#🜎 patiently waiting | queued progress

[deathleadsarc]

@godsp1te | s.c

―  🜛  ―  " Yes indeed, if only one could fly these skies alone. " 

[lancermylove]

Learning His Language (HC)

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland

Pairing: Leaders x gn!Reader

Warning: None

Requested by: Anon

Prompt: I saw the post about the requests being open but everything said it was closed. So if they are closed my apologies. May I request a Gn reader trying to learn the dorm leaders languages. Like how Idia is Greek or malleus being like Celtic?Again if I was wrong and requests are closed I apologize.

A/N: Requests were open. I had the open post queued and forgot to change closed to open in the other places. 😅

———————————————

Idia Shroud (Greek)

Not many have taken an interest in his culture, so when he hears you trying to speak Greek behind closed doors, he is shocked. He hears wedding bells.

Ortho tells him to let you learn on your own, but Idia can't possibly do that. So, he develops an app for you.

Not once does he laugh when you mispronounce something, and he is surprisingly patient with you.

With his help, you will be speaking Greek in no time. Then, the two of you can make fun of the other students without them knowing.

Riddle Roseheart (British)

The moment he hears you trying to speak English, he becomes your teacher, even if you don't want him to be. He is determined to teach you.

Riddle is the best teacher you can ask for, but he can be very strict. Expect him to send you texts about grammar rules and give you short quizzes just to see your progress.

With him teaching you, you will be a pro at English in a few months.

Meanwhile, the students in Heartslabyul hear wedding bells and can't wait to attend your wedding in the future.

Kalim Al-Asim (Arabic)

Kalim can't control his happiness when he hears you speaking broken and incorrect Arabic for the first time. He gives you a bone-crushing hug.

He tries to teach you, but you end up confused each time. Jamil can't take it anymore and volunteers to be your personal tutor alongside Kalim.

While the dorm leader shares the Arabic culture, movies, and music with you, Jamil teaches you the technical parts of the language.

When you start speaking somewhat fluently, Kalim throws a party in your honor. Then, he calls his siblings and tells them he is ready to bring their sister-in-law/brother-in-law home with him.

For the rest, visit my website: Learning His Language

———————————————

➣  Please visit my website for the full masterlist!

[intothedysphoria]

Depending on your point of view, coming across Billie Hargrove’s Instagram account was either the best or the worst thing to ever happen in Stevie’s life.

Stevie didn’t even know that butches could have long hair but this one did. Granted in a douchey eighties mullet type of way. She also had a very pronounced six pack which she was not attempting to hide in any of her photos. Crystal blue eyes. A winning smile. Shit.

Billy, they/she, basketball stan and cringe Judith Butler supporter- 60% girl, 40% something else-meanest lesbian ever

Over the course of about three weeks, Stevie had looked over that profile at least six times a day. They were mesmeric and Stevie found herself wanting to be consumed. She’d never felt this way about a boy before. Not even Tommy Hagan who she’d dated for over a year before they split. And Billy was in fucking L.A. Nothing was ever going to happen between them.

Still, she found herself sliding into their DMs just before going to get her hair done. Nothing too I’ll-stab-you-and-keep-your-body-in-the-basement but like casual. Maybe a little flirty. They didn’t seem like they had a girlfriend.

What she ended up messaging was “hi Billie! You don’t know me but I love your jeans where did you get them from ☺️”

Smooth Stevie. Very smooth.

She couldn’t even talk to her hairdresser during her hair appointment because she was so embarrassed by what she’d done. A small part of her genuinely considered setting her phone on fire until she checked it again after her highlights were in.

Incredibly surprisingly to Stevie, Billie responded and not even that, responded very positively indeed.

It was all Hey pretty girl and smirking emojis and I got my jeans from this underground thrift store or whatever and Stevie didn’t exactly take any of the information in because she was so incredibly flustered.

If she flattered herself, Stevie knew she was pretty. She knew she had big eyes and glossy hair and full lips which usually led to a line of guys queuing up for a shot. Billie wasn’t like any of those frat guys she was used to or the pretentious hipsters she’d dated later on in college. If there was chasing that was going to be done, Stevie was going to have to do it herself.

A gratifying squirm started in her gut the next day, when she realised that Billy had followed her back. Stevie may have been far too chickenshit to actually message her back but still. Progress was progress.

They danced around talking for a bit. Billie always liked her stories but there was never actually any flirting. Just a palpable tension. Something waiting to begin.

Stevie was not a patient woman. So she decided to push it forward a little.

Posting a thirst trap wasn’t something Stevie had done since she was bored during lockdown but how hard could it be? It had to be like riding a bike or some shit. So she just uploaded a couple of pictures, no overthinking it.

After deleting about thirty different messages from guys, all of whom were being creeps in different ways, Stevie finally got to the message she hoped she’d get from Billie. For all the anxiety leading up to it, the actual content was remarkably short.

Cute 💖😙

Robin picked up after the third ring. Judging by the time of her voice, Stevie had definitely woken her up from a nap. Whoops.

“What the fuck is it dingus?” Ouch.

Stevie tried to answer without sounding like an absolute moron.

“Robin how do you know if a lesbian is flirting with you?”

The long silence indicated to Stevie that she’d absolutely sounded like a moron.

“What did she say dingus?”

Stevie told her then she hung up. Which seemed harsh.

Billie messaged again the following day. Again it was brief.

Sorry if I misread. I’ll leave you alone now.

Stevie had never scrambled to reply to a message as fast in her life. Begging Billie not to leave, she wasn’t very good at this type of flirting but she wanted to try.

Billie seemed a lot less bummed after that. And much flirtier. They’d explained about their ocd, the constant fear of being creepy or a bad person stopping her from messaging Stevie more. But now that they were talking they could try. If Stevie wanted.

Stevie did want. She wanted very much.

And when finally visited Billy one person about five months later and they were doing dumb first date stuff, being in love, she thought that was a pretty good story to tell their grandkids about how they’d met.

Embarrassing. But good.

@shieldofiron @dragonflylady77 @oopsiedaisiesbaby @thatgirlwithasquid @robthegoodfellow

[neonghostcat]

Hello everyone! I just wanted to give you something of a heads up/state of the author thing for anyone wondering! I have spent a few weeks just... chilling, goofing off, reading some of the stories in my Marked to Read Later, obsessing over various cultivation-type video games (thanks @roxiusagi for getting me into both Yi Xian and Immortal Life... This is me +1ing those as recommendations, btw! Yi Xian is officially free-to-play now, so you too can get obsessed!), dealing with holidays/irl and so on!

I'm about to start getting back on track with fandom, which starts with queuing some lovely art that's been posted in the last few weeks and then starting on AO3 replies!

❣❣❣ That's your warning: Anyone who's posted AO3 comments, please expect replies starting soon! ❣❣❣

After I've made a reasonable dent in those, I get to start working on Joint Custody! Yay! I'm sure someone is out there going, "Wait, it's been months... you've not even started yet?" And the answer is ✨No!✨ I've been goofing off, as I said! 🙃 TBH, I've been worried about burnout and didn't want to just go through the motions - I wanted to write with my whole heart. But I'm starting to get the itch again, which means it's about time.

I'll post a progress report once I have a better idea of how I'm going with Joint Custody, but you may get a couple of Cultivate extras before then. I imagine replying to everyone's comments will send me running to Scrivener.

Thank you for being patient with me! I hope you are all well! 🥰

[cantheywinthehungergames]

10/27 Mentor Submission Progress Report

I have mentor polls queued into the 7th of December, and I will keep mentor submissions open until the rest of the year is filled. Here's the current schedule:

November 2nd: Zack Fair (Final Fantasy VII series), Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII series), Zeta (Granblue Fantasy), Toji Fushiguro (Jujutsu Kaisen)

November 9th: Kakashi Hatake (Naruto series), Itachi Uchiha (Naruto series), Siegfried (Granblue Fantasy), Grimsley (Pokémon)

November 16th: Bruno Bucciarati (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure), Laios Touden (Delicious in Dungeon), Papa Shirogane (Kaguya-Sama: Love is War), L (Death Note)

November 23rd: Cologne (Ranma 1/2), Happosai (Ranma 1/2), Ichiban Kasuga (Yakuza/Like a Dragon series), Seonhee (Yakuza/Like a Dragon series)

November 30th: Osamu Kashiwagi (Yakuza/Like a Dragon series), Mirei Park (Yakuza/Like a Dragon series), Wyll Ravengard (Baldur's Gate 3), Kelsier (Mistborn Era)

December 7th: Athena Grant-Nash (9-1-1), Philip Banks (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), Rafal Mistral (The School for Good and Evil series), Tohru Adachi (Persona 4 series)

I sincerely ask that you please be patient if you would like to submit a mentor from this point forward, as you will be waiting until December to see it posted. Otherwise, please continue to submit tributes! The link to submit either is here. Not to mention, I have inbox trick-or-treating open this week so please participate in that!

Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

[deathleadsarc]

@biskael | s.c

―  🜛  ―  " Time makes fools of us all, does it not? Even for I, to have succumbed to a humans heart and its desires. You know . . . you two are quite loud, dear. I began to desire it too. "

[deathleadsarc]

―    🜛    ―    "  The  liver  is  indeed  a  vital  organ!  A  near-peeeeerfect  regulation  of  waste  products  within  the  blood!  Beauty      beauty      beau-ty!  Eliminating  toxins  and  storing  excess  energy  in  the  form  of  glycogen.  It  is  certainly  not  possible  to  live  without  a  liver!  Which  is  all  the  more  reason  why  I  need  to  acquire  it!  If  not  you,  perhaps,  you  know  of  another?  An  enemy  perhaps,  or,  a  nosy  neighbor  you  despise?  "

@deathleads

“ no ma'am, you can't have my liver. livers are important. you can't live without them, hence the name. ”

[chaosleads]

@aemiliu​   //   s.c

 ―  🜺  ―  " Well if you've something on your mind, I do not have time to dilly dally ―"     standing rooted and arms stretched, he does not catch her gaze.     " What is it then, child? "

[bookleads]

@itorisen​   | s.c.

