#who the fuck even IS shi mei ??

[friedwizardwhispers]

Mo Ran essentially being alone with Shi Mei in the Red Lotus Pavilion while Chu Wanning is in seclusion with a silencing spell is so disturbing on the reread. That scene made me so nervous now...

And he is terrified not even for himself but for Chu Wanning without really understanding why meanwhile the only one who probably understands Mo Ran's strong reaction in that scene is Shi Mei and he has the fucking audacity to say: "How can you think so little of me ?"

Fuck Shi Mei actually

[very-grownup]

So a couple years ago, I fell into watching Chinese dramas and because my posts about the most recent one garnered some curiosity, here are the dramas what I have watched.

Hikaru no Go

DID YOU KNOW. DID YOU KNOW. THAT IN 2020 THERE WAS A CHINESE DRAMA ADAPTATION OF HIKARU NO GO AND IT IS AMAZING AND MADE ME CRY ALL OVER AGAIN? It is faithful in spirit while making understandable alterations both for the setting and to avoid managing child actors for the entirety of the series (there are about six episodes with Hikaru/Shi Guang as an elementary school student before a time jump to high school).

If you are unfamiliar with Hikaru no Go I recommend becoming familiar with Hikaru no Go, my first and still one of the best sports manga. It's what Takeshi Obata was the artist on before Death Note and my hot take is that Obata post-Hikaru no Go is mid at best.

Hikaru no Go is a sports series about the most normal boy finding an antique go board that houses the soul of an ancient go master who died too young and with go regrets, so he bullies/guilts the boy into helping him play go so he can see or play a divine go move. In the process he acquires a rival/stalker in the form of the genius son of a go master. It's amazing and the drama absolutely does it justice.

The heart of the series is the relationship between Hikaru/Shi Huang and Fujiwara no Sai/Chu Ying.

It's just a fucking good series.

The Untamed

According to one description on imdb, this is about two friends solving a series of murders. This is technically true, although it neglects to mention a few details.

Sixteen years after doing a whole lot of demonic blood magic shit and dying because of it, hated by society, Wei Wuxian (Xiao Zhan) is brought back from the dead by more super demonic blood magic and is recognized by his noble and esteemed peer/friend Lan Wangji (Wang Yibo) and trying to deal with why Wei Wuxian has been brought back from the dead leads to their investigating a series of murders that result in their becoming entangled in wider political schemes stretching back twenty years.

It's got weird pacing, prolonged flashbacks to explain a lot of the relationship dynamics, and basically an entirely self-contained sub-story that brings the main plot to a grinding halt. There are creatures and CGI effects of interesting quality. There are amazing wigs. There are piles of corpses. There's physical torture and emotional torture and some doomed love stuff and sword fights and musical instrument fights and a donkey and chicken theft and brotherhood and what you're willing to sacrifice for your goals and what goals you're willing to sacrifice for and it is based on a novel that ends in the protagonists raw dogging on the side of the road.

That part's not in the show.

Douluo Continent

Ignorant country boy Tang San (Xiao Zhan) finds himself involved in the world of martial arts and magic after discovering a hidden talent and ends up in the group of fellow martial artists who are all weird or unorthodox or hiding crucial bits of their backstory like girl who is actually a rabbit and immediately decides Tang San is her best friend/husband (Wu Xianyi), guy who needs to become powerful enough to kill his older brother (Gao Taiyu), girl who rejected an engagement to the would-be brother killer and wants to fight him (Liu Mei Tong), guy who wants to ditch martial arts to become a great actor (Liu Run Nan), and girl who is too rich to be here (Ding Xiaoying). They learn together, they grow together, they fight monsters and embark on a tournament arc, and there's an overarching mystery about Tang San and his weak but simultaneously super powerful spirit summoning.

Even though the best technique is clearly the one where the boy in question can summon a sausage that you eat and heals you.

It's very much of a specific genre that can be pretty samey, but Douluo Continent has a charming cast that makes up for its predictable plot beats.

It does end on a cliffhanger that is possibly resolved in the sequel series where ... all the main characters were recast with, I'm guessing, slightly less pricey actors. Such is the way of things.

Word of Honour

Do you like knowing what's going on? Then get the fuck out of here, Word of Honour is not for you. Real ones want to be immediately submerged into chaos and confusion and secret identities. You want Mr Bones' Wild Ride in plot form. Why has former superassassin Zhou Zishu (Zhang Zhe Han) abandoned the sect of assassins he created to live in wandering drunk anonymity as he slowly dies? Why is Wen Kexing (Gong Jun) stalking him aside from poorly censored horny desires? Is Wen Kexing actually a ghost? Can any of the impressionable youths attaching themselves to Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing be stopped from their very poor choices in role models? What is up with this legendary hidden armoury and why do Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing seem unable to escape the conspiracy around it? HOW HARD IS IT TO GET WOLONG'S FAMOUS NUTS?

Not recommended for people who constantly want to know what's happening or why X is doing Y, but great if you want to watch with someone and then after an episode, walk your dogs and try to figure out what's going on and what's going to happen (you will be wrong).

Advance Bravely

What if the most ridiculously unrealistic and unhinged slashfic by a teenage girl who doesn't fully understand anything was adapted into a drama series where censorship means everything must be painted with a special "no homo" brush? You get Advance Bravely which is the most incoherently homoerotic thing I've ever watched. No one thinks you should watch Advance Bravely and you watch Advance Bravely and you agree but sometimes you just have to watch a beautiful trainwreck where the protagonist explains his lack of a girlfriend with erectile dysfunction and the series climax involves his being, essentially, trapped in a well.

Love Between Fairy and Devil

DO YOU WANT TO GO FULL SHOUJO MANGA FANTASY?

Innocent fairy Orchid (Yu Shuxin) just wants to strengthen her immortal spirit and pass the exam that would let her serve in the palace of the fairy capital so she can catch glimpses of the War God Chang Heng (Zhang Ling He) who she is hopelessly in love with. Instead, an attempt to help her crush causes her to bumble her way into the high security spiritual prison that has held Dongfang Qingcang, the Moon Supreme (Dylan Wang), for 30,000 years.

DO YOU LIKE BIG NUMBERS BECAUSE YOU WILL GET TO SEE SOME BIG NUMBERS IN TERMS OF TIME SPAN AND AGES.

Because of some plot magic, Orchid and the Moon Supreme swap bodies and loophole out of prison, much to her distress. Their fates are tied together and Orchid becomes more familiar with the wider world and the politics between the realms and how much the fairy realm's supreme ruler fucking suuuuuuuuuuuucks while Moon Supreme finds himself having feelings again after they were tortured out of him in a mystical coffin prison as a child.

Moon Supreme's closest friend is a dragon. Orchid's closest friend is an opportunistic snakeoil saleswoman. There's a pissy younger brother and a bitchy but honourable love rival. There are secret origins and reincarnation and hidden identities and the way it alternates broad comedy and melodrama and sweet romance may give you whiplash.

I just love a bodyswap, you guys.

Sailor Moon vibes but Mamoru is actually interesting and becomes likeable.

Guardian

Okay so the best thing about Guardian is not only that it's a censored adaptation of a novel with a same-sex romance, but that /the entire premise/ is altered for television purposes.

The novel is steeped in Chinese folk religion and the Underworld is real and mythical creatures secretly walk among us.

In the show?

ALIENS, BABY.

Ghosts? THOSE AREN'T REAL BECAUSE HUMANS DON'T HAVE SOULS, THEY'RE JUST ENERGY BEINGS.

It's so ridiculous it's endearing.

Anyway, it's about bros solving mysteries with a Monster of the Week vibe until it becomes about possibly the end of the world and alien domination and evil twins.

Mysterious Lotus Casebook

IT'S TIME TO SOLVE CRIMES. IN ANCIENT CHINA.

Quack doctor Li Lianhua (Cheng Yi) is just trying to live a quiet life with his dog and his horse-drawn house. Fang Duobing (Joseph Zeng) just wants to gain admittance into the martial art cop organization that's carrying on the legacy of his dead teacher, Li Xiangyi, who was maybe never actually his teacher and also wasn't killed ten years previously by Di Fei Sheng (Xiao Shunyao), the head of an evil martial arts sect who is also not dead. Not nearly as many people as people think are dead! Identities are cleverly hidden behind pseudonyms and various levels of mask!

Crimes are solved and Li Lianhua is very tired about the whole thing. It's an unwilling buddy cop sort of thing until it becomes about youthful hubris and the sins of the past and also one woman's determination to conquer the world and give it to the man she loves, even if he doesn't want the world and also doesn't love her. We love a woman who takes what she wants and if necessary cuts a man's tendons and imprisons him in a torture pool so his blood can't clot until he agrees to be her wife, don't we, folks?

