#fan fiction reviews

[nymphadorathetemplar]

​that first type of comment is why my view of fanfiction is that it is self made meals tailored to my tastes that i make for myself only (and occasionally as a gift to one or two friends). and i share it online for others to possibly enjoy it if they want to read it, but it’s not written for them. if they happen to also get joy from reading then yay, but if not then oh well they can move onto the next fic or write one themselves.

but as for the second type of comment: as a writer that feels delighted to read even very simple “thank you for this story” or “i liked this” comments. that is why i try to comment on every story i enjoy. but then when i get mini essays or people saying “this is my nth re-read” it makes me even happier. so thank you people who take the time to comment your praise.

Writing is a process that often undergoes heavy edits… that includes responding to feedback. 

[ekingston]

| By Way of Wit | rated M | COMPLETE |

The jury summons arrives on a Friday.

“You have to get yourself disqualified,” Alex says.

Kara frowns. “What about my civic duty?”

Her sister ignores her. She’s on her phone, already finding her an out. “Your occupation should qualify you for an exemption,” she discovers. “It says here, if you’re full-time military, or a firefighter, or a cop—”

Kara holds the letter up for Alex to read. “They didn’t summon Supergirl,” she says. “They summoned Kara Danvers, freelance food critic and full-time reporter.”

-

In which no one escapes jury duty, not even superheroes and celebrity CEOs, and when Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor end up in sequestration, well—the defense submits that there's more than one type of civic service.

[the-busy-ghost]

"I don't doubt that AI will one day be able to write a good, even beautiful novel. But the question is why anyone should want to read such a book, sheer novelty aside, when there are far better books written by real people than one could ever read in one lifetime. (...) Great writing is identified not by its perfect sentences, but from that uncanny feeling of another consciousness rubbing against your own, which can be more intimate and revealing than real-world interactions with others. The writers I love speak to me from the page in whatever way they can, and they tell me, in that particular moment, what it's like to be alive."

"Out of the Ordinary: AI cannot produce great fiction. For that, a writer must know what it is to be alive" by Megan Nolan in The New Statesman (13th-19th September 2024).

[bethanydelleman]

Reminder to never take a review too seriously or as the absolute truth. Here are two Goodreads reviews of my book, Unfairly Caught. One reviewer loved the main story, hated that I included extras at the end. The other was meh on the main story, LOVED my extras. So in the end, people just have preferences.

Review 1: the book itself: meh. did not really like. the writing style is a little too awkward for me (she uses commas incorrectly!) and it's too dull... the stuff after the book: a couple short, ridiculous, funny stories that made me laugh out loud. then there were notes on the different characters which were really good, and made me see all of them in a new light.

Review 2: I loved this piece of rare Mansfield Park fan fiction... I will say that the only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because the short stories at the end were absolutely a level of absurd that I just did not enjoy after such a lovely story.

I don't ignore reviews entirely, I see them as a way to grow in my writing, but I also take them with a grain of salt, for this very reason.

[machetelanding]

[ali-ali-al1]

I need to talk to strangers on the internet about The Thursday Murder Club character Chris Hudson and the accurate depiction of a very common and very miserable relationship with food that is not usually given space in media to breathe past being the butt of a joke or an unimportant detail (god fucking bless Richard Osman). I need to talk to strangers on the internet about the Thursday Murder Club. I need a fandom (if that’s still the correct terminology) how am I meant to live like this ⁉️⁉️⁉️

[romantasyreader28]

DOES ANYONE HAVE SEVEN PRINCES OF HELL FANFICS?!? ITS NOT A BOOK SERIES I WILL LEGIT JUST TAKE ANYTHING ABT THEM PLSSSSSS!!!!!

[warball-boyz]

Imma try some fiction now.

Help... (no idea how many words this is)

Chapter 1: Pre-Game

The crowd was deafening in the way only several tens of thousands of people could be, or possibly several dozen very loud cats right next to your ear as you try to enjoy a nice bit of chicken.

They had already been seated for nearly an hour, and the cheerleaders were getting tired. They could only juggle swords and breathe fire and perform complicated acrobatics for so long, and the crowd was already on their second or third round of watery beer, and wanted to see more violence than the fully-armoured cheerleaders could muster (the full armour came about from a strike regarding an attempt to put them in too-revealing uniforms while still performing the dangerous stunts aforementioned, and the cheerleaders, like most people, liked keeping their body parts attached to the rest of them).

