#then the twins end up with Qiao Jin

[briebysabs]

Wait I think I connected some dots I think I’m onto smth. What if Vein doesn’t exist in the current timeline? Why?

THE TWINS.

Vein is supposed to kill cxs sometime in s1. What happens this time? LTC possesses Qiao Ling and stabs LG. Which is when everything starts changing. If you think about it, the twins existence changes everything. It’s because ltx dies that ql gets her powers and sees a glimpse of what lg has been up to. And we assumed it was bc lu guang never got this far in the timeline. But what if the twins didn’t exist till now? What if this is the only timeline the twins are born in? It just fate that made their life suck. But see, ltx and cxs both get shot in the tunnel. Only ltx dies so what if she took on cxs’ death node?

What if the twins are the anomaly that is the reason cxs lives this time?

Vein imo is too much of a menace to be around right now. I simply can’t fathom him entering the present story. Vein and LTC also have red eyes tied to their abilities. So what if, in some crazy butterfly effect, Vein is written out of the timeline? And as time/the universe likes to correct itself it gave the twins powers in his place.

And what if LX knows this and he’s telling ltc that there is a timeline where you and your sister never went through all this suffering.

The correct timeline where you were never born.

[mimicha-arts]

Date: 09/10/23 Hm. Some thoughts, details, mostly speculation about ep 10 + things discussed over the last two months, it might be a bit chaotic ~ Don't take it too seriously, feel free to discuss. A lot of thing are open-end speculations, as we don't have too much detail about the lore and Lu Guang.

Spoilers for s2!

Twins - who killed Chen Bin?

I won't dwell too long on the exposition about the twins' abilities -the fandom's collective mind was right, who has what powers, how important physical contact is, why Qian Jing actually wears gloves. Really satisfying thing - twins are really attached to the theme of the “present” and do not physically disappear. May we say that the situation with the photo and the phone is confirmed? That it was Li Tianchen both times (unless there are any time jumps that we are not aware of). The main question, given the unpredictable factor, depends on how spontaneous the plan was. I think the timing is pretty fast, but in pure theory, I understand how everything could happen in such a short moment. Chen Bin was taken in control as soon as his phone conversation with Qian Jin ended. The following time was just enough for Cheng Xiaoshi to come to Lu Guang's room and all the characters discussed the current situation (Now it’s clear why Chen Bin’s behavior was so strange and there was a misunderstanding), at the same time Xiao Ma drove Qian Jin and twins to the hospital.

Xiao Ma left, he was waiting on the roof in advance - Chen Bin (possessed) left the room, went to the roof and gave the phone to Xiao Ma.

So...... Xiao Ma left him alone, and we now "know" for sure that he was not directly involved in his death - the one who threw him off the roof was Li Tianchen... Perhaps not. Yeah, this was the trigger for Li Tianxi - so there is the problem one, even if Li Tianchen was planning something behind Qian Jin's back, he couldn't predict his sister's reaction and that this situation would get out of control. Personally, I kinda think  that this happened to her at exactly this moment,  because she and Chen Bin knew each other personally (If Qian Jin continued to keep in touch with Chen Bin all these years, there is such a chance. Perhaps Chen Bin wanted his child to be a girl also because of Li Tianxi... I'm speculating) But did Li Tianchen really manage to throw Chen Bin off on his own, or did he lose control earlier? Because I think it's the second option, and Xiao Ma returned to the roof - completing what Li Tianchen couldn't do. > I've got the aftermath covered for you.

As I think, in the end the twins didn't kill Chen Bin - Li Tianchen lost control before that happened (which also gives extra time considering the count was in minutes - because Li Tianchen had to be at the hospital in the shortest possible time to pick up the phone from Xiao Ma coming down the stairs). So the real killer was Xiao Ma.

Anything is possible, of course, we will see. Although I still have a question. Did Li Tianchen stop following Li Tianxi because it was his only opportunity to pick up the phone/contact Lu Guang? Or was the spontaneity of the moment not so spontaneous and he had not planned to run after her in the first place? I still don't quite understand Li Tianchen's actions regarding Lu Guang. There is a possibility, based on his sister’s mental abilities, that having possessed Qiao Ling, Li Tianchen already knew about the abilities of both Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang - the questions in s2s1 were nothing more than catching Cheng Xiaoshi in a lie.

It's kinda confusing, but in the end it turned out that Li Tianchen "framed" his sister, because of which Qian Jin does not suspect betrayal from Li Tianchen. I also think about the possibility that Li Tianchen, if he actually killed Zhuang Shuai, he originally knew (through his sister's abilities) the real circumstances between Chen Nan and Zhuang Shuai, and this is what may influence Li Tianchen's real attitude towards Qian Jin all these 7 years. Li Tianchen cares about his sister a lot - it's not just his words, voice, and my own faith in the complexity of his character. Because Li Tianxi ended up in a fairly safe place, in an abandoned area, but it was an old shop that still had groceries and, surprisingly, electricity.

She ran away without her old toy fox. I also think that this is the same toy from her childhood that was sewn up, given the condition of the fox. The only person who could find her and return her fox is Li Tianchen. There is still a lot to be revealed here.

The question remains. Where's the phone? I don’t think that Liu Xiao is in contact with Li Tianchen now, it seems that the promised meeting has not happened yet and Li Tianchen pursues purely his own goals. Obviously it needs to be a safe place, but probably still "visible" and accessible. Still a lot of speculations! Just a though. But what if? Inside the fox toy.

