#zhuo luo

[feng-huli]

Yessss! We’re going to get Zhuo Sen and Zhuo Luo in the Brewmaster donghua! Aaaaah, I love the chains on Zhuo Sen’s Abyssal Eye! I think I prefer the hilt on Jin Wei’s version, but overall an awesome design 🗡️

[dangermousie]

Tencent press conference also released a bunch of posters and here are some that caught my eye for a variety of reasons.

As a poster it’s just heads but I am here for the chaos that will ensue from mashing a bunch of Jin Yong novels together in New Jin Yong Wuxia Universe. Is it going to be a disaster? Probably. Am I here for it? With bells on. PS hi Zhou Yi Wei and Vengo Gao and Peter Ho, at least no matter the content of this, my eyeballs will feast mmmmm

I don’t do moderns and thus have no interest in The Snowstorm of Love despite my fondness for both Wu Lei and Zhao Yinmai, but I had to post the poster because good god that poster is heinous and all I can think of is frostbite.

Zhuo Zhuo Feng Liu poster is a bit generic but in exactly the way I like - men in armor (with handsome horse in background), lady in court robes, forearm holding and staring, classics are classics. And it’s not swimming in pastels, already a win.

Have you guys ever been big into 1970s fantasy with those delightfully trippy covers? Because this is the vibe the poster is giving me and I love it. This is where the casting carousel of The Guide to Capturing the Black Lotus stops and we get Esther Yu and Ding Yuxi apparently and NGL I am loving that casting and that pairing for those characters.

The Wonderland of Love poster is as good as its trailer and its trailer was by far my favorite out of the entire tencent conference.

Liu Shishi’s Fox Spirit Matchmaker @aceinthetrap let me know is not FSM it’s a different drama (apparently called Love Beyond the Grave? Why am I thinking zombies and romantic poets in cravats?) looks beyond gorgeous. This is how you do it, people!

Tho if you got to go for cliches, you could do worse than Everlasting Longing which continues to push the sexy barbarian chief thing like everything depends on it, which I suppose for the drama it does. Luckily my main emoji on seeing it is 😍😍😍😍

God damn you! Hands off 1000 Miles of Bright Moonlight. I do not want an adaptation of this because they are going to ruin it utterly. They already ruined my n1 het web novel with the travesty that was the adaptation of Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir and now time to go for my second most favorite? Between censorship regulations and cdramas’ own narrative tendencies in recent years, they are just gonna do a terrible job, leave it alone pls.

I like this poster for Liu Shui Tiao Tiao because it’s not like anything else and is not drowning in pastels; it’s probably my favorite poster out of the entire conference.

Thanks to my dealer @aysekira who linked me to a bunch of these and, as always, a fun game of “how many of these will actually air? And in some reasonable timeframe?” starts now. Plus don’t ever air, 1000 Miles of Bright Moonlight, pls don’t ever even get made!

[j-august]

Next day, with the head of the murdered man as his gift, Lu Bu betook himself to Lu Su, who led him to Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo received him with a warm welcome and had wine set before him. "Your coming is as welcome as the gentle dew to the parched grass," said Dong Zhuo.

Luo Guanzhong, Romance of the Three Kingdoms (trans. C.H. Brewitt-Taylor)

[brooklynishere]

is anybody else coming out of episode 6 of Chong Zi shipping Qin Ke and Zhuo Hao or is it just me?

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: The Journey of Chong Zi (2023)

Chongzi doesn't want the two boys she likes to fight.😣😥 #重紫 #TheJourneyofChongzi #杨超越#徐正溪 #shorts

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/N85DnDQDc6M

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Divine Destiny (2023)

pathetic wet men collection (33/?)

[lansjue]

If I were Mr. Zhuo, I would be furious. Most importantly, Mr. Zhuo is usually serious. We all acted dramatically. Only he showed his true feelings. It was so embarrassing.

FANGS OF FORTUNE 大梦归离 dir.  Edward Guo, Luo Luo, Wei Nan, 2024.

[guzhufuren]

New posters, message, part of a soundtrack and information about upcoming chinese BL The General's Son, show from the director of Word of Honor

"Green mountains are hidden in the distance, the waters are far away, the bright moon is always shining, the world is full of happiness."

