#yin qi did something nice

[nothingwronghere]

[viewfromgumlog]

Blog 2: Chinese Medicine, Its Complexity, and Me

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

Albert Einstein

A view from our front porch:

Trying to change my perspective and eating patterns to follow Traditional Chinese medicine’s (TCM's) recommendations has proven to be difficult. I consulted several sources. When I got down to specifics, like what to specifically eat or not eat, not all the sources agreed.

My husband hates change. He eats differently than I do already, but I do the shopping and cook our main meal. However, he always cautions me about making too many changes too quickly. After being married almost 36 years, he does know me fairly well! So . . .

Easy Does It

and

Keep It Simple

Chinese Medicine Simplified

Chinese medicine’s complexity far exceeds the limitations of this blog, but I will try and provide a simplified overview of it.

From the perspective of Chinese medicine, everything is interdependent and comes from the flow of qi, or energy. To be healthy, we must keep a dynamic state of balance in our bodies, living in harmony with ourselves, others, and all of nature. 

The familiar tajii, or Yang/Yin symbol, illustrates this dynamic balance. Yang energy, the white area, motivates, energizes, and embodies qi. Yin energy, the black area, cools, moistens, nourishes, and anchors our shen, or spirit. These intertwined energies are found in every living thing.

Food is medicine.

Food is not just something with calories, vitamins, minerals, protein, carbs, and fat content. Every food has a thermal energy, the qi of food, that affects our internal balance of yin and yang. All food is categorized according to its thermal energy which can range from cold to hot. Warming foods have a yang action while cooling foods are yin acting. Yang foods cause ascending energy while Yin foods cause descending energy.

Chinese medicine also considers a food’s flavor as therapeutic. Sweet and pungent foods have a yang action. Salty, sour, and bitter foods bring about yin energy. Foods can be drying, lubricating, neutral, or strengthening. 

Learning More About TCM and Foods

I consulted three books about food and TCM.

The first book I consulted was Total Health the Chinese Way: An Essential Guide to Eating by Esther Tin and Marian Jas. She has a nice table of foods organized by their thermal properties and another table matching the thermal properties to symptoms. Its simplicity makes it handy to look at when menu planning and grocery shopping. They also have included a questionnaire to determine your body temperature and energy level. I was somewhat confused by my results since I have symptoms in several areas. (More on this in my next blog.) In my opinion, this book ranks the highest for ease of understanding.

For extensive descriptions of foods and their properties and much more information on TCM, Paul Pitchford has written over 600 pages of information. I ended up using the index to figure out what would work for me since reading everything was overwhelming. If I want to know the properties of a food and what it is recommended for, this book tops all others. The PINES library system has this book, but after reading parts of it, I ordered a copy for myself. This books does not use the motto, "Easy Does It," but it did help me clarify the direction I need to take to heal my infirmities. I checked out my conclusion with my acupuncturist at my first visit. She confirmed that my conclusion was right.

Goldsmith and Klein also write about TCM so anyone can understand it. I bought the book for the recipes but she uses many Chinese ingredients that are not available in rural northeast Georgia. Plus, her recipes are somewhat complicated. I use the motto "Keep it simple" in the kitchen!

To find out how I applied this to my health challenges, be sure and read my next blog.

Book References with links to them on Amazon:

Goldsmith, Ellen and Maya Klein. Nutritional Healing with Chinese Medicine.  Robert Rose, 2017.

Pitchford, Paul. Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition. North Atlantic Books, 2002.

Ting, Esther and Marianne Jas. Total Health the Chinese Way: An Essential Guide to Easing Pain, Reducing Stress, Treating Illness, and Restoring the Body through. DaCapo Lifelong Books, 2009.

[killerandhealerqueen]

Did I just binge all 16 eps. so far in two days? Yes, yes I did. And now I need more.

I'm honestly surprised by how much I'm enjoying this drama. Like a lot. Not something I'd usually watch but maybe because the romance isn't really in your face/it's not really there at all (I mean it is for one couple, idk what the fuck is going on with the other two). It's nice.

I'm definitely not cringing as much at the ML like I was with Love is Written in the Stars. Wei Qi made me either wanna punch his lights out or smack him (but Ning Lan and Pei Yin could do no wrong, I loved them). I don't hate Ziyu; I actually really like him. Though he does need to learn to read the room more

[sins-of-the-sea]

Ghost likes Giovanni, he's so nice. And his friends must be just as nice!

Send your muse's thoughts about mine on anon

"G-....G-g-...ghost??"

"Oh, don't worry about them, they're really nice! I'd love for you to meet them som-"

"They're not egui or wangliang or jiangshi, aren't they?!!? Please tell me they're not!! Especially jiangshi!"

"I.... really doubt they are. For one, I can't see them, for the most part. You kind of have to be an actual solid corpse to be a jiangshi.

"And why would you be afraid of jiangshi anyway? They seem to be a Qing thing. As in the Manchus."

"EXACTLY!! They're fucking freaky!! They might have so much yang qi I wouldn't know what to do to counteract with that! And it's not like we can kill them again or pump in any yin or just extract both or SOMETHING!!"

"I don't understand you, Ruixiong. But then again, you did sell your soul to the Master so you can escape consequences with Diyu and avoid reincarnation and loss of identity upon death. I suppose meeting anyone who also avoided Diyu would scare you."

[thevindicativevordan]

On Kong Kenan/Super-Man

It should've been him. He should've been the Superman of 5G/Future State/right now not Jon, and he should be the one getting an HBO Max series not Val. Hell he should be getting a movie!

God this dude is literally the best legacy character Superman has ever gotten, wholly his own person with his own lore and status quo while still building on the idea of "Superman". I am so pissed at DC for essentially just dropping him after his ongoing ended, what the hell Lee? You keep trying to make the Wildstorm characters happen, I need you to get my man Yang another Kenan book.

Have to admit I was a bit nervous at first about whether or not Kenan would be a worthwhile character. Yang's New 52 Superman run had been a disappointment to me overall, with only the the arc where Superman has underground wrestling matches against forgotten gods really sticking with me. Now he was introducing a brand new Superman? Didn't feel like he had "earned" that yet. But from the first issue I was hooked on this new character.

Kenan was unlike any other member of the Superfamily. He wasn't kind or sweet, he was an asshole! He was a bully! He was fantastic! Right from the start Kenan was set up to undergo a very different kind of character journey than the other members of the Superfamily. Empathy, humility, respect for people weaker than himself, these are all traits most heroes wearing the S-shield already posses by the time they first don the crest, but not Kenan.

Like all bullies he was even a bit of a coward himself at first, trying to bail on the experiment meant to give him Superman's powers right as it begins. After "saving" Lixin (the kid he bullies and steals lunch from every day) from Blue Condor he demands all the money Lixin has on him as payment. He's not courageous or selfless either at the start, Kenan is as much of an opposite of Superman as you can get short of being Bizarro. Learning the appeal of these traits formed the basis for his growth over the course of his series.

Seeing Yang bring in a lot of recognizable "Superman" elements in the series, but with a twist, was also great. Kenan is the one who bullies "Luo Lixin" rather than the traditional Clark/Lex friendship of Pre-Crisis and Birthright. Initially Kenan develops a crush on intrepid reporter for Primetime Shanghai, Laney Lan, but she dismisses him as too young and Kenan eventually ends up pursuing Avery Ho (Flash) instead. Baxi the Bat-Man of China has a similar relationship with Kenan as the traditional Superman/Batman in terms of being vitriolic best buds, however Baxi is the one who has the most respect for authority while Kenan is the rebel. Kenan is a part of the "Justice League of China" which does not meet with the approval of the already established Chinese superheroes, the Great Ten. That contrasts nicely with the good relationship the Justice Society and Justice League have, as well as seeing Yang lampshade the "Chinese copy" trope and incorporate that into his storytelling.

One of the funniest differences is how Kenan chooses to immediately reveal his identity as Super-Man to the world by taking off the compliance visor he was forced to wear, contrasting with Clark's choice to hide his identity. He was so eager to impress people that he never gave any thought to the danger he could put himself or his family in by revealing his identity until it was too late, something Clark is well aware of and has taken great pains to keep his identity secret. Was a missed opportunity for DC to have Kenan comment on Clark copying him for once when he outed himself under Bendis.

But one of the most poignant differences between Clark and Kenan is the gulf in separation between their relationship with their parents. Clark has a loving relationship with Ma and Pa Kent, trying to live up to their lessons as best he can. In contrast Kenan's mom was believed to have died in an airplane crash when he was just a child, and he never really knew her. His father was distant from him after that and the two weren't really close despite Kenan's attempts to impress him. So Kenan lacks that strong connection while still clearly loving both of them.

Pa Kent's death is one of the most tragic examples of Clark's love for his parents, and I've always been a fan of takes where Clark promises his father to fight for the powerless on Pa's deathbed. Kenan gets a similar scene at the start of his career, his dad "dies" (after being exposed as Flying General Dragon, a pro-democracy "supervillain" from the Chinese authorities perspective) and wants Kenan to promise he'll fight for Truth, Justice, and Democracy. But because Kenan's dad never really bonded with him, Kenan doesn't know what those mean, and can only promise that he never wants to see people die, something his father takes comfort in at least. In classic comic book fashion it's revealed that Dr. Omen, Kenan's "boss" and the one who gave him his powers, saved Kenan's father, because she is Kenan's mother! Kenan's relationship with his parents forms a lot of the crux of his character arc, and seeing how Yang utilizes the classic Superman concept of family kept the storytelling exciting.

Yang's brilliant exploration of the concept of "Superman" through the prism of Chinese culture was a great way to differentiate Kenan as well.

I absolutely freaking love how he tied to the concept of Qi to the S-shield in particular. Connecting the shape of the shield with the way Kenan has acquired his powers along the path of the Bagua (eight trigrams used in Taoism that represent the fundamental principles of reality), with his octagon S-shield outline representing all eight principles together, was mindblowing! So was the idea of restricting Kenan's access to his powers unless he was actually acting in a Superman manner, that tied his character growth to his power growth in an entertaining manner. There were so many characters and concepts that meshed Chinese and DC lore together, like how Emperor Super-Man was Kenan's "Doomsday", they even recreated that iconic dual kill shot! The Chinese Wonder Woman Peng Deilan, being based on the Chinese Legend of the White Snake! There was even some Korean mythology referenced with the Aqua-Man member of the JLC "Dragonson".

Yang also managed to do a Superman Blue/Superman Red story with Super-Man Yin/Super-Man Yang!

Shameful that it took me a while to realize what Gene Yang was doing but once I caught on I was touched. You can tell how much Yang loved Superman and his mythology, and how he was excited to incorporate as much from Clark as he could, while still using it in a way that was solidly Kenan's. And not just Superman's mythology, but the history and lore of the entire DC Universe. I-Ching got to be brought in, fleshed out, and used as Kenan's mentor! The "Yellow Peril" villain from Detective Comics #1, the comic DC gets its name from was brought in and revamped as I-Ching's twin brother All-Yang! Hats off to Yang for taking a racist caricature and attempting to make him into something more.

