#given that i don't watch a lot of xianxia

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Shui Long Yin 《水龙吟》 - What we know so far about this massive project

By now many of you have heard about Shui Long Yin 《水龙吟》, Luo Yunxi's upcoming and third project with the studio behind Till the End of the Moon. Here's my read on the announcement earlier.

1. Good news - It's going to be largely the same creative team behind TTEOTM. 

You have Wang Yirong as Lead Producer & Artistic Director, Huang Wei as Costume Designer, Wang Haiqi as Action Director, Tsang Mingfai as Makeup Director, Huatian for World Concept (also known for Ashes of Love and the Untamed). Basically, we'll see the return of the brilliant minds behind the Dunhuang-inspired costumes and hour-long epic fight sequences.

It's a good sign they're holding most of the team together. A lot of great directors, like Christopher Nolan, Tim Burton, David Cronenberg, work with the same creative talent over and over again. There's certainly an argument that you produce better work when you collaborate with people you trust and know well.

2. Up and coming Director Chen Zhoufei will make up some of the deficiencies of TTEOTM in the cinematography and lighting departments.

Chen Zhoufei started out as a cinematographer in films with the likes of Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. More recently he directed The Forbidden Flower (2023) and Double Tap (2021), which, if nothing else, is beautifully and stylistically shot.

It's interesting they've moved away from the old school Hong Kong directors they used in Immortality and TTEOTM. Directors from the TVB system are known to be more experienced, scrappy, and reliable when it comes to working within budget (which is why they're favored for big xianxia productions), but they've also been criticized for falling behind on technical execution and artistry.

It is as the industry article I shared predicted - Otters Studio is a relatively inexperienced player, but they can quickly close their gaps by bringing new blood to the team.

3. They're bringing a new Art Director, Zheng Chen from Lost You Forever.

This isn't all that surprising given that Luan Hexin, TTEOTM's Art Director, is with Huanyu, Bai Lu's management company. (In fact there was a bit of real life drama when Yu Zheng, Bai Lu's boss, publicly called out TTEOTM's producer for not refuting false rumors that Bai Lu was only cast because the production wanted Luan Hexin, arguably Huanyu's biggest asset, as part of her "dowry".) Now it's sad to see award-winning Luan go, but he is best for authentic period sets and IMO not the most suited for xianxias.

Instead, they've tapped Zheng Chen, who most recently worked on Lost You Forever, which I have yet to watch. With that said, some of the sets look great to me, with bold use of colors, and I can already see this pairing well with Chen Zhoufei's aesthetics.

4. This time they're not working with screenwriter He Fang, instead going with Lin Conghe (unofficial)

He Fang is the lead screenwriter behind TTEOTM and Immortality (everyone who's read Immortality's screenplay will know it's all but a guaranteed hit) and in my opinion one of Otter's greatest assets. She's brilliant at staying loyal to the spiritual core of source novels, while weaving convoluted plot points through a more robust background story and logic.

It's a slight disappointment that she won't be back, but it's also not entirely surprising. TTEOTM and Immortality are both big, female-oriented fantasy romance IPs. Meanwhile Shui Long Yin's IP is quite dated, lesser known, and incomplete, so I'd expect that the drama will only be loosely based on the original. While we don't know much about Lin Conghe, he did recently work on the Blood of Youth sequel, where he was the lead screenwriter alongside author Zhou Munan, so he might actually be a better choice for this genre (xuanhuan wuxia).

5. The way HunanTV & Mango announced the drama is unusually high profile, indicating that this is one of the platform's biggest projects.

It's rare to have one of China's biggest hosts announce a new drama that hasn't even started shooting or released any details yet live on prime time TV. (Usually a drama's official announcement comes out on the day of its booting ceremony, if not during its production or at its wrap ceremony.) It's even rarer for a costume drama to announce a TV platform at this stage. These days it's quite difficult for costume fantasies to get a coveted TV airing slot given genre restrictions and additional censorship requirements. Typically you do not find out officially whether it will air on TV until literally right before it airs.

