#just like in the book thanks npss

[lilianhuas]

[traineecryptid]

NPSS Weibo Q&A (20240831) Part 2

This is a Q&A session held on Weibo. People will tag their questions with the hashtag #南派三叔藏海花在线答疑# (#NPSS Zang Hai Hua Online Q&A#) and NPSS will look through the tag to pick some to answer. The event started at 1500 hours on 2024 August 31st.

Folder with screenshots and big compilation google doc is here. Part 1 is here.

1536

Q: Shu, why was the patriarch's item changed from the bronze bell to the Heavenly Staff ? Is it to match Tianshou? (T/N: Tianshou could be translated as Heavenly Orders)

A: I’ll explain it like this. If Wu Xie wanted to tell this story to someone else and this story was then retold by that someone else, it would certainly differ in certain details from the truth in his notebook. Perhaps it is to keep people from knowing the full story or perhaps it is so that others could better understand it, or perhaps [he] didn’t want to explain too much.

1539

Q: How do you manage to have both actors that fit the roles very well and actors who don’t in every show?

A: Problem with availability. 

1540

Q: Which is the most tragic character in ZHH aside from Xiaoge?

A: Wah, this is a good question. You have to keep watching yourself because this is a very hard-to answer question.

1541

Q: The dramas suck doesn’t mean that your books suck. Don’t worry at all. A: If the dramas really suck, could I have kept making one after another?

1544

Q: Sanshu, is there any way to make Wu Xie and Pangzi immortal? I can’t bear to see Wu Xie die. It would be hard for Zhang Qiling to adapt, right? A: When I was little, I also hoped to have this kind of medicine to give to my grandmothers.

1545

Q: Sanshu, Xiaoge had already inserted the Heavenly Staff and cured everyone from the Tianshou sickness. So why Xiaoge wasn’t cured?

A: Not only wasn’t he cured, all the Tianshou was borne by him alone, fragmenting his memories.  

1546

Q: Sanshu, Wu Xie’s dream house is a courtyard with a moss pond. What kind of living environment would Xiaoge and Pangzi like? A: Tianzhen still breathing when they wake up is considered heaven (ptsd) for them.

1547

Q: Sanshu, what do you think is Wu Xie’s greatest specialty? Is it his long eyelashes like Xiazi said?

A: His little boss spirit. (T/N: according to this article I skimmed, little boss refers to the kind of boss who is very lowkey, keeps themselves on the same level as everyone else and focuses on their business without prioritizing growth.)

1547

Q: In the most recent episode of ZHH, why does Zhang Jiuri and the others hate Zhang Qiling so much?

A: It will be explained right after this.

1548

Q: The universe’s man crush, I would like to ask: When Xiaoge saw Wu Xie treating him all friendly in the beginning, did he not dare to believe that there was someone who solely cherished him and wanted to protect him without any ulterior motives?

A: Zhang Qiling could see through a person’s heart with just one look. Not because he’s smart, but because he has seen a lot. People are a very simple thing for Zhang Qiling.

1550

Q: The universe’s man crush, the world’s man crush, can you tell me what Zhang Qiling would think if he knew that Wu Xie had called him “Menyouping-needing-a-thousand-cuts” before? (T/N: “needing a thousand cuts” is similar to “damned” as in “that damned troublemaker” and is apparently very rude… since i guess you’re cursing on someone to be tortured?) A: A thousand cuts? Are you a candle? You think I’ve only taken a thousand cuts on your behalf? I took your 60 million but I’ve never ever asked you for a single cent more!

1552

Q: Are there any fixed requirements when casting actors? For example, the Iron Triangle.

A: No. As long as the platform approves, the actors approves, the director approves and the original author approves, then it’ll be OK.  It’s not that difficult. 

1552

Q: I feel like ZHH is a very close reproduction of the novel and it even elaborated on some scenes. I feel like I know the characters better and understand them more now.

A: Thank you. It took very long to write.

