#lol at ming's reaction

[archerdepartures116]

Holy crap I saw your all transmigrators au and immediately followed because that's just. genius, genius work.

I really wanna see their reactions to SQH being the author of PIDW and I'm also curious to know if Ming Fan and Ning Yingying are also transmigrators. It would be so funny if Binghe is only actual important book character that from the original novel, love how you made him travel back in time too.

(Sorry for rambling haha, I just rlly like ur au)

Haha thank you for the support! I love it when people ramble and getting asks makes me very happy lol

Airplane better cook up a believable sob story, I mean not every fellow transmigrator has an ice cold heart like cucumber-bro!

As for other transmigrators, yes Ming fan and Ning Yingying are definitely part of it, I’m going off the idea that named characters in PIDW are transmigrators (also with so many modern ppl transmigrating to xianxia, imagine what inventions they would bring) and all of the peak lords, not just seven of them (cause imagine a half of the ppl you knew since disciple days suddenly became buddy buddy with each other after being indifferent or been unfriendly for years)

As for lbh, he’d be the only one non transmigrator in this au because having a bunch of ppl team up to be nice to him so he doesn’t blow up their afterlife would be funny

[dramalets]

This is probably such a specific me ick lol. But I hate that Uncle Jim has become a fandom meme. For me, Moonlight Chicken is so intrinsically his story and it’s such a deep and important one. Li Ming is the image of what Uncle Jim was never allowed to have; acceptance.

Jim isn’t a bigot, his reaction to Li Ming’s confession isn’t funny and it doesn’t come from a place of hate. He’s reacting in the way he’s come to expect because for Jim it really was hard enough to be poor let alone openly gay on top. He doesn’t want the struggles he’s had for Li Ming and he doesn’t yet realise that things have improved. That Li Ming can be poor and gay and yes those are both struggles but not in the ways they were for Jim.

[zykamiliah]

so when considering the matter about sj's crimes (again lol) there's still discussion going around about whether or not he abused/mistreated more than the one disciple whose name we get.

so let me point out some things first

sj is extremely competitive

he values his cultivation above every other thing. since his cultivation base was damaged due to qjl's abuse, he's become even more paranoid and protective of it and of his reputation

that is the reason he's so mad at lqg: he's mad at him because lqg bested him, and from then on sj will try to best him/"teach him a lesson" because sj needs to feel like he has power; he doesn't want to be powerless again

by the time lbh was already his disciple, sj had not yet achieved golden core stage. he was made a peak lord despite of that, because peak lords ascend together etc etc he was THE LAST to develop his golden core, and very late compared to his peers!

sj didn't even had a head disciple. ming fan was just his most senior, not his head disciple. in all his time as peak lord, up until sy's transmigration, sj never chooses a head disciple. why? because a head disciples is the future peak lord. do you really think that sj wants to think about someone else taking his position?

when sj poured tea on lbh, ming fan's didn't react to it in a way that would signal this was something new. it's almost as this isn't the first time that sj marks a disciple as undesirable so the rest of the disciples know sj is displeased by him.

qing jing peak was a very toxic environment previous to sy's transmigration, as noted by sqh.

yqy has a visible reaction to sj picking a disciple

sy himself comments on there being rumors about sj running other disciples off of the sect

and finally, the fact that out of all the assumptions that get disproved throughout the novels and the extras (how sj didn't kill lqg and didn't really want him dead even if he antagonized him constantly, how he wasn't actually lecherous, the whole truth about his time as a slave of qjl and later when he was with wyz) the ONLY thing that mxtx NEVER disproves in some way are the abuse and mistreatment allegations.

so the most likely conclusion is that yes, lbh wasn't the first disciple sj run off the peak, allowed to be bullied and mistreated.

i rest my case

[welcometoteyvat]

real livestream reactions this time

GA-MING. GAMING 嘉明 ITS HIS PATCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE HIS VA I LOVE HIS FIT HIS MOVESET HIS DANCING ON WATER HIS CANTO INSPIRATIONS PLEASE

his VA is trying to do the canto phrases!!! and like a slight tinge of accent?????? hopefully she's getting there? i perked up when he said 我埋单 ("my treat") hehe wwwww he's so cute

family issues?? a dream job side hustle that his family doesn't really agree with but he still does anyways while doing a "more legitimate" main job? sounding more like xingqiu by the minute im intrigued

his little chibi at the end,,, and the sort of stop-motion paper animation with man chai was so cute. suanni man chai and (kind of) ex-god guoba meetup when??

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww my sonnnnnnnnnn oh my god

also. menogias. can we talk about this giant ass minu stage

LIKE WHAT. LORE???????? CHENYU VALE MINU LORE????? PLEASE? he's prolly my fave dead yakshas; circle forehead fashion designer monkey general one of zhongli's biggest fans (jk).... please give some crumbs

there's one guy in the xianyun developer interview who was like "please don't go too hard on us" it's a bit stronger wording/more pleading wording in chinese but he's so real for this lol. god bless thanks for you work just never look at my critiques or comment sections in general <3

im sorry but some of the buildings in chenyu vale kinda look like they got copy pasted from star rail xianzhou alchemy division map

i guess it's fine because they both look like suzhou waterway architecture w the white walls black tiles

oh never mind it looks too much like star rail xianzhou .... the rest of it looks super cool though. jade <3

xingqiu. sad face i'm sorry his skin looks dull i don't like the furina knockoff suit. i won't talk about the girls lol

GUOBA YUEGUI LMAOOO the minigames look cute honestly

traveler is cooking. aether's delighted face when the dish is finished was so funny i'm sorry

[becauseimanicequeen]

(I'm writing this after painting for 10 hours straight, so I hope it makes some sense, lol.)

I've been thinking a lot about My Stand-In while painting today, and how I have different expectations of this story than some comments I've seen here and some reactions I've watched on YouTube (I've learned my lesson to avoid MDL like the plague, so I, fortunately, have no idea what's going on there). But I especially thought about why I don't particularly mind some of the things that have happened or haven't been addressed in the series so far. And I realized it's just a part of who I am and what I'm used to.

As someone who was raised on Days of Our Lives (which is weird because I'm not American), I don't mind things like the kidnapping or the transmigration in My Stand-In (and that the transmigration might never be addressed or explained).

I mean, I'm used to kidnappings, people being possessed, and long, lost, dead people coming back to life. That's just a normal Tuesday.

I don't need a revenge plot to be satisfied with the series. I don't even want a revenge plot (it would be very out of character for Joe). Fortunately, I'm pretty sure this isn't the story they want to tell.

Furthermore, in my opinion (colored by being raised in the delulu land of DOOL), I don't even need the transmigration to be addressed or explained for me to enjoy the series. I don't need Joe's feelings about what it's like for his soul to live in a new body. I don't need him to deal with the repercussions of being in a new body (that might not even be the story they want to tell). I don't need any of that because I'm used to ludicrous shit (especially the fun ludicrous shit). And I'm used to ludicrous shit that doesn't always get addressed or explained.

(I get that not everyone was raised on DOOL, and good for you if you weren't. So if you need to have the transmigration addressed, that's great. Be disappointed if it isn't. You have every right to be. Don't mind me and my ridiculous soap opera preferences.)

That's not to say that My Stand-In is ludicrous, because it isn't. It's a pretty normal story for someone like me who was raised on soap operas (and whose tolerance for ludicrous stuff is pretty high).

I mean, even if Joe is kidnapped for the umpteenth time and kept in a golden cage (yes, Stefano and Marlena, I'm looking at you), I'll have a blast with it. But I'm pretty sure this will never happen in My Stand-In.

Even if May has drugged Tong to get herself pregnant with his child (and that being the reason they get married) only to find out years later that it's actually his brother's child (btw, does Tong even have a brother?) (Yes, Sami, Austin, and Lucas, I'm looking at you.), I'll have a blast with it. But I'm pretty sure this will never happen either.

And even if Ming's dad turns out to be a Stefano DiMera-esque character and Sol turns out to be Joe's half-brother (because shit like that is normal in delulu Salem), I'll have a blast with it. But, again, I'm pretty sure this will never happen.