Genres: wuxia; revenge Number of episodes: 24 Episode runtime: 18 minutes

Lead actors: Li Kaiwen as Li Jianwei; Dong Zifan as Chen Xiaoxi

Director and executive producer: Ma Huagan (Word of Honor, The Legend of Anle, Sword Dynasty) Art director: Liu Jingping (Love and Redemption, A Dream of Splendor, Wonderland of Love) Screenwriter and chief producer: Zhou Shucheng Executive producers: Zhuo Zuoqing, Yang Qi Co-producers: Jiang Yuxin, Li Shike, Dong Xinyu Co-director: Wang Xue Producers: Jiang Zhengpeng, Liu Wei, Xu Heni Planning by: Luo Yuting, Luo Gaoqiang

Filming finished this June. Will not be broadcast in mainland China. Original script.

Synopsis: General Li's family were killed on New Year's Eve. Li Jianwei, the youngest son of the Li family, escaped death, but disguised himself as a courtesan and went to Wei Mountain to seek revenge. Chen Xiaoxi, the young master of Guigu, has a lively and eccentric personality, becomes increasingly close to Li Jianwei, who has tried his best to win him over. Chen Xiaoxi's sister, Xiao Hetao, is simple and kind. She discovers that Li Jianwei came for revenge, and dies to resolve the hatred between the two.

Characters:

Li Jianwei. Twenty years old, the youngest son of General Li Fei, he is loved by the whole family, standing like an orchid and a jade tree, smiling like the bright moon. He should have had a bright future, but his fate changed overnight. In order to get revenge, he went undercover to Weishan, enduring humiliation and patiently executing his plan step by step.

Chen Xiaoxi. At the age of twenty, we meet the young master of Weishan Guigu. He was born pure but had evil eyes. Under his lively and sunny appearance, his face looked like that of a devil's. In fact, he was rough but kind, and treated people with sincerity. Unfortunately, fate played a cruel joke on him and his mother died.

Xiao Hetao. At the age of seventeen, Chen Xiaoxi rescued a human child from a wolf pack. Innocent and romantic, she was very simple and naive. Gui Rong and others gave Xiao Hetao the purest and most innocent living environment, but she hoped to resolve the hatred of everyone with her own power.

Princess Qingyuan. Thirty-four years old, a graceful and elegant lady, smart and tenacious. She was in love with Chen Dawang when she was young. After Chen Dawang's death, she firmly refused marriage arranged by the magistrate's office and spent many years in Zhejiang. While helping Li Jianwei to take revenge, Qingyuan, the deputy envoy of the Chang'an Supervisor Zi Ke, has been trying to find out the truth about Jian Jishan from 20 years ago.

Chen Dawang. At the age of 38, we meet the leader of Guigu in Huishan. Twenty years ago, he was a major general in the Loyal and Brave Army led by Chen Weishan. Entrusted by the general, Chen Dawang and his party lived in seclusion in Guigu for twenty years, just to avenge the Loyal and Brave Army and reveal the truth to the world one day.

Sizhou. 24 years old, a descendant of the Loyal and Brave Army, he was a martial arts expert but became blind in two days. Because he was indebted to the Lord of Qingyuan, he stayed by his side and waited for investigation. While helping Li Jianwei to get his revenge, he also hoped to find out the truth of the old case of the Loyal and Brave Army from 20 years ago.

Wan Qianhong. Thirty-eight years old, owner of Baihua Villa, with mysterious martial arts and deceitful tricks. When she was young, she fell in love with Li Pu, who concealed his identity. Later, Li Xifei and Huang Jueda broke off all ties with Wan Qianhong. Since then, Wan Qianhong deeply hated Li Pu and all men in the world. Behind the hatred, Wan Qianhong missed her daughter so much that she mistakenly recognized Xiao Hetao as Zaotian's daughter. In the end, they ended up loving each other but not being able to be together.