1553

Q: Actually, Shu, I watched ZHH and I feel that it’s a close reproduction of the novel. Of course, I read the novel a few years ago and some parts have gotten blurry. But when I was watching the drama, I would suddenly remember the scene. Undeniably, some parts have changed but the majority isn’t that different. It’s really, really the best when an adaptation follows the original closely because Shu, your novels are the foundation and the novels are very well written! Although I don’t know why [people] won’t let go of the question of actors, neither were there praises for the scenes. The requirements aren’t high, it’s enough that I can recall the scenes in the novel while watching the drama. Sanshu, remember, no matter which drama it is, it has to follow your novels. The novels are really, really the best! I’ve always felt like actors were a type of feeling, they won’t be able to convince people no matter who plays the part. But the scenes would always resonate with people! A: Everyone has the right to express their own opinions. I also have the right to work hard at promoting. It’s a difficult world. It’s enough that we be ourselves and not leave regrets.

1553

Q: Sanshu, there are already changes to Wu Xie’s blood and he could deter bugs like Xiaoge and all that. Would Wu Xie live forever without aging with Xiaoge?

A: Wu Xie’s only works now and then. Maybe it has something to do with what he eats.

Here's another 15, this section seems to have a lot of longer questions. Can you believe that we're only an hour into the questions? There's like... an amount more. Thankfully NPSS has slowed down.

[s1utspeare]

10 Characters I Fell in Love With in 2021

alighlaskdfjlaksdjf ok fuck. this is gonna be HARD because y’all know me you know i LOVE characters asdgihalsdkfjadslkjf. anyway THANK YOU @lasenbyphoenix​ for tagging me in this I love you!! and all your characters were so good! 

Alright I’m going to try and only choose one per show/actor otherwise they would all be from mystic nine or william characters and I can’t do that lmao

1. Fo-ye from The Mystic Nine

Is anyone even surprised? Cause I’m sure not. this man is the love of my life and my heart’s delight and FUCK i just love him so much. is it because he’s william? yes partially. but also just because fo-ye is SUCH a good character and SO tragic about it. like this mans is the embodiment of self-sacrifice and I’m never going to be over it. he wasn’t even my favorite character from m9 at first but he has slowly taken over my heart and soul and i would legitimately do anything for more Him npss pls give us season two PLEASE anyway i’m obsessed with him goodbye

2. Choi Myung-hee from Vincenzo

I FUCKING LOVE HER and not because she’s nice because she is the WORST and MOST EVIL but because of how important she is as a character. everyone’s like “jang han-seok my poor little meow meow” and then are like “choi myung-hee >:(” like if she were a male character people would LOVE HER but she’s NOT but she’s my favorite because she is EVIL and fucked UP and absolutely UNAPOLOGETIC ABOUT IT and i genuinely love how she is written and acted and GUH. she’s stellar. everyone appreciate her NOW

3. Saya from The Arthdal Chronicles

Sayaaaaaaaaa ok half of this i think is how good song joong-ki is at acting in this drama, cause he does like. two completely different characters with his choices i fucking love him (it’s mostly in his mouth too like GOSH when are actors going to stop Fucking Me Up with their acting choices surrounding their lips), but Saya is! feral! but like? elegant about it?? idk i hope there’s more of this show coming out bc i need to see him lose it just a little bit i think that would be great for me

4. Nam Seon-ho from My Country: The New Age

hghghgnnghgngghgngnghgngn SEON-HO MY LITERAL ANGEL. BB. YOU DID NOTHING WRONG EVER. jk he absolutely did make mistakes but FUCK this character just hit every single Good Button in my book. for me, he is the perfect character. if i wrote a drama it would be like this i.e. every time someone should be angry at their Misunderstood Best Friend, the Misunderstood Best Friend just gets Covered in Blood instead. like I think that’s great. i love him i love this drama i love everything about it if you haven’t seen it yet YOU WON’T REGRET IT

5. Ding Mao from Tientsin Mystic

he is. my baby. the love of my life. my son. i would die for him. i’ve talked a lot about tientsin mystic recently and I will keep talking about it because I literally adore him and i want to scream about it. he’s so so good. so well acted. trying his best, but also ultimately blinded by his privilege and seeing him work through that is just!!!! it’s really really good i love him and his curls

