#hong dao

[sillygoofyqueer]

So instead of writing, I've got another MDZS AU idea because that's what everyone wants to see from me hahaha...haha...

ANYWAY, picture Wei Wuxian as a ferryman/grim reaper figure in modern times, having lurked around in the shadows through the centuries, always there to greet the newly dead souls and gently unknot the tether that linked them to their bodies. The mortals called him the Yiling Laozu, based on the folktale about the poor little orphan who died in Yiling but came back to protect them when the most powerful ones would not.

A few of the worst souls are held below him like minions, too controversial to be allowed into the realm of the afterlife - according to the gods that rule over the place, anyway.

Fortunately for a small percentage of these souls, while the rest of them are left to fade away into the overwhelming Darkness, Wei Wuxian's sense of justice far outweighed his sense of duty and - because he didn't agree with some of these choices - he took them on as...employees, of sorts.

Hey, if the powers that be decide that he doesn't need help with the frankly never-ending workload that came with dealing with people dying (two people per second!! That was one hundred and six a minute, and he was expected to deal with that alone???), he's going to take matters into his own hands and collect his own help.

Hong'er was a soul that fought when Wei Wuxian began untying the bright red tether. He was used to the pain and the blood that was spilled as he remained ever gentle with unknotting the ribbon from the heart. The screaming and the anger was usual for a soldier felled in battle; hearing the soul screaming with such anguish, with such love for a god, was not. Wei Wuxian heard this and he paused - this pause was enough to allow the soul to slip through his grasp.

He didn't go after the little soul.

However, when the souls of the restless dead fell from his clutches and left him broken in the Space Between, he was a lot less merciful of the little soul; if he could not make the god apologise for leaving Wei Wuxian to put himself back together (was it truly so strange? Why was he so upset about this? It happened often - he was just another weapon, another tool for these gods, and this time he could only keep his self control in check for so long), he would collect the soul that had escaped before.

When the Yiling Laozu came for the wandering soul Wu Ming, he snatched him back just before the hoardes of violent spirits could tear him to shreds (he would not wish that pain upon anyone, not after what had happened to him) and dragged said spirits into the darkness for what they had done to him. Let them calm down there for a few centuries.

But Wu Ming was barred from the afterlife, for how he fought and thrashed and hit and bit and kicked and ripped (Hua Cheng would apologise for it later, shamefaced and almost silent, and Wei Wuxian would forgive him but never forget the blood that was spilt), and Wei Wuxian could not just abandon him in the Darkness after trying so hard to keep him whole in the first place.

The Yiling Laozu took on his first employee.

In contrast, the next one he plucked up was far less violent, far less angry but just...so, so scared. Hurt. Another teenager, this time shoved into what mortals called “The Abyss”. Wei Wuxian had always thought that to be a little too dramatic, considering it was really no more than a shallow crack when compared to the deeper, darker places he called home.

Luo Binghe's soul had been only loosely tied to his body with a thin, pale red string, so washed out and weak that it had fallen apart when Wei Wuxian's hands tried to unknot it - he had had to keep the soul together in his own hands so it didn't crumble right then and there. Despite the obvious weakness of the soul, the gods would not accept this poor, sad teenager into the afterlife; they gave no reason for it, but they would not let him in.

Of course, Hua Cheng had been close to storming the afterlife himself (so filled with rage, despite all this time), but the Yiling Laozu just curled around the poor broken soul and offered it the warmth and protection it so desperately craved, gave it stability and affection until those cracks began to heal and Luo Binghe could hold himself together.

Yiling Laozu's second employee was far more sensitive than the first, brittle compared to the harsh walls, but he had just as much anger and frustration at his disposal if a particularly tricky soul had left Wei Wuxian broken and bleeding (he wasn't used to people picking him back up and fixing him, so accustomed to doing it himself that he had flinched the first hundred times it had happened).

