#gu yi zhong

[lilianhuas]

Zeng ShunXi in currently airing Republican drama A Lonely Hero’s Journey

[easewhisperer]

[hunxi-after-hours]

hunxi’s danmei awards 2.0! (aka 2022 edition)

Featuring the return of some categories such as:

Best Worldbuilding

Best Interrogation of Themes (aka the “Rent-Free Award”)

Best Moment That Wrecked Me (aka the Knifiest Award)

Best Beleaguered Side Character Award

Best Unreliable Narrator

As well as never-before-seen categories like:

Best Himbo

Most Brilliant Moment of Backstabbery

Most Ambitious Scope

Most Heartwrenching Line Delivery in an Audiodrama

…and more!

This year’s candidates in the running:

《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

《不小心救了江湖公敌》 Bu Xiao Xin Jiule Jianghu Gong Di by 六木乔 Liu Muqiao (有声漫画 audiomanhua season 1)

《无双》 Wu Shuang by 梦溪石 Meng Xishi

《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio

《师弟还不杀我灭口》 Shidi Hai Bu Sha Wo Mie Kou by 子鹿 Zi Lu

《默读》 Mo Du by priest

《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue by 七药 Qi Yao

《哏儿》 Gen’er by 南北逐风 Nan Bei Zhu Feng

《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang by priest

《金牌助理之弯弯没想到》 Jin Pai Zhu Li zhi Wan Wan Mei Xiang Dao by (nominally) 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang and (mostly) 传奇火箭队 The Legendary Rocket Team

(unmarked spoilers, including but not limited to these titles, under the cut. for introductions of these titles, click here. for last year’s danmei awards, click here)

Best Worldbuilding

Winner: 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang by priest

This award goes to 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang for the effortless ease with which p大 manages to merge the genres of imperial intrigue, steampunk mecha, alternate history, and wuxia elements. Over the course of the novel, priest explores how the development of 紫流金-based technology leads the fictional Liang Dynasty into industrial revolution, and doesn’t hesitate to include all the negative consequences of early industrialization. So you’ve rolled out mechanical alternatives for farming? Have fun dealing with the uprisings of unemployed farmers while fending off international threats on your borders. So you want to roll out paper currency/government bonds to stimulate your war-torn economy? Good luck even getting people to trust the validity of paper the way they trust the hardness of coin. In a way, 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang carries on the tradition set down in priest’s earlier novel 《七爷》 Qi Ye of protagonists using decidedly underhanded methods to effect the change they wish to see in the world, and the morality thereof remains just as thorny in 《杀破狼》. what would you do in the name of peace? how much of yourself can you give away before you are no longer the same person?

oh and I have to give a shout-out to the trains in this book, I’d give this award to 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang for its (re-)invention of trains alone

Best Interrogation of Themes (aka the “Rent-Free Award”)

Winner: 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

I listened to 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu via audiodrama before I read the novel, and every time I finished an episode I would have to just sit for a few hours, processing. Despite its seemingly lighthearted premise,  《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu shows us an apocalypse in all its cruel magnificence. The oppressive atmosphere of unending martial law, the seductive proximity of despair, the omnipresence and unpredictability of death, the utter lack of justice or closure or meaning in a world slowly grinding to a halt, the vast, inhuman lengths civilization will go to in the name of survival... to this day,  《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu haunts the solemnity of my early mornings with questions like what would you condone to survive? and wherein lies the locus of meaning when everything it means to be human has been stripped away? and like. I haven’t been the same since my mushroom phase, okay

Best Beleaguered Side Character Award

Winner: Ji Bolan from 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

This poor man had to deal with his childhood friend growing up to be a governmentally-licensed and universally-reviled mass murderer, the complete breakdown of the laws of physics, and witnessing Lu Feng and An Zhe flirt in front of his salad soup, all during the apocalypse that he is frantically trying to solve. Frankly, he’s allowed to roast Lu Feng as much as he wants, and the fact that he’s voiced by the same person who did AD!Jiang Cheng and AD!Xiao Zheng (winner of last year’s Best Beleaguered Side Character Award) is 1) extremely funny, 2) very on-brand, and 3) further proof that being in voice actor fandom 其乐无穷

Best Moment That Wrecked Me (aka the Knifiest Award)

Winner:  《默读》 Mo Du by priest

The character of Fei Du in priest’s 《默读》 is easily the character who had me clawing at the walls the most for the better part of this year (I’m still clawing at the walls, if we’re being honest). I am in love with everything about the way priest wrote him; from his introduction as the flamboyantly aggravating playboy chasing after Tao Ran (brilliant character work there as well as brilliant comedy, 感谢陶然不弯之恩 etc etc) to the slow, methodical reveal of his backstory and how deeply, deeply traumatized he is, Fei Du is one of the most complex and intelligent and nuanced and terribly lovable meow meows characters I’ve had the good fortune to run into

To pick a single Fei Du moment? A single one? Well if I have to choose, unfortunately it’s going to have to be chapter 180 朗诵（五） for the simple reason that it hurts me:

他恨不能撕裂时空，大步闯入七年前，一把抱起那个沉默的孩子，双手捧起他从不流露的伤痕，对他说一句“对不起，我来晚了”。

[Luo Wenzhou] wished he could tear apart time, to barge back into that moment seven years ago and pick up that silent child, to cradle those hidden wounds and say to him, “I’m sorry I was late.”

“我来晚了……”

“I was late...”

直到上了救护车，费渡才好像是有了点意识，难以聚焦的目光在骆闻舟脸上停留了许久，大概是认出了他，竟露出了一个微笑。

Fei Du only seemed to recover a semblance of consciousness when they loaded him into the ambulance. His eyes, unfocused, stopped on Luo Wenzhou’s face for a while before smiling slightly.

骆闻舟艰难地看懂了他无声的唇语。

Luo Wenzhou read his words in the soundless shape of his lips with difficulty.

他说：“没有了……怪物都清理干净了，我是最后一个，你可不可以把我关在你家？”

He said, “They’re all gone... All the monsters are taken care of, I’m the last one. Can you lock me up in your house?”

