#Zheng Dong

[imsorryandthankyou]

I have been in a love/hate relationship with this video for 2 years, making sure it was perfect, but I'm so happy and proud of how it turned out. This is my first Nirvana In Fire video, and hopefully, I will be making more.

This video is dedicated to @not-saying-revolution-but after she made me a gifset from Guardian.

Drama: Nirvana In Fire (琅琊榜) Song: This is War Artist: Thirty Seconds to Mars Edit: imsorryandthankyou

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Dashing Youth (2024)

Senior Brothers 'Love' the Youngest so much ❤️🤣 #neohou #dashingyouth #chinesedrama

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XORSTk6G1OY

[staydandy]

Pledge of Allegiance (2023) - 山河之影 - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : Li Wu comes from a lowly background but due to a misunderstanding, becomes a member of the Imperial Secret Police. On the outside, he appears to be selfish and well-spoken, but deep down he’s honest and treasures brotherhood. Lu Zheng is an original guard; aloof and lacks good speech. But through their meeting, they find the friendship both have been looking for and evolve together. Together, they are pulled into many cases and hatred that runs deep in the court. Will they be able to solve all of the puzzles without becoming targets themselves? (MDL) AKA : Brotherhood of Blades: Shadow of Mountain and River

Whumpee : Lu Zheng/Song Zhen played by Chen Ruo Xuan (center right) • Li Wu/Fake Li Dong Fang played by Leon Zhang (center left)

Country : 🇨🇳 China Genres : Historical, Action, Romance, Bromance, Martial Arts, Crime, Mystery, Wuxia

Notes : This is a Full Whump List • Adapted from the films "Brotherhood of Blades" & "Brotherhood of Blades 2" by screenwriter Chen Shu

Episodes on List : 20 Total Episodes : 24

*Spoilers below*

02 : Li Wu's arm is wrenched … briefly locked in a trunk … kicked to the ground

03 : Arm wrenched … thrown to the ground, arm wrenched (how are his arms still in their sockets? lol) … tied up with a rope around his neck … Lu Zheng is in a fight, stabbed … Li Wu is buried in grain

04 : Lu Zheng is arrested … tied to a post in the middle of a hot courtyard … untied from the post, too weak to stand, retied up

05 : Li Wu is tied up & hooded, forced to run behind a horse-cart by a rope around his neck … Lu Zheng is still tied to the post in the yard in the sun … Li Wu's arm is wrenched (orig. note : seriously, they're gonna fall off at this rate — side note after finishing the drama : I did not realize this original thought was a prediction 😅) … Lu Zheng's legs are kicked until he kneels, beaten, hands stepped on, flogged, coughing up blood, passes out … barely conscious, tied to the post … choked

07 : … continued from previous ep. ... Choked … assisted to walk … limping … drunk … Li Wu is passed out drunk, carried

08 : (at end) Knocked out

09 : Lu Zheng is hit in the head & knocked out.. tied up

12 : Li Wu is tied up … Lu Zheng is caught in a rope snare, hung upside-down, knocked out, tied up

13 : (near end) Li Wu is stabbed, collapses, carried, coughs up blood

14 : Weak … beat up … drunk, trips & falls … limping, walking with a cane … arm wrenched (comedic)

15 : Lu Zheng is shot … bandaged … Li Wu is drunk

16 : (near end) Pretends to be stabbed & collapses

17 : Cuts his own hand … captured, sword held to his neck, cut during a struggle, spitting up blood, passes out, carried … coughing, passes out briefly (faking)

18 : (near end) Lu Zheng is punched

19 : Li Wu is flogged until he passes out

20 : Lu Zheng is poisoned, dizzy … tied up … Li Wu is stabbed … Lu Zheng is stabbed, passes out … fights despite his wounds … (as part of a ploy) tied up & hooded … Li Wu & Lu Zheng are in another fight; Li Wu's sleeve catches fire

21 : Li Wu is imprisoned … tortured; stabbed by a metal hook in his stomach (this made me cringe, not much does these days but this did) … has to reside over a trial despite his injuries, very weak … Lu Zheng is stabbed in a fight … Li Wu is again tortured; dragged by a hook in his stomach

22 : Lu Zheng's wounds are cared for.. jumps out a window & falls 2 floors … Li Wu & Lu Zheng are both weak & stumbling from their wounds … Li Wu's hand is cut off

23 : (near end) Sick for several days … the back of Lu Zheng's neck is cut

24 : Li Wu is drugged into unconsciousness … trapped in a burning building.. Lu Zheng lifts a burning beam to save him

[chineseredcarpet]

Blossoms Shanghai’s Hu Ge, Ma Yili, Tang Yan, Zheng Kai, Chen Long, Dong Yong, Huang Jue, Zeng Mei Hui Zi, Fan Tiantian, Tong Chenjie & Wang Ju for GQ China

[movielosophy]

Pledge of Allegiance | what are you waiting for?

