#Cheng Yixie

[naughtynanzhu]

qianli thought they were cute, yixie thought they were necessary

[biipbop]

Prompt: Cheng Yixie x Cheng Qianli — A tender, loving moment after finding each other in the 11th Door.

for @divineshark for @danmei-action

[bl-is-totes-my-jam]

[ichigokeks]

the unholy trinity of 19 days kinks

[thirteenthdoor]

Okay, so that's the keys and their locks sorted, but what about the doors themselves?

This is another place where the designers obviously put so much time and effort into design and creation of actual physical props, and the final product often never makes it fully into a single shot. So here with go, with the aid of some helpful screenshots!

The first door that appears to Lin Qiushi on the street is the Illusory Life door. We'll (sort of) see that one again.

The Snow Village door is an appropriately rustic wood door. The dark of the tunnel means there's never a good clear shot of it; the best light comes from the second between when Lin Qiushi starts to open it and when the bright light behind it washes it out. The twisted metal that looks like tree branches reminds me of the barbed wire around the family photo.

The Fitcher's Bird door is another door that never gets a full, good, well-lit shot. I love the contrast between this angry metal door and its cute little heart lock.

These first two door world doors are push doors -- by which I mean, you unlock them and then push them into the brightly lit void. Most of the other doors open when pulled, but these first two have to be pushed.

By contrast to how badly lit and framed the previous two doors are, we get a real good look at the Sister Drum door from several angles, including watching it emerge, semi-vaginally, from the drum and seeing its inside -- which looks just like the outside. I'd almost think they just flipped the door and used the outside as the inside, but no! You can see the bolts where they affixed the handle! So some clever craftsperson bothered to decorate both sides of this lovely metal-looking pull door in a mirror image.

There's a small interlude here for Tan Zaozao's wooden door that we don't get to see them escort her through. This is another pull door that looks the same on both sides.

Somebody must have loved the silver Sako door a whole lot, because that's the central door in the first shot of the show's opening credits. It's another pull door mirrored inside and out, complete with a handle on the outer side of the door. It's not the only one with a handle on the outside, either, which raises some interesting questions.

There is just no good shot of the metal Waverly Hills door. It's all but completely shadowed and appears onscreen for a whole five seconds (not an exaggeration). However, we know what the design is, because it's the Art-Deco-looking door all the way to the right in that initial door lineup. It's also one of the few push doors!

The wooden Woman in the Rain door is a pull door, enough so that we actually get a better look at it from the inside than from the outside. It's also the only world that has substantial shots framed through the other side of the door, which I guess makes sense, considering how small and ill-lit the actual landing is. It has a little brass lion head handle on both sides.

Also, I know it's hard to tell from the shots I have here, but this is another case where both sides of the door are mirrored, down to the part where, from inside the door, only the top left side has a little ornamental scroll on it -- and it's reversed when opened. That's quite an attention to detail.

The wooden River God door is another mirrored pull door, and another one where the design is clearest when the door is opened. I'm glad that we get a good shot of it, because it's so pretty.

The Sunny Doll door is almost disappointingly boring. Its design so closely matches the design on all the other doors in the building that I have to assume this was just the actual door that was there in the wall when they arrived to start filming, so they went with it instead of building a new one. While most of the doors match the general aesthetic of the rest of their worlds, nothing else matches like that.

There's a cool tree-themed door in Cheng Yixie's unspecified door world in episode 31. Hard to say which way it opens, as we don't actually see him go through it. I don't see any hinges, though, so I guess we push!

The spiral-painted Hako Onna door is unique for a number of reasons. For starters, it's the only door we see at the start of the world, as Lin Qiushi enters. Everywhere else, our players just sort of appear from nowhere, but here, he's got an actual starting point. And I'd say this does kind of answer my unstated questions about having handles on both sides of the door, except ... no, it doesn't! Both ways it gets entered here, the person entering has to pull to open it! Okay, I'm still confused.

Along with the Sister Drum door, it's the one of the few doors that gets a big CG appearance on the way out. The chests in the center fountain fade away, revealing it in a suitably flashy manner. It's also the only door we see from from the back side as people are going through it.

