#character: du chang feng

[movielosophy]

Destined | married

[dangermousie]

2023 End of Year Post - cdrama edition

Yes, we have a lot of December left, but I don't think anything else I want to check out will air before 2024 hits (it's cdrama so caveat is - you never know.)

This is only going to cover cdramas that aired in 2023; if I watched it but it was made in a different year, it's not on the list. This was a pretty good cdrama year, all in all.

DRAMAS WATCHED

(In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

30 legend of twin flower - Not dignifying that drama with capital letters, as the only capital that should be associated with this is capital punishment - which is what watching this feels like.

29 Dominator of Martial Gods - sounds like a bdsm gay porn title. Would probably be better acted and written if it was.

28 Beauty of Resilience - you'd need a lot of said resilience to sit through this incoherent, barely acted mess. The thing that I remember the most other than my annoyance is all the jingly-jangly head gear on JJY. Perhaps they could have sold some of them and spent the money on a better script.

27 Divine Destiny - if you think you have too many brain cells and want to get rid of some, boy do I have a drama for you!

26 Wanru’s Journey - honestly it's probably tied with SEL - I mean it's worse but it has actors who are nowhere as well known and a fraction of SEL's budget. Still, this is a big fat nope. I will not say what I think of Aoi Rupeng's "acting" or I'd have to put money in the curse jar.

25 Snow Eagle Lord - Gulinazha's stone face, nonsense plot, terrible CGI. Take your pick as to why this is terrible.

24 Scent of Time - it was uneven but fun but then that ending was dumb enough to destroy the whole thing. Show me on the doll where common sense hurt you, makers!

23 Royal Rumors - Jeremy Tsui and Meng Ziyi are utterly wasted in this nothing trifle of a drama.

22 Legend of Anle - I had high expectations but alas. This is the drama version of color beige. There is nothing offensive about it but nothing good either. Mediocre actors are mediocre, good actors become mediocre, this is just a waste of our finite time on planet earth.

21 Romance on the Farm - it's not you, it's me in action. I can see why people would like this wholesome slice of farming family life, but it's tailored to trigger every one of my "nope" opinions.

20 Back from the Brink - if I were 12, it would be my favorite thing. I am not 12.

19 Journey of Chong Zi - objectively a terrible drama with plot holes the size of Mars and a leading lady whose face has apparently frozen when the wind changed. But I am a total sucker for the trope of upright shizun falling for his demonic disciple and going mental so here we are. Objectively, garbage, subjectively my precious!

18 Love you Seven Times - just call poor Ding Yuxi "Atlas," he carried this mess so hard.

17 Blooming Days - trashy dogblood harem fight fun throwback. It's not that great (and the fact that it was shredded doesn't help) but it's probably the last gasp of that genre for the foreseeable future, so I am grading on a curve.

16 The Starry Love - a fun fantasy where the secondary OTP stole the thunder but overall a really solid fantasy xianxia romance.

15 The Longest Promise - it could have been better - the secondaries were unbearable and there was too much of them and what they did with Alen Fang's character still gives me rage fits, but the main couple was impeccable and lovely and I rooted so hard for them.

14 Chang Feng Du/Destined - visually gorgeous, solidly acted, impeccable first half. Bland as hell second half. Win some, lose some.

13 Circle of Love - this drama is a nonsense trash heap on fire. After a typhoon hit it. It was also the most entertaining, addicting drama on this whole list.

12 Hidden Love - the sole modern on this list, this story has barely any plot but it made me care about the young, decent lovers so hard.

11 Choice Husband - starts out wacky, continues with angst and blood and happy ending. I loved it, but I've always had a soft spot for melo and schemers turning devoted.

10 Pledge of Allegiance - bromance, super solid acting, visuals, a really dark take on officials and the world. Insanely underrated.

9 Provoke - a truly fun Republican revenge and love tale, showing that short format can be wonderful.

8 Gone with the Rain - some of the secondary characters are rage-inducing (hi there, cardboard boy!) but the scheming, ruthless, vulgar FL is amazing and her slowburn with her age gap general who is delighted by her out-there-ness is great!

7 Wonderland of Love - Fei Wo Si Cun goes wholesome and the result is surprisingly entertaining. Battle couple, glorious visuals, a fast paced plot. It's the first Xu Kai drama I enjoyed in years (and he plays a rare cdrama ML it would be pretty neat to pair up with in rl.)

6 My Journey to You - that ending is infuriating (and I am OK with open endings if done properly) but what a visual feast, probably the most gloriously shot drama on this list, and that's a tough competition. Also it packs a hell of a lot of couples and familial and adversarial relationships into its slim running time; assassin lady won over by a gentle man is my favorite trope and so this is extra great.

5. Till the End of the Moon - the ending is a rage-inducing disaster for me, but this drama was the most incredibly emotionally intense, visually eye popping experience. It was deeply flawed but when it was amazing, it was like nothing else in its visuals, its characters and its narratives. It took insane risks; some paid off and some did not, but it was glorious.

4. Story of Kunning Palace - I don't often care for reverse harem stories but this one was such fun - the main OTP was glorious (strong FL, unhinged ML) but honestly everything about this was just so excellently done.

3. The Ingenious One - the most adult drama on this list. Smart protagonists, intelligent plot, emotions that felt true, this is a revenge and a mystery and found family and goes into so many directions you do not expect (Su Mengyu's PTSD after his first kill - that is something you never see in dramas, definitely not prolonged and profound - not like this.) If I was to say which drama was objectively the best on this list, as opposed to favorite, it would be this.

1 (tie) Lost You Forever 1 - this is an exquisite emotional jewel of a story about damaged people moving forward, with damage always present - their past informs their present and always will. The narrative about Xiao Yao and three very different men in her life makes me think that it's an equivalent of a neutron bomb going off right before the main narrative starts and now we are watching the survivors wander in the wreckage. This is very high fantasy setting but it's one of the most emotionally human narratives out there.

1 A Journey to Love - everything I ever wanted - assassins, ride or die adult OTP with genuine believable conflicts, great and complex secondaries, beautiful fights. Oh, and yeah Liu Shi Shi domming the hell out of every man in a ten mile radius, as she should.

FAVORITE DRAMA

It's a tie between Lost You Forever Part 1 and A Journey to Love. LYF1 is a bona fide art piece but it's only part 1 and who knows if part 2 will be any good (seeing the huge ep number cut, I have my doubts) and so it's incomplete. AJTL is an old school wuxia romance with incredibly competent, adult people in love and great cast of secondaries. I can't pick.

WORST DRAMA

romance of twin flower - this is a drama that should not exist. If I could hex everyone involved with it, I would. It's a terrible, stupid, shrill, badly acted drama to start with, but where it really is catapulted into stratosphere of horror is that is took my very favorite non-danmei web novel of all time, a smart and complicated tale with incredible protagonists and turned it into that barftastic abomination. Peng Xiao Ran kept making horrible drama after horrible drama but I kept giving her a chance because of Goodbye My Princess but after this disaster, I've had to accept GMP was a fluke and she is on my "if she's in it, I am out” list. Ding Yuxi is not that far yet (his performance in Seven Lifetimes was the one thing carrying that mess afloat) but he's on freaking thin ice. Anyway, I like to pretend this drama does not exist.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

It was hard because there were so many I loved this year - Deng Wei's traumatized, gentle Seventeen from LYF1 (if someone told me I'd swoon and weep for a character played by Deng Wei, I'd have told them to examine their brains asap), Liu Yuning's incredibly capable, deadly, contained Ning Yuanzhou from AJTL, Zhang Linghe's unhinged Xie Wei from SoKP, Chen Xiao's schemer with a heart Yun Xiang from TIO.

