a power.”

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xiao Zhan

Entering the Dream Again

Not only Xiao Zhan was a new addition, the Yanghua version of “A Dream Like A Dream” had almost a brand new cast.

Zhang Liang and Yanghua had collaborated for 2 plays, they were old friends; Huang Lu was recommended by Xu Qing, she was also the only actress that was confirmed without meeting Wang Keran.

Director Zhang Rui was in-charged of arranging actors, but because of the pandemic, the Taiwanese actress who was supposed to play the role of the wife could not arrive, another actress had to take on this role. “A Dream Like A Dream” had a total of 31 actors and actresses, many times one would take on multiple roles, any adjustment of actors would have big ramifications.

Zhang Rui created many versions of the casting chart, “This casting chart was an intricate process, move an actor, we might need to reallocate every scene, whether they could make the scene in time, whether they were suitable, reasonable, I’m so frustrated my hair’s dropping.”

Starting from 2013 when “A Dream Like A Dream” premiered in Mainland China, Director Chen Limei and Zhang Rui grew with this play for 9 years. Chen Lipai previously also handled the role of Stage Executive, Zhang Rui was with the crew everyday, there were the two who were most familiar with “A Dream Like A Dream”.

In their memory, the first rehearsal for 2013 lasted 3+ months, after which if there were not much changes with the actors, repeat rehearsals would last 1 week. Some years they had to change an actor, but yet they did not give sufficient rehearsal time and almost drove the actor insane, “Because the crowd actor had to act as multiple roles, the management of every role was complex, he needed to remember his position, his clothes, and he had to depend on himself, there would be no one backstage to inform him, he had to take care of himself.”

“A Dream Like A Dream”

This year, more than half of the cast was changed, theoretically they needed one and a half months, but to gather 31 actors to rehearse at the same time was not easy, the group merely squeezed out 17 days for practice time.

Practice time started officially from 9 Mar, the group settled in Hebei Tangshan, the time was tight, the mission was heavy.

Lai Shengchuan, who was faraway in Taiwan, gave instructions via video conferencing to the actors, to help answer their questions. Wang Keran, Chen Limei and Zhang Rui handled the task of direction.

Wang Keran mainly handled the mini classes to the new actors to the group, every actor had different classes to attend.

Huang Lu was a movie actress, her method for lines was to say to herself, but “A Dream Like A Dream” was to say them to 1200 audiences, Wang Keran gave her a training method, “He made me rehearse only with Xiao Zhan, each of us would stand at the furthest corner, but we must be able to hear each other’s lines, that is we needed to get used to speaking loudly, I felt that this method was actually quite crucial.”

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xiao Zhan and Huang Lu during practice

When he first entered the group, Zhang Liang was tortured by the role of the Baron for 3 days, he totally could not find the sensation, Wang Keran gave him 3 days of progressive classes. The first class was to control the micro expressions and movements, “For example, the first day I reached Tianxian Court, he requested that when I did gestures, my hands could not be higher than my chest, when we normally spoke my palm would face up, but he said that the Baron could not have a moment where his palm was facing up, his palm would forever be facing down.”

The second class was culture class, discussing European culture, politics and artistic background, so as to understand the motives behind Baron’s actions. “Baron would not let Xianglan draw abstract art, made her start from still life, it actually had political connotations. Classical realism represented calm and control, whereas abstraction and symbolism, etc, developed from the lowest of the masses, represented the destruction to order, Baron hoped from the bottom of his heart that Xianglan would live with him, if you liked something he didn’t like, that represented betrayal to Baron, that’s where the cracks in their relationship started.”

Chen Limei and Zhang Rui understood every detail of “A Dream Like A Dream”, when the actors gave any small questions, they would immediately solve them.

For example, how to swiftly get into positions, what to wear after changing out, both directors could immediately give the correct answer, “We found that this time round that one of the new actors was slow in moving, he would say he could not make it, I would say you definitely could make it, you tell me why you couldn’t make it, I would know where you did wrong. He said it was very dark and he couldn’t find his bag, and he needed to take the gun from 2nd floor to the 1st floor, I said there’s another prop gun downstairs, you don’t have to carry it down, he said he didn’t know. We actually spoke to him after observing him for a few days, because we knew that the 2nd floor was very dark, we definitely had to ensure the safety of our actors first.”

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xu Qing, Xiao Zhan, Zhang Liang, Huang Lu, Lan Nan, etc.

The time left for the directors was not much, rehearsal, costume, positions, etc, all had to be done simultaneously, the volume of “A Dream Like A Dream” was supposed to be large, there were pressures on progress, the experience for the whole group was basically demonic scheduling.

For example, for 22 Apr Charity Show, the schedule for the actors that day was like this —

10:30 to 11:30 Actors and actresses would set of from their hotels to the theater for make up and costume; 12:30 Lunch; 12:30 Microphone testing; 13:10 Warm up; 13:30 Audience entry; 14:00 Start of Charity Show.

After nearly 8 hours of performance, when the actors were having their media session it was already 30 minutes past midnight.

Everyday they worked for around 12 hours, that would be the normal hours for the group for the month, during practice they did not wear their make up and costume, but they still had to set out by 12:00, practice starts 13:00, 17:00 was dinner, 18:00 was practice again, and they end at 22:00.

“This time round we really went for it, we didn’t work this hard previously, because we changed very few people then, we could probably get to the practice at 2pm,” Chen Limei said.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, actors practicing

The tight rehearsal schedule was a challenge physically to the actors, as they practiced day and night everyday, even Huang Lu felt lost once.

“Because we would be acting the same thing everyday, everyday when you went in, it was day, but when you left, it was night, that period of time I really craved a normal life. There was once we were video conferencing with Teacher Lai, I just said that after this play, I suddenly feel that plays, movies weren’t that important, what’s important was our real life, I especially wanted to experience communicating with people, the feeling of being with family, friends and loved ones.

When you filmed dramas, you would still be outside, after you knock off you could be in touch with a more realistic life. When I was in the same play group as Zhang Ruoyun, we practiced in Beijing, everyday we practiced for around 3 hours, we could still meet friends in the afternoon and night, but this play was concentrated practice, when we left it would already be midnight.”

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xu Qing and Huang Lu during practice

Wang Keran could foresee, that actors would experience this type of lethargy, so the arrangement from the very beginning was that after the 17 days of practice, the group would briefly rest for a period of time, until a week before the Wuhan Show, where he would recall them.

This method of working was not easily seen in plays, but to actors, this was a good time to rest and digest.

“The first day we returned, Keran said that was the best time I’ve acted with Xiao Zhan,” Huang Lu said. “Perhaps in-between I had time to digest, get in touch with real life, and had a new understanding.”

In comparison with “A Dream Like A Dream” from 8 years ago, besides the changes in actors, this year’s Yanghua version also shortened the script by around 15 minutes or so, without affecting the foundation of the script.

The adjustment was mainly on the pace of the actors. For example, at the end of the upper half, the housekeeper of the castle would talk about the past of Baron and Gu Xianglan, it used to use a slow and narrative tone, Wang Keran felt that it was not right, “This type of expression seemed to cause Grandpa, who just arrived at Shanghai, to seem unfamiliar with his surroundings, but in fact, Grandpa was very familiar with the castle, he could have returned frequently, like the feeling of a tour guide,” so he adjusted the tone and pace, and made the play richer and more layered.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xu Qing, Zhang Liang, Lan Nan

Every improvement in detail, came from written notes from everyday.

