#Yue Ge Xing

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Song of the Moon (2022-2023)

Movie：月歌行 EP01-40 Song Of The Moon #Zhang Bin Bin #Xu Lu | Song Of The Moon | iQIYI

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2tFjeXAo2s

[finalfantasyx]

I knew NOTHING about Song of the Moon when I went into it, but I finished it in 4 days and damn I want more.

[baoshan-sanren]

best cdramas I’ve watched since the last one of these posts in 2023 (and some I’m still looking forward to seeing)

A League of Nobleman (watch on WeTV VIP | watch on AppleTV | watch on Viki | watch on bilibili | watch on YouTube) Adapted from the novel "The Mystery of Zhang Guo" (张公案) by Da Feng Gua Guo (大风刮过) starring Jing BoRan, Song WeiLong, Hong Yao, Guo Cheng and Wang Duo. Definitely gay, but in like a very focused, we-have-a-mystery-to-solve way. Loved the acting and the plot; cannot believe people actually gave Song Weilong shit for his acting in this drama. He was aMAzing. The downside is that the editing grew progressively sloppier as the drama progressed, and although majority of the visuals were very satisfying, I never realized how crappy the quality of the light was until I tried gifing some of the scenes. The upside is Jing BoRan holding kittens. Enough Said. 7/10

The Blood of Youth (watch on Viki | watch on YouTube) Adapted from the novel "Shao Nian Ge Xing" (少年歌行) by Zhou Mu Nan (周木楠) starring Li HongYi, Liu XueYi and Ao RuiPeng. Love this goddamn drama. I adopted the entire cast within the first 3 episodes and then I spent the next 37 terrified that half of them would get killed off. There’s def some major character death in this drama my chickens, so keep that in mind (and not a canonical death either, from what I understand). Anyway, this is my fave genre by far so I’m never really picky, but this drama is exhilarating and gorgeous from beginning to end. Highly recommend. 9/10

New Life Begins (watch on iQIYI | watch on Viki | watch on YouTube) Adapted from the web novel "Qing Chuan Ri Chang" (清穿日常) by Duo Mu Mu Duo (多木木多) starring Bai JingTing and Tian XiWei. Just sweet and fluffy. The plot is easy and devoid of complexities, but very satisfying nonetheless. The acting is definitely on another level. The entire cast has bonkers chemistry, and it’s about time someone made good use of Bai Jingting’s comedy potential. One of the top 5 easy viewing dramas on my rewatch list.  8/10

The Legendary Life of Queen Lau (watch on Viki | watch on YouTube) Adapted from the web novel "Huang Hou Liu Hei Pang" (皇后刘黑胖) by Ge Yang (戈鞅) starring Li JiaQi and Li HongYi. Loved this. Although it doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects, this is basically a comedy from beginning to end. Not gonna lie, I mainly gave this a go for Li Hongyi, but it’s hard to even notice him when Li Jiaqi is in the room. There’s no shame in being overshadowed by superior talent :) 7/10

(yeah, after all this, I rewatched Nirvana In Fire again)

Under the Microscope (watch on Apple TV | watch on Bilibili | watch on iQIYI VIP | watch on Viki) Adapted from the novel "Xian Wei Jing Xia De Da Ming" (显微镜下的大明) by Ma Bo Yong (马伯庸) starring Zhang RuoYun and Wang Yang. Continuously impressed by Zhang RuoYun’s skills. This drama is 90% grit and tension. Drool-worthy visuals. Interesting plot. Sound mixing that gives me a Mo Ran style boner. Make your friends watch it and they will hate you. 9/10

Till The End of The Moon (watch on YouTube | watch on Apple TV | watch on Viki) Adapted from the web novel "Hei Yue Guang Na Wen BE Ju Ben" (黑月光拿稳BE剧本) by Teng Luo Wei Zhi (藤萝为枝). Starring Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu. This was so breathtakingly gorgeous. The chemistry between the actors, the visuals, the special effects, the costumes, everything is stunning in this drama. The romance is by no means original, but still manages to draw you in. Absolutely worth watching at least once. 8/10

Still waiting on:

Immortality - based on danmei novel The Husky and His White Cat Shizun by 肉包不吃肉 starring Chen Feiyu and Luo Yunxi (you can think I’m a clown but you’d be wrong bc I’m a wholeass circus)

Winner Is King - based on the danmei novel Sha Po Lang by Priest starring Tan Jianci and Chen Zheyuan

Step By Step Lotus - based on historical novel Return to Ming Dynasty as Prince by 月关 starring Zhang Binbin and Luo Yunxi

Eternal Faith - based on danmei novel Heaven Official’s Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu starring Zhai Xiaowen and Zhang Linghe

Joy Of Life Season 2 - based on wuxia novel of the same name by 猫腻 starring Zhang Ruoyun and Li Qin

Story of Kunning Palace - based on the novel 坤宁 by 时镜 starring Bai Lu and Zhang LingHe

Flying Phoenix - based on danmei novel of the same name by 風弄 starring Dai Jingyao and Shu Yaxin

The Story of the Bat - based on danmei novel Bat by Feng Nong starring Mao Zijun and Zhang Yao

The Longest Promise - based on xianxia novel Zhu Yan by 沧月 starring Xiao Zhan, Ren Min, and Zhang Yunlong

Mysterious Lotus Casebook - based on wuxia novel 吉祥纹莲花楼 by Teng Ping 藤萍 starring Cheng Yi and Zeng ShunXi

Follow Your Heart - historical drama starring Song Yi and Luo Yunxi 

The Thirteen-Hongs in Canton - historical drama starring Zhu Yawen and Yu Haoming

