#happy luo yunxi day

[t-taxiansgf]

૮ ּ ۟. — happy birthday, Luo Yunxi 𖹭 0728

Happy birthday to the incredible Luo Yunxi! As a devoted fan, I can't help but admire the immense talent and versatility you bring to the screen. Your dedication to your craft is evident in every role you take on, and it's truly inspiring to watch you breathe life into each character with such authenticity.

Beyond your extraordinary acting skills, you have a warm and kind-hearted nature that shines through in your interviews and interactions with fans.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the joy and entertainment you've brought into my life. Your performances have been a source of comfort and happiness during both good times and challenging moments.

Luo Yunxi, you hold a special place in my heart, and I want to wish you all the happiness, success, and love that you deserve. May this birthday be filled with unforgettable moments and surrounded by the love of your family, friends, and adoring fans. Thank you for being such an amazing actor and a wonderful person. I cherish you deeply and can't wait to see what incredible roles you'll bring to life in the future. I love you 💙

[storge]

Don't wear a veil next time.

Follow Your Heart (2024) 1.07

[mutantfactor]

Ashes Of Love Run Yu

[sarah-yyy]

what: period cdrama // 40 eps, roughly 55 mins each  where: youku (you can also dl the app) // youtube // coming up soon on viki (usual disclaimer that i do not use eng subs so i don’t speak to the quality of subs) why: do you love watching a poor little meow-meow get tortured in a variety of ways before he decides to go fuck it, i’ll be a demon lord and kill everyone who wronged me?? do you like enemies to fated to kill you lovers??? do you enjoy PAIN AND SUFFERING??? this is the show for you

meet tantai jin, the cdrama fandom’s newest obsession 

cursed prince of the Jing kingdom who was sent as a hostage to a neighbouring kingdom. he’s been unloved and bullied all his life - think, discarded and left to die by his own father, kicked around by servants, begging for scraps of food, abandoned and slowly betrayed by everyone around him... it’s NOT GOOD buddies, you will watch his life unfold and you will become attached and want to let him do whatever the fuck he wants 

surprise surprise this sad pathetic man will one day become

THE demon lord who destroys all of humanity etc etc. look at this wardrobe upgrade??? amazing. beautiful. bad for humanity but great for him. good job, bud, you did well.

ANYWAY this show opens with demon lord tantai jin (affectionate) going on his lil’ murder spree (understandable). the fate of humanity as we know it to be rests on the shoulders of one li susu

to defeat tantai jin, she will transmigrate to the past into the body of ye xiwu (tantai jin’s evil wife who whips him every night (not in the fun way sorry buds) and tortures/bullies him for because it pleases her) to try to kill him while he’s weak, before he turns evil and amasses power. this is for the good of humanity!!! but also he’s truly so pathetic in the past that she can’t quite seem to put her heart into it (there’s also this whole finding his evil bone and getting rid of that before she can kill him problem but HMMM) and decides that?? maybe if she shows him some care and love??? she’ll subvert his murdermurdermurder tendencies????

this is the gist of the show!! there are a few arcs that we go through like all good xianxia cdramas, so we get to see them live through a few different lives (think: ten miles of peach blossom, pillow book etc etc), and every single dynamic between them is SO GOOD!!!!! we have spicy enemies to lovers!! cutesy arranged marriage between strangers to lovers (who don’t communicate enough for them to be happy)!!! star-crossed lovers fated to kill one another!!! 

the show is so goddamn pretty!! the aesthetics!!! the cgi!!!! the costumes ohmygod, i have never wanted to buy so many headdresses before

LOOK AT THIS!!! HOW PRETTY WAS THIS!!!!

he’s got this whole demon look LOCKED IN who else does it as well as my boy tantai jin

this show is very PRETTY but make no mistake there will be a lot of angst!!! that’s part of what makes it so good!! luo yunxi does Tortured, Feral and Deranged™ SO WELL i weep every time i see him on screen, i have truly not been Okay since this show started airing, buddies please join me in till the end of the moon hell, you will not regret it, promise 😇✨

⚠❗ few post-finale thoughts so y’all go into it with full disclosure (and can’t yell at me for inflicting pain on y’all, just know what i am also Suffering™) - stop reading from here if you want no spoilers for the show at all. 

trigger warning: there is some dubcon in ep 14 (stretches between approx. the 25:00-27:25 min mark) between ming ye and sang jiu 

we were all hoping for a happy ending, but this ends on a bad-open scale, depending on how you look at it. @minmoyu​ has helpfully directed me to a happy audio-epilogue which was apparently shot but didn’t make its way into the episode?? we still dk if the footage will be released as an extra?? we can all form a prayer circle and HOPE i guess

the plot is HMM the further to the end we get, probably because they had to cut the eps down, so it’s a little choppy, esp the last few scenes??? idk idk. it’s a bit exhausting to watch towards the end, because you root for ttj so so much and he tries so so hard and SIGH. i need another few working days to digest this, i’m still a bit :/ about the ending

would i still rec the show, post-watch? yes! this show starts off really solid, and luo yunxi carried the show throughout. like. y’all thought lyx was good in ashes of love?? watch him in this. every single micro-expression was flawless. bai lu’s acting is always so dependable, and it’s the same with this show!  

this show has an a+++ ost (i mean it’s got the king and queen of cdrama osts liu yuning and zhang bichen, literally how could this be bad)!! and CERTAIN side characters are so so good (pian ran my baby girl, ye qingyu who grows on you, decidedly NOT bingchang/tian huan/mo nv although i will concede that chen duling’s acting in this show was Incredible). 

