#Chen Shaoshang

[watch-grok-brainrot]

Family means your mannerisms are in sync.

Love Like the Galaxy ep 20 and 22

[I/D two gifs from Love like the Galaxy where NiaoNiao’s family matches up their mannerisms. Gif 1: NiaoNiao and her mom roll up their sleves and put put their hands on their hips in sync. Gif 2: NiaoNiao’s parents take a breath in and sigh in sync.]

[dangermousie]

The best part is he sincerely means it as a compliment ahahahahaha even though her interpretation is the more normal one:

He really is the most awkward human alive, which makes sense since he's intense, fucked up, with a weird upbringing/background and zero need of social graces.

Also, this shippy MV for them:

I think LLTG is so so so very much a cdrama as a Jane Austen novel with some Bronte thrown in aka the best combo.

Chen Shaoshang's matrimonial quest and family adjustments AND Ling Buyi's revenge narrative against his uncle, which gets deliciously sidetracked by love, somehow mesh into a super coherent story even if you'd think they are in two different genres.

[zhoufeis]

cdrama ask meme

send me a number and I’ll reply with a gifset

1: hidden love or lighter and princess 2: love between fairy and devil or the starry love 3: legend of fei or word of honor 4: till the end of the moon or the untamed 5: who rules the world or zhaoyao 6: the killer is also romantic or the queen of attack 7: the eternal love or the romance of tiger and rose 8: love like the galaxy or goodbye my princess 9: oh! my sweet liar or a girl like me 10: the love by hypnotic or i’ve fallen for you

11: lan wangji or xie yun 12: zhou fei or lu zhaoyao 13: wen kexing or wei wuxian 14: li xun or zhu yun 15: ban hua or rong xia 16: bai fengxi or cheng shaoshang 17: shaodian youqin or chao feng 18: gu xiang or yan hui 19: hei fengxi or li chenlan 20: xiao lanhua or dongfang qingcang

21: hei fengxi / bai fengxi or wen kexing / zhou zishu 22: li chenlan / lu zhaoyao or shaodian youqin / liguang yetan 23: dongfang qingcang / xiao lanhua or lan wangji / wei wuxian 24: gu xiang / cao weining or tianqi / yuemi 25: yan hui / tian yao or ban hua / rong xia 26: ling buyi / cheng shaoshang or tantai jin / ye xiwu 27: li qian / li mingyue or xiong xiruo / li hongbin 28: zhu yun / li xun or sang zhi / duan jiaxu 29: han shuo / chen qianqian or liang weiwei / jing qing 30: chu xiuming / shen jin or zhao cuo / tian sanqi

[utterlyhooked]

For those looking for the “MARITAL BLISS” part of the story, here is a machine translated part of the epilogue.

▪️ Huo Buyi/Huo Budo/Huo ZhouMu is now a governor or head of state (vassal state) that he opened up during his exile* on the NorthWestern region, uniting the local tribes. Ah Xiu is a 14 year old grandson (heir) of one of the tribal leaders (who is leading other tribes) - this is how I understand it.

*he also conquered the Kingdom of Shu

----

Ah Xiu is becoming more and more free in the state pastoral (HB & SS residence/palace) which shows Huo ZhouMu trusted him more and more, but it also brought a little trouble to Ah Xiu - because he would always bump into the intimate behaviour of ZhouMu and his wife from time to time.

In fact, the local customs are open and young men and women have been accustomed to seeing Ah Xiu in a place to kiss or touch something, but somehow, he will still blush when he sees the ZhouMu couple affectionate. The same move, Brother Ah Yong and his good deeds are like cattle roaring, Ah Xiu is too lazy to see, but the ZhouMu couple can't say the tenderness and sweetness when they do it.

