#character: zhu yan/zhao yuanzhou

[heymeowmao]

大梦归离 | Fangs of Fortune E34 ° Dead demons will turn into stars in the sky. And what about you?

[hyog-blog]

Fangs of Fortune ep. 14 - Memories of the days long gone

The softest and saddest Great Demon in the world.

[ajaxbell]

Fangs of Fortune (Bai Ze Ling): perfect on pure aesthetics alone, but also it will tear your heart out while being very gay.

I was lured in to this show by Tumblr gifsets and friends on Bluesky talking about how queer and poly this show is. I'm old and I've been in fandom more than half my life. I know how to read queer subtext. I'm also pretty well versed in cdramas, so again, I know how to read subtext. So I went into this ready to, well, read the subtext.

But no this show is just puts the queer it right there in the text. The vague information we have about Chinese censorship repeatedly left me asking, 'wait how are they getting away with this?' Like some of these jokes and implications are just so blatant it seems incredible this show ever made it to being broadcast. It just feels very much like queer media made for queer people even if t's more subtle than something western like Queer as Folk.

Even without the heavy coloring of gay this show is incredible and so much more than I expected from the title and the promo. The premise is essentially the death of the goddess, who governed relations between humans and demons, leads to an influx of demons in the human world. This brings together the goddess's disciple, Wen Xiao--seeking to restore the goddess's power. WX's childhood sweetheart, Zhuo Yichen--seeking to restore the demon-hunting bureau after the powerful demon Zhu Yan killed his father and brother. It opens on Zhu Yan, in human disguise as as Zhao Yuanzhou, volunteering to help the imperial court restore the demon-hunting bureau to quell the chaos. They are joined by Pei Sijing, a retired female general from the rival demon hunting sect, and a very young doctor (and comic relief) named Bai Jiu. It starts off as a sort of monster-of-the-week with a grim Scooby gang doing detective work and fighting monsters. Each major demon has a mini arc that relates to the larger case (restoring the power of the goddess to balance the realms), and they are repeatedly blocked by either the demons or the rival demon hunting sect. Each mini arc also acts as a mirror or parallel story to slowly revealed backstory of all the main characters as well. In true cdrama fashion it's a mix of adventure, intense emotional drama, romance, and comedy. And queer and poly jokes and romance. It also has a kind of manga vibe in the way the comedy is woven into the more serious story, and in the fantastical depiction of the characters and how the story unfolds.

It is also just insanely beautiful. Every single shot is lovely. The costumes, make up, and hair are incredible. The casting director made all the major demons inhumanly beautiful. The sets are spectacular. The effects are nicely done. Every bit of has the vague surreality of a fairytale. The perfection of each shot ads to the manga vibe, as if we're seeing each critical storytelling panel come alive. There's recurring water-based special effects that are just gorgeous. Based on aesthetics alone this show would be worth watching to me. That it is combined with a complex, very emotional story is a spectacular gift to the watcher. A lot of the negative reviews of this complain about the staginess or that it's overly contrived in how each scene is shot. But I think it's gorgeous, works perfectly with the storytelling, and if we criticize art on whether it achieves the goal it intended then this show is doing exactly and perfectly what it means to do and doing it beautifully.

Additionally the acting is also very good, but Neo Hou is the stand out for sure. I enjoyed him in Back from the Brink, especially the later part of the story, but in Fangs of Fortune he's transformed, utterly embodying the role, the way Dylan Wang is Dongfang Qingcang in Love Between Fairy and Devil. Neo Hou has the right look, a slightly uncanny beauty perfect for a gorgeous immortal not of this world. The show does incredible things with his styling between the various looks and personas the role requires. But in acting he somehow manages to utterly transform his face and demeanor to manifest each aspect of the character as story demands changes from him.

There is a lot of crying in this drama. Like early on I joked that there was going to be a character crying a single perfect tear in every ep. Lol nope. Multiple single perfect tears per ep and many outright full on sobbing scenes. This show is just waiting to rip your heart out and you see it right from the beginning. But it was such sweet pain all the way through. Just a truly engaging and utterly wrenching set of intertwined stories.

My only criticism is that the pacing falls apart in the last 3 episodes. But overall the story is solid through the end, though like so many cdramas, it's saved by the epilogue.

You should absolutely watch it if you want the chaotic bi polycule (it's her, her girlfriend, her boyfriend, her boyfriend's boyfriend who is also her boyfriend, their two idiot sons, and her boyfriend's ex-who is also eventually sort of his boyfriend again), or if you want your heart torn out and stomped on. Or even if you just like really gorgeous cinematic things. Also if you watch, please don't skip the ending credits, as they change as the arcs change, and the radiant joy Tian Jiarui has as he dances is an excellent antidote to the emotions of each episode.