Something something there will be other employees and this was entirely derailed but the whole point was supposed to be Lan Wangji having a near death experience and floating in the In Between but a soft, warm voice laughing sweetly and telling him that his tether was far too strong, far too bright, to be untied now. Gentle hands holding him by his very sense of self and offering soothing touches as the darkness disappeared and the blinding white light of the hospital replaced it.

N then he's like 'I must have been hallucinating or dreaming' but then he almost dies again and this time the voice is tutting and scolding but still laughing as it talks of how eager Lan Wangji must be to meet him, those warm warm hands caressing his soul and then pushing it back down into his body.

When he finds an old folktale about the Yiling Laozu in his research, it's safe to say that he is desperate to see the entity he had fallen in love with once again.

God hold me BACK, I cannot be stopped from yapping!!! Tell me if you're interested lmao, I haven't even talked about the other employees (apprentices??) and also Lan Wangji being madly in love with this deity of old (let my man be a possible monsterfucker /silly).

[mademoiselle-red]

5 Favorite Characters Poll (tag game)

Rules: make a poll with five of your all time favourite characters and then tag five people to do the same. See which character is everyone's favourite.

I was tagged by @lasenbyphoenix and since we are both cdrama enjoyers, I’ll also make this cdrama-themed. I have lots of faves, but these are the characters I find myself continually thinking about, analyzing, unable to let go of, long after I’ve moved on from their respective fandoms.

tagging @yletylyf , @bbcphile , @pi-ying-xi , @seventh-fantasy , @dangermousie and anyone else who’d like to play

Zhang Qiling: The only non-villain character on this list. I find myself returning to him whenever I plan trips to China. He is the perfect embodiment of my wanderlust — we both have an insatiable urge to see more of the country, in search of something we cannot name: perhaps a memory, a piece of the past, a sense of identity, a glimpse of the future.

Bailin: This is a character of many contradictions, which makes him fascinating (and it helps that he is played by my favorite actor Liu Xueyi). First, there is his personal struggle between his humanity and his divinity. Then, there is contradiction between Bailin as a morally neutral political actor in his role as a leader defending his people against invaders when their king refused to fight and the narrative’s depiction of him as the villain and the demons (who canonically do consume people in this show) as the victims. And finally, the conflicting storytelling that emerged out of the drama being filmed with the canonical Bailin/Luohou Jidu ship from the novel that was later mostly cut out of the show in post-production, which instead emphasized the Luohou Jidu/Sifeng ship (which doesn’t exist in the novel since these two characters never interacted).

Wang Xifeng: She was a more competent leader of people and manager of businesses than the men of the Jia household, but as woman, her gifts and ambitions were limited to the household. She was also just as corrupt and vain as the men who led the family to its eventual destruction, but she could have been so much more, greater and more terrible, if she’d been able to enter public life instead of being sequestered within the Jia manor. She’s like a beast, an apex predator, trapped in a golden cage. She was selfish and cruel, but she was also kind and generous to Qin Keqing and to Liu Laolao, and to many of the main characters as long as their interests didn’t conflict with her ambitions.

Cao Cao: There is something very romantic about his life. He was the grandson of a eunuch, shunned because of his lineage, rose to prominence in the army during the unrest and civil wars as Han royal power waned, conquered the northern lands, brought peace and order to his people, and became the supreme ruler of the north but would not crown himself emperor out of some (perhaps genuine perhaps feigned) moral obligation to the Han dynasty. He is cast as a villain in most adaptations because he kidnapped the young and incompetent heir of the Han royal family and used him as a puppet to rule over the territories he conquered. But he did bring peace to the northern lands, and he was a more competent ruler than many of the negligent and corrupt Han royals who came before him. And the dynasty he founded, the Wei Dynasty, gave birth to my favorite literary and aesthetic movement in Chinese history.

