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welcometothejianghu · 9 months

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Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 成化十四年/The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty

(The) Sleuth of (the) Ming Dynasty (it's hard to get an agreement on how many definite articles should go where) is a beautiful, high-budget 2020 drama about a weenie genius detective, his long-suffering and deeply traumatized sugar daddy, and the eunuch with the most difficult job in the Great Ming: keeping these two dumbasses from getting their fool selves imperially executed.

Depending on how you like it, it's either an OT3 or an OTP with an intense, underage third wheel, and either way, it's delightful. I wouldn't call it a comedy, but it has very many funny elements that keep the drama fun and engaging. The first half is full of shorter mysteries that are clever and thoughtfully plotted, and the second half goes in on the longer mystery that ties them all together.

I've already done my quick guide to the early-episode characters, if you want a taste of just how many people are running around and how wonderful they all are. But in case you want to know a little bit more before you commit yourself to a 48-episode series, here's five reasons I think you should watch it!

1. The whole thing smacks of gender

Yeah, this was originally going to be selling point #2, but I know what the people want.

This is not a show about gender. But boy it is a show that has a lot to say about gender, and not just by way of critiquing premodern Chinese gender roles (though it does do that!). Many of the cis characters are either a) somewhat gender nonconforming, b) canny enough to weaponize binary gender expectations, or c) both. Sui Zhou's entire third-act storyline is about how expectations of masculinity exacerbate PTSD in veterans. Three different AFAB characters either dress or live as men. The part where one of the male characters goes undercover in drag is played for laughs, but the joke isn't 'ha ha, a boy in a dress,' it's 'ha ha, this particular boy in a particular dress, and also he's terrible at it.'

And that's even before we get to the eunuchs.

There are several professionally dickless, permanently unmanned characters running around. One-third of the OT3 canonically had his external genitalia nonconsensually removed when he was five years old, and because of this, he has been given unimaginable authority. He's basically the second most powerful man in the entire empire, and he only gets that way by being unquestionably, ostentatiously, and genuinely submissive to the first most powerful man.

I have seen other Chinese media where eunuchs are treated like sinister clowns, good only to be the bad guys and the butts of jokes. Sleuth's main eunuchs are real and complex characters, and because of this, the show gets to explore what it is to live in this weird third-gender category of incredible power and powerlessness.

Now, don't go into this expecting woke gender treatises. Wang Zhi's never going to sit down and go, "You know, my friend and fellow eunuch Ding Rong, because of my lack of a penis, I understand my relationship to masculinity differently than other men do." But the show understands that even if he doesn't say it, it's true. And that makes a lot of the characters and their relationships just so much more interesting.

2. Uncle Jackie Money

Sleuth was the was the fourth c-drama I dove into, following the Untamed, Word of Honor, and Guardian -- or, Some Money BL, Less Money BL, and No Money BL. So imagine my absolute wall-eyed shock to find this was All The Money BL, courtesy of its executive producer, Jackie Chan (seen here with some of his handsome boys):

Sleuth looks good. The costumes are amazing. The sets are stunning. The cinematography is beautiful. Everything is so detailed, and while I can't speak to the absolute historical accuracy of all those details (see point 3), they're still gorgeous. In fact, you know what? I'm going to shut up and show you some of the promotional images.

(For actual screenshots, I'm just going to point you at @rongzhi's tsomd photoset tag, as they have done a tremendous service to the fan community -- though do beware of spoilers.)

Uncle Jackie's influence doesn't end with the money, though. Even though things get a bit goofy and wirework-y near the end, most of the drama's fights are shows of real martial arts skill. You can see his fingerprints on a lot of the choreography -- I'm thinking particularly of the time Tang Fan tries (and fails!) to stab Sui Zhou three times, which is pure Jackie Chan high-speed dexterity.

Add this one to the category of shows your Average American Television Enjoyer Who Can Handle Subtitles would like. In fact, I have shown the first episode to my normie father-in-law, who was impressed. Show it to your dad! See if he picks up on the gay!

3. I am from ... HISTORY!

The Chinese title translates to "The 14th Year of Chenghua," which works out to the year 1478. There are some clear anachronisms, but they tend to be played for comedy, so it's hard to hold that against them. On the whole, though, the show is trying real hard to evoke a very specific moment, and I feel it does so beautifully.

This does, however, mean that several of the characters are real people. I don't even have a good sense of how many of them are based on historical figures, that's how many. Hilariously, Wang Zhi's tag on AO3 used to read "Wang Zhi (?-1487 CE)."

Moreover, these are characters I've seen pop up in other media, played very differently! In particular, Noble Consort (up there in blue) tends to be written as an uncomplicated villain elsewhere, whereas Sleuth gives her a chance to add some goodness to her badness, until, damn, you can't but root for the bitch. (It also downplays the cradle-robbing, which, honestly, is for the best.)

You may have guessed from the eunuch section earlier, but it bears repeating: Wang Zhi is straight-up the best character in the show. He's smart as hell, and he has to be, because the second he's stupid, he's dead. I actually consider it helpful to know ahead of time that he's never going to do a heel turn -- I feel like on my first watchthrough, I was holding my breath for the first two-thirds of the show, waiting for his sudden but inevitable betrayal. It does not come. Wang Zhi is one of the heroes.

He's also, like, evil. He orders people flogged, tortured, and executed. The very first thing you see him doing is sinister as hell. And the show clearly doesn't think this is good, but it also doesn't judge him for it. He's a traumatized seventeen-year-old who has not had a normal moment of his entire life. He's working thanklessly for a boss who could kill him on a whim -- and he's doing it because he literally, physically was made for his job. He's mildly freaking out because he has no emotional grounding to help him understand that these weirdos want to be his friends.