Li Tianxi's drawing - blue ability

The interesting thing is that Tianxi drew Lu Guang. Initially, this seems fine in the context of s1ep11, attack towards Lu Guang, but Qiao Ling or Cheng Xiaoshi were not drawn, and Lu Guang himself had red eyes. Such a thing should not have happened since the original plan in s1e11 was to hurt Lu Guang, not possess him. From the time Lu Guang was injured until Li Tianxi escaped, about 12/13 hours passed, most of which Lu Guang was unconscious, so I can't figure out where is a "window" for possessing. I don't know how to understand this part yet. Unless Li Tianxi simply used Lu Guang as an “example” and did not include any subtext.

Another thing: it is possible that the twins do not perceive the physical pain of the person they are possessing. There was a scene with Xiao Li, who explained that a person, purely technically, cannot strangle themself due to the physical reaction. But, again, I didn’t have that experience, sooo, idk.

In my understanding, Li Tianxi probably did not cry from physical pain, but rather from this entire terrified situation, from what her brother was doing and/or the thoughts of Lu Guang himself.

Since she uses her abilities with Lu Guang's photo to determine his condition, I also have one thought, since I am sure that we still don't know anything about Lu Guang's "real current blue abilities."

Considering that not only photographs have become key moments in the narrative, drawings also play this role, I think it’s time to mention one strange moment that is connected with Lu Guang. I still have a lot of questions about why Lu Guang, closing one eye, used his abilities not on the part with the photo, but on the back part, with the drawing. Was it an animation error, or… Technically, is it possible to use abilities on any images at all? Now that we know abilities aren't tied to photos, yes, in theory.

Anyway. We still don't know how much the "blue" ability can vary - but what if Lu Guang, much like Li Tianxi, can sense a person's "state" in the current, at least whether a person is alive or not, through a photo or image.

Because, well. Let's go back a little. The Doudou's case. Since s1 I've been wondering. Could Lu Guang have known in advance not details, but the simple fact that Doudou was still alive and the case would not lead to a dead end?

Considering Cheng Xiaoshi's mental state, their quarrel, the absolute unpredictability of what could happen to the child that day or later, how could he objectively propose this case without knowing that the child was alive, after these three years? I just find it interesting.

Innate ability - ability to take it away

I also think, we can confidently say, using the example of twins, that abilities must be innate + have a first activation trigger. Can they be activated separately, or must a trigger situation occur for both at the same time? So far it remains unanswered. Twins do not have the ability to take away abilities from others literally, and in fact, Tianchen's words simply meant that he wants, with the help of his sister, possess Cheng Xiaoshi and experience his abilities.

But. Who really knows about the possibility of taking away abilities? Lu, fucking, Guang. Of course, nothing is said directly, but I'm more than sure for now, based on his reaction and response.

Considering that he did not know about the existence of twins, does not suggest in s1 that the killer in theory could be a person with abilities, I will write a rather wild thought. This does not apply to some abstract carriers of abilities, I don't think Lu Guang has ever met other people like himself and Cheng Xiaoshi in the past - so his knowledge that the ability can be taken away - refers specifically to his personal experience and Cheng Xiaoshi. What if the ability to "take away" an ability is not an actual ability, but refers to the death of the ability's bearer?  In fact, to the death of Cheng Xiaoshi in the past.

So if Xiaoshi's death was the moment when Lu Guang "inherited" his abilities and was able to rewind time, could this be pretty interesting? We've never been shown their "overall color coding" as green, although the visual elements very often use green instead of yellow. Also, for Li Tianxi (blue) and Li Tianchen (red) we've seen the purple/magenta visuals a few times already.

Moreover, we already had an interesting implication that Cheng Xiaoshi himself received abilities only after meeting Lu Guang, at the same time (同時). Lu Guang was said to be the bearer of the ability (超能力者）, which somewhat… May imply that Lu Guang already had the ability when they first met in the current timeline. But, again, I'm not sure if it's reliable

I'm not ready to write the entire RGB/CMYK theory right now. I'll have to think about it carefully, but if the parallel realities/rewritten timeline theory will be finally confirmed, mark my words. Let's leave that for the next post, as well as the possible interpretation of his other already shown abilities related to cameras, recording information and sketches-like POV. Anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that Lu Guang’s original color coding is not even yellow, but green, and Cheng Xiaoshi’s is blue.

I have a lot to say, but I think it's best to leave that for another post. Either their abilities were activated due to the power of love in the first place, lol.

Posters Besides Starry, starry night there are some interesting things, but I don't understand them too well. These are my guesses, my understanding is very shallow.

1. One of the poster with 海燕和黑色闪电 refers to the "The Song of the Stormy Petrel", written by Maxim Gorky. Up above the sea's grey flatland, wind is gathering the clouds. In between the sea and clouds proudly soaring the Petrel, reminiscent of black lightning. 2. 春深似海 - spring (love?) is like the ocean, is a chengyu from 兒女英雄傳 (The Gallant Maid), novel by Wen Kang. 3. 声色俱厉 is also a chengyu, stern in voice and countenance. You can check a part of 《語林》 here, what it refers to, I hesitate to take responsibility for conveying the meaning in context, but I found it VERY interesting. Correct me, if I'm wrong! The rest is too blurry for me, maybe I'll come back to it later. XƎTЯOVerthink I made a separate post about this, you can see it here, the episode with the theater/stage is extremely close in essence to what we see in XƎTЯOVerthink. I wonder if we will understand the whole context of the many dead Cheng Xiaoshi just in these two weeks :)

We have so many implications that nothing can be rewritten, and at the same time, time is already broken, and Xiaoshi is being challenged for the second time whether he is ready to rewrite everything just for Lu Guang. The level of this tension is SO noticeable it's terrifying.