I’m just. if you need me I’ll be screaming about sunflowers in the abyss

Best Unreliable Narrator

Winner: Yan Zhuoqing and the Deer God of 《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio

surprising shortage of unreliable narrators in this year’s contenders, but 《问鹿三千》 makes up for it by having not one, but TWO unreliable narrators involved. can you believe that BOTH of these semi-immortal dumbasses have amnesia? smh Deer God you’re literally the god of time and memory, how you’ve even gotten this far I’ve got no idea

honorable mention: Fei Du from 《默读》 by priest. this man had the audacity to say the words “我没有创伤” / “I’m not traumatized” after asking for Luo Wenzhou’s assistance in recovering some of his repressed memories that he’d blocked out because of the — you guessed it — trauma

Best Himbo

Winner: Situ Jin from 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

I think it’s safe to say that Situ Jin is a Very Good Egg With No Braincells Whatsoever. None. This man had to be bullied into a hurt/comfort scenario by his future wife, and when she came to him for comfort, grieving her father’s death, he responded to her “now I’m all alone” with “don’t cry: you’re one, I’m one, together we’re two.” proud of u for basic math, bro, but is now really the time. his other highlights include: thinking dreamily about his wife while in prison, defending innocent bystanders regardless the personal cost, and continually failing to seek medical attention while bleeding out

Side Character I’m Still Mad About (aka the Gongyi Xiao Award)

Winner: Fu Luo from 《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue by 七药 Qi Yao

so it turns out that I am Weak for this very specific kind of character, the one who is a Good Kid, the one who tries their best to be responsible and reasonable, the one who could honestly be a protagonist in another novel. double points if you can trust them with a spreadsheet (Bian Yanmei), triple points if they’re delightfully lowkey devoted to the actual protagonist (can I get a wahoo for the Jiangzuo Alliance in here??)

and you know what the author does? murders them with prejudice

tl;dr I’m still not over Fu Luo, because like oh man that scene was well done but also ouch

"most memeworthy/meme-able"

(this one’s for you, @presumenothing)

Winner: 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

I mean I literally—

this book is a Very Serious and Somewhat Grimdark book, but I have to say the sheer amount of misunderstandings that occur are comical in their quantity. have you ever met two people more in love with each other and less capable of uttering a single sentence about it, it is only by the grace of the author that these two didn’t murder each other before their happy ending at the many given opportunities throughout the book

"most deserving of a shenshen OST"

(this one’s also for you, @presumenothing, ty for all the brilliant category recs)

Winner:  ........?

this is such an interesting award category to consider, because it’s like asking “which one of these texts would you like to hand a steak knife to gut you with,” but it also begs the question of what a shenshen OST would bring to the text that the existing music/adaptation doesn’t. it also raises the question of what kind of narrative (grand, sweeping, vast in scale or minute, gentle, heartbreaking?) would be most compatible with a shenshen OST?

my first thought was 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu, since it has both the monumental scope and the fragile, breakable heart that shenshen OST’s are so suited for (他只是一个小蘑菇 goodbYE—), but the music of the 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu AD is already so perfect I don’t actually want to add anything to it. my next thought would be 《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian — again, for that blend of scale and sorrow, wistfulness at what can never be and gratitude for what we have. but 《问鹿》 also has five songs already, and while a shenshen OST would be nice, it most certainly isn’t necessary

so I think I’m going to cheat and give this award to a title that isn’t even on the list of candidates this year, one that already has a shenshen OST: 《天宝伏妖录》 Tian Bao Fu Yao Lu by 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang, which has the great fortune to have Zhou Shen’s 《天地为念》  for its ongoing donghua title song. what a beautiful, meditative song; what an ethereal, gently sorrowful melody. extra brownie points because I maintain that Zhou Shen and 锦鲤 Jin Li (the voice of Kong Hongjun) are counterparts of each other in their respective industries, and also because I’m ride or die for both of them

"most untranslatable ever"

(category shout-out to — you guessed it — @presumenothing)

Winner: oh ABSOLUTELY 《金牌助理之弯弯没想到》 Jin Pai Zhu Li zhi Wan Wan Mei Xiang Dao by 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang and 传奇火箭队 The Legendary Rocket Team

I consider myself fairly proficient in audiodramas on 猫耳FM as a medium/genre now; I’m familiar with the ways script adaptation dovetails with post-production, the roles the voice directors and producers and casts play, the different twists that can happen with 报幕, what names to keep an eye out for while checking out the production team... so when I say that this audiodrama knocked me flat on the ass when I first listened to it, I really do mean that I was in no way prepared for the chaos that was to come. where do I even begin to describe it? the speed? the unhinged energy? the unending 吐槽 / roasts? the brilliant comedic pacing? the extremely 洗脑 片尾曲？whatever the hell this is?

this audiodrama is not only the most untranslatable ever due to the high concentration of internet and culture-specific slang, but also apparently the most impossible to explain ever. idk. listen to this AD and lose your mind

Most Brilliant Moment of Backstabbery

Winner: ch. 116 of 《无双》 Wu Shuang by 梦溪石 Meng Xishi

I described 《无双》 Wu Shuang as “a book about roasting your rival first, saving your dynasty second,” but perhaps didn’t do justice to the sheer lengths these two will go to one-up each other. I’d like to take this moment to recognize a certain flamboyant demonic sect leader (that is somehow not Yan Wushi) for not just habitually backstabbing (gently, for funsies) his love interest but also getting some frontstabbery (once, with great intention) in as well. truly, no one out here is doing it like Feng Xiao

honorable mention: 《不小心救了江湖公敌》 Bu Xiao Xin Jiule Jianghu Gong Di by 六木乔 Liu Muqiao, for the sheer quantity of backstabbing that occurs. maybe this is simply what happens when all of your characters are professional evildoers at fluctuating levels of retirement

Best Comfort Media

Winner: 《哏儿》 Gen’er by 南北逐风 Nan Bei Zhu Feng

earlier this year, I went around asking various people: what makes a book, movie, or other text comfort media for you? listening to the answers, it occurred to me that I don’t really have texts that I turn to on a semi-regular basis to re-read or re-watch. especially because my favorite books tend to be the ones that rip my heart out through my throat, the idea of choosing a “comfort read” from among them seems somewhat, er, misguided

and then I ran into 《哏儿》 Gen’er, which is the only text I’ve chosen to carry over from last year’s danmei awards because the second season of the AD  aired this year. this webnovel/AD is also, genre-wise, the outlier in this year’s awards — no magic, no speculative elements, not a single sword in sight, just slice-of-life, daily trials and tribulations, characters balancing budgets and bantering backstage and discussing art over hotpot. the cast and characters of 《哏儿》 feel real and lived-in in a way that is so deeply precious to me; at times throughout the year, I would simply cue up the beginning of S2E2 to listen to the first fifteen minutes or so to quiet down. the ongoing discussions threaded throughout the narrative about the roles of traditional culture and art in modern society, how to adapt traditional forms to contemporary values and preferences, and the ever-relevant question of how to get other people to care about things you love... 《哏儿》 hits different, hits real close to home, asks thought-provoking questions in a gentle, lighthearted manner in a way that is totally unique among the danmei works I’ve read, so here I am, conferring this new, foreign honor upon it. it’s a first for both of us!