But ultimately, it couldn't be anyone else but Luo Yunxi as Tantai Jin/Demon God/Ming Ye/Cang Jiumin in Till the End of the Moon. He was everything - a demon, a saint, a martyr, a monster, a tormented abuse victim, a savior, joyful, unhinged, smart, pitiable. It was the cdrama performance of the year for me. Luo Yunxi even in a mediocre role is impressive but in a complex (series of) role(s) designed for his strengths, he is a force of nature.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Xiao Yao (Lost You Forever Part 1). Once again, there were runner ups - Bai Lu's smart a little evil FL in Kunning, the gloriously unhinged assassin domme Liu Shi Shi in AJTL, Esther Yu's assassin longing for a different life in MJTY etc etc etc. But Xiao Yao's damaged, difficult, very self-aware woman stole my heart. I was skeptical going in because I haven't enjoyed a Yang Zi performance in a long time, but she was the wounded beating soul of this incredible drama.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Where do we start? How about all of Seventeen's (LYF1) monster family? His brother, who tortured him for years physically and emotionally to such a degree his body is a horror map and his personality is permanently altered because "mommy liked you better." Psycho mother who created a situation where the kids were going to turn on each other and "let's get my grandson raped" grandma. Where is a well-placed meteorite when you need one.

FAVORITE SHIP

Xiao Yao/Seventeen, LYF1. Yes, a ship of characters played by Yang Zi and Deng Wei is my favorite. Leave me alone, I am on my tenth helping of crow already. They are both incredibly damaged, barely functioning survivors who find what they need in the other - he finds a savior and someone who sees him as a man and rebuilds himself around her and she finds someone who will always put her first and only, and subsume himself in her. Is it healthy? No. Does it make sense for them and is it making them slowly functional? Yes.

Runner up: Ren Ruyi/Ning Yuanzhou, AJTL - two adults, so competent, so chemistry full. She has so much damage and so little normalcy but is so strong and he is oddly gentle (in between murders) and incredibly self-reflective. They are each other's mirrors and I love them.

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Su Mingyu/Ke Menglan, The Ingenious One - the idealistic merchant who wants to join jianghu until he sees its horrors firsthand and a slave entertainer who wants security but decides she wants him more. They are gorgeous and glorious and wholesome and I adore them.

Runner up: Liu Gong Quan/Ming Zhu, The Ingenious One - that drama was a shippy gift, especially impressive considering it wasn't even romance-centric. He's the officer who has to bring down her treasonous father but loves her. Delicious.

Another runner up is Chao Feng/Qian Kui, the angelic good girl and the scheming bad boy in The Starry Love. They stole the drama from the main OTP for me.

NOTP

Scent of Time endgame. What the hell was even that. It made NO sense.

FAVORITE SCENE

So many good scenes this year - Tantai Jin taking apart Li Susu in prison in TTEOTM, the OTP fighting in perfect sync and insane rhythm in the gorge battle in AJTL, Chen Ruoxuan's character stopping the execution in Pledge, Yan Lin's coming of age in Kunning, the poison/antidote "gamble" in MJTY, Cang Xuan detoxing in LYF1. But I think ultimately, me being who I am, my favorite scene is Xiao Yao kissing Seventeen's damaged, scarred knee to show he is in no way inferior for her. AAAAA!

In terms of pure jaw dropping visuals tho nothing will ever beat Ming Ye’s battle against the Devil God in TTEOTM.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Ning Yuanzhou, AJTL. He's sexy as hell (that height, that way he moves in battle) but he's also so incredibly competent, so adult, so self-reflective and so attracted to a woman for her strength. He also gets whumped on the reg. Anyway, my hormones are ready.

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Gong Yuanzhi (My Journey to You) - I loved the unhinged, brocon poison boy. He was everything. Also Yan Lin (Kunning) - talk about sunshine; I totally got why all these people felt they needed to save him.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

My Journey to You - what the HELL was that ending?

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

legend of twin flower - that is, stab it with scissors like it stabbed the novel until it's dead.

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

Till the End of the Moon - they clearly cut stuff to fit into the new regs about runtime and it made the last 1/5 rather abrupt. Gimme!

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

The emperor cannot be irredeemable. WTF, China, you are a communist country!

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

This is the year of a ML who yearns to be dommed by his FL. Long may it continue.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

The Legend of Anle - the novel had a great plot, the cast were all actors I either enjoy a lot or somewhat and we got - whatever that soggy piece of wonderbread toast was.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

LYF1 - I only checked out to mock because nobody could explain the story to me and nobody in the cast did anything I like either ever or in years. And then I fell utterly and completely in love and had to eat so much delicious crow.

2023 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

Ancient Love Song is the only one on that list. It looks really good, I just need to brace myself.

BEST NON-2023 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2023

The Imperial Doctoress - best slowburn and pining and glorious character development and adult leads.

MOST ANTICIPATED

Anticipating any nonaired cdrama is a mug's game but if they air, I will definitely check out all the Fox Matchmaker dramas, LYF2, JoL2 and The Last Immortal. If Prisoner of Beauty ever is allowed out of the vault (dubious), it goes on the list too.

[lunarriviera]

new under the skin fic, T, 14.2k

still have to change (wait on me) by lunarriviera fandom: 猎罪图鉴 | Under the Skin (TV 2022) rating: teen length: 14,195 words warnings: no archive warnings apply relationships: Du Cheng/Shen Yi characters: Du Qing, He Rongyue, Jiang Feng, Huo Tengyi, Jiang Xue, Xiao Liu, Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character(s), Xiaoxuan | Shen Yi's Cat tags: blind dates, didn't know they were dating, idiots in love, well anyway one idiot, five times Du Cheng went out with the wrong person, and one time he finally got it right, ft. Shen Yi being impossibly patient, thank god for you He Rongyue, Qing-jie also MVP

He and Shen Yi stand there a minute, and watch her leave, Du Cheng with his arms folded across his chest, Shen Yi’s hands fastened to the strap of his messenger bag. Shen Yi looks up at him. “Are you sorry?” Du Cheng scoffs. “About not dating her? No. I don’t even want to date, I’m just trying to make jie happy.” He can’t read Shen Yi’s expression at all now. “Really.” “Yeah, really.” He blows out a breath of something like relief. “What would I want with a girlfriend? Hey, have you eaten—there’s a noodle place across the street.” Without even talking about it, they start heading that way, together.

[web-novel-polls]

Favorite Web Novel Men Tournament

[Last Checked: December 30th, 2024 - Please check the original post for updated information]

Rules:

Must canonically be male or male-adjacent (includes canon trans men!)