[whenlovetriestoleave]

zheng jie, ann tai heng, li xiangyu, & dong chengwei by ted wang for wonderland china styling by chen yongheng, makeup by qin huo, hair by tomoko

[arytha]

Lin Hangzhi's skill is: the more luck he needs to answer something, the worse his bad luck is afterwards. so he weaponizes it and its really funny

[k-star-holic]

"Mr. and Mrs. Kyeon Mi-ri have a multistep case Victims, courtesy of criminal proceeds? Not true."

Source: k-star-holic.blogspot.com

[thelaithlyworm]

Ep 47 of nirvana in fire and Lin Chen is here!

And Mei Changsu immediately got more jocular and relaxed and happy, and it's kinda heartwarming, but also there's the whole thing where Lin Chen is asking how he should bring up Mei Changsu's tiny remaining life span...

aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh

EDIT:

We're now at Nie Feng's medical consultation and Lin Chen is giving enough information that Nie Feng and Xia Dong can make decent choices...

Every now and then we cut to Mei Changsu sitting in the background, Very Very Calm and Not Looking At Anybody.

Ohhh hell. Niuang and Meng Zhi just caught on.

That dawning horror on their faces.

Mei Changsu ain't looking at anyone. But he will take Nihuang's hand, that's something.

Oh no, Meng Zhi is so. so angry.

"You may not care about your life but what about us??" And now he's yelling at Wei Zheng for good leavening...

Mei Changsu is. Mei Changsu is very, very calm.

[247reader]

Day 4: Ban Zhao!

Ban Zhao was born into a noted scholarly family during China’s Eastern Han Dynasty, in the first century AD. Her father, Ban Biao, was an official and historian, and her great-aunt, a consort to Emperor Cheng of Han, had been a famous poet. Ban Zhao was married in her teens, and she and her husband had at least one son, but she was widowed soon after. She remained close with her natal family, helping her father and eldest brother compose the Book of Han, a history of the first half of the dynasty.

It was a turbulent time at the Han court. In 88 AD, a child Emperor ascended the throne, with his mother as regent; she, in turn, was overthrown in a coup d’etat. Ban Zhao’s brother, a supporter of the Empress Dowager, was imprisoned; his death soon after left the Book of Han unfinished and the family in a precarious place.

Ban Zhao took over. She completed the hundred-volume manuscript over the next two decades, while also serving as a tutor and librarian at court. Among her students was the consort and future empress Deng Sui, who after her husband’s death would go on to rule the empire as regent for successive child emperors.

In addition to the Book of Han, Ban Zhao’s surviving works include the Lessons for Women, a Confucian guide to female education and conduct, and a travelogue, Dong Zheng Fu, written when she moved with her son to his posting in modern-day Henan. She died a few years later; in an unusual honor for a commoner, the Empress herself went into official mourning.

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Wonderland Of Love (2023)

Gifs of Intro of cdrama "Wonderland Of Love"

Wonderland of Love 01 | Xu Kai, Jing Tian met underwater for the first time | 乐游原 | ENG SUB

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALVaC4Xf_C8

[lovefrombegonia]

Thinking about Yuder Aile's looks

I did think before that Yuder must be quite plain looking. Not ugly but not extraordinary either. Atleast, that's how he always thought of himself. But then I realised Yuder Aile is a freaking unreliable narrator. And that got me thinking even more of how he looked like. Of course, we have a great manhwa and many novel illustrations of how Yuder looks.

And they are all so cute! I just tend to visualise them a bit differently than whatever official arts make them out to be. That's to be expected, after all, we all imagine things differently when it comes to looks. Btw this is not me criticizing the manhwa or the illustrations. They are all so beautiful and I love them all 🥰🥹

TBH I think Yuder is actually...quite an unconventional beauty (lol ik so original). You know there are some people who, at first glance, look pretty but not extraordinary...but then the more you look at them, the prettier they become??? It's like some kind of magic happening. I had a senior in my college who was like that. The more I look, the prettier she becomes. I think of actors like Rekha and Tabu who become prettier the longer you look at them.