❝      ―        "  Am  I  in  your  way?  "        ever-present  is  a  smile  of  unapologetic  notion,  body  tilted  along  with  his  head  in  feigned  curiousness.      "  I'll  be  done  in  a  moment,  don't  worry.  "

[curseleads]

tag dump II.

Out of character >>  🜎   CosCos rambles | OOC Queue tag >>    🜎   Patiently Waiting | QUEUED PROGRESS memes >>    🜎   Downtime | INBOX MEMES Keeps Tag >>    🜎   Precious Gifts | KEEPING IT FOREVER Mun Art >>    🜎   Cosmos can Draw Sometimes | ARTWORK promo >>    🜎   Highly Recommended | PROMO Self Promo >>    🜎   Would you kindly? | SELFPROMO

[cantheywinthehungergames]

19+ Aged Character Progress Report (9/14)

Considering the break from 19+ character polls we have today, I figured that I should lay out the rest of them that I have ready and queued.

September 21st - Hatori Nozomu (Mob Psycho 100), Holly Golightly (Breakfast at Tiffany's), Vincent Moretti (A Way Out), Leo Caruso (A Way Out)

September 28th - Harrier "Harry" Du Bois (Disco Elysium), The Nolanverse Bruce Wayne/Batman (The Dark Knight trilogy), Roberto "Robbie" Reyes/Ghost Rider (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Michonne Grimes (AMC's The Walking Dead)

October 5th - Haley Starshine (Order of the Stick), Ezekiel Sutton (AMC's The Walking Dead), Kei Amakura (Fatal Frame III: The Tormented), Diana Farley (Red Queen series)

Only a few more weeks and I will reopen mentor submissions. For those of you who have been waiting for your characters to be posted, thank you for being so patient! Of course, you can still submit characters as tribute through my asks, just please look at my pinned post before you do so.

Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

[storiesbyjes2g]

I enjoyed having company again on my morning jogs. Tofu struggled to keep up at first, but after a few mornings, I think she'll be just fine. I grinned like an idiot for our entire run. My doggy friends always made me happy, but helping the ones in need gave me joy I could not explain. The closest example I could think of was meeting your newborn for the first time. I don't know. Adoption was cool and all, but I think taking in strays is the move for me.

After our jog, I took Tofu to the vet's office in Newcrest. It beat going all the way to Brindleton Bay, but if Newcrest will be our new home, I may as well begin establishing our life there, eh?

The building was really cute and had an urban vibe. The doctor arrived around the same time I did, so I assumed they opened late on the weekends. She was very young. At first, I thought she may have been an assistant or something. She greeted me and asked for a few minutes to prepare for opening. I apologized for arriving so early and told her to take all the time she needed.

I loved the waiting area. It had plenty of kiosks to check-in, but just like the other place, someone still insisted on queuing behind me. At least he wasn't annoying like the cute cat guy. How was he doing, anyway? He should be really old now.

When I finished checking in, the doctor looked at my information on her phone. How progressive! She turned toward Tofu and greeted her like an honored guest.

"Hello, Tofu! Welcome! I'm so happy to meet you! Come, let's get you checked out."

Regardless of her age, she knew exactly what she was doing, and I knew I picked the right doctor for my new baby. Tofu followed her and only looked back at me once. She must have felt comfortable with her, and I was glad.

There were only two rooms in the office. One for examinations and the other for surgeries.

"You run this practice by yourself?" I asked.

"Yes ma'am! Your fur babies get nervous about going to the doctor just like you do. I run this place alone so your pets can have a consistent experience and only need to get to know one person."

"That's very thoughtful of you!"

Surely, being the only doctor placed a high demand on her time and allowed little room to grow. But I got the feeling she wasn't in it for the money, anyway.

She got Tofu on the table and took out a blank form.

"One way I get the animals comfortable with me is to talk to them. I'm gonna ask her some questions, but I'm really asking you, okay?"

"That's so adorable," I said.

She asked Tofu about her favorite food, toys, fears, quirks, and all kinds of stuff. But I didn't have many answers.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I don't know her that well yet. You see, I took her in yesterday."

"Oh! Well, that's wonderful! And it's okay. We don't need to do this now. We can fill in the blanks as we all get to know each other. Isn't that right, Tofu?"

I think she smiled at the nice doctor. I wish I remembered her name.

"I like to create a personal profile for my patients so I can provide individualized care. Okay, Tofu, I'm gonna check you out now. Is that okay?"

The doctor did her thing, and Tofu sat quietly and let her.

"Aren't you the sweetest," the doctor said.

"Yes, Tofu," I said. "You are sweet!"

She finished her examination and concluded Tofu was very healthy, which was exceptional since she lived on the street. She didn't have on a collar, but the doctor wondered if she wasn't a stray but a lost dog a long way from home. It pained me to think I may have stolen someone else's dog, but I put that out of mind. She belonged to me now, and I wouldn't give her up.

Doc helped Tofu off the table and thanked me for bringing her in.

"It's really cool what you did. Not too many people will take dogs off the street like that."

"Oh, it was nothing. I didn't give it a second thought. I've done it before. I think it's my thing now."

"Well, it's great," she said.

She gave Tofu some treats and got ready for her next patient. We went to the backyard for a little playtime, and she had the time of her life.

[blackbutler-readerinsertsandjunk]

Out of curiosity, do you have a list of requests that are queued for release or a wip list to see what is in progress?

I can certainly give you a list of both the things in my queue waiting to be posted, and a list of what’s in my drafts waiting to be done!

(tho as the askbox will be open for a couple of weeks, more will definitely be added to my drafts, but this is as it stands right now)

I’mma slap it under the cut here because both these lists are LONG-

CURRENTLY QUEUED:

fic, Grell x reader doing their hair and makeup for a ball

audio, Edward, listener teasing him + him getting flustered

scenario, sequel to Snake x muscular wrestler, rematch in private

soulmate alphabet meme, William, “juxtaposition”

‘free space’/any content/requester left it up to me [and it’s a secret haha] (Gregory, Snake)

headcanons, Undertaker x S/O having a prank war in his shop

soulmate alphabet meme, Bard, “first words”

headcanons, poly P4 comforting S/O with depression

nonverbal starters meme, “shelter” (Bravat, Grey)

reaction, Edgar, breaking up with S/O out of fear of commitment/fear of his own feelings, then is finally ready to marry her

soulmate alphabet meme, Claude, “songbird”

headcanons, Jumbo, becoming friends with a patient but determined ‘normal’ affectionate person

reaction, Gregory, a date with a confident and flirty S/O

soft angst sentence meme, Undertaker, “I need you here, with me” + “you won’t go with me?” + “there’s something you need to know”

things that you want to hear meme, Cheslock, “you’re my favorite person in the world”

headcanons, Grey, ‘artist boyfriend’ S/O painting a scene at the Queen’s ball and Grey ‘standing watch’

scenario, Gregory, painting a nude portrait of his S/O

soulmate alphabet meme, Undertaker, “zzz”

headcanons, Wolfram x reader, raising Sieglinde

CURRENTLY DRAFTED:

(and keeping in mind, I use unspecified to mean simply when a request doesn’t use any content type words like “headcanons” or “react” or “oneshot/fic/etc.” or make it clear; since as well as reader insert and S/O fics I can do reader insert and S/O headcanons/reactions if it’s not specified what format someone wants that concept in <3)

headcanons, reacting to S/O in shorts and a tank top during the summer (Edgar, Gregory, Herman, Lawrence)

reaction, S/O who likes to hug them a lot (Cheslock, Clayton, Edward, Joanne, MacMillan, Soma)

unspecified, Edward with a S/O who’s just like his mother... + maybe better than him at fencing

unspecified, modern!Agni with a S/O who gets sick + almost dies

scenario, Ciel x S/O trapped in a small space while hiding + end up making out

fic, reader empathizing with Cheslock + they comfort each other

reaction, modern person showing up at the manor with the earls’ revived sibling who has their soul back (Alois, Ciel, Sebastian)

reaction, S/O saves them but loses his life (Doll/Freckles, Maurice)

unspecified, Joker with a fem S/O who’s short + feisty but soft around him

unspecified, reader escapes an arranged marriage + disguises themself as a butler, meets Grell who gets a crush; reader’s parents comes back + try to force them home, Grell shows up to rescue + confess to them

unspecified, Undertaker, with a S/O who’s a wedding planner/bridal shop owner

reaction, Ciel finding out his best friend/crush + favorite author are the same person

reaction, domestic life (Beast, Dagger, Doll/Freckles, Joker, Jumbo, Peter, Snake, Wendy)

headcanons, romantic, Ciel with a male S/O

preference, who prefers boobs + who prefers ass

headcanons, poly Joker x S/O x Dagger

reaction, S/O being a member of a K-pop equivalent group (Grey, Phipps)

headcanons, Agni, NSFW

headcanons, Lawrence, with an arranged fiancee who’s bold and ready for marriage (bonus: they’re friends with Gregory who’s crushing on them)

unspecified, Sebastian, with a S/O who owns a lot of cats

unspecified, William, with a S/O who’s a witch + headmistress of an orphanage

reaction, S/O dying + coming back as a ghost (Alan, Eric, Grell, Othello, Ronald, Rudger, Sascha, Undertaker, William)

reaction, hobbies they have/would like to have (Alan, Eric, Grell, Othello, Ronald, Rudger, Sascha, Undertaker, William)

headcanons, first kiss (Bard, Finny, Mey Rin, Sebastian, Snake)

unspecified, Agni, with a S/O who works in retail, he walks in on her getting scolded by the manager for no reason + stands up for her