Most Ambitious Scope

Winner: 《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio

I know, I know — very bold of me to give this award to an audiodrama that’s still airing, that we don’t know if it’ll ever be completed, but I still have to take a moment to yell about this completely original episodic gufeng AD, because like... wow. there is no answer key; there is no original work; there is no blueprint to work off of, no pre-existing fanbase of readers to appeal to. this entire project with its xuanhuan scope will succeed or fail based on its merits alone, and what scope it has, too — from the five voice actor songs (I guess everyone in 光合积木 can sing too??? sure that’s fine I guess) to penning scripts that play specifically to the voice actors’ strengths, to engaging with thorny dynamics of family and relationship and devotion and misalignment, I think it’s real gutsy of the 《问鹿》 creative team to embark on such a vast and ambitious project, and carry it off as well as they did. now it’s just 乖巧坐等更新.jpeg hours, fingers crossed they come back for a season 2

Best Work I Was Songbaited Into

Winner: 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

Definitely the first thing that even put 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu on my radar was 奇然’s 《风过荒野》  appearing in my YouTube algorithm. The song’s arrangement is haunting, lyrical,  and so unlike any other AD song I’ve ever heard. The second season’s 《极光入夜》 is also transcendent in lyrics, composition, and the fact that both of the main voice actors can sing 哎呦还让人活吗—and don’t even get me started on the beautiful piano and string covers they work into the soundtrack! 声罗万象请受我一拜！

let’s put it this way: I actually went out of my way to translate the 《小蘑菇》 songs (here and here) for how hard they go. one day I’ll get over the lines “玫瑰静默凋谢” and “审判是我于你的吻别” but today will not be that day

honorable mention: 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su, for having the opposite energy of the 《默读》 AD asdlfskdfjs no less than FIVE original songs composed for a THREE season AD. I was on the fence about listening to this AD until I heard 远皓ZIL’s 《燃灯》, which immediately joined my playlist before I’d even read the book. Again, the lyricism, the arrangement, the melancholy, deeply thoughtful atmosphere of the song got me interested in exactly what kind of maddeningly angsty plot could result in these lyrics:

我愿抚拂前尘 燃着灯 做你归途的引 / I would brush away the dust of our past and light a lamp, and be what guides you back

只求你破迷津 渡极乐 回首看我在等  / I only pray that you break free from the labyrinth and deliver paradise, to look back and see me waiting

我匍匐入尘埃 叩长阶 奉上所有虔诚 / I crawl through the dirt, pressing my forehead to the stone steps of the long stairway, offering up all of my piety

 只为听你亲将 相思说 那纸情书太薄 / just to hear you say, yearning for me, that this love letter is too thin

不载残生颠簸 无你我 苦不可脱 / it cannot carry what’s left of our tumultuous lives — without you or me, life would be bitter with no escape

Audiodrama Adaptation with the Strongest First Episode

Winner: 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

Adaptation is a delicate and tricky practice; how do you accommodate for the limits of production, the requirements of medium, when it comes to translating a work across dimensions? And particularly when it comes to AD’s, how can you capture a listener’s attention within the first few episodes, to bait them into the story and make them willing to pay money to unlock what happens next?

this award has to go to 珞玉 Luo Yu and 子穆木 Zi Mumu for their adaptation of 杨溯 Yang Su’s novel 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing. The book itself runs chronologically, from the two main characters first meeting each other as children, the months they spend together, their sudden (and deeply traumatic) parting, and then resumes the narrative the next time they meet each other seven years down the line, attempting to kill each other (in their defense, it was dark, and neither of them were sure if the other survived the massacre that separated them in the first place). Episode 1 “故人来” of the AD begins with that reunion as Shen Jue, disposing of a body, finds an injured assassin just outside the palace walls. They grapple in the dark until they recognize each other, and the way post-production editing fills in their backstory through a quick, tantalizing flashback and brings the listener back out of it by overlapping young!Xiahou Lian and present!Xiahou Lian saying the same lines (“shaoye, remember: don’t look back, don’t say anything—”)... well done, well played, I sure paid money to listen to the rest of this AD

Audiodrama Adaptation with the Strongest First Ten Minutes

Winner: 《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue by 七药 Qi Yao

haha I think I’m hilarious, but while 《督主》 has the strongest first episode I would also like to shout out how good the first ten minutes of 《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue are. seamless transition from baby Hailian to adult Hailian, from quiet lullaby to sea battle, and establishing Hailian’s sass, competence, kindness, and swashbuckling swagger as well as introducing Fang Tinglan (and his shamelessness asldfksj). credit has to go to the director 齐杰, the scriptwriter 虾仁猪心@一梦还江月, and the post-production editor 时柒@丶为之奈何 for pacing the opening scene so well, and an extra special shout-out to 梅梅 (韬韬你是最棒的) for the funniest little “bye~~~” as he throws someone off a boat

Most Heartwrenching Line Delivery in an Audiodrama (aka the Knifiest Award, audio edition)

Winner: S1E7 of the 《默读》Mo Du audiodrama

I can yell for years about how talented voice actors are, but there are specific moments while listening where I have to pause for a second or ten and silently mouth “damn”

杨天翔 Yang Tianxiang’s performance as Fei Du in season 1, episode 7 of the 《默读》 Mo Du audiodrama knocks it out of the goddamn solar system with the plaza broadcast scene — this was a scene that I was pretty eh on in the novel, but after listening to it in the AD... 当! 场! 封! 神! with Yang Tianxiang’s measured delivery, the slow excavation of the depth of Fei Du’s anguish, the forced steadiness of his voice when he says “你们如果都这么狠心，为什么以前还要表现出好像很在乎我们的样子?” / “If all of you were always this cruel, why did you pretend to care about us so much in the beginning?” underlaid by the devastatingly quiet, melancholy piano backing of 《以沫》 that then kicks into the sequence that culminates in 何忠义 He Zhongyi’s “等我回来!” / “Wait for me to come home!”... (silently screams into a paper bag) I’m not okay and I haven’t been okay for months

Honorable Mentions:

S2E2 “也恨相逢” of 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su: specifically for 梅梅’s line “少爷，这是我的命” / “shaoye, this is my fate.” for a scene that didn’t even exist in the original novel... hot damn wow

E12 “绝不复寡“ of 《师弟还不杀我灭口》 Shidi Hai Bu Sha Wo Mie Kou by 子鹿 Zi Lu: 锦鲤 has the range and this AD proves it! While he spends most of the AD being generally the comedic, satirical commentary, Zhong Yan/Qin Mingxi absolutely begging, tears in his voice, for Gu Xuanyan to leave him to die in this scene? look I’m not immune to this trope either

S1E13·上 of 《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio: (cups hands around mouth, yells) 马! 老! 师! it’s hard to explain the heartbreaking context of the line I have in mind without giving away the entire story, but 马正阳’s throat-scraping scream of “我要你爱我” / “I want you to love me!” is wince-inducing from the sheer force of the raw anguish in it

wooooo and that’s a wrap! thanks for tuning into the 2022 danmei awards :)

looking forward at my reading list, I’m not sure I’ll be doing a 2023 round since my reading is taking me in different directions and I simply might not have enough candidates to fill out a whole awards post next year (and I suspect I’ll have gone so far off the map that people won’t even have the faintest idea what I’m talking about anymore asldkfajsd)

it’s been fun!!! catch you all in the new year!!