Folks?

Story of Kunning Palace

The scheming empress Jiang Xue Ning (Bai Lu) dies and wakes up, eighteen-years-old, at the point in her life where she's on the verge of making the start of the decisions that lead her to the Very Bad End. She is going to make different decisions this time and prevent the things she regrets and avoid becoming the empress at all costs.

What you need to know about Story of Kunning Palace is that Bai Lu could have chemistry with a rock and she inadvertently collects a bisexual harem. Her end game love interest is Xie Wei (Zhang Ling He), the man who killed her, an advisor to the emperor, music teacher, double or triple agent, and sufferer of vampire snow madness and a fear of cats, whether adorably fluffy or badly CGI'd. But she's in love with noble civil servant Zhang Zhe (Wang Xing Yue), a pure and hardworking man who she seduced into betraying his principles, leading to his imprisonment and probable death. However, her childhood friend Yan Lin (Zhou Jun Wei) is in love with her and previously she rejected him VERY HARSHLY after his family fell into disfavour due to political machinations and Jiang Xue Ning had cemented the likelihood of her marriage to the next emperor. Also there's Princess Le Yang (Liu Xie Ning), who Jiang Xue Ning made an enemy of after the Princess fell in love with her when Jiang Xue Ning was crossdressing and did not take the reveal of her true gender well. Xue Shu (Elisa Ye) is an unfavoured daughter of a scheming lord who was the only truly loyal person Jiang Xue Ning knew as empress. ALL OF THESE PEOPLE FALL IN LOVE WITH JIANG XUE NING and you look at Bai Lu and go 'yes, that makes sense'.

It's mostly about the politics and scheming and Jiang Xue Ning trying to find a way to have a stable, satisfying life without betraying everyone she knows and standing on a pile of corpses, but the love shape Jiang Xue Ning isn't fully aware she's in is comparable in complexity to the plots between ministers and lords and dowager empresses and cousins and rebels.

The choices the characters make are maybe not always the best choices, but DAMN are they a good time.

Story of Kunning Palace is also one of the only times I have begged a character in a show to take a particular action and then she DID IT and fuck it was satisfying.

The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty

IT'S TIME TO SOLVE CRIMES. IN ANCIENT CHINA. AGAIN. BUT WITHOUT MARTIAL ARTS.

Tang Fan (Darren Chen) is a low-ranking government official and detective genius who loves food and hates routine work, but loves a fucked up crime. Since he spends most of his money on delicious food, he writes trashy porn under a variety of pseudonyms to pay his rent. Sui Zhou (Fu Meng Bo) is an imperial guard and ex-soldier with PTSD who has no time for nonsense but loves the passionate pursuit of justice and food. He's also From Money and has a very empty house that Tang Fan whines his way into after they solve a case together. Everyone is manipulated by dangerously powerful eunuch Wang Zhi (Liu Yao Yuan) who is the enemy of basically everyone, except for Tang Fan, who has the political and social awareness of a rock.

An amiably pathetic man solves a variety of mysteries, from murder to complex imperial assassination plots and also this really complicated one involving diluting the purity of silver currency, and also the executive producer is Jackie Chan.

It's missing the romance subplot that I understand is in the source novel and also apparently there's an overarching plot involving a cult?! which we don't get here, but there's lots of bombs which are almost as good as a cult, maybe? (They're not.)

Divine Destiny

This is the one we're currently watching and the ride that this show is. How many plots can be crammed into one show? How many ridiculous but true things can I say about this show?

Ji Ruochen (Ma Tianyu) is an orphan who dreams of martial arts adventures. Raised by a couple who run a Crime Inn, one day a customer robbery goes very wrong when the customer turns out to be the latest incarnation of Yin Feng, the Banished God (Marius Wang). Ji Ruochen accidentally kills the Banished God and his foster parents promptly take the body into the desert and dump it down a cliff, but not before taking a necklace made from a piece of Gu Qing, the Blue Stone Goddess (Xuan Lu), which is supposed to let her recognize the Banished God in their final incarnation. Accidentally stealing the Banished God's identity, Ji Ruochen finds himself a hotly desired commodity by the cultivation sects who are all eager to have the Banished God as a disciple for prophecy reasons. He goes with Zhang Yinyin (Angelababy), a feisty, argumentative girl who has had to work extra hard because her spirit was contaminated by a demonic root planted by the evil nine-tailed fox who is poorly imprisoned in a cave anyone can access.

MEANWHILE some dudes with amazing moustaches and a penchant for laughing in delight at their own evil have found the body of the Banished God and done some questionable mystical shit to put him in a new body and nurture a grudge against Ji Ruochen for stealing his identity.

THEN Gu Qing meets Ji Ruochen and like everyone else assumes he's the Banished God and she falls in love with him (Gu Qing having been a literal rock spirit who cultivated to immortality under the guidance of the Banished God, who followed her into the mortal realm and a cycle of 100 incarnations after Gu Qing accidentally Did A Crime) but then falls in love with HIM.

ALSO Zhang Yinyin is always at risk of succumbing to the temptation of using the demonic fox power that is within her even though that will literally turn her into a demon but maybe it's worth it if a woman who is actually a goddess who is actually a rock is making eyes at the junior you brought into the sect and are in love with and you want to be more powerful than her?

ALSO what's the mysterious power that let Ji Ruochen kill the Banished God in the first place?

IS the woman seeking revenge for the death of the Banished God's mortal incarnation his sister or his cousin or his "cousin"?

WHY is the only love language of immortals stalking?

There's a homunculus and a baby snake demon who is the most precious angel in the world and so many evil dudes delighted in how evil they are and TWO GOOD AND ALIVE PARENTS and a pair of comical monks who have a special attack with a name they have to shout out every time they use it.

Oh and the imprisoned fox demon may have an ex who just hangs out on a rock in something called the Endless Ocean wearing a mask and playing go against the homunculus he made.

And there's an ancient master who lives in an ice mountain and eats memories of love.

Also some people might be secret demons.

There's some weddings.

There's a tiny woman with an ice sword who brutally murders so many dudes.

Do you like CGI birds?

Do you like giant mechanical CGI birds that are for riding purposes?

There's a desert hermit who has a son who is a giant tortoise.

So many things are going on and terrible decisions are constantly being made and it's over a week before I can watch another episode and it's driving me mad. WHAT WILL BE THE FALLOUT OF THE MOST RECENT BAD DECISIONS?

[rejectedfables]

"how to reconcile Chu Wanning's cooking skills vs Mo Ran's love of The Wontons", a Guide:

(NOTE: I have only read the first two official English translated volumes, and scoured the internet for spoilers-- if there's later canon confirmation of something that I haven't encountered yet, I don't know her)

Chu Wanning is shown cooking things badly (such as the cabbage and tofu stew), and cooking specific things very well (the wontons). He is also implied to have cooked other things at least tolerably well as Chu Fei. Evidence:

The wontons are described thusly, with the implication that they're just as good every time Mo Ran has had them:

Conclusion? Chu Wanning can cook at least this one thing consistently, and Mo Ran loves it every time. As far as we know Mo Ran is the only one who's ever eaten them, so him loving them is not actually an endorsement that they ARE good-- just that HE thinks they are.

When he's going to make the cabbage and tofu stew, this is Chu Wanning's response to being asked if he even knows how to cook:

Conclusion? Chu Wanning is at least not confident enough in his cooking abilities to claim proficiency. I would be tempted to chalk this up to "he's so skilled at other things and so critical of himself that he's downplaying his cooking skills" except he absolutely flubs the recipe so badly that it's unrecognizable, and everyone who eats it gets sick.

When Mo Ran is half asleep, and believes himself to still be in his previous life with Chu Fei, he says this:

Conclusion? Chu Fei frequently cooked non-wonton food for Taxian-jun, which Taxian-jun enjoyed enough to request more of it.

I've compiled options of what this all might mean when put together:

Probably authorial intent: Chu Wanning isn't a BAD cook he's just a SLOW and METHODICAL cook, and that does not lend itself to batch cooking like he was expected to do in Mengpo Hall.

POSSIBLY authorial intent: Chu Wanning is a REALLY GOOD cook when he knows a recipe, but had never made the cabbage and tofu stew before and had no real instructions, so he fucked it up and got an unfair reputation for being a bad cook. This is a loose parallel to how he is broadly misunderstood as a person.

Sappy/sad option: the wontons are fine but the fact that they were made FOR MO RAN makes them special to Mo Ran. He's associated them with feeling good, and because he thought they were from Shi Mei, his happy memories of them weren't warped or stolen by the flower, leaving them as his favorite memory of food. They're untainted by hatred, and therefore they are the best.