6. Gu Xiang from Word of Honor

GOSH SHE FUCKS SO HARD???? damn. like. damn. i want her to kick my ass. she’s so badass and competent and feisty and i am cao weining, following her around with heart eyes. she’s so so so fun and amazing, and i want to be her when i grow up

7. Lee Jae-sun from Meow! The Secret Boy

this drama was a blast and a half but lee jae-sun my gentle boy?? he’s so SOFT in this. just. he’s the softest. he’s got the type of background that could have made him angry and aggressive but instead he’s a cute shy introvert who has a combination coffee shop/leather working studio and he handmakes crafts and loves cats and wears soft sweaters and is just a really really good man all around. just his general aesthetic makes me 🥺

8.  Tang Fan from The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty

admittedly i have only seen two and a half episodes of this show but tang fan already owns my heart. i too want to be an eccentric gay foodie detective that writes erotica as my side hustle. he’s such a bitch. so high maintenance. rip his boyfriend he’s going to have his hands FULL with this one. 

9. Han Ho-yeol from D.P.

i saw this actor first in Train to Busan: Peninsula, and he was great and crazy! his face is so interestingly structured! anyway i think i really like ho-yeol bc he treats his work as a job. like it’s a fun job for him, and he takes it seriously, but at the end of the day, he’s doing it because he has to, not because he feels like he’s being a hero or trying to save people. He’s just working, and would step away from the work in a second if given the opportunity, i think, which is very refreshing honestly. also he’s a little unhinged but in a good way, and i just think he’s neat

10. The Main Trio from 3 Will Be Free

3 WILL BE FREE MY BELOVED!!!! thanks to @mejomonster who clued me in on this one and finally made me watch it bc ghghghghghghh i loved it so much?? if you haven’t seen 3WBF yet, it’s free on youtube, PLEASE watch it. Anyway i went into this one expecting Shin to be my favorite and I loved him but Neo and Miw also own my heart? they’re all such different characters and so multi-faceted but so well written and acted and they break my heart and put it back together again, and I don’t think any of them are nearly as good without the other two. like??? shit. find me a better canon polycule (you can’t bc they don’t exist ahahahahahahahahaha :/) anyway i couldn’t choose just one of them bc i love them all and they are inseparable :)

ONCE AGAIN THANKS TO LASEN!!! THIS WAS SO FUN AND I LOVED IT! I am tagging @highpriestessofjogan, @pissmeoffanddie, @psychic-waffles, @bimingjue, and @rose-nebulijia, cause I wanna see what your favorite characters were!!! <3

[thosch3i]

So here's my personal ranking of DMBJ adaptations, thanks @mejomonster for the idea :D

(but psst first if anyone seeing this post haven't seen it already, there's an interest check for a pingxie gift exchange! over here.)

1. Ultimate Note (2020)

So I wrote a long ass post about UN here, where I mainly talk about the Iron Triangle because they're the heart of DMBJ and their relationship is what makes or breaks an adaptation for me, all else equal. But thankfully UN also has good pacing, faithfulness to the original story (and honestly a smoother and less confusing way of portraying it, but thats not saying much), no exceptionally cringy added romance plot lines, female characters treated as well as they can be given they were fridged in the source material, and a cast and crew with a deep appreciation and love for the characters and story, making the most of what they could with a tiny budget and no promotion. (UN is now the most highly-rated DMBJ adaptation on douban!) The main cast is a bit green, no doubt, but the longer it goes on the better they get. (If you scroll through my #translation tag far enough you'll find stuff XYL and ZSX have said about their characters. XYL especially, really understands Zhang Qiling and I will always respect him for that, which is why he's my favorite Xiaoge.) I'm just eternally sad about the ending and that there probably won't be a S2 for the main story finale because NPSS won't sell the rights again.