[shookethdev]

a o e i i er ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong i ia iao ie iu ian in iang ing iong u ua uo uai ui uan un uang ueng ü üe üan ün a o e er ai ao ou an en ang eng yi ya yao ye you yan yin yang ying yong wu wa wo wai wei wan wen wang weng yu yue yuan yun b ba bo bai bei bao ban ben bang beng bi biao bie bian bin bing bu p pa po pai pei pao pou pan pen pang peng pi piao pie pian pin ping pu m ma mo me mai mei mao mou man men mang meng mi miao mie miu mian min ming mu f fa fo fei fou fan fen fang feng fu d da de dai dei dao dou dan den dang deng dong di diao die diu dian ding du duo dui duan dun t ta te tai tei tao tou tan tang teng tong ti tiao tie tian ting tu tuo tui tuan tun n na ne nai nei nao nou nan nen nang neng nong ni niao nie niu nian nin niang ning nu nuo nuan nü nüe l la le lai lei lao lou lan lang leng long li lia liao lie liu lian lin liang ling lu luo luan lun lü lüe g ga ge gai gei gao gou gan gen gang geng gong gu gua guo guai gui guan gun guang k ka ke kai kei kao kou kan ken kang keng kong ku kua kuo kuai kui kuan kun kuang h ha he hai hei hao hou han hen hang heng hong hu hua huo huai hui huan hun huang z za ze zi zai zei zao zou zan zen zang zeng zong zu zuo zui zuan zun c ca ce ci cai cao cou can cen cang ceng cong cu cuo cui cuan cun s sa se si sai sao sou san sen sang seng song su suo sui suan sun zh zha zhe zhi zhai zhei zhao zhou zhan zhen zhang zheng zhong zhu zhua zhuo zhuai zhui zhuan zhun zhuang ch cha che chi chai chao chou chan chen chang cheng chong chu chua chuo chuai chui chuan chun chuang sh sha she shi shai shei shao shou shan shen shang sheng shu shua shuo shuai shui shuan shun shuang r re ri rao rou ran ren rang reng rong ru rua ruo rui ruan run j ji jia jiao jie jiu jian jin jiang jing jiong ju jue juan jun q qi qia qiao qie qiu qian qin qiang qing qiong qu que quan qun x xi xia xiao xie xiu xian xin xiang xing xiong xu xue xuan xun

NAKU 🫵

[nemainofthewater]

Completed 'Surname' Polls

This is where I take several characters from different Chinese media (mostly cnovels and cdrama) and run a poll on which one is the 'best'. What does best mean? It's up to you! Whether you love them, are intrigued by their characters, love to hate them, or they're your '2 second blorbos whose personality you made up wholesale', these are all reasons for you to vote for your favs!

NB: the surnames are not exactly the same in all the cases, as often they will be a different character. I am, however, grouping them all together otherwise things got more complicated.

This post is for the polls which have finished running and can no longer be voted in (since I have realised that I'm quickly approaching the limit for hyperlinks in the original masterlist).

If you want to see the currently live polls, they can be found here

Finished polls: Cao/Wei/Guo/Chen/Ye/Qiao/Yu/Xue/Tang/Jiang/Su/Gao/Mei/Lin/Wu/Sun/Liu/Di/Zhang/Ying/Mo/Li/Song/Yan/Xiao/Pei/Hua/Xie/Mu/Qi/Shen/Lan/Fang/Luo /Huo/Xu/Wang/Ming/Fan/Yuan/Feng/Bai/Jin/Meng/Yun/Zhao/Wen/Zhou/Yang/Shang/Yue/Sheng/Ouyang/Lu/Ling/Hu/Gu/Ding

Shi/Hong/Zhu/Yi/Cheng/Zhan/Xia/Cui/Chu/Lei/Ma/Liang/Jing/Zhi/An/Nie/Hao/Qin/Han/Guan/Zhuge/Jia/Ning/Xiang/Huang/Fei/Ruan/Dong/He/Baili/Long/Duan/Zhen/Wan/Qiu/Dongfang/Du/Bi/Jiao/Zhong/

[eyenaku]

Ji ji fu ji ji

a o e i i er ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong i ia iao ie iu ian in iang ing iong u ua uo uai ui uan un uang ueng ü üe üan ün a o e er ai ao ou an en ang eng yi ya yao ye you yan yin yang ying yong wu wa wo wai wei wan wen wang weng yu yue yuan yun b ba bo bai bei bao ban ben bang beng bi biao bie bian bin bing bu p pa po pai pei pao pou pan pen pang peng pi piao pie pian pin ping pu m ma mo me mai mei mao mou man men mang meng mi miao mie miu mian min ming mu f fa fo fei fou fan fen fang feng fu d da de dai dei dao dou dan den dang deng dong di diao die diu dian ding du duo dui duan dun t ta te tai tei tao tou tan tang teng tong ti tiao tie tian ting tu tuo tui tuan tun n na ne nai nei nao nou nan nen nang neng nong ni niao nie niu nian nin niang ning nu nuo nuan nü nüe l la le lai lei lao lou lan lang leng long li lia liao lie liu lian lin liang ling lu luo luan lun lü lüe g ga ge gai gei gao gou gan gen gang geng gong gu gua guo guai gui guan gun guang k ka ke kai kei kao kou kan ken kang keng kong ku kua kuo kuai kui kuan kun kuang h ha he hai hei hao hou han hen hang heng hong hu hua huo huai hui huan hun huang z za ze zi zai zei zao zou zan zen zang zeng zong zu zuo zui zuan zun c ca ce ci cai cao cou can cen cang ceng cong cu cuo cui cuan cun s sa se si sai sao sou san sen sang seng song su suo sui suan sun zh zha zhe zhi zhai zhei zhao zhou zhan zhen zhang zheng zhong zhu zhua zhuo zhuai zhui zhuan zhun zhuang ch cha che chi chai chao chou chan chen chang cheng chong chu chua chuo chuai chui chuan chun chuang sh sha she shi shai shei shao shou shan shen shang sheng shu shua shuo shuai shui shuan shun shuang r re ri rao rou ran ren rang reng rong ru rua ruo rui ruan run j ji jia jiao jie jiu jian jin jiang jing jiong ju jue juan jun q qi qia qiao qie qiu qian qin qiang qing qiong qu que quan qun x xi xia xiao xie xiu xian xin xiang xing xiong xu xue xuan xun

[doramalovers]

Please Feel At Ease Mr. Ling (Sinta-se em Casa Sr. Ling)

Please Feel At Ease Mr. Ling (Sinta-se em Casa Sr. Ling)

#cdrama #dorama #serie

Oi Dorameiros, Tudo bem com vocês? Hoje trago uma indicação de C-Drama maravilhoso. Para quem gosta de romances bem clichês com o CEO.

