#when i eventually get a coherent reference hehe

[princekirijo]

Anyway all that aside I finally have a solid design for my Spidersona :] it's kinda simple but I'm pretty happy with it, I think it fits the name.

[apopcornkernel]

hey jingfu president 😏 i was gonna claw through ur inbox eventually when i could form a coherent question abt this but ill just do it now while the iron’s hot

i plan on writing canon compliant jingfu but the timeline baffles me so much 😭 do you happen to have any notes on hand about when the quintet was formed, how long ago that was before jingfu met, when jingfu met, and what they’ve been through together in canon until well.. now (being post jingliu companion quest).

i want to have a sense of how much fu xuan would know abt his involvement with the quintet (hurt/comfort fan here).. given that he was general when jingfu already met i assume the group was formed WAY before that.. but when did they have their fallout? was fx there as master diviner when dan feng came back as dan heng? (i assume yes?) was she there when jing yuan had to defeat jingliu? (tears my hair out)

so sorry about this i will definitely do my own research but was just wondering if you had some/any info first!

hellooo!!! okay quick note before i start a lot of my info will be coming from my memory and checked using the wiki

before i get started with your questions: let’s have the dates we do know! (SC - Star Calendar)

Between 7280–7329 SC - HCQ established.

According to both Todd Riordan's Investigation of Ancient Pattern Rubbings from the Luofu and Jing Yuan’s Story 4, the HCQ lasted less than a century in total. (I put down 7329 as the latest because if it had been less than fifty, i think they would've said less than half a century instead of less than century.)

7379 SC - Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae & Dissolution of HCQ

7380 SC - Jing Yuan and Jingliu's fight in that one animated short

8072 SC - Jingfu joint war crime to end the Third Abundance War

8096 SC - Yanqing “rose to fame in a tournament and was conferred the rank of Cloud Knight Lieutenant”

8100 SC - (PRESENT) Trailblazer storyline begins

ok!! onto your questions:

1. when was the quintet formed? when did it fall?

so, actually. like i noted in the above dates, we really don't know when it was formed. however, we know when it ended—which coincides with the Sedition, at 7379 SC! working backwards from there, we’re told by a primary (jing yuan) and secondary source (todd riordan) that the HCQ lasted less than a century, so I put down a range between 7280–7329 SC. pick whatever year suits your fic best!!

2. how long ago was this before jingfu met? when did jingfu meet?

i am sad to say that this was likely a very long time before jingfu met, or even before fu xuan was born. in Oblation Obtained, Order Ordained, Fu Xuan says:

I was not born in the heroic and extraordinary era of the High-Cloud Quintet. To have seen those legends with my own eyes...

however, Fu Xuan's Story 4 (8072 SC) isn't necessarily the first time she meets the general (although it does seem like the first time she gets to talk to him directly, one on one). Story 3 talked about her leaving for the Luofu, and Story 4 picks up with the phrase “Centuries passed thus”, implying she spends at least more than one century in the Luofu before the Third Abundance War begins.

so strictly speaking: their first meeting is likely in 8072 SC, but you have a few centuries’ of leeway if you want to have them meet earlier!

3. what has jingfu been together for in canon?

unfortunately, after the third abundance war in 8072 SC, we aren't given much on the large-scale workings of the Luofu until the trailblazer arrives. we do, however, have tiny updates on the movements of the fanghu, yaoqing, yuque, zhuming! also, if you refer to the dates i gave you up there, fu xuan would have been around for yanqing's promotion to cloud knight lieutenant in 8096 SC :D

and of course, they were there for all the events of the trailblaze missions ! hehe

4. was fu xuan there as master diviner when dan feng was reborn as dan heng?

no :( i'm pretty sure dan feng's molting rebirth was enacted shortly after his imprisonment, and fu xuan has already said she wasn't born in that era

5. was fu xuan there when jing yuan had to defeat jingliu?

no, same reason as above :(

that's really it hsjshsj i wish hsr would release a history book with dates for everything :( it would make my life so much easier,,, anyways i hope this helped <3 good luck on the fic omg i can't wait to read it!!!!

[neon-lights-stardust-nights]

do you think strange would have any pet names or terms of endearment for kronos? 👀 (perhaps spoken during an especially difficult procedure...) also you know who this is and i am simply thrilled to know someone else who gets it 🤝 strangefucking alliance!!