Must be from a web novel or WN-adjacent

One character per response

Submit as many responses as you want 

Tournament Tag: #wn men tournament

No Propaganda

Bracket A: Non-Danmei

*Cédric Riester from When the Third Wheel Strikes Back

*Jesse Venetiaan from When the Third Wheel Strikes Back

*Park Moondae (Ryu Gunwoo) from Debut or Die

*Yoo Joonghyuk from Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint

Bracket B: Danmei

Bian Yanmei from Thousand Autumns

A-Tai (Tengla Isai) from Tianbao Fuyao Lu

Bai Sheng from Hui Tian

Chang Geng from Sha Po Lang

Cang Ji from Nan Chan

Chen Xing from Dinghai Fusheng Records

Cheng Qian from Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect

Fei Du from Mo Du / Silent Reading

Cui Buqu from Peerless: Wushuang

Fang Juexia from Fanservice Paradox

Feng Xin from Heaven Official’s Blessing

Feng Xiao from Peerless: Wushuang

Fu Shen from Golden Stage

Gu Yun from Sha Po Lang

Fu Wenduo from The Earth is Online

Gu Jianshen from Want to Ascend? Then Fall in Love

He Xuan from Heaven Official’s Blessing

Jun Wu from Heaven Official’s Blessing 

He Yu from Case File Compendium: Bing An Ben

Jing Lin from Nan Chan

Kong Hongjun from Tianbao Fuyao Lu

Lan Sizhui from Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

Lan Wangji from Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

Li Jinglong from Tianbao Fuyao Lu

Lin Jingheng from Can Ci Pin

Lu Bixing from Can Ci Pin

Lu Feng from Little Mushroom

Luo Binghe from The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System

Lu Xu from Tianbao Fuyao Lu

Mo Rigen from Tianbao Fuyao Lu

Mo Xi from Remnants of Filth

Murong Lian from Remnants of Filth

Nie Huaisang from Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

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

Peony from Unlucky Clover

Pei Tingsong from Fanservice Paradox

Qin Jiu from Global Examination

Shen Wei from Guardian: Zhen Hun

Shen Qingxian from Want to Ascend? Then Fall in Love

Shen Zhuo from Hui Tian

Song Qingshi from Mistakenly Saving the Villain 

Shi Qingxuan from Heaven Official’s Blessing

Wei Wuxian from Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

Tang Mo from The Earth is Online

Xiang Shu from Dinghai Fusheng Records

Wenren È from Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

Wu Xingxue from Unseen Immortal of 300 Years

Xue Meng from The Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Xiao Fuxuan from Unseen Immortal of 300 Years

Xie Qingcheng from Case File Compendium: Bing An Ben

Yu Shengyan from Thousand Autumns

Yan Zhengming from Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect

Yin Hanjiang from Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

You Huo from Global Examination

Zhao Yunlan from Guardian: Zhen Hun

Zhou Zishu from Faraway Wanderers

^ Spoilers Warning!

*Dealer's Choice (Brackets are not final. I'm just dividing them as Danmei vs. Non-Danmei for right now. It'll probably be divided by popularity later)

[andoqin]

Chang Feng Du

I’ve been catching up, because I am a moron and thought it had already finished airing, but it’s 40 eps and finishes today, so i’m not done yet.... but hopefully will be soon.

Anyway something I’m noticing with this drama (and maybe it’s the writer? I liked LBFAD but never was as deeply into it as others) is that while my heartstrings are getting tugged when they need to be - the defense of Wangdu was great, them wanting to go out in almost a blaze of glory and truly becoming a couple, the court fight, imprisonment and Yuru’s fake out death, or rather the reaction to it was very well done and impeccably acted and most recently (and heartbreaking for me) the Old Man Breakup :( that was crushing - something is missing to tie it all together.

For example with Yuru’s death, although the grief of the characters hit me, since 1) it was so obvious she wasn’t dead and  2) the writing made some weird choices (why was she in ~hiding for 3 years, how is her being like the most high profile businesswoman in any way protecting her and Jiusi? I didn’t really buy that), that impact was lessened considerably. Sidenote, Jiusi’s dead eyes when he gets told to dam the Yellow River was very well acted and I wish the drama/writing had allowed for more of Jiusi’s dark side to come out. He’s a deeply vindictive man when it comes down to it and the fact that he just kinda grumbles on the inside against the emperor but does.. nothing??? else? is a bit weird. It is Yuru who tells him when he is about to embark down the wrong path and he is able to reflect (but not regret) and change course, that’s what makes their relationship so good for me. 

It feels to me like the drama took the pacing issues in the novel (and esp in the latter half they are pronounced) and elevated them, the drama starts like it has 50-60 episodes to tell its story but at around ep 20 it realises oh no i gotta get to the back half of the plot and gotta get the Big Stuff in but the connecting tissue is paper thin sometimes. I as a reader know why Uncle Mickey is working with Luo Zisheng and probably the drama will explain it too in the last 4 eps but so far it just felt so weird and out of left field and then it barely has any time to be explored before the magic 3 years are over and suddenly LZS has to leave the capital. 

I really do like the beginning of the show and it had some great great visuals but in hindsight i wish the pacing had been a lot tighter.

[harocat]

DESTINED REVIEW:

Destined (Chang Feng Du)

Chinese Drama / 40 episodes / 2023

RATING: 7.75/10

I was totally IN LOVE with this drama until about ep twenty-eight. At that point, it would have been a 9/10 drama. It's not that the last arc does something really awful that's 'do NOT watch' level, but it really does lose steam when they get to the capital and the show switches to political machinations. It also, unfortunately, means that the heroine, who has largely driven the narrative at this point, is sidelined. She still does some very cool things in the last arc, but she's secondary to Gu Jiusu and a player in his story.

The last scene not even being the main pair, but instead being the new emperor being instated, really showed the shift in priorities this drama had. I'm not like 'wow drop this show at blank ep' like I am with Till the End of the Moon, but I do think that dropping it after the (extremely excellent) Battle of Youzhou episodes, before they head to the Imperial City, gives you a nicely wrapped up 9/10 drama, whereas continuing it can be a bit of a slog at times and does bring the score down. It's not very well executed at times, and the plot holes are hard to miss. You'll notice that while this drama had a ton of chatter, gif sets, etc., they almost dried up after they leave Youzhou. Well, I assume that's why.

You also spend a lot of time with old man politicians that you really wish you were instead spending with Gu Jiusu, Liu Yuru, and their band of sworn brothers and sisters.

The main cast is extremely likable, and the relationship between the leads is cute and so charming. I didn't think this would be my kind of show, because it looked like a romcom, but it's so well done those first few arcs, and the writing and character interactions are sharp and smart. It's not a sexy kind of chemistry, but instead it's sweet and gentle and very soothing and believable. Gu Jiusu starts out feeling like a shallow character, but he's a total wife guy who drinks a gallon of respect women juice every morning. Liu Yuru is a seemingly modest woman who discovers throughout the series that she has dreams and ambitions beyond what she ever believed she was capable of. I actually decided to watch this partly because one of the two writers for it is a new screenwriter who debuted with LBFAD, and I could definitely feel her (yes, her! and there are times you can tell a woman wrote this) touch in it. People on MDL have said the other writer has done some stinkers, and I half wonder if he had more say in the last arc of the series lmao.

Ending is a happy one. It's babies ever after which... fine. Not super my thing, but I'm glad they're happy and that they didn't have Liu Yuru stop doing business to stay at home and be a wife/mom or something egregious like that lol. She sticks to her passions throughout the whole series, even when she's sidelined.

[blobofcolour]

I have read many many cnovels over the years, but the one that has always stuck with me was 清明记 (Story of Qing Ming) by 清朗 (aka  赵晨光) since I first read it more than 10 years ago. It’s a short one at only 18 chapters, telling the story of the titular character Qing Ming, an assassin from the rebel city of Yu Jing. Of course he becomes ‘bosom friends’ with Pan Bai Hua a politically savvy minister from the capital... and spoiler alert, it does not end well.

This is my favourite part of the novel, describing Qing Ming entering the capital on his final mission to assassinate Pan Bai Hua. He has always been one to accept the life he has been born into but when he catches a glimpse of Pan Bai Hua in the sea of plum blossoms, he knows this man has been properly imprinted in his heart.