Xiaoshi and his abilities I think his actual plan was pretty smart, even if it didn't work out well due to other circumstances - and we're getting into some very dangerous zone where "diving" almost borders on the topic of teleportation, so the use of abilities is more and more closer to the context of the present, not the past.

Personally, I think. that the photo (which Li Tianxi looks at) has nothing to do with this - this photo on the phone was needed specifically for Li Tianxi’s abilities. Considering Xiao Li's phone, they should have used a remote CCTV feed, so that they could create a "save point" and move it around. So, maybe it's not "diving", but like respawn on the same spot.

Technically, Cheng Xiaoshi's abilities are limited to diving into the past - but we don't know this for sure (and what opportunities does he have for “cheating”), since all the information we have comes from Lu Guang, and he's an unreliable narrator. As we remember from episode 2, Lu Guang himself could use his abilities to “view and track” in the present time. Not in the past.

The Tunnel When I did the analysis on Starry Starry Night, it was added that the tunnel scene, if this is the reference for OP, has an obvious feeling - to go on the path to a dream, where the end is ... the end of everything. And now we actually have a tunnel and rails as part of the narrative and the location, amazing.

Time is already dead. I already wrote that in s2 something strange happens with time. Dates are gone, years are gone. Even the twins' files never included a year of birth, although we can calculate it. The moment that made me think that everything was WRONG from the beginning was the Xu Shanshan phone from the previous series. There are no dates anywhere on the phone screens, but our timeline is the end October, maybe the beginning of November. Only her phone still has some dates. And the photos at the bottom are dated as "today", yesterday", and the previous ones… May(五月). And April(四月). Like. Xu Shanshan didn't take pictures for half a year? Doesn't sound right.

But apparently? Time is unimportant. At all.

Because. Everything literally vanished. Year? 0. Month? 0. Day of the week? 0. Hour? 0 Time is truly dead.

Thank you my dear @wrathyforest without you  I don't know if I could take this road ~ I'm pretty sure I'm wrong about a lot of things, so I just keep having fun and playing bingo. I just want to see how wrong I am about everything ~

[muninnhuginn]

Season Two Link Click Thoughts

I've put this below a cut because it gets long, but these are just my assorted thoughts on s2 in general. It's going to be waaaay more opinions than my usual speculationy kinda deal and contains spoilers for all of season two.

I hit character limit on my bullet points so I think that's my cue to leave it at that even though I have more thoughts honestly. I didn't even know that was a thing.

Pacing. I think pretty much everyone can agree that the pacing was... dubious. This series could have easily been shorter or had different meaningful content rather than repeated footage reuse for flashing back and overly extended fight scenes (episode 7? I think it was, was particularly egregious about this). I get there's presumably a fanbase for fight scenes and I won't contest that they were really nicely choreographed, but sometimes it felt like you'd take a break from actual events to spend ten minutes on a fight scene that didn't really... further anything else? I do enjoy recontextualisation and I recognise that that does require reusing some aspects of footage rather than entirely reanimating scenes when there's no need to, but at the same time, this is a series that is lowkey set up for binging. Flashing back so frequently when it's a series specifically engineered to make you binge it (hi constant cliffhangers) seems an odd recipe. I almost wonder how much of this was for production reasons, though maybe I'm overreaching here.

Linked to this is the overuse of cliffhangers. Season 1 had some cliffhangers, yeah, but it at least had breaks between arcs and more importantly, didn't repeatedly move the chronology of scenes purely to service an artificial cliffhanger.

Art and animation was mostly very nice. There were two episodes that did suffer art-wise (episodes three and eleven) with various off-model faces, but for the most part it was all pretty solid and I don't have any complaints about the animation. My favourite part of the art is still the almost rainbow outlines you get around objects. It made scenes like the Lu Guang speedboat one look gorgeous with the lights and colour on the water.

Mystery. Okay, so for all my qualms I genuinely think the mystery aspects were almost perfect. There were a couple of places I feel they somewhat 'cheated' but otherwise (the twin with the photo in the hospital doorway looking like tianxi in a close up shot. and then cxs/wj acting possessed in ep 6 but having their eyes appear normal at first and only having them changed the next episode. I'm fine with false negatives on the eyes when the audience isn't yet cued in on a possession, but in this case it looked like they were possessed up until the eyes showed otherwise)? Everything made total sense and tied together by the end. Even going into episode 12 we had a couple of gaps in scenes in Chen Bin and Liu Lan's death that I think it would be incredibly easy to overlook considering we "knew" what happened in them, but the hints were there in both cases that there was more to it and those hints paid off. Even Liu Xiao's identity worked just fine without the hat guy visual. All the hints were there about a younger favoured brother of the Liu family, Li Tianchen's new friend being a rich "Master Liu", him being abroad studying but stated as "soon to return" (which he then did). There are so many threads and they all tied together by the end such that even if I didn't always agree with the delivery, I do think this season is worthy of being called an excellent mystery.

Characters. So, okay, we introduced a whole host of new characters this time which was a choice. This sorta worked sorta didn't. The arcs of Qian Jin and the twins all tied together thematically and episode 9 was pretty explicit drawing the parallels together. However, we had characters like Qiao Ling not getting much new material at all despite a hopeful start with her scene about "wanting to be trusted".