Before the official announcement, rumors have already been circulating that there's a bidding war behind the scenes for this project, with Mango and its parent HunanTV outbidding Youku in the end. Mango/HunanTV is already the market leader in variety shows, but is behind the other three platforms in scripted content. Apparently, they've recently received an injection of funding to shore up their drama department and now investing in tentpole projects that can help them gain share. Clearly they saw what TTEOTM did for Youku.

6. There's another interesting player in the mix: China Mobile and its subsidiary Migu. 

It appears that China Mobile (one of the most valuable companies in China and a state-owned enterprise) has invested in the drama, which will be made available on its online video platforms. Apparently, the last time China Mobile invested in a drama, they sent text messages to every user to publicize it when it aired. Now not sure if this will happen (it's not patriotic drama after all), but they've already been promoting the drama through their gazillion affiliate social media accounts. Either way, it should be a good thing for the drama's distribution to have such an influential backer given Mango's lower daily active user.

7. They're making it super clear that Luo Yunxi is going to be the dominant male lead in this drama

In the first Weibo post, they only announced the title, Luo Yunxi, and the airing platforms. In the second Weibo post, where they announced the rest of the creative team, they still did not announce the other actors! Of course, this is likely because Luo Yunxi's company (which is really just him) bought the source novel's IP and is credited as a co-producer. (They don’t have any production capabilities at all, so Otter will likely be quarterbacking this.)

This suggests, like many who have read the novel already know, that Luo Yunxi will have by far the biggest part. The other roles, including the female lead role, will likely be smaller and revolve around the main character.

8. Shui Long Yin is already generating a lot of hype.

To date its Weibo announcement racked up >1M likes (more than double that of TTEOTM). There's already a very active Douban group debating all the rumors, most importantly whether Luo Yunxi will use a wig or his real hair (a highly divisive topic). The new drama has even been reported by China Daily, China's state media facing the international community, which is again exceedingly rare. China Daily doesn't usually report on entertainment news, and most hit shows don't get mentioned even after airing.

There's always a big risk with productions with this much anticipation so early in the process, from fan wars and disruptive stalking on set to accusations propagated by competitors that can invite more state scrutiny. Fingers crossed that the team knows what they're doing and can weather all the storms that will undoubtedly come its way.

9. Finally, I remain cautiously excited.

Production quality will likely be great, with such a strong creative team and financial backers with deep wallets. My main worry is that it'll be beautiful, but boring. For this genre (xuanhuan wuxia or basically wuxia with high fantasy elements), it's really important that the story moves fast and the underdog hero keeps outsmarting or outfighting everyone else in a way that gives viewers a sense of exhilaration. It'd be all too easy for the story to get bogged down by a large cast of unmemorable characters and a meandering plot. Otters Studio is usually great at delivering fast-paced high drama (just based on TTEOTM and the screenplay of Immortality), but they're working with a different screenwriter this time and it's not easy to be a consistent hit maker. Let's hope they stick to their intuition and continue to present stories and characters that excite viewers.

#luo yunxi #till the end of the moon #cdrama #black moonlight holds the be script #tteotm #chinese drama #shui long yin #otters studio

[tc-doherty]

Hi! Happy STS!

Where did you get the original inspiration for your WIP? 

--Joy (@italiangothicwriteblr)

@italiangothicwriteblr

Hello, hello! Here is a verbatim representation of why I wrote Dragon's Daughter:

Me: man, I would really be on my bullshit if I wrote a knight/dragon romance

My roommate: do it

Me: okay

And then I wrote Dragon's Daughter! I did think it would be mildly interesting to play on the Princess In A Tower trope (I do that a lot, actually) but I rarely plan my books so I didn't go into it with some grand idea of what the story was going to be.

As for my other books…

The Ghost, Magic Black as Knight, Northbound, and Untitled 7 were all dreams that I had that I thought were cool.

Coyote Song was "I want to write a story about storytelling" mixed with "I want to write an animal story" and became the most pretentious thing that I've ever written. I still like it.

The Deadlands and Untitled 3 were based on things that I watched but which made me say "I could do it better"

The Desert of Claw and Fang was inspired by something that I read and I thought was kind of interesting, it doesn't really have anything in common with the original inspiration other than someone being given a prophecy about themselves and choosing to take the less easy option.