一面思量，他脚下步履不停，不久便到了香雪海。  

　　那香雪海在拥雪城外东南方，是绝大的一片白梅林，约有千株左右。此刻恰是众芳摇落之际，惟这千株白梅占尽风情。远远望去，清幽绝俗，非雪海二字，不能道其颜色。   　　这拥雪城之名，正是由这一片香雪海而来。   　　此刻因已夜深，并无人来。清明走到切近，见月光清冷洁白，洒落在梅花之上，冷烟和月，映得那白梅花瓣透明如冰玉一���。更有暗香缭绕，似有若无。他深吸了一口气，心神俱醉。   　　一阵夜风吹过，几瓣梅花飘飘荡荡地落了下来。清明伸手轻轻接住，正如玉盘中盛了冰片，清雅之极。他不禁微笑，随口唱起了落花风，一时间便如前日雨夜听宋别离琵琶一般，浑忘了世间诸事，心中只想：这里是天上，还是人间？   　　初冬薄薄雪，近风淡淡云。   　　倜傥标高骨，玲珑傲气心。   　　月夜香雪海，莫过如此。   　　他这里心神摇曳，自说自笑，偶然一抬头间，忽见拥雪城头，不知何时竟多了一个身影。   　　此时月光皎洁，映得拥雪城头恰如明镜一般。那人身形高挑，素衣银冠，风神隽雅。月下看来，实是浊世一翩翩佳公子。   　　清明忽然一句话也说不出来，一声也笑不出来了。   　　城头那人，正是天子面前有名的重臣，朝里权倾一时的中书令，眼下拥雪城十万大军的统帅，相交五年的唯一知己，自己此次入城前来刺杀的对象！   　　眼见小潘相登临城头，身边并无随从，却也是望向东南方，正是为了赏鉴这一片香雪海。   　　他身在高处，月光又明亮，清明多年训练，目力比常人要好上数倍，看得分外清晰。   　　而潘白华虽也向香雪海方向看去，但梅林繁茂，清明又站在梅影掩映之中，却是看不分明。   　　清明站在树下，脑海里一片空白。   　　他也弄不清过了多久，不知是片刻，还是一个时辰。总之，当他再抬起头时，城头上那个素衣公子，已经不见了人影。   　　清明从树影中走出，忽然低低地笑出声来。   　　原道是胸中自有透顶洒脱，谁曾想意中却是透骨相思。 　　潘白华，见到你之前，我还真当自己已是此心到处悠然了。  

Mild spoilers on the ending incoming.......

The author wrote an extra chapter set in modern times and gave the reincarnated PBH/QM their happy ending. While I appreciated having that extra chapter on my first reading, years later I preferred the original ending. While they cared deeply for each other and recognized that this person was the only one to truly know me, it doesn’t change the fact that they were from opposing camps. Well, PBH tried to force QM to change sides but they were always ones who walked their chosen path till the end. 

I’m not sure if there are English translations out there of this author’s novels, they are really well written wuxia works. Not explicitly BL but many ‘bosom friends’ bonds.......

===

On current reading materials, I finished 嫁纨绔 the novel that upcoming (maybe??) cdrama Chang Feng Du 长风渡 is based on. Really enjoyed the story and the host of characters from mains to villains, so fingers crossed that the drama gets to air and hopefully the script writers don’t mangle the story. I got started on another novel 山河枕 (Mountain and River Pillow) by the same author but got bored around chapter 55. The ML isn’t doing anything for me so far, I’m actually more interested in the ex-husband hahaha. Maybe I should try 四嫁 instead where the ex-husband is the ML! 

Please throw novel recommendations my way, especially wuxia ones. I have a 12 hour flight and week long work retreat coming up zzzzzz

[paalove]

period on its way so i need to be bitchy rn or i'll die. so as to not end up getting upset At anyone here's what i think about the army costuming in episodes 26-28 of (sadly short 40 episode long) cdrama chang feng du also known as destined.

this will make sense if you havent seen it but there are spoilers. and also it's bitchy commentary. read if you want this is for me tho

the costumes themselves are of course very well-made. the armies are nice and easy to distinguish from one another. there's four of them!

is our protagonists' army of a rapidly-diminishing 10,000, already guarding wangdu. the commanders of this one are our boy gu jiusi, and also ye shi'an and shen ming. shen ming is the only one of these three who is wearing the armour of wangdu, actually - the other two are dressed... differently. shen ming and the rest of the army are in a nice and cool black metal on black cloth combo - i always love when the heroes are in all black, it makes me happy!

is the defenders of wangdu, the 20,000 troops in zhou ye's hands. they were taken away from the coming battle to join the main forces of the youzhou army attempting to [sighs at plot changes due to censorship] Save The Emperor. anyway. these are one set of reinforcements and they are nice and cool in silver metal on dark blue cloth. so far so good - nice and easy to tell apart the two armies, what could be the problem? oh it's not with these guys, actually zhou ye has never done anything wrong in his life.

is the unexpected army of bingzhou, led by qin wanzhi who is the best. she's so cool. while the guys are busy having a solemn and history-laden reunion she's busy getting to the gates of the city and killing every guy currently breaking through them. i love her. but anyway their army is in silver metal over cloth of a nice deep red, making them the next-coolest after wangdu's black on black.

enemy time! the rebel prince, king liang is in charge of a cool 100,000 and they are all kitted up. these guys are very striking when theyre arrayed against a tiny hopeless city and they are wearing gold metal armour over bright red cloth. ah, you think you see the problem, right - two armies in red! nah that shit's fine, the metal provides the contrast, the two reds aren't super similar, and bingzhou normally act as a smaller force doing specific, clearly identifiable actions, such as the gate thing. nah, similarity between armies isn't the problem, what is?

the fucking commanders of wangdu.

SO. big battlefield shots are fun, but they make it hard to figure out where our special little characters are. are they in the part that just exploded, or are they fine? enquiring minds etc.

costumers solution: give those bitches different armour.

this is normal, this is fine, this has some historical basis - the guys on the field need to know where their commanders are. now, most of our commanders are wearing the same colours as their soldiers and are visibly distinguished in different ways. shen ming has different weapons, zhou ye has slightly different metalwork (and also is always in focus or on a horse) and qin wanzhi is both helmetless and often-shouting, with an easily distinguished voice.

gu jiusi and ye shi'an, however...

well. well.

(firstly, context - ye shi'an is the pure scholarly type who our leading lady, liu yuru, grew up wanting to marry. then he went through trauma and now he's a pure scholarly type with a gun bow and arrow. gu jiusi is our leading man and the one yuru actually married. arguably twice.)

ye shi'an, being a pure scholarly type, is naturally in armour of Pure White. white metal white cloth and white bow and arrow. whatever, baby, you can wear what you like. not sure where he got it, but good for him. he can be mistaken for absolutely nobody else. he can also be targeted so so easily, but. that's allowed. if he wants to do that he can.

gu jiusi, though.

hey, man, what the fuck are you wearing, bro.

oh, gold armour on red cloth? bright red cloth? the same shade as the rebel army's red fucking cloth?

WHY.

WHY BRO.

he is so hard to tell apart from them in big battlefield scenes!! most of episode twenty seven is big battlefield scenes. AT LEAST CHANGE TO THE FUCKING BLACK CLOTH DUMBASS.

...

....

........

phew.

okay to be clear i know why - one of the other fights is nighttime storming of the walls - he and ye shi'an are the only guys in bright colours on the walls for most of that, it's very striking, and even when the enemy soldiers do get up there the camera focus is close enough to the action that there's no confusion. it makes sense for him to be in exclusive bright colours.

also he and his wife do a romantic little vow renewal right before the main action (it's romantic bc theyre talking about how doomed-to-death they are) and she's in a red not-technically-a-wedding-dress-bc-this-is-the-not!song-dynasty dress and gold jewellery. they have to match.

so my real question is why is the rebel army in those colours. who decided this.