Funny option (not supported by canon): Mo Ran just has bad taste.

Funniest option (not technically UNsupported by canon >_>): Chu Wanning is a bad cook, and frequently hurts himself while cooking. Unbeknownst to Mo Ran, the flower's bloodlust can literally be sated with literal blood. Mo Ran's memories of the wontons are his least tormented by the flower, because while eating them he's consuming Chu Wanning's actual blood, so the flower is sated and pleased. They taste the best to Mo Ran because their secret accidental ingredient (blood) overwrites their actual mediocre flavor.

My favorite option: The reason the wontons are the best food Mo Ran has ever eaten is because they're literally just... all of Mo Ran's favorite foods combined into one dish. Chu Wanning isn't a good COOK so much as he's an encyclopedia of knowledge about Mo Ran. The wontons are perfect because they're perfect for Mo Ran specifically.

[thegreymoon]

Every time I try to imagine the original timeline I cry bc they could’ve been so happy together without all the trauma to fuck them up if only Shi Mei didn’t decide to go for the burn the world route, but I just tried to imagine how it would have gone if CWN was the one with the flower? And honestly I’m not sure? I’m pretty sure he would be terrifying but nothing else comes to mind.

So I gotta ask how do you think a CWN who got the flower would break? Is he as obsessed with MR as MR is with him (I kinda wanna say yes) but idk if he would go the same route or what he would do if I’m being honest?

Ooof, this is a tough one 😬 Yeah, I do think he would have been just as obsessed with Mo Ran as Mo Ran was with him because Ranwan is so reciprocal. They match in energy, in intensity, in the depth of their attachment. Both of them committed to each other so early on. The time they had before the flower was so brief, but nothing that happened later broke that love in the slightest. I don't think that Chu Wanning would have imprisoned and raped Mo Ran the way TXJ did with him because it is against his character and the flower cannot change the fundamentals of a person. Also, Mo Ran would probably still be willing to be with a dark!CWN, especially a young Mo Ran, so there would be no conflict there. I think the true tragedy would be that they would succeed in destroying the world and destroy themselves in the process. I also think that CWN's path to darkness would start with righteousness. Mo Ran was angry, so it makes sense that he was out to destroy everyone, but I think that CWN would have tried to create a perfect utopia where everyone behaves 'virtuously' and 'righteously' and punish those who step out of line. He would start killing with good intentions, to keep everyone in line, in the service of a greater good. Even building that bridge of corpses would probably stem from a sense that the BBBFs were wronged, and therefore owed their oppressors laying their lives down to build a path for them into a better world. IDK how Chu Wanning loving Shi Mei would work out, though. Chu Wanning loved him to begin with, so the curse would probably amplify that love to an unhealthy degree. But as we saw with Mo Ran, while the curse does cause an unhealthy obsession, it does not create sexual attraction, so I think that would play out in pretty much the same way on Chu Wanning's side, too.

Also, I cannot talk about dark!CWN without mentioning this series of gifsets.

These gifsets are what introduced me to this book 😭 2ha is a trap and Luo Yunxi is the bait.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Two questions:

Queens Second Chance, does that have a Miraculous Shanghai movie? Like, Chloe doesn't know what the fuck happened there, save that Ladybug related shit went down. So she's like "yeah stuff gonna happen, should probably have as many heroes as possible there... Maybe?"

Secondly, what are your thoughts on the Prodigious/Renlings?

I kind of like the concept, but low key feel the powers don't really measure up tp the hype and that maybe a variation with just Mei Shi as both statue and Renling perhaps could have worked. Partially just cos 9 Kwami equivalents are a lot, especially for a power that is, while neat, not exactly breaking the bank.

hm! It should!

I feel like yeah that'd be a good test on Chloé's first 'oh I don't know /everything/ I just know some shit went down' discussion with LB and Chat.

Re: the Prodigious and Renlings..... I have mixed feelings?

Like they're.

It's kind of a knock off Miraculous as it's jewelry with a chibi creature attached that gives a power. But it's channeling like, eight of the little fuckers who all represent something different.

With eight I'd expect each to give a different power as if it's a combo Miraculous, but the entire power is just Shapeshifting.

And it was considered 'far too powerful' compared to all the other Miraculous but it's.... literally just shapeshifting. And not even 'disguise yourself' shapshifting just 'i have the right to Bear Arms' shapeshifting. Even the most powerful form, the Dragon, is only slightly better than the Dragon Miraculous in that they get fucking giant. How is that more powerful and dangerous than the Rabbit or Snake?

(/personally/ I think it wasn't 'dangerous' so much as the 'the tiny gods are bound by all sorts of rules and must follow orders' thing isn't implemented, meaning they don't listen to the Order. And the Order threw a fit about it.)

Anyway! I might shift it to just be like. A prototype Miraculous with the power of Shapeshifting? Not sure if I'll keep the multiple Renlings/Kwami thing. Maybe a combination where there's some other power tied in to each form so it's like quickly switching between Miraculous?

[preciousqiqi]

Putting all the problems aside, isn't Shi Qingxuan is like a little brother not only to Shi Wudu but also Pei Ming and Ling Wen? It's rather cute to think it that way.

—

My heart sank and can't help but feel devastated as I learned that... the real Ming Yi had died... I don't know how to feel about this at the moment.

But there's something that kept flashing on my mind as I was reading, I kept thinking of shi qingxuan having similar air like nie huaisang.

—

“你的小花。”

—

“Only since meeting you have I rediscovered how simple it is to be happy.”

oh, Xie Lian...

—

Atp I don't trust anyone but Xie Lian and Hua Cheng.

—

Xie Lian: Are you really General Pei?

Pei Ming: Genuine and authentic; exchange if fake.

Xie Lian: No exchanges. If fake, refunds only.

These heavenly officials really need to work on their jokes... (I'm laughing but I kinda feel it's still lame that it's their kind of jokes)

—

When it's around critical moment and someone suddenly say: your hua-chengzhu, your xiao hua... how can I not smile and melt....

—

Xie Lian: Very well. Eming, listen closely! You are handsome and carefree, cute and kind, clever and intelligent, gentle and determined, number one in the world…

I- I am at a loss for words... but the most effective way is of course to give it a kiss.

—

The Ship: Hua Cheng & Xie Lian

The Shipper: Pei Ming

The Anti: Jun Wu

The Legendary Third-wheeler: Yin Yu

The Nagging Parent: Mei Nianqing

—

Btw hahahaha has anyone ever drawn the dishes that xie lian ever cooked? all I can imagine somehow just whatever in a pitch black pot.

Pei Ming to Xie Lian: Your Highness? Your Highness, do you have an antidote or something? You can’t just kill someone and not bury the body.

Pei Ming to Banyue: And you! Is this how you cooked for him? What’s with this snake? It’s still moving even after it was cooked for so long—is it a spirit now?!

Pleaasseeeeee my stomach aches from laughing too hard hahahahahahaha. Goshhhh, Pei Ming is actually so funny hahahahhaah.

Another one, still about the Toppled Phoenixes.

Pei Ming to Banyue: Why are you still holding on to that thing?! Who are you trying to kill? Throw it out, now!

Helpppp that made me laughed so hard hahahahahahahahah

—

I bet that every time HuaLian being lovey-dovey, Pei Ming actually wanna shout: Really??? Right in front of my fucking salad???

Tbh I love that Pei Ming being so open about how he spell out what's between HuaLian and tease HuaLian hahahahaha

—

I admired Hua Cheng, really, he learned and gathered all information just for Xie Lian, that level of love and devotion...

—

Four heavenly officials (one exco) talking about that leave me bewildered.

—

I am actually enjoying gege this, gege that from Hua Cheng to Xie Lian. He sounded so cute. Every time Hua Cheng say something serious to Xie Lian, being very concerned over something, or even just talking gently to him, I reread the lines over and over and feeling content.

—

At first, I read quite fast, but now I'm reading it slowly... especially when it's HuaLian's part. I understood Hua Cheng. Seeing your beloved ridiculed and trampled on while you have no power to help is the most devastating feeling ever. As I read more and more, if I encounter my beloved having to go through such suffering as Xie Lian's, I would also then fight everyone who ridiculed and hurt him and be wary of everyone. I... don't know about the other heavenly officials... but... the suffering that Xie Lian has gone through truly... I'm at a loss for words...

—

I feel bad for Xiao Pei for getting poisoned... but everytime there's an exchange between him and Pei Ming it's so funny.

—

Book 7 and I... I had my suspicion but now that it boiled down to this... it's still leave me utterly speechless.

