#i also LOVED the idea that zhu could be a man while still referring to himself in his private thoughts as a woman???

[witchoil]

i really really enjoyed like the first two thirds of she who became the sun but got scared and shamefully haven’t finished it bc i, like, have been SO so enjoying playing in the space of zhu as transmasc that i don’t want to give it up to when the book inevitably reverts to she/her woman zhu

[ori-flails]

Rewatching Guardian - Episode 07 Part 2/3

Episode List || Part 1 | Part 3

SPOILERS for upto episode 40, SPOILERS for the novel.

Again, WHY THE OMINOUS MUSIC??! This is a funny scene!

I freaking love Chu Shuzhi omfg xD “Ahh” *nods sarcastically*

This confirms Zhao Yunlan was following Shen Wei xD

The two of them do some creepy stuff in the name of love that would be so disturbing without the context of Weilan lmao

Before Shen Wei can even greet her, Zhu Hong just gets straight down to business xD

“Gui Jian Chou” - This nickname was a direct reference to the novel and a nice little cookie for those that read the novel. But it’s just plain confusing for people that haven’t lol

Like, what, is this a hidden jest or roast to Zhao Yunlan’s shamelessness or something?? xD (I read the novel after I watched the drama. Did I mention that? I forgot. :< )

“I was scared into confusion” - My man you lie so easily but at least try-- TRY to make it convincing. I know you can do it.

I love Da Qing. I love that at this point Xiao Guo feels comfortable enough to laugh along with jokes and somewhat relax around Zhao Yunlan. I love this. Beautifuk

Also look at Shen Wei’s smile dgfugwfkwa omfg <3

“...What just happened? Why is he talking about bears? Is this a way to distract Zhao Yunlan from his identity or.....? Am I missing something????”

Yes. I was indeed missing something. I completely missed the fact that Shen Wei was trolling us all. I had no idea what hit me that first time I watched it. What a fool he made out of me lmao xD

I have questions though lol. It’s clear he’s been on about bears for a while. Shen Wei’s trolling for some reason. But, like, Zhao Yunlan just let him???

Just WHY was Shen Wei trolling us so hard?? I bet he was having the time of his life cackling on the inside lmao.

He’s so subtle that something as ridiculous as this went past my BS-radar and my troll-radar completely. I thought he was being serious and sincere. He’s spewing utter unconvincing BS without batting an eye!

I’m telling you, Shen Wei is probably very VERY good at lying and not half bad at politics. He just prefers not to and just becomes an actual wreck when facing Zhao Yunlan and I can’t get over this.

Small brain: Zhao Yunlan’s a troll. Big brain: Ye Zun’s the troll kiing. Mega brain: Shen Wei is the ultimate troll, the troll god.

Just look at his face in the second to last screenshot! That is the face of a man who’s trying very hard not to laugh and is quite pleased with himself.

WHAT A TROLL. xD

Youchu are weaker ghosts from the novel. Cool. I was kind of excited for them after seeing that drawing but that was some profound disappointment.

Also, if Da Qing was already thinking of Youchu, why did he not mention anything until now? Why let Shen Wei keep going on about bears?? xD

Shen Wei himself dealt with the case of Youchu infestation, so he didn’t think about it being a possibilities (hence the bear trolling. I’m never getting over the freaking bears.) because he did manage to send all the Youchu back to Dixing. It’s just Zhu Jiu’s putting them back on Haixing again.

Hah... Hoping this isn’t Zhao Yunlan thinking Hei Pao Shi’s incompetant or some shit. I don’t think so anyway, but still. The thought popped up in my head.

You don’t think it’s strange that Shen Wei knows about these hell gremlins but you draw the line at Shen Wei thinking the thugs don’t have Dixingren qualities?

Shen Wei could’ve been meaning how Dixingren would act on Haixing. A lot of Dixingren probably would be doing illegal stuff and commit robberies and stuff because of poverty. But they wouldn’t be so brazen as the two thugs. They’d take the money and GO. They wouldn’t wanna be taking risks with the looming presence of the SID and Hei Pao Shi. Not unless they’re really strong or after something specific, neither of which apply to the thugs.

But what Shen Wei probably meant was some inherent presense of dark energy or something Dixingren have specifically that either only Shen Wei can sense because of some power he Learnt, or because Shen Wei is strong and skilled enough to mask whatever it is that give away Dixingren to those who know what to look for. Hence why he can easily spot Dixingren but other Dixingren can’t tell he’s one until he gives himself away by lifting whatever invisible ‘mask’ or damper he’s got on. I have headcanons about this. I might make a post for it later. Not sure.