One day, Hou ZhouMu wanted to take Ah Xiu to the military camp outside the city, when it was not yet dawn, Mrs. ZhouMu came out with her hair scattered and confused to send him, her eyebrows were soft, and she was naked with a pair of snow-white lotus feet, and when ZhouMu saw her, he hugged her into his arms, and the two kissed passionately. Mrs. ZhouMu followed her husbands chin, to the long neck, nibbled his adam's apple, and finally kissed into the chest of ZhouMu's loose clothes, Huo ZhouMu was tall and strong, and as soon as his arms were raised, he lifted the lady in her entirety, kissed her earlobes and hollow of her neck, and then went down...

----------

Another time, the lady personally shaved the face of the state pastor, Ah Xiu sat cross-legged under the porch to endorse the book, from time to time to look back, saw the lady tenderly like water touching the face and neck of the state pastor, the state pastor put one hand on the waist of the lady and another on her hand, the two looked at each other and said endless affection. Ah Xiu finished memorizing the book and went back, and when he left, he suddenly thought that ZhouMu had one hand on his wife's waist, and another hand, where was it? Ah Xiu tried to recall that Madame's summer shirt was very wide, and the sleeves were particulary wide, and oh, ZhouMu's other hand seemed to reach into Madame's sleeve...

- What the idiot told him that Han Chinese people are very reserved and reserved! It's all a lie!

-----------

When Ah Xiu was able to write a complete family letter in Chinese characters, Mrs. ZhouMu was diagnosed as pregnant, and Huo ZhouMu froze on the spot, and his handsome and majestic face inexplicaply shed tears.

“Shao Shang, I, I...” Huo ZhouMu, who was cast in steel and iron, put his arm around his wife and choked up unspeakably.

Mrs. ZhouMu gently took her husband's head into her arms: “I know, I know... In the future, you will have many flesh and blood relatives, and you will not be the only one again.”

Huo ZhouMu raised his head, his eyes clear, and smiled with tears: “ No, since I saw you, I have not been alone.”

Although he did not know why, Ah Xiu's heart was also sour, so he cried. He felt that this marriage between the ZhouMu couple must have come bitterly and very difficult. It's great that they can finally become dependents (married).

Ah Xiu studied around Huo ZhouMu for many years, he personally watched Lady ZhouMu get pregnant, give birth, raise children, the great emperor in the distance sent things and doctors in a long convoy one after another and the ZhouMu couple returned to the capital from time to time to report, to visit their relatives, conferring titles, many rewards... Cycle.

Just as Mrs. ZhouMu said, Huo ZhouMu really had several flesh and blood relatives, although one was more naughty than the other, and the other was more angry than the other, but it was really good to be lively all day.

▪️ So, they weren’t shy! And they were very prolicfic with their baby making! I was thinking that their household staff and his subordinates were giving them a wide berth whenever Zisheng and Shaoshang were in close proximity to each other. They probably have this policy amongst themselves of announcing, discreetly perhaps, of “They are a metre apart... Rruuunnnn!!!!” hahahahha

[ezhilmozhi]

Someone add the GIF of Ling Bu Yi's gears turning while everyone else was debating the pros and cons of breaking off The Engagement.

what he says:

what he's thinking: Here's how Zisheng can still get his girl

[thegreymoon]

I’ve seen many people do end-of-the-year rankings of the dramas they watched, so here is mine! I’m ranking them in order from the ones I enjoyed the most to the ones I enjoyed the least. This is not a reflection on the actual quality of the dramas and is based exclusively on how much I subjectively liked them. 

1. Monarch Industry 

Favourite drama of the year and possibly my favourite drama ever! It’s so good! Xiao Qi owns my entire heart! Warmly recommended 🖤

2. Black Sails 

A most excellent show. Highly recommended. 

3. Love Like the Galaxy

I loved this drama so much! Shaoshang is the best female lead of the year, hands down! I adore her! Plus, this is the drama that turned me into a Wu Lei fan, I’ve watched ep. 48 so many times! 