2. The Lost Tomb 2 (2019)

Before UN came out, this was my favorite Iron Triangle. The Pangzi and Xiaoge friendship was also super cute here! A sorely underrated friendship, for sure. And I absolutely adore TLT2 Xiao Hua. He and UN Xiuxiu would make a great team. The entirety of the first half (undersea tomb) was remarkably true to the source material (despite being unnecessarily draggy at points), and I do like that they made the Bronze Tree arc more of an Iron Triangle thing than a Wu Xie solo mission like in the novel. But uh, the second half of this drama was just...really confusing lol with so many long shots of them trudging through snow endlessly. But it's a cute Pingxie and Iron Triangle. (Saw someone once say TLT2 is the fluffy Pingxie but UN is the angsty Pingxie, which......accurate tbh.) But...man...will TLT2.5 (Heavenly Palace) ever be released from jail ;;;;;; its supposedly already filmed (different cast) but can't air for...legal reasons? idk? ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

3. Time Raiders (2016)

A wacky movie that makes no logical sense whatsoever but God it was such a fun, wild watch lmao. Pingxie were so unnecessarily gay in this, and also TLT2 Pangzi is great as always. I liked A-Ning being a total badass as well. Movie gets a bit sad when you realize there's a deleted scene canonizing the movie as book!Wu Xie's wishful thinking and fanciful story he told because he misses his friends. In reality, Pan Zi and A-Ning are dead, his San-shu is missing, and he doesn't know if he'll see Xiaoge again (which is why TR!WX is always taking photos of him, I'd say).

4. Qinling Sacred Tree Donghua (2021)

So uh this still doesn't have official English subs (you can find it on a streaming site somewhere but I can't vouch for translation quality). But it's a pretty faithful adaptation of the Bronze Tree arc, but with a slight twist to make Xiaoge more relevant. (I'm still squinting at Liang-shiye.) Still largely a Wu Xie and Lao Yang duo mission, though. But the scenery in the donghua is gorgeous and the food looks really good too...and, like, it's a good and solid adaptation. I just wish it had been an Iron Triangle adventure 😅

5. Sha Hai (2018)

Qin Hao is an amazing Sha Hai Wu Xie. I love him, and the fact that ZSX posted a photo with him ;;;;;;;; my favorite Wu Xies ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; (fun fact: to this day, QH's Weibo pfp is of himself as Wu Xie!) But anyway. Yeah I mostly just love Wu Xie here and everything he's gone through and turned himself into now that Xiaoge is gone. There are several UN parallels because they were done by the same company (which is also why a lot of the actors are the same). Unfortunately, the whole plot was....??????? and I wasn't a fan of any of the romances, or any of the side characters in general 😅 Skipped...so much of it lol. Why did they do *gestures vaguely at the entire show* Man at least they had Three Days of Silence. Small mercies.

6. The Lost Tomb 1 (2015)

They did Pangzi so dirty, I'm sorry sweetheart. That aside, the OCs were also a big ?????? and the fact that they had the iconic Iron Triangle hotel fight so early...WITHOUT THE FULL IRON TRIANGLE????????? But TLT1 Pingxie were literally a case of love at first sight soulmates so that was sweet. Also the blood feeding. Nice 👌 This Xiaoge is probably what most of the tomb-robbing world (or very casual dmbj fans ig lmao) see when they think of Zhang Qiling: aloof, mysterious, terrifyingly strong, (and kinda 2000s emo-boy-looking for some reason???)

7. The Lost Tomb Reboot (2020)

Confusingly wild deviations from the original story, really cringy romances + fridged women, and unnecessarily dragged out plot aside, I just wasn't feeling the Iron Triangle in this one 😅 Nor was I a fan of the treatment of Xiaoge. (He was stolen from his mother as a baby and abused by the Zhang family ever since, used as a convenient bloodbag to get around tombs and he didn't even understand he was a human being with a heart who could want things until he met his mother again in Three Days of Silence, where he finally regained the "heart" given to him by his mother that the Zhang family had taken from him...and then the first thing he experienced was the loss of his mother. I think this was the only canonical instance of him crying. After that, he lived a life full of mostly loss and more trauma, being kidnapped, kept naked in a basket, and used as zombie bait when he lost his memories...and knowing all this about his past, Pangzi tells him to use his blood in a tomb, enthusiastically, without hesitation. Like...you don't tell your best friend to cut himself because you think his blood might be useful. Especially not your best friend who you know in his past has been abused just like that since birth by his blood-related "family".) I do, however, think all the actors did amazing jobs with what they were given and are very talented. The effects were also good and the music is fantastic too. I don't think I need to praise Z1L's acting because everyone knows how good he is, and he pulled off that hallucination scene where he saw Xiaoge die for him just beautifully 👌 And Xiaoge smiles! Also very cute.

