#teacher zhu is very interesting character

[evergreen-dryad]

I don't know how to feel over all these strange fantasy names when it's supposed to be fantasy china (and Japan nearby). I would like annotations

it does directly copy and paste some stuff from China's history / Sun Tzu / strategist stuff

you can tell someone's important if they have a name from myth: eg Nezha, Jiang Ziya, Su Daji (femme fatale) There are some references to Journey to the West in some of the Cike/Bizarre Children but not direct borrowings- Baji (Zhu Bajie), Aratsha (Sha Wujing), Suni (Sun Wukong)

It's very readable (as YA tends to be). It's a more fast paced harry potter so far. I'm speeding through it a lot ngl.

Highlights: (wait there's no underline here still??)

- Rin beating Nezha (it's 2-1 so far but just Rin beating everyone up in the Tournament despite being excluded discriminatorily from class)

(And then them both working together like a well-oiled machine in the war!)

And oh, she turned out to be the last speerly! I think it works and also does introduce more tension over where to put her in terms of politics and all that, but I am also praying Altan doesn't die (I feel like he WILL) (and HE DID)

From what I remember of Babel (same author) -- well, there's the historical accuracy that doesn't deviate much, there's also the nostalgic romanticism of school (a safe and beautiful place with towers and pagodas, but also bittersweet with its bullies and racism) and having to work hard af (what a chinese thing tbh), wanting to excel There's the all-important teacher-student relationship and what knowledge does

Foreshadowing: where Runin was burning herself to study more for the Keju Exam, it ends up being foreshadowing for the god she'll call down -- the Phoenix. You watch her determined to go through anything to get stronger:

'How she didn’t need rest, only pain, pain to fuel the fire.' 'Who couldn't she kill?'

After she kills a creature wearing Altan's face. Well, spoiler: she does do genocide

Themes/Symbolism: knowledge, the danger of adhering to just one branch/extremity of thought (esp reflected in the elitism of Sinegard and the north and south; in the way the other Sinegard students treat Runin; in the way Kitay is convinced of his rationalism over Runin questioning if shamanism exists; even in the military where military arts and shamanism are separated and hidden (for the latter); and how Nikara separated itself from Speer (the analogue for smth like Ainu people in Japan.))

Of what is the purpose of knowledge, if it cannot be 'utilised' for in present context, war?

Is 'an eye for an eye' right? What would you do to win or to get revenge? That there are difficult choices to make in such horrors like war -- do horrifying things done to you and your people justify genocide? What if your god that was your only hope was also cruel to you? Between gods and humans, who is really using who?

Also subtly feminist. I mean, it really delivers on the promise of female rage, and there are a couple important female figures

Characters: of course Runin is easy to like and easy to root for! She's way more determined than me bcs she's that unhinged/unhealthy 'do-or-die' when it comes to academics and martial arts!

Everyone else for students is a bit, hm, unelaborated on so far which is fair

Rin has 2 foils: 1) Kitay, and 2) Nezha. And prob also Altan -- how he seems so perfect and later on how they seem alike -- but are ultimately different

Tearza in the past who refused to sacrifice the world for her people, so the god killed her in retribution. But Rin did do so in vengeance and is thus still alive.

Nezha funnily keeps getting 'off-screen death scenes' which means he's definitely not dead

Character relationships: interesting to see how Altan is a 'better' teacher to Rin as they understand each other better in needs to war, but also gets abusive towards her with the pressure and needing her to summon their god, as he is a soldier first.

Jiang was the 'wiser' teacher as a peaceful scholar but wasn't there, sealing himself away in stone

Descriptions: lightly sketched so you don't get drowned in it

Tone: easy, simple, direct, not very literary/purple prose, often short sentences

Use of language: Past tense. Purely in Rin's POV, with one exception in Tyr's/and then omniscient narrator (to show the betrayal of the empress). Lots of dialogue/some worldbuilding descriptions. (R F Kuang seems to begin/end/spin with dialogue a lot which makes it snappy?)