[gizkasparadise]

hello, fellow kids

some recovery options for the ending of till the end of the moon:

want luo yunxi and bai lu actually happy, together, and in love? check out love is sweet

want an epic xianxia full of multiple lifetimes, angst, a male lead who experiences a lot of aesthetic suffering and outfit changes, but manages to stick the landing and deliver a coherent and happy ending? try love and redemption

or maybe you’re feeling the other way, and want a time travel romance that ends bittersweetly due to the inevitability of its conclusion, but still makes narrative and cohesive sense? try someday or one day

want to see a costume cdrama male lead get to go a little unhinged, as a treat, but still have a good ending? try love like the galaxy

want to see a costume cdrama male lead go a lot of unhinged, as a threat, but decidedly not get a good ending? try goodbye my princess

feel free to add some drama bandages!

[lyxurious]

Follow Your Heart/颜心记 ep1-6 impressions

(w/ some spoilers under the cut)

-I've only had Yan Nanxing for less than a day but if anything happened to her I would kill everyone in this room and them myself

-I wish whoever cast Song Yi with Luo Yunxi a very happy weekend and a raise, the chemistry is already chemistrying. Lowkey already want a second collaboration, they are so sweet and so on the same wavelength already

-many more action scenes than i expected and wonderfully choreographed and executed

-the plot/lore on some things is a bit flimsy swiss cheese at this point, but i won't judge a 40 ep show on only 6, still plenty of time to get better and connect threads

(spoilers under the cut)

-the scene where he was drunk and gently touching her face wondering what she looks like? *chef's kiss* made for me

-i know that the part where she burned the toxic flower field for him was supposed to be a bold and lowkey romantic gesture from his POV, but all i could think of "congrats, you just created toxic fumes for miles". i hope that village was okay

-(ep6) looking forward to how they figure out he is her childhood sweetheart who she (seems to be) looking for all these years

[myechoecho]

I actually watched the episode of Love is Sweet yesterday since it’s been on my dash. It’s sort of a palate cleanser.

The premise is ridiculous (she’s allergic to tears? and can die if she cries? is this really a thing?), I don’t care about the finance world and I’ve heard that the plot is thin.

BUT

It looks fluffy and sweet. Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu still have great chemistry. Plus I’ve seen enough gif sets to know that you can pull some parallels to TTEOTM  It has a happy ending so I choose to believe that Tantai Jin got out of the shell and this is Tantai Jin and Li Susu’s modern day arc.

[shijiujun]

Literally my one and only long post on TTEOTM ending:

Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu really gave stellar performances if they don’t win every award out there especially for Luo Yunxi who played every single nuanced version of sad, depressed, happy, sinister, vengeful, longing, pining and devotion out there like who else could?!

Also like the ending really left big question marks on Ye Qingyu and GYJW and YBC demon you know like???

---

CGI was damn amazing and production etc. was top-tier, but danggg will yall pls fix that ending?! Also a fun note that TTEOTM sold up to 13M RMB worth in merchandise DURING the airing period and broke some records I think 

---

BE or OE or HE and does it matter?

Yes appreciating BEs is one thing and BEs are certainly great for certain plots and shows, BUT-

We’ve seen this BE in xianxia and sometimes wuxia/historical as if writers are dumping set BEs in just for fun, it’s almost always the same formula and not every show requires the same treatment? At this point we’re all certain none of the xianxias maybe a bit of the wuxia/historical too are going to end well (Immortal Samsara, Novoland, One and Only although I’d say O&O was perhaps deserved) or we get OEs (Winner is Love, LYX’s previous xianxia), or we get the split-second HEs (omg where do I begin, Eternal Love, CLJ, Pillow Book, The Blue Whisper, omg the list goes on) - I’m almost expecting either full BE or the guy to die and then turn up when the female lead turns around on a street or at home or whatever hundreds of years later cuz he comes back but you may or may not see him on screen

TTJ for one, based on his character and personality, was trying so hard to make things work, to give and give and give to the people he loved and the people who gave to him - sure, the writer wrote it as a BE and i respect that, but they also wrote the HE i.e. it’s canon, and the show not giving us that for whatever reason is depressing because the moral of the story is TTJ suffered so fucking much and led such a tired life just for a few happy moments and still was the sacrificial lamb. Yes he was happy too or whatever, he understood the circumstances, but is it so hard to give the canon HE ending to it and giving him the ending he truly deserves for all that he’s done?!

Also it was a strangely cut ending for a BE/OE whatever that was, like three stitched frames that faded out into each other, like I don’t know what the editors were doing but oomph an undeserved ending is one thing, and undeserved AND weirdly cut ending is another thing

And yeah if we read it as him being in the clam then yes it’s a mild HE but leaning towards an OE, and if we count the audio drama snippet sure HE, but no that don’t count!!!!