Was the real Wang Zhi like this? That's beside the point. The point is, you get to see how someone in that position could wind up as the war-crimes-committing platonic ideal of a little meow meow.

4. oh my god the food

Warning: This show will make you hungry.

Again, beware of spoilers, but @peppersandcreamsicle and @qinzai have put together an entire cook-along Google Doc so you don't just have to drool -- you can do something about it! Or you can just read it and learn about Chinese cuisine, which is a little more my speed.

But it's not just about how good the food looks. Food is a vital emotional part of the series. People bond over it. They make and share it as a sign of love and care. It indicates status, ethnicity, interest, personality. The show's message about the healing power of cooking for the people you love will bring you to tears.

And yes, Sui Zhou is the main one doing the cooking, so get ready to drool over both the dishes and the handsome man preparing them.

Oh, and as though that weren't enough, Fu Meng Po can actually cook in real life. He's so dreamy. Absolute unreal handsome man with a devastatingly sexy voice. (I know my opinion might be different if I could hear his Taiwanese accent, but I can't so it's not!)

5. An Unsunk Ship

So like I said, my intros to c-drama couples had been WangXian, WenZhou, and WeiLan. That meant I'd basically come to terms with the idea that you can't have a main couple in a BL-but-not-really drama without splitting them up at least a little in the end, for no-homo plausible deniability reasons.

Tang Fan and Sui Zhou are still definitvely, unequivocally together when the story ends, as the iconic pentultimate scene of the series confirms with beauty and simplicity. I refuse to give any more details than that, but that ship's afloat.

(These shirtless pictures aren't from the end, but I wanted to include them, and I didn't have a better place to do it. ...Also, you know, ships and water? Yeah?)

And I think their winding up together reflects Sleuth's entire attitude. Tang Fan is made of sunshine, and the series loves him for it. There is tragedy aplenty in this show, but there's no misery. It is ultimately a hopeful show that believes in the power of second chances, if you're willing to take them. Time and again, the moral of the story is that you are only ever as good as the people who have your back -- but you have to be willing to let them have your back. Let people help you. Let people cook for you. Let people give you a reason to keep living. And then keep living.

Also, Sui Zhou gets two good kabedons off on that little twink, which means they're legally married now. I don't make the rules.

Bonus: Banger opening theme

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This is one you will watch all 48 times.

Bonus #2: The Halo Video

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This is the video that made me go, huh, these Sleuth boys seem like other boys I've enjoyed! Perhaps I shall enjoy them as well! And then I did. So if that might be convincing to you too, well, have at it. Even if it isn't, it's a fascinating three-minute study of shared those-boys-are-in-love visual language across these shows.

Fair warning that it contains shots from right up to the end, so if you'd rather go in completely blank, give this one a pass until later. (Excuse me while I now go watch it for the 10000th time.)

Have I convinced you to watch it yet?

It originally ran on iQiyi, though Viki's got it as well, and Viki's is free if you're willing to put up with some ads about it.

...I just noticed iQiyi's description of the series reads, "When the two handsome leading actors Darren Wang and Fu Meng-Po work together, what will happen? A lovely prefectural judge and an arrogant embroiered [sic] uniform guard join hands to crack unusual cases! Are you going to choose a new idol?" And you know what? Yes. The details are a little off, but that is the correct spirit. Thank you, thirsty blurb.

#sleuth of the ming dynasty #the sleuth of ming dynasty #tsomd #成化十四年 #sloof #i made this #rec post

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jianghootinandhollerin · 1 year

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Hello, here is a Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty fic that I started so goddamn long ago and am so happy to have finished! It's Sui Zhou/Wang Zhi (established suitang and OT3 in the bg), it's a lot of exploring of the body of a very masculine man by a guy who got his dick and balls cut off as a child. With sexy results!!!!

#sleuth of the ming dynasty #wangsui #is that literally even a pairing name this one's a rare one #wang zhi #sui zhou #my fic

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bookgeekgrrl · 6 months

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My media this week (22-28 Oct 2023)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🙂 The Golden Spoon (Jessa Maxwell, author; full voice cast narration) - a perfectly cromulent book: totally predictable to anyone who's read more than 1 mystery but still entertaining in both characters and plot. Gerald, my autistic king, you were definitely my fave. [I did like the idea of having a different voice narrator for each character, since the chapter POVs switch, but the narrator for Stella sounded like the Tiktok automated voice about 90% of the time. I could tell I was going to get annoyed with that & with the way audio draws things out when I can read text so much faster and it became clear the plot was going to be so predictable, so I switched over to reading text ~35%.]