4. Gold Panning 

I was very antagonistic towards this drama when I first started watching it but luckily, I stuck with it and it turned out to be SO GOOD. It’s very grimy and dark, but it was such a good watch! Highly recommended. It is the type of drama that you can admit to watching and recommend in any company without feeling embarrassed. I want more roles like this for Chen Feiyu.

5. The Great Shaolin 

This one started out SO GOOD, I was certain it would top all the dramas I ever watched, but then it devolved in the second half and did not live up to its promise. I’m still mad, but Zhou Yiwei is perfection and the good parts of this drama were amazing, so it still made it pretty high up on this list. 

6. Kevin Can F*** Himself

I am normally not a fan of comedies, but this one was excellent. Highly recommended! 

7. Kingdom 

I’m just not a fan of zombies, so unfortunately, this one cannot go higher, but it is so well done! I very much recommend this drama if you like horror and have high tolerance for gore. 

8. Love Between Fairy and Devil 

This was such a cute and hilarious watch, I loved it so much! It does not quite reach the level of the best drama of the year for me the way it did for some people, but it was still a good time! Highly recommended! 

9. King’s War 

I still can’t believe I made it through this entire drama without skipping! I loved it, but I’m cautious about recommending it because it is very long and very grim. It is just perfect for history lovers but maybe less so for people just looking for some entertainment. 

10. Kinnporsche 

This one would have made it way higher on the list if it had been a few episodes shorter. I completely lost interest when the whole Tawan subplot took over and I never really recovered it. 

11. The Longest Day in Chang’an 

I fully admit I watched this only for Zhou Yiwei. His performance alone would put this drama right at the top, but unfortunately, the rest of it just dragged and was full of plot holes and unlikeable characters. Lots of people sing praises for this drama but other than Zhou Yiwei’s part in it, I did not enjoy it at all. 

12. Light Chaser Rescue 

This is definitely not the worst thing I ever watched but I only recommend it if you are a Luo Yunxi fan, lol. 

13. Killer and Healer

I cannot think of a single thing to recommend when it comes to this mess. 

[gizkasparadise]

@neverthelessbutterflies​ asked for favorite cdrama characters in another post! HERE WE GO with a top five off the top of my head

FAVORITE CDRAMA CHARACTERS

chu xuanji, love and redemption. im limiting myself to one L&R character, otherwise that’d be the whole list :’D but i love xuanji so much. she’s clueless, she’s funny, she’s the god of war with a 10 lifetime long vendetta against heaven, nbd. has the best power-up song in cdrama

li cheng yin/gu xiaowu, goodbye my princess. A REAL PIECE OF SHIT. but so magnetic and fascinating to watch. cheng yin would be the villain in any other drama, but in his own he’s the male lead and holy shit the way chen xing xu could turn on a dime from happy puppy in love with his wife to unhinged future emperor was incredible

cheng shaoshang/niao niao, love like the galaxy. this might be premature, since the show hasn’t finished airing, but i adore niao niao. she’s a STEM nerd who has a wicked streak to her and she’s just a really fun and engaging female lead. you get why she has three suitors!

sheng minglan, the story of minglan. a really unique cdrama lead-- she’s incredibly clever, but also works within the constraints of society at the time (no weirdly anachronistic mannerisms to show she’s intelligent) and oh, god, does this poor girl need a hug. gu tingye was also great fun-- i had a hard time deciding between them

ma zitan/prince an’ping, the rebel princess/monarch industry. LOOK I KNOW. in a drama full of amazing characters, i dont understand why i love zitan the most of all of them. but he was so perfectly useless, confused about what drama he was in, and hilariously self-involved that he just delighted me every time he was on screen. best moment was poppa wang showing up in an emperor’s outfit and kicking him off the big boy chair

honorable mentions

ziqui, go ahead

jin yu & wu ji, sound of the desert

qian qian & han shou, romance of tiger and rose

su can can, wait my youth

hao du and princess leyan from the long ballad

everyone in monarch industry

almost everyone in love and redemption

[beenheresinceforever]

The entire series explained in one gif

i need to scream into the void about how apparent it was that parents too are quite stupid when it comes to court politics.