Jin Guangyao: As you can tell from the other character analyses above, I am fascinated by complex and contradictory characters who seek and weld political power. Ah Yao is a gentle and soft spoken person who is also ruthless and cold. He is a morally grey politician cast as the villain of the narrative because he is directly or indirectly behind the mysterious deaths that the main couple investigates. Jin Guangyao is similar to Cao Cao in many ways. He is a bastard child who killed those who’d wronged or threatened him and used those assassinations to rise to power. While in power he brought peace and stability to his people after a brutal civil wars: he built watch towers so that ordinary people could receive help from cultivators and he maintained peace among the various cultivator sects. He was cruel towards those who stood in his way to power (and survival) but he treated his nephew and heir with kindness. His rise to power left behind a trail of blood, but he is also the only character besides Lan Xichen (his political ally and backer in every step of his rise to power) with any semblance of a political vision in the novel. These many contradictory pieces that comprise “Jin Guangyao” are endlessly fascinating: Meng Yao the kind boy who helped a stranger, Meng Yao the desperate boy who took revenge on his abusers, Jin Guangyao the gentle and generous ruler and uncle, Jin Guangyao the ruthless and power-hungry usurper, son, husband, and brother.

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: When Fate Plays Matchmaker (2024)

Gifs of Ending of cdrama "When Fate Plays Matchmaker"

MULTISUB 【俏红娘 When Fate Plays Matchmaker】 EP01：震惊 相亲居然遇上白月光 crush | 魏天浩 / 赵星卉 | 古装 爱情 | 优酷 YOUKU

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WzX59evH0k

[lesbianbookworld]

foul lady fortune

Orion Hong: brainwashed and now wants to kill Rosalind

Phobe Hong: is Priest

Dao Feng: 'It is a pleasure to meet you properly Priest.'

Celia Lang: aligned with the communists

Alisa Montagova: also aligned with the communists

Rosalind Lang: everyone I care for is now working with the communists, what has happened

[swdgf]

certain qidian authors shld start a side hustle writing dnmei actually 🙂‍↕️

[mstrchu]

never not thinking about how the jie dao disciples on the shang side during fengshen were almost all old and already accomplished figures with well-established posts and reputations while a solid chunk of the chan dao disciples on the zhou/west qi side were like. a group of freshly traumatized kids and yang jian, who was also traumatized but just slightly older.

like pov: you're a shang general and your opponents are a group of middle/high schoolers and their exhausted college student TA.

[inkyminx]

~ 𝓧𝓲𝓾 𝓗𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓯 𝓑𝓪𝓸𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓢𝓪𝓷𝓻𝓮𝓷 ~

About a year ago, I designed a Xianxia (mainly MDZS) version of my mascot (which I've shared before) but I wasn't really proud of it & knew some things had to be changed.

So, I redesigned him & he's finally here!

Expect a lot of upcoming story plots, some facts about him (including story and simpler info) & shenanigans in both MDZS and AWE. Don't worry, there'll also be some SV and many more to come with this young man-

Cause HO BOY do I got some ideas.

[typingwithmyhandstied]

I'm reading the scene in the hospital after Dao Feng is attacked and pretty much just mentally slapping myself for being stupid the whole time. It's so freaking obvious in hindsight that Phoebe was Priest and stealing the file. It's so freaking obvious about Dao Feng too. I was so stupid.

[unearthed-27]

had a test in school today, so i drew when i finished, and a couple from just being bored taking notes

[oceanusborealis]

The Moon Thieves (The Moon Thi4v3s, Dao yue zhe, 盜月者) - Movie Review

TL;DR – While the plot will not be a great surprise to anyone who has watched a heist film before, the cast makes it a fun ride. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3.5 out of 5. Post-Credit Scene – There are mid-credit scenes.Disclosure – I paid to see this film. The Moon Thieves Review – Long-time readers will know that I love a good heist film, the set-up, the mission when it all goes to pot. However, I have…

[trans-leek-cookie]

Looking up Japanese floral design and now I know now that agarwood isn't just wood from a specific tree, it's wood from a specific tree infected with a parasitic fungus that leads the tree to secrete resin to try and fight it

[xiakeponz]

for modern AU fics - what chinese media did diaspora consume?