Shen Wei shutting up at this could be because 1) he’s already said too much and isn’t willing to give up more information that’d point to him being Hei Pao Shi.

2) Shen Wei is still hesitent to trust Zhao Yunlan with information that could be used to find a way to detect Dixingren in hiding that are simply just existing on Haixing. Not something horrible but seen as a crime regardless as it’d be a violation of the treaty.

Damn.

“It’s always that most are evil, few are kind” - The same way most people police would encounter would mostly be criminals IN A JUST AND IDEAL WORLD WHICH IS NOT THE WORLD WE LIVE IN, CLEARLY. UGH.

The Dixingren that are not “evil”, as he says, are staying out of trouble and mixing in with Haixingren.

Also when I say “evil”, read “desperate” and “cornered”.

Zhao Yunlan has already partially made up his mind about trusting Shen Wei. I’m glad he noticed that Shen Wei is trying to protect somebody, whoever it is that’s Shen Wei source of information on Dixingren or just himself, by not telling everything to the SID which doesn’t have the best reputation.

I’m also glad to see how despite the anti-Dixingren propaganda of Xingdu Bureau and basically every record there is about Dixing since the war, Zhao Yunlan’s able to try to broaden his horizon.

Zhao Yunlan is a Good Man.

The idea of something so overwhelmingly terrifying and brutal that it causes a person to go mad is not a bad idea.

It’s just that when you hype up a culprit/monster like that, you have to deliver something.

But this is Guardian the web drama. :/

“if he’s an orange or a pear” *flashback to Chu Shuzhi and Hei Pao Shi’s toes*

(Continues in part 3)

[paixen]

ffxv/atla/korra stuff?

just gonna ramble my thoughts and opinions of an atla au in which the ffxv chocobros exist because showers always get me thinking. fair warning, there is no organized timeline so i’ll be jumping willy nilly between atla and lok events, so pardon the spectacularly inconsistent verb tenses. this will be a messy stream of consciousness post. Spoilers all around.

noct: i feel like the prince would mostly likely be a water bender. he’s just got this cool, icy vibe going about him. small things - i find his ice spells to be visually pleasing because i feel like ice compliments his black and pale aesthetic best of the other elements. his eyes are a good chilly icy blue. and he likes to fish. Ray Chase even said that everything that noct says has weight to it because being cool is so important to him. larger things - his character development is exceptional. he undergoes so much change. as a water bender, he might struggle to get a handle on the techniques initially because of his overall inert attitude toward life. then chapter 13 happens and he becomes quite the changed man. he is able to go about his days by feel, ready to adapt as soon as he needs to. Sounds changey watery to me. once he gets into the water bending groove, his go-to weapon would be ice shards. water bending is often argued to be the most powerful form of bending, being able to conduct electricity, manipulate the water content in bodies, chi/qi meddling, healing, all that jazz. it would be fitting for a king like himself. i also like to imagine him having uninterested, unimportant arguments with the korra, who would fiercely sass him back. korra would kick his butt of course, but no one can stay mad at noct forever. he’s literally sacrificing himself. at least the avatar doesn’t need to die to save the world. i also like to imagine sokka, aang, and prompto being real bros and roping noct into semi-ironically partaking their shenanigans and terrible jokes, iggy, gladio, and katara shaking their heads somewhere in the background. in another scene, the other 3 chocobros are probably bowing at katara’s feet for her generously mentoring noct with how to manage his ice spells so that the other guys don’t have to suffer under his AOE icy hell. if only he could have learn these techniques before Leviathan happened... also Shiva is just nonchalantly JAZZED in the spirit world that her wee prince is learning ice so well. His doggo companion, Umbra, would probably be part spirit, gifted with some nifty communication abilities. He’ll never lose touch with Luna with Umbra around. Umbra is definitely cuddle buddies with Naga. (noct is kinda amused by the irony in the name of korra’s bear-dog.)

