#they also tried to do a big omg he’s beautiful moment by putting lin in *checks notes* the exact same style he’s been wearing the whole time

[lurkingshan]

Sunset x Vibes: Surprise! The protagonist is a liar and has also been secretly rich this whole time.

Also Sunset x Vibes: No, it doesn’t affect anything in the story why do you ask

[dreamofragtime]

I did it, guys! THE WEDDING!

That’s Edward’s wedding…but the only thing I can think about is just LOOK AT THEM!!

“Are you ready for this?” I AMMMM!!!!

Jean underlying to Susan the surprise of being invited...she has this talent of saying what she’s thinking with such conviction but without being unpleasant... I just adore her!

Patrick ‘s speech and the not so subtle remarks toward Edward, I wouldn’t expect any less from him. He’s always been very objective, I think even with his own son. He’s protected him enough, now it’s time he takes his own responsibilities.

Lucien wants to leave...let’s face it, who would want to be there? At the wedding of someone who’s hurt you and your family so much and so recently nonetheless?

Oh great...a fight at a wedding...now they can leave! Thank god!

Look at Lucien being so very attentive and taking Jean’s hand and asking her to be careful because there’s glass all over  the floor

OMG Edward’s dead! I didn’t expect that!

In the meantime Lucien’s aunt has a favour to ask, but he doesn’t seem very inclined to help her found her niece...”I’m dying”, she says and Lucien’s face speaks for him...he cannot refuse her, can he now? Because he can be reckless, but he has a heart of gold.

Wow there’s a flash back! I love this! Aww Lucien, poor boy...“that’s enough” my heart is broken

Great now, he’s obviously going to the crime scene even though he’s not the police surgeon, anymore. Do we care about it? No, because let’s face it he’s the one who will solve the case!

Hahahah the famous Dr. Wallace...well, Lucien was right what an incompetent !  Matthew’s face, though when he asks about the cause of death...

Searching in a fountain full of blood...typical Lucien!

Dr Wallace and Alice at the morgue. She is behaving just like we would expect her to do with Dr Blake but the new police surgeon calls her “Miss Harvey” ...how dare he! .... “it’s Dr Harvey”...I love this woman!

Patrick asking Lucien for help and discussing his son’s murder was bittersweet...I couldn’t understand his character at first, now I’ve come to appreciate him.

Matthew defending Alice so fiercely and giving  apiece of his mind to Dr Wallace...great scene!

In the kitchen Jean and Rose are talking about her children and the wedding... I want to give Jean a big hug, right now!

Aww look at the lovebirds planning  to go to  Melbourne for wedding shopping ...I can hardly wait!

Lucien is so sweet...he wants to stay at the bridal shop with her...“it’s bad luck” and we wouldn’t want anything to happen before the wedding... thank you very much! Now Lucien go!

The shop assistant referring to Jean as “The mother of the bride”...what?! thank your lucky stars that Lucien is not there to hear you!

Ohhh look who’s back! Danny! (can he call the Doc “uncle Lucien” just once? please!)

Jean chastising Lucien for not having checked Catherine’s address...she knows how to get his attention, though and I had the time of my life!

Wherever he goes he finds a dead body and he almost breaks his neck in the process..obviously!

Lucien being reinstated as police surgeon..that was Patrick’s doing, wasn’t it?

Patrick and Jean talking in the sunroom...I enjoy their conversations. He thinks so very highly of her and of Lucien, too probably (even if he doesn’t want to admit it) “you deserve to be happy!”  My heart!..... “we need these triumphs”...yes Patrick, thank you for saying it! We do! They’ve waited for so long!

So now after the rather unpleasant chat at the pub with the father of the bride he’s being followed...that was scary, eh?

What?! Another dead body? Mr Dunne and it cannot be Patrick’s fault...ohh poor Cec, he’s in shock!

And now Patrick is in jail..what an annoying lawyer and Bill has definitely improved his skills..not only his fists for once!

Lucien pleading Patrick to rest and talk to his wife (Lucien is definitely getting better at this...I hope he’ll do the same with Jean) ohh Patrick the dialogue “sooner or later we all just become our fathers”, the look on Lucien’s face...goosebumps!