Figurative techniques sparse. Shows the extreme cruelty of the world (even before the war). Also does not hesitate to say fuck.

What works for it?

-want to see what happens to rin as it's very action-heavy and you're rooting for the underdog (fast-paced, inexorable marching to war)

#the poppy war #books-ed-read-2024 #r f kuang #books

[movielosophy]

Hikaru no Go | What letter of absence? 

#i'm hong he #lol #hikaru no go #棋魂 #cdrama #liveaction #qi hun #hu xian xu #character: shi guang #zhao hao hong #character: hong he #this kid is good #i love his expressions #sun can #character: shen yi lang #what a cutie #teacher zhu is very interesting character #ah i need to rewatch this episode

[beansprean]

Lookin through ur old art to cheer up & bro Please tell me about ur old atla oc's im So Curious.

YOOOOOO lmao u went FAR back huh lil bro I appreciate u ❤️ They are less OCs and more terrible nostalgia that i desperately wanted to redesign.

Ok SO way back in like 2008 my main social media was something called GaiaOnline…it was like club penguin but for weebs. And on the forums a lot of people would host big formal roleplays with like, rules and applications etc. I was one of these people and I ran quite a few but the biggest was an ATLA rp that was basically like…the same story as the show lol except instead of the fire nation being the bad guys it was the “dark nation” and the avatar was a protokatara water tribe girl I played named Sying. Plus her angsty scarred nonbender cousin Zhu who was basically my Zuko stand-in. Except later I think I revealed he actually WAS a bender but repressed it due to the death of his mom and brother in the same accident where he got his scars? Anyway. We all used google searched anime photos for our characters and had very shallow character traits and kept trying to one up each other in battles with little regard for how bending works because we were all like 13-17.

I don’t remember all the other characters (people came in and dropped all the time) but there was the “dark lord” (lmaoo) and his trio of terrible children who all betrayed him (plus a twist that one of them was Sying’s secret twin and it was a whole thing and apparently none of us realized at the time this made Sying and her love interest Raiden (someone else’s zuko stand in) half siblings? But the mistress mom like died in childbirth and the avatar spirit chose one kid and they got separated so no one ever knew. Also the same person played Raiden and his older brother and was weirdly intent on injecting homoeroticism into their relationship so maybe incest was just a theme for that family). Plus another water tribe girl (I don’t remember her name sorry dawnwolfee) from a diff tribe who was just tagging along? She wasn’t a bending teacher she was just cute I guess? No complaints here. And her and Zhu had a cute romance that everyone enjoyed and me and that player ended up playing love interests for each other in like 5 other rps lmao. Weird how I always played the guy wink wink.

And it ended by a volcano blowing up and drowning the bad guy while Sying used the combined forces of her powers to escape the island and everyone else fought down below. OH I just remembered I also played a bad guy with a giant halberd who was like all my teen lesbian fantasies rolled into a redheaded tough girl. Also a jokester guy who was a cousin of the dark lord siblings? Even tho the dark lord didn’t have any siblings? And Sying’s twin was in love with him? Why so much incest… It was very strange. I also tended to randomly post flashback posts with the dark lord and his old mistress who was the mother of the twins when I got bored and no one was posting. Anyway all the good guys escaped on a boat and I told everybody the roleplay was over and to post epilogues for their character. And I remember Sying and Raiden had like 3 kids but also I had to kill Sying off immediately after bc the girl who played the dark lords current mistress wanted her baby (with the dark lord) to be the next avatar. So somehow Sying had 3 babies in the 9 months it took that baby to cook. We did not overthink this, clearly.

TL;DR bean was once 14 and cringe.

Lil bro if u wanted info on the other drawings on that post there is none lol I just wanted to draw more atla clothing lol ❤️

#atla #atla ocs #ocs #my art #summer-in-underland #what a soap opera #that rp lasted like a full 2 years I think #only one I’ve ever been in that didn’t just fade away cuz everyone got bored and stopped posting #bolder bc my adhd ass couldn’t even keep up with these block paragraphs sorry lol

[sketching-shark]

I think it's the ironic fact that JTTW fans already know how DBK and Sun Wukong's friendship broke apart but are more curious on LMK versions of Sun Wukong and the Six Eared Macaque were friends alongside falling out.