—

Feng Xin to Xie Lian about Mu Qing: Didn’t I tell you? This guy’s feelings are more twisted than a resentful concubine’s in the depths of a harem—he’s completely unfathomable!

My jaw dropped at that sentence. That's... that's... quite a way to describe someone. Very amusing.

—

Both Xie Lian and Hua Cheng defied the path that Jun Wu/Bai Wuxiang forged...

—

Even amid a fierce and intense battle, Hua Cheng still managed to give a sweet response to Xie Lian. You two, forget about heaven's blessing, I’ll give you my blessings as a reader. That should be the most powerful blessing too.

—

I'm done reading and it still gives me a lingering shudder...

[iwanttofuckereh69]

now reading: 2ha vol 2

ch 71 - 88

lets go 

1. Mo Ran is more in love with concept of Shi Mei than Shi Mei himself

It started to dawn on me a while back but it slowly became clearer and clearer. Like, before there could be multiple explanations of his lack of interest in Shi Mei. Because their interactions in the first book were so sweet and wholesome and njgvtfninvghbjuvif but like reading how they cleaned up the house in silence was fucking painful. It’s like he tried to convince himself he was and he is in love with Shi Mei. Maybe he never really was, maybe only after he died Mo Ran began to convince himself he always did. Maybe he saw it as more than it really was because of grief. And because he is stupid. 

2. Shi Mei is a snake isnt he

I said it in my emotional post before ab ch 74, he totally pretended to be sick. I CONSULTED ALL MY FRIENDS (what i mean by that is my bestie and my boyfriend because im a loser like Chu Wanning) AND ASKED THEM TO TELL ME IF HE WAS SUS OR NOT. The verdict wasn’t clear but as i kept reading, it became super obvious. It was soooo sus when he just casually got out of bed while he was supposedly sick, just to menacingly and mysteriously stare at Mo Ran out of the window. As if it wasn’t clear enough before when he acted like a dainty lady all of the sudden. jnfjnju i love him, but omg im scared of what that little snake would do and what is his goal. Is that Taxian-jun’s dick really that fine 

@rosemary-screams i don’t know… how much longer i can take it… how much longer i can be true to my principles… to my love… its so hard… the weight of evidence seems so overwhelming…

3. i didnt realize before that Mo Ran’s grave was under the haitang tree. Maybe that wasn’t mentioned or maybe i forgot about it by the time i realized haitang tree’s significance nvgjnvgjvg NOW I KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS MEANT when you said its obvious from the beginning he loves Chu Wanning. (i mean im still not super convinced by the narrative; that doggo Mo Ran needs to try harder to connect those two lonely neurons scattered inside that thick skull of his)

4. I dont like that it was mentioned that infatuation pills exist in this universe. I dont like how they are introduced out of nowhere. That could be literally anything. Magic viagra. Or dick enlarging pills. ANYTHING. But no. It has to be infatuation pills. I dont like the fact that it seems like those are important. I really dont like that thought.

5. Shi Mei’s resemblance to Song Qiutong has been mentioned twice by now. Basically every time she appears, Mo Ran makes sure to note how she was similar to Shi Mei. And from what I understand Butterfly-Boned clan is pretty unique in their appearance? Is Shi Mei somehow… related to that clan? Like maybe only in a tiny bit tho… Or he's just THAT pretty <3

6. That person in black at the end of vol 2 is me trying to get my ship to work

But on a serious note, what an ending, what the hell is going on. Did someone else really got reborn as well? Wasn’t it supposed to be rare? tjnfgvtfbvgfnbvgjnik And like… when Mo Ran is trying to figure out who the hell has water element from the people he knows… He basically goes through everyone from the main cast aside from Shi Mei… I CHECKED TWICE. It gives me goosebumps. But Maybe Shi Mei doesn’t have any? Like, his cultivation is super lame.

And the fact that Mo Ran forgot that whole interaction... njrigvkrhiuvrfjhiukvgnh no wonder there's gonna be like 8 books or more....

In all honesty I don’t even know what else to say, im so stunned! What the fuck is going on! I NEED BOOK 3 NOW

BTW! Tell me what character from 2ha i should draw for kinktober and in what crazy situations would you want to see them. I'm too lazy to draw two people so choose wisely lol (leave a comment or send me an ask)

[mxtxfanatic]

Do you mind if I ask, why you dislike YuWu? Feel free if you want to ignore my ask.

Yu Wu was not as masterfully put together as 2ha, mostly because of the terrible pacing, balance, and weak characters.

Mo Xi, as a main character and as a love interest, is too insecure to stand beside a character like Gu Mang. Gu Mang is meant to go through so much shit that feels entirely unnecessary and is a direct result of Mo Xi’s weak convictions and indecisiveness. He can’t decide who he can trust, can’t decide how to act, can’t even decide what he, himself, wants, and it leads him to making such nonsensical decisions even up to the final act of the book. Speaking of, the final “moral dilemma” of the book had absolutely no stakes: it was literally a choice between 1) do the thing you always secretly wanted that’ll conveniently also save the world or 2) do the thing that will make you unhappy and destroy the world, but hey! you get to be immortal to experience despair for eternity as you rule a dead world! Wtf kind of dilemma is that??? The antagonists are actual scum villains, but one is redeemed because his mom was a little mean to him as a kid??? Shi Mei wasn’t even redeemed in 2ha, and he had an actual tragic backstory, so wtf??? So I couldn’t even find interest from the fucking villains.

Balance was shit. Why are we spending hundreds of pages in fluff land watching Mo Xi pretend to care about giving Gu Mang chores, meanwhile the final battle is approaching? Why does fluff land have as many pages as major story-pushing arcs, when just about nothing that happens in those domestic sideplots translate to material implications in the rest of the story outside of introducing other characters? And this is in every arc! Major suspense and energy build-up is squandered by the insertion of these domestic moments that do not matter in any way and don’t even serve to flesh out character. The same exact shit happens in every one of them: Mo Xi starts to be nice to Gu Mang, some outsider gets mad about it, Mo Xi realizes that he shouldn’t be nice to Gu Mang because people will get suspicious, Mo Xi is mean to Gu Mang which causes him to remember he’s “still mad,” Mo Xi’s callousness leads to Gu Mang being tortured in some way that reminds Mo Xi that he actually “still loves him.” Repeat ad infinitum.

And because balance was shit, pacing was also shit. Felt like most of the story was me reading a whole lot of nothing. I only perked up when action was happening, so either when another character took center stage away from Mo Xi, or when we were getting into Gu Mang’s past. Because Mo Xi is not a strong enough character to hold narrative interest. People wanna talk shit about mxtx LIs? Mo Xi is the actual main character of this novel, but his only redeeming quality is that the amnesiac LI with an overwritten personality turning him into a naive torture-magnet loves him. Said LI is more interesting than him—and almost every other character in the story—in every way.

[idrilka]

in which i'm telling everyone to go watch my country: the new age

so if you've been here or on my twitter at all during these past few weeks, you might have noticed my unhinged yelling about my country: the new age (and woo dohwan's beautiful, talented face). i finished the drama two weeks ago (immediately started rewatching from the beginning), and i honestly still haven't recovered. it flattened me like a pancake and left me just like that.

it's been a while since i got so invested in a piece of media (the last time was 2ha, and then i went on to write nearly 300k of ranwan fic, so this bodes well), and it took me completely by surprise. you know how sometimes you come across a piece of media that, completely out of the blue, rearranges you on the molecular level and you just know you'll never be the same afterwards? this is what this drama did to me, and i'm not exaggerating. i honestly went into it with zero expectations, thinking i was just going to watch it for woo dohwan's beautiful face, but, regrettably, it's just really fucking good all around. it might be my favorite kdrama i've ever watched?

