#Jun Jiu Ling

[gravitasmalfunction]

Just finished ep 11 of Jun Jiu Ling and it strikes me that so far it's been the inverse of The Princess Wei Young. I am almost overcome with the desire to make a checklist. I need to watch more cdramas so I can be qualified to write ten thousand words about trope subversion.

[watch-with-rae]

In Blossom (2024)

Overall a solid cdrama that I was actually fully invested in. Everything from the acting, costume design, camera work, and framing kept me in this drama. While it had its flaws they didn’t take away from my enjoyment of it. It didn’t feel like it was dragged out or had unbearable pacing issues like so many cdramas do as this 32 episode run felt reasonably planned out.

The two male leads were by far what had me most interested as they felt nuanced and the acting behind them didn’t fall flat. The second female lead also held her own and I liked how although she was a support character she was utilized for events or character moments that made sense. The main female lead as a character in writing felt the most lacking. This felt like it had a lot to do with the writing as it didn’t feel like she had much growth from the start of the show. She wasn’t a bad or annoying character by any means but felt like she played more as a catalyst for the events of the story and the characters around her. I know other viewers mention issues with the second actress and the disconnect from the first actress but after a few episodes it’s easy enough to move past it in my opinion.

The plot held its own along with its characters. For me plot often becomes a nuisance and I watch shows for the character relationships but In Blossom’s murder and conspiracy plot line was captivating and overall well done.

In Blossom felt like a blend of The Imperial Coroner, Familiar Stranger, and Jun Jiu Ling, all of which are among the cdramas that I enjoyed the most so it’s no surprise that In Blossom is now among my favorites.

Highly recommend.

⭐️9/10⭐️

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Jun Jiu Ling (2021)

My god! Amazing technology!! 🤩🤩 #drama #shorts #chinesedrama

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qfXmq6b-_9M

[liminalimmortal]

*holds out new drama gently to my friends and family*

i present a- a peace offering 🧎‍♀️

Everyone my age: *Getting married*, *Having children*

Me: “I love Kdramas"🙆‍♀️

[web-novel-polls]

WN Criminal Bonus Polls

[Please be kind and respectful in the notes. Anti-Propaganda is NOT allowed.]

He Xuan from Heaven Official’s Blessing (TGCF)

Submission: Deceiving the emperor, kidnapping, decapitation.

Wiki Link

Jin Guangyao from Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (MDZS)

Submission: "All my life, I've lied to countless people and I've harmed countless others. It's just like you said. I killed my father, killed my brothers, killed my wife, killed my son, killed my teachers, killed my friends---I've committed every crime there is!"

Wiki Link

Jun Wu from Heaven Official’s Blessing (TGCF)

Submission: This is MAJOR SPOILERS for Heaven Official's Blessing- but as for his crimes, just like. All his actions as Bai Wuxiang were so iconic. Jun Wu was so single mindedly focused, he manipulated so many people and brought so much death, destruction, and despair to ruin Xie Lian's life and to turn him into a Calamity like himself. It's the dedication to the bit for me, he wiped everything from his disastrous past and became emperor of heaven. Jun Wu had all of the heavenly court fooled and under his thumb for centuries and played the part of the caring mentor/father figure to Xie Lian all while gladly placing the cursed shackles on him.

Wiki Link

Ling Wen from Heaven Official’s Blessing (TGCF)

Submission: Created the Brocade Immortal, orchestrated the downfall of her predecessor, aided Jun Wu. Girlboss.

Wiki Link

Qi Rong from Heaven Official’s Blessing (TGCF)

Submission: I mean... He dragged a literal child through the city on the back of a carriage. And he kills humans and eats them. He's pathetic. He's basically a cartoon villain, it's pitiful and that's why I love him

Wiki Link

Shen Jiu (Original Shen Qingqiu) from The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System

Submission:

Murder, arson, child abuse... Look, some of those crimes were justified (stabbing Wu Yanzi) while some of them were absolutely not (giving a kid a flawed cultivation manual so that he'll die of qi-deviation). But Shen Jiu's life has twisted him so that he believes he's irredeemable, and he hates himself already, so he's just going to do what he wants, okay?

"First, he'd been a rat forced to swallow its anger, cringing while awaiting more beatings. Then he'd become a gutter rat, scurrying back and forth as everyone chased and hit it. No matter how he changed, he ws a rat; cowering with its tail tucked between its legs, unable to see the light; letting years slip by in vain, squandering its time and life."