How easy would it have been to say stuff like, 'we don't deserve your grace, are too poor, blah blah blah" then grab the chance when Emperor tells them to think about it and think up an excuse>

But no, both parents are too flustered. They too tense as it is with Shaoshang's delibrate efforts to behave even worse than usual. It's basic courtesy that you don't run around like a headless gorm in the palace. Shaoshang knows this yet she consistently breaks every rule that even a common villager would know. She is not just fearless or ignorant she is deliberately testing the limits of her parents' patience.

Then comes the whammy with Ling BuYi asking the Emperor to act as his elder and the Emperor turns around and proposes the marriage. Yuanyi doesn't hesitate to resist the Emperor. She behaves like this is some military discussion. But nope, it is so apparent they're out of their depth.

Even in the past, it has been pointed out they're new at this shit. Totally powerless against the nobles and I see why the Chens did not want Shaoshang to get married to the craziest of the lot according to everyone

Let's face it. By now, the capital would know that LBY had killed that rebel general in cold blood going against the Emperor's orders. So no one wants to mess with him.

That said, Yuanyi has gone to a point of no return. Shaoshang essentially tells her that they can be strangers after she marries LBY and her mother does not have to care what happens to her.

The mother's ego is wounded rather than her feelings. Like now she truly believes her daughter is way past redemption.

But why blame only the mother? What the heck was Dad doing all these days? It's demonstrated time and again that Yuanyi listens to her husband. But he just does not want the responsibility or the risk of being seen as the 'bad guy'

[therukurals]

Okay maybe like three people will get this, and also disclaimer that the political contexts of these two characters are very different but the parallels of Chen Shaoshang and Rene!!! Both deeply traumatized and guarded, but are clever, loving, complex, and fighters who have this deep protectiveness of themselves and self respect. Like absolutely two of my favorite characters I've witnessed this year.

[ezhilmozhi]

I'd say 100% of Asian rom com dramas have this trope. Openly or subtly they portray women as scheming, devious or downright dumb as virtuous..

Chen Shaoshang is dumb but we can see she's the fish trying to ride bicycle.

Never once does the narrative show her as evil. Her scheming is childish but it has protected her for over a decade - her guardians were the ones she modelled herself off unconsciously.

The narrative also tries to give the mother a more nuanced personality but fails. We see the typical parent who comes back after a long absence expecting to immediately step into the role of mother except her daughter is more damaged than she dreamt. Her entire role in the Chen family is to clean up their messes and play bad cop. The father is negligence personified and does not want to deal with setting right the wrongs done to his child.

Low key the best part of cdrama Love like the Galaxy is that the arrogant, popular rich dude who expresses his crush on the female protagonist by constantly making her uncomfortable, putting her down to her face and also behind her back in front of others is NOT shown as attractive and romantic. None of this is framed as sexual tension. She 100% has no time or attention for this kind of behavior and legit doesn't care that he is rich and hot, because he's a jerk who disrespects her and is patronising. None of that bs where she SAYS she hates him but the narrative is clear that she is hot for him.

Nope, she has time for only the 2 dudes who respect her and proclaim she's great. That is VERY sexy of her and this show.

[utterlyhooked]

I am not obsessed but... I very, very, very, very much love this drama! Why?...

Everyone is flawed, every single one of them!

Extremely flawed characters, it’s refreshing! The leads, while they have numerous good traits to recommend them, they also have dark sides. In Ling Buyi’s character, it’s dark, very dark it’s pitch black!

I have not seen that many cdramas but I doubt that the main characters in other dramas are this flawed. Generally, male leads with tragic back stories have minimal traumas (in comparison to this), have bits of flaws here and there, are virtuous, righteous, and always heroic.

