the-marron - Tumblr blog

[the-marron]

Also a sunflower, because @stupidlynx have amazing songs for these two ///

[the-marron]

If anyone ever wondered why artists and writers stop posting their works on tumblr, that is why:

2 likes, 0 reblogs; same work on youtube 891 views, 29 likes

20 likes, 3 reblogs; same work on AO3 5630 Hits, 891 kudos

I am so tired of yelling into a void without getting an answer.. we can't keep doing this. you need to reblog shit or there won't be shit to reblog.

[the-marron]

No see results option, I'm forcing you to perceive yourself. rb for more results plus

[the-marron]

Take the test

You can only do 12 options in a poll so if you tie choose which one you prefer???

[the-marron]

Guardian scribbles

[the-marron]

You want more minority representation in media but if they have flaws its problematic and if theyre perfect theyre a patronizing mary sue. If they crack under the pressure of the conflict the author thinks that minority is weak and if they overcome the adversity they must be a neoliberal bootlicker who thinks real world bigotry is a matter of personal attitude. You want minority characters but if theyre a villain its violently problematic and if theyre the protagonist then we circle back to the very first sentence. If theyre a side character theyre being sidelined and the author is once again bigoted, and don't you know that every single minority character death is unilaterally bigoted, without exception? You want more minority characters but if their identity is a big part of their personality or struggles then they're problematic and if their identity has nothing to do with their personality or struggles then the author is tokenizing that identity for clout. You want more minority characters but every time theres a minority character who doesnt have every single experience that you have then you tell the author to kill themselves on twitter. You wonder why not even minority authors will write minority characters.

I would ask you to read Catch-22, but you'd just call the military base problematic.

[the-marron]

@guardianbingo december bonus prompt 'renewal'

[the-marron]

This thread is gold

[the-marron]

Expertise can't help you here.

[the-marron]

people are really looking at stats to determine if a fic is worth reading? no wonder fics that never got popular at the first drop never had a chance 💀

[the-marron]

I think having a baby niece is great cause my brother will send me just a constant stream of messages that sound indistinguishable from how someone at Jurassic park would text if they were being hunted by the raptor

[the-marron]

🌳🍃

[the-marron]

Bai Yu Reviews #3 : Take Us Home (龙城) - END

Full Review: 36/36 watched

What is it about?

Family trying to figure out their way in life despite the outside and inner troubles . More slice of life than a romance, although romance does appear. Heavy focus on family and obligation to family.

Bai Yu's role?

Main, middle brother Zheng Xijue

Is it worth watching?

Yes, but it's not for everyone. Gets heavy at times. Details and minor spoilers under the cut.

After the review of the first half of the show, I was ready to be disappointed further, and yet, to my great surprise, right after episode 18 the entire drama took off.

Things got progressively worse, especially when it comes to Dongni and her issues, but pretty much everyone from the main cast got a moment to shine and at least try to tackle their problems and hang ups, while the crisises kept on coming.

The focus on parenting, on the role and responsibility of a parent when it comes to a child (and the other way round), is definitely one of the strongest points Take Us Home makes, and discusses at length. Different models of parenthood, different approaches and effects it has on kids, are coordinated well with what was shown in the first part of the show.

Here, a scene from the last two episodes comes to mind, that is the talk between Dongni and Xuebi, regarding the degree to which a parent should sacrifice for their kids and how it affects said kids. The answer is particularly resonant in modern times - an unhappy parent is very likely to make their child unhappy too, despite their best intentions. No one can grow up sane while feeling they are a burden someone has to sacrifice for, day after day.

Zhao Zhao's plotline is probably the most painful one, but it leads to a very mature discussion of hope and the price for it - Zheng Xijue's idealistic belief in shielding people from truth just to sustain their hope and will to live, is constrasted with Doctor Chen's pragmatism and rather realistic belief that it's foolish to waste resources on lies that do not bring any real change.

There is also the prevailing question of - do you want to save her? Or just feel better about yourself because you tried?

This arc doesn't offer any easy answers, although it seems that the script sides more with Xijue here, considering the 'ghost talks' both Xijue and Doctor Chen have at some point, explaining their reasoning and feelings to those who are long gone.