prompto: first instinct is to say he’d be an air bender because of the happy-go-lucky/carefree vibe he exudes. but then i remember Bolin, to whom he is similar in personality. as much as i love picturing prom air scootering around town, i also have a hard time picturing him being a particularly spiritually invested individual. and then i also remember prom’s MT history and his old esteem issues. prom is someone who can’t live without constantly being reminded of his roots. heavily influential roots make me lean toward him being an earth bender, his specialty being metal bending. it would make so much sense - the bros tease him about being a technophile. he is MT. I imagine him really digging Zaofu. Toph would teach him as mercilessly as the rest of her pupils, but his quirky personality would eventually win her over, queuing her signature affectionate punch. with time, he even picks up sand bending pretty decently. the Beifongs would end up being quite protective over this ray of sunshine despite his clear ability to take care of himself (esp after the 10 year jump.) wouldn’t be surprised if zuko took prom on a life-changing field trip that confronts his past. #the real episode prompto. that’s rough buddy. bolin and prom would get pretty competitive with earth bending sports. he and bolin gossip about how they secretly have a crush on gladio’s muscles. prompto also confesses his love for asami to bolin. she’s techy and gorgeous, it just isn’t fair. bolin empathizes with him, talking about his old crush on korra. prompto would essentially become another brother to mako and bolin. Asami is still fond of prompto and appreciates the help he offers in the garage. Iroh is probably commending prompto’s appreciation of nature and friendship, as displayed so wonderfully in his pictures. at the end of the day, prompto finds that his camera’s memory is completely full of real flattering pics of aang’s face and motion blurred sokka who complains of not being ready for taking a perfect picture. toph is just glad she can’t see the pictures. meelo borrows some of the pictures prompto takes for references for his complex paintings. varrick hires prompto as his personal photographer and the two fall in love with each others’ spunk. they talk about prompto’s cindy situation. prompto is given some terrible ideas for this but he tries them anyway. when iggy is freshly blind, prompto does everything he can to give iggy pointers to help him feel his way around the earth. of course, his animal companion is a chocobo. when noct is gone, he makes sure to take a charcoal colored chocobo chick under his care and names it after his late friend.

ignis: again, first instinct is to classify the guy as a water bender, like katara, both being the moms of their squads. it’d also make sense, being the healer of the group. regardless, iggy’s a bit tough for me, because he also reminds me of tenzin - being the protagonist’s advisor and being accidentally funny. but he also demonstrates the aristocratic discipline of a polished fire bender, a much different kind of discipline from katara’s or tenzin’s. my final answer is that iggy would be a fire bender. he’s wise like iroh and disciplined like jeong jeong. the fire benders seem to take on advisory rolls in the avatar series in terms of main characters anyway. Iroh to Zuko. Zuko to Aang. Mako to Bolin. i like to imagine ignis using fire bending to his advantage as a cook. his ebony never runs cold. i also like to imagine when ignis becomes blind, instead of using his usual fire bending in melee, he figures out how to manipulate the electric impulses in human body. he could effectively exhaust someone or something just by tetanizing their muscles. he and katara might even be able to discover some medically revolutionary treatments through his abilities with the nerves, pacemaker cells, and the brain. also the synergy between noct and iggy when fighting would be so good. iggy would probably grab some lightning from the atmosphere and direct it to noct, who redirects the lightning with his water bending, quickly incapacitating MTs. if noct is unavailable then prompto’s on it, sending a charged metal whip right to the hearts of the MTs. iggy will sometimes put a motherly flame under noct’s ass to get him out of bed in the morning. Iroh is probably very fond of iggy, who appreciates his tea and is a great conversationalist when it comes to philosophy. iggy is always more than happy to cook for Iroh and to play pai sho on his spare time. iroh basically adopts the man. When iggy is blind, he and zuko like to tease each other about the fact that they both have scars on their left eyes. iggy proves to be a great listener for zuko just as he is for noct. zuko basically adopts iggy as his substitute uncle when iroh passes. now iggy is busy motherinig TWO angsty figureheads. at least zuko eats his vegetables. gladio is always grateful when iggy’s around so he doesn’t have to spend a lot of time making a fire. toph probably thinks iggy is just the most amusing, darnedest, and sometimes infuriating beast, and iggy learns a lot from toph when he’s blind. it doesn’t take an earth bender to tap into the frequencies of the world, and he eventually learns to see like toph. team avatar lowkey ships the two together, but the chocobros know that iggy probably couldn’t handle a girl like toph. when iggy visits zaofu, he cooks for suyin, who is blown away by the blind man’s tastes. bolin requests seconds and thirds of his meals, going up to fifths, rivaling gladio’s appetite. every once in a while, iggy feels intrigued by varrick and helps zhu li out with her endless duties. Ignis would probably have a BIG black leopard-opossum hybrid companion. a beast with heightened sight and smell to guide him when his own eyes fail. also a good friend for finding quality ingredients.

