#spoilers for chang yue jin ming

[the-music-maniac]

It is so rare for me to genuinely enjoy the way a cdrama straight romance is being written, so I'm holding onto these two and never letting go - y'all I'm only on episode 9 rn and I'm writing this based on what I've seen of 9 episodes but if Tantai Jin and Ye Xiwu don't get a happy ending I will actually be SO fucking upset.

And I've been sitting here and thinking about why these two hit so different for me, when I've sat through countless other heterosexual cdramas with my mom and have been unable to get invested in any of them (I got invested in danmei shows but never straight romances purely because of the way they were written) and I have a couple reasons. And because this show has eaten my brain I'm gonna talk about it and write a fucking love letter to the one show that has made me FEEL SOMETHING ABOUT THE MAIN COUPLE SINCE FOREVER.

1. This is a legitimate enemies to lovers plotline:

Like I've noticed with cdramas that are not danmei - when they write "enemies to lovers"? It's never legitimately enemies to lovers. Either the reason for being enemies is really shallow and easily solved, or only one side hates the other, or - my least favourite - they start off as genuinely enemies for a legit reason but then the guy falls in love super damn quickly at the first sign of the girl being nice and the rest of the drama is spent with the guy desperately chasing the girl while the girl is ambiguous to him before slowly falling in love. Hah? Ey why did he fall in love so quickly, huh? I thought the reasons he hated her were real and legitimate (I'm looking at you Romance of Tiger and Rose)?

This drama is genuinely attempting an enemies to lovers relationship. Like Ye Xiwu has a super legit reason to despise Tantai Jin and the same vice versa. Ye Xiwu knows Tantai Jin kills all the people she loves in the future - and yet this man is not quite that person yet, hasn't done much wrong at this point. And meanwhile Tantai Jin knows Ye Xiwu as just another one of his abusers, one he's married to - but little does he know that this Ye Xiwu isn't that person anymore. Basically, they have legitimate dislike for each other in the beginning. They don't fall in love at the first sign of the other person being not like they thought they were - as they SHOULDN'T, it wouldn't make sense. Instead they're slowly getting to know each other. And they repeatedly look out for each other in the beginning but it's clear that the motivation is not love. And even as we go, you can see that they're starting to realize that the other person might be someone worth knowing but they still don't TRUST each other. And fuck that slow burn is SO GOOD and is what's missing in so many cdramas. Even when Ye Xiwu makes up that excuse for why she keeps saving Tantai Jin, that she "likes him" - you can see that Tantai Jin is taken aback in a good way but still doesn't trust it. And meanwhile Ye Xiwu is fully aware of her real goal. Like that?? That's my fucking shit. It doesn't make sense for them to trust each other that quickly and the slow development of it is what I live for.

2. Minimal fanservice scenes that make no sense - maximal scenes that progress the relationship.

I'm gonna use the scene in episode 3 as an example - that moment when Ye Xiwu touches the flowers and gets blasted in the face with the powder and Tantai Jin runs forward to steady her. They were standing next to each other, so the show totally could've gotten away with one of them landing on the other, and another fanservice cdrama would have done that and used it as a way for them to wake up in a romantic situation. But no, in this one they someone landed APART despite the fact that one of them had his arms around the other, and the resulting camera shot was sO DAMN COOL. And the moment when Ye Xiwu fell back, it wasn't some dramatic swooning into Tantai Jin's arms. And then they both faceplanted. We love gender equality LMAO. But that's what I'm talking about, this show knows to pick it's moments. It's aware that now is not the time for a scene like that, and the lack of jarring fanservice scenes that don't fit with the vibe and tension of the moment is so refreshing. And the short fanservice romantic moments that do happen?? Goosebumps. Like for example when the flower demon realized Ye Xiwu was trying to rescue Tantai Jin and said "together then" and pulled Ye Xiwu up into the swirling thing - and they were face to face with the soundtrack swelling. Short and sweet, and both of them look suitably surprised - y'all I loved it.

3. The respect this show affords the female characters.

This shouldn't be a rare thing. IT REALLY SHOULDN'T. But the amount of cdramas where the main female lead acts all dumb and cute to endear herself to the "bad boy" male lead, and y'know what I shouldn't say act because half the time the female lead is GENUINELY DUMB - and keeps getting into deep shit so the man has to go rescue her.

