#Dou Ming

[academyofbrokenhearts]

Okay, but the scene where Dou Ming lies injured in the courtyard, slowly bleeding to death, while her husband is carelessly partying, and her mother is praying while her subordinates strangle her devoted nanny to death? Cinematic excellence.

[waterlilyvioletfog]

Okay, just watched ep. 23 of Jiu Chong Zi/Blossom, the episode where [spoiler] dies and I have some thoughts! Caveats: I have only seen up to episode 23, and I am not familiar with the original IP the show is based on, so I will be treating the show’s writers as creative decision-makers although I AM AWARE that this may be a simplistic or erroneous view.

Dou Ming’s death is a very obvious boundary marker within the show, launching us, I think I’d argue, into the show’s third act, after the second act moved lots of pieces around and swept a few off the board. I’m gonna use the death of Song Mo’s mother and the resultant fight between him and his dad as the turning point for Act 1, for reference.

First, there’s the karmic aspect of Dou Ming’s death, which I’d say is consistent with the show’s overall themes. I think there’s a very direct parallel to be made between Dou Ming’s death and Dou Zhao’s mother’s death. Both are sympathetic relatives of Dou Zhao who are killed due to the Dou family’s dysfunction. They both die because of Wang Yingxue’s actions. Within the larger narrative, their deaths are clearly meant to be lessons for their loved ones, punishments for those who most wronged them (although obviously neither character held that kind of malice). Dou Zhao’s mother’s death is a punishment for Dou Zhao’s dad, and Dou Ming’s death is a punishment for her mother (this is very obvious). Additionally, Dou Ming herself highlights the karmic nature of her death when she is dying, reminding Wei Tingyu of the oath he’d sworn to only paint her upon pain of sword to the heart, saying that her death is the answer and the resolution of that oath. He has been a terrible husband and the consequence is an unjust death for his wife that could have been prevented by him just not sucking so bad.

Dou Ming’s death also resolves the initial story conflict. In Dou Zhao’s first life, her enemies were her husband, her sister, and her stepmother. I could be wrong about what the story holds in the future, but I don’t expect to see much more out of either WTY or WYX, unless either one goes on a redemption arc (unlikely), or goes full supernova supervillain. This is still more unlikely for me. WTY and WYX are consistent parts of Dou Zhao’s rogue’s gallery, but they aren’t smart enough to really be threats, as Act Two has repeatedly proven. Dou Ming’s death is knelling out the end of their status as important antagonists, cutting them off at the knees in time to introduce the actual villains of the show.

In addition to moving minor villains out of the way so Dou Zhao &co can more directly fight the Evil Brigade, the bandit plot effectively introduces the Evil Brigade’s qualifications for being major antagonists. Dou Ming’s death is the final proof of this. Although the principal goals of the bandit plot (kill Dou Zhao, get Song Mo killed or in trouble) ultimately failed, Dou Ming died, which proves to a watching audience that a) these are the BAD bad guys, because anyone whose actions kill off one of the few likable characters not already in the Song Mo-Dou Zhao camp is clearly not great, and b) even if they were foiled this time, they might have better luck next time, and they’ve already killed off a major secondary character and nerfed two more through their actions. The stakes have been raised! Dou Ming’s death particularly highlights the villainy of Evil Uncle Dou (I cannot. For the life of me. Keeps his and the dad’s names straight. And for like the first half of the show they were both in the bad guys corner so it didn’t matter to me anyways). He’s been terrible the entire time, but Dou Ming has done nothing wrong to anyone ever in this life and he’s like 🤷‍♂️ about it. It is GALLING to see him react so calmly to his niece’s death, placing all the blame for everything squarely on his sister-in-law, when we the audience know that he orchestrated the bandits getting in, resulting in Dou Ming’s death!!! Well. He wanted his niece dead and he got a niece dead!!