It was all deliberate though, the Managers had planned out the opening ceremonies of every game precisely. Keep the crowd entertained and pull in a few more miscellaneous coins from additional merchandise purchases, and only start the game when the fans were in a near-riotous stage, which made the game all the more entertaining and kept them running to the snack stalls in every pause of the game to sate their now-voracious appetites (being angry in a hot stadium did that to one's caloric intake). It also added to the spectacle of when the teams were introduced. As they would be now.

Trumpets blared and drums pounded in the theme music of the visiting team, the Kasbak Freehold Thunder-Hammers as they ran onto the pitch while the cheerleaders made their ways to the side-lines. The Thunder-Hammer fans —Thammers—roared as if on cue (which they were: a small goblin in the front row in team colours lifted a large sign that said "cheere ye, cheere ye") as their blue-and-white bedecked favourites made two rows and faced the mass of blue that were their fans, and began their as-carefully-as-three-dozen-overmuscled-and-not-quite-enough-brained-men-could-choreograph chant. It featured mostly yelling at the tops of their lungs, pounding their chests, and stomping. The fans repeated the chant barely a millisecond behind the team, creating a rather interesting spectacle, similar to how a parent and child practise saying the same words at the same time but the child is a little behind the beat.

The KFTH slammed their fists into the ground, a very suitable finish for a team comprising mostly of orcs, two trolls, and a half-dozen dwarfs, all of whom see punching the ground as very intimidating. Especially when you leave dints in the turf. The Thammer crowd roared its support, and the team trundled their way to the sidelines, where they partook in copious amounts of swearing at each other and fans while drinking enough fluid to drown a very large fish. That was as much part of the spectacle as the chant was, symbolizing to fans their eagerness to play and to win.

The crowd began to murmur in a terrifying cohesion as the trumpets held a quiet but long note like a hose that wasn't turned fully off. It slowly grew with the drums building up an off-kilter rhythm, culminating in three dis-chords that the crowd shouted along to. These three chords of questionable musical composition (any music teacher could talk at length about how the chromatic progression rife with minor sevenths, minor seconds, and tritones made it an instant failure of any music theory exam) repeated with the crowd's participation as the Markoth City Partizans took to the pitch. The Partizans didn't have a chant that the team performed, but the thirty thousand fans had more than made up for it by forcing a melody and lyrics onto the "Three Chords of Doom" that was their official theme music. It went roughly along the lines of:

"Partizans will not die!

We will kill you!

Death to the opponent!

Kill! Kill! Kill!"

(It cannot be said that the fans had more poetic ability than the players, who at least had the excuse of multiple head injuries)

Instead of a war chant, the Partizans assembled in a square formation at centre field and stomp rhythmically, raising their fists alternatively with each stomp.

Once the fans' homemade chant died into more rabid cheering, the team sent to their side of the pitch, and the officials appeared. They had no fanfare, as no one much liked the officials except the Officials Guild, who ensured they at least got paid regularly. Once the officials dispersed to their places on the pitch, the head referee, in this case a slightly pudgy yet athletic man with the name "Onager" stitched onto his linen doublet, stood officially at centre, with a hands-behind-back-and-legs-slightly-apart stance that all head referees were taught in the Official Official's Handbook provided by the Officials' Guild.

Once Onager was in this stance, the captains of both teams came to meet him. The KFTH had Berhard Pavyn, the Partizans had Loeghr Falhalf. Fanfare continued as Onager held up the Official gold coin to determine who would receive the ball first. He carefully made a show of showing it off to the crowd and captains, despite the fact it was merely the size of a cat's paw print, and then hefted it into the air with lethal amounts of backspin.

"Crown!" Falhalf shouted. As the home-team captain he had the right to choose which side he wanted the coin to show upon landing. The coin didn't listen half the time.

"Shield," Onager said with pomp. "The Thunder-Hammers will choose to receive or kick."

No one in the crowd heard a blessed thing, but helpful eagle-eyed fans in the front rows held up homemade signs with crude crowns and shields on them to indicate to the seething masses above them what was occurring.

Pavyn considered his options. "I think we shall kick," he said after a sufficiently pregnant pause. Signs were lifted, crowd cheered and shouted.

"The Thunder-Hammers shall kick the ball!" Onager bellowed officially. Both captains then made their way to their teams and relayed the pertinent information.

On the KFTH side, the coach, a particularly rotund orc named Khaligorn was ferociously scribbling at his large slate with a chalk.

