#wen yan

[obscurecharactershowdown]

Group E Round 1

[image ID: the first image is of 3 Chinese characters, Wen Yan, Mo Xiao, and Hai Die. all 3 have long black hair, pulled back from their faces in various styles. Wen Yan's is partially in a bun and partially loose down his back. his hanfu is black. Mo Xiao's hair also appears to be bunned and partially loose. his hanfu is dark blue. Hai Die's hair is fully up, and her hanfu is pink and red with green trim. she also wears a brown and blue weaved vest. the second image is of Libby Day, a white woman with short blond hair, wearing a green cap and a gray leather jacket. end ID]

The Nigh Furies

They are the three loyal bodyguards to the main character. They show up when you need them most and then blend away into the night. The main dude would have been so dead without them. When the main guy is being hunted, the bad guy tries to kill them and eventually Wen Yan sacrifices himself for the others. Mo Xiao and Hai Die have a little bit of a thing ;) here is a clip: https://youtu.be/rSHKo9o98fQ 

Libby Day

She's the sole survivor of a mass murder for which her brother was blamed, and she uses her fame to get money to put meals on the table, until one such money-seeking job gets her to start thinking about the truth of what really happened all those years ago. Literally the bitterest bitch, she's so mean and spiteful, I love her so much <3. I feel like Libby's the least known of the Gillian Flynn main character girlies because the movie adaptation was neither popular nor all that good (compared to Sharp Objects and Gone Girl), so I'm really hopeful that one day people will appreciate her :)

[ajaxbell]

Fangs of Fortune (Bai Ze Ling): perfect on pure aesthetics alone, but also it will tear your heart out while being very gay.

I was lured in to this show by Tumblr gifsets and friends on Bluesky talking about how queer and poly this show is. I'm old and I've been in fandom more than half my life. I know how to read queer subtext. I'm also pretty well versed in cdramas, so again, I know how to read subtext. So I went into this ready to, well, read the subtext.

But no this show is just puts the queer it right there in the text. The vague information we have about Chinese censorship repeatedly left me asking, 'wait how are they getting away with this?' Like some of these jokes and implications are just so blatant it seems incredible this show ever made it to being broadcast. It just feels very much like queer media made for queer people even if t's more subtle than something western like Queer as Folk.

Even without the heavy coloring of gay this show is incredible and so much more than I expected from the title and the promo. The premise is essentially the death of the goddess, who governed relations between humans and demons, leads to an influx of demons in the human world. This brings together the goddess's disciple, Wen Xiao--seeking to restore the goddess's power. WX's childhood sweetheart, Zhuo Yichen--seeking to restore the demon-hunting bureau after the powerful demon Zhu Yan killed his father and brother. It opens on Zhu Yan, in human disguise as as Zhao Yuanzhou, volunteering to help the imperial court restore the demon-hunting bureau to quell the chaos. They are joined by Pei Sijing, a retired female general from the rival demon hunting sect, and a very young doctor (and comic relief) named Bai Jiu. It starts off as a sort of monster-of-the-week with a grim Scooby gang doing detective work and fighting monsters. Each major demon has a mini arc that relates to the larger case (restoring the power of the goddess to balance the realms), and they are repeatedly blocked by either the demons or the rival demon hunting sect. Each mini arc also acts as a mirror or parallel story to slowly revealed backstory of all the main characters as well. In true cdrama fashion it's a mix of adventure, intense emotional drama, romance, and comedy. And queer and poly jokes and romance. It also has a kind of manga vibe in the way the comedy is woven into the more serious story, and in the fantastical depiction of the characters and how the story unfolds.

It is also just insanely beautiful. Every single shot is lovely. The costumes, make up, and hair are incredible. The casting director made all the major demons inhumanly beautiful. The sets are spectacular. The effects are nicely done. Every bit of has the vague surreality of a fairytale. The perfection of each shot ads to the manga vibe, as if we're seeing each critical storytelling panel come alive. There's recurring water-based special effects that are just gorgeous. Based on aesthetics alone this show would be worth watching to me. That it is combined with a complex, very emotional story is a spectacular gift to the watcher. A lot of the negative reviews of this complain about the staginess or that it's overly contrived in how each scene is shot. But I think it's gorgeous, works perfectly with the storytelling, and if we criticize art on whether it achieves the goal it intended then this show is doing exactly and perfectly what it means to do and doing it beautifully.