Wiki Link

Shi Wudu from Heaven Official’s Blessing (TGCF)

Submission: stole someone's fate which inevitably led to the death of that person and their family, immoral enrichment with complete disregard for other people's lives (capsizes their ships if they haven't offered him enough)

Wiki Link

Wei Wuxian from Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (MDZS)

Submission: Okay, okay, I know, but the submission rules state that innocence doesn't affect eligibility. Wei Wuxian is innocent of...most of the charges against him, but he is branded a criminal by the cultivation world (and does fight against them).

Wiki Link

Wu Yanzi from The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (SVSSS)

Submission: Known criminal and murderer, scum shizun to the scum shizun

Xue Yang from Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (MDZS)

Submission:

he's kinda...😳

he gets horny about crime and looks good with blood on his face. what else need i say.

Zhuzhi-lang from The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (SVSSS)

Submission: Cute snek <3 also a demon general, murderer and kidnapper

[wingzoffeather]

ngl, I'd pay to see the Cellblock Tango number from Chicago as performed by actors cosplaying all the iconic poor little meows meows from MXTX's novels lol

(bonus points if a Wei Wuxian cosplayer plays the one innocent accused inmate in the number. Wen Chao whoms't? shhh!)

[01432853]

Your Grace, I'm from a military officer's clan. Military Officer? Then which family? And which pass does your family guard?

Broken the Heart (2024) • EP 10

[ineffectualdemon]

SVSSS and MDZS characters on tumblr if they were all on Tumblr together

Wei Wuxian would be a huge fucking troll to everyone

Lan Wangji would only post pics of rabbits but is in the notes defending Wei Wuxian

Jiang Cheng and Shen Yuan would get in the world's stupidest discourse with each other and regularly send shitty hate messages to each other but they absolutely do not do it on anon. They want the other to know it's them but both are getting a lot of anon hate which they are sure is from the other

Shen Jiu is the one sending the anon hate

Nie Huaisang and Shang Qinghua fan the flames of Jiang Cheng and Shen Yuan's fight while posting fresh memes

They also secretly run a sonic erotic roleplay blog with Wei Wuxian. This is mostly because its existence horrifies both Shen Qingqiu and Jiang Cheng

It's the only thing they agree on

The trio send them asks from that blog all the time in character

Jin Ling is that kid who starts shit with various adults and when called out says: "I'm a minor!" Like that's a defense for being a little shit

Luo Binghe is edgy emo lyrics + really bad poetry about Shen Yuan

Mobei Jun is just looking at pictures of hamsters

Edit: inspiration for this post

[gravitasmalfunction]

pleased to report everything about the Jin Jiu Ling ending was perfect, especially now I’ve reimagined the final scene with Jin Han in the wig he spent most of the drama wearing instead

[scorbleeo]

Drama Gossip: The Spirealm (致命游戏)

Source: Google Images

It started off peculiarly; first, his domestic cat refused to let him cuddle it. Lin Qiushi soon found that a sense of disharmony and incongruity began to pervade everything around him. Then, one odd day, he pushed open a door, and he discovered that the hallway he was familiar with turned into a boundless corridor. At both ends of this corridor were twelve, identical iron gates. Thus, the story began.

Source: MyDramaList (2024)

Action, Adventure, Augmented Reality? Sign Me Up!

I do not consume everything that has the 'entering a virtual game with real life consequences' plot-line but when I do, I more or less will enjoy them. The Spirealm is exactly that plot-line and after just finishing 19th Floor (another Chinese drama with similar concept), I was expecting more and hoping for lesser disappointment.

This drama did not disappoint at all. Lets first talk about the roles and the cast. Brilliant job on the casting, everybody pulled off their role so wonderfully, it felt like they were made for their roles. As for the characters these actors portrayed, wow. I haven't been obsessed with a fictional Chinese character in such a long time but Ruan Lan Zhu is so easy to be obsessed with. The writing was brilliant because I very quickly grew attached to the main people and when shit hit the fan, yeah, I felt everything as if I was a part of them.

Spoilers going on from here so if you haven't watched the show, go and watch it now, please?

As I was saying, I was so attached to some of the characters, I really, wow... Say Li Dong Yuan first. I actually already was spoiled with his death, I even knew which door was going to cause his death yet when it happened, I physically gasped. Then his farewell scene came about and goodness gracious, Xiao Zhuang's reaction was absolutely heart-wrenching. It really did not help that right before getting stabbed, the door Dong Yuan went through for Ling Ling was one of the most entertaining and comedic doors.