Also, in the world of Turning, it seems the beauty standard is bright hair and bright eyes, pastel colours and all. And Yuder is full on a goth gf. No pastels. Stark and contrasting. Black hair, dark eyes, pale af, stoic, and intimidating. He is not all sharp tho. He has chubby cheeks, according to Kiolle Diarca, so, I think Yuder has baby fats on his cheeks. That's insanely adorable to me. I can see why Enon wants to pinch those cheeks. I keep thinking of actor Yin Zheng, he has the most adorable cheeks. He makes me go insane. BTW check out his masterpiece of a drama called "Winter Begonia" ❤️ it's a cdrama based on a danmei novel.

Yuder thinks he is tall. And HE IS. He is 5'11". That's tall, ok. From the QnA, Kuyu did say he has a thin body type, so, I imagine him as a lean muscled body type. Not lanky at all. Like, Bruce Lee. A powerful house of a man, with defined biceps and core. Yuder from manhwa does remind of Bruce Lee a lot tbh. I really like that, Bruce Lee is my childhood!

(NB: I love his expressions)

So, that's how I think Yuder looks like. I am bad at the visualising part tho, so, Yuder keeps on shifting in my mind. I imagine a youthful face carrying the expression of a war veteran, and that makes people around him intimidated but also intrigued. All the descriptions in the novel remind me of the most is actually a very famous character, known as, the motherfucking Moon Dong-Eun from "Glory"! Played by Song Hye-Kyo. The eyes...look at her EYES!! That's Yuder Aile staring into your soul!!!!

You can even feel the eerie glare from behind the shades!

I think Lady Snowblood, played by Meiko Kaji, is also a good reference for Yuder's eyes. Look at her! I think this one is more suited for Yudrain Aile tho.

Ok. That is where I end my ramblings LOL

Wanted to say this for a long time. I would love to hear what others think Yuder looks like too. What other actors or even fan casting do you think of? Yuder Aile is such an interesting character. He is such a blorbo. I love him so much, and I am so happy I stumbled onto this treasure of a novel 💕

[rainbowsky]

Hello Rainbowsky,

Is it true that someone really booked 26 screenings of One and Only. Or is it a rumour?

And if it’s true, 26 screenings mean it is dedicated to WYB’s 26th birthday.

So, WYB, Chongqing, very rich and anonymous identity does not it points to one person? => XZ

What do you think?

Hi Anon! 😊

Fake, fan fiction, CPN.

It's true that there were such bookings made in Chongqing (GG's hometown, and where his family lives).

It's not proved who is behind the bookings, but the number is an interesting coincidence given that DD is turning 26 soon. We know that GG and DD often signal their birthdays this way.

And whoever it was bought all the expensive high end theaters where tickets are difficult to sell, and left the affordable ones for passersby, which was thoughtful - like a rabbit we all know.

(source)

The same thing was done for Born to Fly. 30 screenings were bought out. A friend told me that a box office analyst even took note of it, saying that the film was doing better in Chongqing than anywhere else in the country. 😅

Other celebrities have been buying screenings - a long list of them, some of them including (source):

Kara Wai - Hu Jun - Wang Chuanjun - Victoria Song Qian - Yin Zheng - Wu Lei - Yu Shi - Ni Hongjie - Qiao Shan - Wang Shengnan - Meng Hetang - director Su Liang - Wang Yitai - Dong Sicheng - Jia Ling - Jia Bing - Liu Xiaoshi - Huang Yi

And there are likely more who've booked screenings, but they're all open about it, and post openly about their support for DD and their best wishes for the success of the film. And no one is booking a large number of screenings like this.

30 screenings, 26 screenings - this is an extravagant expense, and done anonymously. That points to GG AFAIAC. He doesn't do half measures. He drops bombs, as we all know. He's not subtle.

Yes, it's a gift but I think it's also a flex. He's showing that he supports DD in a big way, and will spare no expense.

Those who know, know.

DD said Leos love to be praised. This is definite praise. It's sweet to picture DD's smug spoiled smile when he finds out about things like this. He knows he's loved, and he knows that others know it too. That's something that would definitely please him.

Of course, this is total CPN. We have no way of verifying.

