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scorbleeo · 6 months

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Drama Gossip: The Spirealm (致命游戏)

Source: Google Images

It started off peculiarly; first, his domestic cat refused to let him cuddle it. Lin Qiushi soon found that a sense of disharmony and incongruity began to pervade everything around him. Then, one odd day, he pushed open a door, and he discovered that the hallway he was familiar with turned into a boundless corridor. At both ends of this corridor were twelve, identical iron gates. Thus, the story began.

Source: MyDramaList (2024)

Action, Adventure, Augmented Reality? Sign Me Up!

I do not consume everything that has the 'entering a virtual game with real life consequences' plot-line but when I do, I more or less will enjoy them. The Spirealm is exactly that plot-line and after just finishing 19th Floor (another Chinese drama with similar concept), I was expecting more and hoping for lesser disappointment.

This drama did not disappoint at all. Lets first talk about the roles and the cast. Brilliant job on the casting, everybody pulled off their role so wonderfully, it felt like they were made for their roles. As for the characters these actors portrayed, wow. I haven't been obsessed with a fictional Chinese character in such a long time but Ruan Lan Zhu is so easy to be obsessed with. The writing was brilliant because I very quickly grew attached to the main people and when shit hit the fan, yeah, I felt everything as if I was a part of them.

Spoilers going on from here so if you haven't watched the show, go and watch it now, please?

As I was saying, I was so attached to some of the characters, I really, wow... Say Li Dong Yuan first. I actually already was spoiled with his death, I even knew which door was going to cause his death yet when it happened, I physically gasped. Then his farewell scene came about and goodness gracious, Xiao Zhuang's reaction was absolutely heart-wrenching. It really did not help that right before getting stabbed, the door Dong Yuan went through for Ling Ling was one of the most entertaining and comedic doors.

After that Zao Zao's death? She was already trying her best in the real world, she tried her best in the spirealm. She gave one of the best speeches ever. Yet that chandelier... I never hated chandeliers as much as I do now.

That's the thing about The Spirealm. This show has plenty of heartbreaking scenes but at the same time, it has a bunch of hilarious scenes too. You really can go from laughing one second and then depressed the next. Exactly like when Cheng Yi Xie sacrificed himself for his brother? One second I was laughing at Lan Zhu begging for Ling Ling's forgiveness and suddenly I was pissed but before I could even get real mad, I was hit with a broken heart. This may sound like a complain but the roller coaster of emotions made this drama ten times more interesting than other dramas.

Moving on to the game or doors or levels (however you want to call them). I really, really enjoy shows with this concept but many a times, the stakes just aren't high enough. Not The Spirealm though. I mean, look at Dong Yuan, Zao Zao and Yi Xie. They are part of the main leads and that world did not go easy on them. As much as I hate that they died, I really appreciated the high stakes in this drama. It made watching the show so much more worth it.

Anyhow, despite thoroughly enjoying this drama, I have so many questions. First things first, did I miss the significance of the necklace Lan Zhu gave Ling Ling during the first door?

Also (this is not that important by the way), when the time comes, the players have no choice but through the door. We've watched Ling Ling enter his doors plenty a time. Now tell me how did Wu Qi survive?

I may be someone who loves an ambiguous ending but if the theory that everything was not real is in fact real, I hate it. Yet, everything being a part of Ling Ling's dream or "hallucination" does make sense, as much as I hate it. Remember where Ling Ling walked into upon completing the first door? He entered the door in the middle of the road and exited it into his house? The discrepancies started right from the beginning. Which (if I did not miss anything) might explain the lack of significance behind the necklace. It will also explain why Ling Ling's time between each door is never long yet Wu Qi's not worried about his next door when he witnessed Dong Yuan's death? Or that Chen Fei's advancement is so much slower than Ling Ling. Furthermore, I'm supposed to believe the crew learnt about a mysterious man who helped Xiong Qi reunite with Xiao Ke in the spirealm and they did not investigate more?

I really do hate the everything was not real theory but I also cannot deny it's the most reasonable one. There was another theory I chanced upon on Douyin a while back and have since forgotten most of the information. However, I like that theory a lot even though it was quite farfetched. Long story short, the user theorised that after Lan Zhu walked into the portal and cleaned the program, Ling Ling woke up and regained consciousness after being hit, right? That's not reality but the 12th door and the door god for this last door is Lan Zhu. That was all I remember but the user did provide explanations and timestamps for their theory and upon reading it, it did make sense too. Therefore, if I ever come across that video again, I will link it here.