My Stand-In is no soap opera (unfortunately). But I enjoy the heck out of it as it is right now anyway. And I would enjoy the heck out of it even if it became completely ludicrous.

The only thing that disappoints me at this point is that Joe 2.0 doesn't even have white eyes even though he's possessed by another person's soul... (Yes, Marlena, I'm looking at you again.)

On a more serious note, though (let's see if I can pull this off, lol).

Based on what I've seen so far (and since I'm only on chapter 41 in the novel, which is around the end of the 4th episode, I don't know much else about the source material), I feel like the story they want to tell us is more about Joe's role as a stand-in in all the different parts of his life, about how unfair life can be, about grief, second chances, and an obstinate refusal to giving up.

I still don't think they will give us a revenge plot. I feel like the farthest they will go is for Joe to resist Ming and make him grovel for as long as possible (as he should!). They might address parts of the transmigration later. But, again, that's not really important to me.

I'm more interested in Joe mourning his old body/life rather than figuring out how his new body works. But that's just me.

I'm more interested in Ming losing his shit in his grief, repeating old patterns, and (hopefully) breaking those patterns when he gets his shit together. But that's just me.

I'm more interested in the chaos (more catfighting between Ming and Sol, please). But that's just me.

Hell, give me more of the blind shaman, who evidently sees clearer than Ming does (why did that idiot take off the glasses he wore before he left the country?! He clearly needs them...). He is more interesting to me than whatever Joe might be feeling being in a new body. Please, oh wise man, tell me more about what you see! And speak in riddles because I love a good old mindfuck. But, again, that's just me.

If a golden cage shows up or Joe 2.0's eyes start to change color or children show up claiming random people as their parents, I will probably start talking about how ludicrous this series is (but I'll still have such a fucking blast with it). This will never happen, though, because My Stand-In isn't a soap opera.

Do I need My Stand-In to be more unhinged to enjoy it? No, because I already enjoy it as it is. Do I mind if it gets into ludicrous territory? Absolutely not. I'm raised on that shit.

My Stand-In can practically throw whatever it wants at me (or not) and I'll just sit back and enjoy the ride. Because I already do.

(Btw, I Googled the cage in DOOL and I can't believe I remember that it was golden! That storyline was from 1996?! I was around 10 years old when I watched that shit (since my country was 3-4 years behind in the release of the episodes). It must've made a real impact on me, lmfao! Also, I love that when Supernatural fans raved about Jensen Ackles, I just knew him as Eric Brady, lol!)

[lightwise]

TBB S3E8 - Reactions

- Poor Echo—he really is not getting any screen time is he

- Crosshair’s look of concern when he tells Omega she should be staying away from Rex and Echo 😭

- Okay Omega’s guilt is so clouding her judgement at this point. Poor kid really thinks it’s her fault that all those clones died—no baby girl, the shadow assassin would have gone there anyway whether you were there or not. My heart aches for her

- Hunter 🤝 Crosshair: keep Omega safe at all costs.

- Hunter’s lil “come on” head tilt 🤩

- PHEE!!!! I have been waiting for you!!!

- Crosshair: Who!?! 😶 PRICELESS. EXACTLY WHAT I EXPECTED FROM HIM MEETING HER 🤣🤣🤣

- Not Omega serving as the narrative admitting that Phee is, in fact, much to our dismay, a pirate 🏴‍☠️

- I’M GETTING BOTH MY GIRLS BACK IN ONE EPISODE

- Just slipping a Tech mention in there, why don’t you stop ripping my heart out

- Fennec!!!

- And Cross has the same reaction to Fennec 😆 —he’s finally starting to learn about the life that his family has lived during their time apart

- Hunter being in full dad mode and also being very perceptive about Crosshair hiding his hand issues. He may not always be able to say this about himself, but Hunter admitting that ignoring something won’t make the problem go away is huge growth from him.

- Thank goodness Hunter can pilot. This would be a very short season otherwise

- Cool space station

- I love when Star Wars is grimy city underbellies and neon lights 🤩

- The guys look SO GOOD in purple. Jus sayin

- As does Fennec (Queen that she is)

- I’d let those boys hem me in a booth anytime

- Ming-Na Wen is really pulling out all the stops for Fennec’s voice

- Hunter in neon bar lighting is something so personal to me

- “Ruined one of my scores” lol Fennec is salty tonight

- “More than you’ve got” she doesn’t even know how much they have on them but she knows it’s not enough 🤣 but also where is that 30k credits that Omega won?? They could have used that?

- “We made a deal. I’m going to keep it as long as you hold up your end”

- “Ten? For THAT? That’s what I thought”

- Gosh that water looks nasty

- Wet helmet Hunter instead of WET HAIR HUNTER??? Fffffffsssss Jennifer *clicks tongue in disappointment*

- That is so many mines

- “Close doesn’t count” 🥺

- It’s really interesting to me that this show has been focused solely on the Batch as a family this season. We’ve been on Pabu multiple times and have seen hardly any other residents, no one trying to be neighborly or prying (even though we know Shep has tried to make sure Crosshair is comfortable). The focus is on the Batch themselves this time, not their dynamic with the outside world.

- “You don’t like anything” “true” at least he’s self aware by now lol

- Batcher’s like “you like meeee!”

- Hunter’s senses are back baybee

- Never knew I needed to see Wrecker yeeting space alligators until today. Glorious. Straight up punching them in the face 🤣🤣🤣

- Ohhhh Wrecker giving back her sass blow for blow!

- “So what happened with the kid?”

- I will die on the hill that Fennec cares about Omega deep down

- “Just…seems odd. Considering our past”

- Love that the atmosphere on this planet is orange and it’s Fennec’s episode

- “They thought Omega would be safer with you guys. Guess they were wrong about that” she is not pulling any punches

- “Money’s not everything” you right boy

- “That’s because you don’t have any” phewww 🤣🤣🤣

- Pulling the blaster across the throat in a kill motion?? Hunter what are you doing to me right now 🥵

- “Pretty much” lolol

- This dude is so creepy looking. Giant bug eyes were not what I was expecting

- “You heard me!!” Oh Wrecker is done, done

- Man this guy does not go down easy.

- Bug spit. Nuff said

- “I doubt that” oh Cross, honey, I know, I get it

- THEY HELD HANDS

- I REPEAT SHE HELD HIS HAND

- Sorry I’m having Kenobi show Obi-Wan and Leia handhold flashbacks 😭😭😭😭

- Okay okay I’m back. I think.

- “You’ve missed a lot” “I know”

- Okay just rip my heart out why don’t you

- That is one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen

- Pointy finger scrunched brow Hunter is the best Hunter

- “You can either fight me or trust me. Good choice” 😮‍💨

- Hunter getting tipped off that ramp is uh…is ummm…doing something to me. What, I’m not sure 👀🫠

- I also find it really interesting that they’ve barely had us on the Marauder at all this season. Foreshadowing?

- Both Fennec and Phee make the same two fingered salute to the boys after talking to them. Cute.

- Ohhhhh is she…is she selling them out?? Who is she talking to? Cad?

- Wait no she wouldn’t pass them over to someone else if any money could be gained on her side. I bet she’s talking to Ventress. I really wanna know how those two know each other 👀

- Wow. Things are really going to get interesting from here. Can’t wait.

[poetry-protest-pornography]

Okay, MSI episode 3 ramblings, mostly copypastaed from me yelling at @hotasfahrenheit while I watched:

MING STOP BEING MEAN ON PURPOSE CHALLENGE

Let Joe buy cute mugs ffs you jackass

"if we keep living together, you wouldn't want me to be your boyfriend"

AT LEAST HE'S HONEST AND A LITTLE SELF AWARE

If these couple mugs were accurate, the one that isn't a black cat would be a big puppy.

Mia: Ming is mean when his emotions get too big and he doesn't know what to do with them. Like a little kid.

Me: I know, but it makes me want to punch him

AND THEN he has the audacity to be sad about it five seconds later. My dude, you were the one being a dick.

