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feuqueerfire · 7 months ago

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I loveeeeee a younger pursuer character, especially when they've known each other for a while and the older is just like I love you kid (platonic/familial) while the younger is losing their mind with their crush/love/lust. Also, the fact that the novel it's adapted from is literally called Da Ge 大哥 ah, I've gotten more into adoptive or step-brothers trope since I got into live-action BL but I've only just watched Addicted/Stay With Me and Kiseki: Dear to Me 2nd couple, so it's exciting to add another one to the list.

This is also a novel from China that's being adapted in Taiwan so that they don't have to censor it, right? There are several other BLs currently in the works like this.

Anyway, seems like people really like this show (not counting the sex scene in ep 11 or something because I heard so much complaining about that lol), so my hopes are high.

Ep 1 (June 13)

ahhh crazy start/glimpse into future

starts when they're young but have been living together a while already

ahhhh trying to take care of things/the family/his ge by paying the bills using his gift money + some part time job maybe. isn't quite a grownup yet but he wants to be so bad

2007 - when they first met

oh fuck the child being hit with the metal pipe was scary and unexpected

oh man, Qian getting embroiled with gangs and doing their dirty work for money

oof, gonna have to win 3 boxing matches to leave the gang

Ep 2 (June 13)

the teacher saying an older brother is like a father

not them ganging up on Xiao Bao!

dang, Qian's mother hated him because he did well, that's wild

Qian is so attractive like woah

we've reached current year - 2016

Ep 3 (June 13)

Yuan to the rescue

Bao and Yuan's dynamic is so cuteee

damn, Qian mad as hell at Xiao Bao's outfit and it has a bit of the "proprietary" thing that so many father-daughter older brother-younger sister dynamics have (in media at least) but also most importantly it reminds him of their mother who they are both very traumatized by

I'm so nervous, I hope nothing bad happens to Xiao Bao (esp because we know this world has like gangsters and stuff)

Is this guy part of the gangsters? Does he know who Xiao Bao is?

Yuan recognizes the gangster oh no

Sam Lin as doctor, though I must say I would not recognize him if I wasn't already aware of this

sharing a bed

studying abroad mentioned

I don't wanna read thoughts of r/boyslove or look for gifsets on tumblr, I just wanna get to the next episode.

It feels like since they both scold/get upset at Xiao Bao in an attempt to protect her, she's not gonna retain any of the reasons they're worried about her but rather maybe rebel and end up in troublesome situations. please no rape storyline though plsplspls

Ep 4 (June 14)

Yuan's 18th birthday? adult Yuan alright

pls Qian thinking that Xiao Bao's saying Yuan watches porn

it's romantic stuff but is it yaoi/BL? because the one Sweet Summer or whatever novel seemed to be two guys on the cover?

Qian kinda reminds me of Na Jaemin (my NCT bias when I was into them) from some angles

I will forever love helping something with feet, whether it be shoelace tying, giving a massage/a foot bath, or now taking care of an ankle/foot injury. it's not even a foot kink, it's just... idek like lowering oneself... in aid of the other... taking care of them...

Yuan definitely doesn't wanna hear about them seperating and liking other people

this kiss must be in Yuan's imagination

so I guess Qian doesn't suspect Yuan's feelings toward him at all + also doesn't return the feelings (yet + he might be unconsciously feeling something but it's not as intense as Yuan's feelings). However, I'm unclear on whether he thinks Yuan likes boys? Like he saw Yuan's romance novel with 2 boys + asking about the high school class monitor...

Ep 5 (June 14)

I knew this was a daydream because of the dreamy filter + I kinda remember some post on reddit about Yuan's daydream but if I was watching this in real time, I would've lost my shit

oh oh my god okay. "Ge, do you already know that I like guys?" extremely forward and sudden, I wasn't expecting it

ahhh, I can't watch this, it's so T.T. like ik it's very Uncle Jim to Liming, looking out for their young(er) nephew/brother because being gay openly isn't easy but like T.T still

What year is this? 2016 right? while gay marriage became legal in Taiwan in 2019

I love a "it's my business who i like, not yours" or whatever

ah, Qian's nice to Yuan again, he likes gives him a little lecture but isn't like actually homophobic

Xiao Bao turns 18 too

damn, what's up with Qian? head hurts?

pls the colleague (is that San Pang? yeah right?) running into Qian's room to see him and Yuan in bed sleeping and cuddling and being like... hm

pls Qian himself being like "it's not what it looks like" before the other guy even says what it looks like

QIAN WHY ARE YOU TELLING HIM THAT YUAN LIKES GUYS?!

omg San Pang now coming over to talk to Yuan

pls I know why he's asking but the way he's talking about where Xiao Bao sleeps and where he sleeps like hey ! stop

that's her literal brother and they have no parents, I think it's fine if Xiao Bao climbs into her Dage's bed to sleep occasionally lmfao

oh I guess he was talking about Xiao Bao sleeping in Yuan's bed. whelp he'd have a point in that case I guess becuase Yuan def can like these siblings lol he just happens to not like the sister

pls Xiao Bao wants San Pang to ask about her, so whenever he talks about Yuan and Qian the way her eyes roll so hard that her whole head rotates, so funny

not the office fujos Noticing and Observing lol

ahh, Yuan's inner turmoil seeing his "future sister-in-law"

ah, San Pang straight up asking if the one Yuan likes is Qian

I just wanna know when the confession is gonna happen, is it gonna be next ep? because Yuan also has to go abroad (though I don't think that time skip takes too much airtime from what I've read). I want some stuff to happen after confession + after getting together too.

Ep 6 (June 14)

I wonder what role San Pang will play like will he help them figure it out or hinder all the way through? they're kinda hinting him with Lili, so he can't possibly be a "bad guy." I get him dissuading them now or giving them reasons why they shouldn't but once they do, I assume he'll be okay with it at least

"Don't tell me that guy also has some?" oh Qian

Qian feeling pity for Yuan and being like why do you have to like him... oh Qian, oh Yuan

aklsdfjalksdf ahhh Yuan about to me a drunken mess at this important work function plssss I'm nervous. but also... does the confession happen when Yuan's drunk? Is it gonna happen this ep?

Feng Ning is so cool I love her. if Yuan does anything that upsets her I'll get mad at him im negl

oh omg I have an image in my mind of when Yuan confesses maybe and it was not in this outfit and they were also maybe sitting, so the i like you and attempted kiss was like oh!

It also stressed me out that they're still at work

woahhh it hurts so good the way Qian not only punched Yuan but also didn't stop to care for his wounded hand

ahhh Qian avoiding Yuan and the home entirely

studying abroad plan on

Aw, Xiao Bao who is like ? wtf is going on, why are my brothers fighting and also Yuan literally going to NY

is that Yuan sitting on the floor with his paper on his face and crying? yes, same sweater stripes

The angst is done well. The situation must happen (I was anticipating the fallout from the confession so much!), it's not overdramatized (Qian reacts badly but then just avoids Yuan for the rest and Yuan tries to apologize a bunch but doesn't force anything when Qian ignores him), the acting-writing-directing are all good. I'm also liking the consequence of him moving away to a different country (for a few years?) because he's known Qian all his life and practically only talks to Qian, Lili, and sometimes people like San Pang or a classmate but he'll broaden his horizons now and it'll be less "he loves Qian because he only knows him"

Ep 7 (June 14)

damn, Qian's apparently been so apathetic that San Pang's like maybe I shouldn't made Yuan stay so that at least you wouldn't be like this

Qian's alcohol problem + his chronic headache bruh

San Pang straight up asking if Qian has feelings for Yuan too and Qian does not deny it

also it's been 2 years right? since it's 2018 now and 2017-2018 were blank for Yuan's height

Qian is truly so attractive. his face but also his mannerisms and expressions and gestures. woah. and of course my forever weakness: nice smile and there's a dimple too

2017 - 2023?! omg 6 years? that's a lot, I was expected 2-3 fr

Qian continues reading Yuan's texts but not replying to them. then impulsively calling Yuan and immediately hanging up again

first reciprocal contact in 6 years, if I was Yuan that call would've made me lose my whole entire mind fr

Bro, it's actally Qian who's losing his mind because he's sitting on Yuan's bed in Yuan's room and texting Yuan to come home if he misses it

Xiao Bao has truly become grown up model Lili

San Pang is at the office gathering, so who did she see at the door? would Yuan already be at home lmfao

ah, indeed Yuan's here lol

Yuan and Lili antics begin again, how fun

From a few Tumblr posts, I thought Lil iand San Pang's relationship was gonna get exposed? next ep i guess.

also saw some gifs that Yuan's gonna be petty toward Qian next ep and I'm so excited, how did people wait weekly for this? I can barely wait for tomorrow.

Ep 8 (June 15)

starting this around 7:30pm because I had to watch Wandee Goodday episode today. Hope I like this episode than I liked Wandee's

ah, Yuan's so bold now "Have you seen enough?"

The fact that Yuan made eye contact with Qian before handing the drink over to Xiong-ge. Qian expectantly holding out his hand but having to retreat and check afterwards that nobody else saw lmfao

It's killing me that Yuan keeps looking at the other two ges during the conversation while Qian keeps glancing at Yuan and can't keep his eyes off of him even when he tries

Yuan even thanking San Pang for making him go to the states...

the hickeys?!

Qian's incredulous look at 8:00 is really so Na Jaemin, why does he remind me so much of him

I would say Qian's slow for not catching on that they're together somehow but ig San Pang and Lili are LDR since she doesn't even live here anymore? and so Qian's not aware of it? but it's also funny to think his brain was barely working while Yuan wasn't here but managed to deduce it by glimpsing the hickeys as soon as Yuan came and Qian's brain started working again lmao

damn, Lili's literally shaking her head no, how dare San Pang make the executive decision to confess to Qian?

NOT THE BUTCHER KNIFE LMFAO

Yuan literally sitting back and eating fruits on the couch as he observes is so funny

and his smiles lmfaooo

and only inserting himself when Xiong-ge brings up Qian dating somebody else lmfao he's a menace

Yuan calling Qian as Wei Qian instead of ge is so .