When rehearsing, both directors would sit in the middle of the lotus pond, with a small table, and a faint table lamp, the actors would be acting while the directors discover problems and mark it in the script, or write furiously on white paper, after the end of a day’s rehearsal, the paper would be littered with over 200 to 300 notes.

After the rehearsal ends, actors would sit together in the lotus pond and listen to the directors reading the notes one by one, every actor would record down their respective portions.

Xiao Zhan’s phone memo was full of everyday’s notes, for example there were around 10 notes for 19 Apr, Xiao Zhan’s note taking method was simple and concise, note down the scene, or a point, with the remarks of watch out for emotion or pace.

In Zhang Liang’s memory, with regards to his notes, there were up to 20 notes a day, but later on as the problems lessened, the notes also reduced.

Director Chen Limei said, some actors would be confused, why were there always 200 to 300 new notes everyday during the note session, did that mean that they had not improved, but actually everyone was getting better on the basis that they were already getting better.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, the directors at the rehearsal

There was a process in practicing, at the start you might not have memorized all the lines, that note would be about lines, when the lines passed, it could have been about wrong position or movement, at the last part when the acting was getting better, I might notice intricate details such as costume, hairstyle, which you needed to notice carefully. Every stage had its own set of problems discovered, only when you walked from Step 1 to Step 2 that I can see the problems of the current step, otherwise my focus would not be that.”

For example, on the last day before the official show, the note for Xiao Zhan became “the singing before the curtain call, stand slightly westwards” this type of small details.

After experiencing the full dress rehearsal of 18, 19 and 20 Apr, the last day of rehearsal became “note rehearsal”, that is to repeatedly rehearse based on the problems in the notes so as to affirm the scenes that could easily cause issues, including the group scene at Tianxian Court, the scenes between Baron and Young Xianglan, etc. For Xiao Zhan and Huang Lu, the scene they rehearsed was the propless scene around the staircase, which needed to take note of the eye contact as they two of them went up and down the stairs, entering by pushing the door.

After the premiere on 22nd ended, the notes continued, so as to have new improvements for the consecutive shows.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xu Qing, Zhang Liang, etc.

Idealism

After the full dress rehearsal ended on 19 Apr, all of the actors gathered backstage, surrounding the directors, quietly standing, it seemed like a special ceremony.

For the new actors who joined this year, this was their first time witnessing this ceremony, but to the actors who had been with “A Dream Like A Dream” before, this had already became a habit.

Director Chen Limei introduced that this ending ceremony was called “Echo”, it was a habit from Lai Shengchuan — a habit that existed since the first premiere in 2013, “When we finish a show, and gain the applause from our audiences, as well as new empathy for our roles, we must return this feelings out, give them to more people, you can imagine that there was a large crowd of people, we would send out these blessings and share them.”

After “A Dream Like A Dream” came to Mainland China, it had always been well acclaimed, it used to show in Beijing and another specific city. Starting the 9 Cities Tour, especially adding the Wuhan Charity Show, was also a form of “Echo”, to share this play with even more audiences.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Wuhan Charity Show inside view

2 years ago, in Chongqing Theatre, Wang Keran came up with the idea to get more people to understand theater, experience theater. He started conceptualizing the 9th Anniversary 9 Cities Tour for “A Dream Like A Dream”.

When they heard of this plan, Chen Limei and Zhang Rui thought it was an impossible wish.

“Because ‘A Dream Like A Dream’ was such a large play, we would actually lose money by doing a tour. Such a big group, there’s about 130 people in the group, so many people’s living expenditures, including putting up the set for each location, it takes a week to put it up, only for a few shows.

Until the start of last year, Keran told us that we would still do it, I said we really had to do it? How could we do this in the pandemic? Last year he said that we could definitely do it the next year. This might had to do with his view of life, he would do what he set out to do, just like then when he did his first play, he sold 4 houses.”

In comparison with previous “A Dream Like A Dream”, the investment of this tour was obviously bigger. More touring cities meant that there was more costs with transfer of set, when they rehearsed in Tangshan it was not as good as Beijing, all the actors had to be in Tangshan with their living expenditures.

On the other hand, the seats in the theaters were fixed, there’s a ceiling to the ticket prices, in the face that it was not profitable, Wang Keran included a not-for-sale charity show, “The cost is too high, after completing the charity show, we basically have no profits for this stop,” Wang Keran said.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xu Qing and Xiao Zhan during rehearsal

Early last year during the pandemic period, Wang Keran already thought of doing a charity show in Wuhan.

Then, he spoke on the phone with the person in-charge of the theater, and asked about the situation in Wuhan, “He had always stuck to Wuhan, and told me that if you really cared about us, then you should bring your best show over, I asked which one did you mean? He said ‘A Dream Like A Dream’. I just felt that if ‘A Dream Like A Dream’ did not come, it would not fully express our special respect for Wuhan, and we would do a charity show, free.”

The actors had the same idealism.

Wang Keran said, theater would definitely be tough, the rehearsal time was long, and while they would perform for 3 days in every stop, they had to allocate 1 week for practice, a popular artist’s time would be calculated in days, but they were willing to allocate their schedule for the play.

Sun Zhongyi, who played roles such as the old housekeeper and professor, was one of the core actors for Yanghua Theatre, he was given the rare opportunity for a lead role in a movie, it was very important to him, but the schedule collided with one of the shows for “A Dream Like A Dream”, and for the play, he gave up this rare opportunity.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, actors rehearsing.

Plays do not earn as much as dramas and movies, no matter how popular the celebrity is, the profits from plays will never match up with the value of the drama, an actor’s rehearsal fee for “A Dream Like A Dream” is 100RMB a day, but all of the actors cooperated seriously.

Huang Lu said, sometimes we would joke that we “missed money making opportunities”, but everyone felt that this was especially fine, it was rare that we had a whole year to focus on doing one thing, the period where we practiced in Tangshan was very much like return to school.

“Everyone basically didn’t come here for money,” Huang Lu said, she viewed “A Dream Like A Dream” as a rare opportunity, it was a training for acting, also like a chance for self improvement.

After the “A Dream Like A Dream” Wuhan Charity Show ended, Huang Lu came to the front lobby for a photo.

Every actor gave their best performance.

Newly added actress for Young Gu Xianglan, Ge Xinyi, worked hard to match her senior; seasoned actress Feng Xianzhen controlled her character with grace and power, all 3 Gu Xianglan had an overall soul; Zhang Liang performed a Baron who was different from Jin Shijie’s version, but it was still accurate and layered; Fu Xing as the representative of the original group, became the foundation, their steady and down-to-earth performance assisted every new actor in building up their steady and accurate system of performance.

After performing for 9 years, Xu Qing had already embodied the blood and soul of Gu Xianglan, she also followed the progress of the group, and participated in all of the practices. Wang Keran expressed his thanks to Xu Qing once in Tangshan, “I say I really thank you for appearing in the practice, because your every practice would always accurately complete every detail, even if it was the most basic practice, you always put your heart to it, never held back, completely constructing the character.”

Xu Qing constantly improved her performance, frequently discussing how to handle every word with Wang Keran, for example after Baron had his car accident, Gu Xianglan would run up hurriedly to the police to say “I saw your incompetence” that kind of transition scenes, she would repeatedly try different expressions, after 9 years of “A Dream Like A Dream”, she is still pondering over it repeatedly, searching for the best method to handle every detail.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xu Qing and Zhang Liang during rehearsal.