🙂 The Sleeping Beauty Curse (who_la_hoop) - 152K, drarry, accidental soulbond

😍 i come back to the place you are (pizzabones) - 211K, steddie canon-divergent post s4, extremely satisfying slow burn, loved the dual POV structure with eddie in a coma for the first 10 months the fic covers

💖💖 +79K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

soldier keep on marching on (waiting on that morning sun) (songofswiftsunrise) - LOTR: gen, 4k - lovely 'Boromir Lives' AU, inspired by emily martin's incredible art

Pursued by Bear (Zenaidamacrouras1) - MCU: shrunkyclunks, 19K - reread, forever fave, inspired by that tweet about the UFC & Shakespeare conventions occurring in the same hotel

A Tricky Bit of Spellwork (AidaRonan) - OFMD: gen, 1K - legit the only way I'll accept Izzy not being dead is this

Ready for Love (idiopathicsmile) - Singin' in the Rain: Cosmo/Don/Kathy, 13K - the Singin' in the Rain OT3 fic I didn't know I needed

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Mock The Week - s21, e2

The Graham Norton Show - s31, e3 (Laura Linney, Dawn French, London Hughes and Adrian Edmondson)

Taskmaster - s16, e5

QI - series J, ep 12; series T, ep 1-2, 4

Shakespeare & Hathaway - s1, e1

Murdoch Mysteries - s15, e18-24; s16, e1-5

Dirty Laundry - s3, e4

D20: Burrow's End - "Last Bast" (s20, e4)

D20: Adventuring Party - "The Bast of Us" (s15, e4)

Our Flag Means Death - s2, e8

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

⭐ Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford - Oil and Blood: The Osage Murders

Shedunnit - Spooky Sleuthing

Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Pals - Teaser 11: Shirley Jackson

⭐ Decoder Ring - The Fast Decline of the Slow Dance

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame

⭐ Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - Auto-Tone

⭐ Song Exploder - Kesha "Eat The Acid"

⭐ Hit Parade - This Ain’t No Party?! Edition

Re: Dracula - October 24: Not Yet Reported

Into It - Britney Was Always Trying to Tell Us Who She Was

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Venturing Into the Twilight Zone with Susan Casey

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Frasier

Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Pals - Teaser 12: Bram Stoker

Ed Zitron's 15 Minutes In Hell - Episode 12 - Kari Byron

Simply Reflecting - Are We Back?

Re: Dracula - October 25: To His Doom

Vibe Check - I Put A Spell On You

Shedunnit - Bonus: A Haunting in Venice Review

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Great Plains Dinosaur Museum

⭐ Decoder Ring - When Art Pranksters Invaded Melrose Place

Switched on Pop - Chartbreakers: Mitski tops the TikTok chart

⭐ Today, Explained - Why does the US always side with Israel?

Ologies with Alie Ward - Teratology (MONSTERS) with W. Scott Poole

Re: Dracula - October 26: Continue Our Watching

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Art of the Heist with Noah Charney

99% Invisible #557 - Model Village

Off Menu - Ep 211: Steve Coogan

Into It - We Will Never Recover From What Justin Did to Britney or: the End of 'Into It'

Dear Prudence - I’m Making Bitchy Comments to A Dog! Help!

What Next: TBD - Self-Driving Cars Crash Into Reality

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Naked Attraction And What's Making Us Happy

Endless Thread - Endless Dread: Campfire Chills

Re: Dracula - October 28: Awful Straits

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford - Killers of the Flower Moon: Osage Chief Jim Gray In Conversation

Overinvested - Ep. 287: The Exorcist

Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! - Bernie Taupin

Hit Parade - The Bridge: Down at the Rock n’ Roll Club

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Land (1975-2002) [Patti Smith] {2002}

Presenting Talking Heads

Presenting Blondie

Mania [Ramones] {1988}

Nightmare City Punk

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olderthannetfic · 1 year

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Sorry if you already talked about it earlier and I just missed it but I would like to hear more about the eunuch OT3 👀👀👀

Oh, it was a Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty fic. It's on AO3 here.

Canonically, Tang Fan writes ridiculous romance novels for which we see him doing the voices. Fandom generally has him also writing gay ones and hilariously embarrassing porn. Sui Zhou is his canon love interest who never finds out about his writing in the show. Wang Zhi is the wily head of the secret police who seems to be obsessed with him and is a fan of his books.

TBH, I would have liked Sleuth better if I'd thought Tang Fan were physically hotter and/or actually a nice and good person, but I adored Wang Zhi, and the show was very good to me towards the end.

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miks-fantrolls · 2 years

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do brusli?

B A S I C S

full name: BRUSLI SKREON

gender: female for now

sexuality: homosexual

pronouns: she/her for now

O T H E R S

family:

PENDIC SKREON (podtwin) - canon

THESUN & NEMESI SKREON (dancestors) - extracanon(?) THE HARLEQUIN (ancestor(s)) - extracanon(?)

-> unfinished concept art of THE HARLEQUIN

birthplace: brooding caverns like usual

job: wannabe detective taking personal cases of her own

phobias: i would say she's afraid of losing her loved ones and being isolated, but she's ultimately accepted what she believes will be the end of her life very soon. in less deep terms, she has a mixed relationship with thunderstorms. the lightning and thunder are really cool for dramatic detective effects, but they're also loud and sudden and scary. shes also generally socially anxious.

guilty pleasures: anything she enjoys wearing her detective outfit and playing as an investigator are especially her guilty pleasures

M O R A L S

morality alignment?: neutral good

sins - LUST/greed/gluttony/sloth/pride/ENVY/wrath

virtues - chastity/charity/DILIGENCE/HUMILITY/KINDNESS/patience/JUSTICE

T H I S - O R - T H A T

introvert/extrovert: introvert, although that's not to say that she isn't chatty with people she's close with

organized/disorganized: this bitch has a system for her systems

close minded/open-minded: mostly open-minded. a good sleuth must welcome all possibilities regardless of probability in order to fully assess a situation!

calm/anxious: anxious. very anxious.