Qian's mad because the two of them are dating and there's an age difference and San Pang's known Lili since she was a child and he figured it out through hickeys and he's the last to know and all those reasons but also... he's probably also mad that why isn't he with Yuan then? If those two can do it, why not him too?

Yuan knowssssss he's getting to Qian

I've seen a glimpse of a gif of Yuan feeding Qian ahh

and now that Yuan's indeed giving him his full attention at the table, Qian can't look at him

Qian's losing his mind and I along with him

Yuan's so bold now, it makes me nervous like chilllllll, move back like the way he kept walking toward Qian and nearly kissed him alksdfjla;ksfj

Yuan is suchhh a menace, the way he starting speaking loud and clear when he heard Qian at the door

my mom dragged me away right then but I'm back

plss he's talking about how he also likes somebody and both Xiao Bao and Ge know that person. lmfao. menace.

Xiao Bao reading from a script lmfaooo

Yuan truly is such a menace, sliding the family vacation into Lili's script pls

cryingggg Xiao Bao ditched the family trip to go to Milan

Yuan kept poking until Qian finally says to not keep feelings for him anymore, only to hit him back with "what makes you think i still like you?"

Yuan saying Wei Qian really does me in. "Wei Qian, don't you like Wei Zhiyuan?" was woah

agh, A'Le and gangsters next ep. hmph

I've been curious to see which other age gap older male/younger female ships I like because they usually give me major ick but I'm such a fan of age gap ships in m/m-f/f-noona romances. I think History 3: Trapped side side ship with the sister and bulter man is the only one I can think of and they barely existed lol. So I want to like San Pang and Lili, especially when she said she's the one who pursued him (I'm into that trope a lot too; like Yuan's also the younger one pursing the older one) but I wish San Pang wasn't a hypocrite/homophobe because if he's into Lili and has no problems getting with her but so disapproved and dissuaded Yuan, like the reason is homophobia yes? I wanted him to come to The Realization that Yuan liking Qian is... fine-ish when he developed feelings for Lili, not have him separate the two situations.

Ep 9 (June 15)

so many things to do but I'm watching this instead, goddammit. but been a little while since i've been so eager to binge and watch next ep (Kiseki and Triage last month I think)

Also, I saw a post that had a clip from the trailer that hasn't happened yet or something and I didn't watch it but there was text about how Qian looks Yuan in the eye when he confesses... omg now I'm so excited to see when that happens. I hadn't been thinking about how they'd actually come together but a confession must happen and I'd be very happy if Qian's the one who does it this time, even more so if he's very tortured about it

oh, abroad was 4 years ago? not 6

I like Yuan's whole spiel about I can't stop liking you but this is enough

Yuan calling Qian out on his bullshit, he can't kick Yuan out again

Qian can tell when Yuan's lying/hiding something

hmm they're calling Qian the snitch and the cops came back then... I feel like Qian didn't do it since he himself was involved

when's that napkin with the poem from?

what is the plan exactly? Lin's telling Yuan to remember that Qian cares about him...

damn, Yuan left for a trip with very short notice?

"You're acting like a wife trying to catch her cheating husband" read the room, San Pang. you can't tell this to Qian who is trying to not be in love with his didi

Dr. Lin so funny. also did We Best Love have eating raw noodles? I feel like it did...

Wei Zhiyuan means "belongs to Wei"

no but what was Yuan plan actually because mans just went to their lair, asked for Le-ge and now is just getting beat up lmfao

scary, Le-ge's got bullets

please why are we doing Russian Roulette rn T.T

Can't have a bullet in there if he's doing it on himself, right? I didn't see how many bullets he put in there. or is he just fucked up in the head enough to do it anyway lol

Qian hugging Yuan in desperation

omg that napkin was literally what Yuan wrote as he thought they were his last words stuck on a mountain during his study abroad. and Qian was avoiding speaking to him during that time godddd, what a tragedy it would have been

and it's a good time to reveal that since they just did the russian roulette for e/o

I don't wanna read ppls thoughts or look at gifsets, I wanna just watch the next episode omg but I won't look at anything after ep 10 until I finish the whole thing since ep 11-12 spoilers will also be there, so I should look at stuff now.

Ep 10 (June 16)

Qian remembering everything Yuan's said and done

nose bleed...

parallels w the hair drying and cuddling to sleep, it'd be funny if san pang woke them up again

does Qian think he'll die

lmaoooooo San Pangcame but unfortunaly Qian was aklready downstairs

i knew bout this blood clot

not the i wish i could tie you up with a rope

Idk how Qian thinks he could possibly hide this from Yuan lol I'm surprised he hadn't just listened in or bothered Lin about the info

the three of them just exchanging eye contact and the focus from San Pang -> Qian with a zoom! sound effect was very funny

Yuan is so funny to San Pang lmfao he keeps being like San Pang ge thank you <3 to the point of uncomfortableness

welp indeed Yuan figured it out on his own

ah, Yuan's mad that Qian hid it from him and keeps saying he'll deal with it on its own

Qian made all of Yuan's favourites to try to win him over askdf but Yuan's still mad

Yuan taking a brief break from ignoring Qian's existence to take away greasy food/beer and give him and San Pang salad instead

San Pang once again telling Qian to consider Yuan and getting with him seriously

Did he not that he wants Yuan to have a future without him?

I think I got a little lost about what exactly led to Yuan storming out but ahhh that convo, fuck. Qian's turmoil and inner conflict and Yuan being like it's mind to deal with, not yours but Qian not being able to let Yuan go.

Ep 11 (June 16/17)

I wanna binge these last 3 eps but it's Eid so I'm busy and gotta watch the rest later. I'm really excited for this ep since it's gonna have the confession and also the sex scene but I know it made everybody fucking mad because of the editing (they had flashbacks to them as kids?) + position top/bottom implications/confusions lmfaoo

The first time Qian took initiative to grab Yuan omg

wait, we're already going into the house okay

I need a pillow or stuffed animal to dig my nails into rn omg i keep grabbing air

what was the more correct translation of "I've been waiting all my life. This isn't fast at all." that made me lose my mind when I saw it and I hadn't even been watching the show back then

"You don't even know what I dream about you at night" hah. hahahah. haha. ok

hello why are we having flashbacks to a conversation from 5 minutes in between the sex scene instead of just... being linear??? I didn't know this happened bc it got drowned out w the other complaints ig lmao

yeah, interspliced scenes we haven't seen before + flashbacks of scenes we've seen during a sex scene are already annoying but then WHY ARE THERE CHILDHOOD FLASHBACKS. this is not the time to have kids on my damn screen wtf

also I just kinda took top Yuan from that, is it top Qian in the novel or something because I feel like people mentioned that it seemed one way but it wasn't supposed to be that way? or is it because the scene where Yuan had his bare legs splayed that gave the illusion of bottom Yuan and people didn't like that? I'm so curious

domestic morning kissing, they've really come all the way here

Lili's home?!

a fight? girl lmao ig Lili's the normal sibling who's not guessing that her other siblings are fucking, biologically related or not

what is this Le/Lin scene lmao

fancy dinner date at the same gangster restaurant as always lol but apparently Qian's reserved the whole place and made it romantic

Enough angles for one kiss!

restaurant owner gang uncle just witnessing all this lmfao I think it'd be hilarious if he gossips with Le-ge about Qian and his brother kissing

fuck, this nerve and surgery stuff is so scary fr

Okay, finished the last 10 minutes while having lunch the next day because I had to leave yesterday. Good to see both Yuan and Lili care about Qian and want to take care of him and such. Qian took up smoking again in all this stress. I still don't fully get all the mom stuff beyond she thoroughly abused him.

The sex scene was like... what??? and I'm glad I was already aware of its issues because I would've gone beserk if I was watching this weekly for 10 weeks and got that in return wtf. The whole show relies on their emotions and inner conflicts but it felt like neither aspect was truly explored in the scene and made worsened with the horrific editing.

Also I can't fucking reblog but this is maybe the post I was talking about with the translation during the sex scene. Yuan's line implies he's masturbated thinking about Qian which is like the most unsurprising thing ever.

Ep 12 (June 17)

Final episode, hope it at least ends well

Lili figures it out. she's kinda upset that she's the last one to know about it, her lines remind me of when Qian found out about her and San Pang haha

but what does she wanna say, why am I nervous that she's pregnant

lol Qian liking that Yuan's trying to help him out at work

I'm suddenly embarrassed, I really can't do office romances

Xiong-ge showing support in his awkward ways is nice

hehhehe Yuan coming to pick Qian up from work dressed up so nice and Qian kissing him outside after checking nobody's around

I got stressed out by Yuan kissing Qian at work omg in broad daylight with people around

yeah the office fujo will certainly keep this a secret lol as if a bunch of them weren't already gossiping like 4 years ago or whatever

I can't handle office romances guys my body shrivels up and my toes and fingers curl, I'm so embarrassed. can the employees stop squealing about it in public. I'm so stressed out by office gossip even if it's like shippy/supportive. also the excited fujo character can sometimes work for me in high school/college shows because it's like young characters but this in an office is like. no. their family and friends can know but i don't need to see their coworkers finding out unless it's meant to be a point of conflict

how can you be discussing top-bottom dynamics of your boss with your colleagues!! and asking your other boss about it !!!! let's get serious I hate this, I should skip through

HOW CAN YOU ASK THIS TO YOUR FUCKING BOSS?!?!?!?!? HOW CAN THIS BE A POSSIBLE THING?!?!?! this show is generally so grounded, even in it's more out-there aspects, that this is like... what world are we in? so inappropriate and also like probably homophobic because you would not be asking this if Qian was dating a woman

are they insinuating Qian's the top/tiger? That does not go with what I want form this trope so I'm ignoring it lmfao I can do verse because I can almost always ship verse but with the younger-guy-deeply-in-love-with-and-madly-pursues-older-guy-who-is-resistant-and-conflicted trope, I like a younger top

but i think people were also annoyed about this suggestion of top Qian lmfao, I think I remember reading comments about it

ah, Lili is indeed pregnant

aw, hug before the questioning but it's like genuine, not from anger. Especially important for them because their mother was terrible and they don't want a child to go through that again obvs

pls San Pang's also here loll I think it's good the ways they were all in different rooms

the panic when Xiao Bao knelt and the 3 of them also scrambling to kneel, especially when Qian also knelt

aw, Qian really was their da-ge, father, and mother all in one

Qian's afraid Lili will follow in their mother's footsteps (pregnant then married young) and be unhappy

why is this so good T.T

I can't believe the messy sex scene from last ep and the utter bullshit that was the office scene in this ep made me forget for a bit how good this show can be

Damn, they're really saving the surgery thing for the very last few minutes. anyway ik he doesn't die because everything would've gone up in flames if that happened

omg how much timeskip, there's a whole baby now

The office discussion actually made me so uncomfortable, it was so inappropriate and unnecessary, why didn't we take that time to... just show at least a bit of the surgery and aftermath or whatever? Like that was such a huge thing in the past 2-3 eps but it just... disappears and we assume it was successful bc of the ending

Overall:

I'm so glad I got over my pseudo-incest brother-lover aversion because I can now watch this stuff in delight. Though I must say, my favourite aspect of this show is the little family trio with Qian, Yuan, and Lili, with San Pang occasionally invited as well. I loved how they cared for each other and how though Lili was left out of the romantic duo inside their trio, it didn't feel like she was forgotten or sidelined. They each had specific relationships with each of the other people, their interactions had their own flavours and it was so good.