YES SOMEONE ELSE my husband is also a little 👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️ over him heehee We both hit the sauce hard when we were watching Gotham together and then uh. I spiraled. Like I do with every f/o. Just "wow, how much media of him can I consume in I DUNNO a month?" And now he's back heeheeeeeeeee--

Kronos is a bit of a broken clock in like a literal sense--fae has absolutely no sense of time, and it is very tempting to draw allusion to it. If it didn't so immediately send faer into a rage, maybe he would. Faers feuds with The Clown Prince Himself though are enough evidence that even hinting at it out of endearment is going to mostly just get him an angry episode, and in these circumstances he's not prodding for that reaction. Also I should make HIM a tag too, I just... His ship is too self indulgent...

So instead, he leans more on basic ones. "Darling" often sends a jolt of panic into faer (it was how Crane usually referred to faer, almost entirely in place of faers name.) Still, he's at this point fully aware that it's a "mark me down as scared AND horny" kind of thing, and he pokes that bear at his own discretion (usually also successfully dodging making things worse. Ironically, during a difficult procedure, that goes better than in domestic circumstance.)

"Kitten" and "pet" are the more generally safe options, albeit they sound kinky as shit out of context. Maybe even in context too. (Remember: scared, but also horned up.) He also stole "doll"/"babydoll" from Edward, who never made things official with faer anyway (and shouldn't be surprised considering who HAS officially scooped Kronos up.) This was 100% for non-yandere reasons (that is a lie, this was 100% for yandere reasons. If faers going to be his, faers going to be his.)

He is weirdly proud of himself when fae eventually comes to associate "darling" more strongly with their endeavors than Crane. Crane 100% has wanted his test subject back, and he's all too willing to rub that in his face. Let alone the fact that fae has even submit faerself willingly to some of these procedures--if they spoke regularly, Crane would never hear the end of it. My "Crane/Strange as fucked up exes" does come into full swing here, apologies.

I'm rambling, I hope this was coherent. I get so excited whenever I get asks hehe...

[thisistenhyungsunderwear]

Hello sweetheart! Since you just opened requests, can I ask for a drabble or whatever you are most comfortable writing, maybe some smut with mark tuan?? if you don't have many ideas maybe something related to a break up and how the reader always keeps running back to his house because she can't forget him... yeah you know hahaha thank you!!!

Hi I hope this works, I kinda twisted the plot in the slightest but same idea lol hehe🥰

Group: Got7

Warnings: MakeupSex, Oral!FemaleRecieving, UnprotectedSex(Wrap it before you tap it kids), kinda soft

Word Count: 1781

"You can't keep pulling this shit Mark!" You yelled into the phone. "I can't keep doing this with you. This always happens." 

"Woah baby chill out, don't start getting any ideas." He said, recollecting himself from the screaming match you both just had. 

"No Mark, I can't keep doing this, this is the third time we've fought in the past week. Aren't you tired?" Your voice broke. Mark was silent on the other end. "I don't think I can do this with you anymore. I'm sorry." This time you gave him no opportunity to respond. You hung up your phone and threw it across the room. Tears filled to the brim, threatening to fall out. Your phone began vibrating across the room. You glanced over, hope flooding you that maybe it was Mark.

No. No you didn't. You and him weren't together anymore. No more going back. The phone started its series of vibrations again. 

Lost in your emotions, you didn't even realize the tears began streaming down your cheeks. A choked sob erupted from your throat. The phone stopped vibrating. 

Your knees threatened to give out as you walked over to your phone. More sobs and gasps started as you stared at the screen.

Missed call from Mark♡ (2)

New voicemail from Mark♡

You wanted to call him back. You wanted to apologize. You wanted to tell him you loved him. But you wanted the constant fighting to stop. You wanted to stop hearing his pleas for you to stop crying. You wanted the stress to stop.

It took you a minute to pick up your phone. It wouldn't hurt to just listen to the voicemail...hear his voice one last time. 

You unlocked your phone and pressed on the notification, which brought you straight to the voicemail. Hesitantly you pressed play and turned your volume all the way up.

"Baby, y/n" Mark's voice filled the room, the scratchiness evident from the crying and yelling in his voice, "baby, please, answer the phone. I need you. I know we've been fighting and god I'm such an idiot for letting it get this far. Baby I love you, so much, and I can't lose you. Please, answer the phone. Call me. I can't lose you." 