And I want to elaborate a little further on the stakes-raising bit. Killing off a sympathetic character to raise the stakes prior to the third act is a classic writing choice. For instance, in Blood of Youth, Li Xinze’s character (he plays WTY in jcz) is killed off at the end of the second act which I fucking hated but like it was a thing that happened. But unfortunately no one would care if his character died atp in Blossom because WTY sucks! So it’s gotta be someone the audience cares about, a character set that’s fairly thin on the ground. Song Mo already lost Lu Zhen at the end of act 1/start of act 2, so you couuuuulllldddd theoretically kill off one of the advisor guys or one of the maids for like, symmetry, but this lacks any narrative thrust. Dou Ming’s death, on the other hand, is suitably tragic for an act turn, affects a maximum portion of the cast, and carries thematic weight, making her an ideal candidate from a story perspective.

Overall, rip Dou Ming. You wronged no one! Everyone in your life disappointed you! In a kinder story you’d have gotten a nice divorce and lived with your dad or your jiejie in peace 💜

[tytangfei]

dou ming doesn't deserve this. Please, divorce wei tingyu 😭

[academyofbrokenhearts]

I love that he's not begging for the right to marry her but for her right to be free.

Words cannot express how much I love this.

Because it shows that his love is genuine; he puts her wishes above his, and values her independence and her right to choose way more than his wants.

They are truly made for each other.

I love that he's not begging for the right to marry her but for her right to be free.

AAAAAA

And clearly, emperor does not agree but he shows up at the wedding anyway, ready to interrupt.

And then he sees the veiled bridge clutching the man and I love smart people - he realizes DZ never would so it's not her!

Those two, I can't!!!!

[therukurals]

know that after episode 23 i will be making a set of dou zhao with monaleo lyrics

[littlewriter19]

The Boondocks Season 3 Huey & Ming Kick Ball Story Moments

[stoopidpencil]

[aresgodofwar23]

[starseed-awakening]

And she really had to die in the arms of her useless husband. I don't really care that they both really loved each other she deserved better than that.

Dou Ming was so innocent and naïve, and her whole life was so miserable. She deserved so much better. All the more reason why Wei Ting Yu needs to die. Wang Ying Xue as well.

[da-man-si]

The evil stepmother ordered Dou Zhao to copy the scriptures ten times, so Dou Zhao's squad—Dou Ming, Wu Shan, Ji Yong and Song Mo wrote it and sent the papers to Dou Zhao so she doesn't have to waste her time and energy on a task like this! Dou Ming and Wu Shan's handwriting is different from Dou Zhao and cannot be used to trick the evil stepmother so she doesn't use theirs. Ji Yong's is similar to hers but then she sees Song Mo's papers and—

I'm giggling. I'm kicking my feet. And her reaction!!!!

I'm losing my mind you guys. This is soooooo sweet.

[academyofbrokenhearts]

I have finally finished reading Blossom. Happy ending in the novel too, although a lot of things were vastly different; the main couple, of course, remained superior until the end.

Things we got in the novel that I am glad didn't make it into the series:

Dou Zhao, an adult woman, scheming and navigating complex familial relationships while in a two year old, then a five year old body. I get how it might be interesting for some, but it was incredibly boring for me, and since she managed to neutralise her stepmother quite early on, I saw no need to spend so much time watching her building up and managing relationships with everyone in the Dou family. Moreover, I am glad that the size of the family was trimmed down (I still can't make sense of all the relationships presented in the novel) and some characters were changed compared to how they were in the novel; it was amazing to see Grandma, who had been only a concubine in the book (and therefore couldn't even be called Grandma by Dou Zhao according to customs, let alone have any kind of power), turning into a formidable matriarch, and it was also cool to see Zhao Zhangru as the constant sidekick;

no Song Mo until 114 chapters in. I must confess that my main fascination in both the series and the novel was the relationship between the mains, and the fact that he is only mentioned once or twice before his first dramatic appearance was definitely not enough for me;

way too much time spent on side characters; like I said in a previous post, did I really need to know in detail how Suxin and Sulan ended up serving Dou Zhao? And it felt even more useless since in the novel they end up getting married and leaving the Song Manor, and only getting mentioned in passing from that moment on;