This series was a beautiful attempt by Gene Yang to build a space for Asian heroes and villains where they could be more than stereotypes, Kenan himself being a defiant mold-breaker in every regard as the complete opposite of most Asian characters in Western media (a jock, a bully, loves his dad but not on great terms with him, a powerhouse as a hero, etc). So much thought and hard work was poured into this by Yang and his team of artist collaborators.

Especially the costumes, man Kenan had so many great looks. From his starting outfit (which is my favorite Superman variant not worn by Clark himself), to the one with the Yin/Yang shield he acquired later on, to his Super-Man Yin & Super-Man Yang outfits, Kenan looked damn cool. Part of me is bummed they didn't go with the Chinese character shield they toyed around with, but I loved how Yang used the "s-shield" as a plot point, so I'm not too broken up over it.

All that great work Yang did to build that space up has been more or less forgotten sadly. It was nice to see Kenan in the DC Asian Month Celebration issue. Avery is going to be in Justice Incarnate at least (unsurprising considering she was created by Williamson). So fucking bummed that Superman Family Adventures cartoon didn't happen, they were going to have Kenan and John Henry Irons in it! Would've been a dream come true for me to see Irons in animation again, and Kenan making the jump to outside media! Maybe that would've encouraged DC to let Yang keep writing New Super-Man, or at least encouraged them to use him elsewhere instead of allowing him fall into Limbo.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what the future holds for Kenan. Jon is being pushed as Clark's replacement in the comics, with DC keeping all the other contenders such as Kon benched. Calvin is leading the Justice Incarnate team likely due to the upcoming Coates reboot that will make Clark black. Val will probably get something once Taylor leaves Jon's book or once they officially announce the HBO Max show is happening. So where does that leave Kenan, my new favorite PoC legacy hero? Currently my only hope is that Yang is working on something for DC involving him. Yang left Batman/Superman, where I was hoping to see a Baxi/Kenan team up, to go work on "exciting other opportunities" per his Twitter. So fingers crossed that there's something in the works for Kenan!

One day I hope he gets his day in the sun again.

[evilsexy]

I am joining the debate train, but I actually??? Disagree?? That Hua Cheng isnt kind???

Like heres the thing, 'kind' and 'nice' are two different things, as we know. Hua Cheng is the rudest person (out of the good guys. We ain't counting Qi Rong). But he did create a refuge for the unwanted and the monstrous (no matter how...unsettling...Ghost City itself is) and I recall there being a whole section (I believe when Hualian are running away from the weird cultivators and listen in on them??) where we hear about how Hua Cheng accepts the ones persecuted by society (like that butcher situation). He is also the one to take in Yin Yu.

Not to mention that he ascended because he tore out his eye to protect some humans in Tonglu. He just. Hides his kindness really well and is also simultaneously a pretty harsh individual. I dunno, to each their own opinion etc etc.

(Oh! And he mentions how his reason for creating the Gamblers Den/Ghost City is so that he can be the one to control the depravity because that's going to exist anyways, and he may as well be the one to regulate it. Which seems very...mature to me? Idk idk rambling)

Basically, Hua Cheng is a fair person and it's just that we havent seen him be kind to many people because story is from Xie Lian's POV and people tend to be rude to Xie Lian and therefore Hua Cheng doesnt see a reason to be

I hope this made sense, because I am so sleep deprived and should be in bed LMAO

yeah honestly i think we both just got very different readings from the same text, so i'll outline the way i interpreted them

the ghost city is not a nonprofit or a charity, hua cheng gets extremely wealthy and powerful from his position as its ruler, this is advantageous to his goal of one day getting Xie Lian & providing for him

sure he harbors outcasts but he also harbors illegal activities that are illegal for a reason, we don't get to see a lot but you can infer that things like drugs, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, etc (if they exist in this universe) would likely take place there, sure they are ""regulated"" but really? allowing these things to exist in your domain in the first place & profiting off of them is not an act of goodwill

yin yu is his servant and hua cheng treats him .. like a servant 

hua cheng hated that eye for his whole life because it was the source of so much suffering, and probably wanted an excuse to get it out of his body. his relationship with e-ming is clearly complicated but i don't think he misses having that eye, it's not like he really gave up something he treasured to save those people

hua cheng is not just being "normal mean" to people throughout the book, he will immediately identify someone's biggest weakness/insecurity and taunt them about it relentlessly

So yeah, overall, I don't think HC is an overtly malicious person (except when verbally insulting people lmao) but nearly every "good" thing he does is for the sake of Xie Lian, and he also stands back and watches a ton of horrible things go down even though he absolutely has the power to step in and put and end to them

[robininthelabyrinth]

Prompt: NHS non-fatally qi deviates. How do NMJ and the others take that?

ao3 

Untamed

It had always been something of a behind-closed-doors debate – a chicken-and-the-egg problem, what came first, what was the cause and what was the symptom.

Was the Nie sect’s atypical cultivation method the reason behind the notorious Nie temper? Or were they born with the temper, and the cultivation method merely built upon that? Which one was the reason for their clan’s tendency towards early qi deviations?

Nie Huaisang usually threw his money on the “blame the cultivation style”, almost entirely for the sake of pissing off his brother.

He was starting to think, though, that he’d been wrong.

Aituan wasn’t even anywhere nearby, after all, when he started bleeding out of his qiqiao, his qi disordered and violently raging inside of him and still somehow, somehow not enough to assuage the rage in his heart, in his head –

“Nie-xiong! Nie-xiong! Nie Huaisang!”

Nie Huaisang turned with a snarl, but Wei Wuxian was already holding up his hands in surrender, Jiang Cheng quickly following suit a second later, and in the end he wasn’t really angry at them.

“I’m pretty sure you’re done,” Jiang Cheng said cautiously. “You’re – you are done, right?”

“I dunno,” Wei Wuxian muttered. “I don’t think Wen Zhuliu is entirely paste yet – there’s still a few bones Nie-xiong hasn’t crushed down into dust…”

“Shut up.”

“I will not.”

The familiar bickering was soothing, like slipping into a hot bath at the end of a tough day – like arguing with his brother about silly things, scoring a clever point and getting one of his brother’s rare smiles. Nie Huaisang felt his shoulders relax a little, and he lowered the stick –

“Why am I holding a stick?” he asked blankly, looking down at it. He didn’t remember picking it up at any point. “And why is it…uh…”

“Covered in the blood and guts and possibly brain matter of your enemy?”

Nie Huaisang swayed, suddenly light-headed. “…that,” he agreed, voice weak.

He slowly became aware that there was something squishy and wet under his feet, soaking into his shoes, and he very carefully did not look down.

“What happened?” he asked faintly. “What did I – actually, on second thought, don’t tell me.”

Jiang Cheng’s expression was a strange mix of being impressed with him and pitying him, and honestly Nie Huaisang preferred the pity. No one was impressed with him, not ever, and in retrospect he rather liked it that way, if the alternative was…

“You defeated the Core-Melting Hand in one-on-one combat,” Wei Wuxian said. “Congratulations.”

Nie Huaisang gaped at him.

“Don’t you remember?” Jiang Cheng said, blinking at him. “He said something about your brother, and you suddenly lost it –”

Nie Huaisang remembered, suddenly, and he felt a sickening lurch in his stomach as his vision flickered red around the edges again, and he imagined he could hear Aituan shouting his name from thousands of li away. How dare that man, that stone-face bastard who looked so long-suffering and yet underneath it all was so cruel and unfeeling – how dare he say such a thing about his da-ge –

Nie Huaisang had been angry the entire time he’d been here at the indoctrination camp.

Really angry, not the silly little temper tantrums he usually threw back at home or the occasional shouting matches he had with his brother to vent steam. He hated it here. He hated the fact that he was here in the Nightless City, the one place his brother had always refused to bring him no matter how embarrassingly impolitic it was, the place Sect Leader Wen had murdered his father over a stupid dinner table conversation. He hated the fact that his brother had tried to protect him, and failed only because he’d gotten distracted by Meng Yao of all people.

(He hated the fact that he’d had to learn that fact from one of his retainers, weeks too late and him already gone to the Nightless City, too late to apologize or make it up; hated the fact that the last words he’d said to his da-ge on the subject were cruel ones, blaming him for sending away his friend, when in fact his friend had torn off his face to reveal something dark beneath. He hated that his brother had just taken those cruel words from him, suffered under his accusations, without defending himself from them, because he blamed himself for – for what? For being just, the way he was supposed to be?  For protecting him?)

He hated the Yin metal, the vile corruption he could feel for all that they were in a different part of the palace. He hated Wen Chao making them memorize and recite, which he was terrible at, and he hated him for making them do it outside in the hot sun and the hot earth until he fainted from heatstroke, his weak golden core insufficient to protect him the way the others did them.

He hated Wen Ruohan, he hated Wen Chao, and he hated, hated, hated Wen Zhuliu.

Most of the boys at the indoctrination camp had gotten the idea that he wasn’t that bad, for all that he was terrifying, because he always looked so bored about everything, like he was having to fulfil all of this as a torturous duty instead of a pleasure, but he’d been the one to carry Nie Huaisang back inside after he’d fainted and he’d said some things about his brother then, when Nie Huaisang was too weak to do anything, and today he’d come by, watching Nie Huaisang struggle to set up the small tent he’d been given for their travels, and he’d said them again…

“He wanted to steal my brother’s cultivation,” Nie Huaisang said through numb lips. His hands were clenched, quivering with rage that was impossible to bury down in his heart – was this how his brother felt all the time? No wonder he was so straightforward about most things; forget scheming, it was amazing he could even think. “He wanted – he didn’t even think of him as a person. Just dirt beneath his feet, fruit ripe for the plucking, some animal he could slaughter as a prize to give to his wretched master –”

He’d even said, today, that they could use what was left over as a corpse puppet, and chuckled when he thought of what the great Chifeng-zun would have thought of that.

Nie Huaisang had been angry ever since they’d arrived, full of bile and choler and rage.

His family never did handle their rage well.

“You had a minor qi deviation,” Wei Wuxian said solemnly, looking at him. “You’re still bleeding – your eyes, your nose, your ears…We need to get you to a doctor.”

“We need to hide the body before anyone finds it, that’s what we need to do,” Jiang Cheng said.

“We can do both! Multitasking!”

He was very lucky to have such good friends, Nie Huaisang thought to himself, and toppled over.

He woke up back in the sorry excuse for a camp, with Wen Qing acting as his doctor and Wen Ning as her assistant, taking care of him (it had taken an embarrassingly long while before Nie Huaisang remembered their names, for all that they’d come to lessons at the Cloud Recesses, too, both of them, and even though they’d all gone on a whole mission to the village with the goddess statute together afterwards, but in his defense he was really bad at memorizing - anything), and while Wen Qing kept herself nice and professional, Wen Ning kept shooting him extremely impressed looks that Nie Huaisang didn’t think he deserved.

He hadn’t actually defeated the Core-Melting Hand in one-on-one combat, no matter what Wei Wuxian said. He’d launched a surprise attack at the back of a man who wasn’t expecting it, because no one ever expected anything from Nie Huaisang.

“You have remarkable arm strength,” Wen Qing said (she had looked amused when he asked about her name, blushing with shame), sounding casual but clearly fishing a little. “It’s hidden by your thin frame, and even further minimized by your choice in clothing, but actually you have significant muscle there.”