making this post because some of us in the diaspora server were having a chat about what Chinese media "Diaspora Chinese" watched in the 90's - 2000's (and even sooner than that) while not having access to satellite chinese media or streaming services - this is in the context of writing modern AU fics based off Chinese media/novels (so your main character's grandpa or uncle is not, in fact, watching an episode of Friends or Shortland Street or something as flavour text because sorry what the hell-)

We generally watched a lot of stuff on VCDs, including bootlegged and non-bootlegged movies, shows, anime/donghua. My household had a whole VCD album of this, and a lot of VCDs (even if they were pirated editions) would have a fancy hardcover box with a magnetic clasp and some artwork representing the show on it.

All of this is Mandarin - so not TVB stuff, because I'm from Northern China and I don't know any cantonese - but Canto friends, please feel free to add to the list! This is mostly stuff my parents liked to watch, or I liked to watch with them, with the exception of a few which I mainly watched with friends/cousins when I was maybe (in most cases) eleven/twelve years old onwards. This is a pretty personal list, meant to give people general idea of a possible "ballpark" of sorts, and by no means exhaustive.

Now, for the list of shows which I can confirm I had or someone I know had on VCD or some kind of offline media format lol (I'll try add release year stamps and links to the EN wikipedia where possible):

Period dramas (mostly Qing Dynasty stuff):

Huan Zhu Gege 还珠格格 (1998, April-) This is a classic, so many memes come from this show; hugely popular series, basically cemented Zhang Tie Lin's face as the face of the Qing Emperor for about a decade. Tie Chi Tong Ya Ji Xiao Lan 铁齿铜牙纪晓岚 (2002-2010) - I loved this show as a kid and watched all four seasons on repeat with family... The "trio" in this show are well known and loved.

Amazing Detective Di Ren Jie / 神探狄仁杰 (2004) A very popular and addictive show. Ok now the Big Four:

Romance of 3 kingdoms 1994 / 三国演义 (1994) - a classic that has had many remakes, my older cousin would play this on repeat...

Hong Lou Meng/红楼梦 （1987） - another classic with many remakes, but I think the most recognised by the public one is the 1987 one.

Journey to the West / 西游记 live action (1986) - I think the 1986 version of the live action is the most recognised one. *Shui Hu Zhuan / 水浒传 (1998) - I am not too familliar with the live action of this one in my household tbh bc my mum doesn't like it lol (she keeps saying it's too depressing) but I'm sure it's up there with the rest of the big four, if anyone has an opinion on this one please let me know!

Modern setting shows:

My dad loved all the Sun Honglei (孙红雷 - actor name) stuff, iirc it was a lot of MinGuo period espionage stuff, your shanghai 1920's sxc aesthetic. This actor has been around since 1999? Qian Fu （潜伏）was very famous, and Ren Jian Zheng Dao Shi Cang Sang （人间正道是沧桑）。 These were around '08 and '09.

Chuang Guan Dong - 闯关东 (2008) (Baidu link, sorry - couldn't get an EN wikipedia one). This show was huge when it was airing, everyone was watching it. I was pretty young but even I watched it and got invested ... and I thought it was such an "old person" show at the time lmao. Xiao Bing Zhang Ga / 小兵张嘎 （2004） (sorry, again Baidu link) - yo, anti-japanese war movies set between 1937-1945 were crazy popular - this is one of them and was very popular):

Donghua/Anime (all the stuff kid me watched and some which I didn't but were popular):

喜羊羊与灰太狼 (2005-) Calabash Brothers / 葫芦兄弟 （1986-1987） Black Cat Detective / Hei Mao Jing Zhang 黑猫警长 （1984-2010） Lan Mao Tao Qi 3000 Wen 蓝蓝猫淘气3000问 AKA 蓝猫 (blue cat) (October 1999 - Present) Legend of Ne Zha 哪吒传奇 (2003) Journey to the West/Xi You Ji 西游记 This was truly the Donghua I grew up on from when I was a bb, the OP song and ED song are classic bangers all kids know. Slam Dunk/ 灌篮高手 - People truly watched a lot of anime that may or may not have been terribly dubbed into mando (possibly canto too). Late 80s and 90s kids were all over this, and Dragon Ball, Crayon Shinchan (labixiaoxin).