[shen-daozhang]

Getting to Know Your BL Mutuals

rules: answer the questions and tag some people. include the tag ‘g2ky BL mutuals 2022’ on your post so we can find everyone’s answer.

thanks to @yanwushi for the tag- I am finally doing this!!! Doing both novels as well as visual media

What have been BLs that took you by surprise this year?

Wushuang/Peerless. I was going to read it eventually, but Thousand Autumns is such a favorite I was putting it off because I thought there was no way Wushuang could be as good as its predecessor. @yanwushi finally got me to read it and omfg... seriously the only person more obsessed with Cui Buqu than Feng Xiao is me. This one rocketed to the top of my favorite novels in record speed. I also want to mention that as someone who is chronically ill, I really appreciated the way Cui Buqu's disability was handled- honestly I think it's the best portrayal of chronic illness/disability I've read in a c-novel.

Nan Chan. I hate calling this book weird because I think that's a loaded term but it's unusual for sure, and I didn't expect to fall in love with a book that's about a sword and a demon carp. As someone who is autistic I got a lot out of both main characters trying to figure out how to act "human" and deal with identifying and processing their emotions. Also I just think that Cang Ji should be able to eat whomever he wants, as a treat.

Little Mushroom. “你只是一只很小的蘑菇” CRYING SCREAMING THROWING UP. I never in a million years expected to be emotionally compromised by a book about a sentient mushroom but here we are. Normally I love angst but I had to stop reading and check if it had a happy ending because I honestly couldn't have handled it if it didn't (it does). Also honestly one of the best pieces of post-apocalyptic fiction that I read and I loved the aspects of cosmic horror in the second volume.

It's not technically a BL, but Under the Skin (c-drama). I usually don't watch modern crime dramas for personal reasons, but I decided to give it a chance for language practice and because I like Tan Jianci. I expected to have it on in the background and instead the show grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go. (tho it made me impatient for the Mo Du/Silent Reading donghua and live action, and for Winner is King. when???)

What have been BLs that you felt a bit disappointed with this year?

Copper Coins. I enjoyed it and I thought that Xue Xian is a delightfully full-of-himself protagonist but to me it felt like a young author's early work that needed trimming in some parts and expansion in others. I just really felt like it wasn't the masterpiece that I'd heard it talked up to be. (Although to be fair I think I did it a major disservice reading it after Nan Chan)

The Defective's donghua. It just didn't grab me at all which sucks bc I like the novel, and I really hated what they did with some of the female characters (wtf is with Penny's character design and what was with the choice to have Mint never speak??)

Legend of Exorcism donghua. I know there are people who adore this show, and I desperately wanted to like it... but there was something I can't quite put my finger on that turned me off. I think I would like it more if I'd read the novel, I felt like there were undercurrents of a good story that weren't being properly delved or something. That said, it did pique my interest enough to put the novel on my to-read list, and I'm looking forward to getting to it.

What has been your favorite BL this year?

WushuangWushuangWushuangWushuangWushuang. Did I mention Wushuang already?

Favorite BL/GL couples (not just of 2022)

Feng Xiao & Cui Buqu (Wushuang), Gu Yun & Chang Geng (Sha Po Lang), Yan Wushi & Shen Qiao (Thousand Autumns), Ranwan (Erha)

If you had to suggest a BL for someone what would it be?

If you like xianxia and a quirky found family (and also knives), hands down Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fu Yao Sect by Priest

If you're more into wuxia elements and rivals-to-lovers-but-still-rivals, Wushuang/Peerless by Meng Xishi.

Please, more people need to read these books. Also if you're looking for more things to read, I have a libguide reading list here! I need to update it, but it's an ongoing project. Let me know if there are any BL you think I should add!

What’s your non-BL favorite this year?

WIND BLOWS FROM LONGXI *banging pots and pans together* screaming, crying, throwing up. IT'S SO GOOD. I desperately want more "gritty" historical shows like this one. The Three Kingdoms Period is one of my special interests and Chen Kun is one of my favorite actors, seriously this show was almost tailor-made for me. Also for you Guardian fans out there Bai Yu is one of the two main characters.

Honorable mention to Love Between Fairy and Devil, which made me take back everything I had previously said about Dylan Wang Hedi's acting.

Tagging: I think everyone I'm mutuals with has already done this, but if you see it and you want to please pretend I tagged you :)

[drwcn]

How To Name Your Chinese Characters: 

1) LAST NAMES: 

I’ve pasted the Top 100 common last names in alphabetical order, and bolded the ones that appear in CQL:   

B: 白 Bai C: 蔡 Cai ; 曹 Cao ;  常 Chang ; 曾 Ceng ;  陈 Chen ;  程 Cheng ;  崔 Cui ; D: 戴 Dai ; 邓 Deng ; 丁 Ding ; 董 Dong ; 杜 Du ; F: 范 Fan ; 方 Fang ; 冯 Feng ; 付 Fu ; G: 高 Gao ;  葛 Ge  ; 龚 Gong ; 顾 Gu ; 郭 Guo ; H: 韩 Han ; 何 He ; 贺 He 洪 Hong ; 侯 Hou ; 黄 Hua ; 胡 Hu ; J: 贾 Jia ; 蒋 Jiang ; 姜 Jiang ; 江 Jiang ; 金 Jin ; K: 康 Kang ; L:  赖 Lai ; 李 Li ;  黎 Li ; 廖 Liao ; 梁 Liang ; 林 Lin ; 刘 Liu ; 陆 Lu ; 卢 Lu ; 路 Lu ; 吕 Lü ; 罗 Luo ; M: 马 Ma ; 麦 Mai ; 毛 Mao ; 孟 Meng ; N:  倪 Ni  ;  牛 Niu ; P: 潘 Pan ; 彭 Peng ; Q: 钱 Qian ; 秦 Qin ; 邱 Qiu ; R:任 Ren ; S: 邵 Shao ; 沈 Sheng ; 史 Shi ; 石 Shi ; 施 Shi ; 宋 Song ; 苏 Su ; 孙 Sun ; T: 陶 Tao ; 谭 Tan ; 唐 Tang ; 田 Tian ; W: 万 Wan ; 王 Wang ;  汪 Wang ; 魏 Wei ; 吴 Wu ; X: 邢 Xing ; 夏 Xia ;  蕭 Xiao ; 谢 Xie ; 徐 Xu ; 许 Xu ; 薛 Xue ; Y: 阎 Yan ; 严 Yan ; 杨 Yang ; 姚 Yao ; 叶 Ye ;  余 Yu ; 于 Yu ; 袁 Yuan ; Z: 张 Zhang ;  赵 Zhao ; 郑 Zheng ; 钟 Zhong ; 周 Zhou ;  朱 Zhu ;  庄 Zhuang ;  邹 Zou ;

Above are all single character last names, but there are some double character Chinese last names, seen below (list not exhaustive): 

独孤 Du’Gu ;  公孙 Gong’Sun ; 南宫 Nan’Gong    欧阳 Ou’Yang ;  司马 Si’Ma ; 上官 Shang’Guan ; 宇文 Yu’Wen ; 长孙 Zhang’Sun ; 诸葛 Zhu’GE ; 

2) GIVEN NAMES/COURTESY NAMES

《Elements》: 

Light*： 光 (guāng) - light，  亮 liàng - bright / shine， 明 (míng) - bright， 曦 (xī) - early dawn， 昀 (yún) - daylight， 昭 (zhāo) - light, clear，照 (zhào) - to shine upon，

Fire: 焰 (yàn) - flames， 烟 (yān) - smoke，炎 (yán) - heat/burn， 烨 (yè) - dazzling light，  