Estou falando do C- Drama Please Feel At Ease Mr. Ling (Sinta-se em Casa Sr. Ling)

Que foi lançado em 2021, e contém 24 episódios.

Na descrição do vídeo você vai encontrar como assistir a esse c-drama. Mas assista ao vídeo até o final.

Mas antes de começar a falar desse dorama, já deixa seu joinha e se inscreva no canal!

Vamos lá...

 Gu An Xin (Zhao Lu Si) é uma jovem que dá duro para realizar seus sonhos, mas nunca esperou viver nada além de uma vida ordinária. Ela trabalha fazendo entregas, correndo de um lado para o outro pela cidade, e sequer suspeita que sua vida está prestes a sofrer uma reviravolta incomum. E a reviravolta veio no dia que ela esbarrou com — ou melhor dizendo, atropelou — um homem chamado Ling Yue (Liu Te).

   Herdeiro de uma grande corporação, Ling Yue estava se preparando para assumir os negócios da família, antes de sofrer um acidente que quase tirou sua vida. Severamente ferido e deixado para morrer, as coisas não tinham como piorar para Ling Yue. Bom, isso era o que ele achava. Quando Ling Yue se arrastava pela rua, à procura de ajuda, An Xin passa por ele, ou melhor, passa por cima dele. Aterrorizada com o que acabou de acontecer, ela o leva correndo para o hospital. Após os exames, o médico diz que Ling Yue está com amnésia. Incapaz de deixar o rapaz desmemoriado por conta própria, An Xin o convida para sua casa, prometendo que vai fazer o que puder para ajudá-lo a se recuperar.

   Com personalidades totalmente opostas, a convivência entre An Xing e Ling Yue não é das melhores; mas o tempo e a paciência operam uma mudança inesperada. Os dois se aproximam cada vez mais, e logo percebem para onde seus sentimentos estão levando-os, ao menos antes de Ling Yue recuperar suas memórias. Será que Ling Yue e An Xin conseguirão viver felizes para sempre quando ele se lembrar de quem é de verdade?

   Adaptado da web novel "I Accidentally Picked Up a President", escrita por Chung Feng Yi Du, "Sinta-se em Casa, Sr. Ling" é uma comédia romântica dirigida por Zhong Qing.

Obrigada por ter chegado até o fim do vídeo e espero que tenham gostado das novidades! E não se esqueçam de curtir e se inscrever no canal.

 Até a próxima!!

 Dorama, coreano, c-drama, k-drama, larkon, series, short, shorts, short video, short videos, lovers, Netflix, viki, telegram, fansubs, doramas, série coreana, drama, série chinesa, korea, pousando no amor, uma advogada extraorsinária, a lição, pretendente surpresa, as três irmãs, dorama japonês, j-drama, Viki, Park Eun-bin, Kang Tae-oh, Kang Ki-young, Ha Yoon-kyung, Hyun Bin, Son Ye-jin, Ahn Hyo Seop, Kim Se-jeong, Kim Min Kyu, Seol In-ah, Song Hye-kyo, Lim Ji-yeon, Lee Do-hyun, Wi Ha-joon, Kim Go-eun, Nam Ji-hyun, Song Joong-ki, Park Ji-hoo,

 #dorama #coreia #short #shorts #shortvideo #shortsvideos #korea #larkon #cdrama #kdrama

[unnoticebleme]

Ni hao, wo you lai zhe er, hui lai le 😔

Wo zhi dao le, wo de zhong wen tai bu hao le bu guo, wo zai hai xuexi.. yi bu yi bu la...

Xianzai, wo lai zhe er yin wei...wo tai hao nan guo..zhen de hao gu dan..wo bu zhi dao wei shen me..

Mei guan xi, mei shi er..wo hui hao hao de..

Wo bu neng shui jiao, wei he..shen me wo zai xiang la? 💀

[nguyenthiennhuong]

Lời bài hát Thien Ha

Lời bài hát Thien Ha

Thiên hạ Feng yan qi xun ai si tao sha Yu jian ta ra chun shui ying li hua Hui jain duan tian ya xiang si qing fang xia Meng zhong wo chi chi qian gua Gu bu gu jiang xiang wang won Guan bu guan wan shi qian qui Qiu zhi qiu ai hua jie Zhe wan zhang hong chen fen luan yong wu xui Ai geng ai tian chang di jin Yao geng yao si shui wen rou Shei zai hu shei zhu chun qui Yi sheng you ai he ju feng fei…

[daktyl-z-jordanii-blog]

men with sword, season 2: duos

1. zhong kunyi & luo min (former tianshu kingdom)

2. king yu xiao & gen mochi (nansu kingdom)

3. king ling guang & gu shi’an (tianxuan kingdom)

4. king zhi ming & zi yu (tianquan kingdom)

5. king zuo yi & qian yuan (kaiyang kingdom)

[owiezzen]

im helping again #trust

genshin char name pronunciation! liyue (correct me if im wrong)

first of all liyue is not lee way its lee-yue *lee yoo eh* (say it fast)

beidou *bae-dow*

chongyun *zhong-yi-n*

keqing *cuuh-ching*

ningguang *ning-gu-ang*

qiqi *ci-ci*

xiangling *si-an-leeng*

xiao *si-au*

xingqiu *sing-chew*

ganyu *gaan-you*

hu tao *who-(fast >)taow*

shenhe (NOT SHEN-HE LMAO) *shen-huh*

xinyan *zin-yan*

yanfei *yan-fae*

yun jin *yuen-jin*

zhongli *chong (like a buzzing ch or zch "zchong-li") -li*

[icancdramahanfu]

Slowly wrapping up the WKX outfit: odds and ends.  Hemming and more hemming.

I liiiiiiiivvveee - sort of.  For the holiday, I took off the 24-31 as you know, one should.  Unfortunately, two days after getting back from traveling, I started to get a sore throat and it went downhill from there.  I’m waiting for covid test results, but as of writing this I don’t know.  Anyhoo, today was the first day I felt somewhat okay.  Still coughing and got a lot of drainage but the worst is over.  What else can one do?  Work on finishing a sewing project!

As I mentioned in the last post directly related to this, all I had left to do was to hem the bottom of the skirt panels on the red layer 2 zhiju and the blue layer 3 zhiju.