And finally, in tandem, the Illusory Life and Authentic Death doors, helpfully labeled presumably because coder bros are sometimes not good at picking up literary metaphors. Both of them are pull doors.

What's wild to me is that that is not the Illusory Life door from the first episode. It's not even just that they're different colors -- you could explain that away with lighting and color grading. They are actually different doors. They obviously were built according to the same basic design, but the sticks and leaves are placed differently enough that it's clear they don't match.

Now, given a) how the door in the gaming cafe is a pull door, but the frame makes the door on the street (which we never see open) look like a push door, and b) the pattern we have established of doors being decorated on both sides, it is 100% possible that these are the same physical object, but two different sides of it. That's an explanation from a production standpoint, though. Whatever tinfoil hattery you want to get up to with this information, you go for it.

Bonus! In the last episode, when we're pulling the whole Wizard of Oz ending of things, Wu Qi shows the version of the Spirealm he's familiar with -- which features adorable little drawings of Lin Qiushi, Ruan Nanzhu (with his hair parted on the wrong side), Toast, Chestnut, and the Snow Village door! Friends on an adventure!

[sleepsonclouds]

Clouds tropespots: The Spirealm, E08

Episode 8 (Drum sisters, 3rd door)

A bit of domesticity at Obsidian, and then it's time to play tourist in Cheng Qianli's door! What could be a better attraction than a human skin drum?

It's hard to come up with trope labels when they are saying things and it's not even flirting, just straightforward statements. I suffer as tragically as Ruan Nanzhu.

Taking care of partner: Nanzhu looks maybe the tiniest bit tired, and Lin Qiushi is immediately on it. We're shown how carefully he observes Nanzhu (who really wasn't trying to play it up for once). Love the acting here!

Crashing partner's bedroom & bedroom conversation: Nanzhu is waiting in Qiushi's room. "I need you," he declares. Okay then! Qiushi: "What do you mean?" Nanzhu: "I mean it literally… I mean, you cannot die." That's certainly A Way to put it. Romantic piano music is playing. Qiushi is still confused. How long can he possibly remain confused?

Giving significant gifts: Nanzhu gives Qiushi a very pretty kaleidoscope, which can be brought inside the doors. What does it all mean? The romantic atmosphere persists.

Complimenting partner (ambiguous): "Some people are naturally meant for the door", says Nanzhu to Qiushi. YES, I scream into the void, having read the novel.

Everyone thinks you're together: Cheng Yixie questions Nanzhu's decision to accompany Qiushi and Cheng Qianli to the next door, rather bluntly. "If Lin Qiushi were not there, would you still insist on leading the team?" Nanzhu, equally bluntly: "No." Because Qiushi is special in a way that's no one else's concern. Yixie continues probing: "Are you choosing him to be your partner?" One might get that impression, considering how fixated Nanzhu is on him.

Sickly Victorian heroine: Qiushi meets Nanzhu inside the door - or rather the weak, sickly Zhu Meng, who greets him by coughing tragically. "I've been in poor health since I was little," says the little drama sprite. Nanzhu will have fun with this.

Sharing a room (show of initiative): Now Qiushi's suggesting that he and Nanzhu share a room, earning a Look from Nanzhu. Unfortunately, Qiushi doesn't understand Propriety in the face of death, and they get a (not at all creepy) third wheel…

Unnecessary number of beds & sickly Victorian heroine (cont.): Despite the sad bed situation, Nanzhu wakes up promptly when Qiushi's hearing creepy voices. On his part, Qiushi worries Nanzhu might have a fever. The bed divide means nothing! Qiushi absolutely must reach out from his own bed to touch Nanzhu's cheek, tuck him in and pat his shoulder to comfort him.

We think we're together, too: The annoying spy lady wants to team up with Nanzhu. Naturally, he's already teamed up with Qiushi. Lady: "Do you mind having one more person?" Nanzhu: "Yes." Such a Nanzhu moment. I love him.

I'm so scared: The creepy girl, Xu Jin, has latched onto Qiushi. "This place makes me feel so depressed and scared, Linlin-ge," says she, clearly fishing for comfort. She doesn't know who she's up against. Nanzhu is in his element: "Linlin-ge, I'm scared too," says he with a little gasp. Xu Jin grumbles about grown men being scared. Nanzhu: "Who says men can't be easily frightened?" Preach that, drama sprite.