He stayed on the line for a minute longer, choked sounds coming out, as if he wanted to say more, but he couldn't make himself, then the line went dead. 

"My god," you whispered, regret washing over you. Why did you even let it get this far. 

You let your body go where it wanted, and immediately you were rushing out the door and to your car, barefoot and in nothing but shorts and one of Mark's hoodies, of course. 

The drive to his house was short. Maybe because he only lived 10 minutes away, or because you went 20 over the speed limit. Either way, you wasted no time pulling up in his driveway and running to the front door. You knocked on the door a few times, and tapped your foot impatiently.

A few seconds later, Mark opened the door. His eyes were red and puffy, his hair was a mess. He was in sweats and a tshirt, barefoot. 

A million thoughts ran through your mind all at once, but you ignored them all and jumped forward into his chest. You wrapped your arms around his neck and squeezed as tight as you possibly could. 

"Im sorry fuck im so sorry I cant even begin to tell you how much I regret arguing baby I-" Mark began despertely rambling to you, trying to explain himself to you.

"Mark, please just kiss me." You cut him off, pulling back to look at him.

He didn't reply. Instead he pulled you in impossibly closer and stared down at you before leaning in and connecting your lips.

Behind his kiss was more passion and emotion than any of his words could even convey to you. 

When you broke apart, he looked down at you, the sadness now gone from his eyes. He was looking at you with love in his eyes, a million emotions conveyed in one glance. 

"Let me show you how much you mean to me, hm?" he asked quietly, lifting your chin up with his pointer finger to look at him fully. You nodded slowly and leaned back into kiss him quickly, before he took your hand and lead you to his bedroom. 

Taking you carefully, he laid you down on the bed below him and continued to kiss you, never one breaking the kiss unless it was to remove both of your shirts. His hand roamed endlessly around your torso, he never left a spot untouched for too long. He shimmied your shorts down your legs, and broke the kiss to look down at your figure, clad in nothing but your underwear. 

"Do you realize how beautiful you are?" He said, awe in his voice. He leaned back down and started to kiss down your neck, and in between kisses began to whisper praises and sweet nothings. Your face flushed and you listened to his soft voice telling you how beautiful ever curve of you was, and how much he loved you.

God why would you ever break up with Mark Tuan. 

He continued to kiss down your body, and once he reached your waistband he looked up at you innocently, "May I?" He asked, motioning to your underwear. 

"Yes. Please." You whispered, and never broke eye contact as he pulled them down and off of your body, tossed somewhere in the room, along with all of your other clothes. 

He laid down in front of your core, and wrapped his arms around your thighs, spreading them apart for him.

He kissed your inner thighs, alternating and slowly working his way up to where you needed him the most. Eventually he made it there, and to start he only placed small kisses around and near your entrance, and a few light pecks on your clit. 

"Mark, please." You moaned, needing more from your boyfriend. 

"As you wish." He said, and went straight in, sucking your clit and licking long striped from your entrance up. 

Your back arched in pleasure and eyes scrunched closed, lost in the euphoria only he could give you. He placed his hands on the base of your pelvic bone and pushed you down so that he could continue without interruption. 

Your moans and whines were a mess as he mercilessly ate you out, never ending pleasure washing through your body as you tangled your fingers through his messy hair. 

You could tell a knot sas beginning to form in your stomach but it wasn't until Mark inserted his middle fingers into your core where you felt the tension grow. 

"Shit shit shit shit shit-" you whispered, quieter with every syllable, getting lost in the pleasure and the sound of Mark encouraging you to cum was becoming too much. 

"Come on baby, let go," he said and sucked on your clit. That was your breaking point. The tension in your gut snapped and your hips snapped as you came, but Mark never once slowed down as you came, making sure to prolong your orgasm as much as possible. You whined telling him that it was getting to much and he slowly halted his movements. He crawled up and over your drained figure and kissed your forehead softly. 

"Think you can do that one more time for me baby?" He whispered, peering down intently at your facial expression, looking for any sign that you didn't want to continue. You nodded, still in too much shock to say any coherent words. 

Mark took your left hand and kissed the back of it before quickly pulling off his sweats and underwear. 

You watched him climb back over you and adjust himself in front of your entrance, "Ready?" He asked, awaiting your approval. You nodded yet again, this time pulling him back down for another kiss as he pushed himself into you slowly, giving you time to adjust to his size. 