···

disagreeable/agreeable: somewhere in the middle. she doesn't contradict others just for the sake of it, but she is passionate about her personal morals and beliefs.

cautious/reckless: depends on what quality you're assessing. in things regarding others, she's totally cautious because she doesnt want to bring harm to anyone else. with herself, she's more willing to be reckless and take risks.

patient/impatient: impatient. say what you have to say or gtfo

outspoken/reserved: again depends on the situation. regular everyday troll society, mostly reserved, given that she doesnt leave her hive very often. when she does it's just when she's going to her & growen's treehouse to isolate herself there. during actual gameplay, she's a bit more outspoken because she's more familiar with the people she's interacting with.

leader/follower: maybe not a typical leader, but she isnt afraid to stray from the beaten path

empathetic/unemphatic: a mixture. she can logically understand why somebody may be upset over something (inciting incident -> action -> consequence), she may not understand the emotional reaction itself or how it drives someone to react the way they do.

optimistic/pessimistic: pessimistic. as far as she knows, she's going to be dead soon.

traditional/modern: her personality and behavior are obviously heavily influenced by growing up in a troll society. she doesnt have a preference for tradition nor modernity, and she doesnt do anything just for the sake of following/rejecting traditions. she follows her own intuition.

hard-working/lazy: very hardworking. emotionally and mentally. more than she thinks.

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

otp: Brusli and Sarlla <3333333333 (<- my brain is infected)

i so many brusli and sarlla drawings but. ALMOST ALL OF IT IS. super nsfw. and not artistically amazing since they were just for my eyes. also lots of human aus. so.

TUMBLR IS STUPID AND ONLY LETS YOU DO 10 IMAGES PER POST BUT

SARLLA AND BRUSLI

SARLLA AND BRUSLI!! they both used to have worse fashion sense (thats lobran in the background)

SARLLA AND BRUSLI!!!!!!! this ones an au where the Game didnt happen also kind of ugly ive only ever sent it to my boyfriend

ot3: sarlla <3 brusli <3 growen of FUCKING course. canonly (eventually) sarlla <3 conrad, conrad <> brusli, brusli <3 growen, growen and conrad are... essentially siblings, and sarlla <3< brusli & growen (vacillation galore) :Dc

also mostly porn BUT

BRUSLI AND GROWEN jesus the height difference i actually had to scale growen down

BRUSLI AND GROWEN as tweens/teens

brotp:

CONRAD AND BRUSLI <><><><><><>

(2nd one by BOYFRIEND @invader-bean

notp:

*shrugging* anything romantic having to do with any of the men cus, yknow, she gay. notp to her & pendic for obvious reasons. uhhh SHRUGS

#YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH FUCKING LOVE I HAVE POURED INTO THIS GIRL FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS #SHE IS THE BLORBOEST OF ALL #i love brusli SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO FUCKING MUCH #i have so much writing of them god special interest adhd autism moments #youve activated my autism card #brusli skreon #sarlla #conrad #lobran #i guess. hes there. in the background. all 6 pixels.#moment of silence for all the people who have post shortening turned off #oh should tag as art #mikart

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skepwith · 3 years

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#wow #the sleuth of the ming dynasty #tsomd #ot3 #fanart #wang zhi must be standing on a box lol

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jianqzai · 3 years

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How can a genius cause so many problems?

#Has this been done before? probably yes but don't care #i love the silent understanding between sui zhou and wang zhi to keep their boyfriend out of trouble #yes i ship them the drama just gave us a lot of ot3 vibes okay #the sleuth of ming dynasty #tang fan #sui zhou #wang zhi #my posts

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biwenqing · 3 years

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Tang Yu's musings about her brother's relationship with Wang Zhi. For day five of Spring Sleuthing for the prompt "thaw" which I also took as the title for this little fic.

General | One-shot | wc: 1601 | ao3 link

Tang Yu often brought Cheng’er over to spend time with his uncle. Uncles really, because Tang Yu had the distinct sense that her brother had found a life partner in Sui Zhou. She liked Sui Zhou a lot and knew he treated her brother and Dong’er very well.

She could see it now as she was sitting with Tang Fan and Cheng’er at the table, eating the lunch Sui Zhou had prepared. Sui Zhou and Dong’er were either still in the kitchen, working on some treats for later, or had gone off to practice self-defense. She had heard Dong’er was making great progress in hand-to-hand fighting.

Tang Fan was helping Cheng’er with some of his school work. Her son was doing so much better with the proper attention and care, and Tang Yu found herself feeling lighter and happier. Tang Fan seemed to be able to understand what worked best for his nephew to learn and Cheng’er had taken quite a liking to him.

Cheng’er had just finished copying a line when they were interrupted as Wang Zhi walked into her brother’s home as if he owned the place. He then sat at the table at Tang Fan’s side, the one not currently occupied by Cheng’er, and put some papers on the table.

Tang Fan made a face at the uninvited guest. “Who let you in?”

“Dong’er,” Wang Zhi rolled his eyes, now helping himself to Tang Fan’s plate. “Will you look at this?”

“Do I have a choice?” Tang Fan said, surprising Tang Yu by not snatching his food back. Instead, he was picking up the papers, sorting through them. “Sorry Cheng’er, we can finish later, if that’s okay?”

Cheng’er nodded vigorously, and Tang Yu knew he was just excited to not have to do any more of his lessons. Just because he was getting better at his lessons, didn’t mean he enjoyed them.

“Carefully clean up okay?” Tang Yu instructed, not rolling her eyes at either of their antics. She could tell her brother’s attention had completely drifted and wouldn’t come back anytime soon.

Her good boy nodded, more subdued this time, and began to carefully put the paper and inks away, carrying the brushes off to be washed.

