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deadsince1973 · 11 months

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Poll Below

So, I saw someone say yesterday that "most people skim watch Chinese dramas", and that honestly blew my mind. If it has subtitles, I have to watch it and focus on it.

But then several thoughts occurred to me. You see, right now, my friend and I are watching The Longest Promise and The Screen Foxes. To us, The Longest Promise is painfully slow. We thought it was a little slower than most Chinese dramas, but most Chinese dramas are a little bit slow, and The Longest Promise actually feels much slower to us because we hate the main character and, like, half the story decisions so much, we thought. (Sorry, no offense to Longest Promise fans.) We thought that if we actually liked the main character and were invested in her story, the way the show dilly-dallied on every one of her scenes - having her say the same things over and over again, showing a dozen different angles on some magical moment in her life, having her express feelings about something that happened in a previous episode that she had made very clear at the time - would be enjoyable. Meanwhile, before we started The Screen Foxes, I read three different reviews that said the plot moved lightning-fast, bounced all over the place, and didn't make any sense. And ... none of that is true (so far). The plot moves at a normal pace. A thing happens, and then, something else happens as a consequence. There ARE several different interconnected story threads, and we do bounce back and forth between them, but it all makes sense. And last night, it hit me that maybe The Longest Promise is so slow because you're supposed to "skim watch" it. Certainly, if you dip in and out, you can follow the plot very easily. Scenes are long enough that it's hard to miss a whole one if you're checking back in frequently, repetitive enough that you can understand the point of the scene even if you miss three-quarters of it, and the same points are repeated in multiple scenes, so there are very few details you can miss even if you don't watch it too closely. (Plus, the plot is predictable enough that it's easy to follow.) Meanwhile, because The Screen Foxes doesn't dawdle on any points, if you're not actually sitting down and watching, it must seem chaotic and nonsensical. Why are they fighting this green monster now? Wasn't the show about painting a minute ago? The green monster is being used by a Taoist to body-guard a rich family. The Taoist is actually the one who made the family rich. Why? That's the mystery we need to find out. In the meantime, this family used its wealth to cheat in the painting contest from the last episode, so fighting their body guard is advancing that painting plotline too. But if you looked away from the screen during the two minutes where they were explaining all that, then yeah, it would be super confusing why this show just went from a painting contest to a demon fight.

If Chinese dramas are MEANT to be watched in the background, and that's the reason so many of them are so long and slow, then, honestly, my whole worldview has been changed.

So, TLDR: I have to know now: DO most people actually "skim watch" Chinese dramas????

#P.S. I will have more to say about The Screen Foxes when I finish it probably.#Also the fast-forward option is here because I saw someone say something about that in a post a few months ago.#Also having it on in the background would explain how my Chinese friend - who had a kid and a full-time job - could find time to watch mor #C-dramas than me. It just never crossed my mind because since I don't speak Chinese it would never occur to me to not sit down and focus on #the show.#poll #original #The Screen Foxes #The Longest Promise #The Untamed #Word of Honor #Till the End of the Moon #Love Between Fairy and Devil #Legend of Fei #The Oath of Love #<- Just some C-dramas I was thinking about as I typed all this.

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zu-is-here · 10 months

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🎶Oh my lord i'm begiiiiing for you to stop shipping brotheeeeeers🎶🧑‍🦯

Thank you for the compliment! (๑>◡<๑)♪

UPD:

(≧∀≦) Not everyone knows (cause I'm mostly busy with other ships) but yep! That's my guilty pleasure and part of the fandom as well ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ

Thank youuu and have a wonderful day too! ♡

#updated #ask #zu is happy #song #speak of the devil as they say xd #this motivates me ;)#pro shipping

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briwates · 6 months

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You know how Ms Ji's cooking is horrendous but Yohan and Elijah (and I assume Isaac?) ate it all without complaining for what seems to be years. If she was the one to raise Yohan, that means she's been cooking in that house since he was a baby. I'm wondering then, why would Kang Jisang keep a housekeeper that can barely cook ? And apparently not say anything because to the day Gaon tries her cooking, she's not sure why the kangs stopped eating it ?

Either 1) Jisang liked her food 2) had some form of ageusia/didnt care for the taste of food, maybe as a self flagellation method idk. 3) Ms Ji's cooking wasn't always like that !

I'm thinking that maybe it was normal, nothing amazing about it but decent enough, until a bit before jisang's death or after the church fire. Elijah mentions that she's obsessed with adding healthy ingredients everywhere even if it does not match the dishes she's making. I wonder if Ms Ji does it with the intention to promote healing or something like it, especially once Elijah loses the ability to walk and Yohan has second to third degree burns on his back. Would also sort of explain why they don't dare tell her anything about it, because she was trying so hard and they didnt want to hurt her feelings by telling her upfront that the food wasnt edible..

