#feng shizhen

[dilebe06]

My Top Female Characters of 2023

[convenientalias]

Now that I have a scanner again, I can finally post this fanart of City of Streamer. Feng Shizhen and Rong Jiashang can be so cute sometimes <3

[xiaoshengnu]

sooo I watched the first few episodes of City of Streamer and honestly I’m quite meh about it. The plot is alright and the chemistry between the two leads is fire but it’s not the best and most creative or clever drama I’ve see so far. It feels quite shallow; the set up of the drama does not serve to make a statement it’s merely just to set the mood to make the romance between the two leads more ‘exciting’ and ‘sparks flying everywhere’- 

have you heard that one saying where it’s like; if the introduction does not hit home, then there’s no point in writing the rest? well well, one of the things that really dug at me as soon as the drama opened was Feng Shizhen’s presentation. 

like, immediately when I saw her wide-eyed, half smile coupled with her first costume I went ohh nooo. the bright white qipao gave her an air of innocence and naivety, which did not line up with the ‘smart and experienced mature young woman who is fierce enough to handle manipulative neighbours and two-faced bosses’ narrative the script was feeding us. 

furthermore homegirl is being lined up to be the destruction of a family- as horrible as the family might be, there are children and servants who will be taken down with them, and it would have been better if the costume had acknowledged her moral responsibility in that. it doesn’t suit to try to force a narrative, even if it’s just through presentation, of oh yes she's good and a 100% good from the outset. 

[dilirebas]

My review of City of Streamer /  流光之城

Feng Shizhen (played by Jing Tian) is a trained spy who seeks revenge against the Rong family, a wealthy family of 1930s Shanghai. To uncover the terrible secrets of the patriarch Rong Dingkun, she infiltrates the family as a tutor and wins the heart of Rong Dingkun’s son, Rong Jiashang (played by Xu Weizhou). But as Feng Shizhen seduces Rong Jiashang, she finds herself giving away her own heart too.

The chemistry between the lead actors is simply breathtaking. You can really feel the love and the growing tensions between them.

It’s a beautifully written romance. Feng Shizhen’s control and sophistication is a perfect match for Rong Jiashang’s intensity and passion. There is a fundamental dishonesty and asymmetry to their relationship, yet the connection and understanding between them is real. Neither is willing to give up everything for love, yet they continue to love each other in spite of so much history and betrayal.

The whole cast of characters is brilliant. Each character is fascinating in their own way. Qi Ye is a jaded troublemaker whose presence made me feel both comforted and afraid. Du Lanxin is a spoiled heiress who has the maturity to fight for what she wants and to let go when disappointed. Yu Zhihui is an opportunist who ruins it for herself, but can you really blame her for having dreams? Each character is memorable and unique.

Even the “villains” are charismatic characters who experience development and leave an emotional impact.

This was a rare drama where I never wanted to skip ahead. In fact, I was afraid of missing a single detail. Every event and every story arc contributed to the progression of the main storyline and the central themes of the drama. There was nuance and implicit meaning in the dialogue and scenes. There was always something that held my attention.

I loved the costumes! Some were more accurate and some were less accurate, but all of the costumes looked well-made.

I’m not sure if the ending left me satisfied. I think it was the right ending for all of the characters, so maybe I simply wanted more. Or maybe it’s the knowledge that, historically speaking, worse years are ahead.

This story definitely played into some of my favourite tropes. There are some clichés, but they’re executed deliciously. There are also some unusual twists.

City of Streamer was a riveting viewing experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. I hope you’ll enjoy it too!

[vinevsm]

WEIBO HOT SEARCH !!

SAME CITY 🔪💥🚬

Weibo hot search hot search list entertainment list top news list same city list ☆ entertainment hot search 1 hot 2 hot in 3 Wei Zhou said hot Xu Weizhou said Rong Jiashang wanted to be in love with Feng Shizhen ,Please Jing Tian

Xu Weizhou opened double-speed love Military Camp Network Spring Festival Gala Huang Jingyu wished his comrades a happy New Year

See more hot searches in the same city> 2 Hot searches in the same city Users in the same city are following the default city: Meishan, over 20 Sichuanese dazzling in the North City Field Jixian Sichuan Hot Search Hot Discussion Returns to the List

Can I laugh????