And Lucien going home and taking that clock from the chest...I love these flash backs, even though they are  so heartbreaking (probably that’s why I like them)...poor little boy! He wasn’t even allowed a last hug to his father...how awful is that?! And later at the Colonists’ Club with aunt Dorothy talking about his father’s past and how their family had disapproved of Genevieve and later how they tried to make amends, but the betrayal was already too much for Thomas...

Lucien’s insecurities come to the surface, finally in his brief exchange with Matthew...“what if I don’t deserve her?”. He’s definitely putting her first, her needs, her dreams, her desires, what if he isn’t capable of being what/whom she deserves? She is the most important thing to him, now and he wants to be the right man for her. As Matthew reminds him, that man she deserves is something he already is, the best version of Lucien Blake. She doesn’t want him to be something he is not, but he owes it  to her... to be the best version of himself.

Seeing Patrick in that car and Lucien’s reaction to his death was too much and his struggle in wanting to find someone responsible for his death, because he can’t accept that “sometimes people just die”...but in the end he has to come to terms also to this and it’s so very difficult.

He ends up talking with Jean because she’s always listened to him, even when he was the “ghost” of the man he is now and he knows that there’s no one else he could go to and tells her how he met Patrick, his first impression of him. And both have tears in their eyes, and he knows what he is about to ask,  “Jean, my darling....I think we may have to postpone the wedding”, but she insists on Patrick’s last words to her and despite what they are both feeling they decide to go on with their wedding plans.

And now are they discussing their sleeping arrangements with Rose? The bedrooms are small? Yeah...we all get that!

Ohh Lucien your Jean is really a true marvel, she helps with both cases in the end...so smart!

There’s something about this scene of Lucien and Jean in front of the fireplace that really makes it a marvel to watch. I don’t know what it is, the lights, the acting, the writing...probably everything. These bits of their pasts they reveal to one another are precious moments...here Lucien trusts Jean so much that he isn’t afraid of telling her about his engagement and subsequent marriage with Mei Lin, and clearly he’s admitting to her that in the end he made the same choices his father did. He married a “foreign girl” in spite of his family and naturally, when faced with that, at the time, they both said things to one another they could not get back. But then he finds and reads Thomas’ letter to him, a letter he sent back, like all the others his father sent...well I couldn’t stop crying here and that line in which he said that he hoped his son would find someone who loved him “...regardless of what happened next”. A line in which Thomas uses more or less the same words Lucien himself spoke to Jean in season 3...I just can’t. And confessing that he had hated his father for a very long time and his fear of becoming like him...but that coming back to Ballarat was probably the best thing ever happened to him!

 I could  have never imagined Roslyn to be the murderer, but what really  struck me was Lucien’s speech once again. Telling her how the only thing she had ever wanted was her father’s love and to hear him say he was sorry (the same things Lucien wanted from his father, and that in the end were the thing Thomas wrote to him, but that he never got the chance to know...until he read that letter the night before).

 And then...well...when one thinks she’s ready to see the wedding....I mean...we’ve waited for so long!

I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING MORE BEAUTIFUL IN MY LIFE! Jean is radiant and so stunning! I’m so glad she’s wearing a white dress! I love it and she looks lovely in it!

The way his voice falters when he says his vows, Jean’s certainty when she speaks hers, the kiss... and then Doctor and Mrs. Blake are dancing together and he kisses her on the cheek and that wedding band his sparkling so much...

And then you think you’ve already cried enough, but nooooooo they come back 4 months later (4 months? What kind of honeymoon was that exactly?!) and he opens the car door and you think it’s sweet, but then ohh then he just says “Mrs Blake” and  you start sobbing once again.

And then she is popping the kettle on, but he can’t keep his hands (or lips) to himself and they’re kissing again and you are just there grinning like a fool. Matthew Lawson has just been promoted to “the new telephone” and really they can’t even have 5 minutes to themselves because obviously as soon as they set foot on Australian soil, someone  drops dead...but the end ohhh the end...he comes back and has to kiss her again and then “I love you” and I’m just sobbing again...forever!

The last thing I have to say before I let you go is that I’m so thankful for all of you and I want to thank you all for your support, for having “travelled” with me until now and for the best welcome I’ve ever had.