"We gotsta move fast! The Partz are good at runnin, and we have to get to where they goin faster then they do! And when we gets there, we hits them harder then they hits us!" He began pouting to the surrounding players. "Loustin and Harrok will be at the edges, Pavyn near left, Joggban far right. Golshak, Urrig, and Pagh take centre! I want the trolls taking up the rear in case their runners and blitzers break through! The rest of you know your places! Gayns! Kick and run a boar's leg after!"

Bealdric Gayns nodded with careful emotionlessness, then began muttering as soon as he ran into the pitch and out of Khaligorn's hearing.

"Boar's leg! He's lost it! I'm basically playing a blitzer! Yes I can run and block halfway decent, but be a spare blitzer?! Madness I say! This has to be a false play to make me look intimidating and lead their runner into Loustin and Joggban. It's the only way!"

By the end of this short monologue Bealdric was at his position, roughly twenty years behind centre, where Onager officially handed him the official game ball, and stood with his official stance a few feet away, whistle in his lips ready to blow the official start of the game.

Bealdric lined up his kick, gauging the weight of the ball and tried to see where the Partizans had placed their receiver/runner. He also tried to calculate where the boar's leg run would take him, and specifically which of the Partizans' ogre blockers he would be concussed by in the next half-minute.

He steadied himself.

He released the ball gently while taking a soft jump forward, his right leg starting it's pendulous swing.

He connected with the ball.

Onager blew his whistle with all the officially he could push from his lungs.

The ball arced at a perfect 62 degree angle over centre.

The game had begun

[mirireads]

𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐢𝐝𝐞 • 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

general info

author: Misdemeanor1331 fandom: harry potter pairing: draco malfoy/hermione granger chapters: 10 (technically 9) rated: M/E potential triggers: death, violence, sex

𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐈 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐃: 𝐲𝐞𝐬

While ferrying a message for the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione Granger is caught by jaded Death Eater, Draco Malfoy. Unlikely and unwilling allies, the pair begin a cross-country journey where their survival depends on learning when to stand strong against the elements’ fury, and when it’s acceptable to erode.

so, yes, i would absolutely, no questions asked, recommend Time and Tide. but this fic is not my typical dramione fic rec whatsoever. at 10 chapters and under 30k words, it is pretty short, so there's no slowburn there. their relationship builds pretty quickly, but not abruptly. hermione being a selkie is one of the biggest story points in this fic, which i loved. i don't feel like i see many creature!hermione fics, honestly. the most notable feature of this fic, though, is just the writing itself. i mean, it's beautiful. you can absolutely tell the author is a seasoned and talented writer. for a short fic, the characterization is great and the entire time i was practically screaming, "PLEASE WORK OUT PLEASE GET SAFE PLEASE BE HAPPY" at my kindle.

also, for the record, there are two endings to this fic. one is HEA, but one is not. both contain smut. i read both because of course i did. the non-HEA version felt a little rushed and...underbaked? i don't love criticizing the work that amazing fic authors do for free, but it is worth noting. if you are going to read one ending, i highly suggest the HEA one, not just for your own mental health, but also for the story. the HEA one isn't even totally HEA, so the edginess is still present!

[thecomicsnexus]

TMNT ADVENTURES: THE FOREVER WAR (kind of FAN MADE)

April 2024

By Steve Murphy, Chris Allan, Andrew Modeen, Artem Tsarkov, Arseniy Dubakov, Egor Prutov , Jon D'Agostino, Dmitry Bobrovnik, Yuri Kochin, and Jim Lawson.

The Shredder finally succeeds at erasing the Turtles from history and conquering the world. But the Turtles and Splinter will try to defeat him and ensure their existence in this conclusion of the iconic Archie series.

SCORE: 8

You'll have to forgive the lack of images, but it is very hard to scan this book (I'll see what I can do for the video review, but I may need to work with photos of it). In any case, this is another of those fan projects by Arseniy Dubakov and Andrew Modeen... but with some interesting twists in its genesis.

You probably remember that this saga was announced in 1995 before the Archie adventures were canceled, and fans have been speculating forever about how the story ended.

In 2009 we almost got the conclusion by the original team (Steve Murphy and Chris Allan), but the turtles were sold to Viacom and the plans never materialized. In any case, Murphy couldn't remember where he was going with the story, so it would be fair to say that it was never going to be the same arc.

More recently, Chris Allan met Arseniy and the two got together to make this project happen. The first chapter (which was made public at some point in the past few years), was mostly recovered from 1995, but it had been colored and edited by the new team.

As far as I know, the second chapter was plotted by Steve Murphy, and I can say that the two first chapters feel the most like the original book... with some annoying differences.