"Shit" You both gasped, the feeling overwhelming. It was more than just sex right now. Right now it was showing each other how much you really loved the other, and that somehow made the feeling even more overwhelming. 

He stayed still for awhile when he bottomed out, both of your labored breathing filled the silence of the room. 

"Go," you said looking up at him, his gaze patiently awaiting yours, nothing but loved filled his eyes and you could look at him forever with that gaze. He nodded and slowly pulled out before setting a steady pace. The light sound of slapping and quiet moans filled the room. The sensitivity from your last irgasm cause your walls to tighten and relax constantly around him as he continued thrusting into you causing him to grunt. 

"I'm not gonna last very long if you keep doing that." 

Instead of responding you reached for his arm with your own and intertwined your fingers as he began to speed up, his patience wearing thin as he got closer.

"Cum with me baby, come on," he encouraged you, going faster with each snap of his hips, "just a little bit longer, yeah?"

You moaned in response, the familiar feeling built up in your stomach as you squeezed his hand, telling him you were close. His hips got faster before suddenly he stopped, painting your walls with his cum.

You were on the brink of the edge but didn't quite make it, and he noticed right away, so his hand went to your neglected clit and ran circles around it, sending you over the edge and convulsing around his oversensitive cock in your core. You moaned out his name a few times before coming down from the high and looked up at him. You knew you probably looked like a mess, smudged mascara and a flushed face and messy hair, but to him he thought you were the prettiest girl in the whole world.

The thought of losing you terrified him and he realized that today. The sound of Mark crying was one that you never wanted to hear again. You were each other's worlds. 

"I love you." He said, kissing your forehead and laying down next to you, wrapping his arm and your waist.  

"I love you too," you said, turning to face him. "Never again." You said, referring to the worst day you've experienced, the arguments, the break up, the tears. Never again. 

"Never again." He whispered back before pulling you in closer and holding you tighter than ever before. 

 

[bloom161]

AAAAA just finished the Comic-Con video, I can’t believe they are actually going for the Doctor being in the prison for a long time. I don’t know why that’s surprising for me, but guess I just wasn’t expecting fanfic speculations to turn out right. Anyway, the fam against A dalek???? Oh boy they (the fam) think it’s just gonna be OnE. Hehe...... ye good luck with that. Also Mandip mentioned that they assumed they were done traveling with the Doctor, but not that the doctor is dead, which is interesting, but besides the point. She says that it’s the hardest for Yaz, adjusting to normal life again, and my mind immediately went to Rose in the Parting of the Ways (Ik other companions have had similar problems, but never this similar) and with all of the call backs, references, and reoccurring villains ( a lot being from the RTD era) this series, I can’t help but wonder if they are gonna go a similar rode as Rose with Yaz, cause it sure does sons like it and I’m so excited and weary at the same time because on one hand it’s very consistent with Yaz’s character and the Doctor continuing the trend of having cute strong women as companions with benefits and come on potential for space lesbians, yes please. However, on the other hand no matter how great they might execute it, it’s still going to be Rose 2.0.

Full disclosure I’m not a thasmin shipper. Yaz definitely has a crush, but I feel the only reason it worked without being too problematic with Rose is because of the their dynamic, starting from series 2, feeling like somewhat equals (not always, which is it’s own discussion), but Yaz and 13, with all her immense backstory that tripled in length since Rose, terrible communication skills and an even bigger, unintentional ego, won’t be able to be on the same level no matter how hard the Doctor tries to pretend it’s “a flat team structure,” it’s not...

So anyway, Yaz definitely has her shi* together way more than Rose, and props to her for that, but the Doctor is just too far gone.... I am not totally against it, just .... don’t try to pretend it’s healthy for anybody involved.

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, give Yaz a good, original arc instead of it being a tweaked repeat. And a gf that, for her own good isn’t the Doctor and if it is, the Doctor better go do some counseling and work on trust and communication skills. .... I just can’t imagine the Doctor, after being through everything they have been with Rose, Clara and Sarah (platonically for the last two, but just as important) and clearly already very scared of what’s to come when this bunch eventually leave/die/gettheirliferuined and still let themselves have any sort of feelings towards Yaz...

