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sqewed0722 · 10 days

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https://x.com/jburn_drama/status/1777517154285326460?s=46&t=wrDJ_P2Tnlk_OaNoUoRakA

A very insightful and realistic analysis of why Xingzhi and Shen Li are perfect for each other.

#the legend of shen li #xing zhi #shen li #cdrama analysis #cdrama #cdrama otp

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the-wintry-mizzenmast · 7 months

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When a dao isn't just a dao 笛飞声的刀不只是刀

A quick and dirty analysis of Di Feisheng's dao

Following up from my previous post speculating about Di Feisheng's dao 刀, I think the configuration of Di Feisheng's dao is quite clever and consistent with his character, despite looking like nonsense at first glance. I know more taiji and kung-fu 刀 dao forms than I do 劍 jian forms, and this is what I choose to do with my knowledge and time, I guess.

Before I launch into his dao in particular, I think it's important that you understand what a dao is, and how you are supposed to attack and defend with one.

When you say 刀 dao (in English, it's also been called a Chinese saber or broadsword), this is what it's supposed to look like (I've annotated the image below from the Wikipedia entry on dao). They are by definition single-edged, and the majority are slightly curved (though there are some variants such as the Nandao 南刀 which are straight). A dao should have a point, a sharp edge (in red), and a blunt edge (in blue). The blunt edge (short edge, or inner edge, since the thing is curved) is usually quite thick.

One of the main ways that a dao does damage is through slashing/chopping motions, either down, sideways, or upwards (which my sifu always called uppercuts). All upwards slashes with the dao require that you turn your wrist so that the sharp edge, which usually faces down, faces upward instead.

The other way that a dao does damage is via forward thrusts, where the point of the dao is supposed to pierce enemy flesh. The basic attacks I've mentioned above are in the beginning of this clip, and I've added text to the original video below to highlight what's what and what they're supposed to look like.

(n.b. I was just randomly searching for videos to show what I'm trying to describe, no endorsement intended).

One of the things you'll notice from the above video as well is that the master is putting his hand on the blunt edge. This helps stabilize and give more power to the dao through its various motions, and is a basic part of how dao forms are supposed to work.

The blunt edge is also important because it helps in defense. One of the cardinal rules of a dao is that when you are defending, the dao should be kept close to your body, with the blunt edge facing your body. This is what a basic block looks like:

Should you get hit, you can brace the blunt edge of the blade using a shoulder or upper arm. In certain positions you can also use your hand as a brace on the blunt edge to stop (or execute) a particularly strong attack.

These are the dao basics. Now you have enough background to know what makes Di Feisheng's dao so unusual: it is double-edged, and it has a blunt tip.

These two things must follow if you have a dao that has two edges and is blunt at the tip:

You are limited to slash and chop attacks as your main blade damage. Thrust attacks won't penetrate flesh unless you have a serious amount of qi behind it.

Your defense is limited, because you can't use your dao to defend in the usual way.

But wait, does Di Feisheng's dao really have two full edges?

If you're a details guy like me, and completely obsessed over Di Feisheng (guilty as charged), you'll notice that one the edges of his dao doesn't actually extend the full length of the blade:

From the way that light reflects off the edges of his dao, you can see a bit on the short (inner) edge of the dao where the blade seems to transition from sharp to blunt:

And this shot, it's confirmed that there is a short blunt area on the inner edge of his dao:

In this memorable scene, Di Feisheng uses his hand against the very short blunt part of his dao to press his attack into Li Xiangyi's cheek:

One of the upsides of his unusual dao is also that he can use the inner edge for attacking as well. Upward sweeps using the inner edge aren't possible with usual daos (because they are blunt), but are possible with Di Feisheng's dao. I think we see an example of that here in the way you see his arm sweeping upward. (He has also added a substantial amount of qi to this sweeping strike, most of us plebs don't have enough qi to do anything like this.)

You can see how he gains some flexibility to his attacking capabilities, when he flips his blade mid-block into an attack:

While a double-edge gives him more adaptability in terms of attack on along the slashing and chopping edges of his dao, what he is losing out on because of the blunt end is thrust. You almost never see Di Feisheng thrust his dao forward because his sword just doesn't work like that.