You emotionally bereft idiot

Mia: No one ever taught him emotional regulation. They taught him feelings were bad so that when he has them and gets called out on them he gets snippy

Mia: I really wonder what his dad is like

Me: I am actively afraid of what his Dad might be like

Mia: We've only met his mom briefly and she was trying to control his life

Me: And unaware he's gay. Or actively ignoring it

Mia: Staying with Joe isn't just about their relationship, it's also about getting away from his family.

Me: oh 199%

Mia: Even if he doesn't know how to process them or express them, when he's with Joe he's allowed to have emotions

Me: Oh, for sure. You can see him start to allow himself to feel things in teeny tiny doses, and then he panics and lashes out, and then he feels bad. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Oh gosh

This reaction to the real estate brochure

Like, Joe brought a reminder of the life he's actively running away from Indy the little bubble of self determination and someone who actually likes him, and he got so smad

And then cute-manipulates Joe into forgetting about it

Joe: what do you think about crypto?

Yin: buddy you are too stupid to even try that, please do not

Mia: I feel like..... I feel like part of why he's latched on to the being in love with Tong for so long thing is because while it hurts that he can't have Tong because Tong is with May, that also makes it safe to have those emotions because he doesn't have to fully deal with what they would mean in a relationship

Me: Oh, 10000%! He doesn't know how to feelings, so he puts all his positive ones into his relationship with Tong, because they're safe there, where they are frozen and useless and can't go anywhere, so he didn't have to worry about dealing with them

Mia: He's never been in a relationship, he doesn't have friends, he doesn't know how to deal with another human's thoughts/feelings/interests/tastes/preferences/emotions/anything in conjunction with his own, and being attached to Tong means he doesn't have to

(I fixed a very funny typo for clarity lol)

Me: Oh, the foreshadowing about the production where Joe dies. Oh no

Does he take that job to make money to get away from Ming? Or to try to win him over (not that that's necessary, but drama logic is "I need to be more successful to earn love")

I think Joe starts to break this down really early, the things where Ming is like, disconnected from how other people feel/think) etc. Where Ming recognizes what Joe feels, and he latches onto him initially because Joe clearly likes him (and a little because he can be a huge dick to Joe and Joe will allow it), and he is just reveling in being so openly adored.

But then he notices little details about Joe, and sees when he's upset him, and sometimes makes an effort to fix it, and he starts to care about the little details, and he's already holding onto Joe *so tightly*, even before it goes to the inevitable cuckoo-bananas level of possessive that I know is coming

Ugh, Tong is SUCH A FUCK NUGGET

I want him to die painfully

I want everyone to take turns hitting him with a car

And then spitting on him and lighting him on fire

I love Mek, I want Tong dead

Oh no.

More foreshadowing and I want to throw myself into traffic

THEY'RE IN A BOX AND THERE ARE HORIZONTAL LINES CONNECTING THEM

I AM NOT OKAY. NARRATIVE BOXES ARE HAPPENING.

Joe's little taps on his chest 🥰

Wut: oooh, is he your booooy-friend? He looks faaaancy

I keep remembering the wet sheets and screaming internally

Aw, Wut really cares about Joe (she said, in episode 3, before she understood how right she was, and now she cries)

SHRIMP PEELING IS A LOVE CONFESSION, MING! DON'T YOU WATCH DRAMAS?!

(Ming would 100% percent be like "what do you mean I never say I love you? I peel your shrimp?!?)

Look at Ming, showing interest in another person! And smiling not like a serial killer!

Growth.gif

(there was a small discussion on the luckiness of shrimp and the too many leg-ness of those giant prawns)

"these are yummy, I want more"

"Fine, but this is a one time only offer, from now on, you're the shrimp peeler"

"Okay then, for today I will enjoy the endless shrimp for no.99"

Oh shut up, Ming, you love how cute Joe is being right now. It's okay, you're both the princess, it's fine

The crew: it's too bad we never got to see the director kick Tong's ass. Hashtag RELATABLE

Everyone fleeing when Tong shows up when they were trying to shit talk him 🤣

Ming, get your shit together

I'm trying to process Ming's face when he sees Tong at the table with Joe

He is definitely not happy to see him? Almost nervous for the two of them to be in the same place?

He's obviously confused

But it feels a little like he's partly confused about why he isn't happy about Tong being there

He kind of smiles, but it's delayed?

It's after he says hello, not when he sees him, and it's really small and reflexive

Mia: He also doesn't want Joe to figure out that Tong is the reason he was into Joe to begin with and I think he knows Joe might start connecting dots if he's not careful

Like I think by this point he's genuinely into Joe for real real

Me: oh, absolutely

But he isn't really sure what to do with that, the emotionally repressed idiot

Mia: But as with LITERALLY ANY DRAMA where someone gets interested in someone else for the wrong reason, he knows it was the wrong reason even if it's real feelings now

Me: yeppp

Oh good, Sol and Joe are hugging, so Ming can come and be jealous and mean

Yep, there it is

Joe is trying to set a boundary, good job, baby

Ming is absolutely ignoring it, and he kinda gives up, but like, the effort was there

Oh Ming, you stupid little hypocrite

"let everyone see and know you're mine... Oh no, not him though"

"only I'm allowed to be in the same place as another man"

Joe, close and lock your door, I'm so serious

Ugh, too late

Mia: I feel like Ming's possessiveness is understandable (NOT excusable) when you consider that he cannot be possessive of Tong because Tong is his sister's boyfriend? So he's like extra over the top with the "this one is MINE" because he couldn't have Tong

Like he finally has someone that's his and only his and he wants to keep it that way

But since he isn't good at relationships or emotions he just goes too far

Me: Absolutely this. He doesn't know how to not hold on too tight, because he's never had someone he can hold onto at all

Mia: He expects other people to try to take Joe from him because he wanted to take Tong from his sister (even tho he never really acted on that in any direct way)

But that was because he loves May, where people like Sol have no reason to not try to take Joe

Me: Exactly! And he knows for a fact that Sol wants Joe, and he also knows that he's not a good boyfriend

Mia: And sure yes theoretically he should trust Joe but Tong's interest in him was never deep enough to pull him away from May and make him go to or stay with Ming so why would Joe's interest hold either

Like Tong didn't choose him when he had another option so he thinks if Joe has other options he'll also choose someone else

Me: So it's a real threat, and that that is to the tiny bit of happiness that he's clawed out for himself, away from his family, with this man who thinks the world of him (and like, none of this is healthy or good, but when you get a little glimpse of what you could have if things were different, you tend to hold on as tightly as possible and see everything as a threat)

Mia: I KNEW YOU WOULD BE ON THE SIDE OF MING IS A PROBLEM BUT I LOVE AND UNDERSTAND HIM

Me: He is absolutely the problem, but he is *my* problem and I will make excuses until he is either better or worse

-- you have no idea how on this side I am. I was ready to love him when he was just a straight up toxic ass red flag armada. Now that I know he's a sad, lonely man who didn't learn how to have feelings? That's my man, I love him and I will wrap him in a blanket and take him to do much therapy, and pat his head when he expresses an emotion --

Tong: hey, bestie!

Joe: who are you?

Mia: Ming is so so SAD of a character and I just wanna hug him and drop him off at his therapist appointments then pick him up and take him out for milkshakes

Me: Yes!

It really reminds me of everyone picking Ray apart, and we were like "oh, you don't know any alcoholics"

But it's "oh, you don't know anyone why was emotionally neglected and have a decent relationship with your parents"

Mia: Also they don't convey it well in the show but apparently Ming is supposed to have been only like 17ish when he met Tong, so he's like 21ish when the show starts

He's a BABY

Up is obviously older than that

But the characters are supposed to be fairly young

Me: All twenty somethings are stupid and bad at relationships, we need to give them a break

Oh Tong, you could not be more wrong about Joe, or more punchable

This is that thing where you accuse other people of doing the things you are doing, you gold digging piece of shit

Every time someone says the word "stand in" to Joe, it hurts my heart

They're snuggling and watching a movie and they're so cute 😭

And soon, Ming is going to kidnap Joe.