After that, the book does its job, and the story works very well. The project was promoted as "closing all open plots" of the original series, but fortunately, it only tried to solve a time paradox that has always been a problem in that book. I applaud the restrain of the writers from bringing up every single plot point just to let readers know they read the book (as is usually the case with these projects).

The art is probably the most spectacular aspect of the book. It's an updated look for the Archie adventures that for the most part, looks like a continuation of the story. There are some stylistic differences when it comes to inking after chapter one, but you get used to them after a while.

The book comes with two back-up stories. One penciled by Jim Lawson that tries to make sense of the convoluted Archie timeline (specifically about which Shredder you were looking at in each adventure). The second backup is some sort of epilogue to Forever War that will leave you with more questions than answers.

For me, the weakest point of the book is the "overwriting" from Andrew.

It's hard to explain, but Andrew goes into these long narrations directed at the reader that just feel overproduced and underproduced at the same time. There is an overuse of "Modeen" expressions that can be said by any character at any time. Perhaps because he is not doing the writing/plotting alone, this is his best story yet. We know Andrew is a fan, an we know he can write. But it would be nice if he could work on his dialogues and... I'm going to call it now... think twice before adding an unnecessary celebrity quote at the beginning of each chapter.

I am not sure if this was in the original plot, but some elements in this story were even darker than the original series (like slashing a classic character in two). I get that we all grew up and we can take it, but this should be a continuation of that book, and I feel that it wasn't this bloody (most of the time).

But again, this story worked for me, it didn't bring up characters and plots just for the sake of it, and the turtles were front and center.

Should we consider this an ending for the Archie series? Well, just like it happened with Volume 3 before Urban Legends came out, this is all we can get. It's technically just the story, and not a proper ending, so you could still consider "Year of the Turtle" the final story (I assume that it not being referenced was intentional). There is one reference to "TMNT: Odyssey" (because for some reason, all these projects need to share the same multiverse), but it can be easily ignored... I think.

Maybe one day IDW will decide to do their own version of Forever War, but I don't think Chris Allan would go through this ordeal again... I think it could be published as is (fourth-wall monologuing included). Perhaps censoring some of the blood, to keep it consistent with Archie guidelines.

Now, let's take a look at those spoilers after the break...

You guessed it, most of the chapters take place in an alternate timeline. This allows for familiar characters to return even if they were already dead. And also introduces Carter to the Archie universe... and he may be British... I don't know.

Most characters show up to die... which isn't unusual on alternate timeline stories, but feels like a waste. Carter and Claire had very little time to do anything, and Claire being April's sister is an interesting twist... but I wonder what caused it? It is implied that they may have been separated at some point, but the existence of the same photograph without her suggests there wee further alterations to that timeline.

The Mutanimals play the bad guys... probably for the better. I wonder if the reason they didn't undo their deaths, or brought back Cherubae, was so that it could all tie into "TMNT: Odyssey"? Whatever the reason was, I appreciate it.

Perhaps the biggest reveal was that Chet was the Rat King. While this is a fun twist, some things are a bit too convenient. Why did he choose the H'antaan name? And why didn't he ever mentioned this to anyone in the original timeline? (Apart from the flashback in this book).

Overall, Shredder's plan makes sense (for once), although he somehow recreated all the mutants from the original series, even the ones that weren't mutants (like Katmandu)... perhaps he and Al'Falqa simply joined the cause.

There isn't much characterization for the turtles, but I think is in line with the original book as well. And to be fair, the main focus is the story.

The Jim Lawson back-up also introduces another problem, a Shredder that finally remember everything (this may be the one in "Year of the Turtle"). Mr. Null decides to share all of this, searching for the Turnstone (a "TMNT: Odyssey" plot). I don't like these fan-projects being all connected, but I appreciate the long explanation of the Shredder paradox in the Archie adventures. It also officialized that Armaggon created the Archie universe.

I would have appreciated a Mr. Null origin story... but I guess that would have clashed with "Odyssey" (and this is why I don't like them being connected).

I may sound negative, but my nitpicks only took two points from the overall score. I am happy with the results, and I think we can now stop wondering what it could have been.

Although... can you imagine what it could have been in 1995?

That my friends... is the forever war.

[Include some super serious celebrity quote here]

[admiralgiggles]

Lal is stalking “Daddy” (Brent Spiner), and all kinds of weird, dark hilarity ensue. You don't necessarily need to be a fan of Star Trek, either. He does explain who Lal is for those like myself who've never seen the episode.