[xiakeponz]

for modern AU fics - what chinese media did diaspora consume?

making this post because some of us in the diaspora server were having a chat about what Chinese media "Diaspora Chinese" watched in the 90's - 2000's (and even sooner than that) while not having access to satellite chinese media or streaming services - this is in the context of writing modern AU fics based off Chinese media/novels (so your main character's grandpa or uncle is not, in fact, watching an episode of Friends or Shortland Street or something as flavour text because sorry what the hell-)

We generally watched a lot of stuff on VCDs, including bootlegged and non-bootlegged movies, shows, anime/donghua. My household had a whole VCD album of this, and a lot of VCDs (even if they were pirated editions) would have a fancy hardcover box with a magnetic clasp and some artwork representing the show on it.

All of this is Mandarin - so not TVB stuff, because I'm from Northern China and I don't know any cantonese - but Canto friends, please feel free to add to the list! This is mostly stuff my parents liked to watch, or I liked to watch with them, with the exception of a few which I mainly watched with friends/cousins when I was maybe (in most cases) eleven/twelve years old onwards. This is a pretty personal list, meant to give people general idea of a possible "ballpark" of sorts, and by no means exhaustive.

Now, for the list of shows which I can confirm I had or someone I know had on VCD or some kind of offline media format lol (I'll try add release year stamps and links to the EN wikipedia where possible):

Period dramas (mostly Qing Dynasty stuff):

Huan Zhu Gege 还珠格格 (1998, April-) This is a classic, so many memes come from this show; hugely popular series, basically cemented Zhang Tie Lin's face as the face of the Qing Emperor for about a decade. Tie Chi Tong Ya Ji Xiao Lan 铁齿铜牙纪晓岚 (2002-2010) - I loved this show as a kid and watched all four seasons on repeat with family... The "trio" in this show are well known and loved.

Amazing Detective Di Ren Jie / 神探狄仁杰 (2004) A very popular and addictive show. Ok now the Big Four:

Romance of 3 kingdoms 1994 / 三国演义 (1994) - a classic that has had many remakes, my older cousin would play this on repeat...

Hong Lou Meng/红楼梦 （1987） - another classic with many remakes, but I think the most recognised by the public one is the 1987 one.

Journey to the West / 西游记 live action (1986) - I think the 1986 version of the live action is the most recognised one. *Shui Hu Zhuan / 水浒传 (1998) - I am not too familliar with the live action of this one in my household tbh bc my mum doesn't like it lol (she keeps saying it's too depressing) but I'm sure it's up there with the rest of the big four, if anyone has an opinion on this one please let me know!

Modern setting shows:

My dad loved all the Sun Honglei (孙红雷 - actor name) stuff, iirc it was a lot of MinGuo period espionage stuff, your shanghai 1920's sxc aesthetic. This actor has been around since 1999? Qian Fu （潜伏）was very famous, and Ren Jian Zheng Dao Shi Cang Sang （人间正道是沧桑）。 These were around '08 and '09.

Chuang Guan Dong - 闯关东 (2008) (Baidu link, sorry - couldn't get an EN wikipedia one). This show was huge when it was airing, everyone was watching it. I was pretty young but even I watched it and got invested ... and I thought it was such an "old person" show at the time lmao. Xiao Bing Zhang Ga / 小兵张嘎 （2004） (sorry, again Baidu link) - yo, anti-japanese war movies set between 1937-1945 were crazy popular - this is one of them and was very popular):

Donghua/Anime (all the stuff kid me watched and some which I didn't but were popular):

喜羊羊与灰太狼 (2005-) Calabash Brothers / 葫芦兄弟 （1986-1987） Black Cat Detective / Hei Mao Jing Zhang 黑猫警长 （1984-2010） Lan Mao Tao Qi 3000 Wen 蓝蓝猫淘气3000问 AKA 蓝猫 (blue cat) (October 1999 - Present) Legend of Ne Zha 哪吒传奇 (2003) Journey to the West/Xi You Ji 西游记 This was truly the Donghua I grew up on from when I was a bb, the OP song and ED song are classic bangers all kids know. Slam Dunk/ 灌篮高手 - People truly watched a lot of anime that may or may not have been terribly dubbed into mando (possibly canto too). Late 80s and 90s kids were all over this, and Dragon Ball, Crayon Shinchan (labixiaoxin).