In this final scene in the episode one fight when they are charging at each other, Li Xiangyi thrusts the Shaoshi Jian forward, but Di Feisheng, due to the design of the dao, has to slash:

However, most of the power of a dao is in its slashing and chopping motions. This is where the weight of the blade and its curved design (plus gravity and force) result in the most damage. Unlike the jian, the dao's thrusts do less damage. My conclusion about this is that it's a purposeful trade-off that Di Feisheng has made. He would rather maximize his offensive capabilities where they are strongest.

In terms of blocking, the design of Di Feisheng's dao means he's at a defensive disadvantage, since there's no blunt area to brace his body against for blocking (he can use his hand on the bit that is blunt, but because he has an edge along the rest of it, he can't use a shoulder or upper arm). This is a key feature of the standard dao that Di Feisheng's dao is missing.

In this move in the Battle of the Eastern Sea in episode 1, we see Di Feisheng execute a block, but he's got both of his hands along the hilt instead:

At this point, it should be noted that the standard dao is typically a one-handed weapon. The hilt is slightly curved, so you can get a good downwards chop with your wrist. There are other daos that have straight hilts and can be two-handed like the Miaodao 苗刀 (which is more similar to the Japanese katana 刀 than most Chinese folks like to admit). Di Feisheng's dao being straight-hilted and two-handed isn't that unusual because it's a feature that can be present on certain types of dao (it's way less unusual than the two edges!), but I thought it was worth pointing out in case any eagle-eyed readers noticed the difference between the Wikipedia image and what Di Feisheng has.

I could wax on about Di Feisheng's dao and his fighting style forever, but I think this thread has gone on for long enough.

I believe that the design of Di Feisheng's dao is very clever. At first glance, it seems utterly silly (what kind of dao has two edges?), but on deeper inspection of his style and how he uses it, it is consistent with his character.

He is always playing on Hard Mode because he is trading defense for more flexibility in his offense. And he is maximizing his offense where it is strongest (slashes and chops), and choosing to forego the offensive capabilities where it is weaker (thrusts).

...And that really is Di Feisheng's martial arts style in a nutshell, isn't it?

#mysterious lotus casebook #di feisheng #笛飞声 #meta #莲花楼 #Di Feisheng's dao #which is just named 刀 #刀就是刀要什麼名字 #i know more 刀 forms than 劍 forms and this is what i do with the knowledge #笛飛聲 #蓮花樓 #cdrama #cdrama meta #I'm sorry the GIFs are terrible quality I can't be bothered #also at some point I really want to an analysis of the choreo in the final fight #there was awesome shit being pulled by the choreographers that I've never seen in a wuxia

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clara-maybe-ontheroad · 10 months

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The impact of toxic family dynamics in Till the End of the Moon (长月烬明)

A bit random and I have never done character analysis posts so it might not be as good as some other posts on here but bear with me.

I'm watching Till the End of the Moon (ep 25) and the recent development of Ye Bingchang's character into a full blown villain has made me hate her, but also empathize with her in ways I didn't expect.

To contextualise, Ye Bingchang 叶冰裳 is the second child and first daughter of the Ye family, and she is basically the perfect daughter of a noble Chinese family. She's sweet and kind, beautiful but not attention seeking, smart but not a smart ass, dutiful and filial, delicate and thoughtful. She shares a beautiful love story with Prince Xiao Lin 萧凛, the 6th son of the Emperor, so she's going to marry in the Imperial Family and no doubt bring honor to the Ye Clan. She seems to be doing everything exactly right.

And yet she's a second class citizen in her own family, who openly favours her younger sister Ye Xiwu 叶夕雾.

Now there are two levels to this.

1) They're openly and unabashedly favouring one child over the 3 others, but then still ranking the other kids, and somehow Ye Bingchang ranks lower than her brother who is a lazy and stupid gambler. Her family simply doesn't see her, she's completely forgettable to them, like her existence only matters because sure, she's their blood, but she's a complete afterthought.

2) The daughter they favour over her is Ye Xiwu, and Ye Xiwu is a monster of a golden child. She's completely selfish and narcissistic, she explicitly abuses her husband, she schemes again and again to seduce and try to rape Prince Xiao Lin, her sister's one true love and fiancé, and when this doesn't work she becomes physically violent towards Ye Bingchang as well.