*stefon voice* this drama has everything. do you want olympic level gay yearning? incredible antagonists? interesting plot and themes? fantastic fight choreography? an outrageously talented cast with excellent performances across the board and a host of fascinating supporting characters? a clever fucker with a fan? two protagonists who are absolutely unhinged about each other and love each other so much even as they practice stabbing as a form of foreplay? a searingly hot older woman with the richest voice you've heard? complex (if underutilized) female characters? costumes and styling so pretty it makes you want to chew on your arm? do you like to be made to feel all emotions known to man in a single moment? do you want to stay in a fetal position for two days after watching the last episode? do you want to think of nothing else for the rest of the week/month/year? WELL, THIS DRAMA IS FOR YOU THEN.

it's a historical court intrigue drama set against the backdrop of the fall of the goryeo kingdom and the rise of the joseon dynasty (~14th century), following two friends, seo hwi and nam seonho, who find themselves on the opposing sides of a political conflict. i can't even begin to express how good the central relationship of this drama is. it's a love story, and they fucking know it. the chemistry is sizzling. the knives are exquisite. there are so many layers to this relationship, and the lead actors do a phenomenal job with that. yang sejong gives a wonderfully understated yet extremely emotional performance as hwi, and the transformation hwi goes through is incredible to watch. woo dohwan as seonho is superb - intense, tragic, horribly misguided. the way this man acts makes me want to chew concrete.

and then!!! i usually don't gravitate towards antagonists/villains, but holy fuck, jang hyuk's performance as bangwon is such a tour de force. he is phenomenal, and he brings such nuance and complexity to bangwon that you literally can't tear your eyes away. (he also has a fan.) all three of them are absolute chemistry machines. all three could probably generate chemistry with a brick wall if needed, and this 100% shines through on screen. the strange, intense dynamic they're locked into is beyond delicious. the chemistry between bangwon and hwi is truly beyond. the "in love, divorced but still fucking" energy that seonho and hwi give off is everything. the parallels between seonho and bangwon are delectable. the complex nets of interpersonal dynamics make me want to weep with joy at how wonderfully nuanced they are.

and as if that were not enough, there's a whole cast of truly multidimensional supporting characters! (park chido, my beloved!!! munbok! jeong beom! sungrok! madam seol! hwawol, my baby!!!) honestly, there's not one weak performance across this entire cast - everyone gives it their all. this drama features also the worst father in the history of fiction, and i'm including shi mei's dad and jin guangshan in that. nam jeon is the worst is so, so many different, despicable ways, but his actor sells it so, so well. i loved every minute of absolutely loathing him.

the weakest point of the drama is, in my opinion, the obligatory but ultimately pretty secondary attempt at a romantic plot, which would be much better served by focusing on the other aspects of hwi and huijae's dynamic, because there's a lot of crunchy stuff to dig into, and i love huijae otherwise and wouldn't want to see her cut from the story in the slightest. her conflicting loyalties are so compelling, and that's where i feel like the character shines the most. the romantic plot also falls flat when confronted with whatever the fuck seonho and hwi have going on at any given point in time, but i think the drama knows that, too, and isn't trying to fight it particularly seriously (or at all).

(i also didn't love all the music choices in this, but that i can still live with.)

and, to close this giant wall of yelling, this drama is just so pretty. the cinematography is beautiful, the costumes (which i admit i besmirched a little after the first episode) get progressively more and more stunning as we go on, and i would like to personally thank whoever did seonho's wig/extensions, because that's one of the best examples of hair work i've seen in a while, and also to congratulate the makeup artists on the excellent sculpting job they did on seonho - he gets progressively more snatched the older he gets and this is very good for me, personally.

oh, and if, after all this, you're still wondering what it's like to watch woo dohwan act, then thank you, tumblr user @jekkies, for providing this excellent quote, because it's exactly like that (except there's nothing to steal here because yang sejong is also stellar):

thank you for your attention, and please, go watch this drama. i will love you forever.

[dangermousie]

More 2ha reread

It’s so interesting to see Mo Ran’s understanding in the past life try to work around the edges of the curse - not noticing inconsistencies in his own views which are blatant but the curse does not allow him to notice - for example, Mo Ran 1.0 remembers how TXJ even wondered at the contrast of how CWN was good to strangers and random people but so cold to his students; and the curse prevented him from thinking about this seeming inconsistency (even more inconsistent since the only two people MR would have thought he was bad to was him and Shi Mei since he knew (rightly) that CWN cared for Xue Meng.) The curse literally prevented someone as quick as he is to even wonder about why and how this was. It’s like his remembering thinking CWN was the last piece of warmth in his cold world when he was TXJ and he does not think why he thinks that of his enemy, why he thinks that his greatest joys and strongest emotions in past life were from CWN and not Shi Mei or conquest or whatever. You can tell he is beginning to snap out of it when he is wondering how he can lust after someone he hates so much - that’s because you don’t hate him!

Perhaps the most telling inconsistency is his thinking that he did three unforgivable things towards CWN in the original timeline and one of them was marriage (tho we don’t know that yet if we are reading for the first time) and he thinks of marrying CWN as the most gratifying thing in his life- marrying not defeating or fucking. (And he also feels guilt  for this and that the price was too high for making CWN kneel - once again, because he is waking up.)

One of the joys of a reread is watching the curse slowly lose its potency and Mo Ran regain not just more and more of himself in terms of feelings, but ability to reason. It’s like he’s waking up. He wants to make CWN angry and he does not know why (I know - because he wants attention!), his first reaction on seeing CWN asleep in a pile of his inventions is pity (and only later he remembers to gloat). He is “wow cool!” when CWN shatters a cursed tablet and a little later finds himself thinking CWN’s voice is pleasant to listen to now that he’s not filled with rage at the thought of him. It’s like watching someone detox! At one point, when MR watches the sniveling merchant family without feeling moved, the Russian translation says that the reason he is not moved is “Mo Ran was deprived of the feeling of pity” and that is basically a Russian phrase to say someone is lacking in that feeling but it struck me how accurate it actually is - because Mo Ran WAS deprived of the feeling of pity or any other warm and good feeling and only now they are slowly coming on line. 

But also, as a rereader, the cracks in Shi Mei’s perfect facade appear so clearly. For example, look at Shi Mei bringing wontons to MR after the whipping. If he truly was caring and wanted to reconcile, he’d tell Mo Ran who made the wontons instead of not only keeping it quiet but also trying to cause more trouble “oh teacher was too harsh on you” SHUT UP DUDE!

Speaking of Shi Mei - I still remember being so sad at the wonton revelation and thinking “if only Mo Ran knew in the beginning, things would be different” but the real tragedy is due to the curse it wouldn’t have made a damn lick of difference. If he knew, the curse would just have made him forget it. (Also, in your face Shi Mei, who constantly keeps prodding whether MR prefers the wontons or other stuff Shi Mei actually makes himself and MR always says wontons. Even MR’s tastebuds are devoted (Side note - did you notice that when MR is cleaning CWN’s library, he notices two cookbooks and they are both about Sechuan cooking - so spicy spicy spicy not what CWN himself likes - I nearly screamed because he clearly has them so he’d know how to cook wontons!) Btw, so grimly amused at SM trying to come up with excuses as to why he can’t randomly make wontons for MR, that’s because you don’t make them, liar!) 

It’s like the kiss in the mist - Mo Ran devours “Shi Mei” only to discover it’s CWN and you know, his body knew even when his soul didn’t because it’s clear only CWN evokes this mad desire in him. At one point, MR thinks that he does not feel desire for Shi Mei because he’s such a pure person but that’s the thing - MR is not asexual, he’s a strongly physical person so he cannot really love someone without desiring them and this is a huge red flag of how this is all fake.

So much of it reads so differently - Mo Ran thinking he is so grateful to Shi Mei for being the only one who does not despise his rough manners and habits and past when we know that Shi Mei loathes him and looks down on him and CWN is the one who truly does not care about any of it but cares about MR deeply. So much of this story is about seeming vs reality - even the seemingly random side quests deal with this - the seemingly respectable merchant family who are murderers and thieves, the seemingly perfect Rufeng sect that is anything but, the seemingly weak and gentle Shi Mei who is neither, etc etc etc. What people present themselves as and what they actually are is quite different. In a way, Mo Ran 1.0′s whole persona plays into this. Meatbun is so skillful about it - when you first read the book, between the continuous mentions that he used to be evil tyrant TXJ and Mo Ran’s own gonzo thoughts, what ends up hidden in plain sight is that except for Mo Ran robbing the hooker in the very beginning (when he is most under influence of the curse and just got TXJ memories to boot), he does not do anything whatsoever that is outside the realm of a slightly acting out teenager. I mean, drawling x-rated sketches in CWN’s unused books? Not being cuddling to crying strangers? (But still continuing with the mission to help.) LIKE THE KID DOES NOTHING BAD A GRUMPY TEEN WOULDN’T DO!

Not related, but the scene near the beginning where CWN eats alone and MR either is smug about that or one time he eats with him annoys him on purpose is so different from the latter scene where he sits and eats with him every day but also makes sure he eats well (one of my favorite sequences tbh).