“Saber practice,” Nie Huaisang explained. “Sabers are heavier than swords, and rely more on brute force. At home, you train a lot with heavy things even before you get your own saber, just to make sure you can wield it properly – you have to have a good arm.”

He’d been barely mediocre by his sect’s standards, and even that level he’d only achieved through years of nagging, threatening, and occasional bribery on his older brother’s part. He shouldn’t have been able to win, but Wen Zhuliu hadn’t even been looking at Nie Huaisang when he’d said what he said, hadn’t seen the moment he’d snapped and attacked, his disordered qi giving him extraordinary strength even as it turned against him to destroy him internally, and if there was one thing that saber style taught you it was not to let someone who’d fallen to your blade get up again.

(Had his brother brought out Baxia against Meng Yao, before deciding to let him go? He couldn’t help but wonder – it was bad luck if he had, a severing of the relationship in an unfixable way, but he wasn’t sure his brother would be strong enough to resist trying to repair it if Meng Yao ever came back. Where was Meng Yao, anyway?)

Attacking a man from behind wasn’t really honorable, he thought glumly, and he thought he understood for the first time why his brother was so strict about such things: it didn’t feel good to have done it this way. It felt like cheating, made every approving gaze feel like a lie, like something he didn’t deserve.

“So what happens now?” he asked, and Wen Qing shrugged a little helplessly. “Does, uh…”

“Wei-gongzi and Jiang-gongzi are hiding the remains,” Wen Ning volunteered. He looked way too cheerfully when he said ‘remains’. Possible budding mass-murderer? Or maybe he’d just been a doctor’s assistant for too long. “Wen-er-gongzi hasn’t noticed yet – he’s still with Wang Lingjiao.”

“But he will notice,” Nie Huaisang said.

“As long as he doesn’t blame any of you, does it matter?” Wen Qing said.

“…if you have an example of Wen Zhuliu’s handwriting, I can probably forge it to look like a note saying he was summoned back by Sect Leader Wen.”

Wen Qing and Wen Ning exchanged looks he didn’t quite understand, but they brought him what he needed, and by the time they got trapped in a horrible underground cave with a gigantic man-eating Xuanwu the next day, Wen Chao still hadn’t figured it out, though he’d been in an awful mood the entire time.

“Why are you sitting down?” Jiang Cheng scolded him even as he dashed around fighting Wen sect soldiers, and see, this was why Nie Huaisang didn’t ever fight. It only made people expect him to do it more – Jiang Cheng hadn’t scolded him at all for hiding behind things before…

Before.

“Leave him alone,” Jin Zixuan said. He hadn’t been there, so he still looked disdainful and dismissive; it was amazing how much of a relief that was. “He can’t help anyway.”

“But –”

“My head hurts,” Nie Huaisang said plaintively, and it had the benefit of being both true and working very effectively to get Jiang Cheng to head as far away from him as possible in a sudden rush. After a while, he got up and picked up one of the swords some unfortunate Wen sect retainer had dropped.

“I have no idea what I’m doing with this,” he said, very seriously, to yet another unfortunate Wen sect retainer, before lifting it and bringing it down, saber-style, the way his brother had all but beaten into his head.

That one didn’t seemed like he was expecting it, either, even though Nie Huaisang was right in front of his face and everything.

It felt a bit better, though – Aituan didn’t like the Wen sect one bit, he thought a little muzzily, and wondered why he’d thought that, since after all Aituan was all the way back at home – and he was a little less ashamed to stand with the rest of them as they tried to figure out a way out of the cave.

“You probably shouldn’t do that,” he said to the Lan disciple who picked up a bow and was trying to aim it at the Xuanwu. “You’ll miss.”

The Lan disciple glared at him.

“Not as bad as I would, mind you,” Nie Huaisang said, looking at it. He felt as though he was standing behind a pane of glass and nothing could touch him - not pain or fear or anything, anything but rage. “I’d probably miss the turtle entirely. I’m just saying that it’s angry now, so the shot’s a lot harder to make; maybe five people could make that shot.”

“Lan-er-gongzi could make it.”

“Yes, well, Lan-er-gongzi isn’t human,” Nie Huaisang said, quite seriously, and the Lan disciple’s lips twitched. “Seriously, don’t waste your time – or your arrows. If you’re anywhere good enough at archery to even think that you could make that shot, you need to keep them to protect me.”

“Are you in need of protection?”

“Oh, always,” Nie Huaisang said blithely, the way he always did, then paused and grimaced. “Most of the time, anyway. I got sick, earlier.”

He was pretty sure the Lan disciple didn’t understand what he meant by sick.

“You don’t really want me to protect you,” the disciple said, frowning. “Do you?”

Nie Huaisang wanted everyone to protect him. He never wanted to fight again in his life.

But the Lan disciple looked like he was a little pleased to have been asked, like no one had ever asked him before, and Nie Huaisang suddenly felt a sudden stab of empathy hitting him straight in the heart.

“I do. I’m pretty sure all the other Nie disciples here are short-range fighters –” His brother had sent as few of them as he could manage, and only sent any at all because he wanted someone there to keep an eye on Nie Huaisang. To protect him. “– and they’re mostly hotheaded idiots –” That was definitely true. “– and I really, really don’t want to end up in another situation where I get sick again, because my brother will never forgive me. So I could use an archer.”

“…okay,” the Lan disciple said. “I’m Su She.”

Nie Huaisang nodded. “I promise to apologize to your sect later on for taking up your time.”

He managed not to be sick the entire journey home.

Maybe it was an aberration, he thought, maybe –

When he got home, his brother was holding Aituan in his hand instead of Baxia – she was in her sheath on his back – and he rushed over to him at once, presenting the saber to him before he did anything else; confused, Nie Huaisang accepted his saber, wondering if he was going to need to go practice or something, and the second his hand wrapped around the hilt –

Oh.

Oh.

His head abruptly cleared, the fog he hadn’t even realized was there finally lifting, the rage draining out of him and back into Aituan – not an especially angry saber, as they went, but still a Nie saber with all that entailed. His qi finally, finally straightened out, stabilized, and he felt like he could breathe again, his mind free and clear now that he had a saber in his hand.

Like all the other Nies before him.

Doomed.

And then he was in his brother’s arms, being held tight.

“Oh, Huaisang,” his brother said, and his voice sounded raw and broken, almost as if he’d been weeping. “I never wanted this for you.”

Nie Huaisang hugged him back.

“It’s okay,” he said, and the buzzing in the back of his head that was Aituan agreed with him. He’d been there the whole time, ever since the first incident; it didn’t matter how far away from each other they were. “It was a small one, it passed, it’s fine…”

It wasn’t fine, and they both knew it – Nie Huaisang might not know the details of all their clan secrets, but he knew enough to know what it was he was so carefully not knowing – but what was there to say?

It was still his family. It was still his heritage.

(He wondered what Meng Yao would say, if he knew. He wondered if he would pull his saber back the way his brother had, if Meng Yao ever betrayed him.)

“At least I can help fight now,” he said, joking, and his brother glared at him.

“Not a chance,” he said. “You’re going to go somewhere safe. You can go with –”

“Su She.”

“– with Su She back to the Cloud Recesses; it’ll be more secure there than here.”

It was about what Nie Huaisang had expected.

“Okay,” he said. “But not now.”

His brother’s eyes flickered down to his saber. His lifeline.

“No,” he said. “Not now.”

[project-paranoia]

Let’s Watch: Yin Yang Master: Dream of Eternity

I have watched this movie 85 Whole Entire Times and I do not regret.  The only thing wrong with this movie is that it wasn't a fifty episode series.  I cried, I laughed, I fell in love.  The cinematography is on point, the acting is amazing, the crew member who put snow on people's eyebrows did an amazing job, and the acting!  The subtlety, the gentleness, the love and affection, the discussion of race is one of the best I've ever seen.

As people have pointed out before in series like X-Men that fear of mutant's is practically if not thematically justified due to the laser eyes in a way that fear of ethnic minorities just isn't in real life.  In Dream of Eternity however humans are equally if not sometimes more super powered than the yao they hunt.  Demons - very much not in the Christian sense - are a mixture of spirits, resentful souls, and animals and plants who cultivated to human form.  They often appear human at first glance and in some cases the extent of their power seems to be the limited to turning into a smaller more vulnerable animal.  Qingming's deliberate care and gentleness not only reflects his upbringing as a Yin Yang Master, but parallels the experience of racial minorities labelled as aggressive.

The movie takes particular care as well in the way it looks at trauma, grief, and love.  The three of which haunt the main characters and send out ripple effects into the world around them.  In the world of Dream of Eternity no loss is purely private, it spools out into the world around the person effected until they make an effect to acknowledge and deal with their experiences.  Qingming's warmth and gentleness isn't just marked by his behaviour but by the orange light he's lit by and his variety of shishen - but he is also separate, standing alone in frame and facing away from the people around him.  Boya's loss has made him unforgiving and as cold as the blue light he's lit in, and yet he is open and instinctive, talking and acting as soon as the thought enters his head.  The Empress is lost and drifting, trapped and grief stricken, vulnerable to those who profess to love her.  The film is simple, it says and shows what it means when it means it - but it is also as complex as the very human characters it depicts.  

The movie is made even more complex by its pull from theaters.  Claims of plagiarism drench the edges of the movie, which as true as the assertion that Fan BingBing went on a spa vacation in 2018.  Although this blog is about Chinese censorship dealing specifically with BL content, Chinese censorship also effects those who criticize governmental policy.  I hope that supporters of this blog will also support Chinese media threatened by censorship for many reasons so that artists and others involved in film making can continue to make meaningful content.