For the the hems to be close-ish I put each layer on a hanger and then measured the differences between the raw edges.  The red layer was much longer than necessary so I bought it up 2″.  As I’d done before, I folded over about 1/8″ of the raw edge, ironed it and then sewed it down with a straight stitch.  Then I brought that edge and folded it up to the 2″ mark as indicated by one of my removable fabric pens.  I then ironed it, pinned it and volia! I finished the red zhiju!  I would have loved to have been able to figure this out on myself, but I lack the ability to look at myself easily (note to get a full length mirror in the future).

The next part was to do the blue zhiju, I had less extra fabric and instead would only fold up the hem by 1″.  As this fabric is a little more slippery, I ironed up the overlock stitches (to prevent fraying) and then quickly ironed it up to the 1″ mark and pinned it down.  This fabric sews best if you keep it under a little tension so I did each skirt bottom one at a time instead of pinning all three and then sewing.  It was a little more time consuming but I still had a pin or two slide out of this fabric due to its texture and weave.

All that is left now is to hem the sleeves on the blue zhiju and I’ll be done!  Oh and put ties on the white cotton zhong yi layer.  I bought ties awhile ago and marked the spots with the pen but then the plaster people got it all dusty I had to wash it again and lost my marks. 

Here is my lazy mock up, it looks funny without the depth of a person wearing it.   I went ahead and pulled the red sleeves all the way through the blue sleeves.

You can’t see them as the blue are still too long.  I could have cut them shorter and hemmed them awhile ago, but as I cut them on the selvedge edge I had a naturally fray-free edge.  However, I sort of regret not making myself do it earlier when I had more focus on it. . . .  The selvedge edges is shown here, which is clearly much longer than the already hemmed red sleeves inside.

What I’ll do next is line these up and come up with a good length to hem it back by that the red just peaks out of the red.  By holding it up to the light you can see the end of the red sleeve just below my right thumb.

This also gives you a good idea on the opacity of the blue silk.  I had also bought some bias tape that is a grey-blue and I may use that to protect the edge of the sleeve before folding it back to hem.  I want to play around with this to figure out how to make the best sleeve cuffs.

If it works better than I’ll know to do this in the future for long flowy sleeves like these begins to day dream about making that Vietnamese style SQQ outfit. Right, back on track, I’ll have a more precise sleeve making method. That’s all I have for now, but wanted to let people know I was still alive and going to start drafting more patterns this year and sewing a few more garments.  I’m really looking forward to making a normal fitted sleeve for the Gu Xiang outfit and then the combination of the fitted sleeve with the large tear drop sleeve that WKX loves.

[phanique]

Arsenal Military Academy 烈火军校 Review

So after watching Ancient Love Poetry, I wanted to check out more of Xu Kai's work and I came across this drama and as before, I started this drama without looking into anything other than the fact that Xu Kai is in the cast.

I'm not a professional critic, just a casual drama watcher.

I subscribed to iQiYi so I was able to watch it without ads and stuff but I am not sure of the English translation as iQiYi only allows you to show one language subtitle at a time.

Onto the review.

Plot

I would say that the plot is using a classic concept but turning it into its own plot. So Xie Xiang decided to crossdress and become her brother Xie Liang Chen and join the Arsenal Military Academy. She joins the 7th batch of students and become roommates with playboy Gu Yan Zhen, friends with Huang Song, Shen Jun Shan, Zhu Yan Lin and Ji Jin. She endures the challenges of a military school while trying to survive as the Japanese want to take over the territory.

Okay, so the actual plot is more complicated than this but I think it is also because there is a lot of back story of other characters. You could even say that the actual couple do not have so much screen on time which I do feel that they need. (But given that they deleted the kiss scenes for whatever reason, I do think more of them might have been edited out. If you don't know what I am talking about, go search it on YouTube.)

I would say the biggest plot gap for the drama is how Xie Xiang manage to even become her brother. So her brother actually died in a car crash which is not like s super secret thing but the academy did not know about it? I find it extremely weird that they do not know about it honestly. Secondly, how she managed to get past the body checks. I have no idea how she can just scrape pass the first one. Thirdly, does no one suspect her? To me the fact that she did not use the public bath is a big sign since I can tell you that most military guys are like free with their body in a sense and only a few people suspected her.

On the other hand, I also like that there is no big reveal of her identity that just lead her to dismiss and such, the plot took advantage of her reveal which I really think was good.

Also, it was only pretty late in the show where they actually 'finalised' the couple because I would say that any episode before 34, the couple was actually not even there I would say. Like yes Gu Yan Zhen liked her from the beginning but Xie Xiang actually only realised her feelings pretty late which I do think is another good point because most shows like this also show the female falling in love too fast almost. And Gu Yan Zhen has so much of the second male lead syndrome that he might actually be the second male lead.

Commenting on one part where Qu Man Ting receives an invitation for the auction for the golden seal, I do think that they should have portrayed Xie Liang Chen to be more confident as in the scene, Gu Yan Zhen, Huang Song and Shen Jun Shan were like smiling/smirking but he was the only one frowning which made the scene feel disconnected. If they portrayed him to be more confident in a sense I do believe that it would be more thrilling.

Acting

Bai Lu who plays Xie Xiang/Xie Liang Chen is a pretty famous actor. I actually have seen one of her dramas (Love Is Sweet) but I really could not tell that it was her. It might also be because of the fact that I actually am like okay with the drama that I watch that is why I did not have an impression of her. Anyway, she does act like a male pretty well, I would say that she looks most like a male with her hair down but since they had to gel up their hair, she actually looks more feminine. Her voice got dubbed and I can honestly see why because her voice naturally is quite feminine so it is pretty obvious that Xie Xiang is a female if they did not dub her.

Xu Kai plays Gu Yan Zhen in the drama. Firstly, he looks SO GOOD dressed in Min Guo period setting (like Hu Yi Tian so maybe Min Guo period dramas are my weakness). His acting here is also pretty good but also definitely different from the dramas that I have seen him in. He is a playboy here but is actually quite a soft person on the inside and the acting does him justice.

Gao Yu Er who portrays Xian Rong in the drama is also such a good actor. I think it is easier to act as a good person than an evil person but she does it with no guilt in a sense(?) Like most dramas would show that the evil would die regretting what they have done/have some guilt at the end but for this drama no. Like I would say Xian Rong as also given up on Shen Jun Shan at the end where she was willing to kill him too and I really appreciate that. She is like the perfect evil. (This is unrelated to AMS but I just finished There Was Once A Lingjian Mountain and she portrayed the Lady Boss and I really like her acting even more so I do hope to watch more of her dramas in the future.)

I do not really want to talk about the other characters since I do not really have the time but here are some notes on them.

The voice of Qu Man Ting is actually the actress herself.

I really like the way of Shen Ting Bai loves Qu Man Ting, you can see that he is more mature(?) in a way and it really is like the perfect example of selfless love/unreciprocated love/liking your childhood friend.