During the rehearsal in Wuhan, Yuli Studio also witnessed how Xu Qing gave all of her emotions in every rehearsal, especially the important scene where Gu Xianglan took off her Cheongsam and walked through the lotus pond in sleeping garments, everytime Xu Qing finished that performance, her eyes would be filled with tears.

Xu Qing told Wang Keran one sentence later, and hoped that he would share that with the new actors, “Just tell them this point, 1 minute onstage, 9 years of effort offstage.”

Theater people always had this persistence in idealism and passion for the stage, with so much interest in “A Dream Like A Dream” this time round, Wang Keran hoped that with this play, more audiences would understand plays and love plays.

He especially prepared a live broadcast after the charity show ended, so that people beyond that 1200 audiences could see “A Dream Like A Dream”, hear the words from the actors’ hearts, he hoped that the other actors besides Xu Qing and Xiao Zhan would also be noticed.

“I know that the rules of news broadcast, if it wasn’t live broadcast, you would definitely cut away the people who weren’t important, right, but I hoped that everybody could see everyone’s effort. Xu Qing, Xiao Zhan, they were also very happy to have this method, I think that this is also a faith in collaboration equality built upon plays for them.”

“A Dream Like A Dream” would continue to tour 9 cities, Wang Keran hoped that through this play, it would encourage more youths to enter theaters, “I had this thought a long time ago, I just needed to find the right opportunity. For all of our lives we had hoped that plays would have more influence, could have more people entering theaters, if this worked out, then actors and actresses such as Xu Qing, Xiao Zhan, Zhang Liang etc, would have great contribution.”

[sasamelons]

OH this is such a fun idea, thanks @highlynerdy​ for tagging me! So, ten characters I fell in love with in 2021 (in chronological order). As you can see, I was (almost) completely swallowed by cdramas this year.

1. Shen Wei (Guardian drama) - I’m gonna channel Zhao Yunlan here and say I fell for Shen Wei FAST and HARD. Just like, MY BABY 🥺🥺🥺

2. Zhao Yunlan (Guardian drama & novel) - When he first crashed in on his bike, I was like, sure, seems like a cool guy. And then the longer he stuck around (and especially after I started writing fic), the further I fell. More than once, I’ve laid awake in bed not being able to sleep bc I was thinking about this adorable disaster of a human being and (in the drama) his stupid traumatized ass 😭😭😭

3. Da Qing (Guardian drama & novel) - He’s a snarky cat who solves mysteries and loves to eat, what’s not to love?

4. Wen Kexing (Word of Honor) - Did someone say murder baby? WKX introduced me to the urge of wanting to wrap someone in a bear hug while watching him cut people down

5. Luo Fei (Detective L) - Yes he’s quirky and smart and secretly soft-hearted, but most importantly he is the HOTTEST version of Bai Yu I’ve seen, like damn

6. Kim Jun-wan (Hospital Playlist) - Ok so this is kinda a cheat because I saw the first season of Hospital Playlist in 2020, but I remember liking Ik-jun a lot after that. Idk if they turned it up this season but honestly Jun-wan’s cranky antisocialness plus secretly hating to be alone is such a 2021 mood

7. Ye Xiaolang (The Bond) - I KNOW I KNOW I CAN HEAR Y’ALL SCREAMING ALREADY. Yes she is TERRIBLE to Yicheng and very selfish but if I’m being honest, despite loving and empathizing with the siblings through the series, Ye Xiaolang is the character that stayed with me. This entire series is amazing for making its characters feel real, even when they’re doing terrible things. Maybe it’s her self-contradictory drives for both independence as well as for a home that connected with me. Maybe it’s bc her emigrating from China in the 90s, looking for a better life Out There, reminded me of my parents. But yes, I still think about Ye Xiaolang months after finishing the show

8. Li Dabao (Medical Examiner Dr. Qin) - It seems like the season of Qin Ming that most people have seen is the one with Liu Haikuan bc, you know, LHK. But honestly I recommend the first season from 2016. The quality of the cases vary, but Qin Ming, Lin Tao and Li Dabao (who is Qin Ming’s assistant) in this is true OT3 material. Li Dabao especially is smart, badass, hilarious, and has impeccable fashion sense. I don’t know if I’m in love with her or if I want to be her, but 😍😍😍

9. Lu Bixing (Cancipin) - I liked him as the lovestruck idealistic baby, but by the time Book 5 hit I was GONE. I was in TEARS. OH BB BIXING 😭😭😭

10. Zhanlu (Cancipin) - Look, he made me love Popcorn the Python and I have a serious phobia of snakes, that’s how much I love him

So uh...I wrote even more than you Gracie oops hahahaha. Tagging @ishipallthings @elenothar @buriedbybooks @flamingwell @t-eyla if you feel like doing it!

[japaneseadventures]

Prince of Tennis (2019) Characters

This list was made based on the Chinese and Japanese Wikipedia entries for Prince of Tennis (2019), and the Dramawiki for the names of most of the actors. Please let me know if you spot any mistakes/ have any more to add!

Legend: [CHN Character name] [Name in Chinese characters] (Actor): Original JPN Name Names with readings I'm not sure of are in italics

Yu Qing 育青 / Seishun Academy

Lu Xia 路夏 (Peng Yu Chang): Echizen Ryoma

Mu Siyang 穆司陽 (Xie Bin Bin): Tezuka Kunimitsu

Qiao Chen 喬晨 (Dong Li): Momoshiro Takeshi

Chi Dayong 池大勇 (Zhu Zhi Ling): Oishi Shuichiro

Zhuo Zhi 卓治 (Zhang Yi Jie): Fuji Syusuke

Tang Jiale 唐佳樂 (Xu Ke): Kikumaru Eiji

Yan Zhiming 嚴智明 (Li He): Inui Sadaharu

He Xinglong 賀興隆 (Fan Lin Feng): Kawamura Takashi

Zhang Baiyang 張百揚 (Wu Xu Dong): Kaidoh Kaoru

Qi Ying 齐瑛 (Song Yi Ren): Ryuzaki Sakuno

Peng Shang 彭湘 (Lu Jia): Osakada Tomoka

Huang Jing 黃靖 (Yu Kai Ning): Combination of Arai, Sasabe, etal

Ma Xiuwen 馬修文 (Zhang Ke Yuan)

A Mu 阿穆 (Li Jun Zheng)

Qi Na 齐娜 (He Jia Yi): Ryuzaki Sumire

Lu Xiangqian 路向前 (Wu Qi Jiang): Echizen Nanjiroh

Hao Dahe 郝大河 (Jin Yu Bo):  Yamato Yudai

Yu Hang 育航 / Gyokurin

Bu Zhongchuan 钟歩川 (Jin Hao Chen): Fukawa Kimiyoshi

Wu Quan 吴泉 (Zhang Hang [YOUNG-G]): Izumi Tomoya

Yu Feng 玉峰 / Fudoumine:

Xu Ziping 徐子平 (Chen Shang Ze): Tachibana Kippei

Yan Jiang 燕江 (Wang Yong Feng): Sakurai Masaya

Shi Tienan 旋铁男 (Yang Chen Yi): Ishida Tetsu

Sima Yiwu 司马亦武 (Kong Chui Nan): Ibu Shinji

Shen Weiming 申伟明 (Liu Cheng Lin): Kamio Akira

Chen Desen 陈德森 (Gu Yu): Mori Tatsunori

Wei Kefei 韦克飞 (Ming Peng): Uchimura Kyosuke

Xu Xingzi 徐杏子 (Sun Jia Yu): Tachibana An

Xing Yao 星耀 / Hyotei Academy

Ji Jingwu 纪景梧 (Ren Yan Kai): Atobe Keigo

Hua Chonghong 华崇宏 (Yu An): Kabaji Munehiro

Hu Liangliang 胡亮亮 (Yang Ze): Shishido Ryo

Song Ci 宋慈 (Shi Zi Xun): Akutagawa Jiroh

You Shixing 游世星 (Fan Xiao Dong): Oshitari Yuushi

Yue Yang 岳阳 (Gao Xin): Mukahi Gakuto

Ji Nuo 吉诺 (Jiang Xin Qi): Hiyoshi Wakashi

Feng Zhiyuan 冯志远 (Jin Zhong Xi): Ootori Choutaro

Coach Fu 付教錬 (Tian Jia Da): Sakaki Tarou

No. 3 (Shisan) High School 市三 / Yamabuki

Ya Jiuxin 亚久辛 (Wang Yan Yang): Akutsu Jin

Shen Qianshi 沈千石 (Lou Ming): Sengoku Kiyosumi

Nan Jianzhi 南建知 (Liu Yu Feng): Minami Kentarou

Tan Yitai 谭一泰 (Huang Xing Yuan): Dan Taichi

Fang Yadong 方亚东 (Peng Gang): Higashikata Masami

Ma Lintao 马林涛 (Zhang Yuan Kun): Muramachi Tohji

Coach Tian 田教練 (Hong Wei): Banda Mikiya

Chen Huijing 陳慧敬 (Yang Cai Ying): Akutsu Sayuri

Guo Zi 國子 / St. Rudolph

Zhuo Yu 卓宇 (Zhao Zi Qi): Fuji Yuuta

Guan Yue 关岳 (Lan Bo): Mizuki Hajime

Qiao Ze 乔泽 (Liu Ming Kai): Akazawa Yoshiro

Ling Tian 梁田 (Jerry Chang): Kaneda Ichiro

Liu Zecheng 刘泽成 (Tang Xiang En): Yanagisawa Shinya

Qin Yifei 秦一婓 (Deng Zhi Yuan): Kisarazu Atsushi

No. 6 (Di Liu) 第六 / Rokkaku

Kui Jian 奎建 (Lei Ming): Aoi Kentaro

Yu Zifeng 余子风 (Fu Yan Zhang): Kurobane Harukaze

Lin Xiyan 林希彦 (Yao Jun Zhe): Itsuki Marehiko

Tian Ye 田野 (Wang Hao Yu): Amane Hikaru

Zuo Xiaohu 左小虎 (Li Zheng Jun): Saeki Kojiro

Mu Jinliang 穆金亮 (Zhai Xu): Kisarazu Ryo

Liu Muyun/Mr. Six 劉牧雲/六爷 (Hou Tong Jiang): Oji

Hai Guang 海广 / Rikkaidai

Bai Shiting 白市廷 (Ren Yun Jie): Yukimura Seiichi

Tian Zilong 田子龙 (Xiang Yun Long): Sanada Genichiro

Ke Jie 柯杰 (Tan Xu): Jackal Kuwahara

Liu Lian 柳濂 (Wang Yi Bo): Yanagi Renji

Jin Wentai 金文太 (Cao Jun Xiang): Marui Bunta

Yuan Chi 袁驰 (Shen Qi): Kirihara Akaya

Wang Yaren 王雅人 (Xu Rui Lin): Nioh Masaharu

Lu Sheng 吕胜 (Li Shu Ren): Yagyuu Hiroshi

Ying Cai 英才 / Ginka

Xiang Jingtian 向静天 (Chen Peng Wan Li): Fukushi Michiru

Chen Dahai 陈大海 (Ma Wenchao)

Lin Ye 林叶 (An Zi Yang)

Other Characters

Sha Sha 沙莎 (Liu Yong Xi): Shiba Saori

Li Na 李娜 (Li Na) [Bookstore owner]

Jiang 姜 (Jiang Shang): Tatsugoro [Racquet repair man]

*(2020.03.11) Fixed typo on Bai Shiting's actor name. Thanks to @tsunaminh for pointing it out!

*(2020.03.16) Fixed Ji Nuo's name! Thanks to @rlkkai for pointing it out!

*(2020.04.08) Fixed typo in Lu Xiangqian's name

[dreams-of-fate]