White Cat Legend - based on manhua of the same name starring Ding Yuxi and Zhou Qi

[eyenaku]

Ji ji fu ji ji

a o e i i er ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong i ia iao ie iu ian in iang ing iong u ua uo uai ui uan un uang ueng ü üe üan ün a o e er ai ao ou an en ang eng yi ya yao ye you yan yin yang ying yong wu wa wo wai wei wan wen wang weng yu yue yuan yun b ba bo bai bei bao ban ben bang beng bi biao bie bian bin bing bu p pa po pai pei pao pou pan pen pang peng pi piao pie pian pin ping pu m ma mo me mai mei mao mou man men mang meng mi miao mie miu mian min ming mu f fa fo fei fou fan fen fang feng fu d da de dai dei dao dou dan den dang deng dong di diao die diu dian ding du duo dui duan dun t ta te tai tei tao tou tan tang teng tong ti tiao tie tian ting tu tuo tui tuan tun n na ne nai nei nao nou nan nen nang neng nong ni niao nie niu nian nin niang ning nu nuo nuan nü nüe l la le lai lei lao lou lan lang leng long li lia liao lie liu lian lin liang ling lu luo luan lun lü lüe g ga ge gai gei gao gou gan gen gang geng gong gu gua guo guai gui guan gun guang k ka ke kai kei kao kou kan ken kang keng kong ku kua kuo kuai kui kuan kun kuang h ha he hai hei hao hou han hen hang heng hong hu hua huo huai hui huan hun huang z za ze zi zai zei zao zou zan zen zang zeng zong zu zuo zui zuan zun c ca ce ci cai cao cou can cen cang ceng cong cu cuo cui cuan cun s sa se si sai sao sou san sen sang seng song su suo sui suan sun zh zha zhe zhi zhai zhei zhao zhou zhan zhen zhang zheng zhong zhu zhua zhuo zhuai zhui zhuan zhun zhuang ch cha che chi chai chao chou chan chen chang cheng chong chu chua chuo chuai chui chuan chun chuang sh sha she shi shai shei shao shou shan shen shang sheng shu shua shuo shuai shui shuan shun shuang r re ri rao rou ran ren rang reng rong ru rua ruo rui ruan run j ji jia jiao jie jiu jian jin jiang jing jiong ju jue juan jun q qi qia qiao qie qiu qian qin qiang qing qiong qu que quan qun x xi xia xiao xie xiu xian xin xiang xing xiong xu xue xuan xun

[discountalien-pancake]

After watching The Double, i’ve watched three of Wang Xing Yue’s other projects; after watching In Blossom, I’ve watched four if Li Ge Yang’s. And I’ve noticed a pattern with the projects I enjoyed vs the ones i didn’t.

Things i like in an M/F fantasy drama:

A female lead who i want to root for

A fun, flirty dynamic between the FL and ML

Mutual trust between FL and ML, not just in romantic contexts

Supporting characters who are fully realized in their own right

Scheming!

Well-executed humor

Things i hate:

Unnecessary romantic turbulence caused by an excessively naive FL

In the same vein as previous point, conflicts that are dragged out by the FL’s blind trust in another character the audience already knows is the villain

FL is only XYZ trait when it’s convenient for the plot

Overly predictable “twists” for the sake of having twists

ML who constantly outwits/overpowers/diminishes the FL—not saying he’s not allowed to try but if he always succeeds it’s just annoying

A “pure” FL being portrayed as childish and being treated like a child by the characters around her

People making decisions for the FL without her input and being portrayed as Correct

A narrative conceit that renders half the show moot eg an extended dream sequence or half of the ending being a novelization of “what if she picked the other option?”

An unsatisfying ending

Killing off characters at the 11th hour for Reasons.

And this holds true for M/M dramas as well, tbh, just replace FL with protagonist.

[soonsetra]

Sweet Supporting Actress (2023) [English Subtitle]

Synopsis: In order to fulfil her writer friend's last wish, Xiao Xia helps him continue writing the novel but unexpectedly enters the world of the book and becomes the vicious supporting female villain character. The final ending in the book is for her to be killed by the male protagonist, who turns into an antagonist. In order to change her destiny, she not only has to clear her name but also helps the antagonist correct his evil ways.

The two went through thistles and thorns along the way, started a business together, and achieved self-fulfillment. Shen Xing Ruo, who had been turned into an antagonist, also regained his kindness and became an upright, affectionate, and righteous protagonist.

Drama: Sweet Supporting Actress Native Title: 这个女配有点甜 Also Known As: Zhe Ge Nv Pei You Dian Tian, 這個女配有點甜 Country: China Genre: Historical, Romance, Fantasy Original Network: Mango TV Aired: Dec 26, 2023 - Jan 2, 2024 Episode: 24 Duration: 10 min Source: MyDramaList

Cast: - Cao Xi Yue as Lu Yun Xia / Xiao Xia - Lu Cheng Jue as Shen Xing Ruo

___________________________________

Stream on the links below ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

EPISODE 01 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789835048551424 EPISODE 02 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789835287101952 EPISODE 03 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789835412800000 EPISODE 04 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789836076417536 EPISODE 05 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789845346615808 EPISODE 06 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789845670101504 EPISODE 07 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789846361637376 EPISODE 08 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789846446309888 EPISODE 09 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789864208008192 EPISODE 10 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789864336458240 EPISODE 11 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789864610660864 EPISODE 12 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789864928379392 EPISODE 13 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789912587994112 EPISODE 14 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789912753537536 EPISODE 15 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789916186182144 EPISODE 16 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789920070894592 EPISODE 17 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789932484854272 EPISODE 18 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789932671631872 EPISODE 19 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789932781732864 EPISODE 20 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789932979389440 EPISODE 21 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789947638612992 EPISODE 22 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789948087009792 EPISODE 23 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789948187804160 EPISODE 24 : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4789948292662272

↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑

Happy Watching~!!!