gladio: gladio’s a straight forward kind of guy. he knows what his path is. his mind is unwavering, being the king’s shield. he is a guy who’s very in tune with nature. I bet he’s a natural earth bender. gladio can also have a firey temper when provoked. over time he might learn to lava bend. as the chocobro’s survivalist, his earth bending comes in handy when they boys are just too tired to set up a tent or to build a proper fire pit. if he’s lucky, he doesn’t even have to try very hard to catch small prey like rabbits if they’re unfortunately close by. he makes very easy friends with the creatures from the spirit world. they show him all sorts plants to live off and places to camp out. of all the bros, toph tolerates him the best. this is mostly because he can put up an equal fight and isn’t as excitable as the others. the bros are awestruck once again by how gladio can seem to get on every woman’s good side. toph and gladio enjoy sparring - toph is very sensitive to his movements and quick to react. gladio has excellent instincts as well and is obviously powerful. he might not be quite as accurate as toph but he’s got just a smidge more brute force than her, somehow. sokka is unsubtley jealous of gladio’s masculinity and secretly leaves to do some pull ups on a tree or something. how dare gladio just walk around with his 6-pack out and about. gladio and aang become great buddies. aang and gladio relentlessly pull pranks on each other and the bros. aang helps gladio learn the wiley ways of the spirit world too. korra sees gladio as a big brother. when she needs someone to talk to, gladio’s there to listen. if she needs to let off some bad energy by throwing rocks n’ stuff, he’s always happy to give the avatar a good, earthy fight. this guy can take a punch. prompto is hiding and secretly taking pics of the intense fights. both fighters are pleased with how badass they look. he and bolin train together sometimes, though usually the sessions end up devolving into a volley of cheap and dirty tactics and taunting. spending time with bolin is still one of his favorite pastimes. gladio becomes fond of mako as well. they relate to each other, having very similar occupations. gladio even offers to fill in for mako when something more urgent than his police work requires his presence. lin approves of gladio. every once in a while prompto requests gladio’s assistance in helping him escape the slightly overwhelming varrick during enormous parties, but gladio decides to stick around and have a few drinks with the elegantly dressed ladies. gladio would probably have a raven for an animal companion (partially to match his tats.) The raven would be a great helper when scavenging and just a nice intelligent friend to hang out with. His raven probably plays pranks on all the other bro’s animals.

[fishylife]

The Bad Kids Ep 9

This episode was so cool lol.

- This episode was called 台风. Now, I did some looking up in my trustworthy Pleco dictionary and found out that 台风 is the simplified writing for both 颱風 “typhoon,” and 臺風 “stage presence/poise.” Typhoon is obviously a reference to the hugeass typhoon that hit the city during this episode. As for poise, in this episode, Dongsheng as well as the kids had to put on a show to make sure the world would not be onto them about their deeds. That included having to work together.

- As expected, Chaoyang did not die, as the kids came to his rescue. Yan Liang pushed Chaoyang and Pupu to escape but obviously he was no match for Wang Li. Laochen was patrolling the beach again and tried to help Yan Liang but was stabbed by Wang Li, who then went after and successfully captured Chaoyang.

- Why did Dongsheng leave before Wang Li successfully murdered Chaoyang? Didn’t he want to get his money back? Even if Wang Li didn’t take the sack full of money, there was no reason to believe that if the police had found Chaoyang’s corpse, they would be able to track the money and give it back to Dongsheng, who’d borrowed from a loan shark. Perhaps Dongsheng had left when Pupu and Yan Liang had come to Chaoyang’s rescue and thought that they’d be able to fight him off and save the money.

- Anyway, seeing Wang Li kidnap Chaoyang with the money was a problem. If Chaoyang was being held captive or killed by Wang Li, Dongsheng would have no way of getting his money back, whereas if the money was in the kids’ possession, he still had a chance of getting it back.

- Now, this is what starts the strange, strange partnership between Dongsheng and the kids and I was FASCINATED by how this episode unfolded.

- Dongsheng’s main priority was the money, but it was interesting how with just the little bit of pleading from the kids, he would help them. I think part of that may be his teacher training. He’s trained to seem sympathetic and kind to kids. I think that was why he was able to intimidate Pupu, but not so much that she’d freak out. But that training goes both ways. Just as Dongsheng was trained to speak to kids, he was also trained to listen to kids. Chaoyang had pleaded to Zhang Dongsheng to help him when he was under the freezing water, and it felt a bit like an instinct for Dongsheng to go over and at least just turn off the water.