Sickly Victorian heroine (cont.): Qiushi is concerned (yet again), because Nanzhu's looking a bit pale. Protect partner mode activates, probably every time Nanzhu says he's "fine". Qiushi simply must support him!

Protecting partner: It's raining needles. Nanzhu stops Qiushi from going outside with strategic hand placement. He's touching Qiushi's thigh, narrowly missing his crotch... And Qiushi never lets go of his wrist, I can't even.

Adventures in the creepy drum land continue in -> Episode 9

[silviakundera]

silvia reads Kaleidoscope of Death chapter 106, established coupleness

(spoilers)

After getting together, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu didn’t particularly try to hide it. The two openly began to hold hands, hug, do the things that lovers did.

They were all clever inside the mansion, and this clear change in atmosphere couldn’t possibly go unnoticed. Yi Manman patted Lin Qiushi’s shoulder in admiration. “Nice. You even managed to snag Ruan-ge.”

Lin Qiushi laughed. “Yeah, pretty good, aren’t I? I think so too.”

Cheng Qianli was the last to figure it out, and he only figured it out after running running into Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu kissing in the front yard one day.

The ambience had been too great that night—bright moon, gentle breeze. Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu were sitting and chatting in the yard, and as they chatted, the two naturally got closer together.

Cheng Qianli had just come home. The moment he walked into the yard he let out that iconic scream of his—the one pitched exactly like the screaming rubber chickens.

“Fuck, what the fuck! Am I dreaming!” Cheng Qianli was saying.

“Fucking fuck, why did I just see Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi kissing!!”

Cheng Yixie, from next to him, “what are you yelling about…”

But it was already too late. Both Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi were looking up and over.

Cheng Qianli, “they’re looking at me!”

Cheng Yixie, “…” Who else were they supposed to look at, with you screaming like this?

Grinning, Lin Qiushi greeted Cheng Qianli. Cheng Qianli confirmed this indeed was not a dream, but still appeared flummoxed: “O- oh, good evening Qiushi.

What uh, are you two doing out here? Weather’s nice isn’t it…”

Cheng Yixie eyed Cheng Qianli; he kind of wanted to pry open the brain on this little brother of his, and check if it was all cotton inside. He apologized to Lin Qiushi, and hurriedly pulled Cheng Qianli away. While being dragged off, Cheng Qianli was still saying, all wronged, ge, can’t you pull lighter. His wrist was all red.

Cheng Yixie scoffed. “You didn’t see your Ruan-ge’s expression?”

Cheng Qianli, “…”

Cheng Yixie, “if I pulled you away any later, Ruan-ge might’ve beaten you to death right there.”

Cheng Qianli recalled that dark glare on Ruan Nanzhu, and thought his brother had a point.

[guangjie4ever]

[Translation] LanJiu Drabble/One-shot

Pairing: Ruan Lanzhu x Ling Jiushi

To celebrate the newcomer Zhuang Rujiao's discharge from the hospital, Obsidian prepared a big meal that evening and bought a lot of beer. Qianli insisted on drinking too, but was rejected by Cheng Yixie on the grounds that children shouldn’t drink.

As for alcohol, Ruan Lanzhu's subconscious reminded him that drinking is harmful, so he didn’t have much. Occasionally, he advised Ling Jiushi to drink less, but it was hard to tell whether Ling Jiushi was happy about Zhuang Rujiao’s discharge or if he had something on his mind, as he drank continuously from start to finish.

The meal didn’t wrap up until nearly midnight, leaving everyone exhausted and tipsy, supporting each other as they headed back to their rooms. Ruan Lanzhu suggested they all go to sleep and directly took Ling Jiushi’s hand to the second floor.

Ling Jiushi, drunk from the alcohol, didn’t show signs of being intoxicated and let Ruan Lanzhu lead him back to the room without saying a word. He just quietly watched Ruan Lanzhu as he sat on the bed.

“Are you drunk?”

“No.”

Hearing this firm response confirmed for Ruan Lanzhu that Ling Jiushi was indeed drunk. It was the first time he had seen someone so quietly intoxicated.