#the devil judge #i love ms ji 😭😭 i love to think abt her r/s to the kangs theres so many little clues in that.big house and freedom to make hcs off them #also ngl im digging the hypothesis that maybe kang jisang had fucked up tastebuds #just a big fan of ginseng kimchi you know #speaking of ageusia i thought yohan had that when in ep 2 he says he doesnt taste food but just chews it #reminded me of dimitri fire emblem who lost the ability to taste after experiencing severe trauma #it's kind of cute that the kangs all scary and frowning would shy away from speaking honestly abt the food #cuz thats their nanny. they love her. she tucked them to bed hundreds of times and fed them and clothed them and they care for her #even if they wont say it explicitly #xyz #tdj thoughts

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chaos0pikachu · 10 months

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some of y'all are straight up unhinged about Mame and tharntype like Mame is a bigot now? All her work comes from a place of hate and bigotry?? ppl can only like tharntype out of nostalgia and not actual like the show itself?? we're just speaking over queer folks who give tons of reasons why they like the show b/c they can't "tell the difference between fiction and reality"? Mame is "exploiting her trauma by making money off it" and oh no that's bad b/c I said so! (fucking tell me you watch nothing but BL without telling me)

but y'all out here loving kinnporsche and saying vegaspete is the only good thing about the show I can't anymore

#tharntype #mame #me mind y #lita #nah y'all getting real bold especially allies talking over queer fans who like mame's shit including tharntype #also the hypocrisy of liking vegaspete but claiming tharntype is the devil lmao bro pls chepie pls i can't i can't #i say this as someone who likes both vegaspete is way more “problematic” a couple than tharn & type #y'all playing with me right?#it's wild to me that ppl feel like guilty about liking tharntype including queer fans b/c of ppl like this #it's fucked #anyways #chaos pikachu speaks

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amethystina · 7 months

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Your metas are as fantastic as your fics! I have two questions about the show that I'd love your input on! First what do you think You-Han thought about Ga-On in the bus scene in the first episode beside what you mentioned already? Yeah he doesn’t care for heroics much but he's also so dismissive of humanity and its cowardice and greed, and here's Ga-On risking his life twice for strangers including a criminal, doing the opposite of what people Yo-Han condemned for the fire did. Was any part of him impressed? And second, I'm confused on this, did adult Yo-Han realize that making Sun Ah jump from the window was a shit move or did he think it was ok since she was a thief and tried to set him up and he thought she likes him for his money? And did he ever realize that she had real feelings for him fucked up as they were? He's so dismissive all the time of her it's hard to say, but he also seemed to be offended when Ga-On asked if he was playing with her feelings. Thank you again you're the best.

Thank you so much! I had a lot of fun writing those metas and I'm a little sad that I haven't had the time to write more because I have so many scenes and concepts I'd like to explore. But it's difficult to find the time in between everything else.

ANYWAY. Moving on to your questions!

To be honest with you? Aside from what I've mentioned already, I don't think Yo Han felt or thought much about Ga On during that scene except how he might be useful to him. Like, sure, maybe some small part of him was impressed by Ga On's quick response, but even if he'd take note of Ga On acting unlike most people would in that situation (and unlike the people during the fire) he's also jaded enough that he'd probably explain it away as naïvité. That Ga On just doesn't know better. Or maybe even that Ga On does it because he wants to be heroic. Which obviously isn't true — Ga On's actions are genuine and not just for show or to get attention and praise from others — but Yo Han doesn't know that. Because he doesn't know Ga On at this point. So I think he's just... neutral.

Also, I think Yo Han was too busy with other things to really stop and consider his own feelings about Ga On's actions. Like, I think he focused more on "Oh, this young man is very idealistic and reckless — how can I use that?" rather than just admiring Ga On's bravery.

Like, he's already way, way past reacting to the situation and has gone straight to plotting how it can be useful to him. Especially if you consider that this is the day when his revenge plan is finally being set in motion. He's probably razor-focused on that, not Ga On or whatever he's feeling about said young man.

It's just too soon for him to see the goodness in Ga On and actually give a damn about it? (but he certainly will later — and then he'll start yearning) At this point in the story, I think Yo Han would view Ga On as any other piece on the board — and a pretty insignificant one, at that — that he simply needs to figure out and control.

Well, except for the part where he looks like Isaac xD

If Yo Han had any true emotional reaction to what Ga On did that day, it's probably directly related to Isaac, not Ga On as his own person. Because, again, Yo Han doesn't know Ga On yet. Maybe Yo Han even saw some parallels between the two in that moment, considering how heroic Isaac was during the church fire. Like, not only does Ga On have his face, but he'll brave danger to save others, too.

But, all in all, I think Yo Han just... didn't care all that much about Ga On? Or, well, he cares, of course (enough to intervene and stop the bus) but Ga On really isn't all that important to him here. So I don't think his thoughts and feelings about him were all that significant, either, except, again, in what ways Ga On might be useful to him and how he reminded him of Isaac (which Ga On would no doubt hate if he knew xD)

As for Yo Han and his relationship with Sun Ah, that's a bit trickier. Their dynamic is very, very intriguing and I can't quite decide how I want to view it, but I think I've settled on "playmates" xD

Because Sun Ah is the closest Yo Han has come to finding an equal. Someone who can understand his games, can play by his rules — but also invent her own when she feels like it — and keep him on his toes. Someone who can challenge him and push him to stretch his limits.