[darlingpwease]

OMG EXACTLY. the way shi mei acts fragile and weak and insecure to draw your attention, to make you reassure him that he is amazing the way he is, he becomes dependent on you and you cannot say no to him. he knows what he is doing and he will not stop until he gets all your focus on him and only him. (hekfhvkwhwksjdj sorry i just love shi mei ans this trope)

YES!!!

when SHI MEI carefully sits down to you, so fragile and delicate, and you feel as if you are talking to an unripe flower that needs only a little sun and water to become luxurious and delightful — you once catch yourself thinking that when alone, you even talk to him quieter than usual, as if afraid to frighten him or suppress it. when you take his palm and a shiver runs through your body, his skin is so soft and smooth, almost transparent, and when shiny, gentle, like spring waters, eyes look at you, you can't help but feel a strange delight, as if you are holding something so fragile in your hands that even one wrong movement can to harm.

you really don't want to "objectify" — you understand that he is more than just fragile and beautiful, that he reads a lot, that he always gently touches the fibers of your soul, that he doesn't like to do physical things, that he likes light shades, that he likes to look at the rain, that his ring finger is a little shorter index finger and on the palm of the right hand, inside, there is a tiny mole.

that he can work without noticing when he gets sick, that he needs soft support in achieving goals, that he feels bad when he turns out to be useless, that he often makes categorical statements that he loves when you hug him and when you choose him among all others — and you really don't want to look desperate, but when time after time you feel that your focus is only on him, it seems so strange to you, almost wrong, but SHI MEI is always there, always so close, and when his cold fingers touch your warm skin...

maybe, maybe, sometimes you need to sacrifice something.

when SHI MEI gently, gently, so gently whispers to you, like the murmur of a spring, that you only need to be with him — you do not need to approach anyone else while he is here, you are the only one he can trust, you are the only one who understands him, — even realizing that his words are wrong, you can't help but hug, touching the silk skin, and his eyes are so bright that everything inside you is bubbling and burning, daring only to assure the thin, soft, gentle, beautiful as jade young man that you will always be with him, that he will always be yours a priority, even realizing that his tenderness and charm can easily cause your death one day. you just, you can't not — not when his cool, flexible body is pressed against you, but you only hear a hot whisper of gratitude while thin fingers intertwine with yours, and the moon shines so brightly in his eyes that you can't help but wonder where this light comes from — from the moon or his own?

... do you really think you can leave?

the fandom underestimates how fucking awesome shi mei is. a handsome manipulative VILLAIN or a SELF-REDEEMING villain who is gentle, intelligent and canonically obsessive!!! one day you break through his walls, but instead of the fragile cocoon of chu wanning, you find yourself in the nets of a beautiful spider posing as a charming innocent butterfly, who now constantly carries you with him. shi mei made a WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION out of his beauty, objectively weak origin and huge mind, and the fandom was like, "well, he first distracted Mo Ran on himself and then turned out to be a villain" like??? EXACTLY

[web-novel-polls]

Popular Danmei Character Tournament

CWs: MAJOR SPOILERS, genitalia mention, sex mention, murder mention, death mention

Shi Mei from the Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Submission: baby boy baby … evil

Mo Ran, the MC’s, original “love interest/crush”

As one of the last of the Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast Clan, he wants to help save the rest of his clan, even willing to work with Hua Binan and listen to him to do so (who’s actually him from another timeline, but they have different morals) 

Seems very sweet and kind-hearted but is much more bloodthirsty than he lets on

His emotions are kept under lock and key (for good plot reasons) and was even thinking about killing Mo Ran, his supposed love interest, for Chu Wanning’s death (the person he actually loved)

Mo Ran from the Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Submission: dumbasses need representation too

He’s obsessed with his Shizun (Chu Wanning), but for plot reasons, he “hates” Chu Wanning. Still wants to fuck him tho (he thinks this is normal)

Constantly doing a fucking limbo contest where the bar is understanding his own feelings (he’s underground)  

The author pulls him and the reader through the redemption of a century kicking and screaming. 

Canonly has the largest d*ck in the cultivation realm (that we know of) - “Seen when bathing at Deyu Hall; an absolute unit, truly awe-inspiring” (Ch.131) - that leads to Chu Wanning having an entire crisis

“Because like people, an ox has gotta eat. For the sake of eating, a lot of work has to be done. If one day you can’t work anymore, then no one cares if you’re alive or dead.” - Ch.65, Ox Eats Grass 

The reason behind his “hatred-yet-not-hatred” for Chu Wanning is wild - he purposefully chose to take the Flower of Everlasting Hatred to save Chu Wanning, causing him to become Taxian-jun 

His story is also incredibly tragic, but we don’t talk about that

[troofless]

So I read the first half of 2ha in 2 days and my reaction went from 

Wow! this looks interesting! to 

oh That guy is the ML and not the sweet bland sounding one! I’m even more interested now! to 

Damn the dynamic is so good I really love the teacher/student dynamic and imbalance in how the teacher is incredibly strong, also the hatred relationship lol esp in the ghost bride arc to 

Oh the ML has liked him all this time. Ok. Would you really love a kid romantically esp one so immature with no redeeming qualities I find that incredibly unrealistic to 

Bro the MC has liked his teacher all the time he just doesn’t recognise it ALSO he has fucked his teacher multiple times in the past that’s insane to

(The arcs start slowing down in quality after the teacher dies and they go thru a boring arc to get him back, a timeskip arc which is ok ig, and the most boring arc where they bring up the drama of an entirely different sect that I just have no interest in so idk what to put here)

So far the plot jumps from arc to arc with the style of ‘isolated problem appears, they fix it, move on to next problem’ without a very clear connection. For a while it felt fresh and new but after a while it gets stale. Maybe it has to do with the lack of descriptions of the fights, or how the resolution of the arcs most of the times end up being too quick and therefore unclear, from the Peach Blossom arc onwards. 

I knew a timeskip would occur from the very start bc age appropriate relationships bla bla but this one was really kinda flimsy if you think about it... I did like seeing the change of the MC though. Makes you think about how far he’s come and be proud at how much he’s changed. Also like how he reflects on his past years when he became mentally crazy and is shocked at the difference. 

I love the word play jokes a lot, but the Ji Ba joke especially made me laugh out loud for some time. Same for Jian Gui and Xia Si Ni. Wish they kept the MC’s sense of humour in the story but eh. Not everybody can be a Wei Wuxian 😔 Dude literally named his sword Sui Bian for the joke. 

I’m glad the author did decide to expand on the ML’s thoughts and feelings rather than keeping it onesided ‘show not tell’ situation though. It definitely helps tip the balance in favour of making me like the ship relationship. (Unlike the one in MDZS lmao who cares about that bland guy give me more Jiang Cheng). I like Xue Meng growing more and more to like Mo Ran (I just like the ‘brothers that dislike each other that repair their relationship over the years after much pain and suffering’ trope. Also Xue Meng is hilarious. 

As for Shi Mei, I legit felt bad for him bc 5 minutes after he was introduced I was hoping he wasn’t the ML because he was bland. I am Really Really hoping Shi Mei isn’t going to end up the yandere and possessive bad guy and will end up staying the nice and gentle cheerleader but so far I am already picking up bad signs. From the moment they mentioned the bad guy used water qi I knew Shi Mei was somehow going to be shafted as the bad guy so the Shi Mei/Mo Ran ship will die for sure instead of a first crush fading away kinda situation :’)

Is the story good? I guess. It was worth picking up to read. But if you asked me right now, if I would reread it again? No. 

Also, I have learnt not to read novelupdates reviews because they are full of people going ‘oH nOOO dOn’T rEAd tHiS MC iS a rapiSt das baaaad’ on literally every story, so what can I do now? And, can I say that 2ha’s full name of the husky and cat thing is very misleading and made me stay away from this book at first because I thought it was about a dog and cat that became humans? .....

Anyway I’m glad that Seven Seas is so far doing a good job of translating it and would def read Book 2 and until the teacher dies bc it’s not bad until then. Also the illustrations are pretty. Having to dig through multiple sources just to read the mess that is the unofficial translations is blergh. How did the fans even do it. How did they manage to put themselves through that torture. Why do shitty MTLs exist. Just. Why.

And one last question. If they can get an official translation for 2ha and MXTX books, SURELY they can get an official translation for Legend of Sun Knight. SURELY. 

But no one wants to read non-danmei books even though Legend of Sun Knight is superior to 2ha and MDZS in every way...

[agentsassy005]

I was rewatching the cartoon of avatar last airbender and realized how much story and canon stuff they fucked up on with legend of korra. They could’ve done a whole different category for korra like mastering the four elements by exploring the subcategories in elements. Metal, blood, steam, magma, healing, lightning, mud. That aang might’ve accidentally unlocked when he sealed ozais bending away in an enlightened avatar state that he was the only one who done so. And korra must relearn an ancient bending known as spiritual bending that was even lost by the avatars that aang was working on but died before finishing.

More under read more.