- The confrontation between Zhang Dongsheng and Wang Li was interesting. Dongsheng is not a particularly strong man (physically), whereas Wang Li was probably used to scuffles and violence, so Dongsheng was at a huge disadvantage. The only thing was that Wang Li saw Dongsheng as a nuisance rather than a threat. He didn’t know who Dongsheng was, but Wang Li was laser focused on hurting Chaoyang until he got the truth out of him. Wang Li was taken down because he didn’t expect Dongsheng to come out swinging and stab him. Why Dongsheng did that, well, he was very scared, I think. Not just for his money (and probably not for the kids), but also just because he’s super out of his element. He’d been training his entire life to look like an intellectual. Street fights are not his thing lol.

- When Zhang Dongsheng pulled the safety alarm, the entire facility was aglow with the flashing lights, which were red. I couldn’t help but think that all of the characters in that facility at the time, Chaoyang, Zhang Dongsheng, and Wang Li, who were bathed in that red light, all had blood on their hands either directly or indirectly. This might be a reach, but there was symbolism there lol.

- This episode was pretty dark (in terms of lighting) and I actually had to turn up my brightness for a few scenes because I had no idea wtf was happening. But the red warning lights were the most lighting that we got in that entire time in the fish facility. Doesn’t this visual look cool? I think so.

- Meanwhile, Yongping and Wang Yao were on their way to save Chaoyang. Obviously Yongping was super frazzled and Wang Yao was too, though I can’t know for sure how much of it was acting. To some degree, Wang Yao still respects Yongping, so she would react to his anger. Anyway, while Yongping took Chaoyang to the hospital, Wang Yao stayed behind to look for Wang Li. She didn’t find much but his car, and she dialed a text to Wang Li’s cell phone, which was in Zhang Dongsheng’s possession. He just replied with something dismissive and left it at that. Now, while Wang Yao was very frazzled before, she seemed to calm down VERY FAST after Yongping left. I’m starting to be more and more intrigued by Wang Yao’s character. Like obviously she’s cutthroat, and we now know she comes from some sort of gang background. She told Yongping she didn’t expect Wang Li to do this, but was that true? What’s certain is that she definitely would not know of Zhang Dongsheng’s existence and Zhu Chaoyang was obviously tied up, but for now, we don’t now what conclusion she’s come to about her brother.

- While Chaoyang was in the hospital, Wang Yao asked Yongping not to press charges against Wang Li. Yongping was like “now’s not the time.” Later, when he spoke to Chaoyang, he was telling Chaoyang how he’d drag Wang Li over to plead for forgiveness and such and that his crime would result in 3-5 years in jail, implying that that would be too harsh for Wang Li. Obviously this was jarring for Chaoyang. He was in a life-threatening situation and his dad wouldn’t fight for him.

- Chaoyang told his dad that he taught him to be an honest and upright person, implying that Wang Li should face legal repercussions for his actions. But I have to think, is Chaoyang’s conscience totally clear as well? Does he think he’s in a position to tell his dad about being honest and upright? After the beginning of this show, Chaoyang has indirectly been responsible for a death, and he’s participated in blackmail. He’s hardly crystal clear himself. But of course, we know that Chaoyang is getting better and better at lying, and especially at manipulating his dad, whether knowingly or not.

- We haven’t seen much of Zhou Chunhong these past few episodes. That makes sense, as Chaoyang seemed to have been drifting farther from his mom after she revealed her affair. And Chaoyang’s dad was making an effort to spend more time with Chaoyang too. After Chaoyang was admitted to the hospital, she approached Ye Jun. For what reason, we don’t know, but I think it’s probably to do with having Wang Li convicted of kidnapping and assaulting her child.

- After Chaoyang had gotten up, his father had poured him some hot water and Chaoyang drank it. This is small, but I was reminded of when Chaoyang’s mom kept pushing him to drink his warm milk and he was like “ugh I’ll do it later mom.” At this point in time, I would say he is closer to his dad, though their relationship is a lot more volatile. On the outside, Yongping looks like he showers Chaoyang with a lot of love, spending time with him and buying him gifts. However, Chaoyang still doesn’t know where he stands with him. Every time he thinks he’s getting into his dad’s good books, he finds out that his dad still prioritizes Wang Yao over him. On the other hand, Chaoyang and his mom haven’t been talking much, but he knows where they stand with each other. Their relationship will probably never change.