Additionally the acting is also very good, but Neo Hou is the stand out for sure. I enjoyed him in Back from the Brink, especially the later part of the story, but in Fangs of Fortune he's transformed, utterly embodying the role, the way Dylan Wang is Dongfang Qingcang in Love Between Fairy and Devil. Neo Hou has the right look, a slightly uncanny beauty perfect for a gorgeous immortal not of this world. The show does incredible things with his styling between the various looks and personas the role requires. But in acting he somehow manages to utterly transform his face and demeanor to manifest each aspect of the character as story demands changes from him.

There is a lot of crying in this drama. Like early on I joked that there was going to be a character crying a single perfect tear in every ep. Lol nope. Multiple single perfect tears per ep and many outright full on sobbing scenes. This show is just waiting to rip your heart out and you see it right from the beginning. But it was such sweet pain all the way through. Just a truly engaging and utterly wrenching set of intertwined stories.

My only criticism is that the pacing falls apart in the last 3 episodes. But overall the story is solid through the end, though like so many cdramas, it's saved by the epilogue.

You should absolutely watch it if you want the chaotic bi polycule (it's her, her girlfriend, her boyfriend, her boyfriend's boyfriend who is also her boyfriend, their two idiot sons, and her boyfriend's ex-who is also eventually sort of his boyfriend again), or if you want your heart torn out and stomped on. Or even if you just like really gorgeous cinematic things. Also if you watch, please don't skip the ending credits, as they change as the arcs change, and the radiant joy Tian Jiarui has as he dances is an excellent antidote to the emotions of each episode.

[heymeowmao]

大梦归离 | Fangs of Fortune E34 ° Dead demons will turn into stars in the sky. And what about you?

[hyog-blog]

A moment of appreciation of the BEAUTY that is literally everyone in the show. Starting with Zhu Yan, of course, he's like a walking demonic deity with those sparkly eyes and a thousand micro-expressions that are incredibly nuanced and pleasant to watch. Neo Hou dug deep into his very soul to bring us THIS, and he's gorgeous on so many levels (also, the high-quality expensive-looking movie-esque shots don't hurt a single bit :D)

And don't forget the demon-esque form

Zhuo Yichen is pretty like a fairy :3

He rarely smiles, but when he does - it's a treat

Under the influence of malicious energy - even prettier XD

Our girl Wen Xiao is also gorgeous

Li Lun in all his viciousness

Fei is also ethereal (especially for a plague-boy) and so is Qing Geng (the girl IS pretty like a goddess, no wonder people would worship her).

Qing Geng, the little goddess

Not to mention A-Heng, Pei Sijing's little brother. This really IS a demonic glow-up, he looks sublime.

The Fish Demon

Cheng Huang, the doll-maker

Original Bai Ze Goddess

Everyone else is also oh-so-pretty, it's just that my screenshot gallery is a bit biased XD

[y0uxia]

hey me and my soulmate and his soulmate saw you from across the bar and we fucking hate your vibe. are you by any chance connected to li lun?

[zishuge]

Fangs of Fortune 大梦归离 (2024) | Ep. 19

[ilevio]

大梦归离 fangs of fortune (2024)

[haifoct]

Truth Eye.

[nxrcissablacks]

thinking about a fangs of fortune modern day law firm au where:

zhao yuanzhou is That Law Firm partner - yes, the one who has been there since the beginning of time and no one knows how or when he joined the firm; he just is a fixture, and who:

disappears mysteriously from his office on occasion (bai jiu, in hysterics: “But I really need him to sign off on this document right now!!!!!!”)

closes cases with suspicious methods (zhao yuanzhou, blinking innocently: “Yes, I just had a little coffee with him and he agreed to settle for a million. Isn’t that nice?” wen xiao, wondering innately if coffee is code for something else: “…yes…”)

has a never-ending rotation of nice, ridiculously expensive suits. even zhuo yichen can’t beat him on this front, and the only one who comes remotely close is li lun (more on this later)

was rumoured to be work-rivals with zhuo yichen’s brother right up to his untimely death. the streets say that zhao yuanzhou deliberately played a card on the last case they worked on together that caused the company they were going after to send hired hitman after them both (the reality was really that even zhao yuanzhou did not expect something so extreme as becoming the target of murderous assassins, and that card was unfortunately a trump card that Needed to be used). zhao yuanzhou survived but zhuo yixuan did not.

has a complicated relationship with zhuo yichen as a result - constantly saves his ass even though zhuo yichen does not need saving thank you very much - takes the hits for him when things go wrong, and feels constantly as though he owes him (zhao yuanzhou, drunk: “hey bro you wanna stab me or something? Just offering.” zhuo yichen: “is that an innuendo? No. And stop calling me bro. The fuck.”)