‘senses’ headcanon meme, HEART + TOUCH (Cheslock, Clayton, Edward, Joanne, Soma)

‘senses’ headcanon meme, Cheslock, HANDS

headcanons OR scenario, Grey, when his first child is born

preference, who prefers a dominant S/O

preference, who prefers a plus size S/O

reaction, S/O knitting them something (Beast, Dagger, Doll/Freckles, Joker, Jumbo, Peter, Snake, Wendy)

audio, Maurice, escaping his yandere S/O

‘it’s all about the yearning’ meme, Gregory, “I know I fucked up. I know I did but don’t shut me out anymore. let me in. please let me in.”

audio, Agni, fluffy

‘its all about the yearning’ meme, Agni, “have you ever had something missing? Like something just doesn’t feel right inside you but you don’t know what it is.”

kisses meme, 45 [sleepy kisses] (Edgar, Gregory, Herman, Lawrence, Sebastian)

unspecified, Sebastian, with a goth horror-loving S/O

unspecified, with a S/O who likes to fawn over them (Sascha, Wolfram)

headcanons, Patrick, domestic

headcanons, Alois, with an older sister figure!reader

headcanons, Joanne with a chaotic reader

headcanons, Ciel, with an older sibling figure!reader

headcanons, Maurice, angst

reaction, with a snow leopard demon S/O (Bravat, Hannah, Joanne, Snake, Triplets)

headcanons, Rudger, romantic + as an expecting father

unspecified, Lawrence, with a loud + energetic girlfriend

reaction, proposing/being proposed to (Beast, Dagger, Doll/Freckles, Joker, Jumbo, Peter, Snake, Wendy)

‘sense’ headcanon meme, SIGHT, NOSE, HEART, HANDS (Dagger, Peter)

unspecified, dealing with a powerful witch (Ciel, Edward)

fic, Vincent x plus size reader with glasses [when she’s insecure or taking her somewhere special]

unspecified, with ADHD reader (Alois, Ciel, Edward, Grey, Undertaker)

kisses meme, 44 [kissing each finger], Agni

kisses meme, “free space” [any one] (Dagger, Peter, Snake)

unspecified, getting a handmade blanket from their S/O (Alois, Ciel, Edward)

unspecified, Cheslock crushing on a student rep from a collaborating girls’ academy

‘it’s all about the yearning’ meme, Agni, “just let me look at you for a little bit.”

scenario, Joker taking his S/O + twin daughters out to the current city the circus is staying in, the girls drag them into a candy shop

unspecified, Joker, with a plus size insecure S/O

reaction, meeting a modern person with modern technology who shows them videos (Beast, Dagger, Doll/Freckles, Joker, Jumbo, Peter, Snake, Wendy)

unspecified, S/O who can shapeshift (Alois, Ciel)

unspecified: Alois, fluff

reaction, Doll/Freckles, to S/O being a demon

reaction, reader wearing pheromone perfume (Claude, Hannah, Sebastian, Triplets)

scenario, Joker, when S/O gives birth to their baby

sex + romance headcanon meme, Gregory (what are their fetishes/kinks? what are their requirements for a potential partner? would they ever be in a polyamorous relationship?)

unspecified, Edward comforting girlfriend with a head injury

unspecified, protecting S/O on the Campania (Edward, Grey)

unspecified, reader telling Wolfram + Sieglinde they’re pregnant

unspecified, Wolfram + reader trying to make a relationship work with limited time together

headcanons, Cheslock + Gregory dealing with reader (Cheslock’s fag) being sleep deprived

unspecified, S/O who makes dark/complicated music as a coping mechanism (Alois, Astre, Ciel, Sebastian)

reaction, having to take care of their younger sibling (Cheslock, Clayton, Edgar, Edward, Gregory, Herman, Joanne, Lawrence, Soma)

fic, William x reader cooking together with him finally relaxing

fic, Wolfram x motherly reader singing “Einíní” lullaby to Sieglinde

unspecified, follow-up to Joker x sick wife post-birth; a day in Joker’s life taking care of baby Ellis , leading the troupe, looking after his wife, + following Kelvin’s orders with no choice

unspecified, Beast + her S/O training Betty after the... Sebastian incident

unspecified, Agni x S/O, her first time with him being very gentle

unspecified, S/O who can use death magic (Alois, Ciel)

fic, Soma x reader, rescuing her from an abuseive home after a relationship starting with letters

‘card suits’ headcanon meme, Peter (two + three of spades, six + eight of diamonds, ace + three + four + Jack + Queen of clubs, ace + two + three + six + eight + nine + Queen + King of hearts)

[deathleadsarc]

@azurtai | s.c

―  🜛  ―  " Mars is bright tonight  ―  has she come bringing my heart respite from this infernal boredom? "

[sunnydaisy1]

Kayaking

DYLAN O’BRIEN X READER

A/N: wassup im backk! okay not really school is once again kicking my arse and im back to posting once every century *finger guns* but yeah I’m now obsessed with dylan obrien again and wrote this. - Also, sad note, my computer is not letting me update my masterlist so my Tom Holland x reader and this post won’t be on there but everything can still be accessed via my profile. Thankss :))

SUMMARY: You and dylan are camp counsellors and are leading a kayaking activity together (i suck at summaries)  