“You think these murders are related to grain taxes?” Tang Fan was asking Wang Zhi.

Tang Yu decided to linger and watch them, using finishing up her lunch as an excuse. Reaching to grab more vegetables, Tang Yu found Wang Zhi’s chopsticks already there. He moved away, leaving her to grab what she wanted, turning his attention back to Tang Fan as if he never reached anything.

Tang Yu didn’t fully understand Wang Zhi. She knew the kind of person he was, in the sense that all people knew of who those inside of the palace became. Yet for some reason Wang Zhi had been pulled into her brother’s orbit. It increasingly seemed... more than that. Here now, they were in each other’s personal space and seemed to share more touches than necessary.

When she had mentioned it to her Huai, he had shaken his head. “You know your brother would never betray his partner like that! Sui Zhou especially.”

Tang Yu did know that. Her brother had a good and fair heart that just wasn’t made to do something so cruel as cheat. But that didn’t mean she was wrong in her observations. Her point was proven to herself now, as Sui Zhou came into the room, drying his hands on his apron.

Tang Fan spotted him and launched into the deductions he and Wang Zhi had so far. Sui Zhou nodded, coming to lean in between Wang Zhi and Tang Fan. The two were already sitting close, so this only reduced any distance further. Most telling were Sui Zhou’s hands, settling between each of their shoulder blades.

Tang Yu felt that by now she had gotten to know Sui Zhou well and knew he was a man who was rather restrained in his affection. There were certainly other meanings to such affection, but this added with her observations of her brother, Tang Yu was pretty certain what was going on here. Or where things were headed.

Which brought up some questions for her, even if it was not her place. The first maybe should have been “Why Wang Zhi?” but Tang Yu was more concerned about the fact that her brother hadn’t told her what was going on. She assumed the “why him?” question would be answered if her brother actually talked to her about whatever this was.

Wang Zhi apparently felt her gaze, because he glanced up. Even if she didn’t know what to think of him, Tang Yu didn’t want to come in the way of whatever happiness her brother tried to find, so she looked away. Finishing her food, she went about clearing the table. Sui Zhou shot her a thankful smile which she returned, slipping out of the room to leave them to their work.

After doing the dishes she went back to call out to Tang Fan. “I need to go help my husband with a procedure, remember? Can you still watch Cheng’er.”

“Of course!” Tang Fan appeared, smiling. “Though... where do you think he went off to?”

“Probably got distracted in your study,” Tang Yu smiled. They both went to find him, examining some art and trying to copy it. She got to say goodbye once she kissed Cheng’er’s forehead.

[...]

When Tang Yu came back that evening, she was tired but pleased by the work she had been able to do helping Pei Huai. She saved the feeling of having a purpose and the support for that purpose outside of the housework she had been expected to do in her past marriage.

She wandered through the house, looking for where Cheng’er had gotten off too, hopefully with Tang Fan nearby. What she came upon was a scene that made her pause. Trying to be quiet and unseen, she watched.

Apparently, Wang Zhi was still there. He was seated at a little table, Dong’er across from him. They seemed to be playing a game of go. Cheng’er was perched on Wang Zhi’s knee, an arm carefully around his waist so he wouldn’t fall. It seemed as if Wang Zhi and Dong’er were explaining the game to him as they played.

The more she watched them, the more she got it; some of her previous questions were answered. Tang Fan had seen through Wang Zhi in a way she had not, in a way most people wouldn’t.

“He’s good with children.” Sui Zhou’s voice was soft so that those playing go would not hear. He caused Tang Yu to jump, and she turned to give him a surprised look.

“So it would seem...” Tang Yu felt a bit guilty for being caught spying. And that she had been judging Wang Zhi without knowing the truth of the matter.

Sui Zhou didn’t call her out, his focus turning to where she had been watching. Cheng’er let out loud laughter and Tang Yu watched as Wang Zhi made sure her son didn’t topple over in his mirth. Tang Yu glanced at Sui Zhou and saw one of his small, but genuine, smiles.

She bit back the questions she wanted to ask. It wasn’t her business and if it was, she should talk to her brother anyway. She had to smile though when she noticed Sui Zhou caught her once more, and seemed to be laughing at her.

Better than being upset.

“Are you going to stay for dinner?” Sui Zhou asked.

“If it’s not too much trouble. Pei Huai will also join.”

“No trouble,” Sui Zhou nodded, turning to probably go prepare.

“Do you need any help?” she asked, reaching out a hand.

“If you want.”

“Let me just check in with Cheng’er,” she said and turned to enter the room she had been spying into.

The three occupants looked up as she entered. Cheng’er excitedly pointed at the board. “I’m playing go!”

“I can see that,” Tang Yu came over and crouched down to have a better look at the game.

“It’s the only way to beat Dong’er,” Wang Zhi said. “I needed another brilliant mind to help me.”

Cheng’er tipped his head back to smile up at Wang Zhi at the praise.

Dong’er laughed at this, but said, “Cheng’er has started to understand a lot of the rules.”

Tang Yu glanced at the board. She had a feeling that Dong’er was throwing the game so that Cheng’er could win. From her own understanding, it looked like a very strategic loss. “Well I don’t want to bother you, I just wanted to say hi before going to help Sui Zhou.” She met Wang Zhi’s eyes and hoped he understood this was also a check-in to make sure he was fine continuing to entertain the kids. “Everyone good?”

“We need snacks!” Dong’er reported.

“You’ll spoil your appetite before dinner,” Wang Zhi admonished, but rather gently. She stuck her tongue out at him. “We’ll be fine.” This he directed back to Tang Yu and even gave her a tentative smile.