Hahahahaha

[tytangfei]

The awkward atmosphere between Rong Jiashang and Feng Shizhen is making me cackle

[downloadarmy]

City of Streamer

Set in the Shanghai Shores at the beginning of the 20th century, where warlords begin to seize their powers; many heroes emerge, and revolutionary movements begin to rise. Making use of their wealth, the influential Rong family often abused their powers to commit various heinous crimes. In order to uphold justice, Feng Shizhen decide to embark on the road of revenge. She successfully sneaked into…

[mirage-all]

Upcoming drama 🥰... Jing Tian is no doubt one of my favourite actress... Hope this will be another masterpiece 🥰🔥 ᗪᖇᗩᗰᗩ : City of Streamer ᑎᗩTIᐯᗴ TITᒪᗴ : 流光之城 ՏTᗩᖇᖇIᑎᘜ : Jing Tian, Timmy Xu, Jing Chao & Hai Ling ᗴᑭIՏOᗪᗴ : 40 ᗯᕼEᖇE TO ᗯᗩTᑕᕼ : ՏTOᖇY : Set in the Shanghai Shores at the beginning of the 20th century, where warlords begin to seize their powers; many heroes emerge, and revolutionary movements begin to rise. Making use of their wealth, the influential Rong family often abused their powers to commit various heinous crimes. In order to uphold justice, Feng Shizhen decide to embark on the road of revenge. She successfully sneaked into the Rong family, and became a tutor of the young master Rong Jiashang. However, in the midst of testing and making use of each other, Feng Shizhen slowly finds herself falling for the enemy's son. When the truth of the injustice and grievances that happened twenty years ago begin to surface, the two lovers who were initially in two different camps work together to brave through numerous hurdles, and ultimately reveal the shocking truth. (Source: DramaWiki) * Adapted from novel "City of Streamer" (流光之城) by Mi Bao. ᗪᑌᖇᗩTIOᑎ : 45 mins ᗩIᖇᗴᗪ : OᖇIᘜIᑎᗩᒪ ᑎᗴTᗯOᖇK : 𝕋𝔸𝔾𝕊 : #cdramalovers #cdramamaniac #chineseactor #chineseactress #chinesedrama2022 #cdramas #cityofstreamer #流光之城 #景甜 #jingtian #sallyjing #许魏洲 #timmyxu #洲洲 #許魏洲 #zhouzhou #xuweizhou #jingchao #经超 #hailing #海铃 #海鈴 #karinahai 𝔸ℂℂ𝕆𝕌ℕ𝕋 : @c_drama_maniac 𝕱𝖔𝖑𝖑𝖔𝖜 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖊...... 𝕯𝖔 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊, 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙...... 𝕺𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖎𝖋𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖑....... 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪, (at Chinese Dramas) https://www.instagram.com/p/CYf4Z-DLDMP/?utm_medium=tumblr

[cancersfakianakis1]

LMO1 Synergizes with MYCN to Promote Neuroblastoma Initiation and Metastasis

Publication date: Available online 31 August 2017 Source:Cancer Cell Author(s): Shizhen Zhu, Xiaoling Zhang, Nina Weichert-Leahey, Zhiwei Dong, Cheng Zhang, Gonzalo Lopez, Ting Tao, Shuning He, Andrew C. Wood, Derek Oldridge, Choong Yong Ung, Janine H. van Ree, Amish Khan, Brittany M. Salazar, Edroaldo Lummertz da Rocha, Mark W. Zimmerman, Feng Guo, Hong Cao, Xiaonan Hou, S. John Weroha, Antonio R. Perez-Atayde, Donna S. Neuberg, Alexander Meves, Mark A. McNiven, Jan M. van Deursen, Hu Li, John M. Maris, A. Thomas Look A genome-wide association study identified LMO1, which encodes an LIM-domain-only transcriptional cofactor, as a neuroblastoma susceptibility gene that functions as an oncogene in high-risk neuroblastoma. Here we show that dβh promoter-mediated expression of LMO1 in zebrafish synergizes with MYCN to increase the proliferation of hyperplastic sympathoadrenal precursor cells, leading to a reduced latency and increased penetrance of neuroblastomagenesis. The transgenic expression of LMO1 also promoted hematogenous dissemination and distant metastasis, which was linked to neuroblastoma cell invasion and migration, and elevated expression levels of genes affecting tumor cell-extracellular matrix interaction, including loxl3, itga2b, itga3, and itga5. Our results provide in vivo validation of LMO1 as an important oncogene that promotes neuroblastoma initiation, progression, and widespread metastatic dissemination.