After that Zao Zao's death? She was already trying her best in the real world, she tried her best in the spirealm. She gave one of the best speeches ever. Yet that chandelier... I never hated chandeliers as much as I do now.

That's the thing about The Spirealm. This show has plenty of heartbreaking scenes but at the same time, it has a bunch of hilarious scenes too. You really can go from laughing one second and then depressed the next. Exactly like when Cheng Yi Xie sacrificed himself for his brother? One second I was laughing at Lan Zhu begging for Ling Ling's forgiveness and suddenly I was pissed but before I could even get real mad, I was hit with a broken heart. This may sound like a complain but the roller coaster of emotions made this drama ten times more interesting than other dramas.

Moving on to the game or doors or levels (however you want to call them). I really, really enjoy shows with this concept but many a times, the stakes just aren't high enough. Not The Spirealm though. I mean, look at Dong Yuan, Zao Zao and Yi Xie. They are part of the main leads and that world did not go easy on them. As much as I hate that they died, I really appreciated the high stakes in this drama. It made watching the show so much more worth it.

Anyhow, despite thoroughly enjoying this drama, I have so many questions. First things first, did I miss the significance of the necklace Lan Zhu gave Ling Ling during the first door?

Also (this is not that important by the way), when the time comes, the players have no choice but through the door. We've watched Ling Ling enter his doors plenty a time. Now tell me how did Wu Qi survive?

I may be someone who loves an ambiguous ending but if the theory that everything was not real is in fact real, I hate it. Yet, everything being a part of Ling Ling's dream or "hallucination" does make sense, as much as I hate it. Remember where Ling Ling walked into upon completing the first door? He entered the door in the middle of the road and exited it into his house? The discrepancies started right from the beginning. Which (if I did not miss anything) might explain the lack of significance behind the necklace. It will also explain why Ling Ling's time between each door is never long yet Wu Qi's not worried about his next door when he witnessed Dong Yuan's death? Or that Chen Fei's advancement is so much slower than Ling Ling. Furthermore, I'm supposed to believe the crew learnt about a mysterious man who helped Xiong Qi reunite with Xiao Ke in the spirealm and they did not investigate more?

I really do hate the everything was not real theory but I also cannot deny it's the most reasonable one. There was another theory I chanced upon on Douyin a while back and have since forgotten most of the information. However, I like that theory a lot even though it was quite farfetched. Long story short, the user theorised that after Lan Zhu walked into the portal and cleaned the program, Ling Ling woke up and regained consciousness after being hit, right? That's not reality but the 12th door and the door god for this last door is Lan Zhu. That was all I remember but the user did provide explanations and timestamps for their theory and upon reading it, it did make sense too. Therefore, if I ever come across that video again, I will link it here.

In the meantime, let's wallow in the conclusion of The Spirealm. It was a quick and short ride but an extremely memorable one.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)

More productions from China here: 19th Floor (19层) | Under the Skin (猎罪图鉴)

[frogizz]

SVSSS and TGCF memes

:)

[qserasera]

im SCREAming this is the funniest thing i’ve ever seen happen in a cdrama

[morethanwonderful]

Introducing: The Which MXTX Character Was/Would Be Most Insufferable Online Tournament Bracket

Beginning the evening of August 23rd, 2024 (USA time), I’ll be running a tournament via tumblr polls to determine once and for all which Mo Xiang Tong Xiu web novel character was or would be most insufferable if given access to the internet.

FAQ:

Why this poll theme?

I thought it would be fun to run another big MXTX tournament bracket, since the bugpoll last year was a blast, and this was the funniest theme I could manage to think of.

Why isn't Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu in the bracket?

Given what we know about our dear Peerless Cucumber, I fear an SQQ sweep would be a foregone conclusion if I included him. Therefore, after the bracket finds a winner, I'll hold a bonus round and pit the winner against Shen Yuan to determine the true most internet-insufferable character.

What is wrong with you?

Yeah.

My goal is to hold one round per day every day for a week, but I'm contending with a full-time work schedule, so things may get slightly more stretched out than that. I'll also be splitting the first round into Round 1 Part 1 (the left side of the bracket) and Round 1 Part 2 (the right side of the bracket) to avoid spamming people's dashes with 32 separate polls in one day.