The duality of man 😆

Look at our boy, noticing how someone else is feeling!

"are you happy?"

"What's that?"

Oh, Ming...

The smiiile

I'm gonna cry

Careful Ming, you're starting to sound like a mildly competent boyfriend

The puppiest eyes a grumpy cat had ever made

Oh man, this is literally only like, half the episode.

To be continued, this is already so long

Continued here

[yeyayeya]

My reaction to TGCF Season 2 Ep 5 (Part 4)

*novel spoilers*

Big shoutout to my queen and wife Ling Wen for explaining to the other dumb bitches of the Gilded Massacre

Also hello Pei Ming was not expecting you

The very different of these two, ugh. Not everyone is going to react the same way to the news of their bestie committing murder am I right?

He’s so hot

Sorry I got the distracted by the whore

Shi Qingxuan just not liking their older brother’s friends is funny to me. If I remember correctly, they feel very neutral on Ling Wen and just cannot stand Pei Ming, which, fair enough. On Pei Ming, not on Ling Wen

Also can these bitches stop talking? Like I get it you don’t know shit but if you’re going to talk shit at least be quiet about it

Sorry they just really annoyed me

Daddy has arrived

“My son is hurt… who the fuck hurt my boy”

Lol sorry but Jun Wu is being so obvious on who his favorite child is (I know it’s always been but still)

[raptorsgust]

hello! so i was lucky enough to snag a ticket to the tgcf donghua s2 fan screening right here in singapore, so here's a short report on the happenings! under the read more as there will be spoilers including those from the novel

arrived at around 1:20pm and it already looked like a full house! lots of people queueing at the photobooths and stuff, LOTS of cosplayers, mainly hualian and beefleaf. after a while i asked an usher about the merch booth but it was already closed due to the long queue, so i just went to find my seat which was near the back (in front of a bunch of cosplayers haha)

the hall had at least eight screens but none were positioned in a way where i didn't have to turn/crane my neck lol i can still feel the strain

the screening itself started at about 10 minutes past 2pm! we first had some voice actor greetings first, both of shi qingxuan's voice actors seemed to have received the loudest cheers from my pov! all of them ended their greeting with 天官赐福，百无禁忌

there was also a quick announcement of another tgcf collab cafe in 2024! sg just keeps winning and winning

after that we finally started the screening with a recap of s1 starting from the cart scene all through the banyue arc. xie lian's lines were all newly voiced by his new voice actor deng youxi, and he sounded alright to me! (note: not 100% sure that he did replace jgt's voicing but that's what i remember, correct me if im wrong!)

more than an hour of s1 later, we smoothly transitioned into the first episode of s2, and the following are some highlights and points:

s2 is still based on the unrevised novel as far as i can tell

everyone loves shi qingxuan!!

ghost city is very extravagant and fun! lots of quirky ghosts, there's joss paper flying around everywhere

xl's 不举 was omitted even though it's already rated m18 lol

the part where hc teaches xl to shake the dice has a lot of hand touching and cute reactions from the ghosts and sqx and lqq

a LOT of teasing leading up to the reveal of hc's true form, they'd show part of his face, his hand, his boots, and when he stepped out from behind the curtain and xl laid eyes on him for the first time there were shoujo bubbles

also A LOT OF SCREAMING FROM THE AUDIENCE tbh it was already loud enough throughout the gambling scene it was just hilarious

frankly i couldn't see hc clearly cuz, bad seat, but we all know how he looks like anyway

idk if it's just mE but the audio of the entire screening had its pitch raised, all the songs were a key higher, everyone sounded higher-pitched...... to ward people from secretly recording it?

feels bad for fulgur cuz it feels like most of the audience didn't care about him? half of them left their seats for the photobooths during his q&a segment

quiz time was interesting......

for "what is hc's weapon?" the host accepted the answer E-Ming, as in the person who answered said cAPITAL LETTER OF THE ALPHABET E which i would personally not accept as correct but o wells

the last question was "what did hc give to xl at the end of s1?" and the lucky person who answered very precisely said "his ashes in the form of a ring" and the host went aRe YoU sUrE and tried to make us recall an oBjEcT and i think we were all second-guessing ourselves there lmao please get a host who did their homework next time

pretty sure that was a huge spoiler for donghua-only fans tho HAHA

after the event was over i hung around texting friends and then tried to see if the merch booth was available but all the nice merch was sold out, and frankly just thinking of trying the queues at the photobooths was mentally draining so i just left haha

overall it was a great experience! watching and reacting together with so many other fans is truly a rare experience and despite going solo i had fun!

excellent door gifts too, the acrylic stand is of great quality and is now set up and sitting on my mxtx shelf~

[umbrellaeclipse]

Thunderbolt Fantasy Season 4 - Episodes 3-5

Originally I thought it would be fun to just have a post for each week's episode of this beloved wuxia puppet epic, like a reaction diary.

Due to being crazy busy in life, I fell off that track pretty quicky.

Time to resume screaming into the void!

Spoilers - Be warned! And please, do not spoil anything for me! I have worked hard to stay away from fandom content until I could jump back in

I also acknowledge that my use of Japanese and Chinese names is a mess. I admittedly do not know which one it is more proper to standardize in, so I kind of use a mix of both. The Japanese is easier for me as I am far more familiar with the language and watch the series in Japanese dub (and therefore hear all the names and locations in... I am not even sure if it is dubbed in other languages?) But officially, they seem to be the Chinese names... ahhhhhh semantics

Onwards!

Thunderbolt Fantasy? More like GUNderbolt Fantasy! I am neither funny nor probably original lololol!!!!

A mecha suit was not on my TBF bingo card either...(and the worst part is I've seen the Mad Melody Pili twitter post... I just thought they were parodying Mad Max...) but hey, here we are! I really do love this show just for how unpredictable it can be. Maybe these are Pili staples or the fact that I cannot predict reflects my ignorance of the genre, but I just really love how each new season increases the scale and blows away the boundaries of what I thought possible for the production, worldbuilding, and characters.

And oops... they all got blipped into hell... Man, cyborg-grandpa RIP your dream, at least you made it to the demon realm. Along with the wicked princess...

I am really not a fan of Chao Feng/Chou Fu... she is a very hateable villain/character archetype for me. However, I am intrigued by the dynamic she will have with Mu Tian Ming and mecha-grandpa.

Also, that cannon-fodder guard had a ROUGH death :/

The demon lords were all such absolute* feasts* for the eyes, especially Ansatt! Maybe I just have a thing for rancid spider characters...

Speaking of, the spider-man of the Divine Swarm he is written to be quite arrogant is he not? When talking to a disguised Enigmatic Gale, I was almost wondering if he was onto Rin Setsu A, mentioning his past as a thief in the jianghu (JUST like Rin) and the Divine Swarm leader secret he knows.

Crazy conspiracy time: The leader of the Divine Swarm has been shown to be the emperor of Seiyu... but, WHAT IF HE IS ALSO THE DEMON KING!? Ey? They all gotta thing about hiding behind a screen...

I still have not been proven wrong about my conspiracy regarding Azibelpher and Rou Fu You's mother....

Hmmmm, not much more for me to say YET on the development of Rou Fu You's demon arc... the plot thickens, however...

Hoh hoh hoh... Rin reveals himself to Kei Gai and Rou Fu You... And, the possibility of Rin Setsu A being a demon? Again, not on my bingo card, but also I am not particularly surprised. Although his comment of "I don't look like others (humans)", buddy... have you looked to your right and to your left? No one in this particular jianghu looks like other humans lol By that logic Mr. Screaming Pheonix Killer is also a demon? Maybe that is what Rin meant by "see you soon", rather than he would not survive the season.

And HEEEYYYY a little lore on Rin~~~~ And it about lines up with what we know of Shou Fu Kan... More crack conspiracy: they are brothers *dun dun duuunnnn* Okay, maybe not, but perhaps their connection to each other will be revealed not to just be a product of the narrative they are in, but something more concrete within their world. (turn figurative into literal?)