- Zhang Dongsheng came by under the pretense that he was telling Chaoyang about an event he should attend, but obviously the two have more things to discuss. What Dongsheng really needed from Chaoyang, however, was the key to the warehouse so that he could properly dispose of Wang Li’s body. The two of them are now firmly accomplices, which changes the nature of their relationship a lot. I am just fascinated by how much Dongsheng is doing to work together with the kids.

- I was skeptical when Zhang Donsheng said he’d let Yan Liang and Yue Pu go with the money, but we later saw that that was really true. Why was that? How was Zhang Dongsheng going to return the money to the loan shark? I guess there’s always room for Zhang Dongsheng to drive over and catch Yan Liang and Yue Pu, but like, the chance of catching them is slim. Are we supposed to believe that Zhang Dongsheng really felt sympathetic to Pupu and Xinxin’s situation and decided to let them go with the money? I just think things aren’t as they seem right now with them.

- Why were there cops at the motel that Yan Liang and Yue Pu were staying at? It doesn’t make sense that Zhang Dongsheng would’ve called the cops on them because he didn’t know that the kids would pick that specific motel to stay at. Was it truly just some routine patrolling thing?

- It was super surreal that by the end of the episode, Yan Liang and Yue Pu were asking Zhang Dongsheng for shelter. It’s funny how Dongsheng has become the person they can trust the most, because he is the person that knows their most dangerous secret, which is the blackmail.

- I was just super excited to see Zhang Dongsheng and the kids working together. Not because I want Dongsheng to be a good guy, not at all. I just think that this change in their relationship is so interesting and it’s giving us a new angle to look at Zhang Dongsheng. How does he deal with kids who are blackmailing but he has also chosen to help for reasons XYZ? The situation is so complex and it’s interesting to see how all of our characters are adjusting.

[newstfionline]

With Dreadlocks, Rhythm and Flow, China Embraces Hip-Hop

By Amy Qin, NY Times, Oct. 26, 2017

CHENGDU, China--Standing under a phalanx of flashing blue lights, Masiwei gazed down at the sea of waving fans. Cheers erupted as he threw his head back and called out to the hometown crowd.

“Chengduuuu!”

Just minutes later, the wiry rapper--one-fourth of the four-man Chinese rap crew known as the Higher Brothers--was stomping across the stage with his shirt off, tattoos out and short dreadlocks pulled back into a high ponytail. At the other end of the stage, Dzknow, another Higher Brothers rapper, grabbed a fistful of cash and took aim, sending a flurry of fake bills raining down on the sweaty fans below.

It was a classic rapper move in a not-so-classic setting: a small hip-hop festival on the outskirts of the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu.

Once an underground subculture, hip-hop--the music, the culture and the fashion--has stormed the Chinese mainstream in recent months. Fans are flocking to nightclubs and music festivals to see their favorite local rappers and D.J.s perform, while English terms like flow, freestyle and even diss have made their way into popular urban parlance.

Perhaps nowhere is that more apparent than here in Chengdu, a sprawling metropolis of nearly 16 million that is best known for its pandas and mouth-numbing spicy food but is quickly becoming a hotbed of hip-hop, particularly rap.

The city has produced a steady stream of prominent underground hip-hop artists, including Fat Shady, Kafe Hu, Ty and, most recently, the Higher Brothers, the current breakout stars of the Chinese hip-hop world.

And, as is often the case among rappers, hubris is not in short supply here.

“Of course Chengdu rappers are much cooler than rappers from other cities,” said Masiwei, 24, in an interview backstage before the recent show.

Less than two decades ago, few people in Chengdu had even heard of the term hip-hop, “xiha” in Chinese, let alone listened to it. In the late 1990s, when access to the internet and pirated videos became more widespread, locals began to discover the genre.

Many were teenagers when they heard artists like Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Eminem (referred to rather affectionately among Chinese as “Em”) for the first time. Some stumbled upon the music through N.B.A. mixtapes; others through watching break-dance, or B-boy, videos.

Demi Zhu, one of the first amateur rappers in Chengdu, recalled hearing DMX and Run DMC in a B-boy video for the first time at the age of 17.

“We had no idea who they were or what they were saying, but we liked the tempo and we liked the feel,” said Mr. Zhu, now 32. “You could feel their passion.”

No one can quite say why hip-hop took hold here so early, compared with other Chinese cities. Local rappers say the Chengdu dialect, with its bouncy rhythm and irregular tones, is versatile in a way that is especially well suited to rap music.