The romance itself hm I think the development was nice, especially from Yuan's side since we saw how he thought of Qian and how he supported him and such. We also saw a bit of how Qian was so lost when Yuan was gone that even San Pang was wondering whether Qian liked Yuan and it would've been better if they hadn't sent him away. It just feels like since there was so much angst and build-up for like 10 episodes, their actual coming together should have been grander. The sex feels a bit sudden, I don't think it should've happened right after that conversation because Qian was barely ready to admit whether he saw Yuan as more romantically than just a brother, and then the editing of it all was terrible.

The surgery stuff also kinda dwindled, if they'd brought it up, I wished they would've at least shown the direct aftermath or whatever. I despised how we had the office Yuan/Qian gossip for so long in episode 12, we could've used it for better things. At least we ended with the Lili pregnancy announcement and coming together over that, which reminded me just at the end why I liked the show.

Some other things I really loved: 1) Qian's face, holy shit. Qian is so beautiful, like incredibly attractive to me, woah. Reminds me of Na Jaemin who I was also taken by when I stanned NCT; is it the lower half of their faces/their mouths? 2) The 2 scenes where Qian finds out Lili and San Pang are dating in ep 8 + finds out Lili's pregnant in ep 12 and just going to kill San Pang lol (also loved how Yuan was enjoying it in ep 8 but was helping San Pang and Lili out in ep 12 lol). 3) The episodes, especially the earlier-middle ones, were so addictive, I didn't end up reading the on-air reddit threads because I was too into watching the next ep instead of reading about it.

In the end, I don't think I'll think about it often, especially not the Yuan/Qian ship unless just to remember the brother-lover trope and even then, Kiseki's Chen Yi/Ai Di gave me more intense brainworms for a similar trope I think. I'm disappointed that I didn't love the show, its flaws are at moments that are too important. So deeply conflicted about whether to give 6 or 6.5, I'll go with 6.5 for now.

Rating: 6.5/10

#unknown #ep by ep commentary #unknown the series

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letteredlettered · 1 year ago

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I'm conflicted about whether to encourage you to read the MDZS novel or not. On the one hand, it's revolutionary for danmei in many ways (to the hatred and love of many), and reading it would be akin to reading Jin Yong one day. On the other hand, if you love Wei Wuxian and find some actions in the show "unforgivable," you will be severely disappointed with him. For the sake of censorship, many of the "crimes/sins" he committed were passed onto Jin Guangyao so that the idea of "good" and "evil" are more clearly distinguished. In recent years, China has even censored some of its most popular works like Empresses in the Palace, Story of Yanxi Palace, for having heroines that were too morally grey. And of course, there were some actions too heinous to even be passed onto another character. Plus, consent is a little grey in the novel, and first times were simultaneously great and awful, prompting a sudden confession in dramatic areas.

But, I think even a bit more laden with the evils of this world... I still really loved Wei Wuxian of the novel. He tried. And failed. And maybe made things a lot worse. But as Lan Wangji said, his heart was in the right place. And... I think you'll feel a lot more for the Wen in the novel. They-- just the idea of continuous sacrifice and gratitude. I cried so much for them.

Sorry, you might regret it a bit, but I think it'll also make you feel fulfilled to read the novel.

Anyway, I hope your day is going well!

I'm already reading it! So you don't have to feel conflicted about whether to recommend it. :)

I don't think that liking it or not liking it will affect my interest in CQL or the fandom. I've been in many fandoms with multiple versions of canon; I find it's best to pick the versions that work for me and stick to them. Sometimes it can be frustrating when you love one version and hate the other version and it feels like everyone is disparaging the one you think is good in favor of the one that gives you moral hives, but I haven't really seen those kinds of comparisons going around, and this isn't Star Trek, so I'll probably be fine.

I'm a little flummoxed by this word "unforgivable." First of all, I find most things forgivable; I'm a forgiving person. Second of all, these are fictional characters; if someone does something unforgivable it doesn't make them uninteresting or unrelatable.

I don't dislike JGY because he does bad things. I am uninterested in JGY because his personality is boring to me and not something I find relatable.

I'm also a little flummoxed by the idea of not liking something because it is morally gray. I know I stomp around on tumblr.com a lot yelling about morality, but my basic moral philosophy boils down to "try your very best to cause no harm," which is something that is extremely gray, because there are no absolutes. There is no good and evil. There is only the effort to be kind and help each other, and it is shocking how fuzzy and unclear that can be.

I have hesitated to read the novels partly because I'm aware of the consent issues. I think it is important to have fiction that has non-con, including fiction that has very sexy unproblematized non-con that allows people to indulge in fantasies that would be unsafe and harmful in the real world. That said, I don't like it. At all. Not for moral reasons but because I find it singularly unsexy.

I'll conclude by saying that it's very true that I tend not to be drawn to villains as characters. It's less because I find them morally repugnant, and more because they are often uninteresting to me. I think possibly the thing that draws me to a character the most is effort, especially an effort to do and be good--but this is a personal preference, not a moral one. I identify with characters who try to be good, and this makes me like them. I enjoy them the most when they fail a lot while trying their absolutely little best. Personally, I've heard mixed reviews about WWX in MDZS canon; some report, as you do, that he tries a lot and fails; others report that he's pretty careless in ways that make me feel a lot less interested in him. Since I'm already reading it, I'll find out, but the main thing I've taken away so far is that these novels are hilarious. I can't believe how funny it is. What a delight.

#mzds #wei wuxian #morality

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linaket · 2 years ago

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I keep seeing hopeful things about the revival of web serial writing after Dracula Daily took off and I really, really, really want to be on board with these. I mean, I wrote a thesis about this exact subject in 2013. I love serial writing. I REALLY DO. I actively chose to write my main story as a serial and not in a more "traditional" manner.

But you see, the problem is this: The sharks are already in the water, and the web serial industry has become toxic. If it ever wasn't.

I don't mean people using Substack or individuals at all. What I mean is that it's an entire industry already that, in the past several years, has kind of gone from bad to worst.

There is a general idea that web serial writing isn't as good as traditional publishing. Yeah, there's so much of it out there. There are a lot of people getting their start writing this way. But that doesn't mean that's the only people out here, even if there are a LOT of them.

However, it does mean there are a lot of hopeful writers just ripe to be taken advantage of.

The problem in the last few years has actually come from media conglomerates snapping up platforms left and right. Many of these are coming out of overseas markets, because web serials are HUGE there and have already proven to be profitable. Naver, which owns WEBTOON, also now owns Wattpad [link] Kakao acquired three platforms in the last year: Tapas, Wuxiaworld, and Radish. [link]

Webnovel is under Tencent. Here's a fun article about that.

and from that article:

Cultivating native writers

The huge success of a handful of Chinese stories has been great for the platforms, but also unpredictable and hard to replicate. Within China, the industry isn't just built on that. It's also about the thousands of B-list or amateur authors constantly pumping out new works to keep readers on the platforms.

To recreate that overseas, Chinese platforms have begun to cultivate non-Chinese writers. And the platforms have plenty of experience from the two decades of competing within China.

Emphasis mine.

These companies are predatory at best. Webnovel has a notoriously hellish contract. Authors are paid pennies and expected to "pump out" content, and those writers have to produce 500-1k words at least 5 times a week or be in breach of contract.

The kicker? Most don't retain the IP for their work, let alone moral rights.

While we often cite "to become a better writer, you must write," there is a point where the stress of the constant churn doesn't allow a writer to grow.

I've had friends get cut out of revenue shares for their work because, technically, it is considered contract work. You were paid what you were paid, and whatever profits come from that go to the company. Often this is done on a second season, or slipped into an amended contract.

Check the fine print on any of the contests. Most include something about entries only being able to be posted on that platform (see even The Wattys) which, understandable, but exclusivity is a low gate. It doesn't seem like a big deal until you're trapped behind it and at the mercy of whatever platform is holding your work.

And these larger companies often release massive waves of censorship.

Recently on Tapas, novels (and comics!) were shadowbanned from the app if they had the word "kiss" in the title. This was just weeks ago. If you search "kiss" on the Tapas app, the main way that the audience accesses the site, literally nothing comes up. Have a tweet about it:

[link]

It's the newest wave of censors that have been placed on the platform... and the platform has issued no statement on this. What other words are banned? Who knows? Well, omega is another one. But no one was told that. It's been a lot of trial and error among members of the community to find out if anyone can even find their stories anymore.

In the last few years, many of the more experienced authors I've met and highly respected on platforms just... left.

Does this mean that serial writing is dead in the water? Of course not.

I really, really hope not.