Also, just not overlooking his other comment of "not remembering the exact moment he was born" lol

All right... I am honestly not a fan of Kei Gai and Rin Setsu A flirting... maybe since the bird-like thief is my favorite character and he stole my heart, I cannot bear to see him flirt with other women *swoon* Nah, I think this just activated some of my squicks. Not a fan of a woman character suddenly acting OOC demure for romantic reasons. But in this show, especially with *those two* characters, things can evolve any which way and... especially *those two* have many ulterior motives

Other things of note:

WASP LADY my beloved. Did I understand this right, she can gain strength and power by eating monsters? I love that. Also, her going hurricane mode and storming the castle, and that little laugh she had after <3 Oh, I am enjoying her immensely

And resurrecting/birthing a new demon god... has promise... IF IT'S RIN SETSU A I SWEAR....

Lol, and I am NOT gonna ignore the fact that Shou Fu Kan's original plan was to just drop the sword index in the middle of those ruinous lands between Seiyuu and Dong Li but did TOO GOOD a job and made it to the other side... WHOOPs

I am so excited for the next episodes... time to go scavenging :')

[feathers-little-nest]

This is becoming a series, so let's call it Piórko's fav moments

Piórko's fav moments presents: The Beauty's Blade

Ik that it's a very unpopular book but I loved it so idk maybe check out my reactions to the first few chapters to judge if you'd like it? Idk idk

Anyways I really loved this book, the intrigue was so well written, romance was heavily... touch driven? It was mostly expressed through actions, which was super cool. Two MCs are much deeper than the first few chapters show, you don't stop learning new things about them up untill the end :D

w każdym razie do brzegu

my fav moments under the cut (spoilers ofc)

TW: self harm, death

- chapter 1, OH SHE HAS A JADE THUMBRING DID YOU KNOW THAT IT ORIGINATED AS AN ARCHERS- *gets shot*,

- this book uses many smart words guys,

- Yu Shengyan from QQ and this Yu Shengyan have exactly the same name, like the same characters, it'll take some time to getting used to,

- Fu Wanqing is making tier list for the most unworthy of Yu Shengyan people lol,

- she's insanely possessive for someone who has never seen their crush,

- so she's like a fiery red rose, we need to remember that. there's no the beauty's blade's Wiki to save our ass during drawing fanarts,

- chapter 2, lol, Yu Shengyan is just so done,

- damn Fu Wanqing is a quick progresser. she really heard some stories about Yu Shengyan and went I WANT THIS ONE and here she is, on their first meeting, sitting on her lap. iconic,

- Fu Wanqing is a type of person who would bite a glass just to check out how it feels or jump over a bonfire until they fall into it. mood.

- “hersay” girl you DID throw a thousand gold away to win a woman,

- chapter 4, I think previous notes include chapter 3 as well, I'm just good at missing chapters in my notes,

- she uses silk to wipe off blood. fucking. silk. what a bourgeois,

- 👀👀👀

- chapter 5, pretty privilege at its finest huh,

- Zhong brothers' descriptions, important for fanart,

- chapter 6, those chapters are pretty short and I like it,

- A TRANS ICON??, also description of the Third Young Master,

- lol they're progressing quickly. also, is Yu Shengyan starting to show some teeth..?

- chapter 7, well that's some fun family dynamic huh,

- chapter 8, T^T THEY WENT ON A CUTE DATE

- OH MY GOD SHE MADE HER A FLUTE I'M CRYING THAT'S SO CUTE

- chapter 9, oh, interesting, so Yu Shengyan is godlike... now that is giving me ideas

- chapter 10, YU SHENGYAN SMILED!!

- shout-out to Chun Fengxiao for being a bi icon,

- but you couldn't charm Fu Wanqing, this girl fell HARD,

- I swear this translation is some kind of twisted vocabulary test. what the hell is trepidation.

- chapter 11, ok so the guy is wearing changshan. I'm trying to figure out in what clothing I should imagine them in,

- chapter 12, Hu Qing has a big ass scar across her face,

- I think I'll have to draw a map of connections between these people lol,

- PFFF SHE FOUND SOMETHING MORE INTERESTING UNDER HER LAPELS,

- chapter 13, ok the flute is now even cuter,

- I love Yang Wumin, she's just a girl with bpd who likes to beat people,

- chapter 14, uuu we have a beef with gays,

- Third Young Master slays yet again, they use a fan, they have to be my fav now. that's the law.

- chapter 16, ooh, I did not expect Fu Wanqing to be not fond of extravaganza,

- “Warm as jade, with clothes whiter than snow — the Junzi Sword, Shen Shengyi”,

- warm as Jade cold as Jade is there something that is not as Jade? /lh

- oo casanova,

- ok so he's also wearing jade pin-crown,

- chapter 17, I am so confused by the setting, they read Ming books, wear Qing clothing and wear jade pendants. I'm trying to mash it up together in my brain but it's harddd,

- chapter 18, Guo Ju just had an epic entrance, falling for the sky just to dirty Shen Shengyi's robe lol,

- I ship SSYxGJ,

- Guo Ju is so fucking fruity I can't,

- chapter 19, we have another new pal, Zhang Zongyi, an elderly monk in red robes,

- chapter 20, my fav chapter so far!!

- chapter 21, Guo Ju femboy confirmed,

- chapter 22, this awkward moment when you say a ton of nonsense and meet someone who actually replays to it lol; and suddenly you're the shy one,

- chapter 23, another name to remember, Yue Qingtian. So far I remember everyone, I'm getting better at names!

- chapter 24, Guo Ju is really my fav side character now, also I'm curious about that not acting like himself part,

- chapter 25, Yue Qingtan – blue clothes, “cloud-and-water sleeves”, looking like a lady from a rich family, but also a lone wonderer

- I don't think “shes better because she doesn't care about her eeviiiil disciples” is the argument you think it is man XDDD,

- Yang Wumin now wears a veil, noted. could've expected that,

- chapter 27, woah woah this suddenly got serious,

- GUO JU IS ALSO TRANS? T4T ROMANCE? IN MY BAIHE? OMG???

- “Wine… makes people drunk.” such an enlightened quote from Yu Shengyan,

- god Guo Ju is so cute, sitting all night next to the Third Young Master just to make sure that she's safe... even though the tavern is full of the Third Young Master's people... first sunrays falling on her chest is another thing I'd love to paint,

- ok so I think Guo Ju is more leaning into cis woman forced to be a man. still not sure about the Third Young Master tho, what kind of gender fuckery is happening here,

- chapter 29, I can't get over how much their flirting is physical. very often they don't say many loving things but kiss each other, hug, lay on each other, play together... it's all so cute and betrays their emotions in a way words never could,

- SHE FUCKING BIT HER LMFAOO I LOVE YOU FU WANQING

- chapter 30, woah woah Gu Yu got so roasted she turned into a tiny coal piece, that was a bit uncalled for,

- it's so funny to me that they all think that Yu Shengyan is a good person while she only cares for her moral code, not other people,

- LMFAO SHE JUST BULLSHITED WITH CONFIDENCE I LOVE YOU FU WANQING x2 but like true, why would you believe this asshole XDDDD

- chapter 32, well, Yang Wumin has some point about Fu Wanqing, she isn't exactly... an honorable person XD,

- I love this uncaring (chaos) x uncaring (peaceful) energy lol,

- chapter 33, can Yu Shengyan fucking stop destroying books please,

- chapter 35, it might sound dumb and I would usually hate this, but I love that in this book we just get new characters introduced all the time, even now, well over the half mark,

- Liu Zhishang has a rectangular face and bright eyes, noted,

- Guo Lingtian is mostly angry and has thick brows,

- Yang Yifei looks young, wears green and looks like a scholar,

- I can't, Liu Zhishang just heard his kid saying that he wants to marry Yue Qingtian and already treats her like his daughter, that's so damn cute,

- about Yue Qingtian: “She was akin to a plant without roots, having no sense of belonging wherever she went.”,