Doing a watchthrough of a movie is not feasible, but please enjoy a few thousand words - with spoilers on Yin Yang Master included:

* That gentle chiming and rain soundscaping is so soothing, what a great way to calm and lull the audience before the movie even starts * Qingming is so small and isolated in the frame - cinema! * The lighting and cinematography is just so good * Shifu, soft gentle teacher * So much love stored in the Shifu * Instant grow * This boy is Sassy * This theme of deflection in Qingming's character is established early * Deflection with a teleportation portal and then immediately deflection verbally * Shifu is certainly an attractive man aged up, but his face is also soft and gentle, something to note when his double pops up later * Also the awkward question of don't you have someone you want to protect, maybe part of the problem is that shifu is just really bad at wording things * The answer that yes he does has several meanings, one of which is immediately apparent when Shifu acts out one of those Father Saves Child By Yeeting them youtube videos * ACtion MuSIC * I love them your honour * The spirit guardian's design is so specific and elegant, absolutely superb you funky little shishen * I wonder if Qingming ever thinks about that if he didn't come back with all his fellow disciples that Shifu would have been fine * Maybe it's not that he doesn't have someone he wants to protect and more that he believes that he's not capable of protecting those he wants to * subtle indication Shifu's qi is corrupted * Precious Magic Childe ;-; * The framing, I'm living for it * The Serpent graphic is lovely * Also the way they set things up * Qingming cares so much about his shifu * Mark Chao just has the ability to crumple his face like paper * Sad Time exposition involving the corrupting influence of desires * "When you're gone I'll be all alone" in just about all you need to know about Qingming at this point in the story * Also like, sympathy for Shifu in raising this lonely child.  By all accounts he was an absolutely superb father figure, and Qingming I'm sure was not an easy child to raise.  He's the sort of kid that would take a lot of calm and patience. * Slumber party! * It's kind of interesting that this is an activity Fangyue and He Shouyue are doing together.  He's definitely obsessed and in love with her and she's just doing friends and family activities with him * Also yellow/gold lighting is kind of their thing * It's interesting how they do the make up for He Shouyue.  The actor is very attractive, but they make him up to look doll like, a little too pretty, a little too shiny.  Like a porcelain doll. * Cool lit Boya and warm lit Qingming appear! * Camels! * The framing is so good, they're careful to be sure he's shown as obviously isolated as much as possible * And it should go without saying that I adore the City * The matte painting is outstanding * But there's also the lighting, the vignettes, the clusters, the foliage * It is a supremely beautiful set * The irony that Killing Stone is playing along with Boya's music and then it's Boya who kicks him around * A small note, but one I appreciate - even when Boya has warm highlight's they're red instead of orange * "It's Jason Bourne!" * I hope Qingming paid for that water taxi * It's interesting how Killing Stone goes from the safety of Qingming's orange light to the danger of Qingming's blue * Colour related foreshadowing! * Look at this poor sweet man, how could anyone suspect him of anything.  He's just a sad man who loves his dead wife * Qingming's use of a fan is interesting - battle fans show up all over wuxia and xianxia, but it feels like it also ties into the way he's so very careful in how he presents himself.  There's that quote that a sword can only be a sword but other weapons are also able to serve other purposes - not a perfect quote but the point is got across. * The way Qingming just knocks Boya back, like get An Clue, my dude * The way that Killing Stone curls around the pipa ;-; * So the movie is based on the book series 'Onmyoji' by Yumemakura Baku.  The books start with Seimei (Qingming) and Hiromasa (Boya) already in a relationship talking about various cases Seimei has recently experienced.  Plotwise, obviously the stories are different, however thematically Seimei and Hiromasa discuss why some yao stick around and solutions to the difficulties and dangers they might cause - which is generally from Seimei's very successful perspective to listen and treat them like humans.  So in that way the plots of the books and the movie are quite different, but the themes are just about identical. * Boya says Don't Talk Me I Angy and also that demons don't have feelings and Qingming's face takes out a billboard that's just like Ah, Another Fantasy Racist, Excellent * Qingming also does what should be done in this situation, taking care of the victim not the racist * Fight scene!  Fight scene! * Qingming's first few moves aren't to attack, they're to distract and just hold his fan up to block Boya's way and his view - it's only when Boya persists in attacking that Qingming fights back * Qingming's sassy smile, he is very much deliberately irritating Boya as much as he's refocusing his attention and distracting him * "nICE sWORD" * I've sighed that sigh before * This boy is taking great pleasure from teasing Boya, but also he makes a really good point * I understand and relate to what Qingming did, but also I can understand why Boya was ready to throw rocks at Qingming when he saw him again * Killing Stone lit in Qingming's orange light again * Killing Stone, my beloved * A good gauge to the state of the world for yao is no one has told this sweet boy before that demons have feelings too * There are several lines like this in the movie that just drop kick you with Implications * The same way Qingming clung to Zhongxing, Killing Stone wants to join up with Qingming to have some compassion in his life * The way he asks to be a spirit guardian is so formal too, and Qingming is so gentle with him, I cry ;-; * The warm orange light of Qingming's love ;-; * He heals the wounds * It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realise it's the actual imperial degree speaking and not one the of Jingyun Temple Masters * The mutual this guy again is delicious * "Is it because of your pretty face" * Boya draws his sword so fast and Qingming is so amused by it * Longye!  Queen!  I love her! * The two of them seem to understand each other instantly * Those sassy little smiles * He Shouyue looks even more like a doll than before * Longye has her head on a swivel from second one, she plays the Maiden so well like she's not a skilled master * And her customer service smile * Qingming is shooketh

* What happens next?  You'll have to watch and find out!

[profmori]

Hi......if you don't mind me asking, can I ask, who are your top 5 favorite characters from TGCF? And why? And what are your top 5 (or top 3) fav moments from the novel? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks.....

HELLLO !!!!! THIS IS SO CUTE AND AHHH

ITS A HARD QUESTION i literally love all the characters so much fuck so to pick top 5 feels like a punishment fjfkssk

1. Mu Qing : cause duh he's best boy. plus i relate to him in alot of way. ive done many things in past that he also did in the novel that make me feel less shitty about myself. both of us tend to come off people who only think about themselves, so it was nice to finally resonate with someone.

2. Xie Lian : i like how realistic he is and how he was portrayed in all the glory and in all the bad stuff. something about him is so insanely human that it doesn't feel like im reading a fictional character. especially in book 4 with everything that was happening it felt good to see a character break apart in all the ways possible and hit rock bottom. (plus both of us are shit cooks meant to be fr)

3. Hua Cheng : he's a bastard. so am i. we will get along. Also i really like that he didn't become a blind dog after xie lian, during the time they were apart hua cheng grew as his own person and found new perspectives.

4. Yin Yu : i just desperately want him as my best friend he's literally so cool and calm most of the time (ahem, leaving behind that one go die scene but it's fair) imagine being able to work in the paradise manor with him ahhhhhhhh

5. He Xuan : i really don't have any big words to say for him and except he gets to live in the ocean and has skeleton fished as pets that's enough to make anyone cool in my eyes. also he's such a mood, my man is trying to stay out of trouble and just eat but here comes his butterfly bff crying about his crush.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS : SHIN QINGXUAN, FENG XIN, PEI MING, LENG WIN, LORD RAIN MASTER, QI RONG, I LOVE THEM ALOT SOBS

(honestly all the characters are awesome it's really hard to pick wjdjwke)

And my top five moments from the novels

1. Xie Lian getting drunk and sleeping in an empty grave.

2. Hua Cheng punching He Xuan three feet underground for no reason at all.

3. Mu Qing's confession (the fact that he immediately jumped off in lava afterwards)

4. THE CONFESSION SCENE SCREAMS (the whole cave of ten thousand gods tbh, nothing beats it)

5. When Xie Lian had nail in his foot and hua cheng was scolding him and taking care of him

thank you for the ask !! it was very fun :D sorry if i was all over the place i just woke up ho ho

[tiramisiyu]

【未定事件簿】 Tears of Themis: Main Story 7-20 Translation

Translation Masterlist | Video

Chapter 7 – Rains of Monte Cristo: 7-1 / 7-3 / 7-5 / 7-7 / 7-9 / 7-11 / 7-13 / 7-15 / 7-17 / 7-19  ♦️ ♦️  7-20 / 7-22 / 7-24 / 7-26 / 7-28 / 7-30 / 7-32 / 7-34 / 7-35

NXX Base

It was yet another new day. In the NXX base, Artem was updating the case information for Simon. After completing upload of the video recording, he had a sudden moment of absentmindedness.

Artem: I wonder how she’s faring…

He looked at the common screen on the side. On the massive Stellis map, faintly-flashing markers indicated the other NXX members.

Luke’s marker was in a certain spot in the north district, at the location of the assistive team he’d mentioned before. Vyn’s marker was moving rapidly, most likely towards the house of a “special respondent”. And the markers indicating Marius and MC had been at Yaofu Community for a while.

Artem: Yaofu Community?...

✼ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✼

Yaofu Community

In Yaofu Community, Marius and I were prepping to perform the second crime scene reenactment.

MC: (Good thing luck’s on our side. We found a residence with the exact same layout beside Hang Fei and Qi Yu’s.)

As for why Marius and I were doing our second reenactment, it had to do with our discussion at the natural park earlier.

✼ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✼

[Flashback]

Natural Park

Marius: Awesome. With this video, our investigation can take a huge step forward.

MC: Then how about we take this opportunity to organize our thoughts?

Marius: Sure.

MC: First, starting from Wang Chunchong…

MC: What he was deliberately hiding before was his murder of Simon. And he hid this because…

Marius: Easy. All else aside, Wang Chunchong’s innocent in the Hang Fei and Qi Yu case, at the very least.

Marius: If the police didn’t know that Wang Chunchong had murdered Simon, then when they were investigating Yaofu Community…

Marius: Wang Chunchong could be acquitted.

Marius: But on the flip side, if the police knew that Simon’s case had to do with him, even if the Yaofu Community case ended…

Marius: Wang Chunchong would not be able to walk out of jail.

MC: Yes.

MC: Although after figuring this out, a bunch of new questions come up.

MC: First, why would Wang Chunchong murder Simon?

Marius: Could it have to do with Tyson? The timing of Simon’s murder and the timing of when Wang Chunchong and Tyson started to work together is very close.

Marius: Wait, if that’s the case, then when Wang Chunchong said “Something that only I, Tyson, and a dead person know about”…

MC: It’s probably about the Heirson raw materials!

Marius: Looks like our investigation was a great success this time!

MC: Next, the second question is, who wanted to frame Wang Chunchong with this case?

Marius: Someone who wanted to frame Wang Chunchong must have known about his plan to murder Simon.

Marius: Someone like that… Tyson? Hang Jiahe? Could Xu Yin be a possibility?

MC: No, I don’t think Xu Yin’s a possibility.

MC: She’s only aiming for Wang Chunchong’s shares and spot on the board of directors, so she should be the one who least wants something to happen to him.

Marius: But it doesn’t seem like Tyson has any motive to murder Hang Fei or Qi Yu either…

MC: That being so, Hang Jiahe is really suspicious.

MC: But we need proof to back that up.

MC: Why would Hang Jiahe murder Hang Fei and Qi Yu, and why would she frame Wang Chunchong…

MC: Plus, how did Wang Chunchong’s fingerprints appear on the murder weapon, and how did Hang Fei and Qi Yu’s DNA appear in the suitcases…

MC: We’ve got to figure those out.

Marius: Then how about we do another round of crime scene reenactment? We still have another trail of actions that we haven’t analyzed yet, right?

MC: You mean, how the victims were murdered?

Marius: That’s right. Since the clue that the police have was used by the true murderer to frame Wang Chunchong…

Marius: If we reenact the process of the crime as judged by the police, we’ll sure to find some parts that don’t match up.

Marius: These parts that don’t match up just might help us.

[Flashback end]

✼ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✼

After, we handed the video to the police. After viewing the video, the police overturned the charges against Wang Chunchong and began investigation anew. Darius thanked us, then reminded us to contact him as early as possible if we found anything else.

MC: The exact course of action inferred by the police before was…

MC: Wang Chunchong brought food laced with G24D and knocked on the door for Room 1001, pretending to want to apologize.

MC: After entering, the three people ate at the bar table. After, Hang Fei and Qi Yu fell unconscious due to the drugs.

MC: He moved the two to the ground, cushioned them with sofa cushions, then struck the victims’ heads multiple times.

Marius: Then let’s reenact things in this order.

Marius: I’ll play Wang Chunchong, you play Hang Fei.

MC: Sure.

Marius walked out the door, holding the bag of food from the table. I set up the camera.

Marius: Let’s start.

MC: Yep.

Marius closed the door.

✼ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✼

The doorbell rang.

Hang Fei: Who is it?