Taiwanese Dramas:

This is mid-late 2000's, I would be remiss to not talk about the Taiwanese dramas of this era. Mike He, Rainie Yang, Wu Zun (amongst many, many others) were huge. Stuff like Dou Niu Yao Bu Yao, it started with a kiss, Hua Yang Shao Nv (Taiwanese version of Hana Kimi) were all pretty popular. Not sure if these shows all hold up in 2023, but boy were they popular at the time.

Note about CNY:

For CNY, people would try to tune into 春节联欢晚会 (the CCTV official CNY show) at that One Friend Who Had China Satellite TV's house. Zhao Ben Shan / 赵本山 was a comedy staple, and the show would often feature people from the music industry to perform. Eventually these people became more and more relevant to my gen and Jay Chou etc started appearing.

Last but not least Xian Jiaaaan 仙剑:

In 2005 I was all over 仙剑奇侠传 (Chinese Paladin), based off the video game. This show was crazy popular and probably sent me and a whole lot of other kids into Xianxia / Wuxia hell (and Hu Ge hell, and later I came back to love Liu Yifei). Thank you. The OST is a true banger.

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: When Fate Plays Matchmaker (2024)

Gifs of Intro of cdrama "When Fate Plays Matchmaker"

MULTISUB 【俏红娘 When Fate Plays Matchmaker】 EP01：震惊 相亲居然遇上白月光 crush | 魏天浩 / 赵星卉 | 古装 爱情 | 优酷 YOUKU

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WzX59evH0k

[writergracethepanda]

Secret Shanghai x The Princess Bride

I was watching the Princess Bride with my family and had a vision. Thanks to @typingwithmyhandstied , @no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist , and @juliette-cai-enthusiast for helping me with this

Buttercup: Silas

Westly/Dread Pirate Roberts: Phoebe/Priest

INIGO MONTOYA YOU KILLED MY FATHER/COUSIN PREPARE TO DIE: Rosalind (the sword is the JM letter guys all of the dominos are falling into place)

Fezzik: Orion (The scene where fezzik sobers up igno is basically the scene where Rosalind gets poisoned COME ON GUYS)

Prince Humperdinck: Lady Hong or "that random girl who tried to flirt with Silas in fhh"

Vizzini: Jeimin

Miracle Max: Dao Feng

Valerie (that's her name right?): Silas's mom

The King, an ICON: Celia

Juliette: Grandpa

Katherina: Sassy kid

bonus for the best one

"Maybe Oliver could be some random guy in the pit of despair who is just chilling" - @no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist

[beasiannow]

Lucky Cat Indeed!

In their latest act of extreme trickery, a rouge group of chaotic Taoist magicians has empowered a collection of "Chinese Lucky Cat" statues, including "Lightning Tiger Dao." The results? See below:

Spread throughout tourist gift shows in Singapore, Hong Kong, and various Chinatowns in America and Canada, the cat bestows a different sort of luck. Remaking the person nearest to them when they activate into a 100% Chinese version of themselves.

So that Jimmy Smith though he was giving his girl friend as cute will present of a lucky cat statue to his girlfriend Laura Fields

What he was really doing was giving himself the chance to get to know her as Xiang Li Fang.

Renée Taylor, while visiting Hong Kong, thought that a Lucky Cat was just the souvenir to bring home to Montana. "Maybe it'll help me visit again soon." she thought.

Ren Liu Tian instead found she would be looking for a place to live in the city instead. To say nothing about now needing a whole new passport and a need to relearn English.

Hanna Field thought the little shop in Chinatown was the cutest, most quant thing she had ever seen.

As Yu Ming Han, a new employee of the shop, it became a lot less quant and turned into just someplace where she worked.