But if anyone out there is interested in taking that route, there's some pretty basic advice that everyone has heard:

read the TOC of a platform thoroughly before posting.

do not rely on a platform alone to share your work. you never know when something might happen, and suddenly your work will be unavailable. (this is one of the reasons that I run from exclusivity.)

plan to build your own audience, in your own way. Most platforms already have a niche, and that is what they are going to push more than anything.

understand that marketing is on you, just like any other kind of self-publishing route.

if your interested in becoming a "premium" author for the sites, read your contracts COMPLETELY. Even and especially renewals.

be wary if anything seems to good to be true when it comes to these large platforms. it probably is.

My experience, like everyone's, is obviously limited. I understand that. Personally? I loved platforms, and building communities on them with other writers, but I am finding it difficult to trust my work on them anymore.

I'm trying to figure out my own way now. I'm not sure what that's going to look like, but I'm trying to think of something. Because I haven't given up. I can't. I committed to writing my story as a series, and I'll finish it as such, because it is what is right for that story.

Let me know if you've got any ideas.

#lina speaks #writeblr #serial writing

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beardedmrbean · 1 year ago

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There is a story from the exodus that sticks with me: After the Israelites crossed through the Red Sea, G-d closed the waters behind them, drowning the pursuing Egyptian army. And the angels rejoiced, for the children of Israel were saved. But G-d rebuked them, saying, "Why are you celebrating? My children are dying." And the angels were ashamed, because they knew that had done wrong.

G-d does not wish the death of anyone; but rather, that they turn aside from wickedness, and live.

Had to check the scripture to see if I was remembering the rest of the story correctly.

Israelite's did sing a song of joy, and it was one of joy at the death of their enemies.

I'm not gonna put the text up, one because I see you censoring and it doesn't so out of respect for that I'll leave it be, link is there if you like.

And two because in the great Jewish tradition of asking 3 Rabbis a question and getting 5 wildly different answers, it's one of those.

I'll do a small my thoughts bit though.

That's one that runs counter to human nature, especially when you're the injured party, we want those that have harmed us to also feel what we feel, we weren't made that way but became that way when sin and rebellion entered the world because we were made with the capacity to be that way.

Big guy knows it since well creator and all, and given the history of the Hebrews after all the folks that had been in Egypt got their bit and the new generation was in and a mighty slaughter was undertaken, and several more over a few hundred years till the united kingdom of Israel.

All (most all at least) directed by the big guy, they had to go through and cast their enemies out of Canaan, at His direction, I don't think there was much joy in it happening not from on high, but setting things up takes that kind of thing, did then still does now if one can hold the territory, daesh failed mercifully but what with coups in Africa, Pakistan existing and Tibet becoming part of china, that's just kinda how the world works

In the end you're right

"G-d does not wish the death of anyone; but rather, that they turn aside from wickedness, and live."

and I really hope that it can get there, for the moment it would seem that there's those much like in the stories of Israel in its infancy and youth that only wish to corrupt and have their way.

Jewish historical precedent there is fairly clear, if we're going to approach it from a spiritual perspective at least, one would think that nobody wants war, be nice if that were true, instead right now the guys that don't really want war look to be setting up to prevent war from happening again for a while at least, which will take some killin.

As tragic and sad as that all is, so much hate.

It poisons everything.

we can and should pray for peace, always

#anonymous

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reasoncourt · 2 years ago

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i feel like the bigger problem is with the algorithms and not the people. esp with china being behind tiktok and their views on censorship/social credit, even if the company’s tried to move away from its home country. a couple studies have come out about the suppression of certain videos, especially political ones, and i think our focus should be on biased coding and tech-sanctioned censorship rather than the people who work to provide info around the algorithms. i’d like to hear your thoughts, though - you have really nuanced takes usually!

i'm not really well versed in a lot of the finer details of this stuff so take everything i say with a grain of salt. there's a lot of stuff i don't know but anyone can feel free to correct me if i'm missing something.

first, really broadly, i think a lot of people - on the left and right - greatly misunderstand the concept of free speech. i see people throw around the idea that you can't shout fire in a crowded theatre as a way of proving that there are limits to free speech. and that's true. but also shouting fire in a crowded theatre is not allowed for different reasons than - say - denying the holocaust is not allowed (in some countries). both are limits on speech but the limits have different bases. the former creates panic and the latter is a kind of hate speech. they aren't like limits so the justification of one says almost nothing about the other. so, just, fundamentally, i think discussion of free speech - algorithms aside - is lacking online.

that might read like a massive tangent but i think any criticism of algorithms really hinges on what we think are acceptable limitations on our speech versus what we think is 'censorship'. i.e. why we think certain speech is justifiably outside of the scope of free speech protections and other speech is not.

it also hinges on what we think counts as suppression of speech and who we think should be monitoring speech (if it should be tech companies or the government or something else). if the algorithm doesn't promote it, is that suppression? or is it only if the video is hidden from searches? and if we think e.g. the government should have influence over what speech tech companies suppress or promote then we have to ask: are we comfortable with that degree of influence irrespective of who's in power?

also, for the most part, i've heard creators are guessing which words they are and aren't allowed to say. and we might think that's fixed by more transparency but then consider the implications of social media companies being transparent about algorithms. if they tell us which words are flagged then they give harmful content a way around the system.

that being said, there should absolutely be better ways to appeal when your content is banned because, you're right, political content shouldn't be censored and it is wrongly censored a lot of the time.

but we also have to consider whether we want algorithms to be more liberal and let more harmful content through or more strict and prevent more informative/useful content from being seen.

i honestly don't know enough about algorithms or programming or whatever to actually comment on how complicated it is to strike a balance here. but yeah idk those are just my thoughts about some of the moving parts involved.

i would comment more about censorship in certain countries but i don't know the specifics of how much influence they have on specific social media companies so i'd be talking out of my ass a bit.

#asks #anon #i just woke up so if this isn't coherent u have my apologies #i rlly don't have a super well formed opinion on this bc i rlly dont know enough #i do think it's funny when people mime words to avoid being demonetised on youtube #like. i giggle.#but i'm mostly watching something like 'top 10 urban legends that'll scare ur socks off' and not political content #so ur right that there is a bigger problem

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jkcsolar · 1 year ago

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All In Two Solar Street Light

In order to prolong battery life, battery backup offers 2–5 days of autonomy and takes into account regional weather conditions. Commercial solar lighting projects and municipal lighting projects are the main uses for all in two solar street light.

China All In Two Solar Street Light Advantages

It takes 5 hours to fully charge a lithium battery. In order to provide continuous brightness without dimming or sensor function and extended backup for rainy days, battery capacity can be raised to twice that of the present market standard.

Difference Between All In One And All In Two Solar Street Light

Battery

The fundamental difference between the All in One and All in Two batteries is that the All in One batteries have a lesser capacity since the battery location is fixed, but the All in Two batteries have a relatively larger battery location. The larger solar panel that is installed on the lighting casing to store energy is another factor in the increased battery capacity.

Power Generation

All-in-one systems have limited directional angle flexibility because the solar panel is fixed to the lighting enclosure. Due to the fixed panel position, however, maximal energy harvest is not achievable here.

The solar panel of All in Two Solar Street Lights can be positioned such that it will receive the most sunlight and produce the most electricity. The panel will operate for less hours at night if it doesn't receive enough sunshine.

Installation

More people and work are needed to adjust and hold solar panels before setting them up in order to install the China All in Two Solar street light solution. It is simple to install because everything is easily housed in one box, including the solar panel, LED bulb, battery, smart censor, and controller.

As opposed to All in Two solar street lights, all-in-one solar street lights are simpler to install. One box is used to neatly store the device's solar panel, LED lamp, battery, smart sensor, and controller. Since there is no need to hold and adjust the solar panel, installation can be completed by one person or less. They can be erected on either new or used poles, as well as on walls.

#china #all #in #two #solar #street #light

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twig-tea · 2 months ago

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Thanks for tapping me in, @bengiyo! The short answer is no, things are actually getting more strict rather than less; we've seen even already censored shows (by which I mean shows based on gay romance novels but made into bromances) get pulled from airing and shelved over the last year or so (thinking of for example Immortality, Eternal Blessing, Justice in the Dark, and The Spirealm). However, the important thing to know about China's censorship is that media censorship is primarily handled, to my understanding, via The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television which reviews shows for broadcasting in China itself. As I mentioned in my post about East Palace, West Palace, the Film Law was passed in 1998 to prevent films from being made outside of the main studio system, but that doesn't apply to television and with the internet, cheap webseries are easier to make and harder to control. The focus is always primarily on their own people and wielding the power they have, so Chinese censors will go first after platforms airing in China, such as Douyin, as well as platforms based in China, such as iQIYI. It is much harder to control distribution outside of China, which is how most of the uncensored Chinese content has gotten to us.

We tend to get 1 or 2 uncensored shows per year, for example In Your Heart in 2022 and the 2016 The Fairy Fox series aired for the first time with English subs (to my knowledge) in 2023. As far as I'm aware, in 2024 we've had 3--Meet You At the Blossom which was a Chinese/Taiwanese/Thai joint production (which I'm assuming means most of it was produced outside of China), Gym Affairs which relied on being a very small webseries on YouTube (but despite that, the production company's second miniseries never completed), and the one that inspired this question Blue Canvas of Youthful Days, which originally started airing in August but even though it was only airing outside of China, it was still pulled from iQIYI after episode 4, and it took several months' of effort by the production company to secure distribution outside of China via GagaOOLala, YouTube, and Viki. I have such respect for this company that they put their product on so many platforms at once, to ensure this time it will air in full.

This is of course not going into all of the content we get outside of Mainland China, e.g. from Taiwan and (on a smaller scale) Hong Kong. Unknown, for example, we were able to get because a Taiwanese company adapted what was originally a Chinese danmei.

A slightly long answer to basically say: Nope, things haven't changed, anon! But as with any censorship situation, people who are passionate will find a way. I wanted to write a little more detail to acknowledge how hard people work to get this content made and in front of us, and how much risk they often take.