Teaser

High expression of LMO1 is associated with neuroblastoma (NB) metastases. Zhu et al. show that LMO1 synergizes with MYCN to promote NB development and metastasis in zebrafish and that LMO1 elevates expression of genes affecting tumor cell-extracellular matrix interaction and promotes NB cell invasion. http://ift.tt/2guiBq5

[bigbellyfix]

New episodes added 👍

[convenientalias]

Eve vs. City of Streamer--Who Wore It Better?

Since this year I happened to watch two shows that came out in 2022 about a woman seducing someone in order to avenge herself upon the person's family, I thought it would be fun to make some comparisons and see which show comes out on top. The two shows in question being:

Eve: A 16-episode kdrama. Contemporary thriller genre. The protagonist seduces the son-in-law of the family she's targeting with the aim of learning the family's secrets but also breaking her love interest's relationship with his wife (one of her primary revenge targets), hopefully resulting in a humiliating divorce and mental breakdown for both of them. Except then, oh no, she falls in love for real!

City of Streamer: A 40-episode cdrama. Republican era setting. The protagonist seduces the young master of the family she's targeting, mostly with the aim of maintaining her place in the family (which she joined as a tutor to the young master and the family's two daughters) so she can gather information on them as a spy for someone else who also is after revenge. Except then, oh no, she falls in love for real!

So right off the bat there are some similarities and some obvious differences. Further comparison will be under the cut bc there will be some spoilers ;)

Female Leads

So I'm giving ratings out of ten for each of these sections and I'll just say beforehand that Seo Ye-ji and Jing Tian are both perfect to me so there's no real competition here but the differences are still interesting.

Eve: Lee Ra-el is highly melodramatic. Her character single-handedly gives the show its kind of dark and sexy vibe. She is obsessed with revenge, loves (and needs) the tango, has self-destructive tendencies (including a tendency to self-harm, but also a general lack of self preservation instinct), and wants not only to destroy her targets financially but break their very souls. Kind of a disaster. Her love interests would like to protect her. Good luck with that, guys. I would like to say her soft spot is children but frankly I'm not even sure that's not an act on her part (and sometimes it pretty clearly is). Incredible fake smile. 10/10.

City of Streamer: The first word I associate with Feng Shizhen is "calm" and the second is "competent". Feng Shizhen wants revenge, but given that the incident she's avenging had a somewhat lesser impact on her life, she's pretty clear-headed about it and it's not the only thing she cares about. She still has a family, and sometimes gets invested in the lives and troubles of the Rong family too. Her revenge target is Rong Dingkun--well, also his business, but mostly just Rong Dingkun, head of the family she's infiltrated. She has an excellent poker face but can also play a pretty good wounded gazelle when called upon. Watching her, you have a sense of confidence she can solve whatever predicament she's landed in. Her love interests would probably like her to step on them and honestly same. 10/10.

Male Leads

No one here is going to live up to the female leads' energy but do they try??