Ye Xiwu is an extremely abusive and horrible person, straight up. And her family continuously makes excuses for her violent behaviour, dotes on her, spoils her, and barely has a look for Ye Bingchang, expecting her to forgive and turn the other cheek. The golden child / black sheep dynamic is at its peak.

I find it quite rare that in this type of situation, a show will have the golden child as our hero ; almost always, if there are complicated family relationships, the main character is the one who's rejected, underestimated, and who has to rise through those challenges (which applies to our main male character Tantai Jin 澹台烬 btw, and I think we could say a lot of the parallels between Tantai Jin and Ye Bingchang).

I can think of other cases where the child who was favoured is the main character over the child who is rejected (Jiang Cheng 江澄 in The Untamed 陈情令, Feng Chang 丰苌 in Who Rules the World 且试天下) but they're not as clear cut as this (Jiang Cheng being his mom's favorite and the only actual son of the family while Wei Wuxian 魏无羡 is also a black sheep on many levels, Feng Chang's more favoured brother Feng Lanxi 丰兰息 being fairly rejected as well and having to fight not to be poisoned).

The golden child as a main character works here because it isn't actually Ye Xiwu : we discover her character and the situation when the spirit of Li Susu 黎苏苏 travels back in time and takes possession of Ye Xiwu's body. Our main character is really Li Susu, and like the audience she's horrified to learn everything Ye Xiwu has been doing, disgusted by her abusive behaviour towards her sister and her husband, and at first disapproves of how much the Ye family favours her over Ye Bingchang. But she also comes to love the Ye family as her own, and the fact that they would neglect one of their daughters so much doesn't impact her affection for them.

We only learn about Ye Xiwu's abuse through flashbacks, so it doesn't have the same emotional impact for us as an audience, and we only brief moments of those memories so we don't have to confront the full magnitude of how horrible she was, including to Ye Bingchang. Again, Ye Xiwu tried to rape her sister's one true love and fiancé, and even after getting married herself she continued to throw herself at him, and when it didn't work she turned to actual physical violence on Ye Bingchang.

And throughout this, the Ye family excuses it all away, and even Ye Bingchang excuses it away. She forgives before Ye Xiwu even apologizes, because she knows that's what's expected of her, and she just tries her best to be a kind soul still defending her sister from people spreading rumors about her. In a way, she's a victim of domestic violence who forgives an abuser and thinks she just needs to be softer, sweeter, weaker, so maybe they don't feel like bullying her anymore.

So when Ye Bingchang tries to use the affection of men to get protection, to feel love and be sheltered from her condition, it's very understandable and to me resembles a lot of things I've seen in real life. And when she turns to resentment over her condition and decides she needs to gain control over her situation through getting some amount of power so she can protect herself, it's an arc we could expect from a main character.

She only becomes a villain after the arc of Bo're Life, in which our four main characters Tantai Jin, Ye Xiwu/Li Susu, Xiao Lin and Ye Bingchang are absorbed into a dragon's dreams of its past as a War God centuries ago. Ye Bingchang is "reincarnated" in this dream as a powerful immortal, a scorned lover but who has the power to actually be vengeful over the woman who steals the man she loves. The object of her ire being Ye Xiwu, reincarnated in a very sweet clam spirit woman, Ye Bingchang gets a taste of what power feels like, of what manipulation feels like, and of what revenge over Ye Xiwu would feel like. And when even in this dream life, Ye Xiwu is preferred over her and she ends up dying, she comes back to herself determined to change and not let others control her life anymore.

Every character (except Xiao Lin really) seems deeply influenced by what they lived in Bo're Life, having identity crises of sorts over who they actually are now. As an aside, it works as a pretty good plot device to suddenly get Tantai Jin a lot more open to Ye Xiwu/Li Susu and move their romance along, it almost feels like cheating but I'll allow it.

Anyway, Ye Bingchang has now slowly become as manipulative and cruel as her counterpart in Bo're Life, and it's easy to just see it as that counterpart taking over her body in a way.

But this manipulative and cruel streak is born out of the profound reality that she can not count on her family to protect her, and that the people who were supposed to love her unconditionally preferred her literal abuser over her.

She did everything right and it was never enough, so now it's time for her to claim her life back.