*Do not come for me. 💀

[pyrosomatic-metamorphosis]

genuine question but is there any fandom where a character is well written by the majority. im thinking about fandom culture and the spread of frustration when people dont write characters well but. honestly in all the fandoms ive been in there's only like, a Select number of authors who i trust to write Well, let alone write Well AND In Character. character analysis and writing and getting inside characters' heads are all separate skills (all of which are trained by roleplaying fyi can CONFIRM playing pretend with your friends is good for you). there's been more than once where I've disagreed with an interpretation that others agreed with, and then I turned out wrong. or i turned out right. like it doesnt matter WHO is right it just matters that differences in character analysis exist, so even if you DO write well AND write in character, your in character is still going to be someone else's out of character

there's this sort of. vibe. that to play in the sandbox you Need to be able to make a castle, and if you can't make a castle then you shouldn't bother, and it completely dismisses the idea that youre in that sandbox to PLAY in the first place. there's this Weight of disappointing someone if you can't build something that they like, but that forgets that you aren't there to build them a castle. like, be KIND. if you disagree with someone then please make an effort to do so kindly. i dont give a shit about fandom discourse but there is a reason kids get removed from sandboxes if they keep throwing sand in people's eyes. but if they don't like your misshapen sand pile, then youre not obligated to change it. even if you yourself end up hating that same sand pile later- youre not building a legacy. youre playing. and sometimes the result of that play is out of character drivel. theres a reason there are so many authors and so few who i like to consistently read and thats because everyone is Fucking Around in their hobby space. hash tag brag or whatever but i can build castles. ive built several that im v proud of. ive also dug holes in the sand for fun and then tripped on them when trying to get up. I often dug a hole and then got up and fucking- whoops, its a castle now, and i didn't realize i'd made something to be proud of until after the fact. the whole time while creating shit i was Convinced it was bullshit that didn't make sense. and then other times i was Convinced it was bullshit and then i was Right and i can look back and go. huh. ew. but it doesn't matter what the end result was, because i had fun playing in the sandbox

this wasn't meant to turn into a ramble but i have Feelings about bad art and art that's badly perceived and how public perception can screw with your head and how making art youre proud of is fucking. it's so difficult!!! it's hard!! it's really fun, which is why i try to make it, but i promise you it is Okay to not tryhard creativity. even if you CAN, it's okay not to do it all the time. or ever, even. fuck around find out have fun etc

[captainmvf]

Hunter leads a kind of ‘meh’ life. He has loving friends Rosie, Duna, and Holt, is well-respected by most of the town, and has been practicing music with his newly formed band. The only thorn in his side? His parents. It’s no secret that they were not meant for one another. His dad has no spine and his mother is a hypocrite. Hunter usually has to wonder that whatever celestial force got them together must have made a mistake. One of the few things that seem to be going right is his mentorship to Dr. Diggins. Yeah, the experiments don’t make sense and the good doctor may be breaking a few legal safety laws, but he at least has a leg up on escaping whatever pit his home life is. However, Hunter gets thrown through a loop after a horrible night of stolen plutonium, shooting mafia members, and getaway car via time machine… Now he finds himself back in time where his parents are still in high school, his dad’s boss a school bully, Dr. Diggins with a smidge more funding, AND his mom making uncomfortable advances towards him. Hunter must fix all the time anomalies he’s made and find a way BACK TO THE FUTURE!

Hi guys I'm publicly linking one of my fan works after years.

Here's the first chapter to my 'Fossil Fighters Back to the Future AU' (tagged FF BTTF AU here) so I hope you guys enjoy what I got in store. :)

[koalathebear]

Using a new Maxton Hall tag on ao3

ao3 has created a new tag: Maxton Hall: The World Between Us (TV)  

Accordingly, I am no longer using this tag and have removed my fics from this tag: Maxton Hall Series - Mona Kasten

I was only using the above tag because it was the only one available but as I haven't finished reading the books and my fic is all based on the tv series - it seems wrong to use the wrong tag :D

Fics in progress while the Maxton Hall muse is still with me. While some are gen / friendship / character pieces - they are premised on the Ruby / James pairing because I love the characters and I love the pairings.

Drowning In You: missing scenes from season 1

Through The Eyes of Others: as the title suggests, the viewpoints of characters other than Ruby and James

Nowhere To Go But To You: post-season 1 fic.