Eve: Kang Yoon-kyeom is the most boring part of this show. Okay, I don't hate the guy. He's clearly in an abusive relationship with a controlling, manipulative, and homicidal woman. But you just don't get to see much emotional depth in him until towards the end of the show--until then it's kind of a "just trust me, he's deep" kind of situation. I have limits with how much stoicism I can enjoy. That said once he and Ra-el are together he does get more fun and I enjoy his eventual breakdown but not his ending. Since I'm only giving moderate spoilers here I won't get into that but seriously what the fuck. 4/10, I didn't hate him? I just think Ra-el has more chemistry with. Basically everyone.

City of Streamer: I actually expected to dislike Rong Jiashang based on prior experiences with the actor, but Rong Jiashang's actually pretty fun. It's all about the journey from stoic to simp in this kind of show and Jiashang really devolved pretty fast. That said, he has things going on outside his romantic life. He has conflicted feelings on his family and the family business and works to make changes based on his moral qualms. He loves his sisters. He has actual friends. He has dreams of becoming a pilot and collects model airplanes. Generally more of a three-dimensional human being than Kang Yoon-kyeom and a pretty good character. 7/10.

Did We Get Second Male Lead Syndrome?

Eve: Seo Eun-pyeong IS cooler than Kang Yoon-kyeom but that isn't really saying that much. He blocks a knife at one point! He tells Ra-el she can count on him! He's also a politician with possibilities of becoming the future president but the instant Ra-el shows up she is his Number One Priority, to the extent that he's willing to compromise all his idealistic politics (or at least put them on hold) for the sake of helping her with her revenge plans. I'm ambivalent on this--yes we love obsessive love but we also love a dude with other things going on. I honestly would have preferred if Eun-pyeong's attraction to Ra-el remained ambiguous or if they stayed platonic tbh, bc they met when she was still a teenager and I kind of preferred his initial protective and almost parental vibe towards her. Like he once watched her dancing the tango and the music playing in the background was just kind of heartwarming and calm. That's the unsexy relationship I was enjoying between the two of them but I wouldn't be against shipping them except that being the case I would prefer her to actually like him back. His unrequited love does very little for me. 6/10 I still liked the dude but I wanted either "selfless protective (possibly platonic) love" or "actual relationship" from them and it's not what I got.

City of Streamer: Meng Xu'an is UNHINGED. A complete delight. When you first meet him, you're like, "huh this dude is kind of shady, but he's Feng Shizhen's boss so of course he must be working for the greater good." Later on you're like, "Oh hm. His methods can be a little immoral and he seems VERY smug about the chaos going down here (which is also affecting innocents) but it DOES look sexy on him and there's no serious harm done so?? good for him I guess." and slowly you roll downhill towards the realization that this man is absolutely down for murdering innocents if it will help him achieve his revenge plans and is much more deeply invested in this revenge than our actual protagonist, and you know what? It's still sexy. Did I ship him with Feng Shizhen? Yes and no. They have a great vibe and yes it is hot when they scheme together AND when they yell at each other and throw things but I have a hard time seeing Feng Shizhen be into him. But in a sense that doesn't matter. The important thing is I liked what I got. 10/10, this dude drives at least half the action of the whole show.

The Central ~Seduction~ Dynamic

Eve: High melodrama to match Ra-el's melodramatic energy. Ra-el's INITIAL APPROACH is contriving to have Yoon-kyeom accidentally see her and her husband (yes, there's a lot of infidelity in this show) having sex in a dressing room. Then she tells him they must be "twin flames", something akin to soulmates/fated lovers. It's all very intense but I have a hard time buying it bc her tactics are so blunt and forceful all the time; it's not surprising Yoon-kyeom is initially suspicious. Equally I have a hard time buying that Ra-el would actually fall in love with Yoon-kyeom bc behind all that passion, where's a core of honest affection? The show offers a couple moments of ~vulnerability~ between the two, but... Idk. 4/10.

City of Streamer: Feng Shizhen doesn't initially plan to seduce Rong Jiashang at all; it's mostly something she stumbles into in order to keep him under control while she does her spywork, and then uses so that she can keep his love for her as her in with the Rong family. Her tactics are very bait-and-switch. First she'll praise Jiashang's skills as his tutor and offer him some very hands-on lessons, and then she'll go cold and say there's nothing between them if he tries to approach their mutual attraction directly. I have an easy time believing Jiashang would fall for it, and I can also believe she would fall for him, mostly bc he's actually a pretty nice and likeable guy. But sometimes she can go a little far--while Ra-el will declare love at first sight, Feng Shizhen strings Rong Jiashang along for so long it can get very frustrating. 7/10.