If you’d like to either search for or blacklist posts related to this event, all of mine will be tagged with “MXTX insufferapoll.”

The full list of matches is under the readmore here. Happy voting!

Round 1 Part 1:

Wen Chao vs Jin Guangshan

Quan Yizhen vs Mobei-jun

Mu Qingfang vs Ban Yue

Pei Xiu vs Jin Zixun

Xie Lian vs Jiang Yanli

Gongyi Xiao vs Lang Qianqiu

He Xuan vs Xue Yang

Lan Xichen vs Xiao Xingchen

Feng Xin vs Tianlang-jun

Wei Wuxian vs Liu Mingyan

Shi Qingxuan vs Nie Huaisang

Pei Ming vs Shang Qinghua

Jian Lan vs Qi Rong

Lan Wangji vs Song Lan

Nie Mingjue vs Liu Qingge

Mei Nianqing vs Lan Qiren

Round 1 Part 2:

Ling Wen vs Jin Guangyao

Sha Hualing vs Mo Xuanyu

Lang Ying (Present) vs Lan Sizhui

Bai Wuxiang vs Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu

Jiang Cheng vs Ning Yingying

Jin Ling vs Ming Fan

Mu Qing vs Luo "Mianmian" Qingyang

Yu Ziyuan vs Yue Qingyuan

Xuan Ji vs Qiu Haitang

A-Qing vs Yin Yu

Wen Ning vs Zhuzhi-lang

Luo Binghe vs Wang Lingjiao

Wen Qing vs Yushi Huang

Hua Cheng vs Su She

Jin Zixuan vs Shi Wudu

Ouyang Zizhen vs Lan Jingyi

Round 2:

Wen Chao vs Quan Yizhen

Mu Qingfang vs Jin Zixun

Xie Lian vs Lang Qianqiu

Xue Yang vs Xiao Xingchen

Tianlang-jun vs Wei Wuxian

Nie Huaisang vs Shang Qinghua

Qi Rong vs Lan Wangji

Nie Mingjue vs Lan Qiren

Jin Guangyao vs Sha Hualing

Lang Ying (Present) vs Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu

Jiang Cheng vs Jin Ling

Mu Qing vs Yu Ziyuan

Xuan Ji vs a-Qing

Zhuzhi-lang vs Luo Binghe

Wen Qing vs Su She

Shi Wudu vs Lan Jingyi

Round 3:

Wen Chao vs Jin Zixun

Lang Qianqiu vs Xue Yang

Tianlang-jun vs Shang Qinghua

Qi Rong vs Lan Qiren

Sha Hualing vs Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu

Jin Ling vs Mu Qing

Xuan Ji vs Luo Binghe

Su She vs Lan Jingyi

Quarterfinal:

Wen Chao vs Xue Yang

Tianlang-jun vs Qi Rong

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Jin Ling

Luo Binghe vs Su She

Semifinal:

Wen Chao vs Qi Rong

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Luo Binghe

Final:

Qi Rong vs Luo Binghe

Bonus:

Qi Rong vs Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu

[mikkeneko]

I'm sure this is nothing that hasn't been said before but I really like the way that all of MXTX's books have throughlines about breaking the cycle of abuse.

It's most obvious in Scum Villain, at least once we find out more about Shen Jiu: Shen Jiu's whole story is about abuse. Qiu Jianluo abused Shen Jiu as a slave until Shen Jiu fought back and killed him, Shen Jiu revisited his abuse on his student Luo Binghe until Luo Binghe came back and killed him, Luo Binghe revisited his abuse on the entire cultivation world. Only Shen Yuan's arrival on the scene breaks the cycle; he stops the cycle of abuse dead in its tracks through his choice to be kind to Luo Binghe even knowing what he knows about the future.

In MDZS, the line of descent is shorter, but we see it twice: Yu Ziyuan to her children and her children to Jin Ling, and the Lan clan to Lan Wangji and Lan Wangji to Lan Sizhui. Yu Ziyuan took out her unhappiness on both her children, but neither of them passed that unhappiness on to Jin Ling. Lan Wangji was raised with incredible strictness, but taught Lan Sizhui -- and all of the juniors -- to be more flexible, curious and compassionate than he was raised to be. (Unknown whether the Lan juniors were ever subject to corporal punishment; we know that Lan Wangji was, but it simply isn't ever said for either of the Lan juniors, and that absence may be an answer in and of itself. Lan Jingyi at least certainly would have complained about it!)