One of the more interesting bits of their Taoist Chaos magic happens when Desiree and Bill Costello take a short rest as one of the Lightning Tiger Lucky Cats acted up.

So that after a dizzy moment, they became Deng Cai and Bill Costello. So that before most of their meals had come via Grub Hub deliveries, then became home cooked better-than-Chinese restaurant dinners.

[caliburn-the-sword]

fhh ch40-47

everyone gather round and grab popcorn. i'm back to suffering and apparently you guys are into that (ily)

PHOEBE'S ON COMM BUT THEY'RE NOT FINDING OUT THIS IS TORTURE. I TAKE BACK EVERYTHING I'VE EVER SAID EVER ABOUT DRAMATIC IRONY I HATE HATE HATE IT

YES THEY FINALLY KNOW ABOUT SILAS. I NEED THE FIGHT TO END SO THEY ALL HAVE A BIG LONG TALK

i'm literally phoebe's age. could NOT imagine killing and killing the way she does. poor girl. she needs a very therapy (they all do)

there is NO way that rosalind doesn't know phoebe's the priest by now. i would also like for them to have a long discussion about that

NOOO PHOEBE IS GETTING CAUGHT. god what a sacrifice

if miss chloe keeps using religious imagery to describe phoebe as the priest she better be ready to pay my hospital expenses

DAO FENG YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH DEATH THIS IS CRUEL AND MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT

poor poor rosalind. another father figure, gone. what did my poor girl to do deserve this

SILAS CHAPTER. traitorous asshole. he better not sabotage our gang from getting oli out. it's the least he can do after all he's done

he has NO business referring to the others as his friends. i hate him i hate him i hate him

this is the chapter he meets priest i just know it

love phoebe for almost biting someone's finger off. i love to see a girl go absolutely feral

"acting as if Priest were a friend he needed to care for rather than an enemy to capture." HISSING BITING BARKING TEARING OUT HIS JUGULAR WITH MY TEETH. he is SO in for it when he sees it's phoebe

okay silas' resolve to free her. he's sweet. i love him. i hate him. i need him to go back on everything he's ever done and go back to the hongs and seagreen squad

phoebe called him by his codename instead of his name

they're out of the compound they're free. god they cannot go ONE minute without someone getting captured. first orion then oli now phoebe. i can't take it anymore

celia and oliver are the same blood type how romantic

aww orion only missed oliver

tender little rosorion scene to keep me sated before i without a doubt get my still beating heart ripped out of my chest

this hong brothers moment is a l m o s t sweet

and they're back to griping at each other

omg shit's getting real they're all fighting

alisa is stronger and braver than any soldier keeping the peace between not one but TWO sets of siblings. i would not wish that upon my worst enemy

now alisa and ah dao are having a nice little chat. new father figure alert??? anyway this is domestic and it's probably gonna be interrupted by some bigass reveal

AHA alisa knows that phoebe is priest. i love my funky nosy little girl. brings me right back to tvd when she was snooping where she shouldn't. i adore her

omfg is alisa gonna go jailbreak phoebe??

celia has no business being this much of a simp for oliver

damn oliver's love confession has me kinda,,,

PHOEBE CHAPTER FINALLY I'VE BEEN WAITING SO LONG I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE

my fucking god i can't believe silas just LEFT her in there. i can't

NO GREETINGS NO NOTHING JUST READING THE CHARGES???

omfg phoebe called him by his chinese name. it's over. this is the end

YES PHOEBE TEAR HIM TO SHREDS

phoebe's least favourite colour is orange. that's my favourite colour. but it's okay because i adore her

PLEEEEEASE LET ME OFF THIS TRAIN when i said i wanted a messy friend breakup this was exactly what i meant but also NOPE I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE I'M WEAK I'M BABY

HOW COULD SILAS LET THAT MAN FUCKING TASER PHOEBE. I AM GONNA REACH INTO THE INK AND THE PAGES OF THE BOOK AND THROTTLE HIM FULL STRENGTH