Taiwanese Dramas:

This is mid-late 2000's, I would be remiss to not talk about the Taiwanese dramas of this era. Mike He, Rainie Yang, Wu Zun (amongst many, many others) were huge. Stuff like Dou Niu Yao Bu Yao, it started with a kiss, Hua Yang Shao Nv (Taiwanese version of Hana Kimi) were all pretty popular. Not sure if these shows all hold up in 2023, but boy were they popular at the time.

Note about CNY:

For CNY, people would try to tune into 春节联欢晚会 (the CCTV official CNY show) at that One Friend Who Had China Satellite TV's house. Zhao Ben Shan / 赵本山 was a comedy staple, and the show would often feature people from the music industry to perform. Eventually these people became more and more relevant to my gen and Jay Chou etc started appearing.

Last but not least Xian Jiaaaan 仙剑:

In 2005 I was all over 仙剑奇侠传 (Chinese Paladin), based off the video game. This show was crazy popular and probably sent me and a whole lot of other kids into Xianxia / Wuxia hell (and Hu Ge hell, and later I came back to love Liu Yifei). Thank you. The OST is a true banger.

[the-monkey-ruler]

Could you please tell us about the kings of the Underworld, their functions and if there is a kind of rank? I don't know if you talked about that. I just remember that one of them really liked pumpkins.

I can't say that I really know much about the ten kings off the top of my head. Most of my knowledge comes from Wukong threatening to beat one of them if they didn't get his underworld paperwork fast enough.

But I'll post what I can read what I can.

In the first palace King Guang of Qin, Jiang Xin, specializes in longevity, premature death the registration of, birth and death in the human world; unified management of punishment in the underworld, and good and bad karma in the next life. The Ghost Judge's Hall is located in the middle of the sea, outside Wojiao Stone, and due west on the black road of Huangquan.

In the second hall, King Li of Chujiang, Li Wen, at the bottom of the sea, under the Wojiao Stone in the south in charge of the Great Living Hell (i.e., the Ice Hell of Peiyi Pavilion). The criminals who fall into this category are those who have violated moral ethics, violated the law and discipline, committed countless crimes, and will not regret it until death.

In the third hall, Emperor Yu of the Song Dynasty, Yu Qin, at the bottom of the sea, under the Wojiao Stone in the southeast in charge of the Black Rope Hell. Those who commit chaos or create disputes in this world go to this hall.

In the fourth hall, King Lu of the Five Senses, Lü Dai, is in charge of the Hell at the bottom of the sea, the land of Hell under the Wojiao Stone in the east. Responsible for the Great Hell and the Blood River Hell. People who evade taxes and commit economic fraud go to this temple.

In the fifth hall King Yama, Bao Zheng, at the bottom of the sea, under the Wojiao Stone in the northeast also in charge of the Great Hell. Originally in the first hall, but because of his excessive sympathy for sinners, he was transferred to this hell. Those that fight for fame and gain, use any means to deceive, seduced the public, was ungrateful, repay kindness with hatred, or was a rapist is treated like a beast.

In the sixth palace King Bi of Bian Cheng, Bi Yuanbin, is in charge of the bottom of the sea, the Great Hell under the Wojiao Stone in the north. Responsible for summoning hell and the city of vain death. Those who complain about heaven and earth and urinate in front of the north go to this hall.

In the seventh hall, King Taishan, Dong He, is in charge of the great seabed, the great hell of Renu under the Wojiao Stone in the north of Ding. King Taishan is in charge of the brain-heating hell. Those who use corpses to make medicine and sow discord between relatives go to this hall

In the eighth hall, King Dushi, Huang Zhongyong, is in charge of the Great Hell at the bottom of the sea, under the Wojiao Stone in the west. Specializes in the hot brain hell. If people in the world do not know filial piety, do not care for their relatives, do not bury their relatives when they die, or make their parents and aunts frightened, depressed, and troubled, etc.

In the Ninth Hall, King PingPing, Lu You, is under the Wojiao Stone in the southwest. In charge of the great undersea world, the Abi Hell. Those who have committed the "Ten Unwholesome Deeds" will in the Abi Hell suffer eternal suffering.

The tenth hall, The King Xue Qi, Xue Li, the palace is located outside the Wojiao Stone in the underworld, due east, facing the world of five turbidities. Is responsible for distinguishing reincarnations based on the reports from the above hells.