- chapter 36, ok, I like Wei Xian, the guy is just doing his best and is basically responsible for taking care of the whole Creed bcs ysy isn't interested in it and lkx is not the sharpest tool in the shed,

- chapter 38, so we get Yue Honghua of the Limitless Palace, she hates being called that tho, especially by her sister,

- also she called Third Young Master a Third Sister so is she Yue too? or is it just a title,

- I like that even when dumb things happen in this book, like poisoning of Yu Shengyan, there are exactly the type of dumb things these characters would do,

- chapter 39, and who the fuck is Fu Rong,

- Zhong Li Yu Xiu 钟灵毓秀, I like it,

- chapter 40, OHHH SHES ZHONG'S DAUGHTER LMFAO

- the moral of the story is clearly that the only competent people are women and you know what I can't disagree,

- new name!! the Ghost Doctor is Ye Xueqing, she's also blind btw,

- chapter 41, another new name! Jiang Huailuo, white-haired woman,

- ok I love Ye Xueqing and Jiang Huailuo's dynamic, amazing food for fanfics,

- that honestly read like the last chapter but there's still 9 to go lol,

- chapter 42, HEY WHERE'S MY SEX SCENE, I was in the mood today :( but more seriously, this book was teasing with all this touches and kisses to just skip a sex scene, I am a little bit disappointed,

- I wonder if Fu Hui is getting tired of being played by his daughter all the time lol,

- I love Guo Lintian so much omg he's so fucking sweet,

- chapter 43, ok so face of Yue Honghua is covered in a web of scars left by Yue Qingtian,

- ok I'm still not sure what is Yue Qingtian's part in all of this tho, am I missing something?

- chapter 44, and now we got some Zhang Zongyi, I think this is the last new person in the book tho,

- chapter 45, rip Yang Yifei,

- I love that Liu Wei is trying to get a divorce at a wedding, queen shit,

- chapter 46, bloodstains could also indicate that Fu Wanqing disappeared by herself because she is fucking mental,

- Yu Shengyan carrying Fu Wanqing in a bridal carry, while the latter is wearing torn bridal clothing... another cool thing to draw,

- chapter 47, I get that Fu Wanqing wanted to drive Yang Yifei mad but I'm so sad that she harmed so many people to achieve that, it matches her character but still :< I liked Liu Wei,

- god Yang Yifei also killed Madame Fu, what a shithead,

- ok but Yu Shengyan and Fu Wanqing being cute revenge wives, so adorable,

- chapter 48, ““You once showed me a lot of drawings at Goldmelt Grotto.” Yu Shengyan raised her brows, expression unchanged. “You want to try all of them out, Lady Fu?”” WHAT A QUOTE OMG

- chapter 50, AWWW?? SHE DOESN'T WANT TO DUEL ANYMORE BCS YU SHENGYAN DOESN'T LIKE IT. THIS WOMAN WHO NEVER GAVE UP ANYTHING FOR ANYONE WITHOUT A GRUDGE IS JUST. TRASHING ONE OF HER DEEPEST DREAMS. AWWW!!

- epilogue – how is it an epilogue and not chapter 51? the story isn't complete without this epilogue at all,

- god damn poor Shen Shengyi, this little white lamb, this revelation will so fuck him up lol,

- SHE WAS JUST LYING LMFAO WHY THESE PEOPLE JUST KEEP BELIEVING EVERYONE <- is not better,

- I hope that Guo Lintian didn't fuck up in the past :< I like him,

- Ok I really like this ending :3

- extra: IS GUO LINTIAN'S ONLY CONCLUSION FROM ALL THAT THAT HE WANTS TO RETIRE I really love this man omg,

- the Zhong brothers' arc is also quite wholesome

[fishylife]

I watched this documentary series on the making of Creation of the Gods. These are just my reactions to it and not a synopsis.

Episode 1

It's cool seeing just how many people were involved in the making of this movie(s)

The writer Ran Jia'nan was saying that they had to cut out stuff from the story that might not have made sense (to a wider audience) or perhaps was not so relevant to the main plot, and the example she used was that when Ji Chang threw up the bits of Bo Yikao that he had eaten, those pieces became rabbits. After a long time of mulling it over they decided to cut that from the story.

The actors had to learn to ride horses, combat, archery.

Training montage!!!!!

Most of those chosen had not performed professionally so they needed to train in acting and performing too.

Their first lesson was in drums. Not sure how to put it into words, but basically the teacher said that drums are an instrument that can match our pulse, and that in battle, the rhythm at which we fight is the rhythm of our pulse. That's kind of hype, they look cool.

Second lesson was combat but they also had to work out a lot too.

Third lesson was horseback riding.

Rad that one of their trainers is like, a cowboy lol.

Not only did they train in horse riding, but horse riding while fighting.

Fourth lesson was culture/history class, including a classical Chinese education. Probably to give them a deeper appreciation and understanding of the characters and story.

Wuershan was more focused on whether the actors could relate to their characters.

Ji Fa's clothes look so good.

The scenes when Ji Fa was riding back home in the end of the first movie were filmed in Xinjiang. Those scenes were sooo good.

I appreciate that Wuershan wanted a very foxlike Daji and had Naran study fox behaviour. She watched fox videos but also went to the zoo to watch foxes :3

Speaking of Naran, I think she trained to be fluent in Mandarin for this movie which is so amazing :3

Daji's appearance right after she is possessed by the demon is so...wow. The long hair, the flowing robes. She didn't die in those clothes, but as the fox it's like, a little primitive. She's wearing very basic robes. She is not the original Daji, that's for sure.

The guys pumping in preparation for the dance scene :P

The dance performance was shot in one go! :3

They're literally rewatching and admiring their muscles here lol

Episode 2

The concept art is so cool. Wuershan emphasized the good vs evil battle so the one with the very clear yin-yang outline probably emphasized that the best.

The process by which they decided on the aesthetic for this movie series was interesting. Investiture of the Gods is based on a very ancient time, but the novel itself was written in the Ming Dynasty. Add to that the mythical elements that should in theory transcend time. What do you get? In the end, they went for a 70% 水陸畫 style (which is an artistic style and not a time period) and 30% 殷商 (which refers to the Yin and Shang dynasties), plus a bit of Song Dynasty 山水 art style (which I guess is referring to that style of landscape/nature art).

Wuershan really liked a mural that was in Yongle Gong and wanted the aesthetics of the movie to emulate that style.

Concept art for the outfits. According to Wuershan, in the Shang Dynasty, white was considered a regal colour.

Empress Jiang and her family were from the east, by the ocean, so that was why they wore blue.

The duke from the south was thought to have come from a hot place, so that was why he wore red robes.

The northerners wore gray, as their lands were thought to be kind of...vast and gray.

Then lastly the folks from the west, including Ji Chang, wore yellow, though here of course it looks more like a muted yellow, a brown. Anything too bright and it would remind people too much of an emperor.

So the team put effort into fleshing out the world, even though we only saw a bit of it (at least in the first movie). But it kind of shows how ambitious Wuershan is about making this an "epic" movie series, not in the sense that it's super great, but in the sense that this is a big world with a lot going on. Even though this movie wasn't even that long, I did feel that sense of magnitude, that there were a lot of things going on even if we were just focused on the top.

Bo Yikao <3

Hell yeah Yang Jian in front of the blue screen

It's interesting that Wuershan is so involved in every aspect of the movie. He was discussing clothing materials with Tim Yip. He is the director, but I think he's just really passionate about the world he's building and he wants it to be as immersive as possible.

Naran's interpretations of her outfits was interesting. When she was still the real Su Daji, she was dressed in furs, and it gave a feeling of being protected and loved by her family. When she was possess by the fox demon, she wore a very thin purple outfit. She wore it while in the dead of winter, and it would give people a feeling that something was off. Then she wore a bright red outfit when she was dancing and it represented ambition. In the last scene of the first movie when Daji revived Yin Shou, Daji wore another very thin dress, this time in pink. Naran felt that at that time, Daji sincerely cared for Yin Shou (whether it was "love" or not is another question), so she would have been sad at seeing him dead. And so Naran associated pink with sadness.