The scene where Gu Yan Zhen and Shen Jun Shan is competing to drink, they did actually drink real beer since they did not know (but they spat it out immediately so the scene in the drama might have used fake ones).

Spoiler here. I am glad that Huang Song died without knowing that Xie Liang Chen is Xie Xiang because Huang Song would be a character to me that should be kept pure almost.

There is only technically 8 people who knew that Liang Chen was a female before the great reveal but I do suspect that 1 more person knew but did not say it out. They are Tan Xiao Jun, Gu Yan Zhen, Shen Jun Shan, Shen Jun Shan's helper/friend, Guo Shu Ting, Xian Rong, Xian Rong's bodyguard, Li Wen Zhong. I do think Yu Jie actually knows but did not say anything. I also think Qu Man Ting was sort of suspicious but was not a firm I believe that he is a she kind of thing.

Setting/Clothes

I think the budget that went into filming in adequate as the clothes, scenes, gunfire and stuff are well portrayed.

OST

Not bad, the opening song and the song sang by Bai Lu and Xu Kai was the most memorable.

Overall, I would give it a 8.5/10. I can see why some people would avoid it but I do think that they should give it a try. Also it made me notice two more actors Meng En (Zhu Yan Lin) and Ji Jin (Wang Yi Zhe) which I am glad to know more about.

[hunxi-after-hours]

introducing the candidates for danmei awards 2.0 (2022)

I’m hard at work on (procrastinating on the writing of) this year’s danmei awards, so I figured I’d introduce all of the candidates since I’ve gone pretty far off the map at this point and don’t expect anyone to recognize most of these titles asdlfkads (别问，问就知北极圈的冷)

a table of contents!

《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

《不小心救了江湖公敌》 Bu Xiao Xin Jiu Le Jianghu Gong Di by 六木乔 Liu Muqiao (有声漫画 audiomanhua season 1)

《无双》 Wu Shuang by 梦溪石 Meng Xishi

《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio

《师弟还不杀我灭口》 Shidi Hai Bu Sha Wo Mie Kou by 子鹿 Zi Lu

《默读》 Mo Du by priest

《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue by 七药 Qi Yao

《哏儿》 Gen’er by 南北逐风 Nan Bei Zhu Feng

《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang by priest

《金牌助理之弯弯没想到》 Jin Pai Zhu Li zhi Wan Wan Mei Xiang Dao by (nominally) 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang and (mostly) 传奇火箭队 The Legendary Rocket Team

#1: 《小蘑菇》 by 一十四洲 (full length crash course here)

genre(s): apocalyptic science fiction

mediums: original novel on JJWXC, audiodrama by 729声工厂 / 729 Voice Studio on 猫耳FM

in a world where genetic mutations threaten to destroy humankind and a man-made aurora dances across the sky each night, a sentient mushroom goes undercover in a human city to recover a part of himself that was stolen. a book that investigates humanity and personhood, sentience and benevolence, the role of order in a lawless world, how to face despair and the end times with dignity and meaning. also, mushroom-based comedy

#2: 《不小心救了江湖公敌》 Bu Xiao Xin Jiule Jianghu Gong Di by 六木乔 Liu Muqiao (有声漫画 audiomanhua season 1)

genre(s): wuxia

mediums: manhua on bilibili comics, audiomanhua by 回声漫响工作室 Huisheng Manxiang Studio on 猫耳FM. both ongoing

when Liu Jianghe, a feared demonic sect leader, turns up half-dead on Lu Qingyun’s doorstep, the reclusive jianghu doctor reluctantly saves Liu Jianghe’s life. but Liu Jianghe’s enemies are almost as numerous as his secrets, and soon, the two are dragged into the turmoil of jianghu intrigue and conspiracy. Lu Qingyun has his own hidden past, Liu Jianghe his own mysterious motivations, and neither of them are held back by something as silly as moral scruples. an audiomanhua about the vortex of jianghu politics, in which every single character is a villain

#3: 《无双》 Wu Shuang by 梦溪石 Meng Xishi

genre(s): wuxia, political intrigue

mediums: original novel on JJWXC

a few years after the end of 《千秋》 Qian Qiu, unrest returns to the newly-founded Sui Dynasty as domestic intrigue and foreign plots threaten to fracture the hard-won peace. Feng Xiao, an unbelievably handsome government official who moonlights as the sect leader of the demonic Fajing Zong, finds his unexpected match in the frail wandering Daoist Cui Buqu. But beneath Cui Buqu’s waning health are more secrets than Feng Xiao can guess at, and the fate of the Sui Dynasty rests on these two setting aside their rivalry long enough to work together. a book about roasting your rival first, saving your dynasty second, and maybe, just maybe, falling in love in the process

#4: 《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio (full length crash course here)

genre(s): wuxia, xuanhuan

mediums: audiodrama on 猫耳FM, ongoing

an intricate, interlocking serial narrative following four intertwining stories: a famous zither master investigating a new, mysterious rival, a cat yao impersonating a prince and the assassin sent to kill him, the obsessive quest of an emperor searching for a lost dao and the person who lived inside it, and two spirits seeking their forgotten pasts. oh, and a former king-turned-talking-rabbit. an audiodrama about fate and loyalty, devotion and trauma, memory and grief, love and loss

#5: 《师弟还不杀我灭口》 Shidi Hai Bu Sha Wo Mie Kou by 子鹿 Zi Lu

genre(s): xianxia, transmigration

mediums: original novel on 长佩 Changpei, audiodrama by 米波文化 Mibo Culture on 猫耳FM. AD trailer 1 translated here, AD trailer 2 translated here.

when college student Zhong Yan is drawn into the world of the xianxia novel he just finished instead of studying for his exams, his sympathy for the book’s antagonist lands him a near-impossible mission: stop the antagonist from killing more people, or risk the consequences of failure. now, if only he hadn’t transmigrated as the antagonist’s useless shixiong, who is also the witness of his first murder...

a book about how kindness can change the path of fate, often when you aren’t paying attention. also, an audiodrama about 锦鲤 letting loose asldkfajsdf

#6: 《默读》 Mo Du by priest

genre(s): crime fiction, detective fiction

mediums: original novel on JJWXC, audiodrama by 729声工厂 on 猫耳FM (currently banned), donghua and live action adaptations in progress that will never see the light of day because this book contains trenchant commentary about social issues and cycles of violence perpetuated by wealth and power (and therefore too transgressive for the censors rip)

ETA 12/23/22: the 《默读》 AD has returned! more of it has likely been censored, but I’ll take what we can get.

when a series of complex cases begins to shake Yan City, police inspector Luo Wenzhou must team up with Fei Du, the cryptic heir of a business empire, to uncover what may be a larger, decades-spanning conspiracy tying the crimes together. at the same time, a mysterious radio station releases reviews of classic novels in Western literature that all feature plots, events, themes, and crimes that bear uncanny resonances to the cases they are investigating. a book about the dark side of modern society, and the slow, grueling path out of the abyss and toward the light

#7: 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

genre(s): wuxia, political intrigue

mediums: original novel on 长佩 Changpei, audiodrama by 米波文化 Mibo Culture on 猫耳FM

the unlikely childhood friendship of a court official and an assassin must weather the rise and fall of regimes as well as grasping reach of their own backgrounds if they are to reach a distant, elusive happy ending. a book where the question “can things get worse?” is responded to with a hearty “always!” 