[renshengs]

大梦归离 fangs of fortune names + titles masterpost

brought to you by @mengyan and @renshengs <3

*note: this is only for what we consider as main characters, or recurring side characters! if you need clarification for a character that isn't here, send either of us an ask!

common terminology:

daren 大人 (suffix) — gender-neutral honorific often translated as Mr. or Ms. (e.g. Pei-daren = Ms. Pei)

xiao 小 (prefix) — little (e.g. Xiao-Jiu = Little Jiu)

jie/jiejie 姐姐 (suffix) — older sister (e.g. Wen-jiejie)

ge/gege 哥哥 (suffix) — older brother (e.g. Xiao-Zhuo-ge)

didi 弟弟 (suffix) — younger brother (e.g. Bai Jiu-didi) 

“A-” 阿 (prefix) — added before a single character of someone’s name/address, to indicate affection, familiarity, closeness etc (e.g. A-Heng, A-jie)

“er” 儿 (suffix) — added after a single character of someone’s name & is an affectionate term used by someone (often older) whose relationship to them involves some kind of caregiving; can be romantic or platonic (e.g. Wen Xiao’s foster father calling her Xiao’er)

common mistakes:

referring to someone with only one character—in chinese this is generally considered odd (e.g. Zhuo Yichen as “Zhuo”) and is not recommended unless done in-story (e.g. 蜚 Fei’s name just being Fei).

referring to a character by only their surname (e.g. Pei Sijing as “Pei”). chinese names put surnames before given names. (to call her by just her given name, use “Sijing”.)

referring to a character with a 2-character name by only their given name (e.g. Bai Jiu as “Jiu”). since his given name is only 1 character, it can’t be used on its own. using just the given name generally only works with 3-character names (e.g. Zhao Yuanzhou can be referred to as just “Yuanzhou”).

NOTE 1: calling a character by their given name usually implies closeness and informality. generally it is more common among chinese-speakers to use each other’s full names or their surnames combined with a title.

NOTE 2: to call a character by their surname or 1-character given name, you add on a prefix or suffix (e.g. Xiao-Zhuo or Xiao-Chen with Zhuo Yichen, Wen-jiejie or Xiao-jie with Wen Xiao)

NOTE 3: jiejie, gege, didi, (+meimei, what Wen Xiao called E’shou) are not just addresses exclusive to those of blood/familial relation! they can be used to address anyone younger/older than you and also be used in a flirtatious manner (e.g. Wen Xiao’s “Pei-jiejie” is very different from Bai Jiu’s “Pei-jiejie”)!

characters!

name: Zhu Yan | Zhao Yuanzhou [朱厌 | 赵远舟]

abbreviation: ZYZ

nicknames/titles: Great Demon (大妖 -> Da Yao), Stinky Brat (臭小子 -> Chou Xiaozi)

who uses what:

Wen Xiao: Zhao Yuanzhou, Da Yao, Zhu Yan (early on), gege (once)

Zhuo Yichen, Li Lun, some minor characters: Zhao Yuanzhou, Zhu Yan

Pei Sijing: Zhao Yuanzhou, Da Yao

Bai Jiu, Ying Lei: Zhao Yuanzhou

Ying Zhao: Chou Xiaozi

name: Wen Xiao [文潇]

abbreviation: WX

nicknames/titles: Baize Goddess (白泽神女 -> Baize Shennü), Wen Xiao-xiaojie, Wen-daren, Shennü-daren, Wen-jiejie, Xiao-jie, Xiao’er, Archivist Wen (文典藏 -> Wen-diancang)

who uses what:

Zhao Yuanzhou: Wen Xiao, Wen Xiao-xiaojie (early on)

Zhuo Yichen, Pei Sijing: Wen Xiao

Bai Jiu: Wen-jiejie, Xiao-jie

Ying Lei, Ying Zhao, Zhu Yin: Shennü-daren

Fan Ying: Xiao’er

minor characters (often people who aren’t close/are lower in position): Wen-daren, Wen-diancang

name: Zhuo Yichen [卓翼宸]

abbreviation: ZYC

nicknames/titles: Xiao-Zhuo, Xiao-Zhuo-daren, Zhuo Yichen-daren, Xiao-Zhuo-ge, Zhuo-daren, Xiao-Chen, Zhuo Xiao-Chen, Commander Zhuo (卓统领 -> Zhuo-tongling)

who uses what:

Zhao Yuanzhou: Zhuo Yichen, Xiao-Zhuo, Xiao-Zhuo-daren, Zhuo-daren, Zhuo Xiao-Chen (once), Zhuo Yichen-daren (once)

Wen Xiao: Zhuo Yichen, Xiao-Zhuo, Xiao-Zhuo-daren (rare)

Pei Sijing: Zhuo-daren, Xiao-Zhuo (very rarely), Zhuo-tongling, Zhuo Yichen (once)

Bai Jiu: Xiao-Zhuo-ge, Xiao-Zhuo-daren, Zhuo-daren (once)

Ying Lei: Xiao-Zhuo-daren

Li Lun: Zhuo Yichen

Zhuo Yixuan (ZYC’s brother): Xiao-Chen

Fan Ying: Zhuo-tongling, Xiao-Zhuo

Tiandu citizens: Zhuo-tongling

minor characters: Zhuo Yichen, Xiao-Zhuo-daren, Zhuo Yichen-daren

name: Pei Sijing [裴思婧]

abbreviation: PSJ

nicknames/titles: Pei-daren, Pei Sijing-daren, Pei-jiejie, A-jie, jiejie, Pei-jie

who uses what:

Zhao Yuanzhou, Zhuo Yichen: Pei Sijing, Pei-daren

Wen Xiao: Pei Sijing (once), Pei-daren, Pei-jiejie, Pei Sijing-daren (once), jiejie (once)

Pei Siheng: A-jie, jiejie (occasionally)

Bai Jiu: Pei-jiejie

Ying Lei: Pei-jie

minor characters: Pei-daren

name: Bai Jiu [白玖] / implied to originally be named Situ Jiu [司徒玖], after his father’s surname, and took the name Bai Jiu after his mother, Bai Yan

abbreviation: BJ

nicknames/titles: Xiao-Jiu, Little White Bunny (小白兔 -> Xiao Baitu), Bai Jiu-didi, Bai-daren, Bai Jiu-daren, Xiao Bai Jiu, Tu’er (Disciple)

who uses what:

all characters: Bai Jiu

Demon Hunting Bureau squad, Zhen Mei, Wen Zongyu: Xiao-Jiu, Tu’er

Zhao Yuanzhou: Xiao Baitu

Wen Xiao, Pei Siheng: Bai Jiu-didi

Bai Yan (Bai Jiu’s mother): Xiao Bai Jiu

minor characters: Bai-daren, Bai Jiu-daren

name: Ying Lei [英磊]

abbreviation: YL

nicknames/titles: Little Mountain God (小山神 -> Xiao-Shanshen), Shanshen, Shanshen-daren, Little Ying Lei, child

who uses what:

all characters: Ying Lei

Zhao Yuanzhou: Xiao-Shanshen, Shanshen (once)

Wen Xiao, Zhuo Yichen: Xiao-Shanshen, Shanshen-daren

Zhu Yin: Little Ying Lei

Ying Zhao: child

name: Li Lun [离仑]

abbreviation: LL

nicknames/titles: daren, Boss (老大 -> Lao Da)

who uses what:

almost all characters: Li Lun

Ao Yin: daren

the pagoda spirit: Boss/Lao Da

name: Pei Siheng [裴思恒]

abbreviation: PSH

nicknames/titles: A-Heng, didi

who uses what:

almost all characters: Pei Siheng

Pei Sijing: A-Heng, didi

[watch-grok-brainrot]

Fangs of Fortune - Ep 01 | 大梦归离 - 第一集

Hou Minghao as Zhu Yan/Zhao Yuanzhou | 侯明昊 饰 朱厌/赵远舟

I love this character so much. He's powerful, playful, and mischievous. And you really see him lean into the "I'm evil and crazy" here.

[recapitulation]

Hou Minghao as Zhao Yuanzhou / Zhu Yan in Fangs of Fortune / 大梦归离

[ID: gifs of the character Zhao Yuanzhou in the series "Fangs of Fortune." He is shown swinging his umbrella while fighting Zhuo Yichen, looking indignantly at Wen Xiao after taking a bite of fruit when she says "You really are a monkey," and smiling gently as he heals Zhuo Yichen's hand. In the next gif, Cheng Huang says, "I can help you die." Zhuo Yichen smiles and says, "That won't do. I've already promised someone else." Next, he is shown smiling and taking a bite of fruit. Then, he is shown shaking as he looks down at the blood on his hands after being possessed. Next, Zhuo Yichen says to him, "You think I'll forgive you just because you look pitiful? Is that what you think?" Zhao Yuanzhou responds tearfully, "No." He is then shown turning his face into Wen Xiao's hand, tearing up as Zhuo Yichen says "I understand you now," and hugging Wen Xiao goodbye. /end ID]

[youhideastar]

Fangs of Fortune: A Primer

I keep hoping someone funnier or better with images than me will write a primer for this show, but I haven’t seen it yet, so it’s looking like I’m going to have to be the propaganda I want to see in the world.

Fangs of Fortune is a 34.5-episode drama that takes place in Ancient Fantasy China, split between the human world and the Wilderness (home of the yao/demons). You can watch it on iQiyi or YouTube. There will be some spoilers below, mostly for early episodes; photos here are from official production stills/promos. As far as I can tell, Fangs of Fortune is a (successful) attempt to get a m/m romantic pairing past the censors by giving the dudes a(n also-queer) female love interest as well, which is neat. The show cares way more about the characters than about the plot, so I’m going to follow suit, starting with…

Zhao Yuanzhou, a.k.a. Zhu Yan

30,000-year-old suicidal Great Demon with suave DILF energy, sky-high self-confidence, and rock-bottom self-worth. 8 years before the show opens, he was possessed by malicious energy and killed a ton of people, including the only living relatives (father and brother) of this guy:

Zhuo Yichen

24-year-old swordsman and demon hunter (head of the Demon Hunting Bureau, in fact), who wears the most beautiful costumes of all time, has sworn to avenge his family, and happens to be in possession of the only weapon that can kill the aforementioned Great Demon Zhao Yuanzhou—if only he knew how to use it.

On the dynamic between Zhao Yuanzhou and Zhuo Yichen, which is the driving force of this show, I can’t do better than this post and this post – please go read them, you will not regret it. In the meantime, please enjoy some homoerotic violent hand-holding.