Doctor Chen is an interesting character in his own right - from an idealist and true altruist he changed into a loner, unwilling or unable to let anyone close because of the hurt he suffered. Him and Zheng Xijue are natural foils for each other and each scene with them both present is a personal favourite of mine. Again - patterns that are repeated shape who the characters are, and it's requires them to work on themselves to overcome them. Some manage to, some don't.

Although most of the attention, especially when it comes to the dramatic and hurtful events, is centred on Zheng Xijue and Dongni, Nanyin's plotline of growing into herself and her relationship is done very well too - it is a nice counterbalance to the stormy lives of her older siblings, but it's not naive or insignifcant. Nanyin, taking strength from the support and love she received from her family, is able to fight back against her in-laws and to decide for her own how her life and future will look like. In the sea of hard choices and inescapable misery, her arc is the shining, hopeful beacon, despite the troubles she faces.

And here is the main reason why this review is so positive while the previous one was less than: the balance. The second half finally shows us moments of respite, shows us the characters smiling, hanging out, having fun, without just the dire circumstances pushing them into each other. Of course, they are still supporting one another throughout all the bad luck, but the also have the time to finally just be.

Gone is also the feeling of stagnation - first things get much worse, the spiral changes into a head-dive, but it only makes watching the Zheng siblings crawl back up, one step at a time, all the more satisfying.

They actually have to put on some work to be better and I must say, it's a joy to see them put in the effort.

However.

The one who changes the least in the end, is Zheng Xijue. Instead of him learning to set some boundaries and learning to give some things and people up, it's his surroundings that come to a conclusion that he is perfect as he is and it's their job to learn how to accept him and support him in his self-sacrificial act, because they all profitted from his sacrifices and were able to be so happy exactly because he was there to be their stepping stone.

It might be a bit of a reach here, but I find it interesting that everyone is at their best when he stops being a person and starts being a concept - with Xijue in jail, his entire family adapts almost a religious 'Xijue wouldn't want you to do that, he wouldn't want you to suffer like that' approach, which benefits them ("Xijue already suffered for it, you can't waste it, so do what you want") but doesn't really address how much this state of things costs him.

Aunt Lin does say at some point that he was bound to blow up and hit someone because he got so used to bottling everything up, yet this idea doesn't come back. Even Jiang Yi, Zheng Xijue's girlfriend who from the very beginning had very good reasons to be unhappy with his choices, finally gets 'converted' into understanding that this is how it should be and that her role in life is to be there for him whenever his goodness breaks him up too much. Local Jesus spotted, everyone.

Joking aside - I am not certain whether the show wanted it that way, or if it's just my reading of it, but I believe that while the drama has a good ending overall, Zheng Xijue is the only character who actually loses in the end. He doesn't leave his pattern after all, he even gets it enforced and encouraged from the outside, and for me? That's a bad ending. I like those, so it's additional plus from me, but for those who find themselves in Xijue's circumstances and want to be inspired by watching how he overcomes them... Well, he doesn't.

Who is it for? Definitely for those who like Bai Yu's acting, he does a marvellous job here, especially in the second part where he has something more to show than sad smiles and tears. This man can suffer, let me tell you that. For the lovers of slice of life, family dramas, flawed characters trying their best to become better, and for those who like to be reminded that no matter how hard the circumstances are, there is always hope for it to get better tomorrow.

Who it isn't for? People who don't like too much suffering, and those who don't enjoy their protagonists display toxic behaviour towards their loved ones. From what I gather, the drama also loses quite a lot of the content when it comes to Longcheng itself and the problems of industrialism that are present in the novels - they are only hinted at in the drama and don't lead anywhere. Also: it's definitely not for those who dislike characters being dramatic and irrational at times - while realistic, it can get sometimes frustrating, because how naive can you get???

Overall, I enjoyed it a lot, even cried a bit in the right moments, so personally, I do recommend it both to Bai Yu fans and to people who enjoy the topics this drama touches upon. It's very well-acted and beautifully shot, the ost also grows on you as you watch (although some songs get repeated so often that making a drinking game out of them would kill some livers)

[the-marron]

Submitted by @sky-the-snail-fanatic

[the-marron]

which is definitely not an omen