Mobile Muse List

Cdrama Muses

lian song / eternal love / fc: li dongheng, lin gengxin, & xu zhengxi / primary 

ji heng / eternal love / fc: liu yuefei & zhang xinyu / primary 

li jing / eternal love / fc: zhang vin vin / primary 

bai qian / eternal love / fc: yang mi / primary 

donghua dijun / eternal love / fc: vengo gao / secondary 

ye qingti / eternal love / fc: xu shao ying & shawn dou / secondary 

su moye / eternal love / fc: dylan kuo /  tertiary

zhi he / eternal love / fc: wang yifei / tertiary 

zhe yan / eternal love / fc: baron chen / tertiary 

xize / eternal love / fc: zheng yecheng  / private 

shao wan / eternal love / fc: chen yuqi / tertiary 

shen ye / eternal love / fc: liu haoran / secondary 

zhao yunlan / guardian / fc: bai yu / primary

chu shuzhi / guardian / fc: jiang mingyang / tertiary 

mu ni huang / nirvana in fire / fc: liu tao & tiffany tang / primary 

lin chen / nirvana in fire / fc: jin dong / secondary 

xia dong / nirvana in fire / fc: zhang lingxin / tertiary 

xiao liyang / nirvana in fire / fc: zhang yan yan & zhao yingjuan / primary

concubine jing / nirvana in fire / fc: liu mintao & lu shan / tertiary 

wen qing / mdzs / fc: meng ziyi / secondary

jiang cheng / mdzs / fc: wang zhuocheng / tertiary 

jin ling / mdzs / fc: wang yuan / secondary 

wen ning / mdzs / fc: yu bin / request 

nie mingjue / mdzs / fc: wang yizhou / primary

yu ziyuan / mdzs / fc: zhang jingtong / request 

lan qiren / mdzs / fc: huang ziteng / request 

meng shi / mdzs / fc: tan yixin / request 

lan wangji / mdzs / fc: wang yibo / request 

xufeng / ashes of love / fc: deng lun / tertiary 

runyu / ashes of love / fc: leo luo / tertiary

yuanji / ashes of love / fc: sa dingding / tertiary 

yuan chun / princess agents / fc: li qin / primary 

chu qiao / princess agents / fc: zhao liying / secondary

yan xun / princess agents / fc: shawn dou / tertiary 

gu tingye / the story of minglan / fc: feng shaofeng / tertiary 

xun zhao / hope all is well with us / fc: liu tao / tertiary 

Kdrama Muses 

wang yo / scarlet heart: ryeo / fc: hong jonghyun / primary 

choi yoon / the guest / fc: kim jae wook / primary 

wang wook / scarlet heart: ryeo / fc: kang ha-neul / secondary 

wang won / scarlet heart: ryeo / fc: yoon sunwoo / tertiary 

hwangbo yeonhwa / scarlet heart: ryeo / fc: kang ha na / secondary 

wang mu / scarlet heart: ryeo / fc: kim sanho / tertiary 

kang gilyoung / the guest / fc: jung eunchae / secondary 

hae myunghee / scarlet heart: ryeo / fc: lee da in / tertiary 

jang manwol / hotel del luna / fc: lee seyoung / tertiary 

kim shin / goblin / fc: gong yoo / tertiary 

yoon jongwoo / strangers from hell / fc: im siwon / tertiary 

Jdrama Muses 

sasaki rena / tantei no tantei / fc: kitagawa keiko / request

OCs 

 choi dongsun / oc afflicted with the guest / fc: seo kangjoon / secondary

yoon haeju /  oc afflicted with the guest / fc: jung chaeyeon / secondary 

sohma asa / fruits basket oc / fc: mizuhara kiko / request

chun chun / xianxia oc based in eternal love / fc: zhang ruoyun / secondary 

xia xia / xianxia oc based in eternal love / fc: zhu zanjin / tertiary 

qiu qiu / xianxia oc based in eternal love / fc: li qin / tertiary 

dong dong / xianxia oc based in eternal love / fc: guo qilin / tertiary 

li fei / historical oc / fc: ju jingyi / secondary 

zhou lifen / historical - xianxia based in eternal love oc / fc: liu mintao & lu shan / primary 

su rong / historical - wuxia based oc / fc: zhang jingtong / primary 

shao xiaosi / historical - wuxia based oc / fc: hu bing / secondary

shuo kai / fandomless oc / fc: darren wang / secondary

xuan huiliang / fandomless oc / fc: bambi zhu / secondary

wang qingzhao / historical oc / fc: fan bing bing / secondary 

qian huizhong / historical oc / fc: leon lai yi / secondary 

guo li ge / historical oc / fc: bai lu / secondary 

xiao lou / historical oc / fc: li xian / secondary 

jin yan / mdzs oc / fc: janice man / secondary

zhang changling / mdzs oc / fc: leon zhang / secondary

zhang zongying / mdzs oc / fc: zhou dong yu 

[s0ngslyrics]

A Rong 阿冗 - Ni De Da An 你的答案【Jawabanmu/ Your Answer】

ye xu shi jie jiu zhe yang 也許世界就這樣 mungkin dunia hanya seperti ini

wo ye hai zai lu shang 我也還在路上 dan aku masih di perjalanan

mei you ren neng su shuo 沒有人能訴說 tak ada seorangpun yang bisa memberitahu

ye xu wo zhi neng chen mo 也許我只能沉默 mungkin aku hanya bisa diam

yan lei shi run yan kuang 眼淚濕潤眼眶 air mata membasahi ronga mata

ke you bu gan nuo ruo 可又不甘懦弱 tapi tak sanggup lagi menghadapinya

di zhe tou qi dai bai zhou 低著頭期待白晝 menundukan kepala, menantikan siang hari

jie shou suo you de chao feng 接受所有的嘲諷 menerima semua ejekan

xiang zhe feng yong bao cai hong 向著風擁抱彩虹 mengikuti angin, memeluk pelangi

yong gan de xiang qian zou 勇敢的向前走 maju terus kedepan dengan berani

li ming de na dao guang 黎明的那道光 cahaya fajar itu

hui yue guo hei an 會越過黑暗 akan melewati kegelapan

da po yi qie kong ju wo neng 打破一切恐懼我能 menghancurkan semua ketakutan, aku baru bisa

zhao dao da an 找到答案 menemukan jawabannya

na pa yao ni zhe guang 哪怕要逆著光 bahkan jika harus melawan cahaya

jiu qu san hei an 就驅散黑暗 baru bisa menghilangkan kegelapan

diu qi suo you de fu dan 丟棄所有的負擔 membuang semua rasa beban yang ada

bu zai gu dan 不再孤單 tak lagi kesepian

bu zai gu dan 不再孤單 tak lagi kesepian

ye xu shi jie jiu zhe yang 也許世界就這樣 mungkin dunia hanya sperti ini

wo ye hai zai lu shang 我也還在路上 dan aku masih di perjalanan

mei you ren neng su shuo 沒有人能訴說 tak ada seorangpun yang bisa memberitahu

ye xu wo zhi neng chen mo 也許我只能沉默 mungkin aku hanya bisa diam

yan lei shi run yan kuang 眼淚濕潤眼眶 air mata membasahi ronga mata

ke you bu gan nuo ruo 可又不甘懦弱 tapi tak sanggup lagi menghadapinya

di zhe tou qi dai bai zhou 低著頭期待白晝 menundukan kepala, menantikan siang hari

jie shou suo you de chao feng 接受所有的嘲諷 menerima semua ejekan

xiang zhe feng yong bao cai hong 向著風擁抱彩虹 mengikuti angin, memeluk pelangi

yong gan de xiang qian zou 勇敢的向前走 maju terus kedepan dengan berani

li ming de na dao guang 黎明的那道光 cahaya fajar itu

hui yue guo hei an 會越過黑暗 akan melewati kegelapan

da po yi qie kong ju wo neng 打破一切恐懼我能 menghancurkan semua ketakutan, aku baru bisa

zhao dao da an 找到答案 menemukan jawabannya

na pa yao ni zhe guang 哪怕要逆著光 bahkan jika harus melawan cahaya

jiu qu san hei an 就驅散黑暗 baru bisa menghilangkan kegelapan

diu qi suo you de fu dan 丟棄所有的負擔 membuang semua rasa beban yang ada

bu zai gu dan 不再孤單 tak lagi kesepian

li ming de na dao guang 黎明的那道光 cahaya fajar itu

hui yue guo hei an 會越過黑暗 akan melewati kegelapan

da po yi qie kong ju wo neng 打破一切恐懼我能 menghancurkan semua ketakutan, aku baru bisa

zhao dao da an 找到答案 menemukan jawabannya

na pa yao ni zhe guang 哪怕要逆著光 bahkan jika harus melawan cahaya

jiu qu san hei an 就驅散黑暗 baru bisa menghilangkan kegelapan

you yi wan zhong de li liang 有一萬種的力量 ada banyak kekuatan

yan mei gu dan 淹沒孤單 menenggelamkan kesepian

bu zai gu dan 不再孤單 tak lagi kesepian

[444namesplus]