The Gryphon of Sirray is originally based on a plotline that my roommate (the same one as above) and I wrote out loud together while walking a million times on the track because she was preparing for a 5K or something. But I'm the one who wrote the book, and by this point it's not really recognizable from the original.

Hoofbeats is because I wanted to write about horses and was also partially inspired by my friend Ryan who gave me a lot of ideas for it but also said that he would never read it because he doesn't like horses LMAO it's still dedicated to him

The Huntress of Anihwen, Temitope, and Untitled 5 are based on existing fairytales and mythology. You could probably also put The Swan Husband in here but my rationale for that one was "I want to write gender shenanigans" mixed with "what about a less loved sibling having to take the place of their more loved sibling for reasons" and that was the plot I came up with for it.

Into the Witch's Wood and The Thief Queen are both actually stories that I sat down and planned out, I don't remember why.

Laero was inspired by Redwall!

Miracles… I honestly don't remember how I came up with the original idea for this one. It wasn't even that long ago LOL I just don't remember.

The Race of the Midday Moon was inspired by Call of the Wild and other dog sledding stories that I've loved since I was a kid!

Second Chances and Silverwood are both really old but predominantly got a lot of their defining features because I used them as cathartic stories and alternatives to self-harm when I was really, really depressed. Silverwood changed a lot because a lot of my friends got involved with it but Second Chances is still very personal to me. I actually never let anybody read it until just like 2 or 3 years ago.

Untitled 1 is based on an RP from middle school.

Untitled 2 is inspired by xianxia novels and shonen manga.

Untitled 4 is based on murder mysteries!

#writeblr #storyteller saturday #thanks!! #my stories

[movielosophy]

Miss The Dragon | Blue Swallow seduced Lonely Star causing dereliction of his duty. Lonely Star should be punished with the Heavenly Thunders. From now on, you can’t be together.

#instead of looking for the thief they waste time pushing the blame #this part of heavenly realm pov is not nice #but it seems like natural because it's also like this in love and redemption #given that i don't watch a lot of xianxia #i can only relate to LAR #miss the dragon #cdrama #deng wei #character: lonely star #character: xue qian xun #aesthetics #red

[olderthannetfic]

I think we really need to iron out the "listen to minorities" thing. When you listen to someone, you're usually allowed to agree or disagree, but the argument is that you have to agree with minorities because they have the lived experience you don't and your bias doesn't allow you to actually listen to them before dismissing their opinion, so you have to stay quiet, listen and say "I'm sorry I was stupid and thank you for educating me."

and I'm not even kidding, I've seen this happen in spaces that were trying to be inclusive, where no one is allowed to disagree with minorities and whatever minorities do is considered acceptable, while some unbelievable things are considered offensive and it's like impossible to exist in those spaces.

on the other hand I've been in spaces that shut minorities down with "minorities are not monolith so you're of course wrong."

I'm actually confused about what we need to do in fandom spaces. depending on your circle either of the above could happen to you and I have tried to keep a middle ground and have had no success.

--

I mean... the first step is to not treat it like showing up to a trade negotiation with a foreign power.

I care what my friends from Asia think about Americans in c-drama fandoms. I care what my Chinese American friends think about n00bs' hot takes and which of the 9944452624 adaptations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms their drama-addict moms think are definitive.

I sincerely do not give a fuck about some rando trying to school me on cultural appropriation in ways where I can tell we fundamentally disagree about what the concept is and is for.

The main problem here is that a lot of insecure white people have no nonwhite friends offline and assume this is true online as well. (It probably isn't. You probably know plenty of people on here.)

Honestly, I think fandom is often a piss poor place for serious, unpleasant education. A lot of people will absorb that better if you send them off to read something or watch a documentary and absorb it and integrate it into their world view on their own.

You know what fandom is good for? The kind of "education" that consists of pimping people into the thing you're obsessed with. I have read a lot of xianxia explainers by Asian fans over the last year and a half, and they have been bursting with fannish joy and very educational for my n00b ass. Win, win.