In the meantime, let's wallow in the conclusion of The Spirealm. It was a quick and short ride but an extremely memorable one.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)

More productions from China here: 19th Floor (19层) | Under the Skin (猎罪图鉴)

#drama review #the spirealm #致命游戏 #ruan lan zhu #ling jiu shi #li dong yuan #tan zao zao #cheng yi xie #cheng qian li #zhang ru jiao #xia zhi guang #huang jun jie #liu xiao bei #lu meng lin #liu ruo gu #yin rui #chinese drama

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randomingoftherandomness · 2 years

Note

Mowen×Lan Jue×Shulin

In the calligraphy stall meet up era. You can choose to have all three meet at the same time (I hear that's what happened in the book, Shulin was with him when Mowen ran past the stall on horse), or meet separately with Lan Jue and hear of the other person through Lan Jue. Or not to have met Lan Jue at the same time at all, as in Lan Jue met Mowen after Shulin's disappearance. I simply just want *complicated feelings TM involving the three of them.

If you want you can add an epilogue with what went on with Mowen in the time Shulin reappeared and Mowen had yet to leave for war.🤭

Hi Nonny! Thank you for the prompt (っ˘ω˘ς ) I hope I do it justice.

Just a bit of disclaimer, I didn't read the novel nor am I planning to.

~*~*~

Shulin feels a little hapless when he sees that his second favourite poem from Peizhi is tainted by the dust of the road. The haplessness grows into a budding spark of anger.

Especially when the rider of the horse that has just upended two days' worth of hard work, turns back to look at them, a corner of his lips lifted in a confident smirk that curls that spark into something that sits deeper, lower in his chest.

When he turns to Peizhi, he finds that his Zhiji has his eyes fixed on the rider. Even more so when said man dismounts in a graceful flourish that sees the sunshine catching on the richness of his robes.

Handsome doesn't even begin to describe the man. Tall, strong and proud, there's a sense that this man was born to be a hero. Just like those in all the stories he read as a child.

If he was so inclined, he thinks he could pick up a brush of his own to dedicate pages upon pages of written beauty to him.

Interesting, Shulin thinks distantly, feeling a prickle of warmth in his sternum that was most decidedly not anger, watching the man pick up the scroll of poetry, dusting it off with elegant fingers as he walks up to them.

Wang Yan, Mowen, is for a lack of a better word, a tool.

He flirts, incessantly. Breaking hearts left and right, dragging both Shulin and Peizhi along with him on whatever latest escapade he had landed himself in from making eyes with some Minister's daughter or some pretty scholar who fell victim to his roguish charms.

Because a rogue, he is. Mowen with his easy, confident demeanour as he slinks up to their door to beg for dinner and a drink, or some company, or even just to sit and watch as he and Peizhi work on their letters or read the evening away.

Mowen is, in short, not part of the plan.

He can't be part of the plan. Shulin idly entertains the idea of shuffling forth a deviation or two just to send the man away for a few years. Away far enough from the intrigues of court and whatever machinations he has planned for himself and Peizhi. Away for long enough that he can be out of the way. Out of trouble.

Shulin kills that thought before it can take root. Caring for something is a burden. Caring for someone is a curse that he cannot afford. But when Mowen slides down on the floor next to Shulin, shoulder knocking against his knee as he passes over a bottle of Nv Er Hong he filched from his father's cellar, there's a twist in his heart.

A budding that blooms under the warmth and fondness of Mowen's smile directed at him. Shulin swallows down the venom that dances on his tongue and carves a smile in reply instead as he takes the bottle.

"You like him."

Peizhi's voice is steady even if his gaze isn't. Shulin allows him to settle his hands on his hips, allows himself to be pulled closer in a tangle of limbs, hair, robes, skin to skin with no beginning and no end to where Peizhi's warmth is his and Shulin's chill is his own.

"You like him too," Shulin sighs, nuzzling his cheek to Peizhi's. "Don't lie. I saw how your brushstrokes falter when he bent over to pick up some boxes for me."

The non-answer wrapped in a slow hum is all Shulin needs to tilt his head and nip at a plush bottom lip, suckling it until Peizhi grunts in pain.

"What about you?" Peizhi asks, sliding his hand between the folds of his robes. His touch feels like a red hot brand. Shulin parts his lips on a shaky exhale as his eyes flutter shut.

"I like him enough," Shulin answers softly. Darting his gaze down to the pale slope of Peizhi's shoulder, he permits himself a heartbeat of honesty. "I like who you are when you are with him."

"Me too."

Shulin tilts his eyes to meet Peizhi's. Hand taking his own, Peizhi lifts his knuckles to his kiss-bitten lips, summer cherry red and half split by his efforts.

Dimly, he wonders if Mowen would permit his own lips to be painted in this same colour too.

They're fine.

They'll be fine. They'll survive, they will thrive, and they will grow.