As the alcohol took effect, Ling Jiushi began to feel warm and fumbled with his buttons, struggling to unfasten them. His vision was blurred, only able to see Ruan Lanzhu standing in front of him, tugging at his clothes and exposing his fair skin.

“Do you want me to help you, Ling Ling?”

Ling Jiushi waved his hand at this.

“No need, aren’t you supposed to go meet Zhuang Rujiao? You can go; I can handle it myself.”

This nonsensical remark brought a smile to Ruan Lanzhu's face as he raised an eyebrow and asked, “Ling Ling, are you upset that I’m going to meet Zhuang Rujiao? Are you jealous?”

Ling Jiushi seemed to react to this key phrase, widening his eyes and looking up at Ruan Lanzhu.

“How could that be? What would I be jealous of? The only thing to dip in vinegar is dumplings.”

Ruan Lanzhu was almost charmed to death by Ling Jiushi’s cuteness. He sat down next to him, close enough for their thighs to touch, forcing Ling Jiushi to meet his gaze.

“Really not jealous, Ling Ling?”

“No.”

“Then does Ling Ling want me to go through the door with you or with that Zhuang person?”

Ling Jiushi felt as if Ruan Lanzhu’s eyes had some sort of magic, and he felt himself getting pulled in, unable to suppress his awkward thoughts.

“With me, I want you to go through the door with me.”

Hearing the expected answer, Ruan Lanzhu finally smiled in satisfaction.

“So, Ling Ling, are you jealous?”

“...Hmm.”

“Then why is Ling Ling jealous?”

“You haven’t been with me for a long time. Didn’t you say I’m the one you want to choose? Why are you always with someone else?”

Ruan Lanzhu slowly leaned closer to Ling Jiushi’s lips, speaking softly.

“Ling Ling is amazing; being honest is what good kids do.”

Author: 找ya找ya找工作

[kyunniebuns]

Um...

Do you ship yourself or your ocs with characters from danmei media?

-luna 🫶

(I just want to know you opinion on this matter ❣️ to that's all :') )

OH HELLO:DD!!! Well... I did ship once with Cheng Yixie from Kaleidoscope Of Death when I was younger^^!!! With the main cps I made ocs as their kids><!!!.. I made once with Hualian and I think I made one for Wangxian!! I dont rmb much anm tho xD...

[small-reptile-cake]

[WARNING] KALEIDOSCOPE OF DEATH SPOILERS

Credits to @zintranslations for their translation of the novel which I binged in less than a month.

Okay. First of all I wanna say that I loved this story all the way through to the end. Aside from the author’s strange perception of women and gender in general, I have no beef with them.

But...

Y'all, I really did not like the Ruan Nanzhu twist at the end of the novel. And I'm glad it's just an Extra because it allows me to pretend like it's a not part of the main story. No tea no shade no pink lemonade to the author but RNZ being a door god not only invalidates plenty of things established throughout the plot, but also most of his actions and emotional beats as a character, it also makes many of those actions feel really twisted. I'll elaborate;

Index:

Ruan Nanzhu's actions and what those imply.

Lin Qiushi's life post 12th door.

Ruan Nanzhu's life and emotional beats as a character we are invested in.

Why Lin Qiushi should have been the door god.

1. Ruan Nanzhu's actions and what those imply.

First of all, he willingly put himself and Lin Quishi through the doors from start to finish, full risk, no breaks, no safe words, and even though LQS had supposedly just left his 12th door and was meant to be safe. Our boy had to go to the hospital so many times during the first few doors, he almost got burnt to death!! Both of them almost got incinerated!! Quishi was shot!!