I feel pretty calm after the initial confusion since we already knew it was likely going to be BE BUT this calm is at the expense of watching TTJ suffer 10,000 times in the past 40 episodes we’ve been desensitized for the last death like don’t tell me yall aren’t tired of this show as much as you love it I AM EXHAUSTED MENTALLY - the “ok” i feel probably isn’t because it’s really ok because if we chose, we’d probably think he deserves his rest and happiness after 500+ years of suffering with happy days he can probably count on one hand 

---

Read the novel for the HEs: This is literally the only thing that’ll save you unless Youku gives us a good video cut tomorrow or end of the week you know?! You’ll truly see what TTJ deserved and we know he didn’t deserve this because WE DON’t EVEN HAVE TO WRITE THE FIX-IT OURSELVES IT LITERALLY EXISTS?!?!?!

But TBF, personally, I have slightly different feelings on the novel because Susu didn’t seem to love him as much at the end as she did in the drama, the drama did that beautifully

---

TL;DR Tantai Jin deserved better, and the us who suffered with TTJ deserved better just on principle!!!

[mycatwantstoeatpins]

I need to yell about Sang Jiu.

Below the cut because this is very long and it has many spoilers for Till the End of the Moon up till episode 17.

So Till the End of the Moon is about Tantai Jin (played by Luo Yunxi) and Li Susu / Ye Xiwu (played by Bai Lu), but starting at episode 11 the characters enter a sleeping spirit's dream and we get the story of Sang Jiu (a clam spirit, played by Bai Lu) and Ming Ye (the God of War, played by Luo Yunxi).

Episode 11

Ming Ye's fighting a war against the Devil God who's trying to destroy the world; Sang Jiu lives in the Mo river with her father and brother (Sang You) and watches Ming Ye from afar because she has a crush on him.

Episode 12

In one of their battles, the Devil God injures Ming Ye and he falls from the sky into Sang Jiu's river; she carries him to safety and draws away the Devil God's soldiers. But Tian Huan (Goddess of Flying Snakes, daughter of the former God of War and in love with Ming Ye) secretly steals the crystal from the Water-Calming Stone to keep Ming Ye alive - the crystal keeps the river spirits alive but she thinks they're too lowly to care about.

Sang Jiu sacrifices her own divine essence to replace the crystal, putting herself at risk of being overwhelmed by her demonic energy (previously suppressed by her cultivation and divine essence). Sang Jiu's dad guilts Ming Ye into marrying Sang Jiu so she can go to the immortal realm and be healed there. Tian Huan is in a coma so she doesn't know about this yet.

[Description: a hazy still of Ming Ye and Sang Jiu in their white and red wedding clothes.]

Ming Ye and Sang Jiu fly to the immortal realm in their wedding pavilion. For this whole scene they keep looking sideways at each other but they're both too shy to speak. On the journey, Sang You tells Ming Ye that the river spirits may be insignificant to the gods, but he'd better look after Sang Jiu. Ming Ye promises and Sang Jiu thinks '我一定会幸福的 / I will have a happy life.' (foreshadowing!)

And then she sits in her bedroom for hours waiting for him and eventually falls asleep. The next day, he tells her there's nothing between them and that he'll never enter her bedroom. The two maids who serve in his household tell Sang Jiu he has no hobbies and spends all his time training or fighting.

Episode 13

Sang Jiu begins to win Ming Ye over by taking up war training, sharing food with him and generally being adorable. She meets Ming Ye's friends, Chu Huang the Goddess of Space and Ji Ze the God of Time, who are stunned to realise he's falling in love. Chu Huang gives Sang Jiu a gift of divine power that will connect her to Ming Ye, but only once.

Sang Jiu begins to succumb to her rising demonic energy and visits Sang You who tells her what's happening and asks why Ming Ye hasn't dual cultivated with her to help her suppress it.

[Description: Sang You, all set to storm heaven because the God of War isn't treating his little sister right.]

Sang Jiu asks Ming Ye to dual cultivate with her and he agrees (!). They have a nice time. Meanwhile, Tian Huan wakes up and sees them. Ming Ye tells Sang Jiu to come and see him whenever she needs to suppress her demonic energy.

Tian Huan is pissed and goes to see Ming Ye, who tells he and Sang Jiu will leave the palace if she doesn't want to share it with them. Tian Huan finds Sang Jiu that Ming Ye finds her annoying and that dual cultivating is harmful to him and weakens him in battle. She offers to help Sang Jiu suppress her demonic energy.

[Description: close-up of Tian Huan looking at Sang Jiu (offscreen) as she says, 'You thought you were special? / 以为你是特别的']

Later, Ming Ye wonders why Sang Jiu has stopped coming to him for dual cultivation and gathers some starlight to give to her. Sang Jiu goes to Tian Huan for help with her demonic energy, and Tian Huan tricks her into bathing in caustic water. Tian Huan finds Ming Ye and tells him Sang Jiu has been avoiding him because she's fallen in love with someone else.