Ling Buyi’s trauma is so great he can’t possibly come out of it unscathed, he simply cannot be sane! I love the way this character is written, it’s so human. Witnessing the murder of his father, the massacre of his whole family, I think they were tortured and hanged, and the slaughter of an entire city. Add to this, as a child to keep this great secret, constantly reminded of the goal to take revenge, and the most tragic is the fact that he had to carry the name of the person who killed his father, to carry the name of LING! Be known as a Ling, have meritorious acheivements as a Ling, be feared and respected as a Ling! This is a man who can topple kingdoms, which he probably did (you know, like vassal kingdoms), and if he so wished he is powerful enough that he could also destroy the empire. He can do anything under the sun, can acheive anything under the sun, under the galaxy I mean but for one thing, he cannot lawfully avenge the deaths that has haunted him his whole life. How excruciatingly maddening would that be?!

* I’m not obsessed because I can’t fangirl! He is little Fei Lui! Great acting, I mean, did you see him playing the qin, I really thought he could play it!!! and in  episode 48... WHOA! He is handsome, great skin (LOL), very fine, very, very fine physique (aherm!),  but he is so young looking, his face is so young that he looks like he’s 12! or maybe it’s because I’m old... hehehehe

[beenheresinceforever]

Love like a Galaxy Episode 11- 12

So Shaoshang's mother is self-delusional and a matyr in the wackiest way possible. She says Niaoniao needs to know how things were for them implying that she know what her daughter thinks about her life - that is to say Shaoshang does not have any idea how terrible and hard it was for them. But.... does the child need to? None of us know the horrors of war until we are right in the thick of it.

Spoilers

Does the mother guess that they'll be ambushed and that is why she sends guards with them in the guise of protecting her daughter? After all, she does say that she has to be the bad one so the rest of the Chen family looks good. So does Dad Chen and Mom Chen know something about the Shu rebellion and don't want to get caught up so they send their daughter with Third Brother and his wife so sending along a few guards won't suspicious?

Here's a woman who tries to pretend but is seriously pissed off because her daughter won't play along with her charade.

[beenheresinceforever]

Shaoshang just doesn't elaborate because she knows her mother would go off the deep-end. Let's face it. Everyone in the Cheng family knows Mother Chen is unreasonable when it comes to her daughter. So obviously, Third Aunt and Uncle don't elaborate + they obviously don't know everything about the pulling out the arrow scene.

Love Like The Galaxy~  Tell me about Ling Bu Yi first. Your Third Uncle didn’t tell me anything about undressing him, treating his wound, and going through life-or-death situation with him.

[beenheresinceforever]

It struck me that Grandma Wan obviously knew it was Shaoshang who gives the map to General Ling and the Old Madam also has no choice except to go along with the ruse because if she kicks up a ruckus the matter about the Shu map may get leaked and the Wan family would be killed.

Old Madam rats out Shaoshang as payback for stealing the map PLUS General Wan got a paddling from HIS mother. Its only right according to the old woman for Shaoshang to get punished as well- except Old Madam may have guessed to what extent Shaoshang's mother would go......

Yes, how does General Ling know that his crush got an arse whooping? Heee...... Hee...... I mean, he's getting stalkery now.

Then in this episode, her mother loses it and says she's always the bad guy so the rest of the Chen or is it Chi? family gets to be the good guys. She is also correct and explains why she treats Shaoshang the way she does. Because how easy would it have been for Dad and the rest to discipline the girl without beating her or screaming insults? They clearly do not want to do any of the hard work of correcting the flaws in Shaoshang's character as raised by Aunt Ge.

Spoiler under the cut

The fact that she's sending her away then in episode 11-12 we learn that Shaoshang guesses that those are not bandits but a rebel army? If this girl can guess with just a few signs. Then do we really think that her Mother would not have put two and two together? Shaoshang tells them that General Ling wants the Shu map. They all know the Emperor is heading West or is it South to Shu.