They will be without him.

They will be safe.

Xu Dong sketches a quick bow in between hurried steps, barely a tip of his head to them as he carries Peizhi's orchid to his bedside. A good man, Xu Dong. Shulin is grateful that Peizhi has someone by his side like this.

"Why?"

Mowen's voice cuts through the quiet. Shulin turns to meet his eyes. There's no smile on his lips now. No confident amusement, none of the swagger he is known for throughout the capital.

Shulin regards him from over the rim of his cup of tea. The corners of Mowen's eyes are red, and anger colours the handsome lines of his face. Betrayal, the realisation settles in Shulin's bones like a run of lightning, because of me.

Mowen blinks, sitting back. Shulin quickly hides a cough in his sleeve. "I have no good answer," He rasps, clearing his throat.

It's at that that Mowen's body snaps forward, leaning halfway over the table to grab him by his shoulder. "Years, Shulin," He seethes. "We looked for you, searched every single time we caught wind that someone saw you. Why--"

"Why I never came back?" Shulin finishes in a whisper, lifting his eyes to meet Mowen's gaze. Swallowing down the copper tang on his tongue, he smiles, knowing precisely just how the red of his blood colours his lips.

To his surprise, Mowen shakes his head.

"Why are you back at all? Why now?" He stands, turning away from him as if he can't look at him for a moment longer. Shulin's hand itches to reach out but chooses to fold it in his sleeve instead.

"Would you believe it if I said it was because I missed you? Both of you?" He offers. A half-truth coloured with a patina of a life spent in a house in the middle of a lake when the truth hadn't yet unfurled her poisoned petals, and where Shulin had been the happiest since his childhood.

Mowen's fists clench and unclench. Shoulders tensed and unhappy. "Don't take me for a fool, Shulin. And please don't lie to me. I'm marching with the army tomorrow and I don't want to die with any regrets."

Shulin rushes forth, grabbing him by the arm. "You won't die."

"You're not a god, Shulin," Mowen chuckles softly, listing a little against him. Sliding his hand over Shulin's, he pats it gently, gripping it and pressing it to his chest. "You can't plan for everything."

I can, I have, I will, He aches to say. "Neither can you," Is what he offers instead, moving to press their bodies close. "So, none of this inauspicious talk."

When Mowen tilts their faces together, locking their lips in a familiar slide and push and pull, Shulin can only sigh.

"Is this really necessary?"

The shackles around his ankles clank in a discordant rhythm when he kicks the chain out in time to the rocking of the carriage. The action hurts his toes, but the pain is a welcomed frisson that cuts through the fugue of whatever drug Kuruo has supplied Peizhi to keep him in a constant state of delirium and dreaming.

They've been travelling for days. Shulin has been asleep for about as many of them.

Consciousness is a slipper eel that stays out of reach for the most parts. Whenever he tries to recall how he even got here, all that comes to him are the flashes of red mist, the scent of night blooms, an ache that cuts through his bones, and then.

Here. In this rocking carriage that makes him faintly nauseous, with his two lovers - former? Shulin really cannot say - as they escort him to distant lands.

Mowen's throat bobs. Probably swallowing back whatever is on his mind. Shulin laughs at the thought that Mowen is restraining himself because of him.

Lolling his head to the side, he squints up at the sudden sunlight in his eyes. Blinking sluggishly, he waits until his vision adjusts. Waits until the silhouette of Peizhi's form against the window materialises in his sight.

"I've lost," Shulin croaks. "If you, either of you, ever loved me, then kill me. I'm--"

"Shut up!"

Mowen pulls him back, chains and all and for a brief moment, Shulin thinks he will slide a blade between his ribs. Letting it find a home close to his heart. It would be fitting and it would be the least that he could do.

"No one is killing you," Mowen says, pulling him close to his chest with a gentleness Shulin isn't sure he deserves in the slightest. "We won't let them. We won't let you either."

Obediently following when Mowen tips his head back, lovingly coaxing his lips to part so that he can feed him Kuruo's concoction, Shulin knows, knows without a shadow of a doubt in his heart that Mowen won't force him if he chooses to close his mouth right now.

If he refuses to drink this, refuses to play along as they take him to whatever distant cage they have constructed to contain him, Shulin wonders with no small amount of interest about what they would do.

He parts his lips on a pant, blinking slowly as he swallows.

Whatever they have planned, Shulin wants to be part of it.

#a league of nobleman fic #a league of nobleman #lan jue #peizhi #wang yan #mowen #gu qingzhang #shulin #gab writes stuff #jun zi meng #mowen x lan jue #mowen x shulin #mowen x lan jue x shulin #lan jue x shulin #I hope this met the expectations you had

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