Which I think Yo Han found to be pretty fun at first, but he eventually realised that maybe having an equal who's exactly like you isn't necessarily a good thing — especially judging by his behaviour towards her. Like, he enjoyed their games, sure, but he didn't like when she started making assumptions, trying to weasel her way into his life, or tell him what to do.

Because that's what Yo Han does and he clearly doesn't like it when the shoe is on the other foot xD

(Like, for real: if you think about it, Sun Ah used very similar methods when she attempted to woo Yo Han as Yo Han used to woo Ga On (including the kidnapping). But those are methods that don't actually work on Yo Han because he's, well, Yo Han. They did work on Ga On, though x'D)

I do think that Yo Han was genuinely attached to Sun Ah to some degree (the moments after she shoots herself in front of him show that), but he's also pretty flippant about her feelings for him, yes. And I think that's because he thought those feelings were based on a foolish childhood obsession she couldn't let go of. Which, considering his unsentimental disposition, probably made him view them as pretty superficial. Kind of like you'd patiently nod along when a child declares that they're going to marry their cool, older cousin when they grow up? The feelings are real, but they're also founded in something that's not, so he doesn't take them all that seriously. If that makes sense?

And yes, I think that adult Yo Han intellectually knows that he shouldn't have made her jump out of that window when they were kids, but he also doesn't regret doing it x'D

Because it's all a part of the game. I mean, no matter what Sun Ah says, I don't think she jumped out of the window because she loves Yo Han — she jumped because she wanted to prove that she could. Basically calling him on what could have been a bluff, but they're both so stubborn that of course it wasn't a bluff. But she couldn't back down at that point, could she? She didn't want to, because that would mean he'd win and could say that she didn't love him as much as she claimed.

It's all just a big mind game, basically, where they're constantly trying to outsmart each other and call each other's bluffs.

Even the part where he's so dismissive of her feelings, I'd argue. Because, clearly, she enjoys chasing him and so the fun would end if he gave her what she wants. He's playing hard to get, basically, just because he can. Just because he wants to see what will happen if he does.

Which I think is why he reacts the way he does when Ga On questions him, because Ga On clearly doesn't understand the rules of the game. If Sun Ah didn't want Yo Han to use her feelings against her, she shouldn't have given him that as a tool for him to use. And she's smart enough that she wouldn't do something like that by mistake so that's basically permission in Yo Han's eyes. Nothing is sacred, and all that.

But, at the core of it, I also think that Yo Han's dismissiveness comes from the fact that he doesn't actually want her the way she wants him. He never did. He finds her entertaining and probably feels a certain kinship to her since she, again, is the closest he's found to an equal — someone just like him — but that's not as important to him. He's more focused on his revenge and taking care of Elijah (and securing himself a doe-eyed sugar baby). So yes, he likes the games and the challenge she presents, but she's not what he's looking for.

And he kind of gives up on that whole thing entirely after she killed K, threatened to kill Ga On, and just threatened Elijah in general. That's when things stopped being fun and there's no coming back from that.

Basically, I think that Yo Han and Sun Ah are very similar in how they think and behave and while that makes them equals in many ways — and means they can play a game that is quite literally on another plane than we mere mortals may understand — that's also their downfall. It would never actually work between the two of them because they're too similar. The push-and-pull would never end and, sooner or later, they'd tear each other apart.

If you compare Sun Ah with Ga On (because of course we have to) he manages the most vital part — which is to challenge Yo Han intellectually — but is also caring and responsible enough to back down when things are about to escalate beyond what's manageable. He'll go soft and warm and basically ask: "Is this really what you want?" And, sometimes, Yo Han actually seems to realise that "Uh, no, it's actually not. Let's try that again."

Which makes a huge difference not only for the longevity of their relationship, but also how much Yo Han ends up wanting it. Because, clearly, despite all the darkness and sharp edges, he does want love and softness. And, deep down, I think some part of him always knew that Sun Ah couldn't give him that — but Ga On can. And so that's who he chooses to woo.

(not me turning almost every ask into an opportunity to gush about Yo Han and Ga On and how they're perfect for each other)

ANYHOW. I hope that answers your question on some level? Tbh Yo Han and Sun Ah's relationship has too many nuances for me to sufficiently summarise it here (much like Yo Han and Ga On's relationship) but my suggestion is to see them as playmates. Like, just assume that almost all of it is a part of them trying to outsmart each other. And there are no rules because they're both certifiably unhinged.

So yeah! Thank you so much for asking! Though I must say: it might just go to my head if people keep asking me for my opinion on stuff like this. Like, does this mean my opinions actually matter? Oh my xD

Take care, darling 💜

#Amethystina Replies #Anonymous #The Devil Judge #I would honestly write a lot more meta if it wasn't for my imposter syndrome #It's fine if people ask me for my opinion like this #Then my brain thinks it's okay #Because it's someone ASKING me to speak up #But if I try to just write it for the heck of it?#Some part of me always questions why I think my opinions would be worth sharing #And surely I'll say something stupid #Which is very annoying #But that's my brain for you

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