Episode 14

Sang Jiu recalls a story her father told her about two gods who tested the sincerity of a king, causing him to dismember himself. (foreshadowing!) Ming Ye continues to pine, but doesn't go to Sang Jiu or talk to her for. Reasons. Presumably.

Ming Ye and the other gods hold a council and make a plan to sacrifice themselves to finally defeat the Devil God. Ming Ye expects to die, and obviously talking to his wife is out of the question, so he sends Sang Jiu a certificate of divorce. When she goes to see him, he puts up a magical barrier between them.

She asks why he's divorcing her and he tells her he's tired of her. Sang Jiu says she thought she could endure enough suffering to prove her sincerity, like the king in the story, (he almost breaks here) and asks if he ever felt anything for her.

Obviously it isn't enough just to say he didn't love her. Instead he says:

Sang Jiu, from the moment you and I arrived in the Shangqing realm on our wedding carriage, to the moment you ate the untouched divine fruit, and to your each and every move when we were together, never, I've never loved you.

[Description: a close up of Sang Jiu as Ming Ye tells her he never loved her.]

(Bai Lu is so good in this scene at being hurt and vulnerable and I didn't even fully appreciate it until later.)

Ming Ye gets drunk in his bedroom. Sang Jiu puts her wedding dress on, tells Ming Ye he still owes her a wedding night, spends the night with them, then leaves.

The gods go to war against the Devil God.

Episode 15

The gods are still fighting the Devil God and we get

this song

We fight in songs till the universe darkens

Till everything sinks into cinder

Life or death is as common as a smile

Go ahead and use my body to block the enemies

I won't regret burning in fire or [being] broken into pieces

Even if there's only a glimmer of hope

(yes, I do like power metal)

All the gods die except Ming Ye, who's badly wounded. Sang Jiu is living by herself in a house by the river. When she hears about Ming Ye, she uses Chu Huang's gift to find his body in the Ruo River. He's reverted to his original form (a tiny dragon), so she puts him in a bowl of water with medicinal herbs to nurse him back to health.

He recovers enough to regain his human form, but he's blind and doesn't recognise her voice. She thinks when he can see her, they'll never see each other again. She cares for him and continues to look for a way to restore his sight.

Episode 16

Ming Ye asks Sang Jiu to buy wine that he can pour out for his dead friends.

Later, Sang Jiu tells him that when he regains his sight she'll leave immediately and he can have the house. While she's combing his hair his sight comes back and he sees her face in the mirror, but pretends he's still blind so she won't leave. (again, he can't ask her to stay. for. reasons.)

While Sang Jiu is out looking for herbs, Tian Huan finds Ming Ye.

(It's hard to capture in a screenshot but his body language is so different whenever he's talking to Tian Huan. He stands very straight and rigid and does this flick of his sleeves, and everything he says is cold and abrupt.)

Tian Huan asks him to help her find and neutralise the Devil God's Bone-Refining Seal. He leaves a letter for Sang Jiu telling her he'll return, but Tian Huan stays behind and burns it.

They find the seal and Ming Ye goes into seclusion to purify the seal so he can use it to restore Sang Jiu's divine essence. He thinks 'Maybe I can get some good luck' (foreshadowing!)

[Tumblr ate the rest so I'll finish it later]

[mejomonster]

"Tantai Jin, I swear I'll kill you." You probably will babe. Buy also you'll want to not one day WILD

I LOVE I'm so grateful so BEYOND grateful the leads are bai lu and Luo yunxi. I LOVE bai lu so much I would NOT be this hype if it were anyone but her. I love her energy, she brings such a Strong energy when she plays a protagonist. Even in her "traditional good daughter of good sect" premise i already can connect. I think a part of it (which I've seen mentioned with some actors) is she doesn't feel she downplays her acting to "look good/graceful." When she's crying or screaming she's giving it her all, when she's smiling she'll do a full smile and not soften it, when she's playing a role she'll TAKE those character feelings and give them raw to the audience she won't filter it into "oh but what's pretty or graceful or small or blah". It's great when she plays comedy, it makes her have that like brash violent kind boy hero big Personality when she plays heroine (which is sometimes more softened or meek or dumb when written for heroines instead of a guy), it makes her HOLD her own as a show lead. For all Luo yunxi is HIM, and I love watching HIM. Her presence is so SOLID and felt that she can carry a show. She is carrying the opening. She would make this watchable even with an otherwise unmemorable cast (though thankfully we seem to have a GREAT cast so far). Anyway just SO happy to whoever picked her for the lead. She's also great at nuance and many facets of a character. She can put more in a role than one flat main trait, she's good at dynamic stuff so as Su Su does get more revealed to us she will show more interesting various facets I think.

And Luo yunxi... thank youuuuu for casting. (A fun fact about him is I see him in xianxia and period etc dramas SO much he looks like. So at home in a wig. Like they know how to style it, how he's usually having it styled, so my brain just goes like "yep that's just how he looks" and I forget he actually has short hair lol)

[dreamingsushi]

Till the End of the Moon - Episode 14

I don’t think I have been so captivated by a drama in a while. I mean, I haven’t been watching for a long time, I’m rather on and off, but this is so far the one I’m going through the fastest ever since the Untamed.  I really can’t stop myself from wanting to watch more and more and more. I can’t say it’s a 100% original and never seen, a lot of ideas are recurrent to other xianxia drama, but I don’t know, this one keeps me excited and I’m very so much in love with the costumes. And they fixed Luo Yunxi’s wig, which makes me very happy. It’s so sad when a bad wigs keeps the focus away from what’s important!