Water: also see “weather” OR “bodies of water” under nature; note the words below while are related to water have meanings that mean some kind of virtue: 清 (qīng) - clarity / purity， 澄 (chéng) - clarity/quiet， 澈 (chè) - clear/penetrating， 涟 (lián) - ripple， 漪 (yī) - ripple， 泓 (hóng) - vast water， 湛 (zhàn) - clear/crystal， 露 (lù) - dew， 泠 (líng) - cool, cold, 涛 (tāo) - big wave，泽 (zé)，浩 hào - grand/vast (water)，涵 (han) - deep submergence / tolerance / educated

Weather: 雨 (yǔ) - rain， 霖 (lín) - downpouring rain， 冰 (bīng) - ice， 雪 (xuě) - snow，  霜 (shuāng) - frost 

Wind: 风 (fēng) - wind

* some “Light” words overlap in meaning with words that mean “sun/day”

《Nature》:

Season: 春 (chūn) - spring， 夏 (xià) - summer， 秋 (qíu) - aumtum， 冬 (dōng) - winter

Time of Day: 朝 (zhāo) - early morning / toward， 晨 (chén) - morning / dawn， 晓 (xiǎo) - morning， 旭 (xù) - dawn/rising sun，昼 (zhòu) - day，皖 (wǎn) - late evening，夜 (yè) - night 

Star/Sky/Space: 云 (yún) - cloud，天 (tiān) - sky/ heaven，霞 (xiá) - afterglow of a rising or setting sun，月 (yuè) - moon，日 (ri) - day / sun，阳 (yáng) - sun，宇 (yǔ) - space，星 (xīng) - star

Birds: 燕 (yàn) - sparrow， 雁 (yàn) - loon， 莺 (yīng) - oriole， 鸢 (yuān) - kite bird (family Accipitridae)，羽 (yǔ) - feather

Creatures: 龙 (lóng) - dragon/imperial

Plants/Flowers:* 兰 (lán) - orchids，  竹 (zhú) - bamboo， 筠 (yún) - tough exterior of bamboos， 萱 (xuān) - day-lily， 松 (sōng) - pine， 叶 (yè) - leaf， 枫 (fēng) - maple， 柏 bó/bǎi - cedar/cypress， 梅 (méi) - plum， 丹 (dān) - peony

Mountains: 山 (shān)， 峰 (fēng) - summit， 峥 (zhēng)，

Bodies of water: 江 (jiāng) - large river/straits， 河 (hé) - river， 湖 (hú) - lake， 海 (hǎi) - sea， 溪 (xī) - stream， 池 (chí) - pond， 潭 (tán) - larger pond， 洋 (yáng) - ocean

* I didn’t include a lot of flower names because it’s very easy to name a character with flowers that heavily implies she’s a prostitute. 

《Virtues》: 

Astuteness: 睿 ruì - astute / foresight， 智 (zhi)， 慧 (hui)， 哲 (zhé) - wise/philosophy, 

Educated:  博 (bó) - extensively educated， 墨 (mo) - ink， 诗 (shi) - poetry / literature， 文 (wén) - language / gentle / literary， 学 (xue) - study， 彦 (yàn) - accomplished / knowledgeable, 知 (zhi) - to know， 斌 (bīn) - refined， 赋 (fù) - to be endowed with knowledge

Loyalty: 忠 (zhōng) - loyal， 真 (zhēn) - true 

Bravery: 勇 (yǒng) - brave， 杰 (jié) - outstanding, hero

Determination/Perseverance: 毅 (yì) - resolute / brave， 恒 (héng) - everlasting， 衡 (héng) - across, to judge/evaluate，成 (chéng) - to succeed， 志 (zhì) - aspiration / the will

Goodness/Kindness: 嘉 (jiā) - excellent / auspicious，磊 (lěi) - rock / open & honest， 正 (zhèng) - straight / upright / principle，

Elegance: 雅 (yǎ) - elegant， 庄 (zhuāng) - respectful/formal/solemn， 彬 (bīn) - refined / polite， 

Handsome: 俊 jùn - handsome/talented 

Peace: 宁 (níng) - quietness/to pacify, 安 （ān) - peace, safety

Grandness/Excellence：宏 (hóng) - grand，豪 (háo) - grand, heroic，昊 (hào) - limitless / the vast sky，华 (huá) - magnificent， 赫 (hè) - red/famous/great， 隆 (lóng) - magnificent， 伟 (wěi) - greatness / large，轩 (xuān) - pavilion with a view/high，卓 (zhuó) - outstanding

Female Descriptor/Virtues/Beauty: 婉 (wǎn)，惠 (huì)， 妮 (nī)， 娇 (jiāo)， 娥 (é)， 婵 (chán) (I didn’t include specific translations for these because they���re all adjectives for women meaning beauty or virtue) 

《Descriptors》:

Adverbs: 如 (rú) - as，若 (ruò) - as, alike，宛 (wǎn) - like / as though，

Verbs: 飞 (fēi) - to fly，  顾 （gù) - to think/consider， 怀 (huái) - to miss, to possess， 落(luò) - to fall, to leave behind，梦 (mèng) - to dream， 思 (sī) - to consider / to miss (someone)，忆 (yì) - memory， 希 (xī) - yearn / admire

Colours: 红 (hóng) - red， 赤 (chì) - crimson， 黄 (huàng) - yellow， 碧 (bì) - green，青(qīng) - azure，蓝 (lán) - blue， 紫 (zǐ) - violet ，玄 (xuán) - black， 白 (baí) - white

Number：一 (yī), 二 (er) - two, 三 (san) - three,  四 (si) - four,  五 (wu) - five, 六 (liu) - six, 七(qi) - seven, 八 (ba) - eight,  九 (jiu) - nine, 十 (shi) - ten

Direction: 东 (dōng) - east， 西 (xi) - west， 南 (nan) - south， 北 (bei) - north，

Other: 子 (zǐ) - child, 然 (rán) - correct / thusly

《Jade》: *there are SO MANY words that generally mean some kind of jade, bc when ppl put jade in their children’s name they don’t literally mean the rock, it’s used to symbolize purity, goodness, kindness, beauty, virtue etc*  琛 (chen), 瑶 (yao),  玥 (yue),  琪 (qi),  琳 (lin)

《Spirituality》

凡 (fan) - mortality 

色 (se) - colour, beauty. In buddhism, “se” symbolizes everything secular

了 (liao) - finished, done, letting go 

尘 (chen) - dust, I’m not… versed in buddhism enough to explain “chen”, it’s similar to “se”

悟 (wu) - knowing? Cognition? To understand a higher meaning

无 (wu) - nothing, the void, also part of like “letting go” 

戒 (jie) - to “quit”, but not in a bad way. In buddhism, monks are supposed to “quit” their earthly desires.

极 (ji) - greatness, also related to the state of nirvana (? I think?) 

[movielosophy]

Destined | Mom, I’ve been bullied!

[dangermousie]

Top Dozen 2023 drama MLs so far

It's August, so not the end of the year, neither it is at halfway year mark, but why would I ever do anything like a normal person? Here my very very subjective list. I have limited myself to one dude per drama or LYF would be half the list. No order except alphabetical.

Chen Wende (Sun Yizhou in Gone With the Rain, China)

The epic troll lord stole the whole drama as competently as he stole the FL's heart. He was competent and adult and oh-so-amused by but also gone for the heroine.

Gu Jiusi (Bai Jing Ting in Chang Feng Du/Destined, China)

CFD lost steam for me halfway through but Jiusi's character remained a delight throughout and BJT gave a great performance as a golden boy who went through a bunch of hell and grew up but remained goodnatured at heart.