[idahobob]

I Have No Legs, and I Must Run from Yue Li on Vimeo.

An athlete who is past his prime is struggling with his injuries. The arrival of a talented new member of his team. plants the seeds of jealousy in the Protagonist s mind.

Awards:

66TH BFI London Film Festival - Winner: Best Short Film

Palm Springs International ShortFest - 2023 | Special Mention: Best Live-Action Short 15 Minutes and Under

2022 Young Director Awards - Silver Screen

The 28th ifva Awards - Special Mentioned

Stockholm International Film Festival - nominated

Short of the Week - selected

21st IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival - nominated

Norwich Film Festival - nominated

CREW: STARRING Wen Xin, Xu Zhaobang, Yan Sanyuan

DIRECTOR Li Yue

WRITTEN BY Li Yue

PRODUCED BY Sol Ye, Mo Zhulin

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Limbo Lin

PRODUCTION DESIGNER Zeng Yingxin, Deng Ning, Wu Heng

EDITED BY Alvynn Diagne

COLORIST Fu Shu

SOUND DESIGNER Liu Qi

MUSIC BY Peravich Punnatrakul, Adam Chimmanee

CAST Zheng Haotian, Zhao Yuan, Zheng Chenbo, Xu Huangwei, Zhao Wenjie, Dou Ronghui, Ling Hanrui, Xue Zexin, Liu Hao, Ren Haokai, Liu Zhankuo

1st ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Yang DongZhen

2nd ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Zheng Haotian

ASSISTANT EDITOR Henrik Pierce

SPORTS CONSULTANT Zhang Xin

CHOREOGRAPHER/ACTING COACH Liu Yiyi

DIRECTOR ASSISTANT Wang Yizhen

PRODUCTION MANAGER Zeng Xiangchong

LOCATION MANAGER Wang Gaosheng, Hu Xing

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Song Sixuan

FOCUS PULLER Bu Zhuo

ASSISTANT CAMERA Hu Wenquan, Zhang Hengyuan

CAMERA OPERATOR Yang Yi

GAFFER Liu Aimin

SPARKS Xu Hongjie, Hu Xiaodong, Zhang Shuang

MAKEUP ARTIST & COSTUM Lu Mangmang

HAIRDRESSER Wang Sha, Bai Zirong

SOUND CREW

PRODUCTION SOUND MIXER He Junyi

BOOM OPERATOR Li Hui

STILL PHOTOGRAPHER Han Yu, Li Hao

DRONE OPERATOR Yuan Fukai

D.I.T Cheng Jianxin

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Yang Linlin， Wang Zerui, Du Xiaoming

PROPS Master Zhang Ge

ASSISTANT PROPS Li Shuai, Ren Xiaoguang, Liu Qiang, Bai Baogui

TRANSPORTATION CAPTAIN Ai Manyi

CAMERA CREW DRIVER Wei Huihong

DRIVER Zheng Yongsheng，Zhao Youcai, Liu Zhiqiang

DRIVER Li Gen

RENTAL HOUSE: KO Film Rental

[liurl]

I Have No Legs, and I Must Run from Yue Li on Vimeo.

An athlete who is past his prime is struggling with his injuries. The arrival of a talented new member of his team. plants the seeds of jealousy in the Protagonist s mind.

Awards:

66TH BFI London Film Festival - Winner: Best Short Film

Palm Springs International ShortFest - 2023 | Special Mention: Best Live-Action Short 15 Minutes and Under

2022 Young Director Awards - Silver Screen

The 28th ifva Awards - Special Mentioned

Stockholm International Film Festival - nominated

Short of the Week - selected

21st IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival - nominated

Norwich Film Festival - nominated

CREW: STARRING Wen Xin, Xu Zhaobang, Yan Sanyuan

DIRECTOR Li Yue

WRITTEN BY Li Yue

PRODUCED BY Sol Ye, Mo Zhulin

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Limbo Lin

PRODUCTION DESIGNER Zeng Yingxin, Deng Ning, Wu Heng

EDITED BY Alvynn Diagne

COLORIST Fu Shu

SOUND DESIGNER Liu Qi

MUSIC BY Peravich Punnatrakul, Adam Chimmanee

CAST Zheng Haotian, Zhao Yuan, Zheng Chenbo, Xu Huangwei, Zhao Wenjie, Dou Ronghui, Ling Hanrui, Xue Zexin, Liu Hao, Ren Haokai, Liu Zhankuo

1st ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Yang DongZhen

2nd ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Zheng Haotian

ASSISTANT EDITOR Henrik Pierce

SPORTS CONSULTANT Zhang Xin

CHOREOGRAPHER/ACTING COACH Liu Yiyi

DIRECTOR ASSISTANT Wang Yizhen

PRODUCTION MANAGER Zeng Xiangchong

LOCATION MANAGER Wang Gaosheng, Hu Xing

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Song Sixuan

FOCUS PULLER Bu Zhuo

ASSISTANT CAMERA Hu Wenquan, Zhang Hengyuan

CAMERA OPERATOR Yang Yi

GAFFER Liu Aimin

SPARKS Xu Hongjie, Hu Xiaodong, Zhang Shuang

MAKEUP ARTIST & COSTUM Lu Mangmang

HAIRDRESSER Wang Sha, Bai Zirong

SOUND CREW

PRODUCTION SOUND MIXER He Junyi

BOOM OPERATOR Li Hui

STILL PHOTOGRAPHER Han Yu, Li Hao

DRONE OPERATOR Yuan Fukai

D.I.T Cheng Jianxin

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Yang Linlin， Wang Zerui, Du Xiaoming