Did she intimidate the feared commander of the Western Depot? The thought brought a smile to her own face and she slipped from the room, calling back, “Be good!”

“We will!” Cheng’er yelled after her.

Tang Yu made her way back through the house, she decided she certainly would accept Wang Zhi into the family her brother collected. She could always welcome another little brother.

For two orphans, she and Tang Fan had a lot of family.

#tang yu #the sleuth of ming dynasty #tang fan #wang zhi #springsleuthing #my fic #sui zhou #dong'er #cheng'er #this is really some family fluff #outside pov look at sleuth ot3 #once more content that i made for me but i hope others like too #a talks #sleuth trio #tang sibs #my headcanon is tang yu gets along fantastically with both sui zhou and wang zhi #so many thoughts on this family...#also this is 'let tang yu be a doctor' agenda

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egelantier · 3 years

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tsomd, in a nutshell

#the sleuth of ming dynasty #tsomd #meme #cdramas #cnovels #tang fan #sui zhou #wang zhi #ot3 things

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welcometothejianghu · 3 months

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Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 民国奇探/My Roommate is a Detective.

My Roommate is a Detective is a 2020 drama about the Jazz Age shenanigans of a terrible OT3: a useless noodle boy, a spoiled journalist girl, and a handsome thug-turned-cop, who together solve Agatha Christie mysteries in 1920s Shanghai.

I mean, seriously, have you ever wondered what Hercule Poirot would be like if he were a 6'2" Chinese rubber man? If he had a long-suffering sugar daddy from the wrong side of the tracks and a spunky sugar mommy who owned their shared apartment? The answer is, it would be a laugh-out-loud-funny series about a ridiculous and charming assortment of weirdos solving only slightly believable murder mysteries in charming period clothing.

This is another one of those shows where I'm kind of shocked at how not well-known it is, except I'm not, because I can see exactly the problems that keep fandom from descending on it like horny little vultures. Nonetheless, I think it's a good time that more people would enjoy if they gave it the chance. Here's five reasons why you should:

1. Equal parts smart as heck and dumb as butts

On the one hand, especially given its tone and tenor, this show has many surprisingly clever turns and thoughtful moments, carried along by some talented actors. On the other hand, [.gif of a guinea pig in a rollerskate being pushed merrily down a hallway]

This show is not a complicated intellectual exercise. It's an action comedy about a goofy sleuth, a rich-girl reporter, and the cop who should be the straight man in this trio, except he's as much of a goober as the other two are. If the promotional tableaus are giving you real "cover of a Clue box" vibes, you've understood the kind of pastiche it's pulling off.

The mysteries are preposterous. They're all the kind of thing that exemplify the Doyle line about how, when you've eliminated the impossible, whatever's left has got to be the answer, no matter how ding-dang improbable it may be. You know the type: tons of overly elaborate setups, unbelievably perfect timing, coincidental long-lost relatives, people hallucinating right and left. They're also very short -- most full cases take only 2-3 episodes to introduce, investigate, and resolve, even when interspersed with the larger goings-on in these weirdos' lives. The DramaWiki page for the show lists 23 separate arcs over 36 episodes, so you do the math.

And yet, it's way more thoughtful and clever than its doofy little setup would indicate. Its attention to detail surprised me on more than one occasion. Add to that a bunch of solid performances from an ensemble of real characters, and what you get is definitely more substantive than a junk-food waste of time. You can't turn your brain off while watching it, but you sure can turn it down, and that's great.

It also doesn't hurt that everyone is super attractive and wearing great outfits. The whole show's worth it for the wardrobes.

2. THE GIRL

Fuck the haters, fuck everyone, I am going to climb right up on my little soapbox and tell you all why Bai Youning is awesome.

She is insane. She's a troll. She's a clever little monster. Every other character's response to her is, oh my god, you are literally the worst. And she is! She has been spoiled beyond belief by her incredibly rich Crime Dad, and she has learned to leverage her uwu just a widdle girl status to get her whatever the hell she wants. She simply cannot hear it when someone says the word "no." She will look her future sister-in-law in the eye and point a loaded gun at her own head without blinking. Every ball she has is made of brass.

She's hardly perfect. During the course of the show, there are some times where her entitlement runs face-first into the brick wall of reality. She's not nearly as good at her chosen career path as she's been told (mostly by the people who get paid to tell her she's good). She's rarely prepared to deal with the consequences of her actions, especially when she can't just throw money at the problem.

So she learns, and grows, and changes. She's always going to be a stubborn bitch, but she can become a stubborn bitch with a more accurate conception of her relationship to the world around her.

She's actually a really good romantic foil for Lu Yao, who is equally stubborn and spoiled and obnoxious as hell. It is a pure brat4brat relationship, where each one thrives on comically enraging the other. What this means, though, is that when they actually start showing one another some vulnerability, it's really sweet.

Now: I'm pretty sure that you could not have made a female character in her position that everyone did not hate, no matter how cool you made her, because that is the fate of all girls who theoretically keep the two boys from kissing. (More on that next point.) If she were less outgoing and friendly, she would've been hated for being too cold. If she were less headstrong, she would've been hated for being a pushover. If she weren't as into the boy, she would've been hated for being frigid. I know the "god forbid a woman do anything" meme is a joke, but ... man, god forbid this girl do anything. She gets a level of hate entirely disproportionate to what she's actually like. As I said with Eom Dada, it's not always sexism, but sometimes, yeah, it's sexism.