HA! Well, while it often does seem that way, I'm going to go ahead and be a complete snob in a Journey to the West purist kind of way by wondering how many Six Eared Macaque fans would consider themselves more JTTW fans or more Monkie Kid fans, or if they feel they're a mix of both...

I've seen a lot of people argue that these two works of fiction are their own thing and that as such Monkie Kid (and associated fanworks) shouldn't be expected to follow the canon of JTTW, and fair enough for some parts. I've also, however, seen people who argue for this complete separation seeming to use it as an excuse to not acknowledge or learn about ANY original aspects of characters such as Sun Wukong and the Demon Bull King, or even very important deities such as Guanyin and the Jade Emperor, and who as such end up making some pretty gross generalizations/assumptions about them even though they are of great religious and cultural importance.

For example (and while I know a lot of the fun people get from fan works is in exaggerating certain traits), Sun Wukong seems to often be presented with an "inherently" evil/thoughtless/chaotic character, while his intelligence, deep love of his family, genuine efforts to become a better person, & many acts of saving lives, as presented in JTTW, aren't even mentioned. I feel like a lot of this is due to the way he acts in Monkie Kid (while I maintain that this version of Sun Wukong seems to be Bad End Monkey King, he does do a lot of deflecting his issues with a show of humor/a carefree attitude & does seem really bad at communicating due to a fear of making things worse). Even so, the popularity of Thoughtless/Evil/Selfish Sun Wukong that doesn’t really allow for any of the nuance or a display of his beneficial traits as shown in JTTW does make me wonder how many people have been exposed to a good translation of og classic Sun Wukong...As I've said before, I've noted that a number of Chinese people on this site have expressed frustration with the fact that a good chunk of the monkey king’s Western audience seems to be getting their impressions about Sun Wukong, the Demon Bull King, the Six Eared Macaque, etc. from some mix of Overly Sarcastic Productions, Monkie Kid, and social media instead of from at least a translation of the original text, and it is true that a LOT of the nuance of these work and these characters can be very easily lost, especially if your drawing your information of them primarily from a cartoony version of the original source. 

That would be an interesting poll though...out of curiosity, how many of you fine folk have read the break-up & fight between Sun Wukong and the Demon Bull King either in the original text or in a translation, or is your exposure to them primarily through Monkie Kid? 

Again, I need to make it clear that I'm not Chinese & didn't grow up with the story, but I will admit for my own part that reading the DBK/SWK break-up in the Yu translation actually made me more curious about how their dynamic is going to play out in Monkie Kid than I am curious about what's going to happen with Mr. Macaque. 

This is primarily because besides SWK’s fight with Princess Iron Fan and DBK being given a LOT of page space in JTTW, there seems to have been some serious stuff that went down between the three of them in the events post-JTTW and pre-the main plot of Monkie Kid...the last we see of DBK in JTTW (if memory serves correctly) was him being hauled off by a host of heavenly warriors to be judged for his crimes of not giving SWK the palm leaf fan & also eating humans. When Monkie Kid starts, however, we are told that DBK had emerged “from the Netherworld” & immediately starts wrecking everything around him. What this suggests--if Monkie Kid is something of a fan continuation of JTTW--is that DBK ended up being executed by the heavenly forces, but managed to fight his way out of the underworld in a manner somewhat similar to SWK, who we are told he is equal in strength to in JTTW. In that beginning fight of Monkie Kid DBK is also shown as so enraged that he won’t stop his path of destruction until SWK buries him under a mountain for 500 years. It’s never said in the show, but--and this is important--this is basically exactly what Buddha did to SWK to start him on the path of atonement. So there seems to be some very intentional parallels between SWK’s havoc in heaven & DBK’s havoc on earth, which may suggest that one of the things Monkie Kid SWK really wants is for his former dear friend, his sworn brother, to find a way like him to be less violent and thus ultimately less vulnerable to destructive and self-destructive behavior, and that the way he tried to start this was by giving DBK the same treatment he got when he was a raging warlord. 