Shi Tou. Eighteen years old, a good martial brother of Chen Xiaoxi, grew up in Jianweishan. He is the beloved son of Uncle Hua and Aunt Hua, with a simple and straightforward personality. He was happy and naive until Xiaohe died. The joy he did not even have time to express became the biggest regret in Shi Tou's life.

*text from informational brochures was converted with image to text online programs, translated through google translator and edited by me with some help of online dictionaries. i do not speak chinese, so there are most certainly mistakes in the text. purpose of this translation is to give you the general idea

[firedemblem]

Ailing Empire: Adrestia and the Han

tl;dr: The Adrestian Empire in FE3H is a direct reference to the rise and fall of the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 CE).

This is the first of a few rambles I'd like to do about Chinese history, specifically on the late Han - Three Kingdoms period which influenced KOEI's writing for FE3H. For these I'll be focusing more on themes and inspirations, and less on 1-to-1 comparisons of events and characters. But I'll make it clear what the history is, what the FE3H references are, and why an educated Chinese or Japanese audience would recognize them.

Also fights about who's right or wrong will be ignored. okay lessgo

First, The History

The Han Dynasty, starting around ~202 BC, is the first major imperial dynasty of China. It's the first Chinese empire that lasted for more than 25 years, it's considered the origin of Chinese identity, and even the modern Chinese writing system (hanzi) and the term for ethnic Chinese people (the Han) still reference it. It's very influential. Unfortunately, it also collapsed spectacularly in the 200s CE, leading to a period of civil war in which 3 kingdoms with complex leaders and heroes fought over whose vision should govern China. You can see where I'm going with this.

Now, China isn't new to civil war either before or after the Three Kingdoms (3K). There are plenty of other famous periods of war. But the 3K became famous across Asia, not just China, for a few reasons.

Unique and memorable factions, popularly retold stories of loyalty and betrayals, and people not agreeing on who was in the right (again, you can see where I'm going with this).

Historical records (the Records of the Three Kingdoms, or 三国志) were written about 50 years after the period, providing historians and readers plenty of reference material.

Another 300 years of civil war happening AFTER the 3K made everyone miss the Han and look back fondly at the events near its end.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三国演义), a historical novel written by Luo Guanzhong in the 1400s CE (1200 years after the Han ended), laid out the most famous events of the period in a more readable and adaptable form.

Infinite subsequent adaptations and Dynasty Warriors games.

(For "why 3K was also popular in Japan", see this more well-referenced reddit post.)

This is just to give you an idea of how well-known and influential the late Han to 3K period is, and why it's become a source of references across Chinese and Japanese culture up to the modern day.

Okay, so why does its fall mean Adrestia--

Sorry, getting to that. But to get to that, we have to talk about what exactly happened to cause the Han Empire to fail.

The short version was that the Han ended due to a combo of corruption, failed power grabs, weak emperors, badly behaving regents, and lords with their own power bases (again, you can see... okay I'll stop). The long version is a little more thorough. Since this post is already long you can reference the full wiki'd version here, but the summary of events is as follows:

Under the Han Emperor Ling and his supporting eunuchs, the Ten Attendants, the Imperial government becomes corrupt and heavily taxes the peasantry. Revolts break out.

To put down the revolts, Emperor Ling gives regional officials the power to keep their own armies. (The Han at this time is governed by region, each with its own imperially appointed governor. Think of it as the American president letting each state governor have their own army.)

The revolt is suppressed, but then Emperor Ling dies, leaving 2 heirs aged 13 and 9 and a bunch of powerful eunuchs and officials. The older heir is declared Emperor Shao. Power struggles immediately ensue.

A general related to the Imperial family, He Jin, summons the army of the regional official Dong Zhuo to help him get rid of the eunuchs.

He Jin is immediately assassinated by the eunuchs. The eunuchs are killed in turn.

Dong Zhuo gets to court, finds a power vacuum and a weak 13-year-old emperor, and installs himself as regent with his army. Unfortunately Dong Zhuo is just as corrupt and cruel as the eunuchs, and shortly afterwards "replaces" the 13-year-old emperor with his 9-year-old brother (read: by poisoning). The 9-year-old is crowned Emperor Xian.