(Real talk: Her character is also fighting both how she's definitely not written as well as the boys are and how the plot sometimes needs her to be artificially stupid and jealous for Straightness Drama Reasons, so that's a legit problem on a structural level. Also, she's dubbed by someone else and the boys aren't, which gives her voice an annoying not-quite-there quality that's hard to ignore. The deck is stacked against her real hard even before she steps onscreen.)

So here's my advice: Go into this show wanting to like her. Embrace her terribleness as a positive, intentional quality. Don't be mad at her for straightening up an endgame that was never going to be gay, even without her. Welcome her contributions to the chaos. Realize that she is exactly as entertainingly irritating as her boys are.

Truly, this is a story of three terrible people in love. They're all just awful, and you wouldn't want to be in a room with any of them for longer than you had to. Left to right up there, Bai Youning is spoiled and self-absorbed, Lu Yao is arrogant and lazy, and Qiao Chusheng is suuuuuch a fucking cop. If you're into the kind of dynamic that can only be described OT3: You All Deserve One Another, then this one's perfect for you.

3. Do you really miss '00s queerbaiting?

Like, really? Are you just super-nostalgic for being able to see the showrunners go, ha ha, girls, we know you're watching and we know you want these cute boys to kiss, which they never will -- but what if we pretended for just this one scene??? Do you just carnally ache for that with every fiber of your being?

Yep.

Now, why am I calling the occasional really gay moments between these two gentlemen "queerbaiting" and not "bromance"? Because these moments are a) obviously intentional, b) completely sporadic, and c) never spoken of again.

For example: There's a scene (which you can see a gifset of here) where the two of them are at a restaurant frequented by the cop, who brings a lot of ladies there on dates. When the waiter points this out, useless noodle boy says, I'm his date. The waiter looks mildly surprised by this, the cop says not to listen to his bullshit, and that's the end of it. The scene moves on. There is no further discussion of this comment. It does not affect their relationship.

That's the essence of queerbaiting: that little on-purpose nod to the homoerotic tension between the two, in a way that isn't a joke but also isn't not a joke, and either way is never going to happen. (In fact, the show is going to go out of its way to make sure that ship gets sunk, so, uh, get your fanfiction lifeboats ready for that.)

A true queerbaiting move is something that should make a difference in a relationship, but doesn't. It should make a difference that our cop is so comfortable in the noodle boy's personal space that he invades it at will. It doesn't. It should make a difference that noodle boy keeps getting real weird every time the cop has a date with a girl. It doesn't. Those are some real romantic moves the two of them keep pulling, and then nothing comes of them.

I had this show sold to me as being incredibly shippy, to the point of being even more so than its censored-BL contemporaries. And ... well, it is and it isn't. It has textually gayer individual moments, but it is much less pervasively gay. It's clear from the start that it's going to throw all its actual relationship points into its canon het romance. When it comes to these boys, the show is toying with you. It knows you want to see those boys smooch, just as much as it knows (and it knows you know) they're never gonna.

How you feel about this is entirely up to you -- and indeed, it may be a dealbreaker on the whole drama for you. If you are inclined to pitch a fit when your ship does not become canon, you'll be happier somewhere else. If, however, you see this as a delightful opportunity to do whatever the hell you want with the situation as it is presented, all the while enjoying little moments of startlingly blatant homoeroticism between two handsome dudes, well, here you are!

(I mean, if you want my take on it, what needs to happen is that the cop and the girl need to fuck while the useless noodle boy watches with asexual bisexual interest, and then they all need to snuggle with the noodle boy in the middle so they can both annoy him appropriately, but your mileage may vary.)

4. The multicultural extravaganza!

1920s Shanghai had a lot going on in terms of cultures and languages, and this show actually does a fair job of representing that.

By now, I've seen a number of shows set during this era, and they all at least acknowledge the international nature of the city -- usually by mentioning the French Concession and having a handful of evil Japanese characters. However, this is the first time I've seen a show go to such lengths to actually show so many non-Chinese characters onscreen, even to the point of making one a recurring character supporting the main squad.

Salim is the best. Whatever he is being paid, it's not enough. He's Qiao Chusheng's right-hand man, which means he is also the dude who most often has to put up the main trio's bullshit. (The actor himself is also a dude with a pretty cool backstory, which is another great layer.) He's sharp, he's loyal, he's patient, and he looks great with his shirt off. He's got it all!

Other non-Chinese characters include a white Jewish art collector (I'd issue a warning for period-typical antisemitism, except … honestly, it's mostly just confused), a sadistic priest who maybe is supposed to be Italian, a completely different priest who [last episode spoiler], and three whole sinister white dudes behind it all.

It's not just the world coming to China, though! A large number of the Chinese characters are said to have spent significant time outside of China, whether for business or for schooling. Near the end, when some characters are discussing moving away from Shanghai, they consider a number of foreign cities as potential destinations.

Here's a delightful detail: When Lu Yao and his sister speak English, they're dubbed by actors with posh British accents who sound like native (or near-native) English-speakers. This makes perfect sense, because both of the siblings did a lot of their schooling in the UK. When Bai Youning speaks English, she's dubbed by someone who speaks English very well but also has a noticeable Chinese accent, which makes perfect sense for her character's background. And Qiao Chusheng never speaks English at all, because he's a street tough who has no reason to know more than three words.