Also toph as the next king bumi au will always be my headcanon i seriously thought they butchered her as a cop. She will always be my con artist fav or at least in the white lotus to prevent corruption happening that fast.

Also the whole group is in like their early 50’s late 40’s when korra is a older teen kill aang a little sooner because he enlightened too early he killed his lifespan at probably 30 due to overworking himself trying to rebuild airbenders but instead of his kids he found benders that were descended from those who escaped due to gyatsu. So aang was training a new generation including the scientists family as living in the temple granted some to be born due to environment. He brought the sky bison variants bringing them back from extinction and found momos species the boy would not rest. He did have a kid with katara and traveled with them teaching them the nomad life

Korra is a southern water tribe still, keep polardog in katara was away grieving and looking for signs of the avatar, when sokka discovers korra is the avatar, she hit him with fire out of anger when he told her she can’t keep naga . Sokka loves the kid a warrior and even if a reincarnation he knows its not aang but still some quirks remain. He remembers what aang told him and is gonna help make sure korra gets her childhood first unlike most of the gang. But he takes her on lots of travels. Toph is her favorite aunt and toph recgonized that the way aang walked reincarnated calls korra twinkle toes always. And toph loves that the kid is a wild child and not a hippy like aang

Zuko is still fireking but he did divorce mei it was mutual, after they had a kid. Mei still lives in palace and acts as an advisor they both love their kid very well. Zuko and katara found each other after aangs death and married and had a child uniting water and fire tribes. Zuko also makes sure aang and kataras child know they are loved even though they won’t have their biological father with them. The three bending children cause a lot of trouble as they have to deal with all but earth elements. Mei laughs on the sideline.

Azula does get redeemed sometime inbetween. By forcing her to travel with sokka. The only one she seemed to respect see as an ally and sokka didn’t run away at her. They do have a kid surprising and pissing everyone off the kid is born around about same time as korra. So those two are best friends.

Suki and ty lee are lovers, sokka a third wheel also a donor. Both got a kid from sokka they act like twins even if only born a day apart master of chi blocking and unblocking.

Toph has a kid, nobody knows whose the father is toph is not telling. (Its sokka after a drunk night stand bad decisions made but toph did want to have a heir for her craziness) toph and suki also have a relationship ty lee doesn’t mind. All three girls are best friends

Sokka can’t have any sons it is a curse. Meanwhile katara has a son. Salty brother sokka. All the kids but suki’s and ty lees are benders. Korra feels like they’re all one big family.

The main villains would be spirits especially wan shi tong. Trying to close the bridge permanently to the spirit world as they see humans are not fit to have bending even though it is not their choice it is the lionturtle spirits choice. And wan shi tong starts trying to collect the avatars head for the past reincarnation aggression. Face stealer is helpful info and states it is a past life he needs to learn to move on. So it is a war in spirit world and real world.

Iroh still helps as a guide for korra as due to aangs enlightenment avatar state he unlocked it for the next avatar to be more spiritual, does not help korra was close to death from freezing as a kid. Aang helps teach korra killing is not always the answer. And that their are many angry spirits that are around after the war, and balance between humans and spirits must be found again now that the war is over. To learn from spirits whose rivers and forests destroyed, so we see humans and spirits recovering together. And we see yui as an ally as well.

All of this would help as world building as korra’s world building seem to forgot that some spirits gave up the immortal form and had NO WAY OF GETTING BACK TO THE SPIRIT WORLD. IM LOOKING AT YOU SEA AND MOON AND NORTHERN WATER TRIBE AS WELL AS MERGING THE TWO WORLDS PERMANENTLY WHEN THAT DIDNT NEED TO HAPPEN AS SPIRITS ARE TECHNICALLY DEAD YOUR ALLOWING PEOPLE TO CHEAT DEATH AND COME BACK TO LIFE. Also i want to see the people and spirits slowly recovering from a war that traumatized them. Begin to heal together.

[translations-by-aiimee]

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun - Chapter 28

Original Title:  二哈和他的白猫师尊

Genres: Drama, Romance, Tragedy, Xianxia, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 28 - This Venerable One is A Little Confused

Elder Yuheng broke the rules and was punished. He might as well have sprouted wings. There was no need to wait until the next morning; Almost all the disciples of the sect had heard about it that same night.

Two hundred strikes; if he were replaced by any other ordinary person, they would probably be beaten to death. Even a cultivator isn't indestructible.

Xue Meng jumped up after learning about it: "What?! Master went to the Court of Discipline?"

"Young Master, go and talk to the Lord. He's already injured. How could he stand two hundred strikes?"

Xue Meng was going crazy: "My father? I can't. My father is still at the Snow Palace and hasn't returned yet. A carrier pigeon wouldn't even get there for another day. Why didn't you guys stop Shizun?"

Mo Ran and Shi Mei glanced at each other.

Stop Chu Wanning?

Who in this world could stop him?

"That's out of the question. I'm going to find him right now." Xue Meng roared and ran towards the Court of Discipline. Before he entered the courtyard, he saw a group of Elder Jielu's disciples blocking the entrance of the main hall, whispering about something.

"What are you standing there for? Move! Get out of my way!"

"Young Master!"

"Ah, the young master is here."

"Make way, the young master is here."

The disciples quickly separated and gave way to Xue Meng. The gate of the Qingtian Temple was open, and Chu Wanning was kneeling silently, his posture straight, his eyes closed. Elder Jielu, with an iron rod in hand, was reciting the laws of Life-Death Peak. Every time he finished reciting one, the iron rod slammed against Chu Wanning's back.

"The ninety-first law of this sect: do not indiscriminately hurt the innocent, and do not use cultivation against a mortal. Under this rod, do you have any objections?"

"None."

"The ninety-second law of this sect; do not act arbitrarily, do not act selfishly. Under this rod, do you have any objections?"

"None."

Elder Jielu didn't dare hold back and had to execute the punishment as he would with any other disciple. After more than ninety sticks came down, Chu Wanning's white robes were stained with blood.

Xue Meng respected Chu Wanning the most. When he saw this, his eyes went bloodshot, and he shouted: "Shizun!"

Chu Wanning ignored him. His eyes were still closed and he frowned slightly.

Elder Jielu glanced at the door and muttered: "Elder Yuheng, the young master is here."

"I'm not deaf, I heard him." Blood dripped out of the corners of Chu Wanning's mouth, but he didn't raise his eyes. "He's a noisy child, don't worry about it."

Elder Jielu sighed. ". . .Yuheng, why are you doing this?"

"Who is the one that is always punishing my disciples for being disobedient?" Chu Wanning said indifferently. "If I'm not punished today according to the law, how will I be able to face my disciples in the future?"

". . ."

"Carry on."

"Hah. . ." Elder Jielu looked at his pale, slender neck protruding from the edge of the wide collar that hung gently like thin smoke and asked: "Then can I at least make them lighter?"

". . . This is nothing more than deception." Chu Wanning said. "Don't worry. It's only two hundred strikes, I can bear it."

"Elder Yuheng. . ."

"Jielu, if you don't have anything more to say, carry on."

The iron rod finally fell again.

Xue Meng's voice was frantic: "Elder Jielu! Are you not going to fucking stop? Do you know the situation you've put me in? That's my shizun you're beating!!! My shizun!!!"

Elder Jielu had no choice but to bite his tongue and pretend he didn't hear him.

Xue Meng was about to explode: "Can't you hear me, old man? I'm ordering you to stop! You - If you dare hit him again, I'll, I'll, I'll—"

He thought for a while and couldn’t come up with anything to say. After all, he was only a fifteen-year-old boy. Regardless of the fact that he was "the proud boy of heaven," his strength and qualifications are far less than those of the elders. He could only blush and throw out an outrageous claim --

"I'll tell my father!!!"

Elder Jielu: ". . ."

Chu Wanning let out an almost inaudible sigh.

Ninety-seven strikes. Ninety-eight strikes. Ninety-nine strikes. One hundred sticks. . .

His clothes were torn and blood was glaringly seeping out.

Xue Meng couldn't hold back anymore. His eyes were red with anxiety, and he was about to recklessly rush in, but Chu Wanning suddenly opened his eyes. He waved his hand and a barrier instantly lowered, blocking the entrance. Xue Meng bounced back a few steps, almost falling to the ground.

Chu Wanning coughed up blood. He shifted his glare, narrowing his fierce phoenix eyes.

"Disgraceful! Leave!"

"Shizun!"

Chu Wanning sternly said: "Since when can the Young Master of Life-Death Peak order an Elder to bend the law for his own personal gain? Leave now!"

Xue Meng stared at him. His eyes widened and it looked like little beads of water appeared in them.