A coalition of other officials, now with their own standing armies, unite to fight Dong Zhuo and restore power to the emperor. They fail, but keep building up their armies anyway in defiance of Dong Zhuo's control. One of these officials is named Cao Cao (pronounced T'sao T'sao).

Dong Zhuo dies to his own men. Through a series of hijinx and fights with the other officials (who've since become warlords of their own territories), Cao Cao takes control over the emperor instead.

Cao Cao keeps control by being better at governing than Dong Zhuo, and the emperor stays a puppet. Though he's officially prime minister of the Han court, Cao Cao becomes head of the Wei faction and King of Wei while wiping out most of the other warlords. (The other 2 kingdoms being major exceptions, obviously, but we aren't going to get to them today.)

After Cao Cao dies, his son Cao Pi declares himself not just king but first emperor of Wei, forcing Emperor Xian to abdicate and ending the Han Dynasty.

NOW for Adrestia

If you read over everything above, you'll already have a pretty good idea of what I'll say. But I'd like to lay it out anyway: this is a list of the close parallels between Adrestia as described at the start of FE3H, and the state of the Han Empire just before its end.

Just as the Han empire is considered the foundational empire of China, Adrestia's founding and history are considered the start of modern civilization in Fodlan.

Even the founding story of Wilhelm & the Saints vs. King of Liberation Nemesis has shades of callback. In records of the founding of the Han, the first emperor Liu Bang is famously recorded as having the support of 3 wise generals/strategists, and having to defeat his main rival the Hegemon-King Xiang Yu.

Since its mythologized founding, Adrestia has lost a significant chunk of its territory and glory, just as the later Han Empire was significantly more subdued in power than at its height.

Though for the Han this was more due to losses against northern tribes and usurpations, such as by Wang Mang, than by splitting off into 2 separate kingdoms.

The timelines for Fodlan have also been expanded compared to 3K, such that we're not talking about a civil war and more about 3 sovereign nations.

The holders of power in Adrestia, the noble families, are noted as being either corrupt (Aegir, Bartels), disloyal to the Emperor (Vestra), in it for themselves (Hevring, Bergliez), or otherwise ineffectual.

This closely reflects the later Han's governmental corruption, power struggles, and rise in self-motivated officials and eunuchs, which eventually leads up to the chaos of the 3K period.

Adrestia's Insurrection of the Seven can thus be seen as a heavily condensed version of the Han court's power struggles, especially between a weak emperor and their more powerful officials. The eunuchs have been combined with the officials to create the nobility, but the beats are the same.

The imperial family tries to reclaim its power from powerful officials, and fails.

A weak emperor or imperial heir is forcibly put under regentship by a more powerful official.

The regent is corrupt, foolish, and acts with impunity, leading to chaos in the rest of the nation. (Interestingly enough, Dong Zhuo, the corrupt regent who first takes control of the court, is frequently portrayed as being fat and boorish in a similar way as Duke Aegir's design evokes.)

The name "Insurrection of the Seven" also parallels that of the Ten Attendants, the title of the corrupt eunuchs.

Even Edelgard's situation, being lower in succession but taking power after her siblings are killed (indirectly) by powerful officials, can be seen as a callback to Emperor Xian being proclaimed emperor himself and having his older sibling poisoned by Dong Zhuo.

Now, I should note that these are meant more to be parallels than proofs. And FE3H makes its own share of changes and unique writing choices, which it has to do to create a European-styled universe that meshes better with the Fire Emblem structure. But due to the popularity of the 3K period in China and Japan, the way the other 3H houses match the other 2 kingdoms, Awakening referencing Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and KOEI also producing the Dynasty Warriors and RoTK series, I'm absolutely certain all of these themes are intentional. So given all this, I think there's a lot more to analyze about FE3H's portrayal of Fodlan if we keep considering it in light of Chinese history, and I hope to start doing that for the other 2 factions next.

Aren't you missing something?

Yes, and I wanted to add an additional section at the end of this long ramble, because what I find really interesting are the writing decisions that changed between history and FE3H.