Maybe gets a lil spicy spicy hehe

You walk into the canteen, a bubbling group of 8 year old's behind you bouncing with adrenaline from just completing the trampolining activity. You walk them over to the tables laid out in a long row, ensuring every kid was seated before taking your own place. You chatted with a few of the campers as they patiently waited for lunch. Before long the canteen was becoming packed with campers and counsellors alike, and you turned when you heard a particularly rowdy group of kids enter, lead by none other than Dylan, a red bandana tied around his head and a wide grin plastered on his face. He immediately caught your eye and sauntered over to your table, followed by his kids as they merged with yours. Dylan plonked himself in the empty seat next to you since Alyssa had moved up to make room for him. You had whisper shouted at her not to but Dylan come over before she could move back. "Hellooo ladies." Dylan beamed at you, crossing his arms in front of him. You rolled your eyes but a small smile slipped onto your lips. "How was trampolining?" He asked the group of campers sitting near to him, catching you by surprise as he must have looked at what you had on your rota. "It was awesome!" Arthur responded, eagerly exclaiming from a few seats down. "Yeah Y/N showed us her backflip!" Kiera cheered from beside you, making Dylan raise his eyebrows in surprise at you. "Oh really?" His mouth twitched with a slight lopsided smirk. Last night, you, Dylan and some other counsellors had the night off and were allowed to hang out in the indoor sports area. You had ended up dragging Dylan over to the trampolines, wanting to bounce and do your very impressive forward rolls. Dylan had almost ended up pissing himself when he saw you roll haphazardly across the trampolines, hair becoming staticy. You had pouted and shoved him playfully, jokingly teasing that he couldnt do any better. Of course Dylan had then proceeded to back flip in front of you, making you feel overwhelmingly embarassed. He had laughed at your shocked face that quickly turned appalled when he asked if you wanted him to teach you how to do it. You had very reluctantly (okay so maybe not that reluctantly when dylan pulled your hand into his) agreed to let him teach you how to do it. He got a mat for going underneath you incase you fell and you were surprised with how careful he was being, Dylan normally being so utterly careless and clumsy. He had started with getting you to just bounce, laughing at your frustrated face. You soon progressed onto the actual flipping, starting off with Dylan holding your back and upper legs to help you master the movement before you managed to do it yourself. By the end of the evening you had mastered a pretty impressive backflip, feeling proud of yourself and way more confident in your new trampolining skills. Dylan of course had loved every second of it, playfully teasing and coaching you whilst maybe also enjoying having an excuse to touch you. You looked sheepishly to Dylan as Kiera continued to babble on about trampolining and he nudged your shoulder with his, "proud of you." You grinned but also felt your entire body heat up with the soft gaze of affection Dylan was looking at you with. You muttered a thanks, being interrupted by the shrill echoes of the lunchtime bell. Amy, the head counsellor, stepped to the front of the canteen as always, making sure everyone knew what was going on before she announced which table would get food first. Soon, it came to your table and you queued up behind the campers, waiting with Dylan at the back. Grabbing you both a tray you handed him his, to which he grinned and thanked you. You headed over to the hot food station, one of the workers serving you a sausage roll before you walked to the salad bar. You were scooping some sweetcorn onto your plate when you felt a hand on your lower back. You instantly jumped and turned to see Dylan smirking at you. "Piss of will you O'Brien you almost gave me a heart attack." He just grinned and popped one of the tomatoes from your plate in his mouth, chuckling as you thwacked him before he scooted off to your table. You sighed as you collected your plate and returned to your seat,  narrowing your eyes at Dylan as he watched you with a widespread grin. "You're such a pain Dyl." You stated, taking a bite of your sausage roll. "Thanks y/n, love you too." He responded, munching on his meal. Soon, lunch was over and you and Dylan had both sent off your campers to get changed into their wet gear, as you had a joint kayaking activity together this afternoon. You retied your laces before hopping back up, Dylan walking over to you after collecting the keys to the canoe shed. He wiggled his eyebrows at you, jangling the keys in his hand. You let out a huff of amusement, before you both walked down to the lake together. Dylan quickly unlocked the shed, walking inside the slightly damp and musky structure. He hauled out the large bags containing the life jackets while you untied the straps holding the kayaks together. Once you noticed Dylan slipping into the toilet at the back to change into his trunks, you scooted out the shed, wanting to find the red life jackets for your campers. Your fingers were fumbling with undoing the bag's ties and you had just managed to pull out the adult sized life jacket when Dylan sauntered out, grabbing the jacket from your hand and slipping it onto his body. "Hey!" You said, turning to see Dylan cheekily grinning at you, hands on his bright pink clad hips. Your eyes ran over his body, brow raising when you studied his choice of bold pink trunks. His honey eyes met yours as you looked up and you couldn't help a small smile peaking out your mouth at how adorably dorky he looked. "That's my life jacket." You stated, dropping the bag you had been holding. Dylan pretended to look around the red jacket he was wearing, "Can't see your name on it." He replied cheekily, slight dimples on his cheeks. You huffed and prodded him, "Come on Dyl, you know red is my favourite colour." Dylan just stuck his tongue out at you, "Tough luck y/n." You frowned and flipped him off, reluctantly putting on the unappealing blue life jacket, leaving it to hang open, similiarly like Dylan's. Soon, the campers all arrived down to the lake and you and Dylan had finished setting up the equipment, kayaks and paddles layed out neatly beside jackets. You had to do the mandatory safety talk, ensuring every kid knew what to do and Dylan was rather unhelpfully distracting you by running his fingers along the edge of your life jacket's back, you shoving him multiple times to get him to stop. He continued anyway, a smug smile plastered on his face when you shivered as his fingers 'accidentally' brushed under your counsellor polo top. When you eventually finished the safety talk, Dylan removed his hand from your back, clasping his hands together like he often did in counsellor mode. "Okay everybody, partner up and pop on a life jacket, I'm gonna show you how to adjust it so you're all ready to get out on the lake." You grab your water bottle while he waits for everybody to grab their jackets. You are just screwing the lid back on when you feel a tug, yanking you over to Dylan's front. You look up to see the kids giggling and Dylan wiggles his dark eyebrows at you before reaching down and zipping your life jacket up. "Everybody zip their partner's jacket up." You look to see all the surrounding kids echoe Dylan's movements, having fun helping their friends. "Okay next part, you're gonna need to give this strap here a nice tug." He places a hand on your side, pulling quickly at the strap, winking at you as the jacket becomes more secure. You feel your body heat up and try to ignore Dylan's nimble, slender fingers resting on your side. "Ready for the final bit everyone?" He asks the kids and they all nod enthusiastically. "Okay then, you're gonna give these shoulder straps the same tug you did for the other and then I need you to lift your bud's jacket up, making sure it's nice and tight." As Dylan says this, he pulls each of your shoulder straps tight, smirking as his fingertips brush along your collar. He then reaches underneath the jacket's shoulders and lifts upwards, beaming as your torso just gets tugged upwards. You feel your heart pounding as Dylan releases you, his smug face turning to help the younger kids. You cough lightly, trying to rid the fogginess in your brain before you go and help. Soon, the kids are all ready, paddles in hands and you have lifted yourself into your kayak, off the jetty so that you can help from the water. You swiftly maneouver yourself into postion, watching as Dylan checks the first kid's life jacket before lifting the kayak into the water easily. You can practically feel yourself gulp, watching his tan, lean arms bulge against the yellow polo shirt all counsellors had to wear. Your gaze flickers to the pink trunks, clad around his thighs and you sigh, not understanding how he can pull off such stupid coloured items. "You gonna help y/n or just stare?" Dylan asks you, watching as you stutter and quickly grab the kayak, steadying it so the child can get into it. An hour later, all kids were on the water, having mastered the basics you and Dylan had taught them and a fair few of them soaking wet from splashing or falling in during the races you had got them to do. "Alright campers," You yell, gaining their attention while you paddle to the middle of them, "We are gonna have one last competition. We're gonna raft all the kayaks together, Dylan's campers on one side, mine on the other." Suprisingly quickly, the campers rafted together, all holding onto each other's kayaks so that they didn't float off. You sandwiched yourself in the middle, watching amused as the teenage girls from Dylan's campers raced to sidle up next to his kayak, two of them smug as they reached the spots next to him. Katie and Laura grinned as Dylan grabbed onto their kayaks, their arms 'coincidentally' touching his as they held onto his kayak. It was common knowledge that Dylan was a popular counsellor amongst the older girls, often being subject to much of the gossip around camp and you could understand why. His chiselled face and body were unfairly god-like, his brown hair was soft and most often messy and those damn moles on his face often got compared as the luckiest things on earth. He also had an immensely lovely personality; he was hilarious, kind, caring and sensitive. To be honest, a large majority of camp you found yourself almost having to wipe drool away from your face after staring at him across the room for too long. You eventually tied all the kayaks together, creating a temporary raft that was secure enough for your planned competition. "Okay so here's what's gonna happen. You will see that you all have a number on the front of your kayak. If I call that number, you have to get out of your kayak, run across the raft and into the other person's seat." You were basically playing a more elaborate game of ladders. (A/N: I have no clue if ladders is a worldwide game or just here in the UK but if you don't know what it is just google it :) ) The kids all squealed enthusiastically and you were glad to see even the older ones who were usually more reluctant with activities were looking excited. "Okay we will have a few practise rounds so you get the hang of it. Ready? Okay.....Number 7!" You shouted and instantly, two small kids scrambled up from their kayaks, climbing across the raft before plonking themselves in the other's seat. "Woah, you guys were quick! Okay one more practise before we start counting points for teams." Soon, the competition was well underway and kids had been scrambling their way across, a few falling into the water. Then, when two of the campers were settling back into their kayaks, Ethan shouted out, "Y/N and Dylan should have a go!" At once, all the campers shrieked in agreement, making you look at Dylan. He shrugged, a smirk working its way onto his face. You grinned, "Okay but you'll have to hold onto each other reallyyy tight!" They didn't really considering a rope held you all together but it made it more exciting. "Right count us down then." Dylan said. "3,2,1 GO!" The campers all screamed and immediately, you hauled yourself up, clambering over to reach Dylan's kayak. You are almost at his, grinning with the knowledge you were gonna win as Dylan made the kayaks rock more, slowing him down. All of a sudden, you felt a hard push on your side and a second later you were surrounded by cold water. "DYLAN!" You screeched as you came to the surface of the lake, said man watching you with glee as you bobbed, clothes now soaking wet. He cheekily reaches out for you and you grip his hand, pretending to get ready to get out before giving his arm a hard tug, causing him to topple into the water. You laugh as he surfaces, treading water as he flicks his hair out his face like a wet dog. "I can't believe you fell for that!" You chuckled, grinning triumphantly at his now soaked state too before making eye contact with him. The pair of you instantly raced towards the kayaks again, you managing to scoot back on and into Dylan's seat before he reaches yours. "HA! MY TEAM WINS!" You shouted, beaming and high fiving some of the campers around you. "Yeah, yeah yeah." Dylan shakes his head defeatedly, a smile on his face anyway. Once the kayaks are unrafted, the campers make their way back to the jetty, Dylan getting out to help the kids. You steady the kayak as he reaches under the straps of the less strong kids, easily lifting them up and onto the wooden jetty. Once all the kids are safely out the water and kayaks laid out by the shed for the next group, you paddle and steer so you're beside the jetty. Placing your paddle on the side, you go to get out when you feel Dylan's warm arms wrap around your waist and lift you up, you barely having to push to get out the kayak. "Uh thanks..." You say, body tingling from the freckled man's touch. He just winks at you and lifts your kayak out the water, placing it next to the others. You dismiss the kids, all of them running off to the cabins to shower and change before the next activity. You walk into the canoe shed, placing the rope back where it came from, and tidying away a few bits before you too went off to change. You lean down to pick up a few plastic balls and place them on the side when a hand tugs your now open jacket, causing you to stumble into a hard chest. You look up to see Dylan smiling down at you, brown hair sticking up in all directions. Your hands are pressed against his chest, his own life jacket open as well. "Uh hi." You say, and Dylan brushes a strand of your hair out your face. "Hi." His eyes are looking right into yours and his hands are on your waist and you can feel your heart pounding against your ribcage. "Wasn't very nice of you to pull me in like that was it y/n." He says softly, gaze darting down to your lips. "You pushed me in first!" You say, poking his chest and Dylan grins, his head tilting and a lopsided smirk gracing his mouth. "Guess so, I think I can make it up to you though." You frown in confusion but feel your stomach flip when Dylan leans forward, pressing a kiss to your mouth. Your eyes are shot wide open, watching as Dylan's own brown eyes open and look at you through dark lashes. Then, your hand tugs on the fabric of his shirt, causing his lips to press against yours again and you close your eyes, a hand running behind his neck to tug on the hairs at the base of his head. It escalates pretty quickly and you find yourself being lifted onto the side of the cabinet in the shed, Dylan pressed between your legs as his lips work against yours. Your hands push his polo up slightly, running along his abs and torso, admiring as his muscles contract at your touch. He runs his fingers softly up your side, his mouth caressing yours. "Once you guys have finished making out, the kids are meeting you in the hall." A loud voice echoes out and you both instantly break apart, flushing and extracting your hands from up each other's shirts. You see Amy walking out the shed, her red hair swooping as she shouts out a final, "Oh and please don't fuck in the shed!" You look up at Dylan who's expression mirrors the same as his mum finding a girl in his room and burst out laughing. Dylan's warm gaze flicks back to you and he grins lazily, lips puffy and swollen. His hands have fallen to your thighs and you giggle as he leans in again, going to kiss you but you place a hand on his chest, pushing him back softly and sliding off the cabinet. "Dyl come on we still need to get changed"  You slip your hand into his and tug him out the shed, much to his protests of 'y/n please, the kids can wait a bit longer' but you just roll your eyes and drag him to the counsellor cabins, the promise of a possible shared shower causing Dylan to walk a bit faster.

[nutty1005]

“A Dream Like A Dream” Fan Review Report by 十月息

Original Article: https://weibo.com/6574125081/KcrfzBjYL?type=comment#_rnd1619312989712 Original Author: 十月息

(TN: This is the translation of the famous 10,000 character repo on Weibo, so be warned that this is very long article. Permission to translate granted by OP.)