We are furthermore told that it was right after DBK was sealed that SWK disappeared for all those centuries, and while the impulse may be to write it off as him just wanting to enjoy himself (given a lot of his behavior in the show’s timeline), given the indications that this SWK may be deeply depressed, I feel like the answer could be something a lot more tragic...there seem to be a number of clues in Monkie Kid that while the journey of JTTW happened, something made it end disastrously, with SWK either assuming or knowing that Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, Tang Sanzang, and Bai Longma are dead. And per JTTW, this wouldn’t be the first time that he’s experienced a horrific loss, given the war with heaven and the burning of Flower-Fruit Mountain. And then right after THAT, it seems DBK emerged from the underworld, and so Sun Wukong was put into a horrific position: either murder his sworn brother, or let him continue to rampage & harm and/or kill who knows how many humans. SWK ultimately gives up his staff to do the repeat of “500 years under a mountain in solitary confinement route,” which as per JTTW he considers better than the alternative, but he immediately follows that by exiling himself. In JTTW SWK is a really sociable person who makes friends wherever he goes, but man, for this SWK...his life must at that point just feel like one failure after another, that in spite of all his best efforts he wasn’t able to save anyone he really cared about, and now he just trapped someone who was so important to him under a mountain & fated him to suffer the same things he had when he was in that position. How much more does he have to hurt his fellow yaoguai? How many more times does he have to choose between yaoguai and humans, feeling like no matter what he decides it’s just going to result in pain for him and/or his loved ones? I can easily imagine super sociable & easily upset (he cries a LOT in JTTW) SWK feeling like after sealing DBK, he just can’t do this any more. He just...can’t. 

This is all just speculation, but knowing the JTTW backstory between SWK and DBK does, at least for me, make their Monkie Kid relationship a lot more intriguing than it might be otherwise. Especially now that DBK seems to actually be making some small steps to quell his constant rage & lust for power. He even saves SWK and Qi Xiaotian from an explosion/nasty fall in the season 2 special! The Bull family weren’t really present in season 2, but I really hope they make a comeback in season 3 (if/when we get it) precisely because Red Son, Princess Iron Fan, and especially DBK have such an involved history with SWK. Plus it would be really fun to see two old warlords trying to awkwardly make amends with each other & struggle to be good teachers & positive role models to their student & son. 

In any case I feel this potential is more interesting than whatever fanfic The Six Eared “I’mma Plagiarize The Demon Bull King’s Backstory Of Being Best Friends with Sun Wukong” Macaque is creating lol. 

#monkie kid #journey to the west #lego monkie kid #lmk #lmk sun wukong #lmk dbk #lmk six eared macaque #anon answered

[astranauticus]

Link Click Directors Bilibili Interview - Fan Translation (Part 1)

Original interview

(Notes:

The interview itself is pretty long and split into 3 parts so I'll be posting each part separately

Take all translations with a grain of salt!

Li Dao = Director Li (Li Haoling)

Zhang Dao = Director Zhang (Zhang Yuxia))

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

Li Dao: Hello friends on Bilibili, I'm Li Haoling, I take on the roles of director and screenwriter in the donghua "Link Click"

Zhang Dao: Hello friends on Bilibili, I'm Zhang Yuxia, I act as the executive director for "Link Click"

Li Dao: "Link Click" streaming exclusively on Bilibili

Both: Come follow this show with us!

Part 1: Soul-deep questioning

Q: The donghua chooses to expand on many real-world topics, what was the original inspiration for creating such a donghua?