For one, there is no "Cao Cao" figure to usurp the Han in FE3H. This is because Edelgard herself, while being analogous to Emperor Xian, also effectively becomes Cao Cao by trying to seize power and uproot the previous order. Since she can't usurp her own rule over Adrestia, her conflict is written to be external by focusing on the Church of Seiros, which did not exist in Chinese history. And since there's three nations instead of one civil war, a greater overall conflict has to be forced on each of them via Slithers. But Edelgard's thematic struggle remains the same as Cao Cao's; seizing control over what she views as a failed system, and righting it by any means regardless of conventional morality or opposition.

For two, as mentioned before, there's as many callbacks to Biblical and European mythology in FE3H as there are Chinese underpinnings. FE3H's names are European, Shakespearean, Greek, and Celtic. Its religion is syncretized from Abrahamic flood myths, Buddhist cycles of reincarnation, and the Egyptian goddess Isis (with a veneer of Catholicism). Its characters are school-life teenagers rather than hardened warlords, and its backstory is every conspiracy theory combined. Yet I find that in terms of storytelling and themes, FE3H is better explored via its comparison to the 3K than via any of these other references. Because there's not a whole lot to say about the Alliance being named after King Lear characters, but it's way more interesting to consider Claude being a Sun Quan outsider-analogue, or why the Blue Lions are written with a terminal case of Loyalty. But I'll get to those in other rants.

[fiftysevenacademics]

2024 in the rearview mirror

This was a difficult year for me, not in any particular way but in many small ways that all added up. Due to being stuck at home for most of the year, I watched an ungodly amount of television.

Cdramas and danmei came to my rescue as escape pods. It started with The Untamed popping up in my Netflix recommendations and I remembered I’d been meaning to watch it, so I started that either at the end of last December or early January and things spiraled out of control from there. So here is my “Best of List.”

Chinese shows or movies I watched or partially watched:

The Untamed (four times)

Handsome Siblings

The Longest Promise (couldn’t finish because it’s awful)

The Double

Sunshine on my Mind (it’s pretty good but I haven’t finished it yet)

Snowfall

Meet You at the Blossom

Word of Honor

Fangs of Fortune

My Journey to You

The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity

Kill Me Love Me

Love Game in Eastern Fantasy

Hidden Blade

Danmei

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi or MDZS- read it twice)

Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (SVSSS)

Heaven Official’s Blessing (Tian Ci Guan Fu or TGCF- still in progress)

English-language shows of note. (I watch a lot of American and British shows but only these stand out)

We Are Lady Parts

Superstore

Baby Reindeer

The Tourist

Doctor Who

The Brothers Sun

This Fool

Fantasmas

Interior Chinatown

Best of 2024

Best show: Fangs of Fortune (One of the best TV shows I’ve EVER seen and one of only 3 that had me sobbing like a baby at the finale.)

Best M/F pair: Xue Fangfei and Xiao Heng (The Double). A het ship so good it almost made me genuinely miss men. Almost.

Best mortal M/M pair: Wangxian (MDZS; The Untamed)

Best immortal M/M pair: Yuanyi (Zhao Yuanzhou and Zhuo Yichen- Fangs of Fortune) I couldn’t choose between these two pairs and I love them both intensely in different ways so I cheated and broke it down into two categories.

Best F/F pair: Wen Xiao and Pei Sijing (Fangs of Fortune)

Best polycule: The Fangs of Fortune crew

Most fun ship: Bingqiu (Luo Binghe x Shen Qinqiu SVSSS)

Most delicious toxic couple: Jin Xiaobao and Zongzheng Huaien (Meet You at the Blossom)

Character I feel closest to: Jiang Cheng (MDZS; The Untamed)

Character that makes me feel rabidly feral: Zhao Yuanzhou (Fangs of Fortune)

Most valuable player (fictional): Luo Binghe (SVSSS) Always there when I need him.