Kris Phillips was raving about Tim Yip's outfits for Yin Shou in this part :P

Oh this is cool I think they are sculpting Lei Zhenzi here.

And other monsters.

The concept artist Siji said that he appreciated that the concept artists were given enough time to develop and create the concept art.

I didn't even realize the fox demon had different forms. Siji was explaining that initially, the fox demon was more ghost-like, and only began to develop a form after eating enough people.

Hell yeah more monsters

So we move on to the set and Wuershan puts just as much detail into building the set, which is very understandable. If your set is lame then it doesn't matter how beautiful your costumes are tbh. They went so far as to discuss the patterns of the beams, and what kinds of visual motifs would be on them.

Tim Yip was explaining how some of the structures they came up with would never have existed in history. But they did it for the aesthetics lol.

For some of the fight scenes, they did the storyboard by animating it in 3d because it would be easier to work with. In the example shown, the camera was constantly rotating around the character so I imagine that it would have been difficult to explain the constant motion of the camera with a normal drawn storyboard.

We got to the animation of Lei Zhenzi. The animator did a 360 view of what he would look like, and then another view where he would be carrying Ji Chang on his back, which he pointed out probably would not work if the wings were also on his back.

It looks like the entire movie was created in that Previz 3d animation system. Which makes sense. There's a lot that goes into filming and you might as well get a feel for the scenes, so that you can see if they actually deliver the intended impact.

Wu Yibei who I think is a special effects producer was talking about Lei Zhenzi. Basically it was really important for them to get all of the details of Lei Zhenzi right because he was going to be an important character in the second and third movies, and would interact with actors, would have feelings, etc.

This is super cool, this seems to be concept art for how Lei Zhenzi would have grown, how his wings would have developed as he grew up from a baby to an adult.

I saw this from another video that interviewed a special effects advisor for the movie. Douglas Smith had mentioned that Wuershan didn't really want Lei Zhenzi to be like a bird or a bat, and in the end, they settled for more of a fish feeling to Lei Zhenzi. Wuershan says this too in this documentary series.

Other than the physics of Lei Zhenzi's flight, I thought it was neat that Wuershan and the animators were discussing how his lightning powers would look like.

Wuershan had called up Han Pengyi and asked him if he'd wanted to be China's Andy Serkis lol. Han Pengyi served as the motion capture actor for Lei Zhenzi.

Oh wow Wuershan and Han Pengyi actually met Serkis and got to ask him about motion capture acting :o

So apparently when they animated Lei Zhenzi they hadn't really animated him blinking so Douglas Smith and team were figuring out how they could make use of other skin around Lei Zhenzi's eyes to express certain emotions.

Episode 3

Wow the craftspeople are carving the parts of the set by hand.

Look at this!!! Even just the concept art is amazing.

Wuershan did a lot of studying on the Lord of the Rings and consulted people who worked on that which is cool.

There was a discussion where Wuershan was discussing how the Lord of the Rings used more practical effects (in this case having a bunch of extras actually fighting in a battle) whereas by the time the Hobbit came around, they didn't consider this option anymore.

They spent a lot of time explaining how they came to film Shen Gong Bao's scene in which his head came apart from his body.

This was super blurry so I'm not going to screencap it but Ji Chang's actor Li Xuejian said "兒子演得不錯" and Wuershan patted Yu Shi's head in a 'did you hear that?' kind of way Yu Shi was all like humble like "noooo i'm not" hehe.

Apparently it was Father's day so Yu Shi wished Wuershan and Wang Yu a Happy Father's day lol.

They were trying to shoot a shot of five of the warriors on horseback jumping over a hurdle, while the horses were blindfolded. I'm not sure why the horses were blindfolded tbh but it was difficult because of that and the fact that they wanted the horses to jump together. Looked awesome though. And they got fistbump from one of the trainers for getting it done in two takes.

Taking care of the horses after a hard day's work.

Yu Shi explained that when they first started learning to ride horses, they were paired with any horse. After they got the hang of it, they were paired with a specific horse so that they could build a good relationship, and the actors would have to care for that horse too.

Ji Fa's character especially had a special relationship with his horse because he was a gift from his family and a symbol of home. And we saw them filming the scene near the end of the first movie where his horse was trying to get him to wake up so that they could go home.

Archery was something that challenged Yu Shi a lot so he practised it a lot and watched videos of archers.

Check out this diagram lol. I think they were trying to explain the setting to Gordy Haab who worked on the music.

We saw Gordy checking out Chinese artifacts and listening to Chinese music. Yu Fei who was a music producer said that he had a good deal of interest in the culture.

It looks like they're having some musicians play outside at one of the sites? I'm not sure if they were actually playing though.

The male bass singers were very cool. Are they throat singing?

Looks like they're playing scenes from the movie on the screen

Me, an ex-oboist, doing the Dicaprio pointing meme to these oboists

Wuershan is a fan of Penderecki. I don't know this composer so I had to look him up.

Wuershan delivering flowers to the various cast members :3

What a fun series!!!! I have some other behind the scenes videos to watch relating to this movie so I am excited :3

[dindjarindiaries]

@ my brothers in the force who get upset they character is not being portrayed visually by the same person who voices them: pls do no watch any animated shows or movies.

i fear their reaction when they find out iconic characters can be voiced by TWO PEOPLE (ex: mulan with ming na wen/lea solonga)

LOL LITERALLY like... this arrangement was planned from the beginning. Pedro was never expected to be in the suit all the time. Whoever was gonna get cast wasn't expected to be in the suit. The fact Pedro even did as much as he did in season 2 is incredible.

[canonicallyanxious]

assorted thoughts/speculation on how the alan/wen relationship could have possibly stopped working, beyond "i fell out of love with you":

"You should have asked him too if he wanted it" - my very first reaction to this line from Gong was that he was maybe talking about something specific, mostly bc it felt very pointed esp in conjunction with the later line of "maybe you should try doing nothing". then i thought maybe he was talking about a sort of last straw incident as part of a recurring pattern. now i think it's very possible it wasn't about anything specific necessarily, but more a general commentary on their dynamic. Alan seems like a very solution-oriented man-of-action kind of person, from the way he constantly asks Wen what he can do to fix things and make them better and if there are "any other options". on the other side of things Wen is an attentive listener and seems to be pretty attuned to other people's wants and feelings [thinking about his interactions with Li Ming, for example].

so from that perspective i can see how Wen maybe started doing things he didn't necessarily want to do because he could see that it made Alan happy, and not expressing that he might not want to do those things bc it didn't seem like that big of a deal at the start in comparison to how happy it made Alan, and Alan maybe didn't know to ask because he himself is the kind of person who expresses himself through his actions, and things slowly building from there until the situation became intolerable.

"I don't really like beef... but you like it, so i can eat it too" - this line reinforces this impression i get, and i can imagine it being especially true at the beginning of their relationship. they're in their late 20's, i'm guessing somewhere around 27-28, and they've been together for over 5 years [possibly closer to six, depending on when the break up actually happened; their 1 year anniversary was May 2017, so they actually started dating in 2016], which means they probably started dating around 21-22 years. I don't think it's totally out of the realm of possibility for this to have been their first serious long-term relationship [definitely not an uncommon queer experience in particular, i myself didn't start dating girls until after i graduated college] and even if that isn't the case, when you're younger i think it's easy to romanticize things and tell yourself there are things you're okay with changing about yourself to make the other person happy. Wen especially seems like the kind of person who could buy into this pretty easily [Mr. "if i were them i would do everything possible to make it work" over here].

but i think even in your late twenties you have a much more solid idea of who you are as a person than you do in your early twenties, and a better understanding of the things you're less willing to bend for. and i think five years is a long time to push yourself into the mold of a person you aren't, even if it's with things that seem small like waking up for morning jogs or eating beef. like Wen said in ep 5 part 1, he did his best, but after a certain point maybe he realized he just couldn't do it anymore.