So I got very interested in Blue Canvas of Youthful Days after seeing your post, but as someone who hasn't watched a lot of shows recently, I was surprised. Is Chinese BL at last getting free from the censorship? I remember the days of Addicted, the initial crackdowns, the censored "bromances", the shows stuck in eternal development hell... it was sad. Has things started changing?

Not exactly? I'll tag @twig-tea in on this one because they keep better track of shows than me these days.

The most interesting thing that we're seeing is Chinese stories being adapted outside of the mainland. We saw Fragrance of the First Flower produced in Taiwan. We saw My Sand In and Battle of the Writers adapted in Thailand.

I'm not sure what's going on with the powers that be in China around this. I genuinely don't know why Blue Canvas made it to us, especially after getting pulled before episode 5. I'm nervous about what the final moments of this show have in store for us if they let it come back to us.

#ask game #yes and #typed so that i can stop thinking it #bl industry #chinese politics

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unforth · 3 years ago

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So, English-Speaking Danmei Fandoms, You Want to Support Authors... (New Shiny Print Book Purchasing Edition!)

...and, so do I, I still do, just as I did when I made my "dumb white English-more-or-less-only speaking person figures out how to use JJWXC" post (here). But, it's harder now - because a lot of our faves have now been censored/removed by JJWXC. BUT, that doesn't mean we can't still support the authors. I'd been meaning to take some time and figure how out exactly to do that, and now...I have...so here we go, I'm gonna tell you how, or at least, tell you what I did, and we can pray together that our books actually arrive in however long it's currently taking things to ship from Taiwan.

Here goes...

First, I used this post by minmoyu to figure out where to buy my books from. Initially, I wanted to go with a Chinese source, despite censorship issues, because books printed in China are in simplified Chinese, and unlike when I wrote my JJWXC post in June, I've now been studying simplified Chinese for like an hour a day for more than 2 months, so I theoretically could someday read a book I buy. However, after poking at Taobao for almost 20 minutes, I gave up and switched to a Taiwanese source, because I think I can probably figure out traditional Chinese more easily than I can figure out signing up for Taobao (I'm only, like 60% kidding).

I ended up going with Book TW, because minmoyu's guide made it sound pretty easy to use, with a good selection, and good support for international purchasing (I'm in the US). I strongly recommend you use an online translator. I do a LOT of copying-and-pasting into Google translate's Chinese-to-English. If you just go to Google and search "chinese to english dictionary" you should be able to do quick looking up straight from the search results. You'll also probably want a currency converter. xe.com works well. If you're in the US like me, you'll be looking at conversions from TWD (Taiwan New Dollar) to USD. Most of these books, when they're not special editions or box sets, seem to run around 300 TWD, which is about $10 US.

Alright! You've got the book store. You've got a translator. You've got a currency thingy. Now you need books! You'll need the book title and/or author, in Chinese, to search. The website also doesn't 't care if you put in simplified or traditional - you'll get the same results. (But all volumes here are in traditional, as far as I know, so if that makes a difference to you, be prepared).

Here are (in simplified) most of the titles that JJWXC has censored. These ones, I've searched for you and linked, though there are often multiple editions so you might want to do your own searching.

Author: 墨香铜臭 (Mo Xiang Tong Chou/MXTX). MXTX has written three books; all have been removed from JJWXC, and they're all available in print on Books TW.

人渣反派自救系统 (Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong/Scum Villain's Self Saving System). There are three volumes; they're labeled as "starting, middle, and end" or "over, middle, under," it doesn't translate that well sorry I'm still new and bad at this. Anyway, here they are: 上 (start) | 中 (middle) | 下 (end).

魔道祖师 (Mo Dao Zu Shi/Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation). There are like four different editions listed, and my ability to figure out how they're different was nil. One is definitely a special edition which is uncensored and appears to be a box set/all the volumes in one. That one is here. It's also available in four volumes, which is what I bought, except I have no idea what I'm doing so I accidentally only bought three, oops. (In my defense when I translated parts of it, it literally said "in three parts." But still. I can read numbers. I shouldn't have made this mistake, sigh.) But, whatever, I'm buying it in English too and life goes on. So, here are those four volumes - the last is marked as 18+ so is presumably uncensored, or at least not heavily censored. 一 (one) | 二 (two) | 三 (three) | 四 (four)

天官赐福 (Tian Guan Ci Fu/Heaven Official's Blessing). I actually didn't do anything with TGCF since I already had bought it on JJWXC, and even though that's now locked I just am too broke for...any of this...much less buying titles duplicative (especially since I've pre-ordered all three MXTX English translations). But at a glance, there's a couple options. The main book appears to be in four parts, or you can buy a set that includes 1 and 2, and a second set with 3 and 4, and those ones are fancy and include some pretty looking merch, too. It's cheaper to just buy the four separately than to get the two fancy box sets but if you can afford them, they look damn pretty. Censorship shouldn't be an issue, since TGCF isn't explicit. 一 (one) | 二 (two) | 三 (three) | 四 (four)

Author: 肉包不吃肉 (Roubao Buchi Rou/Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat). Meatbun has finished...two books I think? and is working on a third? Regardless, Yuwu isn't locked on JJWXC yet, and it isn't available for sale on Books TW anyway. Erha IS, or at least, as far as I can tell, it is...

海棠微雨共歸途 (Haitang Weiyu Gong Guitu). Hey, I hear you saying, that doesn't say 二哈和他的白猫师尊 (Erha he Ta de Baimao Shizun). Yeah, I was confused too, but I've googled a bunch and as far as I can tell, YES, this is correct - like, the edition here was available from Shandian-go, and the translation of the summary talks about Chu Wanning and stuff. So, it was printed with a different name. I'm also profoundly unsure if this is the whole book. Considering that TGCF is like a third shorter, and is four volumes, it seems surreal to me that 2ha could be in only two volumes, but I can't find any evidence that there's more, so. That's where it's at. If this isn't the whole book, the later volumes haven't been published yet. Volumes: 一 (one) | 二 (two). I'd also guess it's censored, though hell if I know how to check that (hey, you were warned this was a guide by a dumb white person who doesn't speak hardly any Chinese, you're getting what you paid for, information and guide wise...the best I can really tell you is, I was satisfied enough that I bought them based on what information I COULD figure out. Whether you do the same is up to you.)

Author: Priest (...is Priest, if you search with English letters, you'll find them). Priest is an incredibly prolific author. I'm not going to list all their works here, just the ones I was personally interested in - today I was in the market for TYK and SPL primarily.

天涯客 (Tian Ya Ke/Faraway Wanderers). If it's available, I sure couldn't find it (remember how I have no idea what I'm doing?).

镇魂 (Zhenhun/Guardian). I already have Guardian from JJWXC, and as I've mentioned, can't afford duplicates, but here it is! The original isn't explicit (I'd call it mature, sex is talked about but not described in detail) so I would guess this isn't censored, but I'm not sure.

杀破狼 (Sha Po Lang/apparently it translates to "Kill the Wolf" - so says Google anyway, I know lang is wolf but the rest is beyond me - but I never see anyone translate it? I always just see it referred to Sha Po Lang or SPL). I don't know much about SPL but some friends and I are planning to try reading it together in Chinese to improve our skills, so I wanted to get it, and also 'cause it's been removed by JJWXC, and fuck censorship. I have no idea if the original is explicit, but it's in a pretty-looking box set and I bought it so I guess I'll find out. SPL is here.

If a title you want to buy in print isn't listed here, you'll need to find the Chinese title and/or author yourself (I recommend searching with both, personally). novelupdates.com is my personal go-to for finding out alternative names and such. To search, you'll want to go to the search bar, put the text in, and limit your search by going to the second option down - the first is "everything," so it searches the whole website, and you'll get a lot of not-helpful results. The second is "books," though I have no idea why cause that's not how I've learned to say books. But, that's what google says it means, so... yeah. Here's an example of a search not on the above (it's Thousand Autumns by Meng Xi Shi, because I'm an idiot and realized while writing this that I hadn't bought it and I have Regrets):

Put in the book title (in this case, 千秋) and author (in this case, 夢溪石) - it lists a whole bunch of auto-complete options, which might help you if you're struggling, just look for the one that matches what you want. And, in the other drop down menu, pick the second one down, and then hit the magnifying glass, and ta-da, you'll get results. The results for this don't look all fancy-pants, cause 18+, but you'll be able to see the title, and checking the next in the location I've circled below can help you double check you've found the right author - like, just make sure it matches the name of the author you were searching for.

You'll want to be careful to make sure you get all the volumes (for example, Qianqiu has 4 volumes).

Okay, so now you've found the book you want, what do you do? Buy it, of course!

The lighter orange button on the right with a picture of a cart is (shock) the one that lets you add it to your cart. And you'll see up top, the cart icon, and the 0 next to it. Add it to your cart and the number next to the 0 will now say one! WHAT MAGIC!

Now, go visit your cart. But, when you try to open it, you'll see - you can't even look at it without making an account. If you have an account, awesome, log in - if not, you'll need to pick the circled one.

One of the cool things about Books TW? They put in the Chinese for each item, and ALSO the English, when you go to make an account! So, the next window you reach looks like this:

(I personally chose gender: none, delightedly.)

Fill this out with your info. You do NOT need to do either of the check boxes at the bottom - they're NOT "have you read the terms..." they're "do you want our e-mails?" - and then click the yellow button. It loads a little weird - it, like, doesn't seem to "take?" or at least it didn't when I did this - but once you've done it, if you go back to that previous page and put in your username, password, and verification code (you'll probably need a new code, cause the old one will have timed out - that link right next to the code box will get you a new one) and hit the big green log in button, you'll be able to get in. And then there's your cart!

(and my real name, oops...oh well, it wasn't actually a secret...)