A lot of the complaints about fandom as an unwelcoming space are over characters and media not being popular or a given character being treated poorly in the background of a fic. (Please, guys, stop the thing where the white couple are the AU dogwalkers and the characters of color are the dogs. Why would you do this???)

How about everyone who's concerned about doing their bit goes and reads some pimp posts about diverse media and checks out some new canons? That will do a hell of a lot more to support your fellow nerds in a normal member-of-the-community way rather than a diversity-speaker-brought-from-outside way.

[eurydsea]

Mirror: A Tale of Twin Cities [Episode 5] Also, I'm Dropping it.

A lot went down in this episode yet I felt absolutely nothing as I watched it all play out on screen. I know these seemingly, hefty scenes were supposed to make me emotional (at least, that's what the director was going for) but I don't know these characters or their world well enough to be invested in anything that happens for it to pack a punch. Like, from the first episode to now, we've been given no foundation or buildup to the story. Just these maddeningly random sequences that make no sense to the narrative when combined as a whole.

For instance, we get scenes like:

The princess' Chastity Stamp becomes null and void but not for the reasons one would expect. Apparently, it's a purity detector for unladylike thoughts not pertaining to her betrothed. And here I was, thinking it was some weird Xianxia take on a Chastity Belt to keep the boys away from her virginal body. But what amuses me to no end about all of this is how she literally entertains the idea of eloping with Su Mo for a few seconds when the Chastity Stamp just...dissolves. Poof. Dust in the wind. If that's all it took to deem her impure, I would've been thrown in harlot jail on day one. Also, equally amusing is the security system equipped with this magical Chastity Stamp. It instantly alerted the Purity Apostle or whatever he is of its corruption and a slew of palace soldiers were on the princess in less time than it takes me to blink. She's then arrested along with Su Mo and they are taken away for Judgment Hour.

The next memorable scene is the Crown Princess flinging herself from the the top of the pagoda because she's now "unpure" and can't inherit earth's power or something and believes she has to die for her next of kin(?) to inherit the power that's needed to become queen. It's absolutely wild and makes no sense but yeah. That's what happens. That's the best answer she could come up with to stop an impeding war and save her family's legacy. Of course, Su Mo is witness to this and he does what any Xianxia hero would do: runs in slow-mo to save the self-sacrificing heroine and helplessly watches as she oh, so slowly plummets to hard ground because he was a few seconds too late. Better luck next time, buddy.

Then we randomly scene cut to Su Mo despairing away in a dungeon as the Crown Prince passionately berates him for lowkey causing the princess' death when all three of these characters got, maybe, 2 scenes together in 5 episodes? Like? Why is the Crown Prince this invested in two people he's only just met? One of which he only become acquainted with a few minutes before she jumped to her death? Why is he guilt tripping a man he doesn't know? Why is he acting like he had any emotional stake in these nonexistent relationships? Why is Su Mo even in a jail cell when he's going to be banished to some other region? It's not like he's going to high tail it out of there. He's too busy hating himself to want to preserve his life. I am confusion but okay...moving on.

Now, here is my favorite scene out of all this tomfoolery. Su Mo has been banished and he's now listlessly wandering through a blizzarding wasteland. Why and to what end? Unclear. My guess would be he's looking for a nice spot to lie down and die in. He manages to find said dying spot and as he's just lying there, ruminating in his despair and regret, his gender-fluid seal disappears, permanently solidifying him as a Real Boy. Apparently, merpeople have this seal on their foreheads that allow them to change genders at will and that ability only goes away when one falls in love with the opposite gender. Thus, bye-bye goes the pride seal. But out of everything I had to suspend disbelief in to carry on watching is the fact that Su Mu didn't turn into a mericle while he roamed the below freezing mountains for God knows how long. Are merpeople immortal? Immune to extreme temperatures? It's a plot hole but one that's minute and weird to fixate on seeing as there's more glaring question marks in the story but here I am.