Unfortunate implications (my head automatically goes to TV Tropes with this :V). Mainly surrounding the use of female characters as devices to propel the male characters. LTX is the most obvious instance (I shouldn't have to explain why), but Wang Juan was also treated as though she would be important and then largely shunted off to apply more pressure to XL; Liu Min's mum taking the hysterical role. On their own they may not be too bad, but I guess it's that it's combined with the stuff around Emma from s1 where the big 'twist' in the finale is killing her once there's a hope spot, and also added to how the mother in the Doudou episode is the one who's reverted to a younger age, whilst the dad is exhausted. Just a whole load of stuff that individually on their own don't necessarily mean anything but when put together forms a pattern I'm not super comfortable with? I do get the impression that show is well-meaning in terms of this stuff (QJ and LF especially point that way) but feel like it still fell down in a few places and could have done better with these aspects.

Lu Guang going back to save CXS confirmed. Admittedly I am incredibly biased to this type of plot, but I'm so glad they confirmed it. We haven't been given many specifics around when he went back from/to and I imagine we'll get more next season so I'm holding off judgement on all that for now (the paradox implications have me a bit worried but until we know more about the mechanics I can't judge). That said, I really liked the scene where it was comfirmed (the darkened shot of Lu Guang covered in blood my beloved) and am thinking that Qiao Ling having knowledge of Lu Guang's memories will mean she has to play a bigger role next season. There's no point in giving her that knowledge if it won't go somewhere. Relatedly, it seems like dying does pass on the powers and that's how we got LTX->QL and CXS->LG. It doesn't seem like Qiao Ling fully realises though if she has got Tianxi's powers (and it's been two months), but I suppose it's not exactly something you *would* realise if you didn't know what you were looking for or had previous experience with these powers.

I do genuinely think that this season was a case where the new characters were written around the existing ideas of the story and the themes which means they're interesting to analyse but I didn't feel like moments hit anywhere near as emotionally as season one? I think the parts where season two was able to approach season one's level of emotion were mainly around the twin's backstories. Meanwhile Qian Jin and Xiao Li's whole deal is interesting in theory but in practice I didn't have much reason to care for Xiao Li. Suffering to make the audience empathise only really "works" if there's more beyond that.

Lu Guang-Li Tianchen parallels make me sad. There are plenty of similarities in how they treat CXS and LTX respectively but I keep thinking of how their final choice in s2 is to either commit to preserving the past (Lu Guang with CXS) or to let go of the past (Li Tianchen with LTX and his mum). And how typically, clinging to the past is seen as a bad thing and letting it go a good thing. But in this case it's almost the opposite? I'm not saying it's healthy for Lu Guang to deny Cheng Xiaoshi's death, but I do think the story will eventually align behind him on this choice. And I think that Li Tianchen leaving the past behind in this case is more about trying to forget his trauma and in the process just digging himself deeper, deliberately choosing to forget the very person he fought to protect.

General s3 spec (keeping it brief). Li Tianchen confirmed that he obtained Liu Min's phone for Liu Xiao and it has info on it Liu Xiao needs but we still don't know what's on it beyond Qian Jin's comment about "family secrets". In terms of Liu Xiao himself, he didn't get much airtime but what he did have he made count. He mentioned about wanting to make "uncertainties into certainties" and the idea that there are "parallel lines". This pretty much sets him up against Lu Guang in terms of aim and seems to suggest our understanding of time travel mechanics is about to get a serious update next season. Also, the new "paranormal section of the police force" seems incredibly pointed. I don't really want it to get a huge focus honestly but with the way the scope has widened each season I don't think I'll get my wish.

[coffeestainedcamera]

So, had COVID last weekend! Good times all around, totally was not in any condition to follow anything complicated. But since I'm reasonably close to alive again, just going to dump s2 ep 9 and 10 together here at this point lol Spoilers follow.

Ep 9 is definitely pretty interesting from stylistic perspective. Normally, a sequence in monochrome turning bright and colorful almost feels like a cheesy way to signify one's gray life taking on meaning and some cheer. But the narrator is unreliable and to me, feels like a mirror to the twins' dad. And then there's the establishment of this episode's pattern of laughter as a form of expression of aggression, not cheer.

Do we know if Qian Jin's wife was cheating on him? Hell if I know, he's an unreliable narrator anyway. But then again, a guy who weaponizes some traumatized psychic kids he found at an apartment with a DV incident that ended badly isn't striking me as a good guy. So, yeah, my personal view is that he's an equivalent of the twins' dad. Sees cheating from absolutely nothing and views himself as the tired nice guy.

It was thus pretty disturbing to see a sequence from his POV turn bright and colorful. Really drives home that he sees these kids as a way to drive his revenge forward. It's also pretty obvious that he's the hunter in the fairytale sequence. He gives Tian Chen an idea to use his powers to take revenge, so he's the guy handing out a bow and an arrow. The gossiping birds being stand-ins for neighbors felt obvious, but I wasn't fully expecting the neighbor who called it in to be one of the gossipers. But so very exploitable for a certain nepo baby of a certain game executive, no?

Wonder why the neighbor was Enemy Number One. It feels a teeny bit convenient that he's simultaneously apparently the alleged ring leader and such an easy target.

Definitely did not expect Tian Chen to be using Xixi for revenge like that. Possessing her to steal her super empathy power somehow felt much more disturbing than my initial theory of him just being able to absorb powers.

Anyways, ep 10 nearly ended me. Not just with that bit of horror but you know. Its ending. I knew not to get my hopes up, given the Romeo and Juliet references! And yet I still expected that maybe with this insight provided by Xixi, maybe it was going to work out? But then again, maybe Lu Guang and Qiao Liang survived the explosion. No bodies, so shouldn't expect confirmed character death in movies!

Or I could be on copium. Maybe we'll spend the entire next season on Cheng Xiaoshi obsessively trying to prevent his friends' deaths after strong implications of Lu Guang trying hard to save him. Maybe given the whole talk of death being inevitable, the timeline could be insisting on either offing him or Lu Guang. What if this is what the imagery of the opening and ending were building up to?