Li Dao: The inspiration originally came from a photo, where the person in the photo and person outside are in two different points in time but their states of being are different. I started wondering if I could return to the past right now, what my state of being would be like, and I also hoped that I could re-experience being that past self captured in that photograph. I thought this experience was very interesting, and that became the inspiration for the entire show. As for the real world topics, for those who have seen my original work "To Be Hero", while a lot of my content may be a bit fantastical, I still hope to reflect some parts of the real world. I feel that the medium of donghua can be used not just for entertainment but to convey something to the audience or to leave a lasting impression for them. In that case, donghua would become a lot more meaningful than just a product for entertainment, and this is our main reason for focusing on real-world topics.

Q: The donghua is comprised of many individual stories, what is the starting point for choosing these stories?

Li Dao: We included (stories about) the earthquake, stopping human trafficking, basically some social issues are still prevalent around us, but through donghua and the portrayal of these issues in stories, we can spark more discussion about these issues and make them more engaging to viewers.

Q: The names of many members of the crew, such as Yu Xia and Dong Yi, appear as names of characters in the donghua. Are some of their stories taken from real world experiences?

Zhang Dao: For this I think Li Dao is playing with references but I'm not entirely sure, since Li Dao is the one writing the script, so I'm also pretty curious

Li Dao: Because in our company, there's a few CP pairings (T/N: CP, short for 'character pairing', generally used to refer to ships but can also broadly refer to non-romantic pairings of people with a close personal/professional? relationship, which is how Li Dao's using it here) like Lin Zhen and Yu Xia, they're named after Zhu Linzheng and Zhang Yuxia. Linzheng and Yuxia, they're called 'tropical rainforest' (热带雨林/re dai yu lin), and director Ouyang and director Siwen, they're called the 'Owen pairing', these are some jokes we have in our company. So when I'm writing the script, because as we all know coming up with character names is kind of a headache, so whenever I think of these CPs I'll think of these people and I'll add (their names) to the script. It's quite interesting, so I've continued using this method, so within "Link Click" you can see the names of people from our company as well as some of our collaborators appearing.

Q: Did something like Lin Zhen and Yu Xia's 'bowl of the female dormitory' also occur in real life?

Li Dao: Well they (Linzheng and Yuxia) were also schoolmates

Zhang Dao: Yeah, we were dormmates in university, but we never shared a bowl of noodles

Li Dao: (laughing) Maybe you have, you've just forgotten

Q: The original character designer for the donghua is INPLICK-sensei (T/N: the actual word used is '老师/laoshi', lit. 'teacher', basically the same meaning in this context), the art director Takumi Tanji and sound director Tenmon are both industry experts who have collaborated multiple times with Makoto Shinkai, and the lead animation director is LAN. How did Li Dao put together such a powerful team?

Li Dao: Actually, we're all old friends or old acquaintances, including our relationship with CoMix Wave Films which we have been maintaining for many years. If you've seen our previous work "Flavours of Youth", we've also collaborated with them before. In the interview for "Flavours of Youth', Noritaka Kawaguchi and I have also said that we've known each other since 2009, and we've maintained a close friendship since then. So whether its Tenmon-sensei or Takumi-sensei, we’ve been collaborating with each other this whole time because of this foundation of mutual trust. For LAN it's even more so as we worked together on "Mantou Diary" in 2013, and we've been collaborating ever since. So within this team there is this sense of trust and mutual understanding that is maintained across our many years working with each other.

Q: How did you initially manage to get character designer INPLICK onboard?

Li Dao: when we were first deciding on the style for this project, we wanted it to seem fashionable and innovative. I wanted to use a more unique art style to better convey character personalities and the general vibe of the show. So at first- Yuxia was the one who first sent me (some of INPLICK's) artwork, since he would spend time looking through the works of various artists online. At the time I thought the look of it was really good, it’s a little unconventional but very appealing (T/N: the word he uses here, '邪魅', literally means a villainous but charismatic/seductive appeal, make of that what you will), and I found it quite fashionable and cool. Also, his art is very well-suited to being converted to animation since some illustrations are very hard to turn into animated characters.

Zhang Dao: Right

Li Dao: (INPLICK's) character designs don’t incorporated a lot of lines and won't cause a lot of problems for 2D animation, so after considering these factors we contacted INPLICK-sensei, since we also have a part of our company based in Korea, we got our colleagues in Korea to contact him and establish this collaboration, and we still get along pretty well today.