Han Dong Jin (Kim Young Kwang in Call It Love, Korea)

You know, he and Jing (from LYF1) really fit the same mold even if one is in a mellow realistic modern and another in xianxia - lovely traumatized people from monster families who win over heroine with a metric ton of baggage through sheer unswerving decency. I have a type.

Jang Uk (Lee Jae Wook in Alchemy of Souls s2, Korea)

I loved Uk in S1 and S2 continued that love - he's so intense, so grieving, so still in love with Naksu. LJW is always a good actor so it's such a pleasure to see him in a good role.

Kim Do Ha (Hwang Min Hyun, My Lovely Liar, Korea)

The year of surprises - Minhyun, who I found utterly wooden in AoS stole my heart here as this hopeful, traumatized sweetheart of a man.

Kim Moo Chan (Park Hae Jin, The Killing Vote, Korea)

Yeah, we are only one ep in but who said anything about this list was objective? PHJ brings his usual unsettling intensity to the role of a cop who breaks all the rules and teeters on the edge and now is set to catch a killer who really only differs from him in a matter of degree.

Lee Jang Hyun (Nam Goong Min in My Dearest, Korea)

If I had to pick a favorite ML from this list, it would be between him and Jing (LYF). This is basically if you took Rhett Butler and took out slavery and rape but gave him a sword. The character is complex and nuanced and NGM is giving his usual incredible performance.

Lee Rang (Kim Bum in Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938, Korea)

I was not a Rang fangirl for most of the original (even if he was well-acted; and he did win me over by the end) but I fell for him head over heels in this sequel/prequel/spin-off. I am so happy the man who believed he had nobody and was abandoned by everybody ends the story with his beloved brother and his beloved woman, both.

Moon Seo Ha (Ahn Bo Hyun in See You in My 19th Life, Korea)

A lot of MLs on this list have serious trauma and haunted by it and can't let go of their past love (I have a type) but even by those standards, Seo Ha was such a lovely, quiet person slowly healing.

Tantai Jin (Luo Yunxi in Till the End of the Moon, China)

Abuse victim/monster/praiseworthy king/xianxia saint/man on the brink - LYX portrayed a character in multiple timelines and many different complexities and did it amazingly. Tantai Jin may or may not win my favorite place on this list, but his performance was hands-down the most glorious thing this year.

Tushan Jing/Ye Shiqi (Deng Wei in Lost You Forever part 1, China)

If before LYF aired someone would have told me that a character played by Deng Wei, an actor I've always found eminently forgettable, would make it on this list and be in the running to win the whole thing actually, I'd have wondered what weird reality they came from. They somehow managed to make someone genuinely good and kind not in the least boring; I am ridiculously invested in the man who managed to keep his soul after all he's been through.

Yun Xiang (Chen Xiao in The Ingenuous One, China)

A schemer on a revenge quest, smarter than anyone else in the room but helpless in front of love. Yun Xiang was an adult in an adult story for adults and it was glorious.

[mj220991]

It's rare for me to do a drama update, but this is Chang Feng Du (long wind crossing), i need to do it!

The drama shoots just finished today, the novel is awesome!!! Its a marriage and then love story. I read many Cwebnovels, but there are not many characters or couple deserves a happy ending more than these two. It's just so easy to believe why they love each other so much. The side characters and couple (villains) also amazing.

Sadly the translation is stuck but i swear the mtl is very very readable!!

If i may say, the drama casting is very good too. Its directed by Yin Tao (Love and Redemption, under the power, Who rules the world). Many people in the weibo said the screenwriter is adapted by LBFAD writer.

[cnovel-readalong]

TGCF Character List: Non-Spoiler Edition

The Mains

Xie Lian:: The Crown Prince of Xian Le. A thrice ascended (twice banished) god who now wears the mantle of the God of Misfortune and God of Scrap-Collecting. Other Heavenly Officials look down on him.

Ruoye:: Xie Lian’s spiritual device. It has the appearance of a bandage that is wrapped around his arm, but he can command it and use it as a weapon or tool. Ruoye is shown to have emotions and attitudes.

San Lang:: A young man Xie Lian meets on the road. San Lang is highly intelligent and talented at all things. He knows a bit of everything and has a very cynical view of the world.

Hua Cheng:: A Devastation-level (high ranking) demonic Ghost King also known as the Crimson Rain-Sought Flower or Scourge of Heaven. He is the most powerful and dangerous of the group known as the Four Great Calamities.

E-Ming:: Hua Cheng’s blade. A long, curved silver scimitar with a decorative pommel that contains a glowing red eye. E-Ming has a psychic connection to Hua Cheng, and he can sense its moods and emotions.

The Heavenly Host

Mu Qing // Xuan Zhen:: The Southwest Martial God. A former servant of Xie Lian’s in their mortal life who earned the rank of a full god after Xie Lian’s second banishment. Has a volatile relationship with Feng Xin // Nan Yang.

Fu Yao:: A junior disciple under Mu Qing // Xuan Zhen. Despite his master’s hatred of Xie Lian, Fu Yao occasionally sneaks off to help Xie Lian on his adventures.

Feng Xin // Nan Yang:: The Southeast Martial God. Xie Lian’s former bodyguard, he was also brought to the heavens by Xie Lian initially and earned the rank of a full god after Xie Lian’s banishment. Has a volatile relationship with Mu Qing // Xuan Zhen.

Nan Feng:: A junior disciple of the god Feng Xin // Nan Yang. Despite his master’s hatred of Xie Lian, Nan Feng occasionally sneaks off to help Xie Lian on his adventures.

Ling Wen:: A literary goddess and friend of Xie Lian. Only Ling Wen greets Xie Lian upon his third ascension, and she often helps him research things. Ling Wen is the linchpin of most Heavenly business. Known as one of the Divine Tumors.

Shi Qing Xuan // The Wind Master:: One of the Five Elemental Lords, Qing Xuan often takes the form of a woman. With their stunning looks (in any gender) and eager personality, they make fast friends wherever they go.

Shi Wu Du // The Water Master:: Dubbed “Tyrannical Waters” by San Lang due to the practice of demanding tribue from those who sail upon the seas and oceans. Elder brother to Shi Qing Xuan // The Water Master. Known as one of the Divine Tumors.

Ming Yi // The Earth Master:: A frequent companion of Shi Qing Xuan // The Water Master. Not much is known about the Earth Master because he likes to keep a low profile.

General Pei Ming // Ming Guang:: Northern Martial God. Pei Ming is a legendary womanizer. He makes sure his statues look handsome and has frequent dalliances with worshippers. Known as one of the Divine Tumors. 

General Pei Su:: A junior official in General Pei Ming’s household. He acts as an underling and errand boy of Ming Guang.

Quan Yi Zhen // Qi Ying:: Martial God of the West. A young god who has no cares for his position. He ignores Heavenly summons, frequently beats up his worshippers, and does nothing but eat and sleep. Despite this, his popularity and power keep growing.

Lang Qian Qiu // Tai Hua:: The Martial God of the East, born the Crown Prince of Yong An- the kingdom that grew upon the ashes of Xie Lian’s own. He enjoys throwing himself headfirst at any situation he thinks makes him look heroic.

Jun Wu:: The Heavenly Emperor. Despite banishing Xie Lian from heaven twice before, he has a certain fondness for the god and often sends him on special missions in the mortal realm and helps him build his reputation among the other gods.

Ghosts and Demons

Night-Touring Green Lantern Qi Rong:: Though only a Wraith-level demon he is counted among the Four Great Calamities. He mainly creates disgusting and cheap imitations of the other Great Calamities biggest achievements. Has a particular hatred for Xie Lian.