Most valuable player (real): Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Most fun: Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (SVSSS); We Are Lady Parts

Funniest show: Superstore; Interior Chinatown

Most angst: Fangs of Fortune

Most beautiful: Fangs of Fortune

Best developed characters: MDZS

Best female characters: We Are Lady Parts; My Journey to You; The Double

Hottest female character: Ayesha (We Are Lady Parts)

Best adaptation of a novel: The Untamed

Best fandom: SVSSS; Fangs of Fortune

Best (only?) happy ending: Handsome Siblings

Best reveal that I saw coming that made me cry anyway: Wen Yuan-Lan Sizhui

Best villain: Li Lun (Fangs of Fortune)

Most fuckable character: Xue Yang-Untamed version (I’d pounce on it without even thinking twice.); Wen Kexing (Word of Honor) (I’d change gender if I had to.)

Poorest little meow-meow: Jin Guangyao

Goodest boy: Fairy

Simultaneously the most fun and the biggest letdown: Doctor Who (It always is LOL.)

Only cdrama where the the logical effect of tea on insomnia is considered: My Journey to You

Queerest: Fangs of Fortune

Best acting in a torture scene: Wang Yibo in Hidden Blade (Not that I seek these things out, It’s just in the movie and his performance was really really good.)

Most highly specific kinks: Snowfall

Director whose work I want to follow: Guo Jingming

Show I broke up with: Star Trek Discovery

Show I didn't want to watch but ended up liking: Star Trek Lower Decks

Best action: The Brothers Sun

Weirdest: Fantasmas

Biggest disappointment: Chevalier

Best nostalgia trip: Rewatching all of Star Trek TOS, STTNG, DS9, and on to Voyager with my wife, who had never seen them.

Character I like much better now than I did 30 years ago: Quark.

Dislike that has held up over time: Bajoran religion; Neelix and his wife (can't stand them).

[dtriad]

I came across this bilibili video with commentary on a lot of the actors in Romance of the Three Kingdoms (1994). Adding my own scatter-brained thoughts on some of the featured characters, with timestamps:

Bi Yanjun as Yang Xiu / Li Ru (6:31) - omg TIL they were played by the same actor? I see it now... the power of facial hair & acting lmao. I like Yang Xiu a lot :3 though here he's not overtly obnoxious (affectionate) like Zhai Tianlin's Yang Xiu in TAA

Li Jianyi / Xiu Zongdi as Chen Gong (7:00) - XZD's Chen Gong is /chef's kiss/ I love the final Cao Cao/Chen Gong breakup scene at 白门楼, Cao Cao gazing at his white moonlight who refuses any possibility of surrender/reconciliation (Cao Cao: you'd rather be with Lü Bu than be with me??? HIM??? and now you'd rather die than be with me???)

Cao Li as Lu Su (9:17) - babyface mengmeng!!!!!! way too cute & honest compared to historical Lu Su haha

Gao Lancun as Sima Zhao (10:17) - confession, I still haven't watched the whole thing in order b/c I keep jumping around & picking out scenes/arcs instead, sooooo I have mostly skipped Sima Zhao content... but I love OP's description of Sima Zhao "who seems like he's looking at [others as] trash" lmaooo

An Yaping as Ma Chao (10:53) - 锦马超! Luo Guanzhong: /sweating I gotta spruce up this guy dammit! well good job LGZ I love watching him go after Cao Cao

Chen Hong as Diaochan (11:35) - MY DARLING!!!!!!! I really enjoy all the moments when she darts a glance at Dong Zhuo or Lü Bu to gauge her next move. & LOVE her character song—

Yang Fan / Zhang Shan / Hou Yongsheng as Zhao Yun (12:28) - ZILONG! ZILONG! too many A+ character songs... Zhang Shan's horsemanship was crazy good

Wu Xiaodong as Sun Quan (13:20) - he successfully captures that bearing/air as a ruling lord, but I'm sorry Sun Quan every time I look at you I think 孙十万... pls, let your generals do the fighting 😂 also I am weirded out by the fact he's got a luxurious beard while Zhou Yu goes around w/o one because then he would blow his identity as young Yuan Shao (speaking of facial hair, they dropped the ball with Sun Ce, why didn't he get a beard as nice as Sun Quan's!!)

