#mo’s rambling and such

[marshmallowwitharubberband]

The Guanyin temple confession is maybe my favorite scene of any piece of media I've ever consumed because it's so unpredictable.

You got the villain just halting his evil plot, full stop, in the middle of his gloating speech, no less, because "What do you MEAN you guys aren't even together?! What?! No, no, no, there won't be any romantic misunderstanding in my hostage situation! Honey, tell him!"

And then the calmest, most polite character alive procceeds to go his version of apeshit on this punk like "my brother like-likes you, you fucking pinecone! You useless twink! We all thought you were a hoe but you are just an imbecile!" (Which is a nice parallel to the Jiang brothers' hatred for the peacock, but I digress)

And THEN, when it's the perfect moment for a climatic love confession, homeboy goes and screams for everyone to hear that he... really wanted that dick, Hanguang-jun! Where's love? Who cares? WWX wants to ride you like a carnival ride: sticky and filthy and multiple times.

It's a wonder that Xichen didn't yank that string from Jing GuangYao to strangle WWX himself.

This has been my favorite addition, I cackled like a seal irl lol

[unreliable-narratoe]

Something about Liu Qingge and Jiang Cheng both carrying around physical objects of their loved ones so they can return it, but the Receiving never quite has the same impact as the Returning. LQG carrying around Shen Qingqiu's fans until he can take it back, except SQQ's already forgotten about it/gotten a new one and no longer has the same use for it. JC carrying suiban around on his back until he finds Wei Wuxian, except WWX can no longer use it. There is no real relevance for the object on the receiving end. Not anymore, at least. And it's very. Hmm.

[puppymomokinblog]

I could be an apex predator but yall they keep feeding me peanut butter

[kamikazeworld]

Can we talk about how amazing Shen Qingqiu actually is?? He wakes up in an unfamiliar room to an unfamiliar person talking like he knows him, and his first instinct is to play along to buy himself time to figure out the situation without endangering himself. He quickly puts it together and manages to outwardly keep his cool and assess the situation. At multiple times in the story he's forced to think quickly on his feet and he's GOOD at it, he realizes things fast, memorizes things easily, he's extremely studious and read through the entire Qing Jing library as soon as he realized where and who he was. He's quick witted and flexible with his thinking, great at problem solving, a great actor... Sure, he couldn't fool people into thinking he was the exact same as someone they had known for years, but he's great at keeping his thoughts and feelings on the inside while showing a cool, controlled, *confident* face to everyone else. Actually he's really good at genuinely taking control of situations in general, even when he IS internally screaming. Fake it til you make it WORKS for him, because even when he feels like he's faking, he is doing amazing work and showing great competense. On top of that he's very compassionate even when he doesn't necessarily want to be, and while he was given a body that had already become an immortal cultivator, he still put in a LOT of work to practice, refine and master that cultivation until it was completely natural and second nature for him to use it. And that's fucking AMAZING.

The only times his abilities fail him, really, is when he believes he already knows how something is supposed to go and thinking it's set in stone. He believes Luo Binghe must hate him, must want a harem, and that he himself isn't that important or desirable, and he believes it SO STRONGLY that he can't see past it until it's shoved directly in his face. That's the only times he truly acts like an oblivious idiot, and honestly can you blame him? Like I said, he believes those are facts set in stone, no matter how much the evidence contradicts it. The pitfall of having detailed future information of an alternate timeline, I suppose.

TL;DR: SQQ is a brilliant, quick witted, creative, intelligent and hard working man and I fucking LOVE that for him. He was the perfect candidate for filling the role of the academic peak's leader and the sect's strategist, because he shares all those same qualities with his predecessor (I'm assuming, I haven't actually read the SJ extras yet oops). The main thing setting them apart, really, is just that SY was raised to be *kind* where SJ was unfortunately raised to be cruel.

Chef's kiss, truly.

[12am-motivation]

i love how tkdb considers the characters' expressions for every line lmao

look at how luca goes from calm to shocked to flustered 😭

[imreallyonthishellsite]

mxtx main characters as drivers

wwx: would be a good driver if he didn't get distracted every 5 minutes and constantly forget where he's supposed to be going (jc swears he does the latter on purpose but doesn't have any proof yet). when he's not distracted hes usually going 5 above the speed limit. has a random playlist for all driving occasions ("why do you have a 'just brunt down walmart and now I'm on the run' playlist?" "why shouldn't i?")