PROPS Master Zhang Ge

ASSISTANT PROPS Li Shuai, Ren Xiaoguang, Liu Qiang, Bai Baogui

TRANSPORTATION CAPTAIN Ai Manyi

CAMERA CREW DRIVER Wei Huihong

DRIVER Zheng Yongsheng，Zhao Youcai, Liu Zhiqiang

DRIVER Li Gen

RENTAL HOUSE: KO Film Rental

[kukuandkookie]

Hmmm it’s hard to find something like this exactly, especially for a contemporary romance. ���

This got me thinking, so here’s a train of thought-style post as I try to think of one that may fit from manhua—and because of that, it will narrow down to more accurate titles as I go on:

My first thought that met most of your other criteria was Yue Jian (cunning, a bit bastard, hard to get close to but selfless, manipulative but caring, girl failure, has doom involved, and even a bit of femme fatale) from My Little Secret With the Demon Lord, but evidently that’s a fantasy romance.

Then I thought of You Are My Desire, who has a pretty playful protagonist that can be a little “devilish” in personality, who’s a little careless but not cruel due to her own issues. I’ve only been keeping up with the manhua regularly though so I don’t know how the story ends and how far she pushes this cunning/bastard energy (there’s the original novel (name is Daydreaming About Me) and the cdrama adaptation, and while the novel is pretty well-loved, the cdrama adaptation has more mixed reviews).

But I’m not sure if this is what you would enjoy either since your post seems to ask for a protagonist who’s already an adult (based on the mother/father comment)? There will be a time-skip in You Are My Desire and parts within it leading up to the time-skip that show how the protagonist is troubled and not so easy to get close to, but you can’t exactly classify her as a femme fatale lol.

She May Not Be Cute, or for something less romantic, Cicada Girl: Love Appraiser, may work better in that regard. 🤔

In the former, it’s an adult romance where a woman has sworn herself off love until her childhood friend and a younger man she saw as her little brother returns to her life, and the latter has a protagonist who gets hired by women to be “the other woman” and test their husbands whom they suspect for being disloyal—which is very femme fatale of her.

And while I don’t think she’s to the level you desire, the profile of the female protagonist for She May Not Be Cute classifies her as harsh but softhearted:

But if you’d rather watch a cunning woman wreak absolute havoc as a second female lead character and not as a villainess, there’s Cheating Men Must Die, which has a woman traverse different worlds by transmigrating with her system, and her main task is basically just…well, cleaning up trashy plot lines by absolutely destroying the scum male or even horrible female characters in these worlds (there’s a danmei (BL) one that is kind of equivalent to this which goes by Don’t Pick Up Boyfriends from the Trash Bin, except there the main character transmigrates into actual protagonists—and not a secondary character—of trashy gay romances where he tears down the scum male lead).

And yeah okay technically Cheating Men Must Die is still a fantasy with romantic elements in that sense lol. This got me stuck when I tried thinking of ones with no fantasy, but maybe you are okay with it as long as it doesn’t have romance? Like Daughter of a Thousand Faces (not a manhua made in China but a xianxia (fantasy inspired by ancient China) made by an artist with Chinese heritage) and The Spirit Queen and Chang Ge Xing and Bu Tian Ge all offer...not necessarily bastard, but they may meet other aspects of the criteria—such as being two-faced, manipulative, cold but selfless... 🤔

Because if it’s just specifically fantasy romance you’re against or a specific type of fantasy romance—like the kind of vaguely historical European-inspired fantasy that I see in a lot of manhwa with ballgowns and dukes and princesses—that would open a lot more avenues? Since I don’t think Daughter of a Thousand Faces or Chang Ge Xing and Bu Tian Ge have much romance in them, and they’re inspired by ancient China and not Europe, which, if my guess is correct and you haven’t read much manhua, would still be new and fresh to you.

But of course, if these veer too far from the kind of bitchy/bastard you want, for more diverse choices of female protagonists in general, I would say girls’ love (such as baihe) would be a good place to start? Since they all star female romances, female relationships are emphasized and the cast is usually predominantly female too.

And yes, I know, that would technically involve romance, so the fantasy romance ones may not suit your tastes, but at least quite a few of them aren’t European-inspired historical fantasy romances again ahaha.

Like I have lots to choose from in both my donghua/manhua recommendations list and my additional BL/danmei and GL/baihe manhua recommendations list:

And hey, before I move onto my other list, this did make me think of a protagonist from a donghua that fits your criteria: Tao Yao from Bai Yao Pu. Except she’s also from a fantasy (with hints of romance, but it’s not super important to her story). There’s a manhua adaptation as well, but her design there differs.

She’s a sort of doctor who helps yao (yaojing, known popularly in the west by their Japanese version, yokai). And well...she’s very bastard lol. She cares most about what she gets to eat, has a slight selfishness to her, and is kind of bitchy in her sass, but she’s still selfless in helping yao...as long as they pay her, of course. She even fits the idea of a father/mother who stepped up because she’s basically looking after a little monk except she isn’t the best caretaker lol—and the set-up is extra funny since their third travelling companion is a snake yao who wants to eat this monk yet comedically is a friend who sucks at cooking but likes to cook anyway.