"deep down i also hoped we could make it work again" - wen strikes me as the kind of person who doesn't let go of the things that are important to him very easily [i mean just look at how persistent he is with jim lol man knows what he wants!]. and this can be an admirable trait in some cases, but i can def see how it might also significantly exacerbate a situation like the one Wen ended up in with Alan.

what makes it especially complicated is that by his own admission he still cares about Alan and wants him to be happy; he notices everything that Alan does for him and how hard he tries and he's not immune to that because he knows how badly Alan still wants to be a part of his life. and i can see how all that would make it difficult for him to make a clean break. actually i understand the desire to want to stay friends with an ex bc of how important of a role they've played in your life for such a long time, on a very personal level [five years is a long fucking time to have such a deep and intimate relationship with a person! no matter how it ended or how you feel about the person it can be really difficult to imagine life without them!].

but ultimately esp in this case because Alan is still in love with him but Wen isn't a clean break is probably what's best for everyone, i think it's just difficult to realize that when you're as deep in the situation as Wen was. i can see it being a limbo/stasis kind of situation for a really long time, until the opportunity to get some outside perspective comes along [from an emotionally damaged chicken rice seller, for instance. apropos of nothing.]

-

side note: even if they didn't explicitly say it i still hc that financial reasons were at least one reason why wen was having difficulties moving out. idk how the housing situation in Thailand is but i could def see it being difficult to disentangle yourself if both of your names were on the lease or if you both owned the place [I think Gong at some point says that their place is "also yours" which doesn't necessarily mean that they own the place, ownership is maybe difficult to attain at their age idk how ownership compares to renting in Thailand, but like maybe, who knows, it's a pretty small flat as opposed to a house and if they had rings they might be committed enough to the relationship to spring for a place together, IDK].

also i think the implication is that Wen's family doesn't live in Pattaya so living with them wouldn't be an easy option unless he transferred jobs which is also not an easy thing to do [he doesn't sound like he would particularly want to move back to Bangkok anyway, from his convo with Jim at the beginning of ep 6].

honestly the only thing i can't explain is why Wen would choose to share a bed with his ex for all that time skdnfsdkjfnsdkfns my man just didn't want to sleep on a couch for 6+ months i guess, place apparently too small for an extra futon or an air mattress, didn't want to bunk up in the kitchen so he said "you are not kicking me out of my own bed please and thank you" idk



[coffeeandritalin]

Reactions and questions as I watch episode 5 of Cang Yue Jin Ming/Till the End of the Moon. (Possibility of spoilers ahead)

NUUUUUU don't hurt your birdie friend!

You a**hole!

Okay... I'm glad that birdie friend didn't get hurt. But also, it's real sus that birdie friend didn't get hurt......

Apparently we're in spring now?

Oh I guess the power he used was one that allowed him to see from a bird's eye... but still... surely he didn't know that... sigh...

He's cutting fire?

Oh I guess this is where he starts demonic cultivation? ... or at least starts thinking about it

Okay... i shouldn't laugh that he has a daydream about killing her, but the music they used to bring things back to reality was just too amusing for me

Yeah! That's right! Remember how she saved your life dumdum

KItty!

Ok. I'm legit curious how this story between Xiao Lin and Ye Bingchang plays out. Also, why is she infested with a demon thing?

Ooooh that's why YBC's status is lower than YXW and why YXW is more spoiled. YXW must have been the main wife's daughter.

Xiao Lin just confessed to her... Why doesn't she seem happier? *eyes narrowed in suspicion...*

X-D *DIES* he sent his crow to spy on their conversation X-D he cares and definitely minds that they're alone <3

T.T he was hoping Xiao Lin actually saw him as a friend

But the tea!!!!

Of course... gotta up the drama T.T. Demon/devil boi just wants to be liked by someone T.T

!!! !!! !!! He cried!

?? YBC seems very upset about hearing about Xiao Lin's title. I don't understand enough about Chinese politics (past and present) to understand what this means... On nevermind. It's because she's relegated to only being his concubine.

Of course, they have to make her think it was her older sister and grandma that sabotaged her future status. Gotta give her reasons to turn evil (probably).

*snorts* of course. he's wearing black and red. That wardrobe switch is a little too quick ^_^".

Did he create a death note? Like... is he worried he's going to forget which people he hates? (I mean that's not unheard of IRL but...)

Why is he sniffing his brush? Is this actually a thing cultured people did back then? Or do now? Like... why is he sniffing his brush?

Why is he carrying that brush around? Is it a weapon? Is it his comfort object?

And this is why people are terrified of birds. Fair enough, YXW. Fair enough.

I mean is the fancy wand/brush waving actually necessary? Or is he just having fun? Like, all good if he's just having fun. Just crious...

Oi YBC... Like... I get your abandonment concern and worries here, but it's not like you didn't know the many you married is like super uprighteous... or maybe you didn't know... They did a good job of turning her from a decently likable neutral character to one you want to knock a few times on the head. One can understand why she is the way she is, but one also wants to shake her into regaining some of her sanity.

T.T he stayed his hand when it came to YXW <3

Like it's sad because she's about to be real disappointed, but I think it's really sweet that YXW is concerned for TTJ's safety and doesn't immediately assume he's the one controlling the crows.

I mean... it's sweet that she's trying to protect him, but bye bye birdie friend T.T

Like how she's not sus over how the crows all suddenly disappeared is... i mean i guess... adrenaline is actually one hell of a drug tbf

Did y'all not come home together? Where are you coming from now that you're just now checking him for injuries?

Ah yes... a relationship built on mutually lying to each other. This is going to work out excellently lol

Can't believe I watched 3? 4? Episodes today... Whoops. Oh well.

[wolfriver777]

Soooooo, I binged tgcf book 4 today so here are a few words along with some crappy photos of the words sgshhssh

gonna put it under a read more since it got long, exoect typos and autocorrect being evil

Okay first off screaming and crying about all the stuff that happened with shi qingxuan and what I suppose is the infamous black water arc I've heard a lot about. Now as a vulnerable young chap on the internet my ass has been almost getting spoiled for tgcf everywhere so I had a inkling someone was gonna die, probably shi qingxuan or shi wudu but omfg like actually reading it? The shock, the horror? I was breathless, I was stunned! Avert your eyes if you haven't read already cause omg!!!

Just omg!!! The way that he xuan has been the earth master for years and shi qingxuan would've formed this connection and just omg the trust, the betrayal, the death?!?! Screaming and throwing up!!!

I feel we also gotta back track a lol, shout out to hua cheng for telling pei ming to kill himself, what an absolute legend, but also pei ming building 4 coffins but for all of that effort to be wasted??? Lmaooooo!!! Omfg speaking of coffins lmaooo shsjsjsjsj the whole fucking squished together in a coffin and xie lian getting a hard on like come oooooon brooooooo please, mxtx why bitches getting dicks hard in coffins I'm crying!!

Okay also since we circled back around a bit, ofc we gotta talk about the fucking hualian smooching for spiritual power like taking it back and shjt omg and qi rong's reaction, speaking of that little bitch I know I didn't really make any posts about book 2, but omg hate that lil bitch but he's also a lil funny now,

But damn you know that hulian smooching is apart of his villain arc.

Okay we also gotta talk about the whole scene that was on the front cover and how they fucking smooched all night long but when hua vheng asks about it when his mind clears, xie lian just says they fought. LIKE BRO PLEASS! yall smooched all night long I'm crying I've here ToT! Ugh and the whole ish set up for a new ghost king (ref to qi rong villain arc being amped by hulian make out sessions, but also kinda doubt he can actually be a ghost king) that's gonna be fucking fun!

OKAY BUT THE STUFF WITH LING WEN OMG, it mightve been cause I was just reading that but omg ughhh hddhshhssb I can't believe, and the fact she was doing busy work in the communication array while xie lian was busy doing hot girl shit, speaking of hot girl shit, this fucking line

Like I know he says it to distract the cultivators but omg I still went feral and insane, so good. Ughhhhh gonna try slow myself down (unlikely) will probably start book 5 tomorrow before work. God knows my coworkers will notice my insanity.