Well, wasn’t this super coherent and not at all a mess of everything I had to get of my chest. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, I love Doctor Who, have a lovely morning/day/evening/night, goodbye ))). 👋

Your first look at #DoctorWho: Revolution of the Daleks! What trouble have the fam gotten themselves into this time?

[ggukkieland]

Hello again 👋

First of all, thank you very much for taking some time in compiling and recommending me idol aus. 🥰 When I asked about it I was just hoping you'll send me about 3-5 works but sending me an entire list - LIKE A LIST CONTAINING ABOUT 50 OF THEM! OMG! 😲 I was super stoked, happy and thankful for your effort in replying with my ask 💕 You even placed ⭐s in to be noticed easily. Thank you so so much 💓

Secondly, I am happy to make you smile even just with a simple ask 💖 and thank you for being so kind and sweet 😊 I usually send asks to authors and send them my feedback especially feelings with what they are writing or probably what I am currently reading from my fics and I tell you, I don't think I'm a warm person? 🙈 I tend to send asks sounding super happy, sad, frustrated and even angry whatever emotion I feel after reading a fic or an updatelol. I think some who receives my asks/messages tend to get the vibes or mood I'm currently in but I try my best to send messages kindly and respectfully since I don't want to hurt someone through my words. And just show how much I appreciate all authors here as much as possible. 🤗

Lastly, I would love to talk to you because I love talking to new people but I tend to get lost with topics so I do stick with sending messages as an anon 😬 and I just hope to give some love and encouragement to different writers here. 💞 Speaking of which, do you also write? I mean I would love to read your stories. I do navigate your blog but it kinda gets overwhelming sometimes like I want to read a lot of it and another thing, idol aus aren't really on my top list as well just like fantasy au, arranged marriage au, supernatural au and a lot more but can't remember what type specifically but because of you I started reading some (not all though still not that into it but I try) of it and appreciate it. I was just scrolling through my feed thar I saw the First Love, Last Love and I scrolled past it like multiple times since I'm not into idol aus but I kinda read a part/chapter you shared then eventually decided to start from chapter 1 and I was hooked so I resulted to asking you for recommendations because you're the reason I saw and read FLFL. And I realized that it was a nice change of genre (pace?) than what I usually read so thank you so so much!

Now, I am sorry this is too long, I got overwhelmed a bit because I was happy that I made you smile and such hehe and I guess my reply is kinda all over the place like no coherence or something - free flowing lol and that's why I'd rather read than write. Hahaha

Anyway, thank you so much for being so kind and friendly. I hope you have a great day ahead and if in case the day's not that good remember that it'll pass and there's nothing you can't overcome because you are stronger than you think you are. Take care - EJ 💙

🌷 You’re welcome, EJ💙! First, thank you for your message! My response below the cut: 

Yeah, I was about to share around 4 to 5 fics but the more I look at my reblogs I kept adding this or that because I thought “wait Navy is good, it’s a must read.” “Oh wait I should include this fic” So there. 😁

Someone said it’s so organized but it felt messy to me.  I just pulled from my blogs and posted everything so I feel like I should fix it (I will organize per member). I’d like to eventually just put a catalog with links that’ll lead to reblogs because I think seeing the reblogs is a good teaser to start reading (like in your case you kept seeing FLFL on your dash and the summary, the banner, other details probably hooked you in ). But lists are also good because when you google tropes/AUs, lists usually pop up versus the fic itself. So either way, they have purpose.

Second, I think it’s nice that you actually put in effort to communicate with authors! I just try to reblog or comment sometimes but I hope others get to see the fics and get inspired to read or try them. I think your tone is still warm but I guess we have moods too, right? But it’s great you are putting in effort to engage. I think authors will appreciate that. 

Third, No I don’t write! hahaha I wish I could. But I read more than write. I could probably tell a story but writing it is different. I get what you mean that blogs can be overwhelming. Even I get overwhelmed realizing I was actually reading a lot of fics. I guess I don’t notice it anymore I just read then reblog, read then reblog 🤭. The lists help me organize everything but it’s just meant to be a reference... in case someone needs it (even I refer to it from time to time) 

I think AUs are layered too. Like I don’t like IDOL AUs but I would read if other themes are included (like there’s fake dating or bodyguard, etc). So even if I don’t read Sports AUs, there are probably a hundred of them I’ve read because I was more focused on the other tropes (like unrequited love or something else)

Thank you for your message. It’s long but I appreciate the effort you put into writing it. I wish you a good day too. I agree with what you said. Like what RM said “Everything Goes” and I always think of this phrase when bad things/feelings happen. 