Zhang Tianshu / Fan Zhiqi as Jiang Wei (14:14) - my young bb 甜姜! my old bb 苦姜! ;_______; ok tbh the thing that bugs me most about the 2010 drama is that they end the final ep with Sima Yi's death and toss in a voiceover "yadda yadda a decade+ later, Shu surrendered, yadda yadda" and THAT'S IT???? BUT WHERE IS THE CULMINATION OF THE TRAGEDY OF JI HAN???? JIANG WEI???? if you don't wanna adapt that part then ok just own it and wrap up the show with a thematically appropriate ending, why even bother to shove the idea of 分久必合 into the voiceover during the last half-minute as;dlkfja;sdlk. anyway wahhhh @ OP's commentary: "姜维是承载着蜀汉的所有美好与激情的存在，但是最后终会化为壮烈与凄凉 [...] 我们会在樊志起的身上看到诸葛亮，看到关羽，看到赵云，看到刘备的影子" ;______;

Zhang Guangbei as Lü Bu (17:15) - hahaha omg he originally intended to audition for Zhou Yu???? ok, especially after reading 《早安！三国打工人》I can't help but admit he's become my poor little muddle-headed meow meow... and ZGB is A+ in this role

Hong Yuzhou as Zhou Yu (18:35) - 美周郎 absolutely deserves that BGM cut at 19:28 /swishes cloak

Wei Zongwan as Sima Yi (20:37) - SO. MUCH. happening beneath the stillness of Sima Yi. he also deserves that BGM cut at 21:24. the ultimate 猫头鹰!!

Sun Yanjun as Liu Bei (23:27) - I like the historical Liu Bei more than ROTK Liu Bei, but major major major props to SYJ for, frankly, elevating ROTK Liu Bei with his portrayal, so 央三 Liu Bei > novel ROTK Liu Bei \o/

Tang Guoqiang as Zhuge Liang (24:31) - YES

Bao Guo'an as Cao Cao (26:46) - HELL YES

this got so much longer than I expected /facepalm

[feng-huli]

Aaaah, this preview! I’ve watched Episode 10 at least five times to process it, and I’m still not remotely prepared to watch Episode 11 tomorrow. I had my issues with the lack of tension in Dashing Youth, but the Young Brewmaster’s Adventure has absolutely fixed that problem. There are so many intense developments in the story, and I’m so interested to see how they play out.

I really loved Zhuo Sen and Zhuo Luo this episode. A fearsome duo with really fun contrast. It was interesting how even though Zhuo Sen was his senior, Zhuo Luo seemed more the one in charge. I like how Zhuo Luo acted weaker than his was, pretending to be afraid and hanging back to let Zhuo Sen take care of the heavy lifting. An intriguing dynamic, and I wish we got more of them.

I don’t know what was more shocking, this version of the Abyssal Eye being destroyed or both eunuchs already being killed off. I’m definitely curious how Jin Wei will get his sword now that Zhuo Sen’s is broken. And as for Zhuo Sen and Zhuo Luo being killed, I can’t wait to see what consequences result from it. The stakes have certainly been raised, and I doubt Zhuo Qing will let this one slide.

Ye Dingzhi as the Eunuch of Sword’s disciple? Well, consider that an AU I’m actually kinda interested in. At best, Dashing Youth’s Ye Dingzhi bored me, but I’m finding that Young Brewmaster’s Ye Dingzhi has far more layers and motivation, to an extent that I find rather compelling. And, so far, his relationship with Yi Wenjun is fairly refreshing.

The Young Brewmaster donghua is taking such an interesting route with Yi Bu’s character! Overall, Dashing Youth just had him as a flatly-written abusive father who mainly existed to make Yi Wenjun even more miserable. I love the approach Brewmaster is taking in having Yi Bu be the one to betray and kill Ye Dingzhi’s father. It connects Yi Bu to the conflict in a more substantial way, and has the potential to create more tension between him and his daughter beyond the straightforward oppression present in Dashing Youth. Also, I like his hat.

Anyways, I’m going to be completely normal about the bondage capabilities of Zhuo Luo’s scroll.

[dangermousie]

Mmmm, hope Zhuo Zhuo Feng Luo (which just got its license) is good because lady official x general is my jam and I adore Jing Tian and FSF has been a huge crush for ages. Mmmm!

[j-august]

"So he shows his resentment by writing poems, eh! A fair excuse to put them all out of the way," said Dong Zhuo.