Q: The two of you take on the roles of director and executive director, what is the difference in scope for these two roles?

Li Dao: As the overall director, I would be the one starting certain things, including things like scriptwriting, screenwriting, or even music, art style and editing, all of this is involved in setting the tone of the work, which is something the director must handle. As for Yuxia, one thing that I think he does really well is his understanding of the art and visuals, he's quite talented when it comes to the visual presentation and he has quite a lot of artistic talent as well. So I would hand a lot of the executive work to him- right, Yuxia, you can elaborate more on the details of your work.

Zhang Dao: Ah, at first I mostly just drew storyboards and sometimes acted as the director's assistant. Then after a while I started taking up other things, like meetings, writing product requirements, auditing and communicating with the team, that kind of thing. During this process I also started taking on some of Li Dao's work, since Li Dao also has intentions of training me, and I'm also trying my best to learn. So for a lot of the production work involving the visuals and the content of the animation, it's up to me to audit and raise requirements.

Li Dao: Including the feedback, one thing that left a deep impression for me is that Yuxia is very strict when it comes to the feedback. The one I remember the most clearly is a piece of feedback he had for episode one, when Emma was eating the spring rolls, there was this plastic takeout box, right, and when I saw his feedback I was shocked. His comment said that the edges of the sides plastic box should be appear more opaque, like more white

Zhang Dao: Right, and the centre of it should help to convey the sense of depth

Li Dao: Right right, because the material in the middle would be thinner and the edges are thicker. When I saw this I felt very assured, I felt like Yuxia would do very well in this role since he is able to notice such small details

Q: when it comes to the production process, what were the greatest obstacles that the two of you encountered?

Li Dao: since this is a 0 to 1 process, a process of creating something out of nothing, when I just start to conceptualise the story it requires much more thought. But after you get into the zone, the creative process is like digging a hole, like when you're drilling for oil, you may not know where to drill but once you've found that point, you'll start to get a flood of inspiration. For example, for choosing the plot of each individual story arc, I might think of many case studies, but I will consider which case study can best connect with and fit into the main story, and how we can effectively use the two characters abilities to accomplish these tasks. When I'm trying to figure out the story itself, like which specific real-world event to draw from, the process of figuring that out might take some time

Zhang Dao: for me, the most difficult part was the characters and scene design, since as you guys can see our show's art style is pretty unique, and this uniqueness is a strength but it is also a difficulty. When we were looking for artists, actually many artists need to take some time to get used to the art style, and a lot of artists can't do it, they just won't accept this commission. I remember really clearly, our producer Xiao A told us that a lot of- especially for the scene designs, a lot of the tests that the artists sent us were not really usable, since they aren't really accustomed to the art style, so that's something that I had to deal with.

Q: What do the two of you feel about the presentation of this season? Has it reached expectations?

Li Dao: I thin it's still within the range of my expectations, including everyone's feedback and comments, which I actually do read, I think it's all within expectations

Zhang Dao: I'm actually a bit conflicted, like I really want "Link Click" to become popular, but at the same time I have to think of my own workload (T/N: the actual phrasing he uses is 'look out for my liver', from a common internet saying about putting so much effort into doing something it becomes very taxing on the liver) and that makes me wish it won't become that popular, like I want it to stay a bit low-key. If "Link Click" becomes really popular, and we get to do seasons 2 all the way to 10, then I'll be spending my whole life making "Link Click" and I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle that. So right now I feel like, I don’t dare to expect too much, or I just don’t want to think about it right now. My biggest goal right now is just to do season 1 well.

Q: What are your favourite characters? Why?

Li Dao: I like everyone from the main trio, because while coming up with them I also considered the variety in terms of their personalities, so if you ask me to choose my favourite out of the three of them, its really difficult.