Ba Baa Baas Bae Baes Bais Bam Ban Bao Baos Bau Baus Be Bees Bei Beis Bem Ben Beo Beos Beu Beus Bi Bias Bie Bies Bii Biis Bim Bin Bio Bios Biu Bius Bo Boes Bom Bon Boo Boos Bou Bous Bu Bua Bues Bui Buis Bum Bun Buo Buu Buus Chi Chia Chias Chie Chies Chii Chiis Chim Chin Chio Chios Chiu Chius Chu Chua Chuas Chue Chues Chui Chuis Chum Chun Chuo Chuos Chuu Chuus Da Daas Dae Daes Dais Dam Dan Dao Daos Daus De Dea Deas Dee Dei Deis Dem Den Deo Deu Deus Dha Dhaa Dhaas Dhaes Dhai Dhais Dham Dhan Dhaus Dhe Dhea Dheas Dhee Dhees Dheis Dhem Dhen Dheo Dheu Dhi Dhia Dhies Dhiis Dhim Dhin Dhio Dhios Dhiu Dhius Dho Dhoa Dhoas Dhoes Dhois Dhom Dhon Dhoo Dhoos Dhou Dhous Dhu Dhua Dhue Dhues Dhum Dhun Dhuo Dhuu Dhuus Di Die Dies Dii Diis Dim Din Dio Diu Dius Do Doa Doas Doi Dom Don Doo Doos Dous Du Duas Due Dues Dui Duis Dum Dun Duu Fa Faa Faas Fae Faes Fai Fais Fam Fan Fao Faos Fau Faus Fe Fea Feas Fee Fees Fei Feis Fem Fen Feo Feus Fi Fia Fias Fiis Fim Fin Fios Fius Fo Foa Foe Foi Fois Fom Fon Foos Fous Fu Fua Fuas Fue Fues Fui Fuis Fum Fun Fuos Fuus Ga Gaa Gaas Gae Gaes Gam Gan Gaos Gau Ge Gea Geas Gee Gei Geis Gem Gen Geo Geu Geus Gi Gia Gias Gie Gies Gii Giis Gim Gin Gios Giu Gius Go Goe Gom Gon Goo Goos Gous Gu Guas Gue Gui Guis Gum Gun Guo Guos Guu Guus Ha Haa Haas Hae Haes Hai Hais Ham Han Haos Hau He Hea Heas Hee Hees Hei Heis Hem Hen Heo Heu Heus Hi Hie Hies Hii Hiis Him Hin Hio Hios Hius Ho Hoe Hom Hon Hous Hu Huas Hui Huis Hum Hun Huo Huu Huus

Ja Jaa Jae Jaes Jai Jais Jam Jan Jaos Jau Jaus Je Jea Jeas Jee Jem Jen Jeo Jeos Jeu Jeus Ji Jia Jias Jie Jies Jii Jiis Jim Jin Jio Jios Jiu Jo Joa Joas Joe Joes Jois Jom Jon Joos Jou Jous Ju Jua Juas Jue Juis Jum Jun Juo Juos Juu Juus Ka Kaas Kae Kai Kais Kam Kan Kao Kaos Kau Kaus Ke Kea Keas Kee Kei Keis Kem Ken Keo Keos Keu Keus Ki Kia Kie Kies Kim Kin Kio Kios Kiu Kius Ko Koe Koes Koi Kois Kom Kon Koo Koos Kou Kous Ku Kua Kue Kues Kum Kun Kuos Kuu Kuus La Laa Laas Laes Lais Lam Lan Laos Lau Laus Le Lea Leas Lee Lees Lei Lem Len Leo Leos Leu Leus Li Lia Lie Liis Lim Lin Lio Lios Liu Lo Loa Loas Loe Loes Lom Lon Loo Loos Lou Lu Lua Lue Lui Luis Lum Lun Luo Luos Luus Ma Maa Mae Maes Mai Mam Man Mao Maos Mau Maus Me Mea Mee Mei Meis Mem Men Meo Meu Mi Mias Mie Mies Mii Miis Mim Min Mios Miu Mius Mo Moa Moas Moe Mois Mom Mon Moo Mous Mu Mua Muas Mues Mui Mum Mun Muo Muu Muus Na Naa Naas Nae Naes Nai Nais Nam Nan Nao Naos Naus Ne Nea Neas Nee Nees Neis Nem Nen Neo Neos Neu Neus Ni Nii Niis Nim Nin Nio Nios Niu No Noa Noas Noe Noes Noi Nom Non Noo Nou Nous Nu Nua Nuas Nues Nui Nuis Num Nun Nuo Nuos Nuu Pa Paa Pae Paes Pai Pam Pan Pao Pau Paus Pe Pea Peas Pee Pees Pei Peis Pem Pen Peo Peos Peu Pi Pias Pie Pii Piis Pim Pin Pio Pios Piu Po Poas Poe Poes Pois Pom Pon Poo Poos Pou Pous Pu Puas Pue Pues Pui Puis Pum Pun Puo Puu Puus Ra Raa Raas Rae Rai Rais Ram Ran Raos Rau Raus Re Reas Ree Rees Rei Reis Rem Ren Reo Reos Reu Reus Ri Ria Rii Rim Rin Rio Rios Riu Rius Ro Roa Roas Roe Roes Roi Rois Rom Ron Roo Roos Rou Rous Ru Rua Rues Rui Ruis Rum Run Ruo Ruos Ruu Ruus Sa Sae Saes Sais Sam San Sau Se Sea Seas Sees Sei Seis Sem Sen Seos Shi Shia Shias Shie Shies Shii Shiis Shim Shin Shio Shios Shiu Shius Shu Shua Shuas Shue Shues Shui Shuis Shum Shun Shuo Shuos Shuu Shuus Si Sia Sii Siis Sim Sin Sio Sios Sius So Soe Soes Sois Som Son Soos Sous Su Suas Sui Suis Sum Sun Suo Suu Suus Ta Taa Taas Taes Tai Tais Tam Tan Tao Taos Tau Taus Te Tea Teas Tees Tei Tem Ten Teo Teu Thi Thia Thias Thie Thies Thii Thiis Thim Thin Thio Thios Thiu Thius Thu Thua Thuas Thue Thues Thui Thuis Thum Thun Thuo Thuos Thuu Thuus Ti Tias Tie Tiis Tim Tin Tio Tios Tiu Tius To Toas Toe Toes Toi Tom Ton Toos Tou Tous Tu Tua Tuas Tue Tues Tui Tuis Tum Tun Tuo Tuu Tuus Va Vaa Vaas Vae Vaes Vai Vam Van Vaos Vau Vaus Ve Vea Veas Vee Vees Vei Vem Ven Veo Veos Veu Veus Vi Vie Vii Viis Vim Vin Vio Viu Vo Voa Voe Voes Voi Vois Vom Von Voo Voos Vou Vous Vu Vue Vues Vui Vuis Vum Vun Vuo Vuus Wa Waas Wae Wai Wam Wan Wao Waos Wau Waus We Wea Wees Wei Weis Wem Wen Weos Weus Wi Wia Wias Wie Wies Wii Wim Win Wio Wiu Wo Woa Woe Woes Woi Wois Wom Won Woos Wou Wu Wua Wuas Wue Wui Wum Wun Wuo Wuos Wuu Wuus Za Zaa Zaas Zae Zaes Zai Zais Zam Zan Zaos Zau Zaus Ze Zea Zeas Zee Zees Zei Zeis Zem Zen Zeo Zeos Zeu Zeus Zha Zhaa Zhae Zhaes Zhai Zhais Zham Zhan Zhao Zhaos Zhau Zhaus Zhe Zhea Zhee Zhees Zhei Zheis Zhem Zhen Zheo Zheos Zheu Zheus Zhi Zhia Zhie Zhies Zhii Zhim Zhin Zhio Zhios Zhiu Zhius Zho Zhoa Zhoas Zhoe Zhoes Zhoi Zhom Zhon Zhou Zhous Zhu Zhuas Zhuis Zhum Zhun Zhuos Zhuu Zhuus Zi Zia Zias Zim Zin Zio Ziu Zius Zo Zoe Zoes Zois Zom Zon Zoo Zoos Zou Zous Zu Zuas Zue Zues Zuis Zum Zun Zuos Zuu

[mdzsartreblogs]

Tags: Cast Members and Other Fandoms

Cast tags are listed and linked if they’re used once; cast sub-tags are listed and linked if they’re used once.

