#shen tunan

[reneacaye]

WoF episode 11, Wei Ruolai went to hospital to see Shen Tunan 💕💕💕

[zhansww]

There’s a fire in your heart... Don’t let that fire burn out.

[daydewdrops]

Why are they lowkey bffs

[yellowrose222]

It's hilarious as well as (B)Romantic

I need to watch the drama again now.

[strawberrylollipop26-blog-blog]

WAR OF FAITH

I finished the show days ago, but life has prevented me from typing up my review like I usually do. There are simply not enough hours in the day and I'm sleep deprived. And I really shouldn't mention my current re-emerging obsession with the Sims. I mean work, read books, play games, and a spouse leaves no room for writing. My first ever novel sitting in the corner rotting in the beginner stages.

ON TO THE REVIEW-Spoilers Run Rampant

When WOF was announced, I was excited and a little bummed out after reading the synopsis. Another topic of disinterest and I have a few. Those include: gangs, drugs, pol!tics and anything similar such as in this case money or more specifically stocks and banking. Do you know what this show is comprised of? 😂 I waited patiently for this show knowing I'd be bored out of my mind. I would try to stay strong for WYB.

Going into the project, I decided to take my time with one episode at a time, but WOF captured my attention right away. The show kicked off with some action which made it exciting before the pol!tics started up and stood in the room.

WYB introduction as Wei Ruolai was very interesting and he was pretty relatable well except for the almost laughable part of Shen Tunan recalling WRL heroic actions during fake fire scenario. He stars as the typical poor character with a big dream; rags to riches story sort of. The one huge difference is WRL is a person who has core values, thoughts, and feelings which end up conflicting with the powers that be in this story specifically the KMT.

I also liked that he's human while being impulsive. Sometimes it works in his favor and other times it doesn't. Such as deciding he wants a weapon and then attacking someone to steal it or being assaulted by prisoners and choosing to become involved with them knowing there was a chance he might hurt even more. Funny thing about this is that I like when he basically tells ST that he's bound to do something crazy again.

Back to the series, The story begins when WRL wounded brother comes to visit him to deliver a final request before his passing. WRL has no issue doing as his brother asks despite knowing there's a large amount of gold involved. Things become even more complicated when he finds out his brother's a communist. (More on this later). He still has no problem doing the delivery as this is his brother's wish. Things devolve when he learns the person who he thought was meant for the delivery is in fact a turncoat that betrayed his brother to the police and caused his death. WRL then betrays him out of revenge. This action is the beginning, but as of now WRL isn't a communist despite many people believing him to have ties to them.

The crux of the story comes in a sort of cascading downward spiral for WRL. It really is one thing after another that happens to him and sends him on his own journey away from mentor ST. Sure Shen Jinzhen, ST's sister, had her own mission of attempting to seduce him to their side, but I always felt WRL stood in the middle of the two. He leaned more towards ST in the beginning, but he was mostly in the middle. If there was any loyalty on the other side, I don't think it would've been very easy for him to have followed his brother's request and worked with the communist at all. The more things started happening and ST started going down a different road than what he expected it was simple enough for him to lean in SJZ direction of communism.

One thing I didn't like was WRL making the decision to join the communist right after a young girl died. This made everything all too cheesy to me. The girl dies and communist come and say she'll be avenged and it was all story book timing. I would've liked WRL to make that crucial choice for himself on his own time with his own mind instead of giving him someone to act as a stepping stone. I see what they were going for, but how many other people were murdered before then. I don't know, this part seemed like coincidental timing and I didn't feel it was strong enough. I think his own convictions would've been enough and possibly more powerful. It comes off as 'my last hero didn't work out so I'm searching for another' instead of him maturing and growing into his own being.

I don’t know how I started writing this whole story. This last part is written weeks after and I want to post it so I’ll do a wrap up.

When I initially wrote this post the show was a one time series for me. Now, I find myself wanting to rewatch the show. The ending action and tension kept me on the edge of my seat. It was a wild turn of events especially for ST. Let me take a second to say that I understood him. I know there was a ton of discourse at the time wondering why he didn’t run to communism right away. I shook my head every time. If history has taught us anything it’s that people will fall on their sword before challenging their convictions. Think about it, there’s a reason people say to avoid politics and religion in casual settings. The series just decided to go for shock factor. Plus imagine working so hard for progress with your own blood, sweat and tears, that’s not easy to throw away. Actually thinking on it now ST and WRL had the same story on opposite ends of the spectrum. The major difference being WRL was an apprentice while ST is a master. He had years of experience working for and against him. I could go on but I’m stopping.😂

To sum up: acting is 10/10. Story is 9.9/10.