“I use the dialect as a tool when I write verses,” said Masiwei of the Higher Brothers. “If I want to achieve a certain flow, I can use Chengdu dialect in one sentence, then English in the next and then standard Mandarin.”

But when it comes to writing songs, government censorship is the bane of every Chinese rapper. Local rappers say the unofficial list of sensitive topics is long: politics, drugs, sex, violence, gangsters and explicit language--in other words, many of the themes that have come to define modern hip-hop.

As a result, rappers, like most creative workers in China, find themselves constantly testing the boundaries of what is permissible.

Even setting aside censorship concerns, many rappers say that while they look up to American hip-hop, they are not necessarily looking to replicate the music.

“What I want to say, what I want to express, is different,” said Kafe Hu, 30, a local rapper. “I am not black. Even though I was once very poor, I have never been in physical danger. I have never lived in a ‘hood. I’ve seen people doing drugs before, but it was nothing like the U.S.”

Still, there is certainly one traditional hip-hop obsession that has become a favorite theme among local rappers.

“One theme that really resonates here is money,” said Andre Alexander, also known as Harikiri, a British music producer and D.J. based in Chengdu. In “Made in China,” the Higher Brothers’ most popular song, for example, Masiwei boasts: “My chains, my new gold watch / made in China.”

“Rappers here love to be like, ‘I was poor before, and look what I’m doing now,’” Mr. Alexander said.

The “making it to the top” narrative has become more relevant in recent months since the huge popularity this summer of the new online show “The Rap of China” (think “American Idol” for rappers). Each episode got more than 200 million views, and some of the participants on the show are now household names.

Hundreds of fans--mostly women, mostly in their 20s--turned up on a recent Sunday afternoon at a newly built art park in Chengdu to watch the Higher Brothers and others perform.

On the lawn outside the venue, fans puffed on cigarettes while lounging on brightly colored inflatable cushions. Some meandered over to a row of tents to inquire about the dreadlock braiding services and tarot card readings on offer.

For every recent hip-hop convert, there seemed to be at least one longtime hip-hop buff. Many spoke enthusiastically about their love of the genre, citing its authenticity and its straight-talking nature.

“Hip-hop lets me express my individuality,” Yang Jinyue, 24, a local D.J., said as she sat cross-legged on the grass, sporting a black baseball cap and a skimpy black romper that revealed numerous tattoos.

That fixation with individuality was a sentiment echoed repeatedly throughout the day, among both rappers and fans.

[ori-flails]

Rewatching Guardian - Episode 07 Part 3/3

Episode List || Part 1 | Part 2 || Episode 08

SPOILERS for upto episode 40, SPOILERS for the novel.

Lin Jing has a point. If they’re being spied by members of the Yashou tribes it’s better to have Zhu Hong involved. And he’s speaking in codes because they’re listening in. And Zhao Yunlan got it. I didn’t notice before and just thought it was weird they seem to not realize they were being spied on. Wow. I clearly wasn’t giving the SID enough credit. :/

(Also, the house seems pretty big from the outside but once they go in, it’s tiny. Odd.)

On this note, Zhu Jiu’s voice is nice enough. The cursed wig ugh and the chuuni act...

I just can’t get over it. Zhu Jiu could’ve been pretty cool and I was sitting here trying to enjoy his character and waiting for him to grow on me as a character when in reality he irritated the living daylights out of me.

And I was trying so hard to give him a chance to become a compelling character that I didn’t even admit to myself that Zhu Jiu was plain annoying to me until Ye Zun appeared, so for half the series.

Lin Jing being serious is <3 Zhao Yunlan and Xiao Guo’s faces lmao xD

He’s right too. The first murder can’t be held against Lai Su because he didn’t know something like this was going to happen. If we really really baby him, then we can say that the man didn’t see the correlation between the murders and his work for the first couple of incidents. But even then, after that point, there isn’t really any excuse.

If it was me, I’d have been driven crazy with the knowledge that there was something I could do that would possibly stop the murders, if not for a guilty conscience, it’d be also for the fear of the authorities connecting the dots and me becoming a suspect of a damn murder case. That’s scary!

And yeah, even if he had stopped there would’ve been no guarantee of this mysterious man online would’ve stopped whatever that prompted these murders (Lai Su never knew of his abilities), but still. I’d have gone crazy with the possibilities. No amount of money and fame can compensate for the loss of peace of mind like that.