Things I wish would have made it into the series, but did not (and some of them could have never made it, unless the entire censorship board would have been in a coma):

all the sexual encounters between Song Mo and Dou Zhao. Like in the series, the start of their physical intimacy is quite slow, they don't consummate during their wedding night (but unlike in the series, it's not because she prepares a period PowerPoint presentation, it's simply because he knows the next days as newlyweds will be tiring, and just wants to allow them to rest). Unlike in the series, no one is cockblocking Song Mo (in fact, their subordinates are even alarmed at the lack of consummation), and when he decides to make a move on Dou Zhao, he does it, and no one dares to interrupt. They make love quite regularly from that moment on, and I like how Dou Zhao's reluctance is gradually melting away, and how the novel is clearly stating that she enjoys the encounters just as much as he does, and even becomes bold enough to initiate later on;

them being parents. I know we get that one cute scene with their daughter at the end of the series, but Song Mo is such a good dad and husband in the novel, constantly prioritising Dou Zhao's comfort and being just as involved in the child's rearing as she is (to the point that their son learns to say Papa before Mama). I surely wish we would have seen more of that in the series.

Song Yichun does not die in the novel. He is, in a delightful twist of fate, forced to expel Song Han from the family, a treatment he had hoped to apply to Song Mo, and is left disabled after Song Han attacks him. Moreover, the daughter he had switched at birth with Song Han is discovered alive, Song Mo takes her under his protection, and she gets married and lives happily. I surely wish karma would have hit the old man in the face like this in the series as well.

Other things that got changed which I am fairly neutral about:

Song Mo and Dou Zhao's backgrounds in life 1. I have to say I loved how the series made it crystal clear that life 1 was an utterly doomed timeline, with both of them being betrayed and ultimately killed, while the entire country was burning. Life 1 in the novel was bleak in a different, more subtle, way. Dou Zhao dies after a long illness, almost completely devoid of any human warmth - the novel tells us that both her sons with Wei Tingyu are distant, as a result of her being too busy with household matters to be able to form a bond with them, and the only warmth she gets is from her daughter, a child she had after forcing herself to have sex with her husband once more (she had trauma from miscarriage), hoping she could get pregnant again and alleviate her loneliness somewhat. And Song Mo, unlike in the series, is a very powerful figure after the coup, but is perceived as merciless (having slaughtered both his father and brother), cynical (he never finds out the truth about his uncle's death, and never bothers to) and, in the end, utterly, utterly alone;

the dynamic between them after the rebirth. Unlike in the series, where they forged a bond in life 1 which was the basis for their relationship as adults in life 2, in the novel they meet as teenagers (when he is 13 and she is 14), and he is more or less smitten from the beginning, whereas she fears and despises him at first, gradually starting to understand him the more their paths cross. While in the series, they are already both in love by the time she accepts his proposal (having gone through a lot of adventures together that strengthened their bond), in the novel, he is the one with the huge crush, while she accepts his proposal for more pragmatic reasons, trusting that he is capable and will support her in the way Wei Tingyu was unable to. But the attraction between them is mutual, and I really liked watching her slowly but surely falling in love with him due to his constant care and attention towards her;

Song Mo is way more calculated in the novel than in the series, where he's simply feral and would wreak havoc at any given moment were it not for Dou Zhao and her more sensible approaches. It makes for an interesting dynamic in the series, where they pretty much compliment each other, but I must confess I loved his scheming and 5D chess playing in the novel;

Dou Ming's entire character. Unlike in the series, which presented a nature versus nurture situation, with Dou Ming being shrewd in life 1 after being raised by her mother, and a sweet, innocent girl in life 2, as a result of not being raised by her mother, in the novel, Dou Ming exhibits jealousy from an early age, and constantly feels inferior, which ultimately results in her taking Dou Zhao's place as Wei Tingyu's wife. Their marriage is unhappy, as, just like in the series, he is not very smart and doesn't like facing difficulties. Unlike in the series, she doesn't die (she's too petty to die), but it's clear by the time she makes her last appearance in the novel that her life is miserable, and there is no chance of improvement;

Wang Yingxue is not even half as cunning and manipulative as her series counterpart; she fails to charm Dou Shiying in any meaningful way (he is never in love with her and only wants to take her as a concubine because they had a sexual encounter while he was drunk, and he wants to save face) and ultimately she pushes him away, becomes a pariah in the family and is sent to a country estate to die forgotten by everyone, including her daughter;

Miao Ansu has a completely different familial background and no connection to Dou Zhao prior to her marriage with Song Han. She's also far from being the timid forest creature the series portrays her as;

Song Han manages to be somehow even more awful than his series counterpart. Not only is he not in love with Miao Ansu, he also lacks any kind of respect for her, which ultimately pushes her to align with Dou Zhao and Song Mo, and initiate his downfall. His death is not described in the novel, but it is heavily implied.