...This is also kind of weird to say about something literally made in China, but go with me on it: Everything's kind of got that Art Deco Orientalist vibe to it. It looks like China's idea of what Britain's idea of China during that period would have looked like. The result comes across less like what 1920s Shanghai would actually have looked like, and more what an ad for 1920s Shanghai would have looked like. It's a fascinating aesthetic, and more so for how it's mostly pretty subtle. The show isn't some visual extravaganza, but it's always very nice to look at, and I appreciate that in a show.

5. A wonderful horrible protagonist

A lot of mystery-themed prestige television involves an asshole genius detective who gets away with being a dick to everyone because he's sooooo smart, while all his long-suffering friends and colleagues spend a lot of time doing damage control for him because, sigh, he's an asshole but we need him, genius excuses all dickhead behavior, we'll always make exceptions for him because he's just ever so special. (Watch histrionic sage hbomberguy's video on Sherlock if you're unfamiliar with the trope.)

Lu Yao is an asshole genius detective, but one who winds up spending most of his time being an asshole to a) people who deserve it, or b) his horrible friends who will be assholes right back at him. When he is awful to the people who don't deserve it, the show smacks him pretty hard on the nose for it and makes him apologize.

This is a show where you'll figure out pretty quckly if you'll love it or hate it, because if you love Lu Yao, you'll love it, and vice versa. He carries most of the show himself, with his goofy charm and his incredibly bendy slenderman body and his ability to make the one competent person he knows both protect him and give him money.

Like so.

For my own part, I find him intensely charming, and I think a lot of this has to do with Hu Yitian's ability to play him as an affectionately bullyable weenie who needs to get shoved in a locker for his own good. He's the worst, and it's comically endearing instead of offputting because at the end of the day, he really does have a good heart. He's just also lazy as heck and disinclined to do anything that he does not want to be doing, and really, aren't we all?

As I alluded to in point 3, he comes across as real asexual. He's just not that interested in sex, and he is in fact pretty uncomfortable in situations where he finds himself the subject of someone else's sexual desires. He's perfectly capable of romantic feelings! I mean, not only does he get Bai Youning as a love interest, we actually meet one of his ex-girlfriends. He's just not partciularly horny about them -- which is even more noticeable as a sharp contrast to how extremely horny Qiao Chusheng is for just about everyone, but this exasperating little dork in particular.

(Like seriously, 90% of the time, Chusheng is about to explode with sexual frustration at Lu Yao's skinny oblivious ass.)

This isn't to say you couldn't get Lu Yao into bed, because you absolutely could, and he'd probably have a good time. You'd just have to remove all distractions from the room, lest his ADHD ass wind up running off to solve a crime mid-coitus.

Twiggy little nightmare man. Garbage-animal boy. Love him.

sidebar: A word about the ending

I'm going to be vague and talk about general vibes instead of specific events, but you should still skip this section if you want to remain completely unspoiled. Jump to the picture of Chusheng holding the sledgehammer.

Okay, so, a lot of people do not like the ending, and I'm including myself in that number. I honestly don't know if they got rushed and had to wrap everything pretty last-minute, or if they thought they might get a second season out of it and were leaving things open-ended accordingly. Either way, it's incredibly unsatisfying.

I think there's a clue that the show didn't actually want to end this way, and it's not actually in the text of the show itself. Every episode, between the last scene and the start of the credits, you get to see a couple still frames from the episode (usually some of the queerbaity ones). After the very final shot of the series, you get two images: the boys hugging goodbye, and Chusheng's upset face. That's not a resolution! That is at best a "to be continued..." ending!

But no, that's it. That's all, folks.

It's not quite an ending so bad it ruins the rest of the show, mostly because it doesn't feel finished, so it's less like you're watching a car being deliberately driven into a wall because someone thought that was the best route to take, and more like you're watching someone leave a car on the railroad tracks because they figured they'd have time to move it later.

As far as I know, there has been no noise made about a second season. These 36 episodes are the entirety of the narrative. It had the distinct misfortune to start airing in March 2020, which wasn't exactly prime time for planning sequels, and that seems to have been that. (There is a 2022 show called Checkmate that stars the two main guys in extremely similar roles, also adapting Agatha Christie stories, but it's apparently pretty meh? Somebody else who's actually seen it, go ahead and weigh in here.)

I'll say that if you turn off the episode right after Lu Yao gets out the handcuffs, you'll save yourself the worst of it the awkward and unsatisfying moments (though I'm impressed at your willpower to stop watching something five minutes from the end). That's not all of it, though. Structurally, there are several situations rushed to a resolution and loose threads left flapping untied in the breeze. I guess stopping before the last five minutes simply saves you the hope that it'll pull a good ending out of the fire, because it won't.

And let's be real: The more you hate Bai Youning and her romance with Lu Yao, the more you'll hate the ending. (Not that liking those elements will necessarily make you like the ending, of course, because I'm a fan of hers and I still think the ending is butts.) The ending is already like a pair of uncomfortable shoes; if the het romance especially makes you grind your teeth, the ending becomes a pair of uncomfortable shoes that also have a rock in them. A lot of the comments online indicate plenty of people dropped the show when they learned the het romance would be endgame. It's a pretty common dealbreaker.

Oh well. Bring on the fanfic, I say! Those of us who are used to taking a sledgehammer to canon are unafraid.

Smash it, baby.

Still want to see some of these mysteries?

Both iQiyi and Viki have the answer to your sleuthing!

It's not a perfect show -- as evidenced by my digression about the ending -- but it's a lot of fun. If you can handle the occasional foible and some eyebrow-raising moments, you're in for a good time with some attractive people that occasionally tastes very gay.

Every roommate crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man

#my roommate is a detective #民国奇探 #rec post #i made this

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