My ratings for these relationships are almost the same as my feelings on the male leads, I guess!

Fashion

It's important to look good while getting revenge. You have to look good while your enemies are suffering, basically. At least that's how I feel about it.

Eve: Impeccable. Ra-el in particular is just look after look. Showing up at her enemy's daughter's birthday party in a dress that looks like a green rose. Wearing a simple black and white suit during some final confrontations as the truth boils closer to the surface. Never going anywhere without stiletto heels. Ra-el's fashion is part of her mask, part of what allows her to infiltrate high society and entrance those in it--not only Yoon-kyeom but Han So-ra as well, and many others. 10/10.

City of Streamer: The fashion is very generic. I try to remember outfits from this show and I can't. I just looked at a bunch of pictures from it and my main takeaway was, I can see why I forgot them. Lots of solids, lots of simple dresses. They suit Feng Shizhen's calm and simple image but they do not appeal. Now, Republican era fashion is not my favorite in general but I've watched shows set in this era that still had some memorable outfits. Winter Begonia has most of its characters in generic suits but the MCs still had their own distinctive look--Shang Xirui's being uniformly bland to contrast his look on stage, Cheng Fengtai's distinguished with a little flamboyance. Granting You a Dreamlike Life has Luo Fusheng, whose outfits are all over the place but always enjoyable and noticeable. City of Streamer just is not doing it for me. 2/10. I tried looking at Meng Xu'an's outfits bc I figured they might be more interesting and they're basically just suits :( Two points bc I do like the hair. If you want to see Jing Tian in a show with showier and more interesting fashion, watch Rattan.

Homoeroticism

It's all very well to have sexual tension with the guy you're seducing but what about having homoerotic tension with some random other character???? I think we have to keep this in mind.

Eve: I loved Ra-el and So-ra's dynamic. It's terrible, of course. It starts out with a kind of high society mean girl and henchwoman dynamic that would be catnip to me already and eventually transitions into archnemeses-going-off-the-deep-end territory. Deceptive friendship to blatant, outright loathing. I need more f/f ships like this in my media. 10/10, I only wish Ra-el had actually seduced So-ra instead of Yoon-kyeom but I guess that would just be a different story entirely.

City of Streamer: I'm gonna be real with you, guys, there is not much here. Feng Shizhen does have some nice friendships with various women, especially one woman who she helps escape the Rong household early in the show, but... there's no real tension there imo. There are two other female characters I love in this show (one being Jiashang's fiancee, the other being one of Rong Dingkun's concubines), and neither really gets to know Shizhen--their primary relationships are also with men. I don't really see any great m/m ships here either tbh. Personally I would OT3 Shizhen/Jiashang/Xu'an, but there's no real basis for this, I just think the chaos would be interesting. 2/10, I can imagine it but there's nothing really there.

DID THEY GET REVENGE THOUGH?

The most important question.

Eve: Yes. Can't say they didn't. I do wish the court case that the show built up to had been more important but it played its role, and the mind games playing a larger role in the final denouement makes sense given the kind of overall game Ra-el is playing. 9/10 for revenge bc I personally wish the fallout had been different but it was very revengey.

City of Streamer: Yes? At various points? Feng Shizhen's revenge contributions are at their peak in the first half of the show, I'd say. From there the conflict is driven by other players, while Feng Shizhen's plotline focuses more on the question of whether she and Rong Jiashang could ever be together. Towards the end she steps back into the game, but never quite with the same clear focus, and ultimately, the ending feels a bit random. Still more revenge than many revenge dramas have offered me though. 7/10.