Part 1 – Review of Xiao Zhan’s Acting According to the Script

Finding Patient No. 5 B

At the start of the play, there were many people surrounding the stage, I was very frantically searching for Xiao Zhan. One of the ladies besides me patted me and said, that one with the messenger bag! After that I immediately found him. His legs were really long! So, at the start of the play, watch out for the messenger bag! (That was the look in the waiting photo.) After this, I was following him around using my binoculars, hahaha.

Patient No. 5 and His Wife’s Initial Encounter

This part was very interesting. No. 5 was queuing behind his wife, then still a stranger, and buying movie tickets, and his wife had an argument with her then lover on the phone, and rashly stuffed her other movie ticket and grilled corn cob into No. 5’s hands. When handed the movie ticket, No. 5 was still able to comprehend, but after he was given the corn cob, he was starting to get confused — Xiao Zhan’s No. 5 widened his eyes, stared at the corn cob in his hand, and then turned around and looked around, looked at the people queuing behind him. In the next second, the 7 or 8 people behind him magically took out their own corn cob, as though getting a corn cob at the movies was a perfectly normal thing to do, and if No. 5 did not have one he would be out of place. There was full comedic effect, the whole theater laughed, No. 5 was embarrassed as he turned around and entered the cinema holding the corn cob. Starting from here, we could see that No. 5’s body language had completely corresponded with that of a comedic trope, it was relaxed and lively, and even when he met with unexpected situations, it was clumsily adorable.

Patient No. 5 Eating Sushi with His Wife

This segment was at the stage left, which also happened to be my visual blind spot, so I could only see the projection from the big screen, which was very regrettable. His wife said the the person she just argued with on the phone was a pig, and she did not want to talk about it, so when No. 5 mentioned that person, he used snorting to represent him, “…. that *snort snort*…”, that snorting was in imitation of a pig, it was really too cute! Xiao Zhan had also snorted in “Our Song”, here, No. 5’s snorting was even more lively, to the point that I was stunned, took 2 seconds to react in my brain that, oh my goodness that was actually Xiao Zhan snorting! It was simply too cute!!

His wife had squeezed a large amount of wasabi on the sushi, No. 5 said “no one puts so much wasabi”, (TN: Chinese had their own term for wasabi, jiemo, but Xiao Zhan used the Japanese term instead), I really loved it when he used languages other than Chinese, I just felt that it encompassed so much cuteness, moreover it was with the Taiwanese accent that belonged to No. 5, it was even more adorable. Both of them ate that wasabi laced sushi, and coughed wildly due to the irritation, Xiao Zhan was coughing so vigorously, by the sound of it I thought he was going to cough out his lungs, just exactly as though he really ate a huge amount of wasabi. But amazingly, his voice was exceptionally clear while coughing, perhaps because his voice for lines had became deeper more robust, in comparison, he did not deliberately deepen his voice while coughing, so he sounded literally like a young man.

No. 5 continued to chat with his wife, in this conversation, No. 5’s Taiwanese accent was even more obvious, which once again became part of my adorable collection of “Xiao Zhan’s various accents”, I was quietly punching the air in my mind!

His wife told him that she had never seen her father before, and she was unable to face him, No. 5 then told his wife to close her eyes and give it a try, she was initially unwilling, No. 5 coaxed her gently, and then she closed her eyes. Thereafter, No. 5 started talking in a old man’s voice deliberately, “My girl! Turn around and look at Papa! Papa owed you too much, forgive Papa, I’ve also missed you terribly! My good child! Papa bought a very beautiful doll to meet you!” Everyone could attempt to see how you would sound like when you talk in an older voice deliberately, it would definitely be quite funny, when Xiao Zhan acted it live, it was even more funny, the audiences laughed heartily. What made me even more excited was that this was the only the beginning of No. 5’s story, but I had already heard Xiao Zhan snorting like a pig, Xiao Zhan speaking Japanese, Xiao Zhan coaxing people, Xiao Zhan talking like an old man, I felt as though I was exploring all the different voices of Xiao Zhan! When Xiao Zhan spoke like an old man, it was also very cute!

Almost forgot a very important point, that is from this old man act and the snorting previously, we could actually see that No. 5 was very good at flirting, and it was the sort that was very natural and well practiced! In the instant as he acted as an old man, besides laughing with the audiences, I also thought in envy, good job young man, you are flirting again and again! I just had to say this, Xiao Zhan’s No. 5 was really very charming in and out.

Patient No. 5 Begging The Doctor to Save His Child

This part seemed ordinary based on the script, but you would only feel the amazement when watching it live! When looking at the script, it seemed like only the wife was begging the doctor, but in fact I remembered that it was his wife who stood further away from the doctor as she carried the child, No. 5 was beside the doctor, just like the stage photo shared by XZ Studio. His wife was more emotional from start till end, No. 5 was initially more calm, and even looked back to signal his wife to calm down. But later on as the doctor kept rejecting him, No. 5 started to lose the controlled calmness on the surface: he turned around and kneeled before the doctor, begging pitifully, his voice full of hurt and pain, with an agonizing crying tone. In here, his emotional progression to explosive was not that long, but it was very excellent, that moment he was just a father of a child, with an unbearable pain of loss on his shoulders. The doctor continued to refuse, No. 5 said no more, and the whole theater went silent.

Patient No. 5 Getting His Wife to Pick Up the Phone

After the child passed away, the relationship between No. 5 and his wife drifted apart, and No. 5 contacted that strange disease. At the same time, he started receiving calls in the middle of the night, but no one spoke after he picked up. There was one night, it was rare that No. 5 was at home with his wife, and he picked up that call again. No. 5 yelled into the receiver for a long time but yet no one replied, so he yelled at it, “I’m going to fight it out with you… after all, the telephone fee’s on you!” His tone was incensed, but yet the words he used were exceptionally funny, it was supposed to be a scary suspense story, but it wore the cape of a comedy.

The lines following that were similar. No. 5 finally yelled at the receiver, “Fine, I’m done playing with you today!” Till then it was still quite normal, but unexpectedly before he hung up he suddenly yelled another line: “Good! Night!” This type of contrast continued to add comedic colors to the play, because No. 5 was actually speaking harshly, but in the end he still politely said good night, but yet that good night was still harsh and irate. I believed that no matter how unclear the image of No. 5 was in the audiences’ hearts, in this moment they would definitely feel that No. 5 had a cuteness stemming from the contrast in his personality, he was interesting, cute and lively.

I feel that this was something that was hard to control in performance. On a whole, “A Dream Like A Dream” was a very serious and standard play, and would occasionally use comedic tropes to balance the heavy keynote. Hence when actors were performing, they had to say those random lines in a serious tone, and if done too lightly, the audiences would not feel that it was funny, but if done too heavily, it would destroy the pace of the story. Whereas Xiao Zhan’s performance was simply just right, it allowed audiences to easily understand the funny bits, but yet it did not breakaway from the general tone of the story. I remembered when we studied or appreciated ancient poems in high school, there was this term called “using lively music to contrast sorrow”, in fact “A Dream Like A Dream” was like this. The more amusing the funny parts were, after the audiences were done laughing and continued to immerse themselves in the story, the heavier they would feel.

Following this was the part, which Xiao Zhan angrily yelled at his wife to pick up the call, that many reports had mentioned. There was actually a progression, the script as below, the parts in parenthesis was how I remembered it was acted out:

No. 5: It's your turn to pick it up. (His tone was quite calm）

His Wife: What for do I pick it up? No. 5: It could be for you. (He was starting to raise his voice)

His Wife: How could that be?

No. 5: Secret lover! You should pick it up. (You could hear the anger)

His Wife: Why?

No. 5: Because it is yours. (His tone had already went from questioning to factual) Every time he calls, not long after, you would return, I think he hasn't finished talking to you. (This looked like narration, but in fact when Xiao Zhan said this he was speaking hastily, already at the brink of exploding, his voice was very loud, and was starting to ring in the audiences' ears. In reality when someone hears a tone like this, we would subconsciously avoid it, as we feel that this person would explode the very next second.) You pick it up. (I was starting to shake)

His Wife: For what? It's not mine. (I was starting to fear for his wife, I mean was this not adding oil to the fire? Please don't... I was praying this in my heart, because the very next moment, lightning was going to strike!)

No. 5: PICK IT UP! [TN: The word used was a single syllable, jie.]

Just that word, the tone was so harsh, I could say that I have never encountered this in my life; the sound was so loud, it almost deafened me, the word was echoing within the hall, and gave me a feeling that when Xiao Zhan yelled out this word, he was also resonating with it. My father’s temper was not that good, and he would yell at me when I was a child, his voice was loud enough, but I actually felt that it was not as loud as a third of Xiao Zhan’s. Not only the voice was loud, the tone was very fierce, so fierce that if he was your boss, you would have kneeled before him, if he was one of your peers, you would have felt weakness in my legs and could not even run away if you wanted to. At that time in the theater, I was truly frightened, I felt as though my heart had frozen in my chest, and then there were palpitations, I felt as though all the yelling I had received previously were not worth mentioning. The whole theater definitely had a fright, because after Xiao Zhan yelled it, the whole theater was silent, not just ordinary silence when watching a play, but even the sounds of breathing stopped, the air was scarily quiet.

Patient No. 5 Searching for His Wife among the Passersby

No. 5 and his wife went to watch another movie, just like how they first met. When queuing, his wife went out to pick up a call, and suddenly disappeared, No. 5 started searching for her everywhere. Over here as well, I did not feel that it was very emotional when reading the script, No. 5 was like going through the process of looking for his wife, but when I actually watched the performance, it was another of Xiao Zhan’s highlight.

No. 5 was holding onto the grilled corn cob, and grabbed hold of a passerby, asked, “Sorry, can I ask if you saw my wife?” but this passerby did not hear him. No. 5 continued to run forward, the other passersby were stoic and slow, No. 5 frantically walked through them and seemed especially out of place. He grabbed the next passerby, continued asking, “Excuse me, did you see my wife?” The passerby continued to ignore him. I don’t know how to explain this specifically, as these two lines were similar, but the emotions in No. 5 was obviously changing, the sense helplessness and breakdown that was transmitted through his tone and his body language completely grabbed the hearts of the audiences.