So yeah that's all the adaptations I've seen! It's past 1:30am so I'm a bit rambly but 🤪🤪🤪

[redxblueihateloveyou]

I just found out your blog and i love it when there is a fan who both read the books, watched the adaptations AND SPEAK ENGLISH!!??

also your arguments are so on point I love it

i heard NPSS is preparing for Tibetan sea flower adaptation. Can you tell me your choice of actors for the Iron triangle in it?

much love ❤

awwwww thank you! I knooow, I'm like still... I need to learn chinese to get access to all the pingxie fanfiction, bc I've read literally everything and I'm like... but there's so many in chinese T_T and I'm russian, so I ate everything there too and I'm still like upset I can't have more. but yeah, at least we have great translation of all of the books.

but in tibetan sea flower there's no xiaoge, just a statue of xiaoge xD

idk to be honest, bc I love only two casts and for me ultimate note cast is perfect fot everything before the bronze gate up until the finale, and for everything after 10 years, I want reboot cast to continue with it, bc it's really to me the most perfect one.

but this particular book is like 5 years after xiaoge left, so it's kinda in the middle and I'm having troubles imagining both cast there, esp ultimate note one, since joseph would be just way too young for this. and as a pangzi wuxie duo I think this part can pull off only reboot cast.

so idk how this will go tbh, bc they need cast strong enough to keep ppl invested without xiaoge, bc sadly many in this fandom automatically for some reason don't care if he isn't there, even if the whole plot of this book is about wuxie digging up about his past.

I'm still interested to see the cast tho, just bc I'm curious, but I doubt they can impress me for some reason. but I always give each part a fair chance plus since npss is the screenwriter, that at least means wuxie's character will be on point.

[extraordinarilyextreme]

They bow thrice with the sticks of incense before Wu Xie fishes a pack of cigarettes out of the pocket of his long coat, arranging it before the tombstone next to the bouquets as another offering.“Pan Zi.” Wu Xie claps his hands together, bowing three more times with closed eyes. [JUST THE WHOLE SECTION OKAY. It's under 500 words, but too long for the ask.]

thank you for the ask! 💜

this is from chapter 2 of do not speak as loud as my heart (my dmbj and guardian crossover with lots of timetravel and where Wu Xie is Shen Wei’s reincarnation)!

this entire scene was actually from our conversation way back when when we first started chatting on twitter... the original idea was, if i remember correctly, a cute PingXie fic with a betting pool among their friends for when they would get together. i like the idea of Pan Zi being the first one to understand what these two would come to mean to each other—maybe because he knows his Xiao San Ye so well, and maybe also because that kind of devotion... well, Pan Zi probably sees it in the mirror for Wu Sanxing :’) 

i just love Pan Zi as a character so much. Wu Yiqiong is mostly absent in his son’s life, Wu Erbai isn’t appreciated enough, and Wu Sanxing led Wu Xie into the whole mess to begin with. out of all these “parental figures”... honestly, i feel like Pan Zi was the best for Wu Xie. the last thing he does while alive is protecting Wu Xie; and even in death, as we learn in Reboot, he still comes to pick Wu Xie up. he genuinely loves Wu Xie so much, and tries so hard to protect him from everything, tries so hard to protect the people Wu Xie wants to protect too... he deserved better. i hope Pan Zi smacks WSX and XLH at least once in the afterlife dammit.