THE GRAND TOTAL:

Eve: 53

City of Streamer: 45

In the end, Eve wins with the power of homoeroticism and fashion! I personally liked City of Streamer better overall and am now wondering if I should have weighted the various categories differently but oh well! It's all part of the game! If we knew how it would end, what would be the point of playing it! Eve really did wear revenge seduction drama better but I do recommend both because they both were really good!

[annettehastings-blog]

Tips On How To Learn Chinese Quickly

How could one manage to learn Chinese speaking and writing? Even it is not easy to finish one thing of the two, how could you mange to finish the two at the same time? In fact, I don't recommend you to do the two things together, you can do speaking first, then move to writing.

Besides, keeping frog also becomes a kind of fashion. The price varies from 100 Yuan to 1,000 Yuan. During the process when you Learn Chinese in a beautiful place in China at Speakeasy in Yunnan, you may never hear people keep spider as pet. But it happens in Kunming recently. The cheap one may be 150 Yuan but the spiders that can hunt the insects may be as expensive as more than one thousand Yuan. In fact, many people who learn mandarin chinese in china later in life do so online. They are able to study in their spare time and do not have to sign up for classes with a local community college. They can study from any location where they have access to their computer, which means they can download a program to their laptop and study from anywhere. Imagine sitting on the train after work studying Chinese, rather than reading a novel. "Feng Shui" means "wind and water" in the intensive chinese language program shanghai. It represents the vital life force of energy that flows all around us and is called "chi." Everyone can think of a place they have visited that they immediately disliked or felt uncomfortable in, but maybe the chi wasn't right for the setting. And of course we all can remember another place where we immediately felt at home, completely at ease, and ready to relax away the day. This second setting most likely had excellent chi flowing around and giving the place the feeling of ease that you instantly respond to. A) They are highly profiled flash cards used for the purpose of educationb) They contain the different type of the numeric data. These are helpful in increasing the intellectual mind capability of their children. c) There is a daily lesson of fifteen seconds which is being provided to the kids. This is helpful in developing an interest of the child in the lessons. d) There is a specified course which is being provided in the flash cards. These will be helpful in making your baby an extra genius one.e) It is helpful in increasing the confidence level and grasping the tactics and terminologies easily. Lenz, like all of Bundy's victims wore her long brown hair down and parted in the middle. It is said that most of his victims were planned but some of them were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. All in all, Li Shizhen is a famous medical scientist in China's history. He had made great contribution to the traditional Chinese medical science. There is much to learn from him.

[convenientalias]

Review of City of Streamer

I just finished watching City of Streamer last night. It's forty episodes of family feuds, forbidden love, and revenge! I thought it was pretty good, though it had some weak spots.

The female lead, Feng Shizhen, was my favorite part of the show. She starts out the show infiltrating the family of a wealthy and powerful enemy (Rong Dingkun) by taking a job as a tutor for his children. For spying-related reasons she plays a game of bait-and-switch with Rong Jiashang, Rong Dingkun's adult son, making advances towards him and then rebuffing him when he shows interest back. I loved how calculated and manipulative she could be--even when she inevitably catches feelings for Jiashang, she largely doesn't let it interfere with her mission, until it gets to the point where she feels her employer (she's a spy for ANOTHER of the Rong family's enemies) is going too far in their mutual quest for vengeance. She also has a soft side towards the women of the Rong family, who Rong Dingkun controls and abuses.

Speaking of the women of the Rong family, I loved them too. Especially Sun Shaoqing and Sun Shaolan, concubines that Rong Dingkun favors but also controls and abuses. In the end the fate one of them met made me actually cry. They're complex characters stuck in a bad situation :(

The male lead, Rong Jiashang, I liked more than I expected. I expected little bc he's played by Timmy Xu whose performance supremely bored me in Weaving a Tale of Love. But it turns out he's quite good when he's given a character with a little more of an edge--sometimes grumpy, sometimes menacing, always with the typical bad boy angst. His choices sometimes annoyed me but they were understandable. He's caught between his family and Feng Shizhen, a situation which really sucks.