Sang Jiu is covered in red spots from soaking in the poisoned water. She remembers a story about a king that cut off parts of his body to save a dove, which was a test from the gods to measure his sincerity. He ends up ascending as a god after offering his whole body. Sang Jiu doesn’t want Mingye to worry about her, so she needs to endure the pain silently. I don’t quite understand how she links both the story and her needs together. The king sacrificed himself to protect something. You could argue that she doesn’t co-cultivate with Mingye to protect him and his future as a full god, but I feel it’s not quite it. She never even talked to him about his concerns and just stupidly believes Tian Huan. I kind of annoys me. A lot.

Mingye is worried about Sang Jiu because he hasn’t seen her in a while. She lies to him saying that she’s going back home for a few days. They miss each other and worry about each other. She concentrates her demonic energy to make a bag of pearls for him. Once the battle is over, Mingye plans to go see Sang Jiu, even if she tries to avoid him.

After a report on the movement of the Demon god’s troops, Mingye meets with the other deities as to how they will defeat the Demon god because as long as there will be suffering in the world, he will remain immortal. I’ve seen some comments about how some people really liked the visuals of this meeting, but as for myself, I’m not so much of a fan. Albeit being pretty with al the images representing each god behind them, i found it very hard to follow who was talking, especially when it was spinning and twirling around between each god and goddess, it actually made me quite dizzy. Now basically, they are planning the creation of Huangyuan, which will entrap Jize, god of time, and Mingye who’ll use his true form to hold down the demon god while Chu Huang, goddess of space, will take the evil bone to seal it away. So now here’s my new theory on the identity of the masked man. He’s the voice inside of Tantai Jin’s head and he chose him as his vessel because in his previous life he was the one to defeat him. Or something similar to that.

Mingye sends divorce papers to Sang Jiu because he thinks she found the one she loves and wants to free her before he goes to kill the demon god and die. Upon seeing those papers, Sang Jiu doesn’t understand. Tian Huan is super happy about it, probably because she thinks she separated them and took him away from her so she could have him, when he’s actually doing this for the sake of Sang Jiu’s happiness (wrong move though) and because no one will be able to have him once he dies. He’s definitely wrong and should have gone to see her instead of only relying on the words of a woman who threw a tantrum about him marrying someone else instead of her. I mean, how does that sound like a good idea? It really goes to show that people are fools in love. Sang jiu tries to get to Mingye, but he won’t let her come close. And here’s another example of miscommunication. Sang Jiu was avoiding him because she thought he was angry at her, he thinks she met someone else, everybody is miserable (except for Tian Huan, but she doesn’t know what misery is). He tells her that he was forced to marry her by her father, that he didn’t like her to begin with and that he’s tired of her pestering him. Why say that and not tell the truth? So we need the demon god out, I’m going to take care of it, so he’ll most likely take me down too, I heard you met someone, I hope you will be happy and that you’ll enjoy the world I protected. Why be so mean? There’s no point in lying. Especially when it hurts you both. He gives her 24 hours to leave the palace. She asks him if he ever liked her even a tiny little bit, but he says he never has. Definitely a big lie seeing his tear at the corner of his eye. I really don’t understand the need for the lie if he believes that she likes someone else. Why all the angst? This is so frustrating, but also why I’m signed up for any drama.

Mingye is drowning his sorrows in liquor. Meanwhile, Sang Jiu puts back on her wedding dress and goes to Mingye’s room. I guess that now they’re not married anymore the contract part that stipulates that they can’t go to each other’s room is void. I’m not too okay with what’s going on. Before leaving, she wants to sleep with him, because she deems he owes her her wedding. So she gives him som toxin she created to weaken his body and it also takes away his voice. And I thought Ursula was a bad mean witch. At least she only took the voice away as payment and Ariel was consentant. It makes me very uneasy when sex is forced upon someone, whether they might want it or not. That is not a respectful way of sharing that bond with someone you love. Actually, you would never ever even think about it. At least he doesn’t seem so mad about it and goes along pretty willingly. I just wish that kind of behaviour wouldn’t be portrayed as something okay on TV. This is damaging. You can’t disguise this into something romantic, it’s just not and will never be.

Both sides are getting ready for war. The demon god extracts the evil bone out of his body and starts his attack. I don’t like the special effects. It really is way too much. Sang Jiu worries about Mingye. I love the battle’s epic soundtrack. Mingye is luring the three demons away from the demon god. The fighting choreography is so elegant. I really enjoy beautiful sword fights. The overall big battle gods against demons is kind of meh. It’s slow and boring. It’s getting more about special effects than a well organized dance, which is actually what I like best in c-dramas usually. It’s a bit lacking in this sense. Mingye is in a bad posture, however the demon god is weaker now that he’s taken the evil bone out. Mingye manages to trap the demon god to have him killed. Chu Huang takes care of the evil bone before the demon god can actually escape the trap. Now no one can leave the demon realm. One of the three demons have the sign of Chu Huang’s power and uses it to escape, letting the demon lord escape too. Jize sends Mingye out, sacrificing the last of his divine energy. Chu Huang is interrupted by the demon while sealing the evil bone. Seems he’s someone from her past. He wants to have the evil bone to become the king of all three realms, so he would be good enough for her. She doesn’t want him anymore now that he showed his true colours. The demon god interrupts their reunion. When he’s about to kill Chu Huang, Mingye comes to the rescue. And end of this episode.