Zhao Yuanzhou shows up at the Demon Hunting Bureau very sexily and offers to teach Zhuo Yichen to use said weapon, if Zhuo Yichen will (a) swear to kill him with it once they’re done, and (b) in the meantime, let Zhao Yuanzhou join the demon hunting crew. Specifically, he demands to be paired up with this lady:

Wen Xiao

Scholar, demon hunter, Zhuo Yichen’s sort-of foster sister, and technically the Baize Goddess, guardian of the Wilderness… but when her predecessor as Baize Goddess died, she couldn’t complete the transfer of her powers to Wen Xiao, leaving Wen Xiao unable to do the job, and sickly to boot. Wen Xiao compensates by being smarter, more socially adept, and more mentally healthy than everyone else in this cast… although I will grant that’s a low bar to clear.

While recruiting a crew to go after a pesky water demon, Wen Xiao runs into…

Pei Sijing

Stoic archer who recently retired from demon-hunting after she had to kill her own brother; target of Wen Xiao’s very persistent affections.

Here they are being cute together:

Congratulations, you have now met the polycule! There are also two comic-relief teenagers (with obligatory difficult backstories) and two villains, one of whom is boring and will be ignored, and one of whom is Zhao Yuanzhou’s human-hating mall goth demon ex-boyfriend Li Lun, as seen below:

There is not really an overarching plot: in general, the plot is driven by the desire to get Wen Xiao fully powered-up as the Baize Goddess so that she can fix stuff that has gone wrong in the Wilderness, but after a certain point, most plot arcs are driven by problems caused in the previous plot arc. The writers are way more invested in putting the characters in Situations that will crunch them up against each other in interesting ways than in having a coherent plot or worldbuilding. Fortunately, they are very good at writing these characters reacting to each other in Situations, so it works out.

Why should you watch this show? First, it is delightfully gay and there is great fic for it, which you will get more out of if you’re familiar with canon (but don’t let that stop you from diving in now…). Second, the writers are really good at building compelling relationships between characters, romantic and otherwise, and in particular, they have a gift for writing two-character dialogue scenes and cute banter. Third, damn, this is maybe the most visually beautiful show I’ve ever seen in my life. The costumes, in particular, are unbelievable.

Are there downsides? Yeah, candidly, you are going to spend a chunk of the first third of the show sitting through long flashbacks that I call The Ponderous Tragic Backstories of the Het Guest Stars when all you want to do is get back to the main characters. Don’t worry, the whole show is not like this. It happens four times (three toward the beginning and once toward the end). And at least even the Ponderous Tragic Backstories of the Het Guest Stars are still very pretty to look at.

Anyway – check it out! Ask me if you have questions! Correct me if I goofed on anything! See you in Queer Poly Ancient Fantasy China!

(Edited to correct the number of episodes, thank you, @kandadze!)

[dearmyloveleys]

"Zhao Yuanzhou once told me that he often stared into space alone by the sea in the Wilderness. Because the sea never cared about his sadness and loneliness. The sea has a lot to worry about. Because, everyday, ten thousand waves are born from its embrace. And everyday, ten thousand lives fall into it and their souls sink into the deep sleep. I didn't understand it then, but after he left, I understood that bone-deep sadness. It was the base colour of his soul, like a broken song, vast, distant, and desolate."

- Zhuo Yichen, Ep 35 (Extra)

I’m not sure if this is has been raised by the fandom in the early days when the series started airing, but I find it so… it’s not foreshadowing, it’s just… (melancholic) now that we have the full view of everything. Zhao Yuanzhou’s name in Chinese characters are 赵远舟. 远 (yuan) — far away, 舟 (zhou) — boat. I recall there was an episode where he, ZYC and WX were making fun of each other’s names. Though, in that scene, they only mention his birth name, Zhu Yan, which funnily enough, the Yan (厌) does indeed stand for ‘annoying’ as the other two speculate. Yet it also stands for loathing, or be fed up with something. His birth name represents the slow grudge and despair he bears for his birth Demonic nature, the things out of his control. His human name doesn't fare any better. In fact, it is rather tragic.

Yuan Zhou — a far away boat, never docking on the shores of tranquility. It's a gifted human name from a person he cares about, yet, the humanity that this represents is innately unreachable. Gifts never have permanence in his life after all. He is always physically on the shore, looking out at the ocean of the Wilderness. He looks out to this yuan zhou, this metaphorical boat beyond his grasp, floating on this ocean of intertwining dreams and nightmares. The ocean is his ironic safe haven, as he finds that it "never cared for his sadness or loneliness". But his mind is simultaneously also the boat itself, drifting endlessly in sadness and loneliness. He looks out into the ocean where ten thousand waves are born and ten thousand lives are taken, each scenario representing the endless birth and death of his hopes and despair. He looks out at the ocean and sees himself in its waves.