I can't say that I saw anything about pumpkins in these but I did just mostly skim the material. I would say read each of the individual articles (I put the link in their names) yourself if you wanna get more detailed but otherwise, this should cover their responsibilities and which hall belongs to who. I can't say if this is a 'rank' as they are all kings but the numbered hall can show an urgency of which king takes on a more suitable role for themselves. They all work together after all so there isn't really a rank of higher or lower, just different departments.

[junemermaid]

nirvana in fire for the meme thing!! 💙

Unironically, thank you for reaching directly into my brain b/c I will never climb out of this hole apparently.

my favorite female character — Nihuang, Nihuang, Nihuang. This show is full of delightful complicated ladies (Consort Jing is fucking fascinating and I could write whole essays on how she works ingeniously in her extremely constrained circumstances to change the fate of the empire), but Mu Nihuang hits my thing for warrior ladies and my thing for tragic love that endures but is not enough, and Liu Tao has the kind of face that writes poems for the camera when you just point it at her. She is strong and tender and temperamental and multifaceted and yeah, have you considered that sometimes the woman is the blorbo.

my favorite male character — Okay, Mei Changsu is my problematic fave but also protect Xiao Jingyan at all costs. This is a harder question because I love both of them, and there's also Yan Yujin and Marquis Yan, the unconquerable father-son conspiracy duo we did not deserve but got anyway, and also Meng Zhi, without whom we would all be even more lost and confused amid all the Schemes. But I am going to say Jingyan, because he's such a Type for me (the repressed yet short-fused Lawful Good character who sticks to his morals but also has to grow beyond his narrow views), and also a Type flawlessly executed in both writing and acting. He suffers beautifully but also I don't want him to.

my favorite book/season/etc — Plot arc, maybe? This is everyone's answer but the Spring Hunt arc is gorgeous and has everything. Nihuang returns! Consort Jing is flawless! There's Strategy and Plotting and Desperate Last Stances! (Everyone gaslights Jingyan to a mildly disturbing degree...) I have too many favourite moments to count, though.

my favorite episode (if its a tv show) — I admit a great fondness for that part where Mei Changsu and Jingyan wait for the rescue team for Wei Zheng to get back. It's functionally just two guys in a room waiting for news, but the incredible tension strung between them and the fact that they're both helpless and can do nothing but wait for time to pass as other people's actions decide their fate make it riveting to me. They are generally characters who always have ways and means, but there, they're at the mercy of time. Together. Something something this scene is the show in a microcosm.

my favorite cast member — Honestly I don't know enough about the actors to say, but they all seem like they had a great time filming the series.

my favorite ship — As anyone with eyes can see, jingsuhuang is where I plant my flag, but I am pretty much a multishipper. The OT3 compels me because both Jingyan and Nihuang have such amazing chemistry with MCS and also because I feel like either of them alone runs the risk of being almost... overwhelmed by his sense of purpose and his stubborn self-denial. It balances better with three. Plus, as a friend perfectly put it, two of them is great but what about the spice (narrative, not merely erotic)? Eh. I could write a novel. I also enjoy Mu Nihuang x Xia Dong, Mei Changsu x Lin Chen, Yan Yujin x Xiao Jingrui (x Gong Yu), and pretty much anything if the writer has put a compelling spin on it. My shipping philosophy in this fandom is that I'll try anything once, and twice if I like it.

a character I’d die defending — Obviously, Consort Jing, but also, protect Xiao Jingyan at all costs. He has, after all, never done anything wrong in his life.

a character I just can’t sympathize with — I don't think there are any in NiF? Many of them do horrible things but the show generally always lets me understand why. Even its villains are written as people. (That said, Xia Jiang is the worst, and the Emperor reaches similar depths of infamy before the end for me.)

a character I grew to love — Lin Chen crept up on me! I think it was the 40-episode absence after the dramatic introduction in ep. 1 that made me feel like he was stealing scenes and intimacy from characters I had spent 40 episodes watching (while they failed in various ways to get close to Mei Changsu). He is also, ah, the kind of comedic that doesn't usually works for me. But rewatching a little, reading some fic, and thinking about it further, he's a vital part of the story and someone that Mei Changsu sorely needs, i.e. a friend he made after the Meiling massacre, who won't always reflect him against the image of Lin Shu but cares for him as he is now.

my anti otp — IDK? There are various awful men in this show that the women around them Do Not Deserve. Poor, poor Consort Jing, working herself into the Emperor's favour. So maybe it's just that some of the canon marriages are really sort of terrible.