Or THE ONE I HATE THE MOST, the main female lead is a competent, intelligent character that's super powerful, and then somehow loses all her braincells and ability the minute she meets the male lead because the plot needs a way for the male lead to repeatedly save her as a romantic trope. The shows that think that they can't write a romance when the female lead is on equal or higher standing then the male lead in terms of skill or intelligence. Leave. Leave immediately.

This show?? Nah. No Ye Xiwu is just as smart as she was at the beginning of the show, and even though her magic is greatly diminished she's still able to strategize and use it effectively. She's a match for Tantai Jin in terms of intelligence and ability and WHY IS THAT SO RARE TO SEE IS IT SO MUCH TO ASK FOR. And just - this is such a small nitpicky detail but the way Ye Xiwu doesn't shy away from nudity or the implication of taking off clothes - WHICH MAKES SENSE CAUSE SHE'S LITERALLY A DEITY like WHY would she be worried about shit like that? The amount of times I've seen female characters who really shouldn't be iffy about nudity shriek and yell when that stuff comes up *screams in frustration*. No but fuck I love Ye Xiwu so much, Tantai Jin went "you wanna search me? Why not get me to take off all my clothes" expecting her to chicken out and this queen looked him dead in the eyeballs and went "do you think that's a hardship" and then sat down on the bed and waited like "bet". AMAZING.

Not only that, the other female characters are afforded a lot of that same respect in the way they're written - the female assistant isn't treated as dumb comedic relief, the kind sister isn't treated as frail even though her initial scenes was about her getting sick from falling in a lake - honestly so far, up to the amount of episodes I've seen there isn't a single female character that's airheaded in that cutesy way I absolutely hate. They're different personalities, different ability levels, different intelligence levels but they're all afforded the same amount of agency as any male character in the show. And fuck, the scene in the flashback with Tantai Jin's mother? First off, I'm weary anytime they touch on tribal stuff in cdramas because sometimes it's some racist bullshit about them being brutes blah blah blah, but while I don't know if this show was accurate in the clothing or demeanor, they depict them in a very positive way - two, there's something so powerful and freeing about seeing her stride down that aisle on her own, head held high, raising her arms up to greet the emperor. They're meeting on equal terms. It was beautifully done. Basically I'm in love with the way they wrote these female characters.

4. The romantic tropes that do occur don't shove gender roles down my throat.

I feel like this is self explanatory, but one thing I've noticed is that cdrama romantic tropes seem to enforce gender roles, to the point where it no longer makes sense in the plot. Like oh this girl is super powerful? Irrelevant she still has to swoon into the man's arms. Man is the breadwinner, is the protective one, the one who gets jealous. Woman is the mediator, is the kind one, the one to be admired for beauty. I am tired. I'm BORED actually? Like I have nothing against people liking those tropes because yeah, they exist for a reason people obviously like them and it's so valid. It's not like I don't get the appeal of swooning into your partners arms. But if it's the ONLY THING you ever see? If the tropes start piling up so that the female character can only ever be soft and feminine and the male character can only ever be strong and masculine, I stop seeing them as individuals, as characters. They're now a caricature of what society thinks men and women should be. They stop having a face. And once they cease being individual characters in my mind, I lose interest.

I like the way this show handles the romantic tropes, because at the beginning it really doesn't make sense for Ye Xiwu to need saving - she's in a safe home and she has more power then Tantai Jin in terms of social standing - and even if she did need saving Tantai Jin for sure wouldn't do it LMAO AS WE SEE WITH THE LAKE THING PFFT 🤣🤣

No but because it doesn't make sense for plot - Tantai Jin is the one being repeatedly rescued even though it's not a role the male lead usually takes in these tropes. And Ye Xiwu does it in a very "swooping in like a cool male lead" type of way. Like when she shoved her brother back after he slashed Tantai Jin's robes? Damn. I'm so gay wtf. Also buying new robes for Tantai Jin *cough* sugar daddy *cough*.