Ending referenced that one movie where the protagonist built a time machine to try to save his wife. Opening has imagery of Cheng Xiaoshi reaching but never quite catching. Hell, there was glass when he was trying to catch Lu Guang. I thought this might have been the case but definitely was side-stepping the implications for as long as possible ngl.

Also, I'd have laughed about my spitball guess of the studio promo photos coming back as a chekhov's gun being correct. But that was a pretty serious scene.

[weiwuxiian]

A reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve of the Chinese New Years, during which family members get together to celebrate. It is often considered the most important get-together meal of the entire year.  - wikipedia

Family Reunion Dinner 

I just really wanted to write this because I adore Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian’s relationship so much but they get swept under the rug and underappreciated so often. It was supposed to be a mini drabble but ended up becoming a one-shot cries.

     For 16 years, Jiang Cheng celebrated his reunion dinner alone.

     For 16 years, only one set of utensil sat on the dining table in Lotus Pier.

     In the past, laughter and people filled the hall. Familiar voices filled in every corner of the Lotus Pier, whether it was Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu bickering over something as trivial as the decorations that hung all over their home, or whether it was Wei Wuxian and himself squabbling over who ate the last piece of pork rib that Jiang Yanli had cooked. Having the place so crowded was always a good sign, a sign that people he loved and cared about were there, that everyone was alive and well. Such was the purpose of a family reunion dinner in the first place---to come home and sit in unison on the table and share a meal, to put grudges that lingered in the past year behind them, in order to begin a new one.

     It’s been so long since such a sight happened at Lotus Pier that Jiang Cheng had practically forgotten how it felt to be accompanied. To not be alone. But 16 years was no short amount of time, and the young Sect Leader had been through too much, weathered through too many storms and violent waves in the last decade to sustain that memory.

     Lotus Pier has suffered and lived through dark times, but the aftermath was what mattered. The aftermath caused more destruction to its inhabitants than the place itself. So what? If he managed to rebuild his father’s legacy and raise a new batch of disciples, restoring the Yunmeng Jiang to its former glory. So what? If he was only 17 at that time, a young boy with no family, no supporters, no friends to help him. So what? If the Yunmeng Jiang of today had been all his hard work, acknowledged by the people of Lotus Pier, his name spiraled to the top of the Cultivator’s world and widely heralded to be a formidable young man. So what? So what? So what?

     Some things only he knew could not be restored, that was lost forever. The arduous climb towards the stairway was a feat he hadn’t managed easily without the only family he has left.

     You said that once I became Sect Leader, you would serve me forever! You said you would never betray our family. Gusu Lan will have its twin Jades, Yunmeng Jiang will have its two Prides. Tell me, whose words were these?!

     I broke my promise. I’m sorry.

     16 years. He had waited 16 years to hear those words. From the only person he wanted to hear it from, ‘I’m sorry’. Jiang Cheng raises his hand to inspect his own palm, noting the rough lines over his skin, proof of what they have been through in those 16 years. Was it worth it, Jiang Wanyin? Was it worth it to wait 16 years for two simple words?

     Of course, it was worth it. He had known Wei Ying for practically half his life. And that was the first time he heard Wei Ying utter those words. Anyone who knew Wei Wuxian knew he did not use the words ‘Thank you’ and ‘Sorry’ liberally.

    But he hadn’t truly thought what to do next. Admittedly, he hadn’t thought so far.

    So he apologized. What will you do now, Jiang Wanyin? Will you forgive him? Will you continue to hate him? Will you welcome him back to Lotus Pier?

     Entering the hall, his gaze passes the solemn, familiar atmosphere of Lotus Pier. Lotus Pier was like a ghost town since it's rebuilt. Even though Jiang Cheng had made sure that every wall, every brick, every ornament were the same as before. Some things weren’t meant to come back.

     Lifting his robe aside, he sat on the dining table. It was too large for a single person, but Jiang Cheng insists that it would be the same one as it was before. His hands smother over the marble surface, picking up his pair of chopsticks, he reaches to tap it against his plate, fuming over why there were no dishes on the table yet, until, he notices another set of utensils opposite to his. Jiang Cheng waves for his servants.

      ❝Qiao Qiao, are we expecting guests?❞

     He frowns when she shook her head.

      ❝Jin Ling will be having his reunion dinner at Lanling Jin, no?❞ he points at the other set of dining utensils.  ❝Then who are those for?❞

     Qiao Qiao shook her head again. Her whole body shivered when Jiang Cheng rose from his seat. But instead of scolding her, he sighs before leaving for the kitchen to ask someone else.

    The smell of food filled his nostrils even before he arrived by the door. Jiang Cheng waves a hand in front of his nose, eyebrows pressed into a disturbed frown. Who the hell is cooking with such a heavy smell? The Jiang Sect Leader considered his taste for food to be marginally moderate - he didn’t favour the tasteless food they could find in Gusu, but he also didn’t appreciate the abnormally heavy flavour of food that Wei Wuxian was so fond of.

     He was ready to slam the door open and shout at the cook when the door suddenly opens itself from the other side. Jiang Cheng practically tripped trying to assert his force on thin air.

      ❝What the hell----❞

      ❝Jiang Cheng! Jiang Cheng, you are back early!❞

      ❝...?❞ The Jiang Sect Leader looks up, taking in an unfamiliar sight. His face was different - Mo Xuanyu was looking back at him. Every feature and trait embedded on that young face was a replication of Jin Guangshan. But his smile, and the knowing look in eyes, were the same as the one he grew up with.  ❝Y-You...❞

     ❝Me, me, me, me... Me what? Hahahahaha. I am back is what it is.❞ Wei Ying’s smiling eyes look back at him.