As humans, regardless of culture, our names stand for our hopes and wishes. Names have power, in fiction and mythology, they are often a character’s prophecy. His human name reflects the human side of him that is unreachable and desolate, adrift at sea never settling on the shore - this human nature that is in sight but never attainable. On the other end, his Demon birth name reflects who he is and what he loathes, but it also comes with fond memories. To be a human or a demon? To which he says, "Be whatever you want to become". The tragic truth is, deep down, he cares for both his identities. He doesn’t want to solely become either. It wounds him that the two sides of him, the demon and the human can never truly reconcile. His nature eternally jostles with what he nurtures. Neither of his names comes with meanings of comfort — his prophecy is one of endless contradiction and encompasses his pain that is thoroughly evoked through the series. The base colour of his soul, like a broken song, vast, distant, and desolate.

Though there is hope, as the story reiterates. As far as mythological prophecies go, fate will bite you in the ass if you avoid it. ZYZ doesn’t avoid these prophecies. Instead, when a human and a demon shows him that both sides can be loved, he fulfils both identities of himself. His self-fulfilling prophecy that he expects from all his inner grief and turmoil, comes true, but not in the way fate expects. But fate cannot condemn him any longer. He still has met his dictated end, hasn't he? He hasn't tempted it in any way or form. Light shines through, and I believe the Heavens are chuckling away in a corner of their world. They let him go to be whatever he wants to be, and he becomes the guiding love that he has always wanted.

[morweneledhwen]

Okay, so. I tried a thing. It's a first one for me.

Not just the fandom, but writing a fic in English from scratch. This was a most educational experience.

Characters:

Zhao Yuanzhou | Zhu Yan & Li Lun

Summary:

Zhu Yan learns how to speak, finds a companion, chooses a name for himself and cultivates some basic emotions.

– Not necessarily in that order.

Note:

There's a sequel to this fic now: In the Palm of his Hand.

[joyfulpoet]

Explanation of characters under cut, but also full of spoilers.

Tantai Jin from “Till the End of the Moon”, reborn Devil God fated to destroy the world. Was born with no emotions, killed his mother as a baby, rejected by his father, rejected by the women who raised him, his wife helped him grow emotions just to try to kill him, and then killed herself when she failed. Spent centuries looking for the soul of his wife in the underworld river that literally eats your flesh. Everyone always thinks the worst of him even when he tries to turn over a new leaf. Lets them think the worst of him so he can sacrifice himself to save the woman he loves and the world.

Dongfang Qingcang from “Love Between Fairy and Devil”, raised to be a tool to destroy Heaven. Father tortured him as a child to kill his tree of emotions so he could control hell fire. Kills his Father to become Moon Supreme and starts a war with Heaven. Is a genuine immortal and can’t be killed, so to stop him the fairies had to tear his soul into nine pieces and imprison him. Was revived by accident but has a curse that ties his life to a tiny weak flower fairy that if she dies so does he. She revives his tree of emotions but he can no longer use hell fire. Is then possessed by the Evil God Tai Sui. Later sacrifices himself to save said fairy who he loves and Heaven from the Evil God.

Zhu Yan from “Fangs of Fortune” , a Great Demon that was born to carry the malevolent energy of the world. Wants to die but can’t. Durning the Blood Moon the evil energies take over his body and mind and makes him kill people. Makes a pact with a Demon Hunter, whose family he killed on a blood moon, to teach him how to kill him. Makes a contract with the girl he likes, whose shifu he killed during a blood moon, that if she dies he also dies. Wants to live a simple, carefree life with the people he loves, but doesn’t want to cause more harm. Is always throwing himself in harms way to save everyone. Later sacrifices himself to save the woman he loves and to stop everyone from being turned into mindless demons.

Mu Sheng from “Love Game in Eastern Fantasy”, an abandoned half demon raised by the Demon Hunting Mu family. Tried to kill his father as a child for abandoning him and his mother. Was separated from his mother in an attempt to save him from the demon hunters and was made to forget her. Mother was then turned into the Resentful Woman, Queen of Demons and possessed his adopted older sister, who was used to kill her entire clan. Does everything that he can to hide this fact from his sister. Is very spiteful and prejudice towards anyone who isn’t his sister, but learns to be more open and caring thanks to FL. In the original story he stays spiteful and distrusting and ends up dying along with everyone. In the first new ending is forced to kill his sister and then dies. Is revived by FL but she is then replaced with the OG character. To get her back he travels through time to find her so they can rewrite the ending to save everyone, only to still get a bad ending. Only be realizing he is the author and sacrificing himself can they both wake up.

[bean-in-dice]

A little Li Lun Character Analysis

Ok call me insane but I think Li Lun will really understand what Female Rage is.

Maybe I've seen way too much Gongdou dramas but think, he was a very untamed demon, as wild as he could get, quite unlike Zhu Yan who was a more humanized ape demon. Both due to his inherent nature as a tree and because he just didn't have much exposure to human world other than the TWO times he ventured to it, tagged along with Zhu Yan, and they were like what, at least a few centuries old already.

Imagine that! You are centuries old and the second time you come on a market date at mortal world, you see your own kind being tortured and held in captive in a dungeon! And the first external reaction of your bestie/love interest/charge who was the bridge between Wilderness and this suddenly horrific human world was to not show the same panic you did.

I would freak out too!

Now listen, I'm not defending that he killed unrelated innocent civilians. He did and it was wrong, even though his lash out was somewhat understandable when put to perspective.