If this girl with little knowledge of deeper court politics can guess then obviously her parents knew the dangers of travelling. Now this is why the mother sends her off with the Third Uncle. NO one would question why the only daughter of the Chen family or is it Chi? would be given armed guards but it would be too suspicious if Third Uncle had had an armed escort. That is why Shaoshang is sent off and everyone think Mummyji is a loving yet stern mother who's only looking out for her own child.

That mother is a freaking horror but while I feel bad for what the de facto disowning would do to NN’s heart (and I am not even going to get into insane beating she got! Nobody should be administering punishments out of rage!), leaving that awful house and going with the awesome third uncle and aunt is the best thing that ever happened to her.

PS Awww she thinks LBY betrayed her which is how her parents found out about the bridge. Awww, you are wronging Murder Boy, it was Wan grandma who is sharp and figured it out.

Poor Murder Boy, you have a hard row to hoe.

This cracked me up even worse!

[beenheresinceforever]

Could there be another alternative to shitting on their own daughter in public?

Yes, LBY's family is even worse than Lu Yao's but dang how bullheaded is Mrs. Chen (forget her name) to go against the Emperor in public? Even given her distaste for her own daughter she was too foolhardy to actually refuse even throwing Niaoniao under the bus.

I get the feeling she sees her younger self in Niaoniao and in some twisted reasoning she feels she should iron out all the flaws in her daughter's character.

But willy nilly her mother only helped Shaoshang make up her mind especially when LBY tells her mother to shut up and she has to. Lu Yao was too sweet and too young and too weak to stand up to the tyrant.

Shaoshang knows she will never be able to escape her family even if she gets to marry it will be someone her mother can control. That's not a very appealing thought.

I absolutely love that Shaoshang tells her mother off later. She can't fight or scream about it. Remember she's only 15. But dang, she learns fast and is more subtle than before about giving her mother some home truths.

I’m currently watching ep 24 of Love like the Galaxy and I needed to pause for a while and type this because I am pissed.

Cheng Shao Shang’s mother is the worst because she excuses all those abuses she does to her daughter as her means to show her love. I already hate her, and after ep. 24, I hate her even more.

She basically criticized her own daughter in front of the most important people in the whole kingdom because she did not want Ling Buyi as her son-in-law. She knew that people already looked down on her daughter because of her broken engagement, and upbringing which she did not have any involvement whatsoever for many years. But she still decided to put more gasoline on the raging fire and called her daughter worthless in public. She basically sabotaged her daughter’s future.

Some people might say that she was doing that because she was trying to protect her daughter. Marrying into a family that had close ties with the royals with an attitude like Shao Shang would be a recipe for disaster. I understood that. Shao Shang would definitely not fit in with the rigid rules that had been followed in the palace. But seriously, throwing your own daughter under the bus? There could have been other means to stop this engagement. 

Refusing the engagement in public like that did not even make sense in the first place. It was the emperor who gave the blessing. Why would you even try to insult the emperor by refusing the engagement he suggested? Not only did she embarrassed her own daughter, she has also managed to offend the emperor.

For a person who had been a strategist for the military, she did not think this through. 

Also, Shao Shang’s father isn’t innocent either. He also allowed his own wife, and even joined in insulting their own daughter in front of the emperor. 

The absolute worst!!!!

[ezhilmozhi]

I love how Shaoshang gets her walls up the moment Mama questions her about LBY

Outside the city gates when he tells the parents in full earshot of everyone around that she saw him without his shirt and treated his wound. Do we think he's just saying that to boast? Nah.... By now he's gotten a fair idea of the Chen family dynamics and knows the mother would try to push him over a puppy like Yao

This is hilarious! But poor general, of so little importance to the object of all his affections!

Mom is no moron haha.

Elsewhere, I swear if the emperor could tie up NN and deliver her to LBY to make babies he would. Hahaahahaha

I love how unimpressed she is. Though you are gonna have to memorize them someday, I am sorry!