Now to the other list, which I made for non-normies, because normies fear classic yaoi tropes like omegaverse etc haha... This one has many baihe with many female characters to choose from:

One such baihe that I thought of, based off all the criteria above, has a secondary female lead that you might like—the series is titled Clandestine Affair!

But she is also from a story with fantasy in it—specifically, set in the 1920s Shanghai where she, as the female lead, is a woman who became a sort of spirit trapped in a magical mirror.

And then there’s Miss Forensics which is not fantasy and does have one protagonist who is kind of...femme fatale girl failure bitchy with a heart of gold, but there is also—obviously lol—romance.

There are many more baihe manhua to choose from, and so any non-fantasy ones can be located within the “contemporary” section of my list, and I will add now that many of the contemporary ones are set in the entertainment circle—so think idols and cdrama actresses.

I guess it’s just hard to think of specific titles because the ask itself is so specific. East Asia does tend to prioritize a kind of femininity that even when we get strong female protagonists in contemporary stories, I’m not quite sure they radiate “bastard” or “father/mother” or “girl failure” the way you may want them to—like it’s hard to imagine a female character who could quite match Jian Suiying’s energy of absolute bastard asshole with the softest selfless heart haha...but maybe Miss Forensics has a bit of that?

The easiest places to locate such female protagonists are in fantasy, but that’s been filtered slightly here… And I mean, I did still recommend some fantasy stories since I assume there are some you would not be totally against, since even the examples you gave for male characters with bastard energy are... Well, aren’t KDJ and Cale also from fantasy stories/manhwa (I know this thanks to how people have said that Qin Jiu from Global Examination makes them think of KDJ and how Wang Zixin from Kiss the Abyss makes them think of Cale lol)?

So hey, I did my best!

Is there a female protags who radiate cunning-like bastard energy? Like kdj-like or cale-like energy? but NOT from any villainess isekai or some fantasy romance bullshit? Like a female character who such a bitch but deep down is very selfless? A female protag who is a father/mother who step up? A female char who is so two-faced? A female char who manipulative but also caring? A female char who doesnt care about herself? A female char who got always create gay-like situationship?female char who is simultaeniously a femme fatale and a girl failure? A female char who doomed and/or hunted the narrative?

I-is there?

[indisden]

Cao Xi Yue/Cao Xiyue as  Mimi Guli in (The Long Ballad)

pictures on @ageofressources merci @sweetiesplum pour la découverte ♥ Texture on #1 by andthereisawoman/ jojofeels

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Song of the Moon (2022)

Gifs of Intro of cdrama “Song of the Moon”

🌖 【FULL】 月歌行 EP01： Girl Meets a Mysterious Man who Saves Her Life🌛 | Song of the Moon | iQIYI Romance

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU265u3RM6k

[finalfantasyx]

Yue Yao (because I need to scream about her awesomeness and the dangers of retconning), Yue Qing, and How NOT to Write Women - A Rant(TM) about Dashing Youth & The Blood of Youth

Spoilers ahead for Dashing Youth and The Blood of Youth if you have not seen either live action drama, since we haven't gotten there in the donghua yet. You have been duly warned. Now come scream with me. I've been wanting to scream about this for a while.

Okay, what the hell??? Prefacing this again with the fact that I watched Dashing Youth before TBOY and I'm just...floored? Yue Yao was so interesting. She was up against some major political issues where the repercussions of her choices and the choices made by the people around her would impact and probably, most likely, cause the deaths of thousands. She was dealing with a missing father who, for all they knew, could have been dead, a clingy sister-turned-annoying-character-trope, the fate of her people, and also the fate of all of Beili and Beique (I mean, seriously, you want to talk about Yi Wenjun being at fault for instigating the three-way war between Nanjue, Tianwaitian, and Beili, AND SHE WASN'T ACTUALLY AT FAULT ASIDE FROM NOT COMMUNICATING WITH HER HUSBAND BEFORE MAKING A HUGE DECISION THAT WOULD IMPACT THEM ALL and leaving her infant son in the house BY HIMSELF, PLEASE Yue Yao would have been directly responsible for all the deaths resulting from any move she made), all the while trying to find a way to do what was best for everyone AND getting to know the prodigy and dumbass with a heart that was Baili Dongjun, whose grandfather Baili Luochen helped Beili in the war with Beique that resulted in her people being killed and displaced to the unforgiving north.

/breathe

And oh, does she ever find a way. Baby girl decides to just DIY this whole shebang when she finds the natural-born martial arts prodigies with the special meridians or whatever the hell the drama said it was that set Baili Dongjun and Ye Dingzhi apart from alllll the other martial arts practitioners and just takes her sworn sister's identity, gets a makeover, and BAM joins the Jixia Academy...audition.

Not only that, but we see that she is more than her pretty clothes and her miss-fairy-in-a-carriage persona that we've seen up until this point in the drama. SHE CAN FIGHT! SHE CAN BEAT SOMEONE'S ASS! SHE CAN CHEAT AND GAMBLE! SHE STRAIGHT UP APPROACHES BAILI DONGJUN AND CHALLENGES HIM. SHE. APPROACHES. HIM. FIRST. Also it's really freakin' cute.

SHE STANDS UP FOR HERSELF AND HER TEAMMATES AND PROTECTS THEM. SHE SAVES BAILI DONGJUN'S TAIL. SHE'S GOT HER OWN WAY OF THINKING AND SHE'S FUNNY AS HELL. SHE SLAPS HIM CLEAN ACROSS THE FACE FOR GOING TO A BROTHEL.