[shakes fist at NPSS for writing Pan Zi into a tragedy]

so at this point in my fic, PingXie are more or less “officially” in a relationship, and i wanted to portray the typical bringing-your-significant-other-to-meet-your-parents kinda trope. but Wu Xie’s actual parents wouldn’t understand (honestly, did he even get the chance to tell them that he was sick omg), and Er Shu... :( so Pan Zi it is. plus it was kinda a good bookend for my fic—the fic starts with Xiaoge coming back home from the Bronze Gate, and we know from the ShaHai novel and TotS adaptation that Wu Xie and Pangzi pay respects to Pan Zi before going to pick Xiaoge up. and now it’s Wu Xie and Xiaoge paying respects: Xiaoge has come home, Xiaoge is here to stay, and both he and Wu Xie have gone through so much more together. Both Xiaoge and Wu Xie have done a lot of healing at this point; they’ve found a kind of peace. Pan Zi blesses their “happily ever after.”

i really wanted Wu Xie to ramble a lot more during this scene, but i also think that he wouldn’t. SO much has happened since Pan Zi died. SO much has happened since Xiaoge came home. some things don’t need to be said out loud; Pan Zi knows, and Pan Zi still loves his Xiao San Ye. Wu Xie still loves Pan Zi. (in the book, it’s explained that Wu Xie was the one who painted the characters on Pan Zi’s tombstone.)

i was also thinking about that scene in The Untamed where WangXian go to Lotus Pier and pay respects in the ancestral hall; three bows, like a wedding. 

this is the beginning of PingXie’s very ordinary, very peaceful, very happy, and very gentle married life.

[puppy-phum]

I'm curious about your thoughts on A'Ning!!!! :)

didn’t expect a-ning from this really but if you want her, then here i am! it’s so interesting to think more about these characters i haven’t thought really that much, so thank you for this, my dear ♥

(placing under a cut once again! also spoiler warning for her story!)

How I feel about this character

A-Ning has been, from the very beginning, one of those characters I don’t know if I like or not. It might have something to do with the obvious sexualization of her, or some of these tiny things that irk me about her character’s writing, or the changing actress which has given me very mixed signals, or just the fact that she has been pushed onto Wu Xie as his “love interest” so strongly that even those two sometimes wonder why that is when it doesn’t really suit either of them. But well, despite all of this, I find her very interesting, and maybe my up most feeling for her is plain intimidation.

Because really, who isn’t kind of intimidated by her presence? She is so powerful and confident, knows exactly where she stands and what she wants, can kick your ass back into oblivion, would survive even if the world ended and most of all, doesn’t take anyone’s bullshit. I like all of that about her. I like it that she is lowkey evil but still doesn’t quite stand there. She has her own motivations for her actions, even outside of Hendry Cox I believe, and she will follow those. I think Ultimate Note’s version of her put it quite nicely by making her say that she would rather be dead than live any other type of life.

This has also made me respect her. I might not like her at times, especially when she makes Wu Xie suffer from all her tricks and betrayals, but she has deserved that respect. Especially her Explore With the Note and Ultimate Note versions have been very, very up there and have made me consider her in a different light. The Lost Tomb and Reboot’s (a very bad excuse of) versions of her fall far behind. Sometimes I wish she would be less difficult and would allow herself to really feel things, but I have to respect her for her strength and perseverance. She refuses to bend, and such strong beliefs and principles are something to admire.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I don’t really ship A-Ning with anyone, to be honest. She doesn’t feel like someone to settle like that. She is so married to her job, so in love with her freedom, that I feel like it would be an insult to throw her into someone else’s arms. Probably that’s why her position as Wu Xie’s straight love interest (which is there to conceal the gay, right?) just annoys me so much. They both deserve better. Their whole relationship with each other deserves to be treated in a better way because there is so much more into them than some stupid crush for straight people’s needs. 