Now I can really really say it, “The Doctor Blake Mysteries” has the best writing, the best acting and setting I’ve ever seen!

[foxghost]

hi here’s another instalment of “I stayed up too late reading 鎮魂, edition chapter 13 - 26

Zhu Hong spends maybe 3 days a month being half snake (anaconda?). She keeps raw sliced meat in the office freezer, thaws it out in the microwave and “eats them like potato chips”

She also has snake pupils and a snake tongue. /this novel has all your monster needs

Zhu Hong: if you’re willing to sleep with me one night, I’d work for free Zhao Yunlan (totally seriously): …really? Zhu Hong: … (can’t believe he’s actually considering it)

The “black cloak envoy” in the show is named one-who-slay-souls in the book, and is exponentially more terrifying

take what prisoners? Send whom to jail? kills all the things

Zhao Yunlan: he’s kind of nice actually, but talks like an academic, uses too many words to say one thing

A “hungry ghost” is a shadow that is thin all over except for the stomach, with a mouth that opens 180 degrees, with arms like a mantis

Shen Wei’s first reaction on seeing it is to pick up a chair and BASH IT UNTIL IT STOPS MOVING

Shen Wei: shocked face that the cat is talking Daqing: Yes right but you just broke the head of a hungry ghost with a chair so why are you even shocked

Guo (repeats in his head): I am a cop Guo: is crying uncontrollably * Guo (to Shen Wei): I haven’t even had my first month’s salary — can’t i even SEE the money I won’t live to spend before i die? Shen Wei says nothing to this because laughing at him is probably improper Guo: Does professor Shen have wishes that has not been fulfilled? Shen Wei: Yes Shen Wei: There is a person, we are mere acquaintances, we have no relationship at all, in his heart, I am but a stranger he has spoken to a couple of times. But I still want to see him once more.

with a hungry ghost scratching at the door and Daqing promising rescue by Yunlan Shen Wei: Don't we have ways to save ourselves? Daqing: this is us — a common person, a garbage person, a vegetative person, and me — a lucky charm. Oh, ‘save ourselves’ you say. Do you think if we go into a hot steam wok, it would be enough to fill the gaps between a hungry ghost’s teeth?

amidst all this chaos, Guo is climbing Shen Wei’s leg bc he’s terrified, and Shen Wei’s priority is to HOLD HIS PANTS UP.

Lin Jing is … a monk? (fake monk, according to Yunlan)

Lin Jing: there are two men and a cat in there Yunlan: no way, Shen Wei wouldn’t abandon his student Lin Jing: … who is this Shen Wei Yunlan: mumbles nobody important Lin Jing: You only ever do that when you meet a beauty — is this Shen Wei a man or a woman? Yunlan: buddhist chant

when the hungry ghost is sucking up all the air + souls in a room, guo screams: I’m going to be sucked up!

and then somehow has the wherewithal to make up metaphors: i’m going to be sucked up like jello from a vacuum bag!

Yunlan cuts the energy between hungry ghost and guo, and guo starts falling — onto Shen Wei. Naturally, Yunlan rushes forward and catches Shen Wei into his arms and let Guo fall on his face

AND HIS FIRST PRIORITY IN THAT SECOND IS TO LOOK COOL

Zhao Yunlan holds onto Shen Wei’s waist and takes a halfstep the the side, and the lighter’s flame illuminates his face — handsome, cool, his features as chiselled as with a blade, gazing from the darkest place yet his pupils reflect the flame He successfully keep this act up like a big bad wolf, lowering his voice and looking into Shen Wei’s eyes, and like a hero protagonist saving a beauty in a movie, he asks quietly: Professor Shen, are you alright? At the same time, he completely ignores the whining intern on the floor.

Yunlan can hypnotise people and change/erase their memories of supernatural events, kind of MiB like

He does this to Shen Wei, carries him (like a bride, bc just before that Shen Wei’s leaning on his shoulder) takes him to his student’s hospital room, make sure he’s comfortably sitting, says a protective spell and EATS HIS TOFU

which is the chinese way of saying he took advantage, kisses the back of Shen Wei’s right hand and says: good night, sleeping beauty

of course, SHEN WEI wasn’t ASLEEP

he ‘saves’ the protective spell and leaves by the second floor window

i guess Shen Wei forgets about being human sometimes, only ghosts come and go by the WINDOW

Guo Changcheng GLOWS to someone who can see (like someone with a third eye) between worlds.