Zhao Yunlan quickly turned the situation into a good-cop-bad-cop situation lol. Using the knowledge that Lai Su pissed of Lin Jing of all people to that extent to hammer in the guilt factor and pressurise Lai Su into revealing if there was anything else to this.

Yeah, the virtual world is so vast and easy to get sucked into that actual reality becomes secondary. And in this, Lai Su, as a result, was completely desensitized to people being murdered, and he was sitting there rationalising what was happening and making excuses for himself to try and appease his conscience because his greed overruled it.

Sad.

“His ability must be to self-hypnotise with his writing”, “He and the monster he write about are the same person”

This is why the trashy CGI monster from this episode is more upsetting to me than the plastic looking Youchu. The show could’ve gotten away with it by not showing this monster at all in this instance.

Because of Zhao Yunlan’s wording, the picture I get is that Lai Su himself would commit these crimes after he ‘falls asleep’ or something and have no recollection of it becaused he hypnotised himself. This would’ve been pretty cool. But in this case, it won’t work because then the thug going mad because of the monster so horrendous won’t be explained. So perhaps instead of a clear cut explanation, it would be better to leave some aspects a little unexplained.

Like, we get to see Zhu Jiu’s cryptid message and his parting words,  then the claw coming out of the computer screen or just a close-up of Lai Su’s terrified face, and then a blood curdling scream from Lai Su’s hidden room from Da Qing and Chu Shuzhi’s POV. When they go into the room to check what’s happened, Lai Su would already be dead.

No awful cheap looking CGI monster, a sense of mystery, and still it would make sense due to Zhao Yunlan’s hypothesis in this scene. I know very little about cinema and screenplay but still, wouldn’t this have been somewhat better? And unlike the Zhang Danni impersonator case, leaving the monster to the audience’s imagination wouldn’t take away from the experience.

The key information is that Lai Su didn’t know that he had this power. If he did, the protagonists of his stories wouldn’t have been the murderer (or the victim) and Lai Su could’ve brought many good things to his life (unless it’s like his power wouldn’t have activated without Zhu Jiu’s interference). No one would willingly screw themselves over like this of their own free will.

“I would’ve never though you would say these words to me today” + the following comment about Zhao Yunlan’s growing understanding of Dixingren: o u c h

In these lines, the “you” Shen Wei is referring to is not Zhao Yunlan who is the future or past of Kunlun, but instead to Zhao Yunlan, son of Zhao Xinci, who, until recently, hadn’t shown any indication of being all that better than Zhao Xinci. Because it would not be surprising to Shen Wei if Kunlun was understanding of Dixingren; that would be expected.

Shen Wei likely knew of Zhao Yunlan before they met, and he is aware of what the SID had been upto since he took over. Whatever mental picture he had of Zhao Yunlan was probably so different from Kunlun until they met. Yet, Zhao Yunlan is not that mental picture of his, and neither is he Kunlun anymore/yet.

I feel like my brain (and heart) would become scrambled agg if I was in Shen Wei’s position, trying to align the three different ideas of Zhao Yunlan; the professional judgement of Zhao Yunlan as the new chief of the SID, the actual Zhao Yunlan he interacts with who is fun, clever and charming like a fox, and Kunlun.

In my opinion, Shen Wei’s doing good by keeping Kunlun and Zhao Yunlan as separated as he can in his mind, while trying to have a better understanding of Zhao Yunlan by having his professional image and the observations of him on a personal level merge.

Btw, when Shen Wei was saying these things, he looked like he was going to cry. And then there were unshed tears in his eyes when he smiled (the second and third to last screenshots). Q~Q

I wonder what he was thinking in that moment. Was he missing Kunlun at the very Kunlun-like thing Zhaon Yunlan just said with his very Kunlun looking face? Was it relief/gratefulness of somebody finallly seeing the same peril that he has been seeing? Was it the pressure of his responsibilities to his doomed people?

Ugh Zhu Yilong how do you do this... I will cry. The faces he makes are so freaking sad.

THAT’S ANGUISH ON HIS FACE AND I CANNOT.

Something entirely unrelated to the episode: I love how the way Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan talk are so different from the natural way Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu talk, but I never even thought that the actors were changing their speech so much but so subtly until I watched this long interview and my brain was confused out of its wits because Zhu Yilong speaking sounds so different to Shen Wei, while Bai Yu’s voice itself sounds completely different to me. They just sound so natural in their roles. As someone that loves watching good acting but cannot understand how acting even works, I am actually floored.