It would've been a little less worse if at some point throughout the story both RNZ and LQS had died, or were meant to die but then surprisingly came out alive in the end, and then the glitch made them realize something was off about one of them. Then they would’ve looked into it at some point and Quishi would've been able to figure out Nanzhu wasn't human BEFORE CROSSING THE 12TH DOOR, actually foreshadowing the twist instead of just showing it to us out of nowhere. It would also imply RNZ didn't actually put LQS through the same lethal risk he survived once without RNZ. What if one of them perished during the second run because RNZ was unable to remember he was actually a god and could protect them if he truly wanted to? And aside from all the risk, they also had to deal with the fear of losing eachother, all because RNZ has a penchant for dram

2. Lin Quishi's life.

Are you really telling me LQS got a lifetime of memories where he was mostly alone, where his parents abandoned him and he had just the one friend, all while Nanzhu was running around living Quishi's life? With his loving parents, his contact list full of people who either worshipped him, cared enough to work with him, or directly lived with him under his leadership???? Yo, what??? And even if it wasn't intentional, it was still his actions that caused it. If you really want the twist of RNZ as a god, then either the writer could've established Nanzhu's life as his own (it still would’ve made sense for him to become unwavering the leader of obsidian and go through thousands of doors per year if he was a god), or at the very least she could've made him a mysterious stranger without a past who caught Qiushi's attention inside the doors, got invited to join obsidian (by LQS who would still be the leader in this case), and when Nanzhu really doesn't remember how he got in or what his life was like before the first door, others get to assume whatever he was about to die from must've affected his memories.

3. Ruan Nanzhu's life and emotional beats as a character we are invested in

So... None of it was real? The grief and guilt he felt over the people he lost; his seniors, his colleagues...was actually Quishi's? Nothing about him being a scared kid who had to grow too strong too fast to survive the doors and eventually take over Obsidian was real? Nothing about the supposed lover (not the friend from the tenth door, but point still stands) he lost to the doors, something that was mentioned ONCE and never explained, was really his own experience? Like, why was he even a physics teacher in the eleventh door If he wasn't human? He shouldn't have appeared for Quishi at all. That would've also worked as foreshadowing if RNZ only existed during the nightime like everyone else, because he would’ve been an NPC.

4. Why LQS should have been the door god

There, I said it. It makes more sense. A guy who was mostly detached from life by having no one around him, aside from a cat who suddenly starts to resent him before he enters his first door; which, btw, maybe Chestnut didn't like him because cats are usually more intuitive in paranormal stories, so he knew he'd never seen this man before the first door, or at least he knew LQS wasn't human and then started warming up the more time LQS spent in the real world going throuh the doors.

About LQSs abilities;

He's oddly calm in front of most harrowing events, which would make sense if he was an omnipotent god, or just knew in the back of his mind he'd already seen it all play out before.

According to Nanzhu's supernatural perception, his aura of light is greater than anyone else’s.

It's often mentioned in the novel that compared to most people Quishi got used to them much faster and needed less time to recover than anyone. Even when compared to Nanzhu, who supposedly went through thousands of doors (and who is supposed to be a god)

It’s constantly mentioned how fortunate he is about the items he encounters and how he’s constantly coming out of the doors by the skin of his teeth.

Also, Nanzhu had a troubled backstory, he had friends, had seniors, had parents who cared for him, had a past lover he lost in a tragic way (allegedly). One of LQS's best qualities is being mild-tempered and calm, the life he supposedly lived fits RNZ's character a lot more Namely hooking up with Bai Ming. . Even if this was technically all Quishi's life, according to the eleventh door if RNZ hadn't gone into the doors he still would've had a life as a physics teacher! That’s definitely not something he got from LQS’s life and memories. And if we were supposed to see it coming that he wasn't human, he should have existed only at night like all the other NPC's. Because then all we saw about Qiushi's life without the doors was that he would've stayed the same. Untethered to reality, too focused on his work and studies to live a normal life which... feels like an excuse from someone not quite human to explain their lack of experiences in life WHICH QUISHI COMPLAINS ABOUT CONSTANTLY "I'm going to die without ever having lived through most things".

To conclude: I have no idea how they're going to write the twist into the upcoming drama considering it's just an extra in the novel and a barely foreshadowed one at that, barely integrated with the rest of the novel. Let LQS be a good and let RNZ be a human with a troubled past and an unusual companion who enters his life when he’s about to enter the most dangerous of the doors and will need the support and drive to keep going.

[hokannko]

[ MAJOR KALEIDOSCOPE OF DEATH SPOILERS ]

.

.

.

.

.

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“Cheng Qianli didn’t speak. The life in his eyes was beginning to fade, and the breath in him was weakening. Like color fading from a painting until all that was left was black and white, a chill enveloped his entire body.