My non-romantic OTP for this character

This question really brings me to A-Ning with Wu Xie because even after all the anger and annoyance and eye-rolling, I still like the dynamic between them. A-Ning gets introduced as very cold and calculative, someone who doesn’t really care about other people but then cares way too much when someone gets hurt. I love how she’s such a bunch of contradictions. I love how Wu Xie sees this and instantly wants to be the one to tip A-Ning over. There is something in her that Wu Xie wishes so desperately to redeem, though she never sees herself that way. Her choices are not bad, not for her. Her choices are only her own and the goals she’s working towards reaching do not take any people standing on her way.

And this is where they clash, her and Wu Xie. They might have the same goals, but they are going at them in different ways and with different outcomes in mind. Whereas Wu Xie is not informed of the grand scheme happening around him or of the things he’s really looking for, A-Ning knows everything (or at least most of it). For her, the stakes are very high, and I can really understand why it pisses her off to have this young and naive boy stand in her way just because he happens to have the best luck in the universe. I get it why she, in the end, ends up using Wu Xie for her own goals. Why not take advantage of the tool that seems to work? Why not take the other tools this one is bringing with him?

So, the question is, are Wu Xie and A-Ning friends? Probably not. Wu Xie has faith in A-Ning and A-Ning very grudgingly comes to care about Wu Xie in some way, but I never saw them quite reaching friendship? They are just very much tied to each other through the circumstances. They share a life, by accident. They work on some gray area between their clashing sides in this very weird treasure hunt race they have going on. They hate(/love) each other but depend on each other, and I think that is why it hurts Wu Xie so much to lose her, to watch such a strong pillar suddenly fall. Suddenly, things don’t make sense anymore. Suddenly, there is nothing for Wu Xie to lean on, even if that something was a force he was always struggling against.  

My unpopular opinion about this character

I just keep repeating myself and saying that I really don’t know. I am usually very unaware of any opinions people inside of fandoms have about the characters :’D So I might’ve already said something unpopular there haha.

Maybe one thing could be that I don’t like the way her character gets used. She is some type of antagonist in the whole story of DMBJ and it’s only because Wu Xie seems to require this counterpart, this some type of spark for his future “darkness” if we can call it that. He comes to see the other side of things through A-Ning and probably learns from that when things aren’t as easy for him anymore. She also works as some type of reminder of Wu Xie being the good one in the story, playing on the “right” side while A-Ning works with Hendry Cox (and then fails with her attempts because there’s also some type of patriotism propaganda hidden in there somewhere). Then there’s the aspect that A-Ning gets used as some type of veil to hide the very obvious Pingxie, though this might also be something I only see because I ship them. But she also gets used as a magnet for the male gaze (in relation to the whole series sexualizing her) but this is the role many women in DMBJ have so it’s not only her. I just hate it that she gets mixed into this web of unnecessary bullshit despite being very, very cool and interesting deep down.  

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon

Oh boy. I don’t really know if I have any specific wishes for her story itself because I think it kind of works? Also, I am very much not aware of the canon plot in the novels and how she operates in there. But these are some things that bother me in the way the dramas have portrayed her so here we go:

First of all, her death in Ultimate Note. I know that they continued the story from the previous books (and I’m saying books because Explore With the Note went to places) and that because of this, an introduction to all the characters was unnecessary. Ultimate Note in general expects you to know the things that happened before when you start watching it, so it isn’t completely their fault. But having something as big as this happen in episode 9 of a series that is 36 episodes long felt like such a difficult thing to pull off. Her death fell so flat compared to the fact that it is something Wu Xie still carries within himself during Reboot. Compared to the fact that it’s her Wu Xie sees when he’s about to die. That scene would’ve deserved better. Also, her death in general should be more than just some random snake coming in to bite her??? I don’t know what NPSS has thought there or if there’s some symbolism in that which I am not aware of but please give her at least something a bit more.