Zhang Dao: My own personal tastes are a bit unique, I tend to really like those carefree antagonistic type of characters, so I really like the hidden final boss we've got, of course he hasn't completely shown himself yet, so I think all the fans of Link Click can look forwards to the next season.

Q: Which part of the show left the biggest impression for you?

Li Dao: For me it has to be episodes 3 to 5, since, as we all know episodes 3 to 5 are the most emotionally intensive, they touch familial, platonic and romantic love all encompassed under this large subject, the subject of the earthquake. For me I see 345 as this complete unit, so I'm very invested in all the scenes and the emotions they contain. Including the final part of episode 5 that's taking the form of memories, and through the method of passing on a message, it's a kind of monologue and narration that conveys memory through prose. That feeling I think is very complex because if you say it's tragic, it's not entirely accurate since there's also this sense of release, but if you say there's this sense of unwillingness to let go, there's also that aspect. But still he has that courage to look forwards, and the kind of life experience that teaches him to keep moving forward, this complexity is all contained in that moment, so that's the kind of thing I would enjoy.

Zhang Dao: My tastes are still a bit different, a bit different from Li Dao's, I really liked when Qiao Ling was possessed by the antagonist at the end, the scene of her going after her friends. So everyone can also look forwards to season 2, and for season 2 maybe I will take part in the writing of the antagonist.

Q: Whenever an episode reaches its end viewers will always say 'my heart stops as soon as the ED plays', is this something that you've carefully designed?

Li Dao: Of course, we would've put some thought into designing this, since the end of every episode having a hook is a common tactic in making a show. We've just made our hook a bit more aggressive so it encompasses music as well as the plot and the storyboarding, etc., and at the end we bring it to the audience through both the visuals and audio.

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

#link click #shiguang daili ren #shi guang dai li ren #cheng xiaoshi #lu guang #qiao ling #shiguang dailiren #what other tags r there for this show lol #time agents #时光代理人 #how did i forget that one?? #if anyones curious zhu linzheng is the other credited storyboarder on the show along with zhang yuxia #also i feel like some of the instances of me using 'he' in this might be taken w a grain of salt #since im not sure if the bb subs are using '他' to actually mean 'he' or as just a default pronoun? like its not unheard of to do that #also if anyones interested i could post the original chinese interview transcript i typed out #even tho its just.... the bb subtitles but in word doc form LMAO #if you see any like typos/formatting errors u can point them out if u want(???? #if you see any questionable grammar just ignore FJKHKSDJHKJH i Tried my Best #anw the other two parts are gonna take a while to come out cuz i havent finished the third (and longest) part yet and i have work! goddamn #translations i made

[canary3d-obsessed]

Lost Tomb Reboot Lewks: Part 12

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff)

Warning: Spoilers for both seasons of The Lost Tomb Reboot

Look 61

The first look is Wu Xie’s road trip outfit, which includes this grey and white jacket. It has a contrasting elastic waistband, cuffs, and neckline, and slanted pockets. 

This is exactly the sort of jacket that my 5th grade science teacher would have worn in 1979, and she would have slayed in it.  She awakened something in me and it wasn’t love of STEM. (Spock was responsible for my love of STEM, and various other awakenings in 5th-grade me) I’m sure it would still look great on her, because she is probably a silver haired foxy granny now, and that’s who this jacket belongs on in the current century.

Wu Xie should never have gotten within a mile of this old lady jacket.

To clarify, I’m not being gender-essentialist here; I’m being ageist. If this jacket had some contemporary detailing or interesting features to offset its last-century vibe, the way Bai Haotian’s green roller derby jacket does, it would be fine even though I’m not a fan of this sort of collar in menswear. But it’s just a nicely-made old lady jacket. Mary Berry could bake a nice cake while wearing this jacket. 

Note: Liu Sang could wear the hell out of this jacket, of course, because that man can wear literally anything and make it look like it’s made of spun pheromones.

(more after the cut!)

Wu Xie eventually improves this look by taking the jacket off and giving the camera operator a nice long look at his ass. He’s wearing dark jeans and a long-sleeve white thermal shirt, which is a great improvement. 