Wang Chunchong: Me.

Hang Fei opened the door.

Hang Fei: Ah, it’s Chunchong. Come on in.

Wang Chunchong: …

✼ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✼

Midway, Marius stopped.

MC: What’s the matter? Why aren’t you coming in?

Marius: Uh, jiejie, your acting isn’t quite right.

MC: ???

Marius: Think about it. Considering how many times Wang Chunchong and Hang Fei fought, would Hang Fei treat Wang Chunchong that nicely?

Marius: Would he let Wang Chunchong in that easily?

MC: True, how did I forget about that?

Marius: So, you’ve got to be a little ruder, a little more aggressive.

Marius: Bring on your professional lawyer’s attitude.

MC: Okay.

I nodded solemnly.

Marius: Then, I’ll start again.

MC: Sure.

The door closed again. I took a deep breath and lowered my voice.

✼ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✼

The doorbell rang again.

Hang Fei: Who are you?

Wang Chunchong: Me.

Hang Fei: Who are you?

Wang Chunchong: Wang Chunchong.

Hang Fei opened the door.

Hang Fei: Master Wang, what brings you here?

Wang Chunchong: What else? It’s obviously for my marriage with Jiahe.

Hang Fei: Marriage? Now you know to bring up marriage.

Hang Fei: Weren’t you pretty stubborn the past few times? Didn’t you say that I was extorting you of your Wang family’s money?

Hang Fei: Wanna try bringing up marriage now? Too late.

Wang Chunchong: …

Wang Chunchong: You’re right, it’s all my fault. So I came here to apologize.

Wang Chunchong handed his bag to Hang Fei.

Wang Chunchong: This is the signature dish from that restaurant you love. See it as a compensatory gift from me.

Hang Fei: You want to make me give in with just this…?

Hang Fei snatched the bag away.

Hang Fei: Let me make things clear. If you don’t double the betrothal gift, I won’t let my daughter marry you.

Wang Chunchong: I know. I came today to talk about this.

Wang Chunchong: Uncle Hang, you see…

Wang Chunchong scanned the area.

Wang Chunchong: Let’s not talk about the betrothal gift under the eyes of the masses – you know, not letting outsiders in on this.

Wang Chunchong: How about we talk inside?

Hang Fei: … Come in, then.

Hang Fei let Wang Chunchong in and closed the door.

✼ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✼

I let Marius in, then turned around, nearly ramming into him.

MC: Marius, why aren’t you walking in?

Marius: I was thinking, if Wang Chunchong really entered Room 1001 under the apology pretext…

Marius: With his personality while facing someone like Hang Fei, he must have been suppressing his emotions hard that day.

Marius: If that’s the case, Hang Jiahe must be “extremely important” to Wang Chunchong.

MC: But other possibilities exist, like…

Marius and I looked at each other.

MC & Marius: The one who came wasn’t Wang Chunchong at all.

Marius: If the one who came was someone who was more familiar with Hang Fei and Qi Yu, then not only could they avoid the cumbersome entrance process earlier…

MC: Hang Fei and Qi Yu also wouldn’t be resistant to them, and would thus be easier to act against.

Marius: …

MC: …

MC: Marius, let’s continue with our reenactment. Maybe we’ll get more clues.

MC: After, let’s focus on reenacting each person’s actions and not bother with unnecessary dialogue.

Marius: Sure.

Marius took the bag in my hand and walked to the bar table on the side of the room.

Marius: After entering, Wang Chunchong recommended that Hang Fei and Qi Yu try the food he’d brought.

Marius placed the bag on a plate on the bar counter. I sat beside him, pretending to scoop food up.

MC: After eating the food, Hang Fei and Qi Yu rapidly fell unconscious due to G24D.

Marius: Wang Chunchong dragged them onto the ground, and then…

Marius’s empty carrying movements suddenly stopped.

Marius: Something’s wrong.

MC: What?

Marius: There was no need for Wang Chunchong to drag them onto the floor.

MC: Why?

Marius: I’ll show you.

Marius returned to the bar table, chose an empty seat, and made a few gestures to indicate a person bent over, face down.

Marius: If an unconscious Hang Fei were theoretically sitting on this chair…

Marius: After confirming his unconsciousness, I could already make my move.

Marius: Taking one step back, if the murderer theoretically thought that striking the back of the head didn’t guarantee the damage well enough, they would just need to turn the chair around.

Marius: That way, Hang Fei would go from being bent over to laying his head on the table, and the front of his head would be on full display.

Marius: They could’ve made their move then, too.

Marius: The more the movements when committing the crime, the more they’ll probably leave traces.

Marius: So I have no idea why Wang Chunchong would bother moving the victims to the floor.

MC: …

MC: If there’s no subjective reason, could there be an objective reason?

MC: Like, maybe something unexpected happened?

I copied Marius’ actions, trying to act in a way that wouldn’t require me to move the bodies. But when I turned the chair around so that the “bodies”’ heads could face me, I noticed where the issue was.

MC: I know why they had to move the bodies.

Marius: ???

MC: There’s a prerequisite to what you just described – your height.

MC: As you’re tall enough, you can strike the victims while they are on the chairs.

MC: But to me, these chairs and table are somewhat high. If the victims are still sitting on them…

MC: Doing this under these conditions would be extremely uncomfortable, and it would be hard to guarantee my accuracy.

MC: But moving them to the floor would make everything much easier.

Marius: Wang Chunchong’s around my height. Based on this…

MC: That’s right. The murderer shouldn’t be Wang Chunchong – it must be a female of average height or a smaller male.

Marius: Looks like someone’s even more suspicious.

MC: Yes, but let’s go through everything, just in case.

Marius nodded. He walked to an empty area, pretended to take a sofa cushion, then acted out striking motions.

Marius: Wang Chunchong grabbed a hammer at random from the nearby toolbox, murdered Hang Fei and Qi Yu, and then…

Marius: He cleaned up the crime scene and decided to dispose of the corpses.

Marius: Thus, he brought the bodies to his house via fire escape and got two…

MC: Stop.

Marius: What’s the matter?

MC: There were already suitcases in Room 1001 – plus, they were ones used by Hang Fei and Qi Yu.

MC: If they used these two suitcases, even if the police detected the victims’ DNA in them after, they’d deem it as normal.

MC: Why would he expend such effort to move the bodies and use his own suitcases? Isn’t this more likely to leave clues of his actions?

MC: Plus, Wang Chunchong still hasn’t thrown out those two suitcases.

Marius: …

Marius: Wait, didn’t you say before that Hang Fei’s blood was detected in the suitcases in Room 1001?

MC: Yeah, what…

MC: Marius, do you mean that the suitcases used to discard the bodies were actually the ones in room 1001?

Marius nodded.

MC: If so, someone must have placed the victims’ DNA in Wang Chunchong’s suitcase deliberately…

MC: When would it have been?

MC: Also, if our guess about the suitcases is true, the whole crime must have happened in Room 1001.

Marius: Looks like we’ve got to return to the crime scene.

[svynakee]

mulan (2020) and chi, a mystical misrepresentation

Disney’s research on chi (气) suggests that early on they fang qi (放弃). Mulan live action makes me want to fang pi (放屁). Long explanation on my gripes with this cultural 'representation’ which ends up backfiring into making Chinese culture look bad, plus why including the ~exotic Asian mysticism~ of qi ruins Mulan (2020). 

*Translations of the words below cut

Part 1: Crouching Representation, Hidden Insult

Firstly, the accepted pinyin is qi, so I have no idea why they’re using chi. I’m no expert on Chinese medicine or spirituality, but I did grow up watching wuxia and having a mother who insisted I change my diet to balance the heat/cold/dry. The concept of qi is not a mystical one to me. I associate it with action movies and aunties who believe in alternative medicine – superstitious, but in that familiar, domestic way. Part of my tradition. Part of my culture. Part of my life.

Qi is not a magical outside force. Qi is your own personal energy. In stories, while you can seal other people’s qi or damage it, it’s not like some life force in nature where you can tap into a flower’s qi to gain plant powers. Mastery of qi is akin to an Olympic athlete who hones their body and self-control to peak physical performance. While their abilities may seem superhuman, they are not divine or innately magical.

In a wuxia setting, people can train until they get enhanced reflexes, strength, senses, motor skills and possibly healing abilities. These are all ‘normal’ human abilities that have simply been pushed to unrealistic levels. Even walking/running on water, running up vertical slopes and ‘flying’ can be explained as being really fast or…jumping really, really far. Outrageous? Yes. But importantly, not magical. This is why a wuxia hero can still be freaked out by the supernatural. In a wuxia setting, using qi is normal and anyone can become the strongest qi user. Some use it for fighting, others to be doctors (enhanced senses + acupressure), or solve crime (there’s quite a few wuxia detective stories out there).

In xianxia, there are more fantasy elements. Those who hone qi are usually cultivators, who do so with the end goal of becoming immortal. This is not a unique trait; the setting often has several (sometimes even hundreds) of flying, super strong, immortal people who have some degree of fame. There can even be establishments that teach cultivation. Or multiple sects full of cultivators who have honed their skills in qi. Entire armies of people who can cast spells and telepathically control their sword. One could argue that immortality is just the mundane ability to remain healthy pushed to the extreme, but xianxia is where monsters and demons and gods roam about.

There are further differences between the genre, but I only want to point out their similarities concerning the concept of qi.

Everyone is born with qi. Nobody is born with the skills to utilise their qi. Qi must be honed through training, usually in a balanced manner (both physical strength and mental acuity, along with some spiritual growth). Even heroes who have parents with strong qi start off weak, because if you can’t use you qi then you’re just a normal person, because everyone has qi. Being born with unusually long legs and large lung capacity might make you a good sprinter, but you won’t go to the Olympics without training, even if both your parents are gold medallists. It takes self-discipline, a good coach and a mastery of your body to reach that potential.

This is one of my gripes against Disney’s idea of ‘chi’ in Mulan. The other one is-

Qi is not gender restricted. In fact, feminine qi is associated with yin, the black part of the yinyang symbol. Not a new concept. There have been female martial artists and heroes in Chinese works for a long time. I hate how Disney is taking a gender-neutral concept, one which already has a degree of progressiveness in Chinese culture and deciding that “chi is not for women” just to push their girl power moral. For a long time, wuxia has had women warriors. Women MASTERS. Yeah, not every kung fu master is an old man with a long white beard. There are female-only sects. There are badass female warriors who participate in hand-to-hand combat and rack up kills. They’re not regulated to being healers and archers and that one ‘Amazon warrior princess’ using a whip. Growing up, I saw more strong, heroic female warriors in Chinese media than Western when I watched action films.

This is my main problem with Disney’s horrendous cultural appropriation. Instead of properly representing the culture, instead of doing research, instead of just NOT GOING FOR EXOTIC ASIAN MYSTICISM, they actually make Chinese culture look worse than it is. To. Support. Feminism.

Part 2: The Chi-asy Way Out

In addition to butchering the core concept of the thing they’re appropriating, Mulan (2020)’s baffling inclusion of qi, whoops, chi makes the story worse overall. Mulan being born with strong chi makes her a master warrior from childhood. However, society doesn’t like it when women have chi, so she is shunned and her parents worry for her. As a soldier, though, chi powers make her an asset to the army, so she becomes respected. In the end she is a hero.