And again, in another show (like the Story of Yanxi Palace 延禧攻略 for example), this urge to climb to power so no one can hurt you anymore and take revenge on the people who ruined your life along the way, it would make you the hero.

But here, Ye Bingchang still can't win, and she actually turns into a villain.

#till the end of the moon #xianxia #cdrama #character analysis #love the villains #ye bingchang #golden child #black sheep #toxic family #i have not finished the show so maybe i will change my mind but this is how I see things now

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krudy7kk · 9 days

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Analysis of Spirealm's ending

Never posted anything on my tumblr but I have the most unholy Spirealm brainrot rn so I'm posting my analysis of Spirealm's ending. The preface, a lot of people interpreted the ending of Spirealm as depressing and the series to be very tragic overall, but, I feel like the ending is mostly happy, and here's why;

Crossposted on MDL as a review

Heavy Spoilers

Spirealm ended with seemingly “it was all a dream” type of ending but my interpretation of the ending was that Lin Jiu Shi , through the act of completing the game, “saved” the game as his childhood friend intended. “Saving” the game in this scenario, reverts all the tragedy the game has caused without erasing anything that’s happened… kind of. The way the story goes about it is a little convoluded but through picking up the themes of this story, is not indecipherable.

Proving that the game did all happen; there are three main points that infers this. The first, most tangible point is that, at the end of the series, LJS wakes up in the middle of the traffic. Assuming everything that’s happened after the traffic accident at the end of the series was dreamt up, it does not explain why the internet cafe boss at the beginning of the series– who’s seen the game before the traffic accident– has no recollection of LJS having played the game. The second point, if everything in the game had not happened, it would make no sense for LJS to accurately know the name of people he’s never met before. The third point, which is the most confusing one, explains one of the main themes and why the director probably chose to take this route.

One of the main themes of Spirealm is the legitimacy of the “virtual world”, where the characters have debated multiple times if everything that happens “virtually” in the game is real or not. I forgot which episode it was but, LJS in the latter part of the series pondered “If the feelings in Spirealm are more sincere than real life, what really is the difference between virtual and reality?” ( Also not a direct translation, I’m too lazy to go find the exact episode and translate it) The point of this quote is, even if the memories don’t exist anymore, the feelings and relationships that were formed during the time in Spirealm were “real” and sincere. We can see this through the way Chen Qian Li fhaving familiarity towards LJS at the end of the series, despite acknowledging that he doesn’t actually know him. This is a little more debatable but you could also argue that the differences between the depiction of the people around LJS before and after he woke up also shows the effects of the game. One could interpret Tan Zao Zao being an influencer instead of an actress as something unconsciously influenced by the events of Spirealm. While being in Spirealm, TZZ felt like she constantly had to mask herself as an actress, you could argue that her being a influencer instead of an actress in the new world as a choice she made unconsciously due to the feelings of restriction she’s felt in Spirealm. Same with instances like Chen Yi Xie watching horror movies as a hobby and Li Dong Yuan being content working as a street vendor that makes little money.

In the last scene of the show, when LJS goes back into Spirealm, he sees TZZ where she tells him “it feels like I woke up from a long dream”, referring to life outside of the game. This further emphasizes how the game is actually “real” too, since when LJS is outside Spirealm, Spirealm is referred to as a “dream”. Whichever reality they are in is the real one, so by proxy, they are both real.

Another point to consider is the relationship between LJS and RNZ. If everything was a dream, then essentially, LJS dreamed up a lifelong companion (boyfriend) in elaborate detail seemingly out of nowhere… It makes more sense if RNZ did exist, but was simply erased from existence due to the game also having been erased. The whole last arc of the story also repeatedly states that he would be erased once the 11th door was complete.

The game bringing people back to life, erasing everyone’s memory, and altering reality also seems entirely reasonable when the whole basis of the game is based on its ability to kill people and warp time. Realistically speaking, there was no real way to depict RNZ and LJS saving the game besides erasing the game completely, therefore, the erasure of everyone’s memory and the game’s existence is the intended effect of “saving the game”.

I also believe that LJS reprogramming the game essentially is the equivalent of him fulfilling his friend's wish of “restoring the game to its original state” as the game he ended up recreating was essentially the original intended game.