Enjoy and let me know if you need help (like there’s a mood you’re going for, I can tell you which fic to start with first)

[youtiaoshutiao]

hello, i wanted to ask you what changes in a love so beautiful made you mad? i am sorry if this is a troublesome question, i have not read the novel bc it isn’t translated in a language i can read so i do not have a clear perspective

hello anon! sorry i took so long to reply, i was trying to organise my extremely jumbled thoughts HAHA (which I mostly word-vomitted to @ggongzhu about :P) and i was also busy over the weekend! i’ll attach my thoughts under a read more cut, and also if you haven’t finished watching the drama yet and you are afraid of spoilers do be careful because i’ll make references to the later episodes as well :P

disclaimer: i still really do like the drama a lottttttt (seeing how my tumblr is almost like 100% about alsb hahaha) and perhaps a lot of my opinions are just me being too sensitive and making a mountain out of a molehill (given that i watch the episodes multiple times because of subbing/giffing and i’ve read the book about three times as well)… please forgive me if so :(

1. on a structural scale, i feel like there is a problem with the pacing of the drama, coupled together with the increase in screentime and altering of plot of the secondary leads (mainly wu bo song). the book is mostly set in the time period three years after the breakup and high school/uni is presented as flashbacks/in the outtakes and epilogues. While i’m fine with the drama doing a linear timeline as I do think it’s less messy and more appropriate for a drama, I do feel that they spent way too much time in high school, especially with regards to developing an (what i felt was completely) unnecessary love triangle, at the expense of the main leads’ development. i especially felt that the jealousy scenes, while amusing, were kind of excessive? they could have cut down on that as they were mostly the same narrative after a while and didn’t lend much to building the story. in addition i also thought that the addition of these love triangle/jealousy plot lines kind of weakened the characterisation of jiangchen for me. like jiangchen saying “you were really embarrassing today” in episode 5 because he was jealous, which i really thought was a super harsh and not really in line with his character (he’s more of awkward and aloof and bad at expressing himself, not mean D:), and also the endless jealousy scenes kind of didn’t make sense after a while because he does know that xiaoxi likes him!!

and i just felt that all these needless plotlines to “dramatise” the story just kind of came at expense of what could have been a more coherent drama, or a drama with better pacing. lots of netizens said that episode 18 onwards just felt like a powerpoint presentation where it was just scene after random scene, and it didn’t really flow well? they could have expanded more on the post high-school narrative i felt to make it more coherent, or explored more things, like the ambitions of the five of them (among which, only Jiangchen’s was properly explored, which was a nice touch the drama had that wasn’t in the book :) ), the three years they spent separated to drive home the point that jiangchen really needs xiaoxi, etc.

and while I admit that i’m not the biggest fan of wu bo song and I found his character quite annoying, it’s not that i’m opposed to the addition of secondary leads, it’s just the fact that the additional screentime and additional scenes end up weakening the main leads’ characterisations and taking time away from what could have been used to explore the main leads more that makes me rather sad ):

[okay the rest of the points are mostly plot-related]

2. i didn’t like how they made post 3-years breakup Jiangchen kind of a 霸道总裁 (which is a Chinese fiction/entertainment trope, which is smth like an overbearing chaebol). the drama changed the reason for the breakup which was different in the book (in the book, Jiangchen’s parents were both alive, and Jiangchen’s mother’s disapproval of their relationship and blatant dislike for Xiaoxi was the initial catalyst that eventually triggered Xiaoxi to break up with Jiangchen), which was fine! and actually I thought the drama’s handling of the breakup was quite realistic and portrayed well. But then the drama’s version of the breakup had both parties be at fault.