Oh, and remember when Disney said removing Mushu was because they wanted a more accurate adaptation of the original poem?

MULAN WAS A NORMAL PERSON AND NEVER FOUGHT ANY BIRD WITCHES.

The problem is that this means nothing Mulan accomplishes is due to her own actions. How is this an uplifting feminist story? This is the message: “If you’re a girl who fails to conform, you will be ostracized. Don’t worry though – so long as you’re born super special and strong, make the right heroic choices and use your strength for good, you will find acceptance!”

WHO. IS. THIS. EMPOWERING.

Isn’t this just another ‘not like other girls’ story? Mulan likes something that only boys are allowed to do, so men don’t like her, until she proves she’s better than them at that thing, so they accept her? That’s not feminism! Women don’t need to prove anything to be allowed to pursue their passions or feel proud of their identity. And they don’t need to be the best at something to be allowed to do it!

In Mulan (1998), she lacks the raw physical strength of the men. This actually makes sense – she’s the daughter of a wealthy family (hence the marriage arrangement, the nice estate) – so she’s weaker. This weakness leads to her getting bullied. Mulan realises she can’t succeed if she tries to match them in brute strength. She then uses her brains to succeed. There’s a brief training montage where she becomes stronger which admittedly doesn’t explain why she suddenly gets swole, but it’s reasonable that she was always capable to being as strong as the men and merely lacked their background of physical labour (even Po, as monks are expected to maintain their temple).

In Mulan (2020), she just stops hiding her superpowers. After a personal pep talk from her commander, which she gets…because he knew her war veteran father.

Ah yes, magic and nepotism, the inspiration that little girls need! Feminism!

It gets worse. Mulan’s chi not only allows her to excel in the army, but it leads to the main villainess/anti-villain to fixate on her. Xian is a witch, a woman who used chi but fell to darkness. Her goal is to make a world where, uh, women born with strong chi aren’t oppressed. She immediately recognises Mulan as a woman with chi and inexplicably gives her chi tips while in battle. She then repeatedly leads Mulan to each plot point, culminating in her sacrificing herself to save Mulan because she sees Mulan as the kind of person she wanted to be, but couldn’t due to oppression.

Chi is the reason why Mulan is a hero. Chi is how Mulan arrived on time to save the Emperor. Chi is why she is respected. Chi makes her special. Chi makes her a hero.

The addition of chi takes away so much of Mulan’s character growth, her struggles and subsequently her triumphs. Did she join the army for her father’s sake, or because she knew her only chance to succeed was on the battlefield, where chi is a powerful weapon? Is the emperor offering her a position on his staff out of respect for her abilities, or fear that shunning her will turn her into another Xian (who almost singlehandedly gave Bori Khan victory and ALSO was responsible for foiling his plans because her abuse led to her betrayal)? Even the love interest doesn’t befriend Mulan until she shows off her chi and beats him in combat.

Chi gave Mulan everything. And with this poor addition of ‘chi’, Disney took everything from Mulan.

气 - qi, ‘air’ 放弃 - give up 放屁 - fart

[zhuhongs]

Upon rereading tgcf, one of the biggest complaints I have is how lackluster all the extra chapters were. literally none of them were good and all contained rlly gross and harmful sentiments (like the amnesia one which.. yea.. or all the things implying xl should get pregnant for hc thus equating gay relationships with hetero ones and playing into the wife thing and just GOD I HATE MXTX) 

There were a lot of little plot points i wish that had been further elaborated on more in the extras as opposed to hualian being ... like that. I had enough. Like mdzs had actaully good extras (minus the incense burners) that were nice side stories that elaborated more on the characters. Like the hook one with the juniors was so cute and i loved seeing them grow more. Or the lotus pod extras omg.. im such a lotus pod extra stan. those were so cute and gave us a lot of good insight into just how lovestruck lwj was during the times when he didn’t see wwx. mxtx should've stuck to those sorta extras in tgcf but NOOO. SO I have a list of so many other more interesting things those chapters couldve been spent on like:

A resolution on He Xuan’s revenge and his character arc. Bc its implied He Xuan is still hanging out and watching over sqx and that taking revenge didn’t fully satisfy him bc ok.. yea shi wudu is dead but he xuans family will never come back. Now what does he have to live for?? i wish we couldve seen a look into his life during the entire ordeal. like a chapter from his perspective while he was posing as Ming Yi  and maybe a look at a conversation btw he xuan and the real ming yi or a chapter after SQX was banished to see what he’s doing now. Also what did he xuan owe hua cheng money for anyways?? Like ik not every little thing has to be explained but I Want to Know. PLEASE more goth boyfriend content now I just wanna see him :,((

a better resolution of yin yu and quan yizhens storyline. im still mad abt how that plot point was split btw books 3 and 5  when it was rlly out of place and  there were other more pressing plot matters and it just rlly deserved more time. Also i thought yin yu died!?!?!? but apparently one of the extras says he’s alive and man... i;m not reading any more of the extras to see that, give me a full yin yu and quan yizhen chapter.. fuck.

a day in the life of the guoshi fangxin or general hua PLEASE especially like one where hua cheng was SO CLOSE to meeting xie lian but had no clue that xie lian was there at the time but the two did smth that inadvertantly helped the other and they still were connected even though they hadnt met omg pls that’d be so nice. like imagine Hua cheng catching a glimpse of the guoshi in public in yong’an while he’s trying to follow some lead that points to xie lian or maybe following a lead to capture qi rong bc he said he knew qi rong was a part of the yong’an stuff and originally thought the guoshi was one of qi rongs pawns. like can you IMAGINE him getting so close. but at the last second he did smth small that impacted xie lian. like they bumped into eachother on the street or smth. god i’d go crazy

OR vice versa.. like a day in the life of the young ghost king hua cheng. Like again, one of my biggest issues was that hua cheng just knew everything and its never really explained how he got all of that info. like yes he’s been alive very long and has eyes and ppl working for him everywhere but like... how did he build that network?? I’d love to see a chapter of young ghost king hua cheng travelling around trying to learn as much as he can abt the world and how it can help bring him to xie lian. and the two maybe are in the same kingdom for a bit and they don’t meet exactly but hua cheng stops some fight or something and helps xie lian indirectly or maybe xie lian is performing on the street in some costume and hua cheng doesn’t recognize him and smiles and gives him a coin or smth. idk i’m just dying for any sorta extra chapter or fic like that. i’m honestly so tempted to write my own but i cant write

also!! we’ve seen how xie lian picks up people down on their luck near him and show them kindness (like banyue, lang ying, xiao ying, he tried to with san lang but we know how that ended lmao) so i’d love to see another little vignette of him doing that on his travels and how every person he meets teaches him smth about life and being a good person and idk, i just think it’d be rlly sweet. i love this facet of his character and feel like we didn’t see enough of it towards the end.

ALSO hua cheng only seems to respect one heavenly official besides xie lian and thats yushi huang.. i assume thats mostly bc she was the only one to help xie lian and let him use the rain master hat to bring water to yong’an. I was thinking maybe when he was a new supreme he had run into trouble and maybe was picked up by the rain master and helped him heal and in return he promised to help protect her village from harm in the future. Like i know a heavenly official wouldn’t cooperate with a ghost like that but yushi huang is different and doesn’t really care about the heavens so i think she would protect him if he could do something to benefit her village. ik this is kinda far fetched but when he first became a supreme I’m sure a bunch of ppl probably tried to mess with him and didn’t rlly believe him to be undefeatable bc he hadn’t proved himself yet also i doubt all his power came overnight. he had to learn how to use it once he escaped the kiln. and some group probably thought they could weaken him somehow. I’m thinking maybe a rlly well formed group of ghosts actually caught him off guard once and he had to retreat and was picked up by the rain master and stayed with her and learned from her a bit. i think it’d be a cool concept also i just rlly want more yushi huang content and i’m on their friendship agenda bc he rlly did seem to actually respect her when she first appeared and i think it’d be cool if the two had some history together.

Also idrc if this was addressed I couldve missed it But!! Did xie lian ever tell Hua cheng that the reason he got the curse shackles and was banished again in the first place wasnt bc jun wu wanted to punish him, but because he requested it. And specifically requested it bc he felt guilty abt letting wu ming take the human face disease and disperse for his sake. So he took the shackles and descended to atone for that?? Bc I dont recall hua cheng learning that bc his soul was already dispersed at that point so it didnt follow him and xie lian didnt say anything so uhhh... someone should tell hua cheng that. Like I dont think xie lian rlly said how much hua cheng meant to him and didnt show him he was loved in grand ways. Like xie lian did always care for bc in other ways but I think if hua cheng learned abt this on screen it wouldve been such a great moment and I'm rlly surprised mxtx didnt address this iirc!?!? Like imagine jun wu telling Hua cheng this in the kiln bc xie lian wouldnt say it himself. Imagine how cool that would be.

Also a small thing adding into the whole young ghost king Hua cheng stuff. Its implied and p much stated that hua cheng isnt his real name. That he likely doesnt have a real name bc his parents died? (It's not clear. I'm still mad at mxtx for not making his childhood clearer). So I'd like to see when and why hua cheng chose that name for himself. The new tgcf ending song kinda hints at its meaning with the lyrics "for you I'd fill a city of flowers" as xie lian is the flower wielding martial god so it's probably inspired by that. Also xie lian saved hua cheng from leaping off the city walls but I'd love to hear him say it bc the implication of his name didnt dawn on me for quite a bit and I dont know if everyone made the connection. Again I sure as hell didnt. So itd be cool to see a chapter that takes place in his past after just ascending as a supreme

Overall I rlly think tgcf had a lot more potential to be even better and a lot of that comes down to fleshing out the side characters and letting hualian have more of a storyline independent of one another. like i know the appeal and message of tgcf is that through love, people can overcome anything, but fuck man. i just wanna see what these two (mostly hua cheng) where like in the absence of each others presence. Part of what I really liked abt mdzs is that we got to see that longing develop btw wangxian when the two weren’t together and how they thought about each other and did things in thei others spirit bc they knew the other wouldve done the same thing. but whatever, mxtx was too consumed by her own unhealthy idea of what devotion and true love looks like but still. i rlly think the extras couldve helped the story be better rather than be fujoshi fuel that i try to bleach from my mind -_-

[sunshine304]

Well I found that fight between 9th Madame Duan and the... 3rd Master of Disha quite entertaining. And then A-Fei basically completely obliterated him. She might need therapy after all of this but whatever.

Loved Xie Yun’s reaction when A-Fei rescued him. XD

Xie Yun to A-Fei: “No matter in life or death I’ll stay with you.” Awww. And A-Fei again looks so lost like, what, why is he saying such things what does it meeeeaaannn.

The fight between the trio and Disha was really cool with some fun elements in it. But I was kinda pissed that 9th Madame Duan is now gone because... suddenly Shen Tianshu doesn’t need his super awesome steel hand anymore to crush people? I mean he was close to losing there and suddenly... not? And then the dramatic Symbolic Pearls.

Okay General Wen is looking for... Xie Yun? And good for ChuChu that she didn’t fall for the old trick of “I, this loneseome disciple, am definitely 100% from the 48 Strongholds and come to escort Miss Wu there because I somehow heard that she’d ended up with General Wen.”