I believe that the ending of Spirealm was the perfect happy ending, Everyone is alive again, they get to live their life to the fullest, and in the end, LJS finishes the game where he likely decides is his new “reality” with RNZ. They all live together happily as Chen Qian Li wished for in the 11th door. This is the 12th door, LJS’s completed door of happiness.

That’s mostly all I wanted to say, I’ll probably rewatch the series when Subs (that are comprehensible) come out so I can make exact quotations and give actual episode numbers (plus there are probably more things I have missed). But for now that’s all I’ve wanted to say. I’m open to debate the ending since I feel like the ending was definitely left a little ambiguous but I feel like a lot of these things were changed from the novel with the intent of creating this ending specifically. (ex. Slight novel spoiler: TZZ being a famous and acclaimed actress in the Novel while being mildly unpopular in the series)

Add my discord if you want to talk about this show with me, it lives in my head rent free: krudy7kk

TLDR: Spirealm was not a dream, everything that happened got erased due to LJS completing the game. Everyone gets transported into an altered reality where they are living their happiest lives (indirectly bc of games events) and LJS reunites with everyone towards the very very end where they all live peacefully together.

#the spirealm #ruan nanzhu #lin jiushi #cdrama #analysis #kaleidoscope of death #danmei #bl drama

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fanfictionroxs · 1 year

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I sort of get Tantai-Jin saving Li SuSu though (still angry that he didn't respect her wishes though). Have been thinking about it a lot and he lost her twice already. Once as Sang Jiu and then as Ye Xiwu. He saw them die and the second time almost destroyed him. So this time he just couldn't. He destroyed himself, but saved Li SuSu. He did what he couldn't do before and this time there were no misunderstandings, only love and both of them on the same side, working together to achieve the goal of saving the world. And that's.. that's the best ending these two can get for now. But who knows what the future holds for these crazy kids? I mean, no way in hell am I accepting that he's completely gone. Anyway, I'm just going to watch Love is Sweet and pretend it's them 😆💝

#till the end of the moon #tantai jin x su su #li su su #cdrama #analysis

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stayedfortheplot · 1 year

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I'm admiring how this dream arc in Till the End of the Moon has the same vibe as a Greek tragedy. Like would communication solve everything? Yes. Are we surprised that they're not communicating? No. The characters' actions perfectly suit this narrative and we're just enjoying the painful ride.

#we don't watch tragedies expecting a happy ending #maybe setting that tragic precedent early on was key to the audience not throwing up their hands in rage #tteotm #till the end of the moon #cdrama #narrative analysis

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lostinadrama · 4 days

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𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 (2024)

#will love in spring #cdrama #ep 4 #zhou yutong #wu junting #zhang xiwei #春色寄情人 #I love how her brother said their little sister’s analysis of the situation was wrong & then repeated her question. 😂

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tidal123 · 1 year

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Chu Xuanji Appreciation Post

I realized I never see Xuanji as someone who was born to be incapable of feeling. Instead, she is someone who had been cut off from and was reconnecting with her Self. A important step for that is to reconnect with her desires, which she definitely has—she just had trouble consciously recognizing them. For one, she had trouble accessing her whole sensory data and process her feelings, but it’s obvious she definitely had them. Like her eyes and nose actually works, she just wasn’t accessing the information they provided (how it was due to something Bailin did when he did THAT was also metaphorical). If put in a modern view, I see Xuanji as someone who heals from a gained mental condition like depression or PTSD, not someone who was born to be that way.

Spoilers ahead.

Although there were different lifetimes, Xuanji is a whole continuum, the same with Sifeng, because I find it ridiculous to consider the identity of Xuanji to be just one of 11 or even 12 different separate people. That just makes no sense narratively in the story.

Also for Xuanji and Sifeng, their life spans thousands of years, not just one human life time, and as deities they went through incarnations probably like experiences on their celestial resume lol. In fact, I include LHJD in the continuum that makes Xuanji, because I interpret Xuanji/GoW’s story as a story of someone who experienced devastation and eventually healed, having to reestablish a sort-of new personality which is kind of different from the old.