What a lot of things happened in the last fifty minutes. Some of it really don’t sit well with me still. There was a lot of miscommunication between our two main leads. We are most likely near the end of the dream arc I guess. It would have been a short but very painful substory. To be honest, I’m pretty sure next episode is going to be very heartbreaking.

[zucchan]

The dumb husky and his white cat shizun: chapter 78

The night grew deeper, music and song drifting without cease from the warmly lit palace. Chu Wanning was still kneeling. His leg had gone numb long ago. “Zongshi… go back…” The old servant sounded like he was about to sob. “Please go back, your body can’t take this. You know how His Majesty is, if you fall sick from this, he probably won’t even send a physician. You have to take care of yourself.” Chu Wanning said softly: “This ruined body is hardly worth anything. I’m willing to die If I can just stop him from attacking Kunlun Palace.” “Zongshi! W-why go to such lengths…” The Chu Wanning in the dream was already greatly weakened. He coughed a few times, but his eyes were still clear and bright: “Everything that he is today, all of it was my fault. I… cough cough.” He couldn’t finish speaking before being overtaken by an alarmingly violent coughing fit. Chu Wanning covered his mouth with his sleeve, tasting iron in his throat. His hand was covered in blood when he pulled away, crimson against the snow white world (x)

hyxpleasecomehome the series

[duyeqing]

Otter on Luo Yunxi as Chu WanNing

A translation:

@罗云熙Leo happy birthday☁️

Each character is a seed, after a long period of creation, incubation and accumulation, hiding in the soil waiting for the right actor. When the two meet and become one, it is the miracle moment when the seed breaks out of the ground and turns the theoretical into reality.

When Luo Yunxi met Chu Wanning, all of us heard the sound of the seeds breaking out from its shell.

The world is complicated, and each character and each drama has its own destiny. Thank you for choosing Chu Wanning, so that he can change from virtual to real, with an otherworldly aura, wind blowing your robe, walk in front of everyone.

During the 153 days in Hengdian, we have seen you sweat. The scorching temperature, high-intensity shooting, and layers of costumes make you sweaty and exhausted after every scene. But when the sun rises the next day, you are still the Luo Yunxi full of energy and high spirits.

During the 153 days in Hengdian, we felt your sincerity. You temporarily forget yourself, and let the soul of Chu WanNing inhabit your body. When you speak, we hear the shizun’s stern or gentle voice, and when you lift the whip, we see the grandmaster's awe-inspiring or tragic demeanor. His subtle and complex characteristics, smelted by your heart, become pure and vivid.

During the 153 days in Hengdian, we admire your persistence. The fierce sun and the little stars have witnessed you filming coming and goings of every day and night. We remember that grueling shooting of the fight scene, in order to complete a shot, you rotated 360° on wires for three hours. "With Shizun here, we can do it.”

It is with these sweat, sincerity, and perseverance that the seed of the character finally grows into a towering tree that stands tall in the sky, swaying above stratified clouds, and looking at the mountains and see them small.

Actor Luo Yunxi, may you always be happy, enthusiastic, magnanimous, lucky, keep this passion forever, and wish you all your wishes come true.

[baoshan-sanren]

Best dramas I’ve watched in 2020 so far (and some not so good ones) Part II

part 1 here

Once Upon a Time in Lingjian Mountain - based on Once Upon A Time, There Was A Spirit Sword Mountain by 国王陛下 (translation dropped at chapter 50 out of 884 back in 2017). A combination of satire/comedy with complex themes. The emotional investment sneaks up on you out of nowhere and hits you like a sack of bricks. An interesting twist on the master/disciple relationship. Meh on the special effects. Excellent female characters. Solid plot, endless fanfic potential, all the found family your heart desires. Much more gay than you’d think. Needs Season 2, but Season 1 can be watched over and over again. 9/10

Handsome Siblings - based on Twin Heroes by Gu Long. Feel good ending. A decent amount of angst. The most heartwarming drama I’ve watched all year. Funny and insightful and a joy to experience. Meh on the special effects. They don’t know they’re brothers. Plot drags only in a few places, and not for very long. A variety of female characters, but mediocre on their portrayals. A sect comprised of only female disciples - I would like to see it. Contains one of the three het couples whose happiness mattered to me in the entirety of 2020. An endless well of hilarity and angst. Can be watched over and over again. 8/10