[persnickettes]

War of Faith fics!

So @stultiloquentia told me to link my fic here on Tumblr! In truth I've been remiss about sharing my complete War of Faith obsession here, but I am so, so obsessed. This show isn't even stealth m/m romance, as far as I'm concerned, it's just a straightforward BL about these two and their intense smoldering obsession with each other, masquerading as political idealism, but no one here is fooled, I mean look at them look at them

like if you haven't watched show yet you're sleeping on not only one of THE best c-dramas in recent memory, with stellar acting and edge-f-your-seat action and layered writing and intricate direction and absolutely gorgeous production design, but one of the most satisfying queer subtexts of any show ever.

um. which is to say i have been trying very hard to make this fandom happen by way of writing fics in a variety of shapes and sizes, and i haven't linked any of them here yet but if anyone would like to read them, here they are!

All fics are Shen Tunan/Wei Ruolai.

Out of his system. 1,269 words. Just a short scene and a quick bit of shenlai suit kink because i couldn't take their blazing UST anymore. Written after episode 8, which was 5 eps before the show actually gave us canonical shenlai suit kink?!?! This show, I swear. I swear!!!!

Wedding night. 3,385 words. Written after episode 16 and the epic staircase wedding ceremony. Just taking things to the obvious next level.

Ask a Manager: My boss is showing blatant favoritism to my coworker. This is just a silly meme I wrote based on the actual AAM blog before Congyun's longsuffering got kinda sad actually.

of a feather. 5,657 words. Kind of a pre-canon AU that posits spy!handler Shen Tunan, meeting a teen Wei Ruolai. Cue mutual obsession. I was so obsessed with this headcanon, I had to write it.

鵬程萬里. 1,130 words. A sort of stream-of-consciousness ramble from Ruolai's pov on becoming half of an intense soulmate bond, look i didn't say any of this was restrained.

Okay and here finally is an actual fic fic, except not because it started out as just a series of 5+1 sketches and then became a fic in the second half despite my best efforts.

So I guess when I say I've been "writing fic" for this pairing I just mean I've been frantically coughing up loosely formed ideas hoping something sticks and might inspire other people to watch this show and join me in this pit because holy christ this pairing is off the chain— hot, sexy, mutually obsessed, so fucking smart and competent and obsessed with each other's briliance, so completely capable of trading who doms who in the relationship while equally capable of forming a lifetime lifestyle dom/sub partnership, 100% society elite power couple while also rough-and-ready rivals having intense soulmate bond sex in-between trying to fuck each other over for social justice, just an OTP for the ages.

sigh. just. shenlai everyone. SHENLAI.

[lilianhuas]

[pi-ying-xi]

Wen Biao, talking about Tunan not know Jinzhen was red, called him又笨又瞎, but really, his stupidity and blindness comes from trusting untrustworthy people time and again.

Shen Tunan is truly pitiable at this point, poor guy.

Also, petition for Wang Yang to play a character with better judgement if he picks another minguo drama in the future.

[yibocheeks]

Translated excerpts from Wang Yang's interview with "Spotlight on the Legendary Drama" 《神剧亮了》

Did your impression of Yibo change after working with him?