No. 5 continued to grab passersby, asked, “Sorry, did anyone see a lady holding two grilled corn cobs? Her hair is slightly yellow, she’s very pretty, her eyes are very big…” “Excuse me, did you see my wife? She’s of mixed race, she never saw her father, our child died, she’s very upset… I’m really not feeling well… did anyone see?” I believe that even if I did not describe Xiao Zhan’s tone, we could see from the lines that No. 5 had already went from precise questioning to emotional rambling, the lines contained family background information unrelated to the search. In the final questioning, he was already in crying tones.

After countless of his question left ignored, No. 5 finally despaired, he stopped in his tracks, broke down and shouted, “Did anyone see my wife?! She just bought two grilled corn cobs!!!” This howl completely used all his strength and was even hysterical, it was filled with helplessness, despair and utter collapse. This lines actually contained comedy, since who would have brought up grilled corn cob at this point in time? But No. 5 did, and this was similar to what I said previously about “using lively music to contrast sorrow”, the more ridiculous the trope was, the better the contrast could highlight the sorrow in the reality, and in reality most of the tragedies did not happen like a Shakespearean story, but accumulated from the smallest and most ridiculous things.

In comparison to the doctor scene, I felt that this No. 5 broke my heart even more… Because he asked different people again and again, but he was ignored and tossed aside, bit by bit, he despaired and broke down… He used all of his strength but he could not do anything, except cry and howl helplessly…

Patient No. 5 and Jiang Hong at the Laundromat

This was a completely propless performance, with the exception of a laundry basket, there was no props, so Xiao Zhan was performing with the air as he opened the washing machine, took his clothes, folded them and placed them in the laundry basket. But his movements were very natural and ordinary, it was not deliberate, you could understand what he was doing with a look, i.e. that sequence of actions I mentioned previously. The way he folded (air) clothes was very cute, and there was the part that he did not know how to use the washing machine, and was poking poking poking at the air, that was also super cute! Haha.

Patient No. 5 at Jiang Hong’s Apartment

After No. 5 caught his disease, his posture, etc, had started displaying the weakness of his illness, Xiao Zhan very accurately portrayed this point, no matter whether it was his walking speed or his hunched back, as well was occasional coughing and panting, constantly reminded audiences that No. 5 was a terminal patient with not many days left. However in comparison to these, what best displayed No. 5’s illness was when he went up the staircase to Jiang Hong’s apartment, Jiang Hong stayed on the 7th floor, every time No. 5 went upstairs it felt like an ordeal and a massive challenge, he kept holding onto the handrails (which of course did not exist, there were no staircases onstage, he was acting with air), he would rest every 2 steps, panting, and made us feel that No. 5’s health was rapidly leaving his body.

After this was basically the envy inciting scene of the whole play. Jiang Hong’s apartment was very small, No. 5 could only sit on her bed. So we slowly watched how No. 5 and Jiang Hong got closer and closer… Amitabha. I do not want to describe it in detail, ｡･ﾟﾟ･(>д<)･ﾟﾟ･｡. There was this part that was very cute, Jiang Hong said, “No other person ever lived in this space. When I first moved in there wasn’t even space to have a cat, but now there’s a man, when he lies down, he uses up the whole bed.” After the line ended, Xiao Zhan basically laid on the bed in a 大 shape, instantly occupying the whole bed, both of his legs even extended beyond the bed. The audiences laughed at that moment, and I also directly understood even more that Xiao Zhan is really tall! Big sized! Before that when Xiao Zhan curled on his side on the bed, he was still very big.

Patient No. 5 and Jiang Hong’s Couple Details

It was not that moment of intimacy that made me envious, but it was the continued subconscious intimacy that really made me envious. No. 5 and Jiang Hong became a couple, they were like they had been together for a very long time, the intimacy was natural and well practiced. When she and No. 5 walked together, he would hold her hands; when they stood side by side, he would hold her waist; when they spoke face to face he would look down at her, very focused on her eyes, as though only she existed in the world, and would also gently stroke the back of her head, or smooth her hair; sometimes No. 5 would even slightly adjust her collar… etc, every detail was exceptionally natural.

When No. 5 and Jiang Hong went to see a gypsy with spiritual powers, that person told No. 5 to look at the crystal ball like how he would look at his lover, No. 5 turned around, looked up and looked lovingly at Jiang Hong standing behind him, saying coquettishly, “Yup, looking at my lover,” just like a willful boy in his first relationship who is unable to leave his lover. In that moment I became extremely envious.

Patient No. 5 and Jiang Hong at Normandy

This section is completely No. 5’s highlight!

At the start in the town’s hotel, the Grandpa gave No. 5 a flower circlet, No. 5 took it and placed it on his head. This was just right on stage left, which was my blind spot, I could only see it from the blurry screen, I was so angry and regretful! I could only imagine Tang San wearing the flower circlet, when Xiao Zhan wore it live it would definitely look a lot better, I could not see that with my own eyes, that was the biggest regret of my life ｡･ﾟﾟ･(>д<)･ﾟﾟ･｡.

When entering the hotel, the receptionist said it was 1,550 Francs per night, Jiang Hong immediately felt that it was too expensive and tugged No. 5, but No. 5 was instead very relaxed and yet unyielding as he said, “It’s almost the same, it’s all this price! It’s reasonable!” “No matter, I want it, I’m paying.” And then he pulled Jiang Hong into the hotel. That time I could only think, good job dude, that was how an unreasonable boss trope should be like!

No. 5 and Jiang Hong went to have a meal in the hotel, but however the rule of the restaurant was formal wear, but both No. 5 and Jiang Hong were in casual wear, so the host gave No. 5 a tie, No. 5 was to wear the tie and take a seat. In the script, it was No. 5 who tied his own tie, but in Xiao Zhan’s version, he did not continue to tie it himself, instead he raised his chin and leaned his neck over, signaling Jiang Hong to tie for him. My goodness, this part was seriously too sweet, I started complaining in my heart at this dude ｡･ﾟﾟ･(>д<)･ﾟﾟ･｡… I am not sure if everyone watched a behind-the-scenes from “Superstar Academy”, where Xiao Zhan finished a drink (or tidbits, I cannot remember), and he just waved the cup in his hand, requesting the co-actress beside him to take it, and then the actress simply took it. His sort of natural ability to influence the opposite gender really makes me fall head over heels for him.

No. 5 and Jiang Hong were mistaken for Japanese, the two of them went back to their room and started conversing in synthetic Japanese, this was really No. 5 at the peak of his cuteness!!! No. 5 gave Jiang Hong a gentlemanly bow, and said “Hi!” in Japanese accent multiple times, the tone was both serious and flippant at the same time. No. 5 also said “Ah li ga duo” for arigatou. When No. 5 was describing guns to the French waitress, he use the onomatopoeia “Bang bang!”, with finger guns action, super cute. He also said “Duo La A Mong” for Doraemon, “Sa yo na la” for sayonara, and most select phrases mentioned in countless reports were “Ka wa yi” for kawaii and “Da me da me” for dame dame, these phrases did not exist in the script, they were basically his own creation. My description of that scene was basically like this:

When he said “Ka wa yi”, he placed his palms on his cheeks like a flower shape, and dragged the “yi” sound, the tone was slightly coquettish; when he said “Da me da me”, he swished his hands around (similar to a orchestra conductor), his tone was coquettish but also lilting.

After he said these two phrases, the audiences were no longer calm, many of them were sniffing in envy and these sounds filled the hall. I almost fainted at the spot, blanked out and stared at the ceiling, wondering how lucky I was to be able to hear Xiao Zhan said “Da me”, and in a coquettish manner, who was I where was I, I must had been dreaming.

No. 5 also told Jiang Hong “Ah yi xi tie lu”, which was “I love you” in Japanese. This phrase in Japanese is actually very formal, because in normal circumstances, the Japanese would use “suki” to confess their affection, which meant “I like you”, “I love you” was very rare. Then No. 5 placed his arms on Jiang Hong’s shoulders and hugged her, looked lovingly down at her eyes, his expression full of emotion and tease, and said every syllable with a pause “Ah, yi, xi, tie, lu”. That moment I hated myself, I wondered why I had to understand Japanese, why!

Following this is another highlight of No. 5, when he was mistaken as an artist he gave a speech in the restaurant, in the script, there was this big segment of lines, it was slightly different from what Xiao Zhan said in the play, but in general it was the same:

"From that day when a disease that I don't recognize found me, everything changed. I had no choice! Did I know this virus? Why did it come to me? I don't know. But it just came! Just like you said that until now there are still children in Cambodia with a missing limb due to mines! The war had already ended for 25 years! Who placed the mines? Did he know that child? Where did such great hatred came from, that you had to blow up someone you didn't know? How different am I from that child? He is just like you and I, that one day, standing under the sun, standing on the road, and suddenly, bang! It's over! The 'freedom' we yell about everyday is just bullshit! How could we have choices?!..."

I felt that I had to type out this section in full because I felt that Xiao Zhan’s live performance had to be appreciated with this section. Frankly speaking, when I first saw the original script, I felt that here, No. 5 was just someone who was very adaptable to the sudden situations, able to talk his way out, so I did not really look into the contents of this section. At that point in time, there were people who also posted this part online, but I felt that it was making a mountain out of a molehill when we place Xiao Zhan’s personal experiences along side it, No. 5 appeared to be making up a speech without much deeper meaning. When I saw Xiao Zhan himself performing this part, I realized that I was too flippant then: Xiao Zhan really had the ability to help his audience empathize, when he said this section, it felt as though every word struck my heart, as though there were other hidden meanings, especially when he said these two lines “Where did such great hatred came from, that you had to blow up someone you didn’t know?” and “The ‘freedom’ we yell about everyday is just bullshit!”, I really had instant flashbacks to the unpleasant memories of 2020… I always felt that hardship is just hardship, there is never a need for us to be thankful to it, but I had to admit, for Xiao Zhan to walk to this stage, he had went through the trials and tribulations of hardship.