So taking that into consideration, the last scene of episode 20 didn’t really make much sense at all (where Jiangchen asks Xiaoxi to apologise to him). The drama used the exact same words as the book did, but it doesn’t make as much sense in this context. Because in the book xiaoxi broke up with jiangchen cos she was insecure as his mum didn’t like her and as they slowly drifted apart, so from jiangchen’s pov it felt like xiaoxi broke up with him over nothing, whereas in the drama it’s totally different as jiangchen actively left for beijing instead, so the apology thing just seems really weird and kinda rude of him??? And the scene before that, where he wiped her fingers in front of their entire group of her friends was just so improper and rude of him? (The fake girlfriend thing also features in the book (and in fact Xiaoxi introduced the girlfriend to him whom he then roped into his fake girlfriend scheme), but this scene was added in the drama and the way the drama presented it just weirded me out)

In addition, some of the sentences drama!Jiang Chen says - like “We definitely will get back together” or “She’s always been mine” was just D: nooooooooooo

3. the way they dealt with xiaoxi’s character. My impression in the book was that though she wasn’t a good student, and she was often slow on the uptake especially with regards to Jiangchen, she wasn’t helpless and she was actually a very independent woman (post-breakup) who was quite perceptive and had a high EQ in her dealings with her friends (Jiangchen being the only exception, where often she subconsciously feels lowly in front of him and hence often misreads him) . So while Shen Yue portrayed Xiaoxi really well and managed to toe the fine line between being cute and silly and being annoyingly silly, I really wish that the drama had made Xiaoxi less helpless because book!Xiaoxi definitely wasn’t so!

And even if they wanted to retain all the “helpless Xiaoxi” moments in highschool, what really made me quite disappointed was how in ep 22, drama!Xiaoxi ended up getting the whole book deal through Jiangchen’s interference and through him paying for vanity publication, which I thought was doing the character such a disservice (though it highlights Jiangchen’s selflessness and sacrifice etc, but. but. but! couldn’t the drama have picked something else to showcase that). In the book, Xiaoxi got her book deal entirely through her own efforts and I really wished the drama showed that as well ):

In addition, I thought that the drama could have dwelled more on Xiaoxi’s internal thoughts. Like… why does she like art? Why did she decide to get back together with Jiangchen? Why did she get upset when Jiangchen teased her about her proposing to him (which was discussed in the book, but the drama didn’t and i think according to @ggongzhu it made it seem like she was just upset as she thought the guy should be the one proposing)?

Haha but then conversely, there are things that I thought the drama did better than the book!

1. The medium of it being a drama allows us to see Jiangchen fleshed out more compared to the book. In the main part of the book (excluding the outtakes), everything is written from xiaoxi’s first person pov. so sometimes she will write about how she feels very lowly in her relationship with jiangchen, or feels like she cares too much while he cares less, or how she rarely hears any romantic words from him; or because she misreads Jiangchen, lots of times she will think that jiangchen is angry with her when he really isn’t. But then from his small actions and from the outtakes which are written from omnipresent pov, you can tell he does care a lot about her and stuff. (Personally, the first time I read the book I was a little ?_?, and only on my second/third read did I begin to appreciate all the little moments where you can see Jiangchen’s love, ehehe)

In the drama, because we are watching from 3rd person pov, we can see all his little smiles and stuff so we know he does like her right from the beginning, which makes for very satisfying viewing, I must say. [But back to the drama’s flaws: even though this is the case, the way that the drama narrative presented him, actively doing things that hurt xiaoxi (like calling her embarrassing, like leaving her for Beijing without discussing beforehand - like he only told her when he was at the airport) when he’s upset with her/jealous, makes him seem kind of self-centred, which brings me back to the first point I made about weakening of characterisation hehe]

2. I really like the addition of the friends group! Which was not in the book :) I love Lin Jing Xiao loads and she’s such a good friend to have *_* It would have been nice seeing more of her and her astronomy career, actually (same goes for the rest of the gang)

3. I really liked the whole subplot about why Jiangchen decided to study medicine in the end. The little scenes, like his relieved smile of wonder after Lu Yang was saved by the school doctor and an adrenaline jab; him meeting the little girl in the hospital and having an unexpected convo that tugged on his heart strings; him telling Lu Yang that he also wanted to stay by Xiaoxi’s side, eee that was so poignant and lovely. Also really liked how in that same episode, we got to see some relationship development between him and his younger brother! (who did not exist in the book, ahaha)

4. It was also touching having Jiangchen actively admit that he was wrong to Xiaoxi and seeking forgiveness, especially knowing what a proud person he is :)))

haha oh man anon sorry for the word vomit!!! and I hope I did make some sense hahaha and that i’m not nitpicking ahaha. It’s just, so many things about the drama adaptation were on point - like the cast, the sets - that it just made me a little sad to have the drama narrative and script ruin it a little for me. ): let me know what you think and have a good week ahead!! :)