And meanwhile Tantai Jin is allowed to be withdrawn and soft and quiet and still vicious and super competent but in a sassy, bitchy way. My god I love him. He's my babygirl. His little smirk after he roasts someone. I'm so bisexual actually, fuck. Both of them can just step on me But basically neither of them are 100% one or the other - not 100% masculine or feminine gender roles, it's a changing dynamic and it makes them seem like real people.

????. What number is this??? Uh

5. I think. I'm not gonna scroll up. Anyways um.

The SHOTS. The SOUNDTRACK. The CINEMATOGRAPHY.

Beyond the fact that the CGI in this show actually looks passable cause i'm sure they had a bigger budget then some danmei shows i've seen, but HOW did they inject so much bittersweet nostalgia and loss into the flashback wedding scene? That moment when Ye Xiwu runs for Tantai Jin with a sword in hand to kill the birds, her robes flowing out behind her? The demon's garden??? Tantai Jin's bitchy glittery sparkly murder hanfu??? The winter scenery, the winter cloaks, i'm just. THE HIGH PONYTAILS. MAN ARE THEY INCONVENIENT WHEN THEY SWISH AROUND BUT I STILL LOVE THEM.

Also Ye Xiwu's headdress is beautiful and fully INDESTRUCTIBLE 🤣🤣 and I love it.

I, no joke, rewatched that flashback wedding scene no less then seven times, cause I just find it that well done.

Anyways I don't have much to say here everything is just gorgeous.

6. NO FUCKING LOVE TRIANGLES (SO FAR)

Let's hope it stays that way. That is all

This is getting way too long so Imma end it here. Thanks for reading!

[agendratum]

#normal people having normal weddings

[sinna-rou]

imagine if jesus was chinese and also extremely hot and also the devil himself

anyways watch till the end of the moon

[phanique]

The Imperial Coroner Second Opening Video Part 1

I don't remember being that impressed with the first opening video but the second one was good that I wanted to do a post on what the video encompassed.

Edit: I am now rewatching the show again so I can complete my posts and now I understand why I was not impressed with the first video. It is actually because I do not understand the importance of the stuff that happened in the first video, which is because I only started the drama, I definitely will not understand what is being shown.

spoilers below

This is Xue Ru Cheng's desk where he most likely did most of the evil work and on top of it there is a book.

The book that is above the desk is called Shi Jing which is the book that is used for the codes between Xue Ru Cheng and Mo Jiang (I don't remember if that is the actually name but anyway, it is the main general who led the rebel in the army). I am not sure if the Shi Jing codes were also used between other people and Xue Ru Cheng.

Lots of papers. Could be a reference to how this whole thing started (where Yan Ming was finding out more on Chang Wang and was annotating a book) but I do think is more likely on the separate copies of the army's budget due to the next scene.

The next several scenes are different shots of the coins. if you watch the drama you know from the very start, Xiao Jin Yu has noted that counterfeit coins were produced particularly from people coming from Qianzhou.

Here is him looking at the coins.

And then he turns to Chu Chu. The transition is super smooth too.

Soon after he turns, the shot is immediately on the rock pendant (Idk how to describe it) and only after on Chu Chu. This is extremely accurate as when he noticed her more after the exam, he was much more interested in why Chu Chu has the pendant (that is the symbol of relationship between his father Xiao Heng and his mother Xi Ping). Only as the series goes on does he care less about the pendant on more on Chu Chu.

After that it cuts to scenes from the actual drama which I think is them going to Qianzhou.

Now it cuts back to them and they turn to look at Jing Yi and Leng Yue. More scenes from the drama appear (which show them getting 'ambushed' by Qing Luan) before cutting back to them again.

After the above, it shows Xiao Jin Yu and Wu Jiang.

PART 2 (because 10 images per post apparently)

[the-music-maniac]

It will never cease to crack me up that Tantai Jin took over the Jing country cause the demon mask voice thing in his head convinced him to, it's your birthright etc etc. - so he arguably took it over for Evil Reasons™ and then Tantai Jin proceeded to use his newfound power to -

Be an amazing fucking ruler. Like, he did an entire hostile takeover thing with his emo gremlin magic, and instead of being a tyrant tHE FUCKING COUNTRY IMPROVED FOR THE BETTER. That's absolutely hysterical to me.