Meanwhile Li Jinrong sits at home and is worried because her husband, daughter and nephew are all out there on missions and she doesn’t hear a fucking thing from them.

Poor A-Fei and Xie Yun can’t even have a nice lunch (?breakfast?) at an inn without someone coming over and causing trouble. This time it’s Yin Pei who’s an underling of the Azure Dragon Master (yes I’m writing this down so I might actually remember). I dig the colour of his robes but not the drama he causes. I mean Xie Yun and A-Fei were having a nice meal and flirting just now, why do you disturb them!

So okay Yin Pei is there because of the cook (who for some reason managed to be overlooked all the other times they searched that inn) who is Ji Yunchen (the descendant of the North Blade) and was super important once. And now doesn’t have his powers anymore. And he did something very very bad that makes Yin Pei almost cry so there’s a lot of history there I guess. And I was like: Are you family? Were you friends? Lovers?

Interlude with Li Sheng and the Daoist Master of Qi School who are on their own quest it seems even though Li Sheng doesn’t want to and the Daoist Master is always guilting him into accompanying him further. XD And now they’ve met another villain, yay! Who... used to belong to the Qi School but got kicked out for being an asshole I guess. Fair.

Aaaaand finally Xie Yun’s identity is revealed (more or less, it’s the episode cliffhanger). I knew he was someone from court and had something to do with the emperor but wasn’t sure what exactly. So okay he actually is the emperor, but of the former (now fallen?) dynasty. I have the feeling I need to watch the first episode again for that establishing info that I didn’t understand. XD Anyway, A-Fei is pissed that he didn’t tell her and acted like he was some common guy. XD

[minmotl]

Chapter 44: Sui Zhou,“If You are Willing, This Will Be Your Home From Now On.”

Context: A continuation of Chapter 43.

Introduction Post | Masterpost

—

Highlights under the cut

Tang Fan’s bout of illness lasts for half a month.

Due to this, Sui Zhou is also able to see Tang Fan’s relationship with others.

He is not even referring to the scholars who passed the exam the year that Tang Fan did, amongst them, a majority has already been released and then the handful that made up the creme of the crop of the cohort and now still remain in the Imperial Academy to build up their experience — To be able to stay in such a department to train themselves is an honour, and not every single person is like Tang Fan, who was ‘silly’ enough to be transferred out of the academy.

Just in these two weeks, four to five of Tang Fan’s cohort mates have already come to visit him, one after the other, and this includes that year’s top scholars Xie Qian and others.

This number is considered rather significant. After all, Tang Fan is not someone who is charming enough to have charmed the pants off of everyone he meets, earning their love and affection immediately. Moreover, officials in Jing city are both simple and poor, and for those who aren’t very familiar with Tang Fan, they still have to turn up with gifts should they visit in person, and so if they cannot afford to buy a gift, they naturally decide not to turn up at all. Instead, they have sent notes asking after him and Tang Fan received their well wishes and thoughts gratefully.

For Shun Tian Prefecture that Tang Fan works in, both Wei Yu and Du Jiang also visited him for a short while, sitting down and also bringing Yin-daren, Lao Wang and more with them to greet Tang Fan. From the Northern Administrative Court, Xue Bing who is familiar with Tang Fan also turned up, bringing with him Pang Qi.

Of course, these two individuals most probably considered the good relationship between Tang Fan and Sui Zhou, and being nice to their boss’ good friend means they can score some points with him, so this connection is understandable as well.

Lao Xue is a rather humorous person and chatters a lot, a far cry from his direct supervisor. He sat in Tang Fan’s room for half a day and the laughter in Tang Fan’s house did not stop for even a moment. The only thing was that Tang-daren’s voice has gone because of his illness, so he ended up coughing as he laughed, and ended up sounding just like a duck quacking. This was honestly ruining his image. Moreover, Sui Zhou was staring at them coldly from the side, as if Xue Bing and Pang Qi were a hindrance to Tang Fan’s recovery, and finally, Xue Bing was unable to sit tight anymore, running off with Pang Qi after dumping his gift at Tang Fan.

And of course, they cannot leave out the Western Depot’s Eunuch Wang.

Wang-gonggong has probably been busy arguing with other officials in court over the war in the North, and he still has to follow up on the East Palace case’s investigation, finding out who is the mastermind who collaborated with Fu Jia. He truly cannot get away, but that does not stop him from frequently sending his own men over.

If Tang Fan was now a Shang Shu from the Six Departments or an elder of the Inner Court, or perhaps has the Emperor’s favour currently, it is not such a strange thing for him to have a continuous stream of visitors, but the problem is that he’s simply a Sixth Rank prefectural judge, so everyone who visits him is trying to maintain a good relationship or touch base with him, to do what a friend would do, and not because they want to gain something from him.

From this, it is easy to see that Tang Fan has good relationships with others.

The men from the Western Depot who are visiting Tang Fan on behalf of Wang Zhi also turn up with gifts every time without fail, but from Sui Zhou’s extremely cold expression, Tang Fan feels as if Eunuch Wang is doing this to purposely rile Sui Zhou up. But no matter how much he thinks about it, it doesn’t seem as if the both of them are harbouring any old grudges towards each other, unless it’s due to some enmity between the Western Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guards?

Tang Fan takes notes of this and once he has the opportunity, he says to Sui Zhou, “How about when I’ve recovered, I’ll find a house and move out?”

Sui Zhou is clearly not expecting this, and he frowns, “Why?”

“Although we’re both good friends and you’ve also let me and Ah Dong stay free of charge, at the end of the day, it’s still your house and my friends and acquaintances constantly coming and going, it’s not very good and I’ve bothered you and your rest…” Tang Fan says.

“I’m not bothered,” Sui Zhou returns.

Tang Fan is about to continue but Sui Zhou stops him by asking a totally unrelated question, “To you, is Wang Zhi a friend or an acquaintance?”

Tang Fan pauses, stunned, “He’s probably neither?”

At that, Sui Zhou is surprised, “Why is that so?”

Tang Fan laughs, “As friends, we must be honest with each other, take care of one another without reserve and help each other out. Between Wang Zhi and I, if I say we are friends, then there is the lack of some warmth. Look at me, I’m now staying here and I’ve almost taken over your entire house, and if you ask me to try that at Wang Zhi’s house? I definitely will not go.”

It’s nothing novel for major officials and eunuchs to interact, but they have to be aware of the possible effects. If it’s with someone like Huai En, that’s one thing, but with Wang Zhi who’s morally ambivalent, it is easy for him to influence the reputation of the person he’s interacting with. When one’s reputation is ruined, his future career as an official is ruined as well. It is because Sui Zhou saw them both in such an intimate manner previously that he is asking this question now.

Seeing that Tang Fan is showing so much clarity in his thoughts and is well aware of the intricacies of this issue, Sui Zhou nods in satisfaction, “Then do not mention moving out again, not even in the future.”

Tang Fan hesitates, “But…”

“If you are willing, this will be your home from now on.”

Tang Fan wavers a little.

Sui Zhou pats at his shoulder, “Although you and I have not known each other for long, the depth of friendship is not something that can be measured by time. It is because we understand each other that we are friends. You are supposed to accomplish great things in life, so you should not care about these little details. Even if you moved out, who knows if you will be troubled by rent or some other issues in the future, so you might as well stay here without any worries. Within the next few years, I will not be marrying, so you don’t have to concern yourself with this. Moreover, considering my position, no one will dare to intrude, so if you’re staying here, I will feel more at ease as well.”

Sui-baihu is actually not one bit terrible with words, he is just not willing to speak in excess on a usual day, but once he really speaks, the effect is a hundred times stronger than people with the most glib of tongues.

Indeed, Tang-daren is so touched that he’s totally out of it, and for someone as articulate as he, Tang Fan finds himself entirely speechless.

Taking opportunity of this, Sui Zhou hands him the medicine in his hands. Tang-daren is still filled with a spirit of heroism, of brotherhood, and takes the bowl without another thought, raising his head as he swallows the medicine down as if it is water.

His expression becomes twisted as a result.

What the hell is this… Sui Guang Chuang you’re taking advantage of someone’s moment of crisis!

Seeing his expression of complaint, a tinge of humour appears in Sui Zhou’s eyes. He picks up the bowl and then feeds Tang Fan an osmanthus candy, as if he’s soothing a small, little animal.

Tang-daren huffs and turns his head away, rejecting the offering.

Sui Zhou does not mind and directly lifts his hand, sending the candy into his own mouth.

Tang Fan, “…”

===

Notes:

*六部尚书 liu bu shang shu

尚书 (shang shu) is an official rank and title, but I’ve not been able to find what exactly the ranking is, but we can assume it’s pretty high up in the hierarchy. 六部 (liu bu) is translated as the Six Departments and refers to:

1. Ministry of Officials 2. Ministry of Households 3. Ministry of Rites 4. Ministry of War/Military 5. Ministry of Criminal Affairs 6. Ministry of Manpower/Industry

[muses14]

Heaven Official’s Blessing (Review)

Type: Chinese Novel (BL) Genre: Xianxia Author: Mo Xiang Tong Xiu Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Summary: For you, I’ll become invincible!

“Have you heard? The rubbish Heaven Official is having an affair with the ghost realm’s number one bigshot!” Eight hundred years ago, Xie Lian was the Crown Prince of the Xian Le kingdom; one who was beloved by his citizens and the darling of the world. Unsurprisingly, he ascended to the Heavens at a very young age. Now, eight hundred years later, Xie Lian ascends to the Heavens for the third time as the laughing stock of all three realms. On his first task as a god, he meets a mysterious demon who rules the ghosts and terrifies the Heavens……yet unbeknownst to Xie Lian, this demon king has been paying attention to him for a very, very long time.

Characters:

Xie Lian The main character. I’ll be honest, I really adore Xie Lian. The overly nice person types gets me every time; instant bias, sorry! Sure, he’s bland (personality-wise), but this never left a bad aftertaste for me.

A naive dream… He wants to save the common people. Time and time again he fails because you cannot please everyone, you cannot save everyone, you cannot stop all things bad. There is not always a “third path”. When he was at his worst, his behavior was inexcusable. For a brief period, I actually hated him, because he was driving everyone he cared about away and was unjustly angered at their leaving. I understood the other party’s reasons, and to me there was no right or wrong. It wasn’t that simple. In the end, they came back, did they not? That tells me something at least.

Now, he has good points too. I am not here only to bash on my beloved cinnamon roll just because I can. What also makes him so likable to me is that he acknowledges he has limits (despite being OP, ironically), he knows he’s not perfect, and is no stranger to pity or humility. Having lived for so long and still having the best intentions in life, damn, that’s some honorable stuff. I cried for him on several occasions during moments where he suffered, and the kicker here is I felt he deserved most of it… It didn’t make it seem any less painful though. :(

Hua Cheng The deuteragonist. His backstory is tragic and a common trope in stories. Abusive parent(s), gets bullied, wants to kill everyone as revenge, etc. He’s pretty arrogant to all (barring Xie Lian). This facet of him rubs me the wrong way though and I learned to tolerate it. Overall, I still like him as a character.