zhuo yichen as his constantly exasperated counterpart:

worked diligently and was known as a stellar associate before getting promoted to partner on his brother’s unfortunate death - feels rather pressured to live up to his brother’s legacy and do him proud

claims to detest zhao yuanzhou and blames him for causing his brother’s death BUT the secretaries will not stop telling people about the time they saw “Mr Zhuo went into Mr Zhao’s office and draped a blanket over Mr Zhao’s sleeping form!!!!!” - zhuo yichen repeatedly denies this occurrence and zhao yuanzhou doesn’t suggest otherwise; the blanket in question is, however, neatly folded in a drawer in zhao yuanzhou’s office

deep down, he has already forgiven zhao yuanzhou - ever the studious lawyer, he went over the case files from that deal and realised he would have made the same call as zhao yuanzhou, and he guessed his brother would likely have done the same.

never declines a call from zhao yuanzhou to go out drinking even though he makes a lot of grouchy sounds because Someone has to put the man in a taxi home before his self destructive tendencies get the better of him and that Someone is unfortunately zhuo yichen (taxi driver: “you should wake your husband. We’re here.” zhuo yichen, flustered and trying to get zhao yuanzhou’s heavy ass head off his shoulder: “he’s Not my husband.”)

li lun as the barrister whom zhao yuanzhou insists on using on all his cases (zhao yuanzhou: “bc he’s the best, dude”) but who zhao yuanzhou refuses to email or communicate with on pain of death, so zhuo yichen has to send all the emails and have awkward little meetings going through cases with him:

ruthless af in court and tears everyone to shreds (including the judge on occasion)

encyclopaedic knowledge of law rivals zhao yuanzhou

collection of expensive suits ALSO rivals zhao yuanzhou (wen xiao, appreciatively, every time li lun walks into a meeting room in the firm: that man is a dick but he sure has Taste)

his superior taste includes, much to zhuo yichen’s horror: zhao yuanzhou (zhuo yichen, wishing he could dig his eyes out and run them under water: “wen xiao, zhao yuanzhou swanned past the meeting room we were in and i swear to God. li lun was undressing him with his eyes. and then he turned to me and said, i kid you not: seems like zhao yuanzhou’s been spending some time in the gym. i can see his chest muscles have gotten bigger since the last time we met.” wen xiao, having had the downlow from zhao yuanzhou about his complicated on and off situationship with li lun: “mm hm.” zhuo yichen, moaning with his head in hands: “and once he tried to show me a folder on his laptop but clicked on another by mistakes. and it was just filled with files labelled ZYZ1 ZYZ2 ZYZ3 and so on. They were IMAGE FILES, wen xiao!!! IMAGE FILES!!!! PNGS!!!! wen xiao, mentally making a note to blackmail zhao yuanzhou about the existence of those images: “yeah.”)

was the sole reason zhao yuanzhou didn’t get murdered along with zhuo yixuan in the while hired hitman saga (wen xiao: “but why did he have a gun.” zhao yuanzhou, shrugging: “the only time li lun’s into following the law is when he’s in court. other times, less so.”)

Also featuring:

wen xiao and pei sijing as the two senior counsels (pei sijing, when asked why she declined partnership: “ew, why would anyone want a role in partnership, that’s for losers who actually like networking”) who think no one knows that they are in a relationship (yinglei: “they have couple mugs. and i know they are couple mugs because i saw wen-jiejie happily point at them in Soho Home and pei-jiejie immediately put them in her shopping basket.”)

yinglei and baijiu as the baby trainees who are there just to watch the office drama unfold and give each other unnecessary stress about deadlines (baijiu: “what do you mean this was due on the fifth. That’s yesterday’s date.” yinglei: “fuck.” baijiu: “fuck.”)

[duduling1018]

Fangs of Fortune 大梦归离 (2024) | EP. 19

[seagreenlaurin]

First part of the #sixfanartschallenge 🎨

[alipeeps]

[ajaxbell]

Really appreciate how hard they went with these Fangs of Fortune promos. Like come meet our polycule in the most unlikely poses.

[morweneledhwen]

Them.

[hyog-blog]

Can we just talk a little about this unholy unity of Li Lun and Zhuo Yichen? Just look at him :D Why does he look so hot)) And those bare arms, in a show where everyone is so deliberately clothed in multi-layers (apart from demons who are veeeery bad, hence, they can show their sexiness as much as they want).

Anyway, that's it, that's all I have to say XD

And while we're on this bad-demons-look-so-good topic, let's throw in a few of them sizzling hot baddies to the mix. Because no one pulls the bad demon look quite like Zhao Yuanzhou's Inner Demon :3

And I enjoyed the whole dark!Wen Xiao sequence a little too much :D

[emo4r]

it's so serious for me