WY: I don't watch a lot of dramas, even for my own dramas, so for Yibo, I had watched his movie, but haven't really followed his other works. But I think everyone knows of Yibo, plus with how handsome he is, I always see him on various ads. So I know of his level of influence. But I had never worked with him in a drama before and I also didn't know what kind of person he was, or what sort of mindset he would have coming into filming. But once we began filming, my first impression of him was quite significant; it was when he was strung up, after being interrogated by Lin Qiaosong. He looked to be in quite an awful state. Once he entered my line of vision and I saw how badly he had been beaten, first, for his makeup to look like that, it was unexpected, to look so tragic. Second, it was a very cold day, it was rainy and chilling. When I arrived on set at nighttime to film the scene, it was already past 8pm. Shanghai was very cold. He wore that shirt and was strung up, and he was there to be a point of focus for me during my scenes, after he had already finished filming his part. I stood there and was looking down upon him, and he would squat there, to help be a point of focus for me to look at. That left a deep impression for me. I don't know if every young actor who has this level of influence would be able to do this much, but on the first day that Yibo met me, he did this. He was covered in blood, wore very little, and squatted there to be a point of focus for me. Even up until the very last scene with Yibo, he would always fulfill this role, he never slacked on this, he would never say, "while Yang-ge is filming, please ask someone else to take this role of being a point of focus for him." Even when I said to him on that first day, "Yibo, you don't need to squat there, you can just stand on the side and say your lines and that would be ok, you don't need to keep squatting," he wouldn't listen and would continue to squat there. Also, when he first started, both Yibo and I are slow to warm up, but since I am his senior and we would have so many scenes together, I was willing to be the one to take the first step. I would always choose a conversation topic to start the conversation between us. I found that after a few days, Yibo would slowly start to open up. Although he is slower to warm up than I am, he is very sincere and would be very sincere in his interactions with me, no matter if it was just day-to-day or while acting. I feel that he is a young person who is both capable and has a good attitude. I think his attitude towards life is also quite impressive. He likes exercise, likes racing cars, likes motorcycles, and likes a lot of sports. When I was speaking with him, I felt that his understanding and knowledge towards these far exceeded me. So I think Yibo is very interesting and is a contender who is quite moving. In the process of making this drama, you could clearly see his growth. From the first day to our last scene together a few months later, he brought Wei Ruolai's character to life, and I was able to see how quickly his acting improved. Yibo is a very capable and zealous young person. I learned a lot from being with him.

When you mentioned that you watched one of his movies, was it One and Only or Hidden Blade?

I didn't watch One and Only, but he did show me some clips before it started playing in theatres, how he was when he was dancing. I watched Hidden Blade. Although it was a Republican era show, Wei Ruolai is still quite different from the character he plays in Hidden Blade. Because of this, you can see how much Yibo has grown, as well as his understanding and interpretation of characters. In Hidden Blade you can see how his character has his morally gray moments, with a slight deranged, perverse and twisted tendency, even obstinate. Although Wei Ruolai can be stubborn, he is not as perverse as the character in Hidden Blade. This is not easy to achieve. Although both characters are dressed in suits, you can see that Yibo is able to convey the characters differently.

Why did Shen Tunan decide to take Wei Ruolai on as a disciple? Was it because even when his life was under threat, he wanted to protect Shen Tunan?

This is the more personal reason. The public reason is because Wei Ruolai is a talent hard to come by. I believe Shen Tunan saw a younger version of himself in Wei Ruolai. He was not only ambitious but also capable. When the more senior Shen Tunan saw this junior Shen Tunan, it was impossible for him not to feel touched. This is the public reason. The more personal reason is that, when a disciple is willing to sacrifice their own life and put up with such cruel punishment and yet still not confess anything, for such a devoted disciple, even if he was not yet officially his disciple, would a mentor not want him to be his disciple, to recruit such a capable person to be by his side (more literally: to recruit his capable general)? Both for public and personal reasons, Shen Tunan making this decision was certain to happen. And when he said to Chief Deng, "One may choose the most advantageous path, but in doing so, one must not forget morality." I believe this is one of Shen Tunan's principles. That he will not forget those important to him in pursuit of personal profit.

Wei Ruolai is willing to sacrifice his life to protect Shen Tunan, what is Shen Tunan willing to give up to protect Wei Ruolai?

I really want to say, if it was in extreme circumstances, if Wei Ruolai's survival, or if the value of his survival was greater than the value of Shen Tunan's survival, then I also believe that Shen Tunan would sacrifice himself, as Wei Ruolai's survival was more valuable. Shen Tunan is someone who is patriotic and wants what's best for the country. If Wei Ruolai, with his strengths and capabilities, is able to help the people, the country, and the state, no matter if it is in Soviet Jiangxi or if it is under the communist regime, then I don't think Shen Tunan would second guess this decision, he would not think, this is just a disciple, how much responsibility would he have to bear, I don't think he would have these thoughts. He is someone who sees the bigger picture and has far-reaching goals and a vision for the future.