Overall, while there were a lot of things I liked about the book, I think I prefer the pacing of the series way more. Also, the series got a "will they get their happily ever after, won't they?" feeling with the poison subplot that the novel lacked until very close to the end (when Dou Zhao is almost taken hostage during the palace coup). The royals are awful as hell in both iterations, the injustice never really gets solved (in my opinion, the Emperor was also very much to blame for Jiang Meisun's death, not only the scheming Empress), but at least the lovely main couple lives happily ever after.

Would I rather recommend the book or the series? Honestly, probably the series, but the Song Mo/Dou Zhao dynamic is lovely in the novel as well, and, if nothing else, those passages about their relationship are definitely worth reading.

[thefeastandthefast]

The express episodes have dropped so soon I will be put out of my misery and know exactly what the hell is going on with Ji Yong.

But before I dive in, jotting down these thoughts as of episode 29 to see if I'll be eating my words later.

SPOILERS, OBVIOUSLY:

His line about Song Mo one day understanding his true intentions (after expounding on what were supposedly his intentions in front of all of Prince Qing’s hidden troops just a moment earlier) makes it clear to me that there’s more to his actions than self-professed naked political ambition.

Plus, we know from episode 25 that he is probing into the Duke of Ding’s case and even leveraging his services as advisor and strategist to bargain for information from Prince Qing. There is little to no reason for him to care about this or put himself and his ambitions on the line, so why go to all the trouble?

One of my favorite aspects of this show is Ji Yong as foil to Dou Zhao, each representing a different attitude and approach to the problem of fate and will. I see why some may read Ji Yong as being in unrequited love but to me he reads more like DZ's platonic soulmate (even Granny, who introduced them with an eye for matchmaking, couldn’t see them as a couple!) After all, she is the only other person who is aware, as far as he knows, that they’re in Life 2.0, with the opportunity and burden of choosing differently.

Most importantly he doesn’t see himself in that light- in episode 26, he explicitly laments that friendship never takes precedence over romantic love. The feeling I got from his little monologue is not bitterness about the inability to “upgrade” to romantic love with Dou Zhao, but disappointment in his hope that Dou Zhao would value their special platonic love in the same way he does. As @therukurals reminded me- Ji Yong was pleased when Dou Zhao and Song Mo got together; it's only after Song Mo started going down the same path of Life 1.0 that he began to persuade DZ to leave her doomed husband to save herself.

He also keeps using the term 知己 (one who knows the self) to describe her, which is usually a word for friends of implicit mutual understanding, not romantic partners. But this pragmatist who doesn’t believe he can change much of anything also doesn't hesitate to throw his small stones into the river behind the scenes, perhaps hoping that the tiny ripples that result might alter Dou Zhao’s trajectory just a little before they are subsumed by the river of fate's overwhelming current, to shift her ending away from tragedy again. (Remembering his at-all-costs approach to pushing Dou Ming and Wei Tingyu together...)

I think he believes in the unforgiving immutable larger framework of fate, where the set and story remain but the players can change, whereas Dou Zhao hopes to rewrite the story altogether. In this light, it makes sense that he throws his lot in with Prince Qing once again in Life 2.0 even knowing the ending for himself if he does. He thinks he's found the key- when fate doesn't concern itself with intentions, only actions and consequences, then the greatest advantage is being in a position to place the players and direct the action.

Side note: I find his nickname for her super interesting (which unfortunately isn't translated in the subs) but haven't yet formulated coherent thoughts about it. He calls her Zhuang Zhou aka Zhuangzi aka the philosopher who dreamed he was a butterfly and wondered if in fact, it was a butterfly dreaming it was the philosopher.

[academyofbrokenhearts]

Not gonna lie, as much as I disliked Wei Tingyu, his death was really heartbreaking, just as heartbreaking as Dou Ming's death one episode before. And how sad and fitting that he died utterly alone, abandoned by everyone, clutching the remains of the painting representing Dou Ming.