Next, when you're ready to pay, scroll down and you'll see three buttons:

You want the MIDDLE ONE, not the yellow one. The middle one is "overseas check out," whereas the yellow one is specifically for domestic purchases. When you click that, it opens a pop up. I have no idea what the pop up says, I just clicked the top one again (it says overseas check out, also) and hoped, and it seemed to work right. It opens up a list of purchase options:

The top one is "use your credit card," so it's probably what most folks want (you can use Visa, Mastercard, or JCB), but you might also want the bottom one, which uses ATM code information? I'm not positive; I used the first one. Click the bubble; you will NOT be asked for your credit card info yet. Scroll down, you'll be asked next for your personal information. I've labeled the fields in this screen cap:

When you've put in the info, click the yellow button I circled. I glanced at the drop down menu of countries; it looks like most of the world is there, so you're probably okay most places in the world, if you want to order and aren't in the US.

The next page confirms your cart and address. This is the stage where shipping is calculated, so pay attention - it's expensive. For example, just for SPL...

The shipping is about equal to half-again the price of the book: the SPL box set is $25 US, and shipping it is about $15. If you want to be able to guesstimate your shipping cost ahead of time, I'd suggest adding 50% to of the price of the books to your pre-shipping total - like, my personal purchase was just under $100 US, just the books, and the shipping was just over $50.

Once you've wept for your bank account and recovered from sticker shock, you're ready to proceed. There's a check box below your address, you'll need to check it - I'm not putting a screen cap cause I've hit Tumblr's image limit, but it's a "you've read the ToS" confirmation.

You'll want to hit the yellow button again; I'm NOT going to do that, cause I'm not making another purchase and didn't think to take screen caps my first time through. But, you'll get a pop up - it says a lot of Chinese and has a scary count down but don't worry, it's just a "you'll be redirected to a payment page in x seconds" page. After that, you'll be prompted to enter your credit card information; that page has Chinese and English labels, so it was quite easy to use, and then you'll get asked if you want to get charged as your local currency or in TWD (it only matters if you think your bank will give you a better exchange rate than the one they're suggesting). After that, I personally had to ALSO do a confirmation with my bank, and get a verification code and enter that - whether you need to do that will presumably depend on your banks security. Finally, once all the payment confirmations were done, I was routed to a "congratulations on your purchase!" page, and...that's it!

YOU'VE BOUGHT YOUR DANMEI!!

ARE YOU EXCITED? (I'm so fucking excited for mine omg.)

Anyway, I screwed up and didn't buy Qianqiu or MDZS vol. 1, so I guess I'm gonna have to plan another order for sometime...maybe I'll do another guide, if it might actually be helpful. I dunno. I'm just fumbling my way through all this, and hoping that my willingness to fumble will make other people feel a little more confident fumbling also. We get so much joy from these books; buying them - especially the ones with no currently slated English translations - seems like the least we can do, if we can afford it. JJWXC has made it impossible for us to buy them online, but that doesn't mean we can't still buy the books.

I spent $150 today, and I'm getting MDZS, SVSSS, SPL, and 2ha. On a per-volume basis, my final cost was $15 per book (if SPL is only 2 volumes, anyway, I don't actually know). Considering how much nice editions of Western titles cost on Amazon or at a bookstore, that's a ridiculously reasonable price, and it INCLUDES the shipping. So, really, if you can afford it at all, it's not over-priced at all, and would be even less if shipping were cheaper. It's also cheaper, per-volume, than the English translations will be/are.

Basically: This is entirely doable, English-speaking fandom. So, no more excuses for not doing it, if you have the money.

SUPPORT AUTHORS!!!! DO THE THING!!!!!

#danmei #mdzs #tgcf #svsss #tyk #spl #guardian #2ha #i have so much to do #and continue to use my time so badly #why am i like this #still if this helps people it's worth it #if anyone who actually knows wtf is going on sees something i fucked up please do tell me so i can amend #i don't want to mislead anyone or cause other people to get things wrong #i just want people to buy danmei dammit

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zhongwans · 4 years ago

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hi! i've seen you mentioned some criticism before the release of woh but i'm a relatively recent fan, if you don't mind could you explain what happened?

WOH's casting was not well received, basically.

People are always dissatisfied with castings tbh, but the reaction to WOH's was especially negative. Simply put, people thought the two of them were "too manly" to star in dangai. Because GJ and ZZH are "too manly", they must be "too straight", and because they're "too straight" it must mean that acting in a love story with another man would be too difficult for them. Based on that very flawed assumption, people believed they would be too awkward to act out a proper romance with each other and so their chemistry would be nonexistent.

People were especially dissatisfied with ZZH because his image was very stereotypically manly (this is a "problem" because Zhou Zishu is a shou/bottom), he's had at least two girlfriends before and he's known for not performing fanservice with his costars.

GJ has actually starred in a BL before (an actual one, not censored) but it wasn't aired in China, so people only knew him through his het dramas. Like ZZH, his appearance did not fit fans' image of the character he was casted as.

It's not that people were particularly angry (TYK is one of priest's older and less popular books, so it doesn't have a dedicated fandom that would care enough to get angry) it's just that people took one look at the casting and immediately thought "there's no way that's going to work" and promptly noped out.

The show had only one scriptwriter (in cdramas, it's common to have at least two or three working on one script together) and she was a newbie, on top of that. When leaks came out, people thought the costumes were ugly which further solidified the "this will definitely flop" opinion about the show. The low funding and lack of sponsors did not help improve the show's reputation. People saw the early leaks and promotional stuff and said that it looked like GJ and ZZH didn't get along and secretly hated each other.

Only eight or so fanstations were set up for WOH at that time, while the other productions had at least twenty. I think h/yx had around sixty? And in polls conducted on weibo, WOH was almost always voted as the least anticipated dangai drama and the most likely to fail. No one paid attention to it. It seemed pretty chill on the outside because nobody cared, but the situation within the fandom was...messy.

It's very, VERY lucky that no one cared about them, because there were quite a few bad incidents involving toxic solo fans during filming. Simply put, GJ and ZZH's solo fans thought that the two of them seemed way too close. There was a GJ fangroup that ended up disbanding because the fans running it were so pissed (one of them apparently came up to GJ and argued with him over ZZH). There was also the incident of ZZH's fans saying really horrible things to him on weibo because his studio uploaded pics of him with GJ (one "fan" told him to go see a psychiatrist) that he ended up arguing with them before eventually deleting his weibo app. I remember at that time being super thankful whenever I see h/yx trending on weibo, because that means all the attention was still on it and not at whatever tf was going on with GJ and ZZH. The lack of attention was a blessing.

Anyway, things worked out in the end. The script ended up being one of the best in recent years, everyone fawned over the quality of the costumes, and people were quick to change their minds about the casting once they started watching. The lack of sponsors meant there were less greedy businessmen dipping their slimy, uncultured fingers into the production (that's why a lot of high budget cdramas are shit) and the production team had complete control of the creative process. And of course, the funniest thing has to be that the actors that people thought secretly hated each other ended up being the only popular dangai actors so far to support and protect each other instead of competing for fans and money.

#ask

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olderthannetfic · 3 years ago

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wow that's a lot fewer slurs-in-tags than I expected. I predicted there'd be at least a few hundred with how people were talking about it. I'm also surprised most of the ones with a negative context were sexuality-based. Maybe all the slur-users are from tiktok and censoring their harassment.

This gets pretty well into how banning language can often screw people over who use it as a self-descriptor or in a more general way. I mean, I don't want queer to be banned from the tags as a slur, y'know? I like calling characters queer because I am queer. And what about dyke? Is freak a slur? And don't think I don't notice how cunt or bitch aren't ever warned for even though there's a argument about them being gendered slurs in certain contexts. Not to mention the effect of adjectives, stick filthy in front of a ton of totally benign nouns for a marginalized group and it's pretty bad.

I dunno how'd we'd ban even the unambiguous slurs without getting rid of warnings for said slurs or giving people the ability to filter out works that do use those tags (which are probably just as slur-filled). And aren't slurs used in a specifically harassing context already against ao3's TOS? urhg it's complicated because I don't want to say there isn't a problem, but it feels more like a community issue than a structural one. Harassment is already banned, block/mute is on its way, banning specific words from tags won't work and cripple our ability to warn/filter for those slurs (not to mention what qualifies as a slur can be pretty ambiguous). People are the problem, either ignorant, where education is the answer and it's probably too subtle to properly regulate, or malicious, which intentional malice is very creative at circumventing rules like bans on words.

Of course there's also a possibility that with all the attention being given to it, the trolls will sense weakness and flood the tags with slurs.

And with regards to 'cunt', how do we handle it being really fairly extreme in US English but not a big deal to other native speakers? (Personally, I like it. 'Pussy' is infantilizing, unhot drivel or a comedic mass noun.)

I'm not surprised there are few. The racism--actual racism--on AO3 has always been primarily in the form of indifference.

People often don't find ethnic minority characters sexually attractive, so they don't ship them or they occasionally write them as the emotional support boyfriend propping up the much more author-beloved other person. It's particularly stark when it comes to dark-skinned characters and characters seen as black in the US. Notice, I don't say this is primarily about "white" and "nonwhite" because fandom has zero problems being extremely horny for ethnic majority characters in their own country's media if that media is fantasy dramas from China or anime from Japan or something. This isn't just because of colorism (though that doesn't help). It's also about the subtleties of how media presents A Default Hero vs. An Othered Sidekick.

It's hard to fight indifference.

Each fic writer is just doing what they enjoy and probably hasn't done anything wrong individually. But the sum total of their lack of interest adds up to an AO3 that tells fans what the community values and does not value. I genuinely believe the sum total of that is alienating. People are being honest about how it affects them. But it's also hard to know how to combat that situation or those feelings because there isn't a clear bad guy who can be yelled at and told to shape up.

Many of the fights about "bad" content on AO3 really boil down to there not being enough "good" content or the "good" content getting buried while the "bad" content has eighty bajillion kudos. Slurs in tags are mostly a red herring.

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aquietwhyme · 2 years ago

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Thank you for your civility.

Calling Xi Pooh (not Phoo, I'm unaware if that has a meaning) is a reference to people in China comparing him to Winnie the Pooh, and the actions of the censors there to stifle that and punish people for it. It's a bit childish maybe, but it's not a reference to his Chinese-ness, and more meant as reference to being thin-skinned.