And then what happened? He was quick to be given eternal jail time. Nobody even explicitly showed him concern about his severe burn wounds, and he was kept in dark about how the imprisonment was a so called "kindness" because it kept him from dying from the burns, up until the LAST MOMENT he broke the imprisonment himself and burned away!!!

Since the show only told us what happened with the prosecution of Li Lun and not with the Pharmacy, we cannot say whether Zhu Yan/Baize Goddess/Demon Hunting Bureau were just as fast to lock the place down and tried to bring the people to justice, all we know is that immediately after Li Lun was imprisoned, Blood Moon happened and Baize Goddess and Demon Hunting Bureau were killed, so the pharmacy people naturally got away even though they might have been under a legal process because well, all the upholders of law just died and the only remaining one withdrew because he was overwhelmed with guilt.

So basically everything went downhill outside while Li Lun was banished to damp and gloomy Da Huang and he was as good as forgotten in the heat of the moment. Even if someone maybe meant to properly talk to him and explain shit, none of them ever came because they died! And due to this very same guilt and other baggage, Zhu Yan never ever visited Li Lun in jail for 8 years either. And Li Lun was left to make whatever he wanted out of it, and he did, as well an abandoned, silenced, free spirit of nature in endless agony bound in a musty cave would.

One might think his wrath with Zhu Yan was so overdramatic as if it's been hundred years of beef whereas it's only been 8 years, but when put into context like this, 8 were more than enough, don't you think? It only shows just how fast and strongly his pain and resentment built up.

And the world called him obsessed, delusional, hysterical and villainized him to hell and back... including his only connection to the world, Zhu Yan.

And he tried and tried to understand why, to the best of the ability of a lonely tree with no methods of meaningful communication left with the outside. Obviously he failed, but he tried.

And nobody ever tried to understand him.

He was the Attic wife in a Gothic novel. He was the concubine in Cold Palace, and he was the name-called first wife of a wastrel of nobleman with 3 other mistresses. Look I just watched the first 2 eps of the currently airing Cdrama Blossoms and I just got into a mood ok.

In the end, he obeyed the "last mercy of Zhao Yuanzhou". Or more specifically, he finally got to hear that his Zhu Yan was thinking of his wellbeing all this time and all his hatred melted away in a second.

And when he saw that Zhu Yan was in danger, he threw away the life and second chance he so longed for and returned for Zhu Yan’s assistance... and his only words to Zhu Yan were:

"A moment is more than enough."

And after that, he wouldn't speak directly to Zhu Yan anymore, wouldn't touch him, only addressing him via Zhuo Yichen: having recognized Zhuo Yichen as his love's current priority/the person Zhu Yan cares for more than he does for him. Zhu Yan might object that no, they both are equally important to him, but clearly, that's not how Li Lun read him, and honestly after everything who can blame him? Not even the so called "last mercy" was given to him face-to-face by Zhu Yan, so it's no wonder if Li Lun believes that Zhu Yan doesn't really care much to speak let alone continue a relationship with him, just that Zhu Yan didn't want him to die, which is a pretty low bar.

"Zhuo Yichen, please help me protect Zhu Yan from now on", Li Lun says as he holds Zhuo Yichen and gazes into his eyes, as if he's trying to parse out what made Zhuo Yichen more worthy of Zhu Yan’s love, defense and care than him.

"Zhuo Yichen, look carefully! Do not miss!", he says in his last moments. Remember me, the one who loved Zhu Yan first. I was once special to him too. Do not be like me, but know that I had a glorious presence in his life as well.

He doesn't turn to look again at Zhu Yan, he doesn't see Zhu Yan desperately clambering after him, to keep him from dying to buy them -Zhu Yan and Zhuo Yichen- more time. Maybe he heard Zhu Yan calling his name brokenly, but it was already too late.

[hyog-blog]

If You Like It, Put a Ring on It [fic]

I wanted to write one kiss, under some love seductive magic to make it more fun, but then everyone in my head went: but what about the AFTERMATH of a kiss? Aren't we going to explore why they did it and what happens next? And I'm like sure, another dramedy it is :D Because seriously, it's like these characters just have to have that bit of existential crisis first. And, obviously, overcoming it makes everyone (including me) oh-so-happy on various levels.

So I bring you another delicious Zhao Yuanzhou and Zhuo Yichen coming-together fic, with a first kiss and then some more, with ZYZ being a tease and looking staggering in his attempt to impress Zhuo Yichen even more, with a bit of a plot, found family shenanigans, and a variation of a wedding ring trope (is it even a thing? well now it's a thing :D)

If you read it and like it, come celebrate with me to the comments! :D

https://archiveofourown.org/works/61944364/chapters/158397634

Summary:

“Do I have to?” Zhuo Yichen manages to ask in a husky voice looking as if this magic was the only way for him to actually act upon his feelings, whatever they were, and once they get back to normal, if that was still an option, he will have to restrain himself once more and be that carefully composed, slightly uptight leader of the Demon Hunting Bureau, an exemplary fighter, stoic and untainted by humanly desires.

[kandadze]

Not what I was planning on posting, but this story got super persistent (and my editing sped up thanks to @hyog-blog's cheering me on :)), so...