Love and Redemption - based on The Glass Maiden by Shi Si Lang (translation ongoing). A wild ride from beginning to end. Intentionally and unintentionally funny. Gay subtext. Contains one of the three het couples whose happiness mattered to me in the entirety of 2020. A plethora of excellent and complex side characters. A feral bottom snake god. A merman who gets kidnapped once a week. Buckets of angst and frustration and misunderstandings. Gorgeous aesthetics. The male lead is tortured more often than all the other characters combined, but he looks hot while going through it. A+ for the sheer wildness of the plot, C- for all the misunderstandings; there has to be a limit somewhere. 7.5/10

The Rise of Phoenixes - based on The Rise of Phoenixes by 天下归元 (translation ongoing). Contains one of the three het couples whose happiness mattered to me in the entirety of 2020. If you judge the seriousness of the drama by the relative hotness of the Emperor, casting Ni DaHong should tell you everything you need to know. An abundance of court intrigue, suspense, and humor. Complex themes, steady plot progression, no scene time wasted. Costumes and set design out of this world. Smart and witty. The most thought provoking drama I’ve watched all year. Ni Ni is a goddamn goddess and should be worshipped daily. 10/10

Legend of Two Sisters In the Chaos - based on a novel I can’t seem to track down anywhere. Meng ZiYi must have some serious back pain from carrying all forty episodes on her shoulders. Interesting premise, shaky execution at best. Main het relationship did not excite, nor were the acting skills comparable; Meng ZiYi deserved better. Wang ZhuoCheng gives a decent performance. The drama does pack an emotional punch if you stick around long enough to get invested. Forty episodes long, but sometimes seemed twice that. Definitely entertaining, but not engaging. 6/10

The Wolf - also based on a novel I can’t track down. Too much romance, then angst, then romance. The dreaded love triangle. Dropped the drama three times, then went back because Xiao Zhan. Darren Wang gives decent performance, but does not have much to work with. Li Qin’s skills utterly wasted on this role. If you’re not invested in the love story, you’ll get bored. If you’re invested, you’ll be emotionally numb half-way through. Good fight scenes. Not so good special effects. 5/10 for the actors doing their best with what they had.

Dance of the Phoenix - based on Dragons Flies Phoenix Dances by 明月听风 (translation dropped at chapter 27 out fo 85 in May of 2020). Yu Mingye deserved better. Female main character + mostly female side characters. Excellent + complex villains, also female. Judging by the costumes + special effects, not much of a budget to work with. Cop-out in the last few episodes to neatly tie up the plot that was... not very intricate to begin with. Vastly entertaining but not that deep. Buckets of angst, but plenty of humor to ease the pain. Lan JingYi fights with a fan. Good fanfic potential. Godawful ending. 7/10 for the best villain I’ve encountered all year.

Legend of Fei - based on Bandits by Priest (translation ongoing). Zhao Liying slays. A variety of compelling female characters. Excellent fight choreography. Interesting premise, steadily progressing plot. Potential for many disaster bisexuals. May contain the fourth het romance I’m invested in this year, but it's still too early to tell. Wang Yibo in his element as Xie Yun, may even produce a better performance than his role in The Untamed. The drama is still only 7 episodes in, will give ranking when finished. ?/10

Looking forward to:

Immortality - based on danmei novel The Husky and His White Cat Shizun by 肉包不吃肉 starring Chen Feiyu and Luo Yunxi

Winner Is King - based on the danmei novel Sha Po Lang by Priest starring Tan Jianci and Chen Zheyuan

A Tale of The Wanderers - based on danmei novel Faraway Wanderers by Priest starring Zhang Zhehan and Gong Jun

Douluo Continent - based on xuanhuan novel Soul Land by 唐家三少 starring Xiao Zhan and Wu Xuanyi 

Step By Step Lotus - based on historical novel Return to Ming Dynasty as Prince by 月关 starring Zhang Binbin and Luo Yunxi

Feng Qi Long Xi - based on historical novel of the same name by Ma Bo Yong starring Zhu Yilong and Deng Lun

Sword Snow Stride - based on the xuanhuan novel The Snowy Path of the Heroic Blade by 烽火戏诸侯 starring Zhang Ruoyun and Hu Jun

Heaven Official's Blessing - based on danmei novel of the same name by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu - cast unknown

Thousand Autumns - based on danmei novel of the same name by Meng Xi Shi - cast unknown 

Joy Of Life Season 2 - based on wuxia novel of the same name by 猫腻 starring Zhang Ruoyun and Li Qin

A League of Nobleman - based on danmei novel The Society of Four Leaves by Da Feng Gua Guo starring Song Weilong and Jing Boran

Flying Phoenix - based on danmei novel of the same name by 風弄 starring Dai Jingyao and Shu Yaxin

[dangermousie]

Who is your favorite villian in cdramas?😬

There are so many good ones!

Cdramas don't often give us villain protagonists, but I find Li Chengyin (Goodbye My Princess) and Qin Shi Huang (The King's Woman) break the mold - they are both horrible people, and the dramas make no bones about it, but what breaks them is that they are not monsters enough - they have just enough humanity left to feel terrible when their actions hurt/kill the person(s) they love, but not enough to stop.