We see her enter Jixia Academy, we see her train under Liu Yue (which I am still salty about because we could have used a lot more scenes of her and Liu Yue training and just being master/apprentice, see her having a hard time with really just using Liu Yue to stay near Baili Dongjun for her own/Beique's ends, especially with Liu Yue declaring that he doesn't care about her true identity, just that she is now his apprentice and that means that he's always on her side please Liu Yue was the best and he got fking nuked at the end, even if he got to retire from jianghu with Mo Xiaohei lol), WE SEE HER STRUGGLE. This entire time, Yue Yao is absolutely torn between a) doing what is best for her people, b) doing what is best for everyone and not causing the deaths of thousands, and c) not falling for the guy whose grandfather is a war hero because he killed her people.

Also the fact that this dumbass she is falling in love with has been pining after her miss-fairy-in-a-carriage persona for so long he has no clue she's right in front of him. Good job, Dongjun /pat pat

Let's play this out.

If Yue Yao a) does what is best for her people, which everyone thinks is reclaiming Beili, a warmer and far more fertile land, and creating better lives for themselves, that would incite another war and cause many, many deaths. Also, there's a very, very high possibility that Beique might lose anyway!

If Yue Yao b) does what is best for everyone and not cause another war and the deaths of thousands, she is condemning her own people to a harsh life in the cold, icy, desolate north.

If Yue Yao c) falls for the guy whose grandfather is a war hero because he killed her people, she will be seen as a traitor and will be turned on because they'll think she turned on them first, especially since she is basically their princess.

What's a girl to do.

SHE FREAKIN' OWNS UP TO IT AND COMES CLEAN with Baili Dongjun and her followers, Mo Qixuan and Zi Yuji. She does not lie to them and is up front about her vision and what she wants to do for her people and for herself, because they don't have to be mutually exclusive things. She follows her heart; she knows that while she wants a better life for her people, it cannot be found in a new war with Beili to settle old grudges and claim old land. She wants to find a new home for them.

Yue 👏 Yao 👏 is 👏 so 👏 great.

...Only for all of that buildup in the first half of the drama to go absolutely nowhere as her vision is never recognized. She returns to Tianwaitian only to be locked up for betraying Beique with zero timeline as to how long she was locked up for and how she actually got out of the cage. There were no repercussions for her escaping or leaving. In fact, as soon as she leaves Tianwaitian, Yue Yao's character basically stops caring for Beique, and she literally did not matter to the plot going forward. Her people in Tianwaitian never find a better home for themselves. They never get to leave the far north, never reclaim their old kingdom, and never get to rebuild, even before Ye Dingzhi establishes the Demon Sect. Ergo, even if we disregard the events of TBOY, Yue Yao still doesn't get to help her people and all of that development was useless.

Instead, after all that talk about wanting to find a better home and do better by her people, after all the character development and establishment, after all the scenes where we get to see that Yue Yao has a backbone and the fighting skills to prove it, she ends up as arm candy for Baili Dongjun for the next like seven years while the two of them remained unmarried. Um??????????

Why build up all that character and her skills and her relationships with Liu Yue, Baili Dongjun, her freakin' sister, and Mo Qixuan/Zi Yuji only for all of them to basically go kaput? Even with Baili Dongjun, most of the time, she's...just there. Just...looking pretty. Not doing anything.

No one waits seven years to get married, especially when they're in such close quarters like Yue Yao and Baili Dongjun were pre-war and during the war. This makes zero sense, and honestly just cheapens their already-sad relationship even more because it shows a lack of respect on his part. There's no denying that he does love her, but the respect, which is based off of the values of the people in their time, is not there, whether for her honor, virtue, or just the progression of their relationship. Seven years is a long time, especially in period Chinese dramas (and reality, back in those times) when two people are hanging out in an established relationship.

Yue Yao is displeased.

And then we come to the problem of her sister, Yue Qing, who has decided to play a self-insert victim and villain, somehow both at the same time by not actually being relevant to the plot and generally not actually being good at anything at all.

Her motivation: Yue Yao is her older sister, the one she has always looked up to, and she sucks at being the eldest princess and has essentially abandoned them to chase after the sweet, sweet tail that is Neo Hou in a period drama. Ergo, Yue Qing needs to leave Beique to find the other special person martial arts prodigy, Ye Dingzhi, and homegirl does her best to manipulate the hell out of this poor, traumatized kid in order to get him back to Beique and free her father so that they can march on Beili and reclaim their kingdom. He sees right through her though, and because there is no way in the eighteen levels of hell she can beat him in a fight, and she tries, she goes back to his doorway like a kicked puppy every time he throws her out because it's clear she has no idea what on earth she's doing except that she thinks she's all that and has every reason to condemn thousands of people to their deaths so that she can incite a new war for a better life for the people of Tianwaitian.

In the same way that Yue Yao was SO great in the first half of Dashing Youth, we do not give two shakes about Yue Qing and how she is barely even relevant to the plot, because if you stuck Mo Qixuan or Zi Yuji in there to manipulate this poor bastard, the result would have ended up the same way and she does not impact the story whatsoever.

And then Ye Dingzhi saves Yue Qing's life, and all of a sudden, she understands why her sister decided to go with Baili Dongjun instead of staying in Beique, according to the story lore. It also doesn't hurt that he's pretty and he's feeding her medicine and didn't just...let her die.

PFFFFFFFFFFT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Yue Qing, the bar is on the floor. Also girl, you manipulated him and used him and he does not care for or about you. In fact, the only reason he saved your life was because he lashed out at you and almost killed you and felt guilty for it before he proceeded to throw you out again.