Apparently he’s been using his allowance to do charitable work for YEARS. There is so much merit built up in his ‘books’ he’s practically a saint

Guo Changcheng IS SO PURE

When the slayer arrives, the temperature drops below zero and the windows frost over

he has a black claok, doesn’t wear a mask. His face is just BLACK MIST.

He smells like winter. (and it’s nice?)

… like freshly fallen snow in the morning when one opens the door to it for the first time, that first breath you take on a snowy day — like endless and eternal snow that never melts, clean, yet extremely cold, mixed in with the scent of flowers dying in the frost — far and away, a fragrance like walking to the end of the world. But it’s only for a moment, because after that one’s nose feels frozen and can’t tell any smells apart.

Guo’s explanation in his head for this is: he’s from the southern hemisphere and it’s winter there. (omg)

And then the moment the slayer goes off with YUnlan he starts asking after his health seriously

the slayer is a motherhen (when it comes to yunlan anyway)

he uses the same tone of voice to kill ghosts as he does asking after ppl’s health and Guo thinks this is terrifying (it is)

Li Qian killed her grandmother, none of that heartwarming retconned stuff in the show

the Slayer finds out where the Reincarnation-dial is from Qian and Yunlan follows because he’s curious and finds the place … covered in bodies … of monsters and ghosts that the slayer’s just slain / beheaded.

Yunlan: What’s going on? We’re all responsible for the environment, your honour was only coming here to find a thing, how did this battle happen. tries to step around the bodies but there’s no place to put his feet (what battle? it was a SLAUGHTER)

So it seems Yunlan meeting Shen Wei in this life time was planned by the villain

Chu (old Chu from Zhao, Brother Chu from Guo) is thin as a moving skeleton, about the same age as Lin Jing

And they all slack off in the office MOST OF THE TIME

Yunlan pursues Shen Wei for 3 months, Shen Wei keeps on giving him excuses, the cat makes fun of him mercilessly

Yunlan is eventually reduced to buying a box of old books and stalking Shen Wei with his car on campus until the students are all staring and he has no choice but to knock on the window and asks WHAT ARE YOU DOING

so in the show they made this all about Yunlan being suspicious of him, but there’s none of that in the book, at this point he’s just pursuing the professor shamelessly

Yunlan: this is for you Shen Wei: … opens box No, this is too valuable I can’t take it Yunlan: makes up a bunch of lies my friend’'s emigrating they leave their books behind you take them Shen Wei: I — Yunlan: I what, we’re so familiar already, it’d be unconscionable to say no to keeping the books, see you, let’s have dinner this weekend drives off Shen Wei: is conflicted while suddenly standing on campus holding a heavy box Shen Wei: is happy Yunlan is being so lovely Shen Wei: is jealous that he may be like this with other people

So, Yunlan is an introvert

Yunlan’s heart is a little lazy, hasn’t interest in anything, there’s nothing of import at work right now, and aside from one important networking, occasionally harassing Shen Wei, he spends all his remaining time alone at home.

Yunlan lives in a studio apartment, ‘like a dog’, or ‘neither pig nor dog.’ in other words, MESSY

it’s Yunlan, apparently, that turned his role as ‘guardian’ / command of sealing the spirits(?) into a police department.

Yunlan has ended relationships (or have it ended on him) because he just doesn’t want to talk when he’s home

the reasons are “lack of communication”, “no passion” “Our personalities do not match, we don’t speak the same language” and “You have never loved me”

so he finally gets a date with Shen Wei on Sunday, and on Saturday he gets up at noon, eats bread and water and plays video games until he gets a massive stomachache

he stumbles out the door in his pajamas, a coat, and no socks in his shoes, to get food, and overhears a robbery taking place, and it’s SHEN WEI

they end up getting dinner afterwards and he eats like a starving man until he basically collapses from stomachache

Shen Wei takes him home and they trip over an open umbrella, it hasn’t rained in more than half a month