We'll have to disagree about the CCCP. If Lenin's health hadn't failed, I think the leniency you are mentioning would have been immensely to the good; as it worked out Stalin's approach, and the actions he took to consolidate support led to that sabotage you mentioned. I'll acknowledge that Xi is not nearly as bad as he could be; he's no worse than a US president if I'm honest, but that's a really low bar in the 21st century.

I agree that the raising of living standards has been tremendous; that's precisely why it's dismaying to see some of the evils of capitalism creep back in, especially one that took such heroic efforts (and a few atrocities) to stamp out, as ending the landlords did.

Waging a 'final strike against NATO' is an imperialist nationalist fantasy, and has nothing to do with leftism or concern for the wellbeing of humanity. Most NATO nations are already in decline as capitalism cannibalizes them. It's important for other sovereign powers to be able and ready to defend themselves, especially in the face of US or Russian aggression, the same as it is for individuals to be able to defend themselves, but replacing fading US hegemony with nuclear war doesn't serve anybody.

Lastly, I'm unsure how you're using the term 'the western left', because it can refer to several different ideas, some of which are contradictory. You clearly mean it as an insult, but it's more confusing than insulting. Everything from Marxism to Ricardian socialism is 'western'. If you mean to call me a social democrat you are wrong; if you mean that I put stock in the notion of human rights, then you are correct. I don't think that's it though, because while that started as a liberal idea, it has been adopted by much of the left around the world as well.

In any case, I won't be celebrating Xi's imperial hold on power, which started this exchange. Be well.

I propose a toast to Xi Jinping leader of the free world for his re-election as chairman! His leadership has led China into a glorious and shining future and now he shall lead the free world there as well!

The post is machine translated

Translation at the bottom

The collective is on telegram

(Photos and video from the event)

(Foto e video dall'evento)

⚠️ XI JINPING È STATO RIELETTO PRESIDENTE DELLA REPUBBLICA POPOLARE CINESE E DELLA COMMISSIONE MILITARE CENTRALE ⚠️

🇨🇳 Oggi, 10 marzo, il Compagno Xi Jinping - Segretario Generale del Partito Comunista Cinese - è stato rieletto, al 14° Congresso Nazionale del Popolo, come Presidente della Repubblica Popolare Cinese e della Commissione Militare Centrale ⭐️

🚩 Il Presidente Cinese ha prestato il Giuramento:

💬 "Mi impegno a essere fedele alla Costituzione della Repubblica Popolare Cinese, salvaguardare l'Autorità della Costituzione, adempiere ai miei obblighi legali, essere fedele al Paese e al Popolo, essere impegnato e onesto nel mio dovere, accettare la supervisione del Popolo e lavorare per un Grande Paese Socialista Moderno che sia Prospero, Forte, Democratico, Culturalmente Avanzato, Armonioso e Bello. Io, Xi Jinping, faccio questo Giuramento" 🇨🇳

💕 Dopodiché, il Presidente Cinese si è inchinato di fronte ai Delegati del Congresso e all'Emblema della Repubblica Popolare 🇨🇳

🌸 Iscriviti 👉 @collettivoshaoshan

⚠️ XI JINPING RE-ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND THE CENTRAL MILITARY COMMISSION ⚠️

🇨🇳 Today, March 10, Comrade Xi Jinping - General Secretary of the Communist Party of China - was re-elected, at the 14th National People's Congress, as President of the People's Republic of China and of the Central Military Commission ⭐️

🚩 The Chinese President took the Oath:

💬 "I pledge to be faithful to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, safeguard the Authority of the Constitution, fulfill my legal obligations, be loyal to the country and the People, be committed and honest in my duty, accept the People's supervision, and work for a Great Modern Socialist Country that is Prosperous, Strong, Democratic, Culturally Advanced, Harmonious and Beautiful. I, Xi Jinping, take this Oath" 🇨🇳

💕 After that, the Chinese President bowed to the Congress Delegates and the Emblem of the People's Republic 🇨🇳

🌸 Subscribe 👉 @collettivoshaoshan

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femsolid · 3 years ago

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Prev. anon, thank for your response, saved a lot of nerves seeing all the ins and outs of that angle preemptively. I apologize that it came off as if I'm blaming women for scarcity there, of course it's males and their damn sadism, lechery and god-complex, I was really judging from how I'd personally think in that scenario seeing all the horrible news already in motion. You've pinpointed just the reasons PIV-strike isn't really working, but also if any of those women are reading, I wanna say I fell into 6B4T "rabbithole" myself a couple of years ago, after my nigel refused vasectomy to my face with "what if I want kids" (we agreed to be child-free from the start, and I was nearly fully financially dependent on him at that point, it was going back to poverty and trad-country family disapproval) and we went no-PIV sex a couple for a of years before that, and as difficult as that is to finally acknowledge that your pro-radfem-nigel actually doesn't see you as a full person and losing the in-het-partnership privileges is, I never felt more confident and sure of my own capacities, and even doubting how I'll pay off the next bill as I did before him isn't worst doubting if my next bill comes at the expense of my body-and-soul integrity, and men really rob you of your socio-emotional fulfillment (statistics back it up) - that's why you feel so lonely, not because there's nothing outside of the relationship. These fears are really the stirrings of conscientiousness and pride, trust me some fears you must follow, not run from.

Well put. Thank you for sharing your experience. Dee Graham wrote that "most women are one man away from poverty", and that to me speaks volume of the nature of those supposed happy, non abusive, and chosen relationships. But if women organized to support each others instead of remaining isolated in this one-on-one domesticity with men, it wouldn't have to be this way.

For anyone wondering, 6B4T refers to south korean and chinese feminist separatism. They gave themselves 6 rules starting with the letter B and 4 rules starting with the letter T (in korean), hence 6B4T.

The 6 "B" rules are no sex, child-rearing, dating or marriage with men, offering support to your fellow celibate women and refusing to buy sexist products.

The 4 "T" rules are rejecting strict beauty standards, rejecting hypersexual depictions of women in Japanese otaku culture, rejecting religion and rejecting idol culture.

It became popular enough to be banned and censored in China.

#ask

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thenightlymartini · 2 years ago

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I had an idea!

I know New Year resolutions aren't a thing everywhere, but because the New Year for a lot of places just started I thought it might be cool.

What is one resolution that each of them keep, and one that they drop?

You know, I honestly can't remember if I've done something like this before. I'm also not the most adept at searching Tumblr archives, much less lots of behind the scene stuff, so if there was a way for me to figure that out I just don't know about it.

This also gets a little tricky since I know Chinese New Year is more prominent in both Koreas, and I definitely know very little about it other than small bits and pieces I've seen on blogs, fanfics, and Tik Tok. Basically next to no knowledge. As such, this is mostly going to focus on New Year customs I'm familiar with, because I don't feel comfortable talking about Chinese New Year due to my lack of knowledge.

Also this is going to be long, so be prepared.

CW: light mentions of the Korean War and the separation, alcoholism, issues with weight loss, a swear word or two that is censored

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kimchiburger: America introduced this concept to SK fairly early on after they began to build a friendship, and SK found it kind of amusing but also kind of a cool idea. Amusing mostly because, since he's lived so long, he knows it's mostly just going to be the same thing every year and most of these resolutions don't actually get followed through with, but cool as in it kind of is like setting up goals for oneself and sort of makes people try to better themselves.

America obviously makes one for getting into better shape or lose weight, which usually just doesn't keep for long because his diet is very weird and his expectations are extremely too high or too low. Like he under or overestimates how much work it will take or how much he will actually lose, much less what is actually healthy for his body type. SK has to remind him that at least he tried and it will take time, though he will love him even if he does gain weight.

As far as the one he keeps, America made one about trying to be less ignorant of other's customs. He cringes at every memory where he unknowingly and/or accidentally did something rude towards others purely surrounding customs, as well as constantly wonder if being belligerent and his ignorance caused unneeded tension between him and others when they could have potentially become friends. Thus, he makes it his goal to learn as much about other cultures as he can, even those within his own country, no matter if they are minorities or majorities. SK helps him with this a lot when it comes to Korean culture and pointing out the differences between cultures, such as eating etiquettes between Japan, South Korea, and China. SK would also invite the Philippines over to help out with pointing out sub groups in each country and how similar and different certain customs are across multiple countries.

SK tried making new year resolutions when he first heard about them from America, and he always makes the same one every year nearing the end of the 1980s, no matter if it is kept, even if only with marginal results, or drops catastrophically: Have a better relationship with NK. He knows he has very little control over it, considering politics, but in an ideal world where it was just he and his brother influencing their relationship, he would do anything to start mending it. They were bonded together and had each other's backs through thick and thin for centuries if not millennia, only for it be shredded to bits in the span of half a century. There was a time for a few decades where he truly despised NK, just because the wounds kept reopening and the resulting emotional rollercoaster was extremely chaotic, but his anger and feelings of betrayal have been tempered enough where regret and sadness have slowly started to form with some logical reasoning behind it. He's also starting to realize that the longer they are separated and at odds with each other, the less likely reunification will be possible, not only from practical and logistical standpoints like economy, military, and what not, but even from a cultural perspective where he's beginning to see that their own languages are slowly starting to split and certain cultural norms don't hold up as well between them. SK actually was terrified slightly when one day he and NK were in an argument and he was having a hard time understanding him.

Rusnk: From what I understand and have researched briefly, I believe New Years is a bigger deal in Russia than Christmas is, considering Christmas came back after the Soviet Union fell.

Russia loves New Year's. Not necessarily for the idea of "new year, new me" that is common in America where it's a clean slate, but just because a new year means a chance to try again, to learn from the previous year and do better. The idea of making a resolution is still a fairly newer concept introduced, but he likes the idea of them. One in particular that he made that he kept was try to find the good, beauty, or happiness in even the littlest of things. He's lived so long with bitter cold and such a dark history, often by his own hand too, that he's forgotten that not everything in the world is a cold, cruel place or is meant to break him. Even if it is only in a few things or even one thing for an entire year, he finds it as an accomplishment. He's recently started to see snow as more than just brutal winter and has started to see the beauty snow fall can be and the happy times winter can bring, like children making forts or snowball fights, gathering around warmth for celebrations and family time, the way silence doesn't have to be deafening or oppressive and that it can bring peace of mind. It helps that NK likes to indulge in these kinds of things on occasion, and often times will compose poetry with Russia as a means to help organize thoughts and see the better aspects of things.