If you could only choose between Huang Congyun or Wei Ruolai to invite over for new year's dinner, who would you pick? This is similar to a question you were asked previously, who would you choose to save if both were drowning?

I think sometimes, it's hard for a person to be unbiased or not show preferential treatment, this is just common for human beings. If you ask me this, then my answer is still, I would definitely still ask Wei Ruolai. Especially after having received blood—within Shen Tunan's body there remains a portion of Wei Ruolai's blood—how could he not ask Wei Ruolai to spend the new year's at his home? Or otherwise, would he ask Wei Ruolai to go back to his home in Jiangxi and invite Congyun instead? Why would he do this, right?

In the drinking scene where Ruolai becomes drunk, Shen Tunan carried him home. How many people in Shen Tunan's life does he show this amount of care towards?

I think, other than family, there is only this disciple. Of course, if you bring up Congyun, before Ruolai showed up, if he had gotten drunk on behalf of his mentor for such an important matter, I think Shen Tunan would still carry him, but these were not the circumstances. Wei Ruolai got drunk, so sure, he'll carry him—his own disciple, who is like family. After all, why would there be this serving of tea between mentor and disciple? Although it is not a blood tie, it is similar.

After Shen Tunan carried Wei Ruolai up, what did he discover?

He discovered that the wall was covered with Shen Tunan. The object of Wei Ruolai's interests, including being able to discover Shen Tunan's secret about Kunpeng, this was all the result of Wei Ruolai's efforts. I think in that moment, Shen Tunan was thinking, "This youngster!" But actually, I think he was very happy. As a Central Bank economic advisor, to be so worshipped by a young person, to be studied so closely, it is a very happy thing.

Was it hard to carry Yibo?

Not at all, Yibo is about 60kg or so, so it was not difficult. Also Yibo is quite lean with long limbs, so he was pretty easy to carry. It was just that the stairs in the alley building were too narrow and steep, so it still took some effort. But, although we did a few takes of the scene, it was still feasible, it was not a problem.

When Shen Tunan ended his relationship with Wei Ruolai, and he broke the teacup, was this something you came up with on the spot?

This was something I improvised. The script did not say that I had to throw this, it was a spur of the moment action. When we filmed this, it hit the table with a bang and it scared Ruolai, it startled Yibo. Because I did not tell him, and I also did not think that I would do this. Through the interaction between the two of us, he helped set the tone when he urgently pled his case, and it reached a breaking point. Sometimes when a person gets angry, they will externalize it in some way, and this action was impromptu. I think it came out quite well.

Some people say that Wang Yang's acting is such that he can even bring out the veins on his forehead, have you seen this review?

I don't think this is a marker of whether an actor is good at acting or not. I think, once an actor feels these genuine emotions, when you really get angry, then the veins will come out like that, that's because my feelings were really moved, I became immersed, and entered this character's state of mind. I think this is something a lot of actors do, I don't think it's anything special.

[fallcolorspringrapid]

War of Faith, ep 34.

after everything that has happened since ep 10...

...they are still looking at each other like that.

(and i am rapidly becoming obsessed with wang yang, who put his everything into shen tunan and made some Acting Choices while at it. this man is a treasure.)

[reneacaye]

What if they are in bl series..?💕

[zhansww]

Shen-laoban, you’re spending a fortune.

[daydewdrops]

SecretaryHuang Congyun (War of Faith) Looks Like a Real Life Studio Ghibli Character

I NEED TO SAY THIS but the first time I saw Secretary Huang Congyun I kinda immediately fell in love with him because HE SO FINEEEEE

he literally looks like a real life studio ghibli character DO YOU SEE IT PLEASE TELL ME I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES IT

He's such a cutie idk!! I love his jealous character.. His looks are so ghibli coded

[ranfused4ever]

Even if tunan redeems himself somehow (like if they take the brain thing out of his head) and somehow survives the end of the show and gets back together with Ruolai, all of which seem extremely unlikely, but even in this best case scenario, they're heading straight to WWII 😭

I'm looking forward to all the angsty fanfics.

[r3write-the-stars]

Shen Tunan and Wei Ruolai being in love with each other, a study in gifs

[war-of-faith]

The exchange is changing rapidly. How will everyone strengthen their hearts?

March 20th, 2024

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