Gao Yao in The Myth (the 2010 drama version) is truly memorable. He and Hu Ge's character both end up transported to the Qin Dynasty and both of them are normal nice modern people, but horrific things happen to him one after the other (unlike pretty much every other time travel cdrama out there, The Myth is unique in showing what a true horror show it would be to end in the past) and he finally snaps and starts seeking power as the only thing he can - a lot of the conflict in the drama is his trying to break Hu Ge's character over and over because he wants to justify his own choice to become a monster in response to monstrous things that were done to him and if Hu Ge keeps stubbornly refusing, than it makes his choice not inevitable and therefore keeps him up at night.

Cao Cao in Three Kingdoms 2010 is both a magnetic monster and the protagonist and the villain and I loved him so much even as he cut a swath through my faves.

There are many terrible parents in period cdramas, so many that I'd probably have to type this response until my fingers wore out, but the two lady sect leaders in Handsome Siblings (the Nic Tse version; it's a Hong Kong drama but I am gonna stretch and say it counts; they looked awful in the recent remake but I didn't watch enough to have an opinion) are truly extra terrible because not only do they raise a kid and brainwash him for the express purpose of killing his twin brother as revenge on said kid's long dead father preferring to marry someone else, they just keep gaslighting and abusing him while ranting about how ungrateful he is and how they have no choice, and taking such a delight in it. The father in Royal Nirvana is truly horrifying - so human and you so get why he is the way he is - but somehow that makes him more monstrous. Ling Xiao's mother in Go Ahead is a horrifying, makes me want to scrub my skin off monster, made all the starker because it's not a period cdrama but a modern one and her kind of abuse is so insidious and unstinting and not in your face but utterly wrecking.

If, on the other hand, we are talking about sexy tragic villains I'd love to redeem - Yang Kang as portrayed by Yuan Hong in Legend of Condor Heroes 2008 - they changed the novel arc for his character in a way that probably drove the purists nuts but I adored because it was like Gao Yao's character in The Myth a bit - he tried so hard but finally couldn't any more and then just wanted to take everything down; but unlike GY he did have Mu Nianci's steady love and it brought him out of that dark space eventually, even if he never did get to live to enjoy it. (I wrote oh so many happy fix-it AUs in my head.)

If we are talking "you are a villain and a horrible person and I don't want to redeem you but oh boy I'd love to ride you like a pony provided I can safely leave unmurdered afterwards” otherwise known as "when hormones overrride common sense," Zhou Yi Wei in The Longest Day in Chang'an makes me close my eyes to his villainy and open my legs to his hotness. And Luo Yunxi in Ashes of Love is just YES PLEASE I WILL WORSHIP YOUR DIVINITY even if I think he's a horrible person and a gaslighter and would require more work than an entire car junkyard to be in the vicinity of functional.

[purposelynana]

What Did I Watch: #3

Et dah. Hahahaha. I have finished so much. Most of the things are obviously C-Dramas. Even though the episodes are a lot more than K-Drama, but somehow C-Drama is a lot more enjoyable and I could binge-watching the entire thing without feeling to much guilt.

Okay, let's start with the completed ones.

1. Intense Love

Easy watch. The con is the dubbing just fcking annoying. Whoever filled Zhang Yuxi's voice should just shut the fuck up. But the other Yuxi hahahhaa is adorable.

2. Dating in The Kitchen

The moment they started dating, the conflict is getting more ludicrous. But Lusi is just lovable and basically I can just watched them bickering about the turtle all day long. You only need to turn off your brain if you want to watch this.

3. Love Designer

The premise is good. I swear to God. Dilraba finally can act like she's mature. (Okay she is mature, but everytime she had to act in modern drama, I felt like she was kid trapped in a woman's body). But, huge warning, it's just too long, too repetitive, too huh?, too many PPL, but not in the point I have to laugh. Dilraba is still the queen, though.

4. Criminal: UK

What? Me, watching series and actually finished the entire seasons that available? Fortunately, I was hooked from the beginning and thank God, it wasn't that long. By the way, Kit Harrington still doesn't know a shit.

5. Collateral

At first I was intrigued to watch Broadchurch, but it was already 3 seasons, and I was just too lazy. So in the quest of finding good criminal UK series, I came across this little gem. The story was quite branched to different territories, but as a detective thriller was actually great. And the ending, wow, just gut-wrenching. The very definition of "you can't have all the nice things in the world".

(Anjir ah susah nyari gif-nya, trailernya ga ada yg official.)

6. Love is Sweet

Lemme tell you once again. I don't believe in love, except in dramas.

Yuan Shuai and Jiang Jun got their happy ending. Their real life encounters? Who knows what happen to them. But I wish Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu, a very happy ending for both of them. And I wish to myself that I don't drown myself longer in the drama slump after this.

Now for the unfinished ones.

1. The Stranger, Ep 1

Actually I'm still watching the first episode and don't feel the urge to finish it quickly. I'll take my time and savour every moment. It's not like it's going to dissapear from my watchlist. Starring Richard Armitage guys, the dwarf in The Hobbit. Yeah you would probably forget him.

(Nah, look yourself would ya?)

2. Go Go Squid, Ep 16

Finally I'm here, joining the hype. It's good, despite the embarassment, which happened most of the time.

3. Perfect and Casual, Ep 2

Dammit MangoTV, fix your goddamn subtitle. Hem.