Other fandom tags and sub-tags are listed and linked if they’re used ten or more times.

cast 

cao yuchen (actor for jin zixuan)

chen zhuoxuan (actress for a-qing)

guo cheng (actor for lan jingyi)

ji li (actor for nie huaisang)

li bowen (actor for song lan)

liu haikuan (actor for lan xichen)

meng ziyi (actress for wen qing)

song jiyang (actor for xiao xingchen)

yan da fu (song jiyang’s character in the birth of the drama king)

wang haoxuan (actor fur xue yang)

wang yibo

(actor for lan wangji)

xie yun (wang yibo’s character in legend of fei)

wang yizhou (actor for nie minjue)

wang zhuocheng (actor for jiang cheng)

danta (wang zhuocheng’s cat)

xiao zhan (actor for wei wuxian)

ji chong (xiao zhan’s character in lang dianxia/the wolf)

jianguo (xiao zhan’s cat)

shi ying (xiao zhan’s character in yu gu yao/jade bone ballad)

tang san (xiao zhan’s character in duoluo continent)

yan bingyun (xiao zhan’s character in qing yunian/joy of life)

zhang xiaofan (xiao zhan’s character in zhuxian/jade dynasty)

xuan lu (actress for jiang yanli)

yu bin (actor for wen ning)

zheng fanxing (actor for lan sizhui)

zhu zanjin (actor for jin guangyao)

rpf

yizhan (wang yibo/xiao zhan)

zhuliuhai (zhu zanjin/liu haikuan)

other fandoms

not to be confused with aus and fusions, which are in a different post. this category refers to artwork compilations which include multiple fandoms - ie, a “draw 6″ with characters from mdzs and others. I’m not personally familiar with all of these so I’ve done my best with tagging but errors are possible. I’ve only included those tags that have come up at least 10 times.

douluo continent

the husky and his white cat shizun

chu wanning

mo ran

ranwan

If you’d like more 2ha art, check out my sideblog @erhaartreblogs.

lang dianxia (The Wolf)

legend of fei

minecraft

ren zha fanpai zijiu xitong (Scum Villain’s Self Saving System)

bingqiu

liu qingge

luo binghe

mobei jun

moshang

shang qinghua

shen qingqiu

the system

zhuzhi lang

If you’d like more SVSSS art, check out my sideblog @svsssartreblogs.

star wars

thousand autumns

tian guan ci fu (Heaven Official’s Blessing)

beefleaf

feng xin

he xuan

hua cheng

hualian

mu qing

qi rong

shi qingxuan

xie lian

If you’d like more TGCF art, check out my sideblog @tgcfartreblogs​.

word of honor

wen kexing

wenzhou

zhou zishu

If you’d like more TYK art, check out my sideblog @tykartreblogs.

[ganbarimaster]

The Campaign of Liu Ji Part 3 (Final!)

A continuation from this post, and the conclusion to this most recent play-through of Romance of the Three Kingdoms 14. When it came to beginning the inevitable battle with Cao Cao, I was a little hesitant at first. It seemed like it was going to take a while and I wasn’t sure how interesting it would be to play. But I soldiered on. It was a bit of a stalemate for a while, with neither of us gaining or losing any ground, but the computer had a tendency to over-extend itself and leave places vulnerable. And I already had more cities and troops, so it was really only a matter of time. I spent one entire evening just shuffling around officers and moving troops and resources from place-to-place. If I hadn’t been writing out this loose narrative for my campaign, I doubt I’d have been motivated to finish it. I’ll be interested to see how this game changes when the power up kit is eventually released, as at the moment its a little bare-bones, and most turns are spent rewarding officers to maintain their loyalty and accepting mundane suggestions from advisors which increase agriculture or whatever in a town by ten points. I feel like the narrative I wrote out for this campaign would have been much more interesting to read if I had been more strict with myself about roleplaying the position whilst playing, in terms of (for example) who I could or couldn’t hire, of sometimes losing territory to my enemies when it made sense, and so on. But as it stands, I don’t think this game has enough tools to keep things interesting and varied. Nevertheless, Cao Cao has been backed into a corner and the conflict approaches its end. The fate of the famous three sworn brothers revealed. If you want to know more about the destiny of one Liu Ji, styled Jingyu, read on!

Cao Cao, along with his advisors Guo Jia and Xun Yu, had developed an idea early on of separating the three brothers Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei—in order to prevent them from causing any trouble. Liu Bei would be based in Xuchang with the Emperor, Zhang Fei was to hold the frontlines against Ma Teng in the northwest, and Guan Yu had been involved in conflict in the northeast against Gongsun Zan. Liu Bei desired greatly to travel south to join the forces of Liu Ji, but he was effectively a prisoner, and did not want to be parted from his brothers. If Guan Yu or Zhang Fei shirked their duties in the north, it would have been very costly for Liu Bei and his family. In the years after the conflict with those forces came to an end, Cao Cao turned his attention southward to Liu Ji—with the three brothers still separated across the realm.

To prevent Liu Ji from gaining access to Chang’an, Cao Cao turned his forces toward Liu Ji’s position at Hangzhong, whilst simultaneously advancing on Liu Ji’s bases in Xinye, Shouchun, and in Jianye. It was easily the largest conflict in recent history. Liu Ji was unable to maintain control of Hanzhong, which was a key base for moving on Chang’an. Once the area had been subdued by Cao Cao’s forces, Zhang Fei was placed in charge of the unit now stationed at Hanzhong—presumably to intimidate Liu Ji and prevent him from advancing. But when Cao Cao’s forces came to join Zhang Fei for a full-scale invasion of the riverlands, Zhang Fei refused to open the doors to the city they had occupied. Not long after, he was somehow joined by his sworn brother Liu Bei, who had escaped captivity in Xuchang during the ongoing conflicts with Liu Ji and had snuck his way over to Hanzhong with the help of some supporters in Cao Cao’s territory. As Cao Cao directed his forces to advance upon Zhang Fei at Hanzhong, Liu Ji sent his own generals to support that same position. It transpired that Fa Zheng had also been in contact with Zhang Fei over the past few months—which had made this surprising turn of events possible. Guan Yu was yet to be seen, but the conflict between Cao Cao and Liu Ji had begun in earnest.

Taishi Ci, Ling Tong, Huang Zhong, Wei Yan and Ma Chao were his most capable generals, and had become the pillar of his military force—his five Tiger Generals. Zhuge Liang was promoted to Prime Minister, and Lu Xun became the Director General. He was not lacking for intelligent advisors, but they did not often agree. Even so, Liu Ji enjoyed weighing the value of the various suggestions presented to him, and actively encouraged lively and good-spirited debate within his halls. Spiteful, personal attacks and underhanded comments were not tolerated. This contributed towards a sense of camaraderie among the intelligent officers of his force, and ensured they were motivated and focused on the task at hand, working hard to develop their ideas and consider alternatives which might be suggested by their interlocutors.

Recognizing the value of maintaining a hold on Hanzhong, and furious at the betrayal of Zhang Fei and Liu Bei, Cao Cao dedicated himself to securing the area once more. He sent their sworn brother, Guan Yu—who had become so indebted to Cao Cao through his service over the years, and who had been poisoned with lies about the behavior of his sworn brothers. Zhang Fei met Guan Yu on the field, enraged that Guan Yu hadn’t already come to join his brothers, and was yet a peon under Cao Cao. The two clashed in an intense duel, rending heaven and earth. 