The second thing would be the way they have made her seem like a young girl (though I am not aware of her real age but she’s older than Wu Xie, right?). Especially in Ultimate Note she seems overly young, and it was very hard to take her seriously when it felt like she was a child trying to order around adults. Don’t get me wrong, her actress in that is gorgeous and after a while, I got used to her face and she pulled the role off quite well, but it could’ve been another type of actress too? Out of all the actresses we’ve seen for her, I actually like Explore With the Note’s actress the best. She fit the role so well? She looked mature and felt like it too. It was believable that she was who she claimed to be. (Though, well, she also makes it super strange to have Hou Minghao as Wu Xie because suddenly it feels like A-Ning is soooooo much older than him even if that is not probably canonically correct? It’s funny.) She managed to be that ruthless, strong leader A-Ning is and still appear vulnerable at times when her shell kept cracking in front of Wu Xie. I haven’t been able to see that in the rest, though Ultimate Note’s version of her was good because of the better writing and all-out more consistent plot.

thank you again for sending me this and sorry for taking so long ^^’ the other two might take even longer (especially the free choice one bc i am planning on having extra fun with that). so thanks for being patient and i hope you enjoyed ♥ also, sorry about the quality of the pic, i had some very limited options with the source. 

[buzzybooth-blog]

How to Increase Online Reviews for Hotels

Even if hotel guests have a nice stay at your location, that doesn’t mean they’ll go out of their way to leave a review.

In most cases, you have to take an active role when trying to increase online reviews for hotels. Whether it’s setting up easy ways for guests to leave feedback or handing out comment cards after checkout, you can’t just sit back and hope that good praise will come—you have to go after it yourself!

If you’re wondering how you can increase online hotel reviews and gain more bookings, here are a few ways to get started:

Use Email to Your Advantage

Just like how you can use email to send newsletters and promotional deals, you can use email to your advantage by leveraging it as a tool to increase hotel reviews.

For instance, once a guest checks out, you can instantly set up your lifecycle marketing efforts to send a “Thank you” email to guests for their stay along with a simple request to leave a review on social media. A simple ask often does the trick, but if you can also incentivize the review process—with an extra discount or chance to win a free prize—guests may be more excited to get involved.

In any case, you must use email to keep guests’ attention even after they’ve checked out. However, if responses go stale, you have other options to choose from.

SMS Has the Best Open Rates

Email may help increase online reviews for hotels, but in fact, SMS has the best open rates when it comes to guest engagement.

Studies show that SMS messages have a 98% open rate amongst sendees, which means that any inquiries you make about hotel reviews have a great chance of being seen and considered. On the other hand, that also means that you have to encourage guests to leave hotel reviews in a simple way that doesn’t require too much effort. Primarily, this means sending short text messages that include basic links where guests can fill out a Net Promoter Score (NPS). An NPS is basically a customer loyalty survey that allows guests to choose a numbered score of their experience, or choose something as simple as an emoji to best describe their stay.

Rather than a long, drawn-out review process, you can use NPSs for instant reviews and a general sense of customer satisfaction among your clientele.

Focus Your Attention on Social Media

Lastly, the best way to increase online hotel reviews is to focus your attention on social media.

Having active profiles on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Google and Yelp are perhaps the most important platforms that your hotel can be on since most potential guests will check them out before booking a stay with you. That being said, if your social accounts are lacking content or any user-generated content from happy guests, it could negatively impact your chances of gaining new business.

So, your only recourse is to share your social media presence with guests at all times. This means leaving social icons on emails, sharing your social accounts on your hotel website, and using social media as a tool to increase online hotel reviews.

Similar to how you use strategies around SMS and email marketing for hotels, you can use social media accounts to increase online reviews for hotels by inviting guests to share photos of themselves at your locations and use a special hashtag in the caption. For every guest that shares a photo on a certain platform, you can reward them with a special promotion or re-share their photo to show them gratitude and spotlight their experience. Not to mention, the more attention you can gain on social media, the more of an impact you’ll have on other guests who find you organically when searching for a place to stay.

Increase Online Hotel Reviews with BuzzyBooth

It takes time to increase hotel reviews, but with BuzzyBooth, you can find success sooner than you think!

With products and services designed to boost online engagement and guest experiences, you can rest assured that your hotel social media strategies are taken care of. Plus, you’ll have a ton of other benefits to enjoy to help grow your business!

Click here to learn more about BuzzyBooth today!