In TGCF, once again the story is about mentor to student instead of parent to child, and it plays out over centuries instead of years, but it's still there. Jun Wu took an interest in Xie Lian specifically because Xie Lian reminded him of his own self, and then he orchestrated torments for Xie Lian specifically to push him into making the same mistakes and choices that Jun Wu made when he was Xie Lian's age. Xie Lian then goes on to take an interest in Lang Qianqiu, specifically because Lang Qianqiu reminded him of his past self. But the cycle stops there. Xie Lian doesn't revisit his traumas onto Lang Qianqiu at all. And when Lang Qianqiu undergoes his own moment of crisis, Xie Lian goes to enormous pain to ensure that he receives catharsis and closure for it, and is able to move on to be a good king and eventually ascend to divinity without redirecting his trauma onto more innocent people.

None of them are unscarred by their own circumstances, but in all cases the characters of these stories looked at the next generation and said, "I'm not doing this to them."

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Thoughts on “How Jiang Cheng treats Jin Ling is normal because that’s just Chinese parenting”?

I was explaining to someone why I considered the way Jiang Cheng talks to Jin Ling to be abusive, and got hit with that.

I have noticed that parents and guardians in xianxia works sometimes speak quite harshly to their children in punishment scenarios specifically (plus there is frequently corporal punishment involved), but Jiang Cheng’s way of talking to Jin Ling feels like it’s on a whole different level. I can’t think of any time he speaks to Jin Ling like a normal adult.

Am I being gaslit here?

This argument in a gif.

First: There is no excuse to say that corporal punishment is a necessity to use against children and has lasting trauma against those that have had it used on them in the form of consistent psychological maladjustment including depression, unhappiness, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, use of drugs and alcohol and can alter dopaminergic regions of the brain which hinders long term mental well being and inhibits behavioral responses emotionally and cognitively for themselves and social interactions. Up to some themselves beginning to engage in aggressive and physically abusive behaviors themselves.

Two: Verbal abuse is still... abuse. Some have defined it as the production of psychological and social defects in the growth of a minor as a result of behavior such as loud yelling, coarse and rude attitude, inattention, harsh criticism, and denigration of the child's personality. Other examples include name-calling, ridicule, degradation, destruction of personal belongings, threatening the torture or killing of a pet (and doing as such),excessive or extreme unconstructive criticism, inappropriate or excessive demands, withholding communication, and routine labeling or humiliation. 36.3% of children experience emotional abuse globally.

A consistent usage of this is not something to continue to normalize or excuse in parents, guardians and figures of authority of children. Verbal abuse is also not seen as a pressing issue as it is not physical harm enacted and still considered something that cannot be lawfully punishable despite the widespread statistics of its repercussions on the development of children and their adulthood life interactions.

At any rate, the author of the three novels condemns the abuse of children by several adults that engage in this behavior from Shen Jiu abusing his position of teacher and master over Luo Binghe because of jealousy. To Jiang Cheng and Madam Yu for physically and verbally degrading children they are guardians over and said children participating in dangerous antics to be praised for their skill or continued loyalty theyare said to owe. Jun Wu for trying to groom and gaslight another child (Xie Lian) to become another abuser and killer simply because he did not like the way said child interacted with the world with the position he had socially.

We also see from all three of these same works, is that these characters do also begin to physically abuse these same children as well as engage in isolation and negligence of them more than once. Enough that the audience should understand that these adults are not misunderstood AS THE ADULTS WITH CHILDREN UNDER THEIR CARE.

And as I have said before, whatever love may exist in Jiang Cheng for Jin Ling (and he desperately does, that isn't in dispute at any time unless someone who reads this is that stupid to come to the conclusion and say JiangWanyinscatmom is saying Jiang Cheng never cared or loved his nephew at all), does not negate the abuse that he has exhibited from the start of his very introduction when he threatens Jin Ling with abandonment when he says this:

江澄话中带刺，又是一转：“还站着干什么，等着猎物自己撞过来插|你剑上？今天你要是拿不下这大梵山里的东西，今后都不必来找我了！”

Jiang Cheng's words were full of thorns, he turned around and said, "Why are you still standing there, waiting for the prey to bump into you and pierce itself on your sword? If you can't hunt down that creature in Dafan Mountain by today, don't you ever come back to me again!"