And now we are on the final part of this post. Fucking finally, am I right? I can prattle on for days, I know. But here we are, if you're still with me:

The last couple of minutes of episode 5 takes place 100 years after everything went to shit and it's just...a lot. It begins with the Crown Princess narrating how she didn't die after jumping from the pagoda and what she's been up too these 100 of years past. Apparently, this magical earth ring flew on her finger before she went caput and it ultimately saved her but put her in a coma for 100 years. Where did this ring come from? Why did it knock her out? No one knows. It just appeared out of thin air to save the day.

The princess then miraculously wakes up from said coma after her 100 year nap and the Crown Prince loses his earth power in a battle against darkness(?) I'm not too clear on that tidbit but then he too, is put into a magical coma. Again, I'm not sure why the coma but yeah. The princess then goes on a quest for his misplaced earth magic to wake him up? At least, I think that's her goal. There are a lot of things I'm not clear on.

As for Su Mo, I'm not 100% sure what he had been up to the all those years but I think he just roamed the snowy mountains in regret? From the little we are shown, he also reluctantly acquaints a band of refugees and a refugee child who has prophetic powers and divines his future which he gets sensitive about because Bai Ying is mentioned. Lord forbid the woman you loved a century ago be brought up in conversation. You know you have it bad when you develop a crush in a week but stay emo about it not working out for 100 years. That's some metal level pining right three. But I digress. So Su Mo, refugee girl, and traveling band of refugees are met with an avalanche and only Su Mo and RG surive it. Neither Su Mo or RG were too concerned with it either. People die and what of it was there take on that. In hindsight, it was an odd scene to include but whatever. Finally, the closing scene is of Su Mo and the princess coincidencely meeting in a forest (how does Su Mo even get from point A to B? I thought he was despairing in the mountains. Did he fly? Can merpeople fly? What am I saying? Ofc he can can fly, it's a Xianxia) when the episode ends.

Finally takes a deep breath.

And that's it, folks.

This pretty much sums up of all the key points from episode 5. Although, I'm left to wonder where the cohesiveness in all of it is. I'm sure had the screenwriter and director planned out a storyboard, these seemingly random segments would make more sense in the grand scheme of things but they obviously didn't and nothing adds up and I'm left highly amused by it all.

Twin Cities by far is the trippiest drama I've seen in recent years and the only way it'd make sense if one's system was pumped with psychedelic drugs.

#a tale of twin cities #mirror: tale of twin cities #mirror a tale of twin cities #cdrama

[littorella]

Alli :') I love your MDZS art so much, but I still couldn't dive into it. Also, there is so much content that I'm kind of overwhelmed and don't know where to start. Also I thought, would you maybe like to talk a bit about MDZS for your followers who're not familiar with it (outside of your art of course). Lots of love ♥♥♥

Thank you for your ask, Emma! It is Jin Guangyao’s birthday!

You have to love a story where the big bad is a guy who wears a hat just so he’s not the shortest one in the room :D

Jokes aside though, MDZS can be difficult to get into for those unfamiliar with the chinese xianxia (magical martial arts) genre because of the terms and many character names. Most start with the donghua, but it’s the least faithful to the novel and suffers from poor rearrangement of the story’s present/flashback integration. I would suggest newbies start with the manhua first, then read the novel, then the audio drama (probably the best adaptation), then watch the donghua just for the giggles. You can find it all at exiledrebels.

What makes MDZS a wonderful story is that it is truly an epic–the scope of its themes and emotional territory is massive. Fundamentally it’s about love and forgiveness, both what happens when people are given those things (Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji) and what happens when they are not (Jiang Cheng, Jin Guangyao). 

But it also has an underlying thread about choice and the journey to overcome circumstances we find ourselves trapped by–especially problems we inherit from family. In the words of Lan Wangji’s audiodrama voice actor, MDZS is great because it contains the themes from all four classic chinese novels:

Romance of three kingdoms - war, revenge, political unrest

Journey to west - traveling quest, self-improvement, penance for past bad deeds

Dream of the red chamber - unrequited love, familial duty v. romance

Water Margin - heroism and chivalry, corruption

Let’s not forget it has the greatest public love confession of all time.

#e-de-mimsy #MDZS #Mo dao zu shi #jin guangyao #i can go on forever you know #asks