One that he definitely drops is trying to cut back on his liquor intake, not necessarily due to liking liquor that much, but mostly cause it is so hard to do and political matters and emotional trauma don't make it any easier. He tries, at least around NK, to not drink that much mostly because the other tries to drink with him and it is an absolute disaster when the Korean does. He's also noticing the effects the amount of liquor he normally drinks is starting to have on his body, despite being an immortal. Probably died of cirrhosis of the liver a few times before he knew what it was in his time as a nation. He's realizing he has an addiction of sorts, but doesn't have the knowledge, constant support (NK can't always be by his side 24/7 and he lives alone majority of the time), and massive amounts of will power to either consistently drink less or kick it entirely. He still makes this resolution each year because he is learning from the previous year of what has worked and not and is getting better each time.

NK is far more inclined to Chinese New Year, but indulges in the Western New Year once in a while, mostly because Russia loves it so much. He's very much a pessimistic pragmatic when it comes to resolutions, since he believes people mostly do them as a front and don't actually mean to follow through with them, and that a new year is just "new year, same sh!t". He also doesn't care for them cause they are a Western tradition, but did some mostly to humor Russia.

One he did keep was just doing more creative things, like practicing his instruments or writing or drawing, mostly because he's realized he hasn't had time as of late to do any of them for several years and missed them to an extent. Thankfully, part of Russia's resolutions helped to keep his, since he and Russia write poetry together when Russia is struggling to see the good in things on a particularly bad day. He also likes to play his violin with Russia when the other has his own out. They actually work quite well together once they get through the rusty phase.

One he actually thought he was going to keep turned out to be the one he dropped, which was just trying to say one nice thing to people, whether daily or just whenever he actually saw any other nations. He figured out quickly that his attitude and temper make that really difficult for himself, and when they aren't a factor he botches it and will accidentally insult someone or stumble over his words because his social skills are near zero when not in a professional setting.

Commieburger: America loves making resolutions, but is bad at keeping them unless he has help, while NK is the pessimistic pragmatic that sees right through the sugarcoating and calls bullsh!t on them. The only reason America got NK to made a resolution at all was through compromise and a deal. America broached the subject with the idea of a shared resolution between them, that way both of them work at it together and progress will be made in their relationship. NK mulled it over for a bit, but gave in when he thought about how this would benefit them in the long run.

Their two resolutions were to be able to read each other better so they were more likely to be on the same page more often, which they did end up keeping, and the other was lessening petty arguments, which they debate over if it technically was kept or not.

A lot of their miscommunication, after some discussion, mostly stems from either not understanding intentions, word choice, or just a lack of accurately reading the other. Like, America often thinks NK is in a foul mood when really he's either just deep in thought about something or he's actually neutral (his resting facial expression doesn't help). NK had a hard time figuring out if America was actually boasting or was trying to hide his insecurities or nervousness with the hero complex. The resolution was open-ended on how they would achieve it, but it allowed both of them to generate ways that would hopefully work. NK was prone to doing round-about ideas, such as playing chess to analyze ticks and expressions of the other to get a general idea of certain behaviors or ticks he sees occurring in other situations, since he knows he sucks at directly communicating when it comes to opening up or just with emotions in general. America is more direct and will just ask on occasion, at least giving NK a heads-up that he's trying to ask about more minor stuff so as to not make the other too uncomfortable. Usually he does this while treating NK to food or drinks he made that he knows the other won't turn his nose up at, since NK is more agreeable when there is food involved. It actually worked better than anticipated when America realize he was no longer walking on egg shells with second guessing if NK was in a good mood or meant any of the things he says, especially with verbal ticks or slight expression changes or physical ticks. NK, in turn, became more aware of when America was trying to put on a show and became better at understanding the sources of these acts while being able to temper the other's fears or nerves.

Now, the petty arguments. America makes the point that what people would call "petty arguments" tend to be more debates between them, and, since major arguments are now only happening once in a blue moon or under very specific circumstances, shouldn't count as petty arguments and that they did keep that resolution, too. NK still sees them as arguing, considering they both get pretty riled up when defending themselves, rather than civil debates. He also believes, due to have been around the block a few times as far as age goes and has experienced far more in terms of nationhood in comparison to America, that he knows the difference between light arguments and civil debate and is very steadfast at keeping that stance, thus this was a flop. Ironically, this topic in of itself results in one of those petty arguments/debates between them that will still be talked about years later.

#hetalia #kimchiburger #commieburger #rusnk #anon asks #aph america #hws america #aph russia #hws russia #aph north korea #hws north korea #aph south korea #alfred f jones #ivan braginsky #im sang kyu #im yong soo

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bunn--y · 2 years ago

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I've been watching Les Miserables: Shoujo Cosette. Ie, the World Masterpiece Theatre version of Les Mis. I probably wouldn't have given it a chance if it wasn't for the fact that it is WMT since seeing Cosette as the main character wasn't something I was looking forward to. I should also note before continuing that my attempts to read the book have only got around 20 or so pages in. I might try an audiobook at some point.

Anyway, I'm enjoying this anime version. I'm currently midway through episode 21 and it's interesting. The censoring for kids is well done. Usually I prefer laugh at badly done censorship but there is something of value here. There's certainly a debate to be had on if it is right to censor Les Miserables if it is to be shown, but right now I'm not really interested in that.

I'm more into just collecting some random little thoughts than anything else.

Sister Samplice feels like an anime original and I was surprised to found out that she's from the book. Chou Chou would have been a bigger surprise but no, he's as much of an anime original as he looks like.

Cosette is very much the sort of moe character who I don't like, but there are a few things that I like so far. I like the fact that we see clear cut signs of PTSD from her abuse from the Thénardiers. I have a vague memory of reading once that she doesn't in the book. Considering that even decades after the book was published it was believed that child abuse couldn't lead to PTSD, I find that believable, though i have not been able to find the source that she didn't again. I also like that more focus (in comparison to the musical) is put on her relationship with Jean Valjean. This does allow the annoying parts of her moe characterisation to at least have justification. I should note that according to all sources, they didn't change how moe she was... though I doubt that her riding a dog was in the books. But that was genuinely cute (because she's an anime girl and hence won't break the dog's back) so I count it as the third thing that I liked.

I suppose I'd better address the elephant in the room. I dislike the character designs. I want to like them, especially when I checked out the book illustrations and found them to be quite cartoony too. For the most part individually I have no issues with them. However, when put together, there's too much of a 'beauty equals goodness' feel for me to like them. It's particularly annoying since The Book has a good sense of creating morally complicated characters. Javert has always fit into the idea of a anime villain even though he predates anime by so many years. Seeing him made out to look so obviously like a villain was disappointing.

A few months ago I came across a video on how Avatar The Last Airbender isn't popular in Japan and China due to existing in an uncanny valley but culturally rather than aesthetically. I feel something similar with this series, which is odd because it's often with things that I've been impressed with WMT for portraying well before like Christianity. I don't know how much of this is due to it being an anime and how much is due to it talking about catholicism when I'm used to protestant conversations. There's a lot of little bits though that just feel really off.

You know how I said this is censored and in this case, I'm amused by it though it's done well. I'm going to explain that now. It's things like Fantine not becoming a prostitute so she has instead work really unpleasant jobs, including one with dead fish bones. There's more of a focus on her feeling that she can't trust anyone and we get to watch her homelessness and abuse get to her. Again I'm comparing to the musical and not the book here, but I did enjoy that she got to attack those two men who attack her. (They put snow down her back). Yeah, let the abuse effect her, please. This censorship is well done since it's taking elements that kids haven't had the experience to understand and turns them into ones that kids do. While as an adult, I'm like 'fish bones and selling your body are two very different things' on a level of 'this is a gross thing to feel forced to do for money' it is a stronger idea for kids. Kids aren't supposed to know about sex on the level of understanding how sex work could effect Fantine and most of them wouldn't. At best they might understand that this makes her hard to employ, but she is already a begger on the streets just for having a daughter, so what difference does it make? As an adult who tries to understand children, it could even be argued that this is a stronger way of showing the sexism of the time.

That said, I'm hoping that the kids who grew up with this version went on to either the book or more adult adaptations.

There is another type of change that was made that I actually have a more solid ground on my feelings on. For anyone reading who isn't familiar with WMT they tend to do three things with their adaptions: make them slow, keep as much of the depressing stuff as possible even adding stuff sometimes and make them beautiful. So it wasn't a surprised that this is a slow adaptation. It also wasn't a surprise that there's a lot of focus on the abuse Cosette and Gavroche go through form the Thénardiers. WMT likes to focus on child abuse and not necessarily in a good way. It can often be guilt tripping in the attitude of 'look at what this child goes through and they're not making a fuss'. From what I have seen of this adaptation so far, this attitude is not here. In fact, the show goes out of its way to show that there are good people in the world who will look out for abused children. When Cosette goes off with Jean Valjean, we get to find out that the blacksmith and his wife who took Gavroche on for work is kind so we don't need to worry about him having to stay with the Thénardiers. Another example is discovering that the anime original character Alain is going to be taking over as mayor in the city that Jean Valjean had helped as mayor for so many years. This lighter and softer feel really stresses the hopeful nature of the story without undermining the sadness that it is also very important.

The thing that I like about these more hopeful additions is that they're small. From what I've read spoiler wise, the show still keeps a lot of the character deaths and has already kept Fantine's. As much as I think that doing a kid's version of les mis is interesting and that toning down some aspects is understandable in this instance, I would like to as a les mis fan see as much of the story kept as possible. As a WMT fan though I'm happy that they are showing restraint.

I imagine that I'll have a lot more to say once I finish the series. Especially considering the changes to some of the character deaths I've read about. One of the spoilers I'm already having real concerns about a big one involving an adult character.

#world masterpiece theater #les miserables #les miserables shoujo cosette #bunny watches stuff

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