But onto the next part, we as the reader never get to see his inner thoughts. He’s portrayed as a bad guy, but at least he doesn’t go out of his way to bully or harm others. *cough* Qi Rong *cough* As a child I felt he probably had this tendency due to being bullied, but Xie Lian’s words saved him, gave him hope, and restored his faith anew. I only wished it was fleshed out by the author and given to us.

So in my own head: As a ghost he never made any friends, didn’t feel compelled to or needed to. In the ghost realm it is an every ghost for himself world, so what use would it have been for him to make friends? If anything, only subordinates. No one treats him with genuine kindness except for Xie Lian, while he was alive and in death. This is what he remembers and knows, and he clings to it.

OP character, too? Certainly!

Relationship: One word descriptors. Beautiful. Romantic. Pure.

“I have no answer to the question you asked. However, if you don’t know the meaning of your life, then make me that meaning, and use me as your reason to live.” - Xie Lian

The words above that Xie Lian said to Hua Cheng resonates for him… And on a level I don’t think I will ever fully understand. I initially did find Hua Cheng’s admiration creepy, but that changed once I learned more of his and Xie Lian’s past together. His deep devotion is beautiful. Does he put Xie Lian on a pedestal? Most likely...to some extent. I am not going to deny that if he has worshiped the guy for 800 years.

The slow build to their getting together feels natural and not rushed to me. For Hua Cheng, what started as idol worship eventually turned into romantic feelings. For Xie Lian, having someone else show him ultimate kindness and silently standing by him no matter what warmed him to the core, and in turn, made him fall. They didn’t need any bullshit obstacles for their love to happen. The one-on-one interactions they do have are very sweet and puts a grin on my face every time. They’re my favorite couple out of all of MXTX’s works!

Supporting Characters: They are all great! I especially like Shi Qingxuan (The Wind Master) and Yin Yu! Feng Xin and Mu Qing together with Xie Lian as a trio really make my day. One con is too many get tossed aside and left in the dust, only to then conveniently reappear when it suits the main characters or plot. Bummer.

Overall: I feel this could have been shortened by quite a few chapters, because it did drag here and there and I lost interest ever so slightly until the portion boring me passed. Large sections are dedicated purely to flashbacks. Instead, I would have liked it if the author spread them out. I don’t think any of the characters are overly poorly written, but too many get left behind. I am very biased towards the two main characters and am admitting to it, so take what you will out of my review. I tried to keep it reasonable.

[mousehole5000]

more tgcf chapters 143-173 lets goooooo

PEI MING BOO HISS except actually okay he’s mostly funny i think but still boo hiss

“hey who’s this guy who’s really pissed at you?” “oh thats my sword. i broke it.” alright then!

i think i need to go back and reread the banyue pass arc bc im still confused as to whats going on with banyue and pei su

“Banyue dropped from the sky with two pots raised. Without a word, she plummeted with the mouths of the pots facing down, trapping and detaining the shocked Ming’guang and the roaring Ke Mo within.” - THATS MY GIRL

“It must be known that, to heavenly officials, it certainly was more than natural for kingdoms of the mortal realm to fight and annihilate one another; the acts of these plays progressing on endlessly. But when it came their own turn, it was often hard to let things go. If one must stand in the same court as the one who annihilated their own kingdom, and that man cavorted in the heavens, exceedingly flashy, then it must be vexing.” - hmmmm!!

“I’ve spoken too many words in this lifetime. What are you referring to?” - okay to be fair thats a mood

okay its nice to get some pei ming backstory and its funny that he and xie lian are bonding but also still whenever pei ming interacts with a female character my hackles rise like a cat lol

“Xie Lian watched as Banyue thought really hard before cheerfully pulling out a few long, wine-red scorpion-snakes, and putting them into the bubbling pot.” - THATS MY GIRL

“Although “smell” was something colourless and formless, the instant Banyue removed the pot cover, it was as if some mysterious physical object had twisted all the air around the mouth of that pot. The group stared at the sight within the pot for a long time. Their pupils reflected an endless, bottomless darkness; like it could pull them into the abyss. No words could describe the sentiment expressed within their eyes. A moment later, Xie Lian patted Banyue’s shoulder and gave a thumbs-up.” - like father-figure like daughter-figure. amazing.

“However, what if one day mortals discovered something completely new that ran faster than horses? Then, when this new invention overtook horses, worshippers of this heavenly official who controlled horses would inevitably decrease. Such heavenly officials, flashing by like shooting stars, made up the majority of the heavens.” - obsessed with this, genuinely. life and change. worship and its purpose. my religious studies diploma on my wall is screaming at me rn. ALSO i am once again thinking about celebrities

“...” It was only then that Pei Ming seemed to notice, and started to contemplate this question. A moment later, he answered, “A habit. In a dark, creepy place like this, isn’t it normal to hold women in your arms, to comfort them and calm their fears?” “I’m sorry, but I wasn’t scared,” Banyue said.” - BANYUE I LOVE YOU. I MISSED YOU SO MUCH. god this takes me back to every college party i ever went to

LING WEN BACKSTORY????? shoeseller chosen for godhood bc she wrote a political essay and got arrested...... and now she’s face to face with the official who appointed her..... do go on.....

“Ling Wen laughed out loud, seeming to be enraged, and her voice dropped. “Very well! You said I couldn’t reach that high. Then, might I ask you: had the prominence of the Palace of Jing Wen at its peak ever reached even the knees of my Palace of Ling Wen??” - GET HIM!!!! BOO HISS JING WEN

“Compared to you, I’m not that bad,” Ling Wen said. “You’d personally order me to stay in the Palace of Jing Wen until midnight, then turn around and say I shamelessly hang around ‘til late to harass you. Words murder without form; I was much nicer responding with blatant violence.” - ling wen im love you..... also this bit... feels Real

BLOOD RAIN BLOOD RAIN BLOOD RAIN!! FLOWER PETALS TRANSFORMATION!!! see hua cheng? look as how cool it can be when you leave the story for a little while!! bc then you get to return and make an entrance!!

“Not only can you bring forth bloody rain, you can also make flowers shower. I didn’t know that. How fun!” - cute!! and in that moment we were all xie lian

“Everyone was stunned by his deed, and Ling Wen arduously gave him a thumbs-up. ”Ol’ Pei, what a man!” Pei Ming gritted his teeth. “WELCOME!” - aww three two tumors buddies!!

okay yin yu is here and xie lian did the equivalent of asking someone when the baby is due only to find out theyre not pregnant at all. then rong guang taunts yin yu and no one says anything. i do love the amount of awkward moments in this book tbh sometimes there are no words.

“All around was sand and mud crushing at him, exceedingly suffocating. The sand and mud was also moving endlessly; the feeling was like he was swallowed into the stomach of a giant monster, and that monster had also eaten a bunch of other things besides him, tumbling everything in its stomach, trying to digest” - ooooh creepy!!! the red string thing... is cute.... also xie lian being able to see hua cheng’s butterfly vision by looking directly into his eye is kinda cool. and obviously homoerotic.

“Are lower-ranked heavenly officials below other people?” Quan Yizhen asked. “No,” Yin Yu replied. Were they not? It was obvious that he himself didn’t believe in his own words, and Quan Yizhen also noticed. A good while later, he said bluntly, “I don’t like it here.” Yin Yu said nothing.” - im having emotions. and then yin yu also saying he doesnt like it there either.... also idk how this scene is going to play out but as much as im enjoying quan yizhen being an icon i can also possibly see how yin yu could eventually get to the point of “i am tired of being nice. i do just want to go apeshit” even if he really cares about qyz. it happens </3

“Indeed,” Hua Cheng said. “Half a year later when Quan Yizhen actually ascends, he won’t find it so funny anymore.” “Can we watch that part too?” Xie Lian asked. “We can. Hold on,” Hua Cheng replied.” - quan yizhen king of taking things literally. also why did this turn into hualian having a movie night

jian yu seems like the kind of asshole who would purposely give someone regular soda when they specifically asked for diet soda. god yin yu is really having a bad day i really feel for him in the whole situation with the brocade immortal

awww okay at least jian yu tried to take responsibility. im still mad at him tho that was objectively a terrible idea. god this whole situation sucked :(

“Rocks and earth crushed at them from all around, forcing their bodies to press tightly against one another, their faces brushing, their ears warm. Although it wasn’t the right time, a thought flashed through Xie Lian’s mind: “‘To die buried together’ doesn’t feel so bad.” - okay... im kind of emotional.... gay people....

okay obviously these murals and the prince of wuyong have some connection (im guessing pretty direct) to xie lian and are important but everytime they start analyzing one i feel like im back in art history class fhadskfhskjdhf not that thats a bad thing!! i liked art history a lot tbh

“Don’t worry, they’re not human,” Hua Cheng said. “It’s precisely because they’re not human that we have to worry, alright….” Xie Lian thought.” - goth ghost bf problems

xie lian: well, there is one person i trust more than anyone else, someone who’s first in my mind hua cheng, oblivious: oh :/ xie lian, also oblivious: what? hua cheng: you shouldnt trust so easily its dangerous xie lian: oh. haha. yeah. well. wanna,,, know who it is? hua cheng: its :) fine :) it :) doesnt :) matter :) but of course you can tell me if you want to gege xie lian, internally: well now ive made it weird hua cheng, 5 minutes later: actually i need you to tell me. right now. its totally for your security me: gay people smh

“As they suspected, he had been captured by Qi Rong. Although no one was bound by ropes, there were balls of greasily green ghost fires hovering over every one of their heads.” - completely off track but anybody else remember the great green globs of greasy grimy gopher guts song

“Could there actually come a day when Qi Rong was embarrassed that someone might see the manner in which he ate? Before Xuan Ji entered, she put Guzi down. Guzi, ta-ta-ta, ran in, rushing straight to Qi Rong’s side. But when he saw him, he pointed his finger. He cried, “Dad is eating bad things in secret again!” “I’m not!” Qi Rong retaliated.” SCREAM IS QI RONG LEARNING THE POWER OF LOVE NOOOO also god that poor man whose body he has im starting to doubt if he’ll ever be free jimmy novak flashbacks

everytime we get another ghost king power somewhere someone should be writing hua cheng the cyborg bf in a high tech futuristic au i think thats the only other potential setting that could truly capture this wild ride

“In truth, throughout history, there was no man in the world who didn’t love bragging. A breeze could blow the handkerchief of a brothel girl into a man’s hand, and he would turn around and say the most beautiful of renowned escorts had fallen in love with him; holding shoes and wiping benches for the emperor’s mistress’s uncle’s grandson’s cousin’s mistress would for sure become him being an important administrator at the residence of royal relatives, raising his status. Thus, men who didn’t brag were a rare species.” - SCREAM this is going in my favorite tgcf quotes folder god... mxtx come here let me shake your hand

read the story of rain master yushi huang’s ascension. why am i crying. also this bit im crying again me with my stuffed animals “Thus, while Yushi Huang was cultivating at the Temple of Yulong, every time when she went to seek water and passed that door, she would rub the head of that ox. The door knocker soaked in her essence of life, and when the Rain Master ascended, the ox ascended with her.”

okay thats enough for now i have 7 more chapters to book 4!!! woo!!!