Patient No. 5 and Gu Xianglan’s Kiss

In the script there were no kissing scenes between Young Patient No. 5 B and Young Gu Xianglan (by Xu Qing), i.e. the video clip that was posted by Yanghua Theatre on the 22nd. So that day, the last scene of the upper half, everyone exclaimed (of course, a big part of it was that no one guessed that there would be other kissing scenes besides that with Jiang Hong). In the video clip, No. 5 and Gu Xianglan walked slowed to each other, their shadows overlapped, their faces slowly overlapping into a kiss, it told a story, and that sense was even stronger when watched live. Just that the live performance did not have the later half of the clip, that is after they kissed they slowly separated, during live the two of them kissed using the trick of positioning and then the lights dimmed, and with that, the upper half ended.

No. 5 wore a leather jacket with jeans, Gu Xianglan wore cheongsam; No. 5 was from modern Taiwan, Gu Xianglan was from the 1930s Shanghai. So as they slowly moved towards each other face-to-face, there was really the sense that two eras were slowly merging and overlapping, the feeling was very wondrous, almost as though there was a time and space disorder, yet there was also a sense of revolving fate that merged the past and present, East and West, and created this love story that transcended space and time. I had to say that this additional scene was really fantastic, it had such a sense of story and of fate that it could match the scene of 2 different Gu Xianglans walking in the long corridor of illusion and shadow, which would really stir the audiences’ curiosity and wonder.

Hence, I surmised that the script for this tour had made some changes, No. 5 would likely be Baron’s reincarnation, confirmed when the dying Old Gu Xianglan laid on her bed, holding Xiao Zhan’s No. 5 B’s hands, and directly called him “Henry”.

Patient No. 5 on the Hospital Bed

Over here I really wanted to punch myself, I clearly read the script, but yet I forgot that in the second half, the person on the hospital bed would be No. 5 B! I entered the hall early, and I long saw the doctor at the hospital bed aiding the patient’s breathing, but I really did not pay much attention, I was so regretful!! After the show started, No. 5 started talking, the whole hall started to exclaim as they realized that oh dear, that was Xiao Zhan!

Wearing the patient gown, Xiao Zhan seemed even more ill, looked especially frail, weak, and immediately reminded me of Xianxian in the red undergown, I believe when I said this, everyone would have the image in their mind.

Patient No. 5 with the Dying Gu Xianglan

Old Gu Xianglan laid on the hospital bed, Xiao Zhan’s No. 5 sat by it, his left hand had always been on Gu Xianglan’s back, gently patting and soothing Gu Xianglan, never stopped, I had been staring for a long while. I kept feeling that this was especially “Xiao Zhan”, because Xiao Zhan himself is just that gentle and considerate.

Gu Xianglan narrated her story until she was short of breath and passed away, No. 5’s gaze had never left her, and he held her hand. No. 5 was like just like that, quietly watching Gu Xianglan until she passed away, he did not say anything, but his compassionate expression, slightly furrowed brows, exuded a strong sense of unspeakable sorrow gushing out from his body. As I wrote this part, my mind would sometimes flash back to the scene of No. 5 sitting by the bedside, and suddenly I would feel like weeping.

Patient No. 5 Reading a Letter at Jiang Hong’s Apartment

No. 5 returned to the apartment where he and Jiang Hong lived, and from under the floorboards he found a letter, he was simply kneeling as he read the letter, and kneeled for a very long time. “Hi, the person with the fever…” As he kneeled there, I could only see his back, and I just kept watching his back, listening to him read the first few lines of the letter and after which Jiang Hong continued, I felt that there was nothing else in my heart, I was very upset, but yet my tears were locked in my eyes. I stared at his pointed toes and the long, long legs in jeans, stared at the hands that were grasping the letter. Once again, No. 5 encountered another separation of a lifetime, and I knew that I was going to bid farewell to him as well.

Before the Passing of Patient No. 5

Here, No. 5 A laid on the bed talking, while Xiao Zhan’s No. 5 B stood around 1m away at the left side of the bed, looking at No. 5 A. Here is the most obvious display of compassion from No. 5, because he stood for a long time, so I kept staring at him — his gaze was gentle and sorrowful, looking at the other version of him lying on the bed almost reaching the end of his life, I wondered what he was thinking of? Xiao Zhan’s eyebrows were especially good looking, I kept thinking that if I studied him from a certain distance, the first thing I would see would be his eyebrows, and that was something I did not think would happen when I looked at him via a video on my mobile phone screen. His eyebrows were just too good at conveying emotion, if it was relaxed I would feel relaxed as well, when it frowned I would feel upset as well. No. 5 kept his brows furrowed, it was melancholy and sorrowful, he did not need to have tears in his eyes, he could convey emotions with his brows.

Finally, No. 5 A stopped breathing, and the light on No. 5 B dimmed, he was slowly consumed by darkness, in that instant I felt as though my heart had been drowned by sorrow, I kept on staring at Xiao Zhan, and unwittingly as I wrote to this point, tears started brimming in my eyes.

Patient No. 5’s A Cappella

The lyrics to the song was like this in the script:

Did anyone, see my face before? I think I remembered, I think I forgot, You used to wander in my dreams; I think I remembered, I think I forgot, I used to sing in your story; I think I remembered, I think I forgot.

At this point, all the actors will take out candles, Gu Xianglan A would ring a bell, all the actors will blow out their candles, and the play ends. I wrote on Weibo that this part wrote a cappella: Xiao Zhan sang it at the end, I was literally shaking. It was clearly a cappella, without any instrumental music or sound effects, but it was particularly ethereal and pleasant. It sounded like I went to a tall and quiet church, and listened to the choir’s singing. His voice came with its own bass. There was really this sense of sanctity, which made you feel as though any stray thoughts would be a blasphemy. I was clearly seated at an elevated location, but spiritually I felt that I was looking up at him. It was almost surreal, a dreamlike illusionary existence.

When I was seated in the hall, I was more excited, because I remembered that there was still the curtain call and gratitude ceremony. Now, reviewing this with the script, I am completely immersed in the sorrowful atmosphere of the script, and as I recall Xiao Zhan’s a cappella, I am now especially upset, and I miss him terribly.

Part 2 – Praising Xiao Zhan from All Different Angles

What Was Xiao Zhan’s Role (DUH)

At the start, No. 5 was an architect, a salary man, as he hurried on the streets, the sense of salary man was really obvious. After he met his wife, he started his flirtation mode, which was a humorous and interesting young man. After he had a child and as he carried that child, he was really like a father, I almost yelled “Daddy” in my heart! After that he fell sick, and no matter where and when, he was able to portray the sense of someone who had an illness.

Xiao Zhan’s Lines

Before the start of the show, Xiao Zhan broadcasted the important notice, his voice was like a newscaster, the XFXs around me could not believe it was him. In the hall, the voice was especially vigorous and magnetic, which was quite different from how he was like in previous interviews, overall it was especially pleasant, it felt like he changed his vocalization method, there was probably more technique into it.

Secondly, his pronunciation was very clear and professional, I could hear every word clearly, and when he was at stage left where I could not see him, I pretended I was listening to a radio show. No. 5 was from Taiwan, hence Xiao Zhan specially spoke with a Taiwanese accent, very natural and very cute. His emotions were very very on point! When he was coquettish his voice slightly lingered, when he yelled it was fierce, when he was sad it was sorrowful… When he was joking, it was as though every sound he made had a smile, when he was stern it was very shocking! “Ka wa yi” and “da me” were my top favorite!

Xiao Zhan’s Body and Face

Xiao Zhan’s No. 5, his back was hunched, he occasionally coughed, and we could see that his style of walking was different from Xiao Zhan’s: No. 5 was ill, he frequently had fevers, and he would tire when he went upstairs. From the play, we could say that we could not see the healthy and strong Xiao Zhan at all, we would only feel that he was No. 5 with a terminal illness, that was acting and character portrayal from in to out. But when he bowed with his back facing me, I still could clearly see the lines from his back muscles pushing against his shirt.

His legs were especially long, his proportions were really extreme, I always felt that humans could not grow like this, did he steal Jianguo’s leg length (No). His face was particularly small, especially when viewed from my distance, it was outstandingly exquisite, as though I could pinch it with just a hand. This hairstyle really showcased his ears, which were pointed, completely elf-like!

Besides his outstanding eyebrows, his nose was also super magnificent! Even if you looked at him from the front you would feel that he really looks very chiseled! Even more so from the side! A miracle of beauty!

From my location, I had a lot of chances to look at his 70% side view, as the light shone on that face, it was like a sculpture, I wondered what kind of divinity would be able to sculpt that: that nose line, that lip and that melancholy eyebrows…

Xiao Zhan’s Compassion

The tone that Xiao Zhan’s No. 5 as a whole gave me as a whole was melancholic, or I could say it was his compassion. Previously, I frequently saw that everyone said that Tang San had a sense of compassion, but I feel that the compassion in No. 5’s aura was superior to Tang San’s. Firstly, he himself had a terminal illness, and then he experienced so many changes, the departure of his family and loved ones. Secondly, the inner aura of No. 5 himself came with a bit of compassion.

I saw at the back row, at times when I used the binoculars, his facial features would be slightly blurry, of course most of the time it was clear, so I always first spot the most obvious, the tightly furrowed eyebrows.

Accompanying that frown would be his exquisite facial features, his eyes, especially the line of his nose, it seemed almost supernatural. Hence I would really relate it to the Greek sculptures, as in their expressions were also solemn, as though they were looking down upon the emotions and pain of the world. And they themselves were the representation of human beauty.