Maxton Hall (with zombies): sounds like a crack fic but it's been a good way to explore the relationships and characters with almost a fresh start and serious stakes and challenges

In terms of video 'articles' I've made about Maxton Hall:

In terms of scene discussion videos:

Assuming I don't run out of steam, there will be more fic and videos. I've written 40,000 words of fan fiction .. given that I've had a pretty massive writing slump for a long time, I'm happy to be writing again.

[teafiend]

Reviews (summaries) of a few of the drama adaptations for [Legend of the Condor Heroes]/ 「射鵰英雄傳」 from the last three decades:

*Drama posters are from oldest to latest (from left to right, top to bottom)

1983 version (starring Barbara Yung and Felix Wong):

Too young to remember and never rewatched. A feted classic from Hong Kong TVB’s heyday. The only thing I will unequivocally say I love about this version is the iconic theme songs, which are the only musical tracks I can easily recall and identify when it comes to the numerous adaptations.

1994 version (starring Athena Chu and Julian Cheung):

First love. Good performances. Beautiful and ultra-cute JingRong. Favourite balance of visuals for JingRong. Solid production (HK TVB). Newish classic. Faithful to the main storylines. The version which made me fall for Guo Jing and the saga. Sometimes, however, first love only goes so far.

2003 version (starring Zhou Xun and Li Ya Peng):

Gritty. Jiang Hu. Sweeping epic. Mature vibes. Tragic and heartbreak-tinged. Faithful to the main storylines. Brilliant JingRong. Elegantly cultured Huang Rong. Earnestly chivalrous Guo Jing. Love both the portrayals of Guo Jing and Huang Rong (despite the many criticisms received). Loved the veteran gravitas of many of the supporting casts. Performances were fabulous. My only gripe is with Yang Kang (and his actor, Zhou Jie, whose performance I was not especially partial to, but he did okay though). The best Mongolian segment(s) out of all adaptations. Favourite drama adaptation (to date). The main and ending theme songs are fantastic, and the opening track has quite an epic saga feel.

(Some audience disliked ZX’s portrayal, and criticisms abound about her using her own voice during the show - which is a bit husky - but I had absolutely no issues with it. I thought the criticisms weirdly petty, actually. As someone who does not find dubs at all nice, I appreciated her using her own voice/dub for the series. LYP also received his fair share of criticisms for his portrayal. Personally, I enjoyed both tremendously).

2008 version (starring Ariel Lin and Hu Ge):

An adaptation I skipped as neither mains appealed to me, and Liu Shi Shi as Mu Nian Ci was not enough of a draw to make me trudge through an adaption I read was not particularly faithful to the novels. Visuals and vibes wise, I just could not see Hu Ge as Guo Jing - which is simply a personal preference - but I do not doubt that his performance/portrayal would have been fine. That goes for the rest of the cast and their performances.

2017 version (starring Li Yi Tong and Yang Xu Wen):

Pretty. Vibrant aesthetics. Wuxia vibes. Relatively youthful. Commendable production. Sweet, lovey-dovey and affectionate JingRong. Cutie - and handsome - Guo Jing. Excellent Huang Rong. Faithful to the main storylines. Highly enjoyable. Main instrumental track a clever nolstagic callback to the classic Hong Kong songs/themes. Good production. Superb performances overall.

(I found this version’s GJ a bit too prettily handsome, which is lovely but also felt a bit not-GJ. Still enjoyed his portrayal a lot though).

2024 version (starring Bao Shang En and Ci Sha):

Strong Wuxia vibes. Solid aesthetics and production. Youthful. Squee-worthy JingRong. Adorably devious Huang Rong. Favourite Guo Jing and JingRong (to date). Wonderful performances all around. Faithful to the main storylines. Some distinct emotional beats.

Especially noteworthy was the beautifully shot and conveyed scenes from near the end during GJ’s mental and spiritual struggles with his grief and martial abilities. Superbly done and went to the heart of the novel’s themes.

Flaws included pacing and issues with storylines length. Uneven focus. Lack of epic-ness.

(Ci Sha is not really my cup-of-tea visuals wise but he looked and felt like what Guo Jing *should* be and his performance was compelling and layered. His portrayal embodied the 靖 of 郭靖, and I think that meant something significant. He truly came into his own by the last third when the confidence and composure GJ cultivated throughout the series made his nuanced portrayal fangirl-scream worthy. *fainting away* Love his steady, gentle and devoted GJ to bits. The focus and complexity they afforded Yang Kang in this version made him a much more complex and conflicted antagonist, which was fascinating. This Wanyan Hong Lie inspired major feelings for a character I already found especially interesting and tragi-complex since the 2003 adaptation. The soft-spot I have for him is too real).