Next to him, Mo Ran stroked his chin, and the corner of his mouth was still playfully curled upwards: "Oh, that's not good. Little phoenix is going to cry."

Hearing these words, Xue Meng harshly turned his head and fiercely glared at Mo Ran. His watery eyes were red, but he kept any tears from rolling down.

He had no more objections and no more talk back.

He climbed up from the ground with a single movement. He lowered his head, grit his teeth and wiped the dust off his body. Then he knelt down facing the Qingtian Temple: "Shizun, I know my mistake."

Chu Wanning was still being tortured by an iron rod. His straight posture never wavered, but his face was pale, and his forehead was coated with a fine layer of cold sweat.

Xue Meng stubbornly said: "But I'm not leaving. I'll accompany Shizun."

He said while kneeling.

Mo Ran rolled his eyes towards the sky. Xue Meng, courtesy name Xue Ziming, the proud son of heaven, was only ever humble in front of Chu Wanning. In front of others, he was a phoenix, and in front of their shizun, he became a quail. If he wasn't positive that Xue Meng didn't like men, Mo Ran would start to suspect that this guy was probably in love with Chu Wanning, so much so that he would throw himself in front of death itself for him. If Shizun slapped his left cheek, then this little bitchy quail would humbly slap his right cheek.

Real convincing.

Like an obedient little puppy.

Although he despised him in his heart, he couldn't understand why he was feeling somewhat upset. Mo Ran looked at Xue Meng. The more he looked at him, the more uncomfortable he got and he felt that he could not let him show his loyalty alone.

Chu Wanning already didn't like him. If Xue Meng made such a fuss, does that mean Chu Wanning wouldn't be as harsh with him in the future?

So he simply went over and knelt beside Xue Meng.

"I'll also accompany Shizun."

Of course, Shi Mei also knelt down, and the three disciples all knelt and waited outside. When disciples under the other elders heard the circulating rumours, they all hurried to the Court of Discipline to watch the excitement.

"Oh my god, why is it Elder Yuheng. . ."

"I heard he went into a rage and beat a civilian."

"Ah! He's that cruel?"

"Shhh, keep your voice down. If Elder Yuheng hears you, he won't hesitate to whip you!"

Others: "Why is the young master kneeling?"

"Young Master Mo is also kneeling. . ."

Mo Ran was handsome and he had a way with words. He didn't know how many female cultivators he'd earned goodwill with over the years, but right now, there were several people who couldn't help but feel pity for him and whisper: "I feel so sorry for Young Master Mo. What should I do? Should we intervene?"

"We shouldn't concern ourselves with their shizun - disciple issues. Do it if you dare, I'm not that brave. Do you remember the senior sister who was whipped hundreds of times by Elder Yuheng..."

". . ."

The two hundred strikes were completed.

The barrier was finally removed.

Xue Meng quickly got up from the ground. He ran into Qingtian Temple and approached the scene. Seeing Chu Wanning's appearance, he cried out. He turned his head and grabbed Elder Jielu's collar. "You're dead, old man! Couldn't you have hit him a little lighter!!!"

"Xue Ziming." Chu Wanning closed his eyes, his blood-stained lips moving, and his hoarse voice carried a hidden deterrent.

". . ."

Xue Meng's knuckles creaked. He violently pushed Elder Jielu away, letting him go. This was when Mo Ran came in. He was still smiling, thinking that Elder Jielu must have taken into account Chu Wanning's status and wouldn't deal heavy blows. But looking down at Chu Wanning's injury, the smile on his face suddenly fell.

Didn't Chu Wanning tell Elder Jielu that he had a shoulder injury?!

The two hundred strikes had all more or less slashed across the older wound on his shoulder.

New wounds overlapped old wounds.

Chu Wanning, you. . .

Are you insane?!

His pupils shrank sharply, and a strong resentment surged into his heart.

Mo Ran didn't know what he was resenting, or what he was so annoyed about. He only knew that he felt a blazing fire in his gut, torching through all his organs. He was used to torturing Chu Wanning to death himself, crushing his self-esteem and tarnishing his purity. Mo Ran couldn't stand seeing injuries on Chu Wanning that were made by someone else!

He could move on from his past memories because Mo Ran subconsciously felt that this person was his. This person, whether dead or alive, hated or hated, was all.

He originally didn't care about Chu Wanning being punished because he thought that, since Chu Wanning was an elder, the two hundred strikes would hardly be considered a severe punishment.

At the very least, they would avoid the fresh wound on his shoulder.

But Chu Wanning didn't say anything! He didn't even mention it! What was this lunatic so stubborn? Why did he put up with this? What point did he so stupidly and stubbornly need to prove?!?

His mind was in turmoil. Mo Ran raised his hand to help him, but Xue Meng was already one step ahead of him. He took Chu Wanning in his arms and helped him up.

". . ." Mo Ran's hand hung in the air, and after a while, he slowly lowered it again.

He watched Xue Meng help Chu Wanning walk away, not knowing the feeling that was stirring in his heart.

He wanted to catch up with them, but he wasn't willing to move.

What happened in his past life was all in the past.

Nowadays, Chu Wanning was just his shizun.

Any chaotic, hateful, or intimate entanglement hadn't happened between them yet.

He shouldn't have such thoughts. Whether Chu Wanning was beaten by someone, supported by someone, loved someone, or was even killed by someone, it had nothing to do with him.

Shi Mei came to him: "Come on, let's join the young master and go take a look."

"I'm not going. It's enough having Xue Meng there. I wouldn't help much. Any more people would just create chaos." Mo Ran's face remained unchanged, but his heart was a bit confused.

He really didn't understand what he was feeling right now. What was this feeling called?

Was it hatred?

[momoliee]

Hi, momoliee....Thanks for answering my ask....If you don't mind me asking, who are your top 5 (or top 3) favorite couples from all of the danmei novel that you've finished reading until now? And why do you like them? Sorry if you've answered this before.....

Usually when it comes to ships, to me it’s always more about how much I enjoy the dynamic itself rather than the depth so here goes :

1. Ranwan : two lifetimes. three personas. three separate stories. beautiful. full of love. We have the tragedy and angst that’s Chu Fei and Taxian jun with all its pain, we have the bastard mo ran 1.0 and his obsession with Shi mei while Chu Wanning watches from afar in pain and self deprecation and longing. And we have mo ran 2.0 and his gentlemanly respectful manner trying to cover up the beast within as well as the flustered and overwhelmed but nevertheless happy cwn. They give you angst, jealousy, possessiveness, sweetness, fluff, respect, sex. One chapter mo ran is preparing a whole feast based off of cwn’s tastes, the next hes fucking him brainless before one of them is somehow dying or getting his soul torn out while the other cries while holding him. Basically it’s a full package stuffed into one ship💀. That’s of course without even going into the analytical depth of their love and relationship and all that but let’s keep it here.

2. Fei Du x Lou Wenzhou : I remember while reading the novel I thought, this is one of the hottest steamiest slowest of slow burns ever without even the explicit sex. Fei du constantly invading lwz’s space, constantly flirting with him, constantly making his moves and the moment lwz so much as gives him a sly glance, watch him fall down the stairs cause he wasn’t expecting THAT. Their relationship revolved a lot around then sizing up each other and constantly trying to piss each other off. And then finally, our sociopathic little boy at last found someone to love him and care for him after all these years of suffering and pain and— pls theyre just wonderful ok.

3. Cezhou (from qjj) : enemies to lovers need I say more. Their dynamic started off very very fun, I’d laugh at how they’d act around each other, feeling like each was trying to pull at the pigtails of the other with all the mocking and pettiness. Then it’s slowly progressed to romance and their romance is so so sweet and so so sensual. It’s full of love and feelings and emotions and you can just feel it. Even the sex feels so…loving idk theyre just so in love it’s heart wrenching

4. Wangxian : pls we have the class clown/trouble maker x the good stiff rule abiding student and who doesn’t love a bit of that. What I love about them is that they really understand each other without any words needed. Wwx doesnt have to explicitly tell him why he did what he did, cause lwj knows and lwj understands. Lwj doesn’t have to smile or raise his voice for wwx to catch that he’s happy or figure out that he’s angry, he can just always tell. There’s this communication without actually communicating that many couple no matter how much they blow each other’s ears while talking, they can never reach that level of understanding. Idk they have a very very very deep and genuine connection and it’s just, it’s nice.

5. Hualian : they’re warmth, they’re healing, they’re home. They feel like a sweet cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day. Them healing together makes me feel like a part of me is healing too. Maybe it’s the everlasting love or all the quotes like, “you made me realize how simple it is to be happy” but, I’m just very fond of them.

Honorary mentions : Ximang !! And yushipei :D