The second male lead, Meng Xuan, is a LOT of fun. He barely forms a love triangle with Shizhen, never expressing romantic interest but sometimes hinting at it--but there's still a strong LOYALTY triangle bc Meng Xuan is Feng Shizhen's employer, a man with a strong animus of vengeance towards the Rong family. From scenes of quiet scheming, to comforting Shizhen over romantic angst, to going a little unhinged in his revenge efforts, he dominates every scene he's in. I also like that by the end he has this modus operandi of just collecting the Rong family's enemies and castoffs as well as people connected with Feng Shizhen, and protecting them, employing them and often letting them even live with him. Found vengeance family vibes. I wanted more of it.

Other minor characters of note: Feng Shizhen's older brother, Feng Shixun, a pure cinnamon roll too good for this world (except that actually he has a lot of resentment towards the Rong family too, and actually he has his own shit going on, except he and Shizhen NEVER FUCKING TELL EACH OTHER WHAT THEY'RE UP TO). Du Lanxin, Rong Jiashang's fiancee that he's not into, who is also not into him but wants to have an arranged and open marriage of convenience (every scene where she tries to talk Jiashang into this is hilarious).

Okay, so that's all stuff I liked about the show! There were however a couple things about it that I did not like.

First of all, the way this show treats disability is awful. It's got a "disability as punishment" motif running through it. An evil character ends up having a disabled son, who is also mentally unstable and portrayed as basically a creepy child most of the time. Rong Dingkun AND a minor character both end up becoming injured and disabled, and the attitude of the characters around them is "they deserved it bc they did bad things". I wouldn't say this theme is front and center most of the time, but it's definitely present.

More mundanely, there are just episodes of this show that are clearly filler while the show waits for the next major plot points. Of course, with a forty episode show you kind of expect this. I just wish they'd make their filler more entertaining.

Overall, though, I thought it was a pretty good show with a great female lead. And it hit my love of secret identities, scheming, and revenge plots :)

[convenientalias]

I Rate Cdramas Based on "Birth Secret" Subplot

I continue my habit of rating cdramas based on arbitrary things! Lately I've been thinking about how many cdramas I've watched with subplots where the main character finds out they were adopted (or maybe already knew) and discovers who their real parents were. I think it's definitely a trope that can be done well or sloppily, can be intriguing and dramatic or just kind of boring and contrived. Here are my thoughts on cdramas containing the trope--by necessity there will be some spoilers, but I'll try not to spoil everything:

Ancient Detective--Personally I think only revealing a character's "birth secret" (of sorts) in a voiceover in the final moments of the show, without actually revealing it to the character himself, in a bid for a second season, is a massive disappointment. There were some good moments of dramatic irony if you guessed the secret ahead of time (...which is not that hard) but otherwise, what is the point of the reveal if it doesn't affect the plot? 1/10.

City of Streamer--On the one hand, maybe this show should get extra points for having so MANY characters have unexpected parentage (the entire Rong family to some extent, Feng Shizhen obviously, Feng Shizhen's missing brother, Meng Jiu...) but since all these secrets were more or less tied together, I'll refrain. Mixed feelings on the incest scare, it did stress me out but it was also kind of great and wow, Rong Jiashang really did just say "Huh, I might be half siblings with this woman I'm in love with but let's not go into that." A bit all over the place but I enjoyed the ride and especially the conclusion. Also sometimes a birth secret brings you and your ex-employer back together for a renewed revenge quest and I think that's beautiful. 7/10.

The Disguiser--I thought for a while it would turn out that Ming Tai's secret dad would be Wang Tian Feng. This would have been regrettable to me for shipping reasons, but more compelling plot-wise than Ming Tai's secret dad turning out to be some random Communist. I guess there were a couple good scenes involved in their plotline but I can barely remember them anymore. I do remember that Ming Tai got pissed at his dad for abandoning him, which is very valid. Also the Ming family's whole composition is so messy and interesting. 3/10 on the whole.