He worked hard to open his mouth, calling out, “Ge.” And then, with all the strength left in his body, said a last few words: “Don't…be sad.”

[biipbop]

Twitter dump

Not many doodles posted on twitter lately. Ive been working on zine stuff, personal project, and valentine pieces. Hopefully I can post again soon

[bl-is-totes-my-jam]

I present: The Fellowship of the Kaleidoscope!

Frodo: Lin Quishi. For obvious reasons

Sam: Wu Qi. The MC's friend through thick and thin

Aragorn: Ruan Nanzhu. Was between Aragorn and Sam but he gives me more Aragorn vibes so.

Legolas: Chen Fei. The calm big brother vibes did it for me.

Boromir: Yi Manman. Both kinda betray their group because of powers beyond their control

Gimli: Li Dongyuan. Was between Legolas and Gimli but his tendency to explode in anger tipped the scales to Gimli

Pippin: Cheng Qianli. Both are big goofs and both can bring floods of tears to your eyes.

Merry: Cheng Yixie. The more serious of their respective duos. Worries a lot about their partners

Gandalf: Tan Zaozao. TBH. I kinda ran out of ideas. But they are both kind and can hold their head high in stressful situations (Thinking how Tan Zaozao talked down two door gods)

Thoughts on this beautiful crossover? xD

[ichigokeks]

can't believe we started 19 days with Jian Yi and Zhan Zheng Xi and suddenly TianShan is the ship but also QiuCheng and also Jian Yi's parents and I need them all to have their own arc like He Tian and Mo Guan Shan got

[thirteenthdoor]

What's For Dinner Inside The Doors?

Get some (un)boxed lunches with the Hako Onna!

The Hako Onna spread is cloyingly sweet. It's almost all desserts and fruits, with a few savory dishes sprinkled in. There's no serving of it -- it's just there. It's all stretched along a table that actually has twenty chairs and place settings, nine on each side and two at either end, which is two more than the number of players. That's somehow even creepier in a world with no NPCs.

For such a weirdly time-dependent world, everything is visually timeless. There's no natural light whatsoever. The only windows are the stained-glass ones in the main hall, and they're lit no matter what time it is. That means this door world, more than any other, has every shot saturated with that thick, yellow Wong Kar-wai color grading. With all the bold, bloody reds in the wallpaper and carpet, it's just off enough that it makes everything seem kind of sickly, especially at mealtime.

The first meal comes after the first day of gameplay, when nobody's eating except the people who opened boxes that day. The second meal has more people eating -- everyone, it seems, except Cheng Yixie and Ruan Nanzhu. And the third and final meal comes after somebody's dramatic "death." We get one more scene of the table during the confrontation with the second mole and the interrogation aftermath, but no one is eating then.

Instead of going meal-by-meal, I'm treating all three of them as the same, because the spread is basically identical every time. Nothing really changes except the number of people partaking and the number of people left to partake in the first place.

The full table is huge -- so big, in fact, that it barely ever gets fully in a single shot. And yet, the one real good long shot we get of it shows that there's still plenty of room for it in the long almost-room where it's located. I say "almost-room" because it looks more like a large hallway, except it doesn't go anywhere; one side is completely open, while the other three sides are completely closed in. There are two smaller chandeliers, one at each end of the room, and then a great big one in the middle. The big one's barely in any shots, though. I guess the show has a bit of trauma from Tan Zaozao.

I have Opinions about how the placemats don't really fit with the rest of the decor, but the place settings themselves are nice. I'm a huge fan of the cute little chopstick rest that also serves as a place to set your soup spoon. I may have to invest in a set of those.

Everything's extremely fancy in the way that skips right past elegance and goes straight for baroque. The whole aesthetic is crystal, gold, filigree, or some combination of the three. Sure, I wouldn't want to lay out my own dinner table like this, but I think it suits the setting, from the wallpaper to the carpets to whatever that fireplace is doing at the back of the room.

The table is also decorated! There's a couple vases of pretty little flowers at intervals along the table. It's a nice little touch. There are also candles, which remain unlit.