     Jiang Cheng knew those eyes. Knew that he hated them. Knew that Wei Ying always had to be the hero, that he couldn’t just stop and force himself to watch. In the past, he’d tried to stop him, stop him from ruining his life, his future, stop him from saving people he thought and believed were innocent. In the past, their relationship didn’t end well because of that. And this time-- 

     Wei Ying notices this.  ❝Jiang Ch--- Jiang Wanyin, I may be gone for a while, but I haven’t forgotten today is the New Year’s Eve.❞ he says,  ❝16 long years, were all your family reunion dinners like this?❞

     Alone, he means. And this is precisely why Jiang Cheng hated him. Wei Ying presses on all his buttons the moment he opens his mouth.

    But before Jiang Cheng could respond, Wei Ying added:  ❝This year, would you like it to be different?❞

     Is this why there were two sets of dining utensil in the hall?

      ❝....❞

      ❝Two is better than one. You don’t have to talk to yourself. You can talk to me.❞

      ❝...❞

      ❝...But if you dislike it, I can leave.❞

      Jiang Cheng rises to his feet and, without a word, he pulls Wei Ying into a hug.  ❝Leave what? You idiot. It’s only been 16 years, and you are too stuck up now to call Lotus Pier your home? With that annoying attitude of yours, no other Sects would want you!❞

     Hearing this, a laughing Wei Ying returns his hug, pulling Jiang Cheng close into his arms.  ❝Hahahahahahaha... I know the moment I met Jin Ling, that you never changed at all! You rebuild Lotus Pier exactly like the old one, it wasn’t even difficult for me to slip in through the holes in the walls without your servants knowing. Hahahahahaha...❞

     At that moment, Jiang Cheng didn’t know whether to punch him in the face or cover his mouth. The laugh was as annoying as it made him sentimental.  ❝Wei Wuxian,❞ Jiang Cheng’s arms around him tighten,  ❝I’ve waited a long time. A really long time...❞ for you to come home.

      ❝Haha...❞ Wei Ying responded, soothing his back reassuringly, ❝then, don’t wait anymore.❞         

[swordsandrayguns]

Demi-Gods And Semi-Devils (2003 CCTV) Review

Let me start this review by stating I have never had the opportunity to read the Louis Cha (aka Jin Yong) novel Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. There is no English translation. My ability to read Chinese is simply not good enough to tackle a novel. To be honest, it never has been and I have let my skills slide to the point where I doubt I could get through a newspaper article. I know there are probably “fan translations” out there but I avoid these things. Arguments about “popularizing the genre by making classics available to more audiences” versus ��it is not your intellectual property” aside, translating a novel, let alone a complicated wuxia novel, is not something to be crowdsourced by amateurs. One of my teachers translated English language books into Chinese for a living and I know how much effort went into his work. He concentrated on one popular, mainstream American writer and was the official Chinese translator for all the author’s work. He was very concerned with keeping the author’s original style and rhythms as intact as possible even while moving from American English into written Chinese. As a reader, I want to experience a single translator’s attempt to recreate the original text.

Since so many classic wuxia novels are unavailable to me, television series based on the novels are the best way for me to enjoy the stories. I have seen many movies based on wuxia novels and I know they are cutting out a great deal. For example, my translated copy of The Deer and The Cauldron is over 1500 pages. The story is split into two Royal Tramp films that total just over three hours of running time. Don’t get me wrong, they are great movies but that ends up being about 8 seconds of screen time for every page so you know something is getting cut out!

There have been at least three films based on Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, the most famous in American probably being the 1977 Shaw Brothers movie The Battle Wizard. Proving my point about film adaptations, it pretty much concentrates on one of the story’s triad of main characters. It has been a while since I have seen it, but I am pretty sure it runs short of an hour and a half! On the television side there have been a few versions of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils with another production announced. I decided to watch the 2003 series originally produced for Mainland China’s CCTV because it was available on Amazon Prime in Mandarin with English subtitles. 

Before I jump into the show, let me talk about the Amazon Prime presentation. By and large it is pretty good and seems to be taken from the DVD release. Although the show often gets beyond my current ear for Mandarin, what I could follow seemed to be reflected correctly in the subtitles (which is not always the case) although signs, book titles and other writings are generally not translated. None of the credits are translated, either, but you can figure out the cast with the help of Wikipedia and IMDB if that is important to you. Somewhere about the halfway point of the 40 episode series the closing theme disappears from the show’s end titles. It does not affect the story, but it is a little strange. 

The one issue with the Amazon Prime presentation, and it is a big one, is Episode 31 is unavailable. There does not seem to be a reason for it. You can not even purchase or rent the episode from Amazon Prime; it is simply missing. Worse yet, even though the story is spread out over 40 episodes, every episode propels the plot forward. You can find the missing episode on the Internet. I hate to admit it, but I went to YouTube for the missing episode. I feel guilty about it because I hate intellectual property theft, but I gave in to the temptation after I could not find a DVD copy of the series on Amazon or Yes Asia, my usually Chinese language TV hook up. And, yes, that is a spoiler alert: I was and am interested in owning the series. One other thing about finding Episode 31 on YouTube: it was a different translation so characters had different names, which added annoyance to my guilt!