The Flame's Daughter--Lie Ruge's birth secret doesn't interest me much but it is plot relevant (in that it affects her approach to taking down Anye Luo). Zhan Feng's birth secret, however?? Means that he killed his own damn father, and did so because he was manipulated by someone who turns out to have had no relation to him. So THAT'S fun. Averaging the two, I'd give a 7/10.

Granting You a Dreamlike Life--I legitimately don't care about Tianying being (surprise, surprise) a member of the Lin family bc I simply don't care that much about the Lin family. They are the most boring family in the show, including the Duan family that Tianying was adopted into. That said, as far as adoptive siblings plotlines go, I think Duan Tianci being engaged to Tianying is a satisfying subplot in that Tianying is realistically horrified by the whole thing, having always seen Tianci as a brother, and it does create a lot of dramatic conflict. And I like Tianying's necklace-that-reveals-her-parentage. I give it a score of 3/10. It's pretty boring but not awful.

Handsome Siblings--This show is the peak example of using this trope for dramatic irony rather than a surprising twist. The first episode SHOWS you the twins with their parents--you know exactly who their parents are--but do the twins get to know their parentage/who their sibling is? Not until the LAST DAMN EPISODE, people! And you're itching for them to find out the entire time--it's a reveal with serious stakes! It's a reveal that sheds a new light on the events of the show and on the morality of multiple characters, and on characters' relationships! Handsome Siblings milked this trope for all it was worth. 10/10.

Joy of Life--Honestly it's hard to judge how I feel about this one until I see season two and see what the show intends to do with its revelations. I actually had this twist spoiled for me way early in the game, but I did enjoy seeing the revelation. Ultimately though, Fan Xian has so many dads, does his biological dad really matter? The answer is yes but it's hard to see HOW it will matter until we see how he moves forward knowing the truth. ???/10.

Nirvana in Fire--The reveal of who Jingrui's dad is (and Xie Yu having tried to kill him in the past) comes kind of out of nowhere in a sense (Southern Chu? since when were they involved with any of this?) but also doesn't entirely, in that the whole baby mix-up always did seem a little too outlandish and coincidental for Da Liang's court, where everything is a result of political and often insidious machinations. It's ridiculous, it's grim, it's shocking, and it somehow fits the plot and characters without feeling like too much of a reach. Jingrui's birthday party is a hot mess and I don't think you can watch Nirvana in Fire without it sticking in your head as a turning point and an Event to Remember, and Jingrui's birth secret is right in the center of the chaos. It's kind of stupid but it works, and so I must give it a 6/10.

Winter Begonia--The reveal of Shang Xirui's parentage is unique in two ways. First, while Shang Xirui finds out who his parents were, he deliberately hides the truth from his last remaining family member--not for that family member's own good (though it's arguable she would be upset to learn the truth) or because he dislikes that family member, but because revealing his identity would prevent him from continuing to perform opera. Opera is paramount to him; a long lost family can't matter as much, even if it breaks his heart to give it up. He's willing to abandon his own heritage if it means keeping instead the identity he's built for himself in the Shang family and as an opera singer. Secondly, the second part of this reveal--that the Shang family more or less knew who he was but hid it specifically to keep him on as an opera singer, bc even as a child he showed talent--is so surprising and hurtful, and yet. And yet Shang Xirui's priorities are the same. And yet Shang Xirui, even given the chance to rectify the situation, chooses to turn away. Absolutely insane. And this show didn't remotely need a birth secret plotline to begin with, it just shoved in every plotline it could find. 10/10.

Honorable Mentions:

If I included ppl whose parentage is known to themselves but eventually revealed to others I'd just be including every secret identity drama out there. BUT.

Word of Honor: Had me convinced right along with Zhou Zishu that Wen Kexing had to be Rong Xuan's son, and then Wen Kexing denies it so vehemently and you're like??? then who the fuck are you! Quite a ride.

Addicted Heroin: The two leads' parents are married and they both HATE that their parents have remarried but they don't know that their parents are married to each other (they don't live with those parents--one lives alone and one lives with his single father) and so become friends with each other without realizing they're stepsiblings and are extremely deep in UST by the time the revelation comes and the fallout is absolutely glorious.