lwj: the example of the perfect driver. will drive the exact speed limit and will refuse to go a single mile over ("lan zhan please we dont have to drive so slow" "its a school zone.the speed limit is 15" "lan zhan the school has been closed for 10 years pls go faster im begging" "no."). mostly plays classical music, podcasts or the rare romance song while driving

xl: decent driver when he gets the opportunity to drive. goes hard on the brakes bc he scared of hitting someone. will let people cut in front of him bc "they might have somewhere important to be". mostly listens to random radio stations for variety

hc: speed demon unless he's with xl. even then he's still a pretty safe driver. carries sticky notes to rate other drivers skills and put them on their car with notes (no one has gotten over a 7). extremely picky about music while driving, if he hates the song you play your banned from ever playing music in his car again. will always listen to music selections from xl

sy/sqq: hates driving with every fiber of being but still got his license. has extreme road rage and has pulled up next to someone to rage abt their driving to their face (spolier he made them cry). will only drive if he actually needs too, this man is a passenger princess. not too picky abt music surprisingly but doesn't like the volume to be too loud

lbh: very good driver. if you piss him off while driving he will either ride way too close to your bumper and follow you for a short time to freak you out or start driving purposefully slow and refuse to let you pass. Music depends on his mood or the events he has going in that day. date nights will be romance and happy songs, dropping sqq off to hangout out with lqg will be heartbreak/when will my love return songs, returning from a business meeting is loud ass rage music

[shinobus-left-eye]

AWWWWW

[chirpycloudyrobin]

oh when THEY start getting crankier, angrier and bitchier, it's wartime trauma and PTSD. but when I start getting crankier, angrier and bitchier, it's suddenly "the result of demonic cultivation" 🙄

alternative path cultivators cant get PTSD apparently 🤕

[moreaugriffins]

something something, What if Pheobe had ranted to Ray about her being fired from being a Ghostbuster and how unfair it is and how angry and hurt she is because she knows ghostbusting better than the other, she is smarter than them, she gets the tech the best, whilst Ray looks fondly and sympathetically, before talking about a time where Egon was banned from groundwork because his aim was so bad, and he too got angry and ranted at the others about how unfair and stupid that is, something something

[marshmallowwitharubberband]

Interesting to note that the Lan rule states "Lying is forbidden" (more or less) but not "Be honest always" because the rest of the rules already make it impossible. Actually every Lan is technically lying all the time.

It is forbidden to show excessive emotion, to be rude to others, to let yourself get carried away by hedonism, to make noise... but those rules get overenforced so much that Lan Zhan the "perfect" Lan is regarded as an unfeeling human statue.

And the Lan disciples are not statues, they're humans who feel, who love, hate, envy, grieve, get excited, get disappointed and make mistakes. Yet the rules pretty much prevent them from ever expressing their opinions or emotions freely.

So every Lan is lying by omission most of the time, because they can never say what they truly think.

And I honestly believe that Lan An would be thumping his head into the nearest wall if he saw how his principles have been added to, twisted and reshaped into the self-contradictory and opressing mess that governs the sect.

Which just now ocurred to me would make a nice parallel with another ascetic dude who got their teachings twisted and fanoned as a tool for opression.

Lan An in the afterlife: No, no, that is NOT what I meant with that precept, that is the exact opposite from what I taught you!

Jesus, handing him a cup of wine: Just wait until they make their first Inquisition.

Lan An: Their what?!

[unreliable-narratoe]

Headcanon that MDZS (from his sister's BL rack) was one of the BLs Shen Yuan read for Plot reasons and Genre Diversification (sure, buddy) . Around volume 2 he even thinks it isnt BL, and meimei must have surely gotten her genres mixed up. He only realises when wangxian have sex and at that point it's too late to go back - he needs to know what's going down with wen ning.

He reads all the extras (including incense burner) for the Plot ("I need to know what happens to wei wuxian!!"), is an ardent wen ning fan (he can't escape strong puppy coded characters) and gets that one specific YLLZ figurine.

Binghe comes to know of this and promptly figures out necromancy.

[puppymomokinblog]

autism that makes you a dog.

[songdou]

the juxtaposition of dou zhao and the empress in blossom (2024), and the identity of women in ancient china

throughout the last few episodes, we get to see more of the empress' backstory and what had lead her to commit treason; we see that she is clearly the backbone of the emperor, spending late nights working behind the scenes when the emperor was sick. and on one evening as she brings medicine for the emperor, she overhears him say that she is to be buried when he passes, in order to prevent her future involvement in politics. i find this interesting because we are presented with a main character, dou zhao, who is a strong and capable woman and has been able to make her own choices throughout her life despite consequences, solely because she has been able to prove herself time after time that she is as capable as a man. in the end, we are presented the empress as a “villain” behind the grand scheme, but she, too, is a woman who has been long suppressed by the misogynist standards towards women during that period. of course, that is no excuse for her actions, but makes you think about the stark contrast between these two characters, and how they deal with the challenges they face.