The show itself is really well done. I am not sure if it follows the same storytelling paths as the book, but it presents the stories of naive prince Duan Yu, kung fu master Qiao Feng of the Beggars Sect and Shaolin monk Xuzhu in an engaging and compelling manner as they unravel the mysteries of their lives, search for love and eventually find a common foe. If I have any complaint it would be Xuzhu seems to be short-changed by the series, although this may simply well reflect the narrative presented in the book. Either way, the story is engaging, compelling and (like any good Louis Cha story) complicated! It is, at its core, a martial arts adventure with a good deal of soap opera romance thrown in. Not enough to convince my wife to watch it, but she does not like subtitles!

Like most, if not all, of Louis Cha’s other books Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils was serialized first in newspapers and later released as a novel. In a bit of fan service, the novel actually has a different ending for Duan You than the original newspaper serialization. I will not reveal which ending the producers chose for this television series!

The series is almost 20 years old, but all in all I think the production values hold up rather well. My guess is this was a pretty expensive series for the time, especially compared to the typical Mainland television (or even film) production. The CGI does not compare to something like The CW’s DC superhero shows but it is also from 2003. It is not seamless, but it is serviceable. They actually make good use of CGI to create various internal energy attacks and are not shy about using physical effects for many of the wounds and gore. There are two heavily scarred characters in the series and the make up effects for one of them (he is on crutches) are actually pretty good. A character with a burned face has less effective make up, but I have seen worse. The fight choreography (and let’s face it: that is the important thing) is well done but leans heavily towards powerful masters blasting each other with esoteric qi attacks. Do not expect the physicality of a Liu Kar-Leung (Liu Chia-Liang) style of choreography but it does not quite get to the wire excesses from a ‘90s Tsui Hark film, either.

I know I have never seen this series before, I am 100% sure of that, but parts of it did seem strangely familiar. A sub-plot involving a corrupt Tibetan monk struck me as something I had seen, and I recognized the monk as his costuming as something I had seen. I am wondering if episodes of it were not reedited and packaged as direct to video “movies” offered up for rental in DVD shops aimed at the Chinese-American community a few years back. If so, I did not find any mention of it on the Internet but it really would not surprise me. 

Before I wrap this up, let me take just a minute or two to talk about the cast. Taiwanese born Mandopop star Jimmy Lin portrays Duan Yu, who I would argue is the anchor of the story. He brings a wide eyed, boyish charm to the character that keeps him believably naive without be annoyingly cartoonish. Veteran mainland actor Hu Jun takes the role of Qiao Feng and does an admirable job carrying the quiet anger of the character throughout the series. The triumvirate of heroes is rounded out by Gao Hu as monk Xuzhu. I have no complaint with his performance other than, as I mentioned earlier, I felt as if Xuzhu did not get equal time with the other two and felt a bit flat in comparison. Ji Chunhua fills the role of the leader of the Four Evils and will be a familiar “bad guy” to many martial art movie fans as he as appeared in Shaolin Temple, Fong Sai Yuk II and many other films. You know that bald, scary poison soaked bad guy in New Legend of Shaolin? That’s him. Christy Chung, from Love On Delivery and God of Cookery with Stephen Chow and The Bodyguard From Beijing and Twin Warriors with Jet Li, makes an appearance in several episodes as well. This series also includes a large part for Liu Yifei, one of her fist big roles, who is currently starring in Disney’s live action Mulan.

To summarize it all, I can not promise you the 2003 CCTV production of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is a faithful representation of the original novel. I can tell you it stands a head and shoulders above any film based on the novel that I have seen. If you need a new series to binge watch and have a love of the complicated, martial arts fueled plots of wuxia novels you will not go wrong giving this series a try.

[muninnhuginn]

Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi timeline

This is my attempt to piece together what I think the most likely chain of events is regarding the twins from the evidence we have as of season two episode nine.

X years prior to present day

Li Tianchen meets Liu Xiao at the fountain. Liu Xiao says that you have to really gun for what you want. He speaks of how the world is a "jungle" and only a few can evolve and become "hunters", else they must be prey. Li Tianchen internalises this.

Seven years prior to present day

Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi live with their parents. Their father (Li Fan) hears rumours of their mother (Liu Lan) cheating on him (rumours which their neighbour stoked - he's one of the rumour birds in ep 9) and uses it as an excuse to physically abuse her and threaten them all with a hammer when they try to help her. Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi flee to the other room. At this point, Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi are touching each other (but not Liu Lan) and Li Tianxi is clutching the photograph taken earlier that day. It appears as though Liu Lan (possessed) takes the hammer and approaches Li Fan but we don't get to see the full scene before CXS is thrown out of the dive and there is no knife involved at this stage. When we return, Liu Lan is dead by knife and Li Fan by hammer. Li Tianchen later claims to Qian Jin that he killed both of them. However, we haven't seen what actually happened and Tianxi's later retelling has a flashback of Liu Lan apologising to her which must happen sometime in the blanked out scene.

The twins meets Qian Jin at the site of the crime scene, who takes them both on board and modifies the police files relating to their case. The twins have their police files erased and vanish and Qian Jin quits the force.

Y months prior to the current day

We next see Tianchen and Qian Jin at a meeting with Liu Min. This appears to be several years later as Tianchen seems much older. Liu Min says Qian Jin has already helped "resolve matters with that woman" (I do think he literally means in a lawyerly way in retrospect rather than a murdery way, especially when QJ's first response to him asking to take care of the online attacks is to say "I'll send them letters".). As Liu Min has use of his legs at this point, this places this scene at prior to season one episode one and so months before season two.

Liu Min is asking QJ and Tianchen to target his "haters", that is, those who talk badly of him or spread rumours about him online, and his first target is Tianchen's former neighbour. It seems that the neighbour hasn't changed his rumour-spreading ways. Tianchen laughs.