Pushing one another to their limits in a battle which had both armies enraptured, more than two-hundred bouts had been concluded. Liu Bei yelled at both brothers to lower their arms and remember their oath. He got between the two in the midst of their duel without a weapon of his own, which took them by surprise. Liu Bei was accidentally struck in the head and bled from his ears. He died soon after. In their distress, both Zhang Fei and Guan Yu took their own lives. Soldiers on both sides attempted to prevent them from doing so, but to no avail. In the chaos that followed, Cao Cao regained control of Hanzhong for a short time. But being spread thin, and fearing Xuchang would fall, was unable to hold it for long.

Across the realm, Cao Cao’s bases had begun to fall to Liu Ji—Cao Mai’s navy was overrun off the shore of Guangling by He Qi and Lu Dai, enabling Liu Ji to build upon his forces on the northern shores of the Changjiang. Sensing that Cao Cao had acted too late to mount a meaningful opposition against Liu Ji, Zhang He turned on Cao Cao’s force at Wan Castle, joining with Liu Ji and providing them access to the castle. Xuchang was now within reach, and efforts were being made by Cao Cao to relocate the capital, and thereby the Emperor, north of the Huanghe to Ye, the Capital of Ji Province.

Xu Province had already been captured by Liu Ji, and the escape route to Ji Province had been cut off. Xuchang swiftly fell. Cao Cao barely escaped with his life, but he was unable to bring the Emperor with him. The carriage of the Emperor was surrounded by Huang Zhong and Wei Yan before it could reach the river. Liu Ji himself led a force through Hu Lao Gate to capture Luo Yang, with Taishi Ci, Ling Cao, and Lu Dai—some of his longest serving generals. Luo Yang was re-established as the capital city and the Emperor was encouraged to resume his role, but he vehemently opposed the idea, exhausted by playing his role as puppet Emperor. He threatened to kill himself if Liu Ji did not assume the throne and continue the Han Dynasty as an imperial ancestor. Hesitant at first, it was only at the insistence of his advisors that Liu Ji capitulated and accepted. He was named Emperor Da of Yang.

Cao Cao had become very ill, often bedridden by severe migraines. Sima Yi took care of most of his duties, which largely involved re-structuring and re-organizing their forces north of the Huanghe. Of his most capable generals, only Xu Huang and Xiahou Yuan were with him in Ye, but both were now over fifty years of age. Xiahou Dun was stationed in Liang Province, cut off from the rest of Cao Cao’s force.

A small force led by Ma Chao slowly encroached upon Xiahou Dun in Liang Province. Although he fought fiercely, being cut off from Cao Cao’s main force, supplies were lacking. The sparse fields of Liang were not enough to support a standing army, and morale was low. It is said that Xiahou Dun fought until his last breath. Ma Chao was elated to be able to recapture the lands rightfully belonging to his family.

This was now a time for Emperor Da and his forces to rest and recuperate, and focus on domestic affairs. A great deal of discussion centred on moving the capital again to somewhere in the south, but such discussions were tabled until a time when the realm had been completely unified. Liu Ji, now almost 40, had a daughter, but had yet fathered no sons—and this was another active point of discussion.

Many messages were sent to Cao Cao to entreat him to surrender his forces, but he adamantly refused. After a few years, the Emperor commanded that an enormous force cross the Huanghe and capture You, Ji, and Bing. But before the conflict could begin, Cao Cao suddenly passed away in the spring of 221AD. Sima Yi was the architect of the discussions which followed, pledging fealty to the new Han Emperor and surrendering their forces. Gongsun Gong eventually followed suit, and the realm was completely unified by 223AD.

Some years of peace and prosperity followed, but unrest remained surrounding the Imperial lineage. Sima Yi worked diligently at involving his family in Imperial affairs, ingratiating himself to the Emperor—he petitioned to have one of his sons marry the Emperor’s daughter and become Prince. The remaining members of the Sun family sought recognition for having supported the Emperor since His earliest days, and demanded the Emperor’s daughter marry one of their number. Any talk of moving the capital to the southlands was seen as tacit support for the Sun family, and so the conversation stagnated. As tensions flared, and years passed, the princess became aware of her own significance and the power it afforded her. She would sometimes leverage her own life in order to secure her own autonomy. It was announced that she would marry in her own time, on her own terms, as she intended to become the first Empress. Legislation was written to support her claim.

When Emperor Da passed away almost thirty years later, she ascended to the throne. But in the years which followed, internal conflict escalated and the land began to fracture once more, many refusing to accept this new state of affairs, and some making their own claims to the Imperial throne. A new age of conflict had begun.

[jiadongqiang]

Queer Maximalism HyperBody: Pinkray Test, VR gameplay, London, 2020

Queer Maximalism HyperBody is a practice-based research tries to establish an inventive methodology of modding and shipping through spatial autoethnography by reusing the creative practices from ACGN (Anime, Comic, Game and Novel), fandom and digital ethnography in virtual space in game engine. Both visually and acoustically, this new entanglement will redefine the concept of multiple HyperBodies intra-acting of physical-virtual multi-temporal spaces.

Conceptual Support: Emma Tianyu Xiao, Lingge Yang and CheeseTalk

Space Support: Aristo Yong and Jingzhi Wu

Sound Support and Credit: GrannysMilkProductsPlant

1. Field Recording: Hong Kong Taxi's Radio in 2018 Chinese New Year Home Karaoke in Shunyi, Beijing (grannysmilkproductsplant remix)

2. Personal Collection: Old Recycling Worker's Loudspeaker in West Street Community, Moon Altar, Beijing Pete Jiadong Qiang Reading his Short Poem I Want to Commit Suicide in Futong Modern drama Lin Biao Incident (1980) Journey to the West (1986 TV series) Monkey King vs. Er Lang Shen

3. Music: Love River - Snow Jiang 8-bit Version (Ying Liu Zhi Zhu) Modern China is too Complicated - @Shaoyanpeng Dead J Asian Mighty Winds - Liu Huan, Wei Wei Guo Ba Yin - Liu Huan, Na Ying Ei Ei - Idol Producer Theme Song Shuo Chang Lian Pu - Luo Tianyi I Love You (New Pants) - Yan He Transformations of Sailor Senshis - Sailor Moon (TV series) Sleep Baby Sleep (Party Version) - Koji Kikkawa Soft Cuddly - H.E.X.

4. Animation Music: Capturing Enemies in the Air - Black Cat Detective Ending Song - Ichi the Killer OVA

5. Game Music: BGM 3 - Target Renegade OST

Shipping: Pinkray/Katto Ryker (Laike)/White Cat Monitor Ultralisk 01/Ultralisk 02 Lu Xun/Zhou Jianren Bai Juyi/Yuan Zhen Qiu Jin/Wu Zixu Luo Ji/Shi Qiang Er Lang Shen/Howling Celestial Dog

Chinese Boys Love Novel: Peach Blossom Debt by Da Feng Gua Guo Wan Ku by Gong Zi Huan Xi Huang Shu by Da Feng Gua Guo The Study Slacker and Academic Rep by IWannaEatSushio

Comic: Maken X Another, RG Veda

Game: Maken X