Luo Guanzhong, Romance of the Three Kingdoms (trans. C.H. Brewitt-Taylor)

[marlo-noni]

10 more Liu Yuning songs I love!

This is part 3. Here are part 1 and part 2.

New Year's Song (过年的歌), 2020 Why it's good: it's so cute, happy, and festive! You may hear it in your local Asian supermarket around Lunar New Year, because it's fairly popular. The video is adorable too. I love his bandmates, A-Zhuo and Da Fei, in their costumes - Da Fei is the god of wealth (I think), and A-Zhuo looks like some longevity god? My knowledge of Chinese mythology and deities is lacking.

2. Adore (十分喜欢), 2019 Why it's good: so soft and romantic! This feels like your boyfriend, Liu Yuning, is singing a love song directly to you. It was also written by Penny Tai, who Liu Yuning would later team up with on season 3 (2021) of the variety show Our Song.

3. Obviously (明明), 2019 Why it's good: just very catchy, especially the chorus. It's the first song on his 2019 album Ten (十), and it's a good choice for that, because it hooks you in.

4. Light Years Away (光年之外), 2018 cover of a G.E.M. song for the variety show Golden Melody 2 Why it's good: this was his first music variety show performance, only 2 months after he blew up online in June 2018. He said on livestream that preparing for this was super stressful, and his vocal coach (or maybe a producer? I can't remember) was having a conniption the night before. But he knocked it out of the park! I also listened to the original G.E.M. song just now, and it's got a completely different energy. Liu Yuning totally did his own thing with it. Thanks to @thefeastandthefast for sharing this performance, and the story, with me.

5. Azure (这蔚蓝), 2024 performance on the variety show Melody Journey Why it's good: I love that chorus, with the "yi dian yi dian yi dian yi dian yi dian" ("bit by bit by bit") in it. Liu Yuning also recently talked about this performance on livestream, and how this song was out of his comfort zone, so he was incredibly nervous. Again, he knocks it out of the park.

6. Adventurer (探险家), 2018 promo song for the film Alpha Why it's good: someone once asked Tumblr OG Liu Yuning fan @heymeowmao for some recommendations of songs where Liu Yuning rocks out, and this was on the list. And yeah, I think this might be his most rocking song - the only contender I can think of is his recent performance of Chi Luo Luo with Da Zhang Wei on season 6 of Our Song. But that's for another post (if I end up doing a list of fave collabs). For now, enjoy Liu Yuning at his most rock 'n' roll!

7. A Good Guy (挺好个人呐), 2020 promo song for the film My People, My Homeland Why it's good: just quirky as hell! I haven't seen the film this was promoting, but I assume it's a retro thing, because this is a total disco throwback. The heroic voice Liu Yuning uses in it is super fun as well. I'm just glad he decided to do such a silly song.

8. Fireworks and Stars (烟火星辰), 2021 OST opening theme for You Are My Glory Why it's good: sappy-as-hell theme song for the drama where two of China's prettiest people, Dilraba and Yang Yang, get it on. Liu Yuning has done a zillion cheesy love song OSTs, but this one sticks with me for some reason. It's got the same songwriter as his OST for Love Between Fairy and Devil (寻一个你) and that Melody Journey song I love so much, Falling (掉), so I think maybe it's just this songwriter's style that I like.

9. A Good Year (一个好年), 2023 Why it's good: this is Liu Yuning's much lesser-known Lunar New Year song. It's much sweeter, more nostalgic, and less energetic than the other one, but I think I've listened to this one more. It just feels uplifting and warm in the middle of the January/February gloom here in Vancouver.

10. Fall in Love, 2022 Why it's good: I can't believe I almost forgot this one! I've listened to it so many times that it's not in my regular rotation these days. This is his danciest poppiest song. It was originally going to be the lead single on his 2nd album, but since that album still hasn't come out (here's hoping for January 2025!), he said it's officially not new enough to be on there anymore. Anyway, this song is fun as hell!

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Divine Destiny (2023)

Divine Destiny is coming! Don’t forget to watch it~💫✨😉

Images shared on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marius_cheng/