Shen Wei: Take off your clothes and go to bed Yunlan: But if I do you’ll say i’m improper Shen Wei: What Yunlan: is wearing pajamas under his coat has no socks Shen Wei: blushes Yunlan: shows off his chest You told me to take off my clothes Shen Wei: ZHAO YUNLAN WHY ARE YOU NOT WEARING SOCKS Shen Wei: WHAT HAVE YOU EATEN ALL DAY Yunlan: points at garbage can Shen Wei: the whole day? What’d you eat yesterday Yunlan: dunno, drank too much Shen Wei: Do you live like this everyday??? Yunlan: um, yeah? Shen Wei: about to die of anger

Yunlan, way to impress future husband, high-five

meanwhile, Yunlan’s thinking: he’s never angry, but he’s angry because he’s fallen for me. Because i’m handsome (NO JOKE)

Shen Wei: You’re not so young, and you’re established in your career, this is about time for you to find a girlfriend and make a home, ti’s best to have someone take care of you Yunlan: Are you seriously telling me that you haven’t noticed I’ve been pursuing YOU (looks depressed) Then fine, thank you for today, i’m alright, you can go home (fully expecting Shen Wei to feel sorry enough to come closer, Yunlan has a speech prepared and everything)

BUT HE LEAVES

And comes back the next morning 7am with groceries (gosh i love this trope) and takes care of Yunlan

Yunlan’s kitchen is full of kitchenware with the pricetags still on

Shen Wei preps food and heats his hands over the heater before touching Yunlan

to be precise, he strokes Yunlan’s hair and then kisses his own fingers (excuse the blogger. screams)

He feels as if he is a moth that has realised its fate, holding himself from the flame is painful

Yunlan comes out of his bath (in the afternoon) to find that Shen Wei’s cleaned his apartment, folded away his clothes, aired out his room, and made food

So naturally, he figures now’s the time to PROPOSE because wow he’s found THE ONE

Yunlan: Seriously, if you would agree, I will sell this place tomorrow, and buy a big place near your campus. Yunlan: I never thought about buying a big house before, it seemed like such a burden, but now I understand: if I want a person as my wife, then I must build a gold house to hide them. Shen Wei (thinks he’s making fun of him): Eat your food it’s getting cold Yunlan touches the back of Shen Wei’s hand: Even though it may not seem that way, but I’m perfectly serious

- queue requisite “i’m a man” and “you should have children” talk

Yunlan: I’m not obligated to propagate the earth for the sake of mankind, Teacher Shen, are you an ALIEN???

- Yunlan literally tells him: if you really want children we can get a surrogate, it’s easy enough to have kids when you have money - Shen Wei then refuses to go to a movie with him the next week but it’s because he’ll be out of town for a week and Yunlan counts that as a WIN

back at the office: Zhu Hong: Xiaoguo is a good kid, fast learner, but he’s too cowardly, it took him this long to accept food from me Yunlan: That’s natural, he’s afraid of people Zhu Hong: … Yunlan: He’s not afraid of you, because he obvs doesn’t think you’re people

earthquake news play on television Yunlan: Why wasn’t it a bigger earthquake, I had no my arms open ready to comfort him and everything Zhu Hong: Who’d you seduce this time Yunlan: Don’t make it sound so terrible, spring must come to the world and flowers must bloom, its fragrance cannot be missing romance, you ppl must not insult other people’s pure love Lin Jing: buddhist chant Zhu Hong: HELP.

Wang Zheng suddenly appear in the office during the day (she is a ghost, they dissipate in the light) and everyone rushes to close the blinds and give her incense

Yunlan (takes out cigarette): YOU Wang Zheng (moves backwards): Don’t make me breathe your second-hand smoke. Yunlan: …you’re a ghost, madam Wang Zheng, you’re not going to get lung cancer. Wang Zheng: Ghosts can smell smoke and fire, if you keep doing that, you’re going to turn into a human shaped mosquito incense.

Yunlan calls someone sister-in-law over the phone

Zhu Hong: How come director Song is his sister-in-law? He doesn’t even have a sister Daqing: Who knows, he goes out drinking and gains sister-in-laws (?)

- The ‘red’ threads connecting Yunlan and Shen Wei are myriad and golden (and Shen Wei can see them)