Her original personality that she was born and grow up with pretty much died when unspeakable evil was done by someone he misplaced his trust in. TBH I have trouble comprehending what they went through at full scope. It was unspeakably horrifying how can anyone’s personality not die? And that he died and a memory less GoW was born from that feels very metaphorical to me. That cannot make sense however, if Jidu was not included in the continuum. In fact, Sifeng agrees with this view since he also views them as sort-of the same person, both in the demons realm after he was shown GoW’s origin and even more so after he has got his memory as a celestial back.

Xuanji wasn’t meant to be unfeeling, no matter what HC says. She just wasn’t capable to love anyone before she properly healed, that was the reason she was the way she was in the previous incarnations when she wasn’t even noticing Sifeng much initially. She must heal enough first, and the tenth life is the cumulation of that healing (her heart grows flesh again, as is said).

Probably the luckiest thing for Xuanji(and the three realms) is that she has Sifeng to be with her through and through. Her will is incredibly stubborn and strong. Even with Bailin sealing off her normal perceptions and emotions, she was still focused on revenge in the first lifetime as a mortal. I feel like if not for the existence of Sifeng she would have just went through with her revenge and reset the three realms. It wouldn’t exactly be an injustice but it’d be a tragedy due to the destructions that will accompany the complete reset of an existing world.

Come visit me in Love and Redemption watch party community.

#Love and Redemption #LnD Spoiler #LHJD #Analysis #cdrama #Asian Drama

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canary3d-obsessed · 6 months

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Your restless rewatch for the untamed is so hilarious i am binge-ing on them now lol

Seriously, how many times have you watched TU for this? The references and jokes are so on point that I am realizing a few things too! Good analysis with humor!

Looking forward to the rest!!!

Thank you!

I've watched parts of it more times than I can count, but like everyone I tend to skim over the less enjoyable bits. But! For each RR post I usually watch the episode 3 times, no skipping - once to get an idea of what I want to say, once without sound or subtitles while I'm clipping it into chunks for giffing, another time in the background/on my second monitor while I'm making my gifs. And I go back and forth to other episodes where I suspect a parallel may be happening. Naturally then I get sucked into the other episode - for Ep 39 I went back to review the Lan bros' conversation in Ep 21, and then ended up watching the whole episode.

In general, if I like a cdrama I will watch it at least twice, and if I like it a lot, I'll return to it again and again. Off the top of my head, a few others that I've watched more than twice are: Nirvana in Fire (like, WAY more than twice), The Long Ballad, Go Ahead, You Are My Glory, and The Yin Yang Master Dream of Eternity (that's a movie, not a drama, tho).

#asks answered #restless rewatch extras

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cum-villain · 5 months

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that "no love is wasted" quote really helps me put things into perspective when it comes to my 'useless' fandom hobby.

watching stranger things years ago led me to extremely analytical communities, where i began to do critical analysis of what i watched. now im able to more easily theorize and grow to love coming up with new ideas. the community has changed nowadays, so thats changed more to growing up, of realizing that what i saw in the past doesnt exist anymore, and being able to come to terms with that and simply be grateful for the time i had.

watching sk8 the infinity led me to learning japanese, and i ended up quitting, but i can read most hiragana, and some katakana and kanji, when a lot of people dont even know the difference between hiragana katakana and kanji. it also led me to embrace my strange interests when i was disdained for liking adam, and to learn that i need to find my own communities instead of changing for others. it taught me to learn about the cultures of foreign stories, and in some ways shaped my culinary interests through learning about japan.

reading scum villain led me to learning more about analysis, about the importance of finding sources for claims, and why it's important to make references as to where exactly the quotes can be found in a specific text. it also led me to learning more about chinese culture. i dont know much hanzi, and i have difficulty with tones and sounds in mandarin, but i've been able to make attempts and can at least try to make more similar replications of chinese than i could a year ago. in learning about chinese culture, ive learned about various foods like congee, which is becoming a staple when i feel unwell. i learned about the beautiful hanfu in historical cdramas, and i'm learning more about where different styles and patterns come from as a current hobby.

and all of the fandoms i've been in, all of the stories i've read, have shaped me as a person in some ways, these are just examples. everytime i love a story, it shapes my own. i wouldnt be the person i am today if i wasnt in the above communities, if i hadnt read orv and tgcf and 2ha and pjo and all those other stories i didnt mention.

omniscient reader's viewpoint taught me that there's value just in being a reader, in loving a story. and i cant help but agree. reading stories has turned me into the dima of today, and i cant help but be happy to be reader, because i love the person that stories made me. and i cant wait to see how the next story i read shapes me too.