Chronologically alongside and after season one episode one

Liu Min tries to threaten Emma after the games company news breaks and his embezzled money is at risk. It gets out of hand and he ends up with a crashed car and paralysed legs. Emma heads to the bridge, intending to commit suicide, but is stopped by Cheng Xiaoshi. Emma is then possessed via photo by one of the twins and leaps to her death, Cheng Xiaoshi as the only "witness". (The story currently wants us to place this as Li Tianchen doing the possessing and given red eyes speaks this does make most sense but I'm keeping my options open. Tianchen's powers at least include touch possession though and we saw him receive Chen Bin's photo not long before his potential possession.)

End of season one/start of season two

Possessed Liu Min abducts Xu Shanshan and is invited to CXS's "game" the next day. When they show at the photo shop they're trapped in the developing room where they mention that they were "only an agent" (because they were carrying out the killings on behalf of someone else?) and that they would never kill "innocents". Once CXS reveals this was all a trap to get a confession, red eyes then retreats from Liu Min. Liu Min is taken into police custody.

Later that day, when CXS jumps back to try and save Emma, Qiao Ling is possessed and stabs Lu Guang. When CXS returns, possessed QL claims that CXS "cheated" in their game and lets slip that CXS's powers "also" involve photos, with the "also" having heavy implications.

Liu Min is possessed again and made to commit suicide. It's unclear in which order Lu Guang's stabbing and Liu Min's "suicide" happen and whether they occur simultaneously or not.

Happening chronologically alongside season two episode two

Qian Jin retrieves a photo of Chen Bin and passes it on to Li Tianchen.

Chen Bin is (potentially) possessed, confiscates Liu Min's phone and passes it off to Xiao Ma (Qian Jin's lackey). He then falls from top of the hospital building. (Note: Tianxi's telling of her backstory shows a shot of Chen Bin apologising and crying. It could technically have taken place at any time, but it makes most sense it fits here)

One of the twins at the staircase asks Xiao Ma for Liu Min's phone. They don't speak and even though at a glance the fringe seems to resemble Li Tianchen's it seems to make more sense at this stage for this to be Li Tianxi. This occurs chronologically before the scene in the next paragraph as Xiao Ma is confronting CXS and QL when LG tries to leave his hospital room and is arrested immediately following the confrontation.

Lu Guang tries to leave the room and receives a photo from what appears to be Li Tianxi. This has a photo of Liu Lan and Li Tianxi on the front and the back says about not wanting to lose a good brother, with a childish doodle next to it. The Tianxi delivering the photo wears a blue jacket and a mask which appears to match with the twin on the staircase.

Season two episode four

A few days appear to have passed since episode two as Chen Bin's funeral has now taken place.

Qian Jin speaks to Xiao Ma and realises that one of the twins took Liu Min's phone. (He updates Liu Jing on this after the funeral though he may have known of it before). Given Tianchen and Qian Jin appear to still be in cahoots as of s2e9, this points to it being Li Tianxi who intercepted the phone.

"Li Tianxi" phones Qian Jin. QJ asks "have you found him?" (I'm using Funi subs here so can't confirm but about 90% sure it was translated like this because the Chinese subs used 'ta' (他) which does mean 'he' but sounds identical to 'ta' (她) which means 'she'. In other words, it could just as easily be "have you found her?" and the og subs used the male 'ta' for ambiguity) Qian Jin comments that this (plan) is "pretty risky" but so long as it's carried out before the police realise it should work. Most likely this is Li Tianchen disguised as Li Tianxi soon to walk straight into a police station. This Tianxi is wearing the pink hoodie as far as I can tell.

This all implies that Li Tianxi is "missing" already and when this is put together with the hospital scenes in episode two, she likely went awol back then or not long after. Li Tianxi fled wearing a school uniform rather than the hoodie of the hospital scenes and it is in this that she is later found.

Qian Jin and Li Tianchen discuss the specifics of Li Tianchen's escape from the police station beforehand. Qian Jin lays out all the instructions of the plan so Tianchen just has to follow them and retrieve CXS.

"Li Tianxi" shows up at the police station and asks for CXS.

Season two episodes six to eight

Tianchen-as-Tianxi uses CXS's sympathies to get him to touch him whereupon he possesses him. He then also possesses Wang Juan and together they leave the police station. Tianchen makes it to the docks but isn't able to take CXS. Instead, LG is taken himself.

Miscellaneous notes

Clothing-wise, in s2, we appear to have Li Tianxi wearing a blue hoodie and a mask at first during the hospital scenes and then later a school uniform when she decides to flee. This is copying Li Tianchen's outfit in the meeting with Liu Min (and his general colour scheme prior to that).

Li Tianchen wears a pink hoodie and when disguised as Li Tianxi he also adds a mask and wig.

In both cases I suspect the mask is used to obscure their identity. Tianxi retrieved the phone as Tianchen and Tianchen infiltrated the police station as Tianxi.

Whilst this layout of events places Liu Min's phone with Tianxi, at the time she is taken into police custody she no longer appears to have it. It may be hidden somewhere important to her or in the place she was found.

I can't place exactly when Li Tianchen meets Liu Xiao again, but am reasonably sure the chronology in the episode is accurate here and it's before LTC meets Liu Min for the first time. Liu Xiao said that LTC would have opportunities to "hunt" in the near future and there Liu Min was. Also, we know that Liu Xiao was studying abroad around the time of the present timeline so it has to have occurred before then (from the 'will we meet again' and 'it's almost time' I'm tempted to say this scene is just before LX leaves for abroad honestly).

Also, LX says the difference between a 'hunter' and a 'beast' is that a hunter hunts even when not hungry - this is where the scales get tipped from self-defence to actively killing - it's an important mental shift for LTC.