I always felt that the reason why Xiao Zhan’s good looks were well accepted by the masses was because his good looks was universally acceptable.

Of course, for Xiao Zhan’s No. 5 to be able to attain this level of compassion, it not only depended on his innate aura, but even more so, his own hard work, which caused his looks to be able to give off this kind of aura. For example, he became even more thin, such that his cheeks were more protruding, and there were possibly shadows on his cheeks, this would make you feel that, truly, his melancholy and compassion was clearly affecting his body.

His aura, his physical shape, was completely in service of the character.

Xiao Zhan’s Acting Skills

I posted on my Weibo that Xiao Zhan’s No. 5 was very compassionate, and then there were comments asking if it was because of his past experiences, such that he was able to portray this kind of compassion, actually it was not that I did not agree completely, but it was something that I did not even think of.

Why? Because when you watched Xiao Zhan’s dramas and movies, it was the same, when you watched his play life, his performance was even more so — just that he was not deliberately acting, you would feel that he did not use any life experience, or very obviously using his experiences to aid his portrayal in the drama. He was not like this, he would give you a very very natural sensation.

Xiao Zhan’s acting was like spring water, naturally flowing down from the cracks on the hill side, and not like cracking a water pipe, which would come gushing out suddenly, it was not like this. Even if it was an explosive scene, it would also smoothly flow downwards like a waterfall tumbling from the top of a cliff.

Although I say that Xiao Zhan’s acting was very, very natural, so much so that you could not see any trace of deliberation, but in fact this did not mean that this skill came inborn, on the contrary, this acting skill required doubly effort to attain.

My Trance

I don’t know how to explain my feeling: that is when watching the play I would sometimes feel hazy, like I would suddenly break away from the play, and then stare at Xiao Zhan, thinking — wow, this is a real Xiao Zhan, a lively Xiao Zhan, and he’s under the same roof as me in this very second, moving and talking…

And then I would go into that trance.

The Ocean of Flowers in the Courtyard

So romantic, star chasing is so romantic, loving Xiao Zhan is so romantic.

The night of Wuhan, I stayed in the midst of the crowds, outside of my windows were the streaking colors of everyday life.

My heart remained sweet, because I knew that in that very moment, I was sharing the same sky with the one I love.

And yet my heart was weak, as soon as I saw that endless brilliance of red, I would feel that my tears would well up.

Walking through the ocean of flowers, I saw countless adoration, gentleness, admiration, well wishes…

In that second, I was in Wuhan, and I had a romance with No. 5 at the ends of the world.

Appendix: 2013 Version of “A Dream Like A Dream” Behind-The-Scenes Documentary Review

(Written on 23 Mar 2021)

Upper Half

Firstly, the documentary emphasized on its star-studded cast on its very first Mainland China premiere in 2000. Besides the well-known famous actor, there was also a renowned female singer crossing domains, as well as some familiar, well-known actors, such as Tan Zhuo, Xu Qing. Xu Qing was going to continue her role as one of the Gu Xianglans in the upcoming 2021 version of “A Dream Like A Dream”. At the same time I also discovered that Shi Ke was in the 2013 version of “A Dream Like A Dream”, she was the lead actress for Xiao Zhan’s “Heroes in Harm’s Way – Blessed Community”.

In the documentary, besides bringing more attention to this play, the star-studded cast also brought another challenge, because the group’s actors had to spend more than a year to break into this 8 hour play (that time when “A Dream Like A Dream” first came into Mainland China, everything had to be started from scratch, there were a lot to adapt, hence the timeline would be longer, 2021 version had the previous foundation, and therefore did not need this long for preparation), and singers would have to take a few months to prepare for their fan meetings and concerts, television and movie actors would have to take a few months to film their dramas. In rehearsing this play, the actors would have to reject many invitations, their “loss” in revenue could be up to millions or even more.

Xiao Zhan’s rehearsal period for “A Dream Like A Dream” appeared to be an empty period to the external world, but plays truly needed wholehearted participation into practice time.

Director and playwright Lai Shengchuan said, plays are even a greater challenge to these stars, because their capabilities, their acting skills, would be obvious to the audiences after 2 or 3 shows, and this will dictate the success of the play in Mainland China.

Hence for the first entry to Mainland China, all the preparation from all angles had to start from zero, the 2013 version encountered many difficulties in terms of location, props, etc. While the cast attracted a lot of attention, the strict control behind the stage, for example, prop preparation was actually done by a Year 4 Journalism student; the rehearsal initially started in a crude empty factory. Then, the in-charge of Yanghua Theatre, Wang Keran, was the main in-charge for bringing in “A Dream Like A Dream” into Mainland China, he and his team’s office was in a simple 3 bedroom apartment, he directly said that bringing in this play was to raise the influence of plays but he could not bankrupt the backstage, hence cost also had to be tightly controlled.

For the 2021 version, the documentary gave me the most anticipation was the process that in the 2013 version, the actors and the directors went through a lot of breakthrough and recreation process during their rehearsals. While rehearsing, Xu Qing gave a totally opposite view on her role to Lai Shengchuan (on Gu Xianglan’s love to Baron), the understanding and identity from the actors themselves were in fact the most important part to character creation. Finally, Xu Qing’s persistence convinced Lai Shengchuan, who specially added some scenes in Act 9, and allowed the character Gu Xianglan to be more logical. Lai Shengchuan was a renowned Asian Theatre master, “A Dream Like A Dream” was his 3rd script after his 10+ years of experience. Even so, when meeting a brand new acting crew, the script might still display its inadequacy or limitations with the times, etc. At this moment, it would require actors to use their acting experience to improve upon it, and perform character and scene recreation. We could say that, Xu Qing was a good actress who had her own opinions and thoughts, and was persistent about them, Lai Shengchuan was a good director who progressed with the times.

It just so happened today that Xu Qing praised Xiao Zhan, I believe that with my narration on this part, everyone would understand how much weight Xu Qing’s praise carried — there is no praise that is more encouraging than that from a fellow actress who is persistent and serious.

I believe that Xiao Zhan is also a hardworking actor who will seriously analyze his scripts, and have his own opinions and thoughts. Hence, I really look forward to fireworks that Xiao Zhan and “A Dream Like A Dream” would create, as well as the new soul this would bring to the role, Patient No. 5.

Lower Half

Firstly, the documentary introduced the costume designer for “A Dream Like A Dream”, renowned designer, Ye Jintian. Ye Jintian was the costume in-charge for many movies and dramas, the most famous ones were “A Better Tomorrow” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, he also won the Oscar for Best Costume Design for the latter movie. 2021’s Costume Design Executive was still Ye Jintian. When rehearsal conditions were unable to reach the performance conditions, actors would have to use costumes to find their entry into the character, and as such, it showed how important costumes were to the play.

The premiere in 2013, was such a major cultural event, in the press conference before the first show, they exhibited a shorter segment of the play. Lai Shengchuan wanted people to focus on the story itself, but the media placed their attention on the star-studded cast, the 8 hour long performance, the ring shaped stage, and other gimmicks etc. Lai Shengchuan said, that was the misguidance of the media focus. I felt that, that was unavoidable, since it was a challenge, it was even more so an opportunity, because everything would increase the attention on the play itself eventually. Lai Shengchuan hoped that people would not watch this play for entertainment or escapism, but instead, use this story to face their problems directly, to think about the meaning of life and death.

Surprisingly, the documentary then emphasized on the participating well-known singer’s influence. It said that she had millions of passionate fans, many of them entered the theater because of her, whereas in Lai Shengchuan’s vision, the audiences for “A Dream Like A Dream” were those who had watched many other plays before. We could even say that such a young and influential singer’s addition then truly changed the audience composition for such an elite form of art. On this, Producer Wang Keran expressed that it was something the production team was happy to see, because marketization was the nutrient for such highend art. Moreover, “A Dream Like A Dream” was 8 hours long, they had 400 over sets of costumes, as well as many innovative stage art design, the cost was very huge. Hence, the show for this type of play became a gamble, a gamble between art and market. After all, theater workers would have to eat, and audiences only cared about results, and they would not analyze the difficulties behind it.

The 2021 version that Xiao Zhan joined was built upon the mature experience of 7 years of public showing from the 2013 version, and definitely had lesser problems, but due to Xiao Zhan’s commonly known qualities, the 2021 version would carry the same mission as the 2013 version: using the actor’s huge influence and interest, attract more “first time goers” for theaters, and use the market to nourish the play. To Xiao Zhan personally, this was the rarest and best experience for an actor.

I would mostly skip through the following interview of the famous actor, but there was an important phrase within which he generally said, “To return to theater is to remove the burden of a celebrity.” I felt that this point was suitable to Xiao Zhan.

That time, the production company for “A Dream Like A Dream” (should be Yanghua Theatre) was actually not rich, we could see that the theater scene was still in its infancy. The Stage Designer Zhang Zhelong, was also very competent, he created many aesthetic and unique stage effects for “A Dream Like A Dream”, the most famous was the handover between 2 Gu Xianglans, 2 graceful figures, the former slowly absorbed into the light, blurry and vague, just like a dream. The 2021 version’s Stage Designer is still Zhang Zhelong.

Finally, it was the interview with the well-known actor Jin Shijie, who acted as Baron then. He said that now is the era for speed, everyone could use an electronic device to watch many shows in a night, they could even watch new technologies such as 3D. But, plays were like they carried many ancient rituals. You would need to leave the house, take a car ride, queue, and then sit in among a group of strangers, and watch the stage in the dark, and finally return home. These process were complex, but yet it also seemed especially ceremonious — hence Jin Shijie said that the stage was the most primitive. Whereas for me personally, I like this type of primitive art, this is a form of art that up close, without any misplacement in time and space, and the most realistic.