#braincell posting

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ellsieee · 7 months

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9 People You'd Like To Know More

Tagged by @khaotungsfirst. Thank you for the tag!

Last song:

不该玩火《守候 Waiting》 - 李慧珍 Stay With Me has been over for weeks, but I can't stop listening to the OST even though the whole songs haven't even been released yet.

Currently Watching:

Dangerous Romance (Nothing earth shattering about this series, but I'm enjoying the Perth/Chimon energy and my jaw dropped over the locks this week.)

I Feel You Linger In the Air (I like the parallel universe/time slip concept and I'm down for slow burn. Although I find Jom slightly annoying, I'm still enjoying this series overall.)

Kiseki: Dear to Me (Living for Chen Yi/Ai Di like everyone else.)

Love In Translation (Fluffy and cute. The Tammy storyline needs to die though, it's really starting to grate. Oh and the brother is terrible!)

Minato's Laundromat 2 (The amnesia bit came out of nowhere and this 2nd season has been a bit of a let down. Now I'm just watching for Asuka.)

My Personal Weatherman (Not enjoying this as much as everyone else. I actually enjoy reading everyone's analysis more than the series itself. 😅)

Only Friends (Really enjoying how fucked up and dysfunctional everyone is. I hope there isn't some tragic backstory or redemption arc for Boston. I love that he is such an asshole. No excuses.)

You Are Mine (This is a straight up 霸道總裁 (bossy CEO) cdrama. 😅 I'm generally not a fan of this genre but I'm willing to watch a few more episodes to see if I'll enjoy this series.)

Under the Skin (I always have a non-romance series ready for when I need a break from all the slo-mo eye contact and slip and catches. I like the crime/mystery genre and also love Tan Jianci.)

Call Me By Fire S3 (I love me my variety shows. This season hasn't been as good as the last seasons even though Jordan Chan is finally not in S3 for which I am eternally grateful. Jeff Satur has been great through!)

Currently Reading:

Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez I randomly saw this book at the 99 cent store and figured that for a $1, I'd give it a try.

Current Obsession:

Still obsessed with Stay With Me. How can I stop being obsessed when they released this behind the scenes from their photoshoot? Praying these pictures are going to be in the photobook. And then there's Binjiong sending me down the delulu rabbit hole with their posts. Both have new dramas out already but we have Jiongmin still promoting his SWM cp by posting a video of him and Xu Bin in the middle of the night and then deleting it right after. 🤡🤡🤡

Tagging: @victooooorious, @vickyawesome99, @vegassimp, @brazilian-whalien52, @ueasking, @lfcwifenspice, @benkaaoi, @bluespring864, @alphapackfeels As usual, feel free to ignore

#tag game #stay with me #stay with me the series #i feel you linger in the air #dangerous romance #only friends #love in translation

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absolutebl · 2 years

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So I finally got off your Tumblr and proceeded to watch...Love by Chance again. Instead of any of the other 181 things (literally) I have bookmarked 🙃. But now I have a few random questions you might be able to answer.

1. Is Ikea popular in Thailand? I saw a lot of their stuff in the show. Including a little drawer unit...with the drawers upside down.

2. Is wrist grabbing the Asian equivalent of hand grabbing? It seems intentionally less intimate, but then there's close up shots that make it seem like it IS supposed to make your heart flutter. But...characters also sometimes hold hands, so why not just do that?

3. Do Tin or Can have a lisp? I noticed a few times it sounded like they did, which normally I would assume was just, you know, a word in a language I don't understand, except that I never noticed it in any other characters.

4. Not a question, but as I rewatched I thought multiple times "wow, thank goodness the characters point out when someone's blushing, because everybody just looks pale AF" Except beautiful Ae and his "dark" skin. Again, glad I had people to point out how short, dark, and ugly he is supposed to be, and Pond to point out his own hotness, cos I don't see any of that.

5. Do you know of any websites that find where to buy items from shows? I tried looking into Ae's little tote that could, but all it seems anyone ever found was a brand name but not where to find it. I thought of this also because I really like Payu's thick thin cross necklace in live in the air and was thinking of making one, but while I can jewelry a little I can't sew.