Because Ye Dingzhi is untouchable at this point, Yue Qing proceeds to then manipulate his wife, Yi Wenjun (which is another convoluted story point because she's already married and is a secondary consort to Xiao Ruojin who is an absolute monster in the actual worst way, which is why I did not feel a lick of empathy or sympathy for him in TBOY--I mean, he put her under using some drugs and it was HEAVILY IMPLIED that he gr@ped her while she was completely unconscious and everyone just kind of breezes over this plot point in the dramas), and sends her back to Tianqi by spreading false news of Xiao Yu being really, really sick (causing problems even at a young age, I see). Because of this, Ye Dingzhi is then manipulated into going to Beique to free Yue Qing and Yue Yao's father so that he can be number one in the world and take his wife back, blahhhh blah blah.

AND THEN THEIR FATHER DIES after a confrontation between him, Baili Dongjun, and Ye Dingzhi, and it's almost like Yue Qing and Yue Yao are pitting their respective special martial arts person against each other because they're both natural-born wumai which is NOT actually a thing, and I don't even understand what it is and do not care to actually translate this; IT'S SUPER DUMB.

And because the official leader of Beique, Yue Yao and Yue Qing's father, dies, Ye Dingzhi goes full demon mode and takes over the people of Tianwaitian and establishes the Demon Sect by uniting all 30-something sects in the outer regions of Beili, which was supposedly impossible until this point. He then begins the infamous three-way war between Beili, Nanjue, and Tianwaitian which Yi Wenjun then gets blamed for instigating.

UMMMM??? DOES THIS NOT SOUND FAMILIAR??? DO WE NOT ALSO KNOW OF A WOMAN WHO WAS SAID TO BE SO BEAUTIFUL THAT MEN WENT TO WAR FOR HER AND LAID SIEGE TO AN ENTIRE FREAKIN' CITY WHICH IS NOW A FAMOUS TRAGEDY? DID THE DIRECTORS OF THIS DRAMA WANT A CDRAMA VERSION?

(in case anyone is lost, the answer is Troy. It's Helen of Troy.)

Also, RUDE that her "instigating" this war is what she is known for, even in The Blood of Youth. Yi Wenjun gets blamed for this massive, awful historical event when the only thing she did was be manipulated by Yue Qing using her child. Like, what on earth /eye roll

It was also never talked about how she was coerced into this marriage by her father in TBOY (which we find out in DY) and that this was never something she wanted anyway. Also the gr@pe because that was completely unnecessary and again, breezed over by every single character in Dashing Youth, which, also, WHY did it have to happen that way? Xiao Yu's existence in TBOY could literally be explained by "marital duties" or "wedding night" or something even if the spouses hated each other, did y'all really have to sink to gr@pe????? Especially since I watch dramas for escapism and fantasy and not historical accuracy because of course this has happened probably many times over the course of history. I am angry.

We find out later that Yue Qing is locked up by Ye Dingzhi and then just dies via suicide in prison at the end of the three-way war while Yue Yao rides off into the sunset with Baili Dongjun in her fairy carriage, intent on marrying her at last after SEVEN AND A HALF YEARS TOGETHER, YES I DID THE FREAKING MATH (let me know if anyone needs an approximate timeline).

Following this trainwreck and what Dashing Youth has established, we get to the canon in The Blood of Youth, which takes place twelve years after the prequel. Now that the twelve-year pact between Tianwaitian and Beili where Ye Anshi, the son of Ye Dingzhi and Yi Wenjun, is a hostage in Beili is over, the story picks up where we see our heroes in the following places:

Baili Dongjun: Master of Xueyue City and a depressed drunk after (we learn later) mistakenly killing his wife because he was manipulated into doing so, making this the biggest regret of his life

Yue Yao: dead. Was dead before Tang Lian stepped foot into Xueyue City, and was dead because someone manipulated Baili Dongjun into thinking Yue Yao was Yue Qing and he kills her.

...wait what? But...but I thought Yue Qing died in the prison even before Baili Dongjun and Yue Yao got married in canon? I think we're told in TBOY that Yue Yao blocked an attack for her sister or died for her sister or something via her husband attacking her thinking she was her sister or I DON'T KNOW it's not really clear. The point is, the events of both dramas can't both be true or canon at the same time.

Aaaaaand we've hit one of the biggest retcon snags between the two dramas. Shifting the focus over to the problem with retcons, my first question is this: DY directors and producers, you guys had the perfect template and formula since The Blood of Youth exists and had such incredible ratings. Y'all already have a world and a story and storyline and characters to work with and are able to entirely and completely plan ahead. How did y'all come up with this dumpster fire???? And it's not even a good dumpster fire?? How could Yue Qing cause Yue Yao's death, which we are told is what happens in Baili Dongjun's dream in TBOY, if she's dead??

Other honorable problematic retcon mentions:

There's a specific voiceover at the end of DY telling us what happened to the main characters at the end of the war, and though in TBOY the story said that Lei Mengsha died fighting against Nanjue, we are shown that he and Xiao Ruofeng are both fine and victorious. WHAT???

In TBOY, we are told by Li Suwang of the Sword Heart Tomb that his daughter, Li Xinyue first met Lei Mengsha at the Sword Heart Tomb when he and his buddy his pal Baili Dongjun stopped by and convinced her to duel and then roam jianghu with them. We see that at the beginning of Dashing Youth, Lei Mengsha actually meets Baili Dongjun a LOT later in the narrative, and by then, Li Hanyi is already about five years old and Lei Mengsha and Li Xinyue have been married for A While.