#8: 《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue by 七药 Qi Yao (full crash course here)

genre(s): PIRATES, secondary world fantasy, political intrigue

mediums: original novel on 长佩 Changpei, (free!) audiodrama by 株木琅玛工作室 Zhumulangma Studio on 猫耳FM, audiodrama ongoing

when a smooth-talking, deep-pocketed rival ship’s captain offers him a deal he can’t refuse, Hailian reluctantly agrees to assassinate someone for the mysterious Fang Tinglan. drawn into the complex tangle of Fang Tinglan’s schemes, Hailian must navigate intrigue, betrayal, and his own lost past to find his way to some place he can call home. a book about fighting and falling in love at the same time

#9: 《哏儿》 Gen’er by 南北逐风 Nan Bei Zhu Feng

genre(s): contemporary, entertainment industry

mediums: original novel on 长佩 Changpei, audiodrama by 音熊联萌 VoiceBear Alliance on 猫耳FM

in a few days, Ye Ling will graduate from the illustrious Tsinghua University with a master’s degree in thermal engineering, so in a few days, he’ll no longer have the time to pursue his extracurricular dreams of performing 相声 xiangsheng / crosstalk, a form of traditional Chinese stand-up comedy. but when the brash, bold, and charismatic Xie Shuangchen barges into his life, Ye Ling’s heart is swayed — and what if he decides to pursue his dreams? what if this is what he’s meant to do? a book about making it as working artists in Beijing while falling in love. also book about 相声 xiangsheng and Chinese opera, and adapting classical forms to the modern era

#10: 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang by priest

genre(s): political intrigue, alternate history, steampunk wuxia

mediums: original novel on JJWXC, audiodrama by 729声工厂 on 猫耳FM, live action adaptation trapped in censorship hell

from the moment the powerful fuel 紫流金 ziliujin was dug out of the ground, the path of history was destined to change. in an aging and weakening Liang Dynasty, two young men come of age as the kingdom’s foremost general and the court’s most capable minister. but malevolent forces both external and internal, domestic and foreign threaten to destroy them before they can save the dynasty they inherited. a book about saving your kingdom while extremely burnt out by the traumatic events of your youth. also, steampunk mechas and navigating the industrial revolution in the middle of war

#11: 《金牌助理之弯弯没想到》 Jin Pai Zhu Li zhi Wan Wan Mei Xiang Dao by (ostensibly) 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang and (mostly) 传奇火箭队 The Legendary Rocket Team, aka Fuck the Rocket according to their subtitles

genre(s): contemporary, entertainment industry

mediums: original novel on JJWXC, (free!) audiodrama by the 传奇火箭队 The Legendary Rocket Team on 猫耳FM

so full disclosure, I never read the original novel, and the 《弯弯》 audiodrama should be considered a lot of things but a faithful adaptation? lol absolutely not (their own words)

this is actually a 网配 wangpei audiodrama from 2015, and the energy on it is utterly unhinged. it is simultaneously a love letter to and satire of 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang’s novel 《金牌助理》 Jin Pai Zhu Li, a novel that follows the misadventures of hapless aspiring musician Xiao Yi as he finds a day job to pay the bills while struggling to make it in Beijing. said day job? working as a personal assistant to the extremely frosty, extremely handsome superstar actor Lu Zhou. absolute hijinks ensue

this audiodrama is far ahead of its time, and also completely upends traditional adaptation by rewriting the script satirically and cranking up the speed. I screamed; I laughed; I definitely missed a turn while driving. words can’t really describe this production for its sheer insanity, so I’ll just link it above and call it a day

[shijiujun]

Hi! Just chiming in to say that I love your blog and your rec lists! I started 妻为上 this week and I’m loving it so far (ch 50 more or less!) loving how jing shao dotes on mu hanzhang 😆😆 so I discovered that I like this trope very much, and it’s so sweet that I can see it as a comfort read, but when I’m very stressed (like now) I like stories with even more drama (more angsty). Do you have any rec of a novel similar to 妻为上, but more angsty? (not 2ha, I’m reading that next). Have a nice day!

Hmm hahahaha I don’t usually go for much angst XD

i think you can try the following if you haven’t:

1. Sha Po Lang technically fits, although the political part of it takes up 45% of the novel as well so there’s the drama there, but Chang Geng and Gu Yun dote on each other a lot (although not as in your face as QWS)

2. Those Years in Quest of Honor Mine - There’s a bit more drama in this, I wouldn’t say it’s super angsty, although Zi You does give in to Zhong Wan A LOTTTT after they’re reunited and it’s cute even tho Zi You angsts 100% on his own 

3. A Sword of Frost - This is from my latest rec list, and the doting is at its peak, and there’s more hidden plots and a conspiracy, and Yun Yi Feng does think he’s dying for the first half of the novel so there’s the angst you need

4. Someone recommended The Golden Stage, and it’s on my queue list as well - Arranged marriage!

5. Oh and the last one on my latest rec list - How to Live as a Villain - this one is doting but with more realistic angst + transmigration!

[hong--zhi--zhu]

Rules: Shuffle your playlist and tell what song plays, then give your favorite lyric from said song.

Tagged by: @stumacher-theghostface Thank you for tagging me! (´◡`) ♪

Song: Bai Hu by Sunny Xie

(This version of the song was for the movie The Fox Lover / Bai Hu {White Fox})

Favorite lyrics:

我是一只等待千年的狐 千年等待 千年孤独 滚滚红尘里 谁又种下了爱的蛊 茫茫人海中 谁又喝下了爱的毒

   Wo shi yi zhi deng dai qian nian de hu    Qian nian deng dai qian nian gu du    Gun gun hong chen li shei you zhong xia le ai de gu    Mang mang ren hai zhong shei you he xia le ai de du

Translation:

   I am a fox that has waited for a thousand years    A thousand years of waiting; a thousand years of loneliness    In the turbulent red earth, who again planted the poison of love?    In the vast sea of people, who again drank down the drug of love?

If they're interested, tagging: @moronic-validity @bastard-mice @tassiekitty @igocrazywithoutyooou @nooneandeveryone