Catharsis (1334 words) by kandadze

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: 大梦归离 | Fangs of Fortune (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Zhao Yuanzhou | Zhu Yan/Zhuo Yichen

Characters: Zhao Yuanzhou | Zhu Yan, Zhuo Yichen, Qing Geng

Summary:

Xiao Zhuo's arms should be getting tired right about now, Zhao Yuanzhou thinks, blinking up from his position on the ground at the man in question; he seems to be in a trance, but there's no malicious energy on him this time, and even Bing Yi's energy doesn't make an appearance. Zhao Yuanzhou is rather grateful -

Or, the missing scene in ep 31.

[alipeeps]

Episode 19

SERIOUS SPOILERS in this one, jfc do NOT read ahead if you have not already watched ep 19!! 😭😭

Wait where did all the other demons go? We only saw Li Lun let one out and leave with her.

"You're the reason I have nothing" says Li Lun??

Ooooh Li Lun killed all the people keeping the demons in cages... and the "fight" we saw a glimpse of earlier was Zhu Yan stopping Li Lun from killing one more person.

So Zhu Yan was trying to stop Li Lun from indiscriminate killing, which would surely get him in trouble, and Li Lun saw it as Zhu Yan putting humans over demons and protecting people who had hurt demons...

Oh SHIT!! Oh wait! That flare of power when he stopped him was NOT intentional! It was the ever-burning fire branch that was absorbed into Zhu Yan.... and Li Lun is a fucking tree demon! He accidentally kinda set him on fire?

He didn't mean to hurt you Li Lun, just to stop you from killing!

Shit he killed the clinic patients, not even the bad guys who imprisoned the demons. As I said, indiscriminate killing. But as far as Li Lun is concerned, all humans are the same, all are guilty...

Okay point of order, how come Li Lun calls him Zhao Yuanzhou in these flashbacks? Cos I thought he only got given that name by the Baize Goddess, and I thought he only started spending time with her later on, when he was mired in sadness? The Zhu Yan in these scenes is still young and (relatively) carefree?

Uh, your Zhuo Yichen fanboy is showing Zhu Yan...

Ayyy gang to the rescue!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! What the fuck did you do to my baby boy?!!!

Divine power?! Is Bai Jiu part-god? Is he like Ying Lei and half-demon, half-god?

Ugh, Zhu Yan telling the others to get Bai Jiu to safety and confronting Li Lun alone... except he is NOT alone because Zhou Yichen stayed with him!

Oh dang. Well, she wasn't wrong that Li Lun would want to torture her in front of Zhu Yan.

Ooooh so he WAS trying to curse her and control her into hating Zhu Yan.

Another thing I love about this drama is the realism... which sounds daft to say about a very much fantasy drama but what I mean is bits like this... when the script/story calls for a character to get wet/be submerged in water... they actually DO it. There's no CGI/fake underwater scenes, and no actors with hair and clothing that has basically just been spritzed so it is barely damp... they actually get them properly submerged and wet.

Yes boi, use that ice water power!!

Damn boy, you so fucken cool...

Oooh he cut him with a blade coated in his own blood... and therefore malicious energy...

"I now carry blood with malicious energy"... meaning.. he didn't before? Or just... his malicious qi levels weren't previously high enough that it infected his blood too? I mean... Li Lun obviously knew about him absorbing malicious qi, hence the whole blood moon plot...

Oh fucking GO Wen Xiao!!

Took that fucker by complete surprise and swiped his weapon right out of his hands!!

Smash it! See how he fucking likes it!

Okay that was dumb, you decided to try and use it instead.

Oooh we saw that earlier when he escaped after the seal was broken - the skin on his arm is turning woodlike...

Yup... as I had surmised... Zhu Yan accidentally damaged him with the ever-burning fire back then... and because he is a tree demon... the fire of that burn has never gone out. He's been burning in agony ever since.

Aaaaaand that's another nice helping of guilt for Zhu Yan, who no matter how he tries seems to keep hurting people due to things that are out of his control...

Oh shiiiiit so being sealed by the baize token actually controlled the fire from the ever-burning wood. Otherwise he would have burned to ashes.

So if she hadn't sealed him, he'd be dead. And now that the seal is broken... he is burning again...

Wait up is he actually burning up right now? Like he's gonna die now? With 13 eps left?

Jfc give Hou Minghao ALL the fucking acting awards!!

So... the big bad is dead and gone? And we're only just over half way through.

So... am guessing the plot will now revolve around how to avert the two impending disasters of:

the wilderness collapsing if the baize token cannot be repaired; and

Zhu Yan destroying the human world when he inevitably loses control of the malicious qi.

Oh and here comes Chongwu fucking camp to join the party...

Oh so the bowl had the Yao water in it? But now it's polluted with blood...

I wouldn't necessarily believe what Li Lun said dude...

Yeah keep telling yourself that babes....

Oh wait, I hadn't realised it was Chongwu Camp AND Demon Hunting Bureau together?!

And let me guess, the purpose behind this unprecedented cordial entente is... to kill Zhu Yan?

Oh, arrest him is it? So your guy can then kill him and take his core.

Pleeeeeease tell me Demon Hunting Bureau isn't gonna sign off on this shit?