There are three enormous three-tiered cakes on the table -- the one with red sprinkles, the plain white one, and the one that appears to be rolled in crushed nuts (which actually, I notice now, has four tiers). All three of them are proportioned strangely, with the bottom tiers about the same height as one another, and then flat little tops. (I was going to say, just like Ruan Nanzhu! but no, Xia Zhiguang has a bit of a booty. So instead let's go with, just like Ruan Baijie!)

There's also a couple smaller, single- and double-tier cakes situated between them. No one ever cuts into the cakes, probably for continuity reasons, but also because I don't really see a good cake knife here. When the knives start getting thrown on everybody's way out the door, they're all blunt little dinner knives.

The rest of the sweets on the table mostly take the form of single-serving pastries, including pre-cut slices of cake and cups of pudding and whatever little cream rolls those are. They look incredible. Whatever bakery the set designer contracts with does tremendous work.

The wrappers around a lot of the little cakes say "Delicious Fruit Cake" on them. Some of them have been put on upside-down.

There are also little cages that seem to be holding something - a slice of cake each, maybe? At one point, Lin Qiushi lifts one, as though expecting to free the cake; there's nothing left on the tray after he does, though, so I guess it's not just a birdcage-looking dome, but an actual cake cage.

The savory offerings get a little ... perplexing. I have no idea what this is. It looks terrible. If someone tells me what it is and it's not terrible, I'll apologize, but for now, yikes.

There is a whole plate of what look like soft-shell crabs right in the middle of the table. I can't imagine why no one's eating those.

That Motherfucker goes in for what looks like a tuna fish sandwich on white bread. I don't see any other sandwiches like it on the table. He has somehow been boring enough to singlehandedly manifest his own tuna fish sandwich on white bread, which he eats like he's a messy toddler. I want to take his stupid tuna fish sandwich and smack him in the face with it.

There's a platter of what looks to me like ... steaks? Maybe pork chops? That's the chafing dish of sort of oblong brown things piled atop lettuce and tomato slices. My first read of them was actually as sandwiches with brown bread. No, wait, are they sandwiches? Just incredibly overstuffed BLTs? Now I'm not sure what they are. I'm not sure about anything.

Also, a pile of bone-in wings eventually appears in front of Lin Qiushi, who does not appear to be appreciating them appropriately. Same goes for the platter of ... toast? garlic bread? Do those officially count as crostini? I don't make the bread rules around here.

There's a whole roast duck about where the twins usually sit.

Even though nobody seems to be drinking, there are a couple decanters on the table. The one nearest the end is plain-looking and flat-bottomed, but there are a few that have fancy diamond patterns on the side and are tilted. The liquid in them is dark enough that it's probably meant to be red wine in the former and some kind of liquor in the latter.

There's actually a lot of fruits on the table, and they're real enough that they're often the things the actors actually choose to eat. (Will I ever be over trying to pick up a kiwi with a pair of chopsticks? No.)

The other thing most of them actually eat when called upon to eat something is some kind of thick white soup or porridge. Some of the bowls are empty and some are full. At first I didn't see a serving dish for it, so I was asuming people manifest it in the same way ol' What's-His-Name manifests his boring-ass sandwiches. But no, on the first night, there's a white tureen down at the non-fireplace end of the table, right by the bunch of bananas.

And of course, what meal would be complete without a random plate of shrimp? Of all the things sitting out on that table that I'm not going to eat, that dish is surely one of them.

There are even more dishes than I've pointed out here, and not just because I hit the image cap. Many of them, there's never a good enough shot for me to take a substantive guess at what they are, and the rest are just tiny bowls filled with things like nuts and fruits. Somebody went to a lot of chaotic effort to set this table.

I'm assuming the aesthetic the show's going for here is kind of a blown-out version of a child's tea party -- which makes sense, considering that in both book and the board game itself, the Hako Onna herself is a little girl. I wish they'd had a little more of the courage of their convictions and made the entire thing sweet dishes, to the point where it grosses everyone out. Imagine that you're high-strung and miserable, and maybe starving because you didn't eat yesterday, and now you do get to eat but it's all sugar. After a couple days I bet the Hako Onna could tempt you into becoming one of her minions just by offering you a single hardboiled egg.

[wangmiao]

Jie jie - older sister; ge ge - older brother Winter Begonia | 鬓边不是海棠红 (2020)