when dou zhao is waiting outside for song mo's decree after they set off explosives, her and the empress briefly converse:

you’ve done more than enough as a wife. you should consider yourself. divorce song mo and return to the dou family. your fifth uncle can keep your family safe, and i’ll keep a position for you. becoming the wife of a guilty official or a noble lady is an easy choice.

who i choose to be isn’t about whose wife i am or daughter i am. it depends on who i am. a person with integrity walks their own path. i’ll be waiting here until song mo comes out.

in a sense, the empress is suppressed by the same societal shackles and gender norms that dou zhao was confined in during her first life as the wife of wei ting yu, having to take on responsibilities common for wives of large households during that period such as serving her husband, looking after the concubines and their children, managing servants, estates, and businesses, etc. she still ends up being disrespected by her husband, cheated on, and her name slandered until the very end of her first life. during dou zhao and song mo's first meeting in that same first life, song mo even says:

a man can leave a woman easily, while it's harder for a woman to leave a man.

dou zhao is given the chance of a second life, where she challenges gender norms time and time again, and even finds someone who allows her to grow and have her own identity as a woman. i wonder, if the empress was given a chance of a second life, would she too, have the chance to be in charge of her own destiny?

p.s. in the end, perhaps the empress' punishment to be renounced of her title and reduced to a commoner is indeed not a punishment, but a reawakening; her second chance to a second life.

[12am-motivation]

ok one last thing before i sleep- this bit is kinda cute lol

[kukuandkookie]

The end of 2024 has proven that 2025 seems to be a huge year for donghua and I’m gripping everyone to give all these donghua besides just the most popular ones a chance!!!:

Link Click, Yingdu arc: releasing December 27, 2024

Nezha 2, sequel to Nezha 2019 aka Nezha zhi motong jiangshi, confirmed for January 2025

To Be Hero X, likely April 2025 release (I hope people will also support the version with Chinese VAs! 🙏)

Lord of the Mysteries, 2025 summer release—accompanied by more good news: the novel has officially entered the British Library and it will also be translated into English by Yen Press

False Memory, series version, confirmed 2025 release

I am making this post because False Memory just released its new trailer and I am very much so looking forward to it! The series started as an indie short before growing into a bigger thing, much like Fog Hill of Five Elements and The Legend of Luo Xiaohei and Alita’s Trial. We’ve thus been waiting a couple years for news so this is really exciting, especially after it recently got a Twitter account!!

Bonuses:

Ya She, released a couple months ago but late enough into 2024 I’d still love for more people to check it out!

Scissor Seven, another one that’s had its newest season out for a while now, but I assume that for those who have Netflix, it hasn’t been officially English subbed or dubbed yet. We’re also still getting trailers for its game!:

I Am What I Am 2, released Dec 14, 2024 in China!

Reminder that Mo Dao Zu Shi is now on Crunchyroll! They may have removed it from Tencent’s donghua YouTube channel for this, so definitely go support it if you do have Crunchyroll!

Some children’s donghua have also recently released, including news of the new Balala the Fairies season and the other magical girls show, Rainbow Crew! The latter is confirmed for an official release in English.

The Yi Ren Zhi Xia game is also coming soon to global, and Fox Spirit Matchmaker even updated their OP recently after quite a long time of silence.

And speaking of silence, even the long-awaited SVSSS donghua saw some movement recently!?

Now if I could get a confirmed 2025 release for White Cat Legend season 3 (and maybe God Troubles Me and Lie Huo Jiao Chou and Fei Ren Zai and All Saints Street and The Legend of Luo Xiaohei and Wo Jia Dashixiong Naozi You Keng etc…)), I could die a happy man (gender-neutral)—after watching all of these newly released donghua shows and films and seasons, of course ahaha. 🙏

For more news and info on donghua, you can check here:

There’s a bunch of new donghua information in the above document that came from 2024, even though they don’t have official release dates yet! Including but not limited to:

The announcement and PV of Call-Up Girls, based on a baihe manhua

The announcement of a Nirvana in Fire donghua, based on the danmei novel with a famous cdrama adaptation (with the manhua having recently gotten an official English license via Aloha Comics)

Trailer and announcement for 《向火而生》, based on Shui Qian Cheng’s danmei novel Blazing Armour

More announcements for Jing Wei Qing Shang, based on the popular baihe novel

Trailer for The Story of Rong Song, a spin-off of the famous Big Fish and Begonia movie

and many, many more…!

Hope everyone can join me in watching more donghua for 2025!! :D

[shinobus-left-eye]

3D MV Teaser for "Fusion" ft. DI: Verse; Song composed by DECO*27