Yin Luoxia and Yue Yao are shown to be sworn sisters who met and became extremely close even before the events of DY, even closer than Yue Qing and Yue Yao at their absolute tightest. Luoxia lives in Xueyue City in TBOY. She knows Baili Dongjun personally. THEY DID NOT INTERACT. SHE DIDN'T EVEN TALK ABOUT YUE YAO ONCE IN ALL THE SCREENTIME THAT SHE HAD.

Sikong Changfeng says in TBOY that Li Hanyi is four years younger than him, but started studying under their master first and this is also why she is the Second City Master and he is the Third. This is only half true; while Li Changsheng took Li Hanyi in as an apprentice, she was literally like five or six at the time. Nangong Chunshui then proceeded to take on Sikong Changfeng not long after, but Sikong Changfeng by then was already a teenager headed into his adult years. Like, he's at least eighteen when Dashing Youth starts.

Speaking of Sikong Changfeng, TBOY says that the healer Hua Jin is his shimei, his younger martial sister from their master, the number one healer in the world, Xin Baicao. DY shows us that they met the one time where Xin Baicao was told by Baili Dongjun's uncle (who was a top poison user and the two of them got into competitions all the time wink wink cough cough) to save Sikong Changfeng's life. Sikong Changfeng stayed in the Medicine Valley for something like six months, all the while studiously not learning medicine from Xin Baicao and instead focuses on his spearwork and fighting skills. Also, Hua Jin isn't in DY at all.

This one is less of a retcon issue and more of a gripe, Baili Dongjun was literal childhood friends and best buds with Ye Dingzhi. Wuxin/Ye Anshi would literally be the equivalent of his nephew/godson. Do we get to see them interact at all aside from like 5 seconds in DY???? No. We do not. WE WERE CHEATED.

Another gripe, Sikong Changfeng and Baili Dongjun were bros in Dashing Youth, and have been for many years (according to my math, it's 21 years between the beginning of Dashing Youth and The Blood of Youth) and did we get to see them actually interact in TBOY??? NO.

Oh, with all this talk of Sikong Changfeng, another gripe about HOW TO NOT WRITE WOMEN--Feng Qiuyu (who is she, you may ask???).

She is, my friends, the mother of Sikong Qianluo.

BUT DO WE REALLY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HER? No. WE BARELY REMEMBER HER NAME. SHE WAS LITERALLY WRITTEN INTO DASHING YOUTH SO THAT SIKONG CHANGFENG COULD MEET HER AND SIKONG QIANLUO COULD BE BORN. SHE WAS ON SCREEN FOR A MAX OF 5 MINUTES DURING THE DRAMA AND WAS NEVER REALLY SEEN OR TALKED ABOUT AGAIN EXCEPT FOR LIKE A MINUTE AT THE END. WE DON'T EVEN HAVE THE COURTESY OF KNOWING SHE DIED BEFORE TBOY; WE HAVE TO PUT IT TOGETHER USING CONTEXT CLUES.

I AM YELLING.

Man, I started this rant really just wanting to talk about how best girl Yue Yao was done super dirty by the producers/writers of DY, but the more I thought about it and analyzed and wrote it all down, the more I got to the underlying issue of just the less-than-lackluster way this already-awfully-written drama treated their women, the angrier I got.

All this to say, Dashing Youth does not write or treat their women very well and that, my dears, is bullshit.

[donghuanewbsunite]

2020 Donghua Part 11/?

少年歌行 风花雪月篇 / Shao Nian Ge Xing: Feng Hua Xue Yue Pian / Great Journey of Teenagers Season 2

仙王的日常生活 / Xian Wang De Ri Chang Sheng Huo / Daily Life of the Immortal King

我的三体3 / Wo De San Ti / The Three-Body Problem in Minecraft Season 3

最后的召唤师 / Zui Hou De Zhao Huan Shi / The Last Summoner

[5water-kohaku]

[binging-asian-dramas]

Standing in the Time. 6- 7

Story: 6

Acting: 9

Chemistry: 9

So this is a remake of the jdrama of Pretty Proofreader. Unfortunately this remake is not really that great, it’s watchable yes and it’s an all right drama especially as a stand-alone i suppose if you haven’t seen the original. The original had a more upbeat approach to the storyline while this one really had no sense of direction I felt at times. It had a lot of episodes where it just drag along and felt way to slow. 🤷‍♀️ It really just didn’t fit I guess.

[bridges-you-cross]

CGX Week 2017 - Day 5

Harmless at first sight, fearsome when provoked.

/

见之似好妇，夺之似惧虎。

(Situ Langlang, Chang Ge Xing, chapter 27, adapted from source)

Fun fact:

The complete line that Situ Langlang said is:

不错, 不错, 见之似好妇，夺之似惧虎。果然有我门中风范 。

The English scanslation translated this as:

Not bad, not bad, harmless at first sight, fearsome when provoked. Exactly what I’m looking for in a disciple.

A more literal translation would be:

Not bad, not bad, when seen like a good woman, when robbed like a feared tiger. Sure enough has our sect’s style.

This line, “见之似好妇，夺之似惧虎” is taken from Wú Yuè Chūn Qiū (吴越春秋; Wu Yue Spring and Autumn) and was what the founder of the Yue Nu Sword Style supposedly said when describing her sword style to the King of Yue (cited from Baidu; I’m not sure how historically correct this is, so take this with a grain of salt.)

The line basically means that the practitioner of the sword style looks like a gentle lady, but when being attacked, will react swiftly and fiercely like a tiger facing a threat. This is what Situ Langlang meant when he said that Chang-ge has their sect’s style.