White No-Face Bai Wu Xiang:: The eldest of the Four Great Calamities and first to reach Devastation-rank. He is the one who destroys Xie Lian’s kingdom before vanishing himself.

Black Water Demon He Xuan:: One of the Four Great Galamities. He keeps to himself. Though Hua Cheng is the Demon King of the Land, He Xuan is the Demon King of the Seas. The two mainly keep to themselves and avoid one another’s turf.

Lang Ying:: A peaceful ghost spirit of a young boy infected with the Human Face Disease- the very plague that destroyed Xie Lian’s kingdom. Lang Ying was traumatized and lives with Xie Lian in Puqi Shrine as a form of therapy.

Ban Yue:: The former High Priestess of the Ban Yue peoples. Though the Ban Yue kingdom died out long ago, an ancient grudge between Ban Yue and her general Ke Mo turned them both into active ghosts.

Ke Mo:: Former general of the Ban Yue kingdom, Ke Mo was a father figure to the young priestess Ban Yue before she betrayed the kingdom to slaughter. His grudge against her turned them both into active ghosts.

Lan Chang // Jian Lan:: A prostitue in the Ghost City. Known for wearing layers of makeup so thick that it literally flakes and chips off her face as she speaks. Lan Chang finds herself in the center of a Heavenly fight.

Cuo Cuo:: A demonic fetus spirit who devours the body and soul of babies still in their mother’s womb. Before Cuo Cuo was violently cut from its mother’s womb and murdered it was likely the child of an unknown Heavenly Official.

Humans of Note

Gu Zi:: A child who comes to live in Puqi Shrine, the main residence of Xie Lian, after his father is possessed by a demon. Gu Zi is too young to understand possession, and so he follows the demon as if it were his real father.

[hundredthousandtimes]

Lol it has been a long time since i have been here! But anywhooo. What are shows you are exited to watchin the future and gif maybe to? Estonian anon

Hi!

The one that I'm most excited about is Till The End Of The Moon (2022). The pictures shows fabulous costumes and the storyline is in my alley. I don't know how much they changed the storyline, because in the novel the male lead was abused, and because of this he is a villain at the beginning, who spreads his misery to others so he is essentially the villain of the story. Cdramas usually don't do redemption arcs, so I don't know how will they portray him, but I will definitely watch it for Luo Yunxi if nothing else.

I'm excited for Immortality too, but it's adapted from a bl novel so I'm not sure if it will air. And the novel has a lot of trigger warnings, and because of chinese censorship they need to erase these happening in the story, so I'm curious how will it affect the storyline. But I hope for the best.

i'm also excited for Love Never Fails (2022), but because of the recent tax evasion scandal on Yuan Bingyan(female lead) I'm not sure if it will air at all. They took it off from the airing schedule, but I read that the issue was resolved and it wasn't as bad as some news sites made it out, but who knows with the chinese government.

I will also watch Snow Eagle Lord (2022), the costumes look really nice and I would like to see Xu Kai in more xianxia, wuxia type dramas.

The last one my must watch list is Fox Spirit Matchmaker (2023). They announced yesterday the actors for the main characters. I'm intrigued, because I like Yang Mi and though I dint't like Word Of Honor as much as everyone else, Gong Jun was great in it. They both look gorgeous, though I don't know about their chemistry.

Others I will consider watching are:

Longest Promise (2022) for Xiao Zhan

Love And Sword (2022) for Xuan Lu

Meet Me In Your Sound for Caesar Wu and the visuals

Chang Feng Du (2023) for Song Yi

Wonderland Of Love for Xu Kai

Back From The Brink (2022) for Zhou Ye and the storyline

Novoland: The Princess From Plateau for Feng Shaofeng and Peng Xiaoran and the storyline

Song Of The Moon (2022) for the visuals

Zao Zuo Shi Guang for Meng Ziyi

If I can get a chinese subtitle version on these and I either like the drama or the visuals I will make gifs.

[tykartreblogs]

Tian Ya Ke/Word of Honor Art Reblogs

Welcome to TYK Art Reblogs, a sideblog by @unforth. I reblog (almost) all art I see for the fandom. Feel free to ping me if you need anything!

If you see me reblog a repost, please let me know so I can delete it - reposts are never okay! I do reblog “reposted with permission” posts of artists on other platforms. I have made a good faith effort to not reblog reposts, but obviously mistakes happen - when they do, let me know, and I will correct the mistake by deleting the reblog in question. This blog is very lightly moderated; I tag artist, character(s), ship(s), and common trigger warnings.

Enjoy, and make sure you support artists with likes and reblogs!

-unforth

Qiye/TYK/WoH Resources:

Masterlist of Priest Works and Translations

Priest Crossover Extras

Qiye Translation by Chichi

Tian Ya Ke Translation Masterpost

Love other danmei fandoms? Want even more art on your dash? I have got you covered!

@mdzsartreblogs

@tgcfartreblogs

@svsssartreblogs

@dmbjartreblogs

@erhaartreblogs

@zhenhunartreblogs

@cnovelartreblogs

Current Tags: (read more)

Sub-Fandom:

To the best of my ability, I've tried to tag whether a piece of artwork primarily relates to Qiye, Tian Ya Ke, or Shan He Ling. However, this is ultimately always going to be subjective, and I haven't read Tian Ya Ke yet (I have read Qiye) so I may make mistakes. If you think I've sorted something wrong/miss-ided it, just let me know!

qiye

shan he ling

tian ya ke

Trigger Warnings: blood tw, body horror tw, cannibalism tw, drowning tw, dubious consent, harm to animals tw, lemon, mcd, mpreg, rape tw, smoking, strangulation tw

Cast:

gong jun

huang youming

li daikun

wang dong

zhang zhehan

RPF:

junzhe

Characters:

ashinlae

bai wu chang

bai wu chang (qiye)

chang she ghost

cao weining

corpse eating ghost

deng kuan

du pusa

gao chong

gao xiaolian

ghost valley chief

gu miaomiao

gu xiang

han ying

hanging ghost

happy ghost

he yunxing

hei wu chang

helian yi

jiang lao guai

jing beiyuan

li bao er

liang jiuxiao

liu qianqiao

long tongued ghost

lovelace

lu liuweng

lu shen

lu ta

luo fumeng

princess jing an

qiao luohan

qin huaishang

qin song

rong changqing

rong xuan

shen shen

tao hongpo

wen kexing

wen ruyu

wu chang ghost

wu xi

xie wang

ye baiyi

yue feng er

zhang chengling

zhao jing

zhen ruyu

zhou zishu

Ships:

caoxiang (cao weining/gu xiang)

duqiao (du pusa/liu qianqiao)

hanwen (han ying/wen kexing)

hanwenzhou (han ying/wen kexing/zhou zishu)

hanzhou (han ying/zhou zishu)

jingzhou (jing beiyuan/zhou zishu)

jinzhou (helian yi/zhou zishu)

liangzhou (liang jiuxiao/zhou zishu)

luosa (qiao luohan/du pusa)

mengqian (luo fumeng/liu qianqiao)

qianpusa (liu qianqiao/du pusa)

rongye (rong changqing/ye baiyi)

rongyexie (rong changqing/ye baiyi/xie wang)

shenyi (shen shen/ye baiyi)

wenzhou (wen kexing/zhou zishu)

wenzhouye (wen kexing/zhou zishu/ye baiyi)

xiyuan (wu xi/jing beiyuan)

xuanyi (rong xuan/ye baiyi)

yexie (ye baiyi/xie wang)

yexing (ye baiyi/wen kexing)

yezhou (ye baiyi/zhou zishu)

yiyuan (helian yi/jing beiyuan)