6. Last thing. Sorry there's so much! AePete are OBVIOUSLY the world's Best Boys, but I also really like TinCan...it hurts a little bit how bad their kisses are, especially because in the book Can is EXTREMELY enthusiastic about sex and kissing once they get around to it. But anyway, @heretherebedork once did an amazing analysis of Can as autistic (powerpoint included!), what do you think of that interpretation?

I do it too, no worries. So many thing to watch... instead I rewatch an old favorite.

It's like ordering your favorite dish at that one place. I mean there are obviously other good dishes but... I LIKE THIS ONE.

1. Is Ikea popular in Thailand?

Ikea is like noodles, everyone has a version, everyone likes it, everyone consumes more of it than we like to admit.

2. Is wrist grabbing the Asian equivalent of hand grabbing?

I think the western world equivalent would actually be the gentle friendship push/shove. Maybe the arm sling and drag (ah la Win). I’m sure there’s something in there about the difference between collectivistic culture (coaxing, pulling) versus individualistic (push forward alone and in front of you) but I’m not gonna speculate.

3. Do Tin or Can have a lisp?

I can’t remember and I refuse to rewatch. Sorry. I always skipped them even in LBC 1.

4. Not a question, but as I rewatched I thought multiple times "wow, thank goodness the characters point out when someone's blushing, because everybody just looks pale AF" Except beautiful Ae and his "dark" skin. Again, glad I had people to point out how short, dark, and ugly he is supposed to be, and Pond to point out his own hotness, cos I don't see any of that.

Notice this in dramas more. Okay? Darker skinned characters are often referred to as “ugly” or simply depicted playing poor, criminal, rough, evil, and homeless characters. It’s extremely insidious and endemic in Asian dramas, yes all of them, but it is not restricted to Asian film industries.

It is a serious casting problem and criminally negligent on the part of casting directors. It makes me SO ANGRY.

In many Cdramas and Kdramas you can pick which tall dude is gonna win the baby-girl but how white his flipping skin is.

And we aren’t gonna talk about the treatment that some of the *slightly* more tan Kpop idols go through, let alone the ones from southern Asian countries.

Of course the Dutch, the Brits, the French, and the Americans are largely to blame (not to mention Christian proselytism), but never forget that China and Japan were also colonialist imperial empires with very decided standards of beauty. Conquerors love to define what is beautiful for the subjugated and usually it’s the opposite appearance to the bulk of the population. Because the the bulk of most populations are tanner or darker skinned (especially prior to industrial revolutions) because in nomadic, agrarian, pastoral, and agro-pastoral societies they are working outside. Hey, so it’s ALSO a class issue. AND since this kind of whiteness could only really be afforded by the wealthy, particularly it was a marker of being able to keep your females trapped inside 24/7. So guess what? It’s also a feminist issue.

Should we talk about the South Thailand insurgency and how anti muslim and Malay sentiment is a contributing factor in Thailand in particular? What you thought the Thai military conscription program was for shits and giggles?

All pop culture mediums (especially the visual ones) are political whether they like it our not. Whether we like it or not. Even our stupid little corner of romancelandia.

5. Do you know of any websites that find where to buy items from shows?

Nope. I don’t collect crap. I can pack everything I own into a pickup truck and I like it that way. Might be a phobia.

6. AePete are OBVIOUSLY the world's Best Boys,

OBVIOUSLY

but I also really like TinCan...it hurts a little bit how bad their kisses are, especially because in the book Can is EXTREMELY enthusiastic about sex and kissing once they get around to it.

That’s nice to know, but yeah. Actor bad chemistry. I think it’s why I responded so poorly to them as a pair.

But anyway, @heretherebedork once did an amazing analysis of Can as autistic (powerpoint included!), what do you think of that interpretation?

I like it. I like everything HTBD does. Not sure I would’ve interpreted him that way in LBC1 alone (I might go with ADD), but that doesn’t matter. The point of entertainment is how it makes you feel, so 50% (if not more) is the interpretation you bring to it based on your own life experiences. I don’t bring much of a neurodivergent perspective to my watching life. I need to have these kind of reps pointed out to me. But that doesn’t impact its validity as a read on what’s presented and HTBD knows what they are talking about.