Since when is Sijing the Prime Minister's representative?

Also, Wen Xiao, sweetie, you should NOT be relying on Sijing to back you up... she's a fucking mole for Chongwu Camp!!

Aaaand there it is.

Uuuuuh okay... so mum is not dead? And yeah... there sure is a lot to explain to your kid fella... like how the fuck he's got divine power?!!

Can't see how Chongwu Camp's prison could hold Zhu Yan any better than Demon Hunting Bureau's if he really wanted to leave? (Am not seeing any demon-power suppressing charms). So I guess for the moment he doesn't want to leave...

Oh my, has our boy Yichen finally managed to acknowledge that things aren't quite so simple as black and white?

He sure fucking is!

I'm... starting to wonder if the dude behind the mask is gonna turn out to be... said prime minister?

Ooooh I stand corrected, they did put a bunch of suppressing tokens in his cell....

(Ngl my whumper's heart is still kinda hoping he will get injured/tortured whilst his powers are suppressed.... come on Chongwu Camp... do this one thing for me... )

Oh shiiiiiiit the Prime Minister is the "scholar" who attacked the dragon mountain god. He's had it out for demons since the start!!

Uhhhh that's a new look for Wen Xiao?!! I'm gonna guess this is a demon pretending to be her? Perhaps the same one that was doing the same in Li Lun's dream world?

Oh MAN, he were go again with flashback city!! And Zhu Yan has fucking known from the start that Sijing was a Chongwu spy and has used it against them!!

Oohhhh those fuckers lied to her that her brother was still alive and tried to use that as leverage - not knowing that she already knew for certain he was definitely dead.

So she's been pretending to be their mole all this time... to help Zhu Yan find out what they are up to.

Ahhhhh fucking epic!!

So Chongwu camp has been using demons for research... just like the clinic Li Lun and Zhu Yan busted all those years ago?

Okay wait I am CONFUSED. It was only 8 years ago that he and Li Lun busted the clinic? And that's what Li Lun was sealed for (so he's only been sealed for 8 years?) and that's when Zhu Yan wigged out under the blood moon?

So... Zhu Yan had already been hanging out with baize goddess long before that? And been given her brother's name?

But was also visiting the mortal world with Li Lun, seemingly carefree? So this hairstyle...

and this....

were a matter of maybe days apart? Was the grey hairstyle just something he used for visiting the mortal world with Li Lun? But we also saw him with that hairstyle being reprimanded by Ying Zhao for visiting the mortal world when he hadn't fully mastered malicious qi, which I had assumed was when he was much younger? Which is why I had assumed the grey plaited hairstyle indicated younger Zhu Yan? But I guess not?

Oh damn... mystery mask dude is... Xiao Bai's master? Ngl I did NOT fucking see that coming!

And he's been experimenting on demons all this time?

Has... has he experimented on Xiao Bai? Is that why he has divine power and was worried when asked if he was a demon? Have this fucker used demon/divine blood on him?

Oh FUCK and that's why he wants Zhu Yan's core! For his experiments!! A great demon's core!

Ohhh fuck that doesn't sound good...

I think this might be a trap...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

WHAT

THE

FUCK?!!

NO! Noooooooooo!!! Not my baby Xiao Jiu!!

I AM NOT OKAY!!!

[tenillypo]

First Impressions by Tenillypo

Words: 1,219 Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zhao Yuanzhou | Zhu Yan & Zhuo Yichen, Wen Xiao & Zhao Yuanzhou | Zhu Yan & Zhuo Yichen Characters: Zhuo Yichen, Wen Xiao (Fangs of Fortune) Additional Tags: Missing Scene, Episode: e01 (Fangs of Fortune), POV Zhuo Yichen, Pre-Zhao Yuanzhou | Zhu Yan/Zhuo Yichen Series: Part 1 of Missing Pieces Summary:

"No," Zhuo Yichen agreed slowly. "I didn't think he'd be so…" He paused, searching for the right words. Unpredictable? Childish? (Sad, the inexplicable thought came as he flashed on the memory of Zhu Yan pulling the Cloud Light Sword into his own chest. ) "Handsome," Wen Xiao finished with a nod. "I know."

read the fic

[niyxxe]

Chapters: 1/1

Rating: General Audiences

Fandom: 大梦归离 | Fangs of Fortune (TV)

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply.

Relationships: Zhao Yuanzhou | Zhuyan & Pei Sijing, Zhao Yuanzhou | Zhuyan & Qing Geng, Zhao Yuanzhou | Zhuyan & Everyone (and more!)

Characters: Zhao Yuanzhou | Zhu Yan, Pei Sijing, Zhuo Yichen, Qing Geng, Pei Siheng.

Additional Tags: Hurt & Comfort / pei sijing expresses her care for zhuyan and doesn't allow him to wallow in his self misery / Zhuyan It Is Not Your Fault / it was never your fault / Platonic Relationships / pei sijing is better with her feelings than people think / taking place mid-ep 17 / shortly after all the chaos / yeah that terrible blood moon ep / Canon Typical Self-Loathing / everyone loves him / they just forget to express it well / self harm (the cuts on his back)