I loved what the drama did with Ming and her husband.

Because the stepmom - she is made human but she's clearly a villain. And Song Mo's father or Dou Zhao's uncle are evil with not even much humanity.

So when they get (or will get) their bad endings, it feels just and clear cut but it's not like that with Ming and WTY.

Ming was a sweet, innocent, loving young woman in this life. She was naive but that is not a deathly sin. And WTY was useless and weak but he was not evil or malicious. They truly loved each other.

And yet...

What this storyline really shows is pitfalls of period marriage and how razor thin the margins of survivability are in that society.

WTY was not abusive but he was feckless. And in that society, that is as much a horror show for a wife as if he were running around beating her.

Stepmom was happy that Ming got to marry a man who adored her unlike she herself but it's so clear that in that world love without capability to protect is worthless.

Was it always destined to end in disaster? Yes. Unless WTY grew up or Ming left him and married someone more with it, both of them were gonna end badly at some point. Perhaps if WTY was a second son offspring of powerful and wealthy family that cosseted him, he could have lived to foolish old age in peace together with his spouse. But he was not. And this is a cutthroat society with terrible stakes. In modern day, this would have been yet another unsatisfying marriage where Ming has to do everything at home and her husband barely brings in any money at a dead end job as he talks about the world not understanding his genius. But this is not a safe modern world.

It also shows the dangers of a woman being too sheltered. Ming in life 1 brought up from the cradle by scheming stepmom was a bad bad seed but she was clearly gonna do well in life. Ultimately, if time didn't reset, she'd have married WTY as his legitimate wife and the fam had money thanks the DZ management. I mean sure they all could have died in the insane free for all that was going to ensue since both of emperor's sons are dead at the end of the OG timeline but barring a dynasty-ending disaster, she'd have been fine. This Ming is loving and sweet and as equipped for real life as a kitten. WTY was particularly useless but she'd have had a tough time in any noble household because she'd be oppressed by concubines, elders, whoever. Unless she married a husband who both doted on her AND wanted to meddle in inner household affairs (and that's a unicorn) she was destined either for misery or a brutal and quick growing up experience. (Ironically, stepmom knew what she was about when she wanted to marry her to WS, the ray of sunshine that he was. He was so decent and even if he didn't love her, he'd treated her well, and he was capable enough to at least not to get into messes, and he had spine. But man WAS a unicorn)

Anyway, I found WTY's death so fitting - in a happy dream as he's freezing and bleeding to death - the man was utterly unequipped for real world. And the same for Ming - she was sweet and fragile and the fact that she ended tragically just shows that this is not a kind gentle universe at all. It's an interesting parallel with DZ's mom - who also died for a man who did not deserve it.

[gizkasparadise]

moodboard of me watching dou ming & wei ting yu's Grand Romance:

[aresgodofwar23]

[poachedeggssocool]

The pacing of the drama is so good that I honestly didn't expect to never think about dropping it at all.

Love the duality of Song Mo/Yantang being unhinged and so in love with his wife

Love the whole trope of getting lovey dovey and cozy after marriage. Man sign me up if we have trope like this. There's nothing sweeter than having a married couple that is so much in love with each other, actively supporting and protecting each other. Their marriage is mirrored to that of Dou Ming and Wei Tingyu.

Lastly, love Dou Zhao/Shogu so much. I honestly didn't expect more layers of her character other than independent, smart, resourceful woman. When she explained to Song Mo why she doesn't want to get married, it transports back to the current timeline of how a lot of women now choose to lead a single life after witnessing men's incompetence and being the reason for women to not being able to move forward/grow in life. I cannot explain how much her character resonates with female audiences. She really knows what she wants and settles with Song Mo because she knows deep in her heart, Song Mo would be the man who will not hinder her growth. Sure she loves him. But as what we have seen with Dou Ming, love alone wouldn't be enough to guarantee a peaceful life as a woman in that era.

So far I think it's best to say this is one of the best drama in 2024. I am still at episode 24 and I could see given the pacing of the story so far, I have faith that it will not be disappointing for the last 10 eps (Life happens and I can't finish the entire drama during my year end breaks 😞. Suck so much. Have to push it to this weekend)

The drama is just the perfect balance of everything. I love it.