Look 62

The granny jacket is contrasted by the blessed arrival of Huo Daofu’s daddy jacket, and the rest of the clothing that Huo Daofu is wearing with it.  This is a dark green jacket with a nipped in waist, military styling, and invisible stitching that says "obey" You can't see it, but oh, it's there.

He's wearing this jacket of domination with jeans so tight they appear to be made of paint. I approve of these jeans so much that I might need to take a break from writing for a moment. 

Instead of shoes he’s opted for a pair of tall riding boots, just in case anyone failed to get the message.

He finishes off this look with gold rimmed glasses, pomegranate-toned lips, and an air of authority so strong that even Pangzi does what he tells him to with minimal back chat.

Later the jacket comes off, so he can wrap it solicitously around the shoulders of a person who is already wearing a perfectly good jacket.  OP looks up “service top” in the dictionary.

Underneath, Huo Daofu is wearing a grey houndstooth waistcoat. Shen Wei’s tailor would gnash his teeth in envy, if he saw the cut of this vest. This tops off a warm-toned brown shirt worn with a silver-toned watch. The watch is...round, and it tells time. He’s wearing a brown belt with his black jeans. Huo Daofu is great at combining warm and cool, formal and casual, in a single look. 

Look at this dapper bitch. Slaying this hard has got to be against his Hippocratic oath.

This jacket-free look is combined with hip posture so provocative that it sends Wu Xie into a hasty search for the last scraps of his heteronormative assumptions. Xiao Bai does her best to help.

Look 63

The beards. 

OP's family of origin is full of hairy visigoths, so Pangzi's beard is a style I've encountered before, alas. We call this a [US] Civil War beard. This one is terrible and lopsided, but at least it covers a lot of Pangzi’s face.

Wu Xie’s fake facial hair isn't terrible, but isn't great. You can tell it’s fake because everything about Zhu Yilong is inherently lovely, and this isn’t. 

Also, it's a ridiculous idea for a disguise. Wu Xie's close-trimmed chin patch and mustache are nice style, very typical for a Chinese dude. They let Wu Xie’s lovely facial structure continue to do its thing while they just provide a bit of an accent. But this is a problem, because they don't change his appearance in any meaningful way; his cheekbones are still visible from orbit. 

He’s wearing this facial hair and cap with the same vest he wore earlier to practice slingshot. This time he's accessorizing with a simple tan jacket, with an interesting buttonhole detail... 

...and with an attractive human IV stand.

Doctor doctor, give me the news, I've got a bad case of loving you you loving me.

Look 64

This look belongs to the man that Jia Kezale’s wife has replaced him with. We have to infer his look based on his shoes, and that he is presumably in the same league as the extremely hot Jia Kezale. 

Based on these shoes, which are very nice, if a little weathered, Huarache-style loafers, this other man in her life also presumably wears linen trousers and a guayabera shirt. 

*mentally pictures this person* 

ok, I guess I don't blame her. 

[Image, and shirts, from cubavera dot com]

Look 65

After having his IV fluids, Wu Xie goes for a nighttime motorbike ride, because he apparently needs to go way up on a hill to see that the hotel he’s staying in is circular.

So, what is with the Ultraman motorcycle helmet? Does it have any padding or insulation at all? Why doesn’t it cover more than 40 percent of his head and face?

And shouldn't it have a chin strap?  How does it stay on in a crash?  I mean yes I know this is a show with sentient crustaceans...yeah, never mind. I’m sure that’s a super effective helmet. 

Once the rain starts, his mustache and beard look better. Still not great, but better. Here he looks like he’s cosplaying as Zhou Yunlan.

Now he’s wet and lying on the ground because...oh, hell if I remember. Just look at him, poor moist snookums. He needs a blankie and a hot tea and a hurt-comfort fic about him and his doctor. 

This look gives the newest members of the polycule an opportunity to demonstrate their devotion, as they haul him off the motorcycle and over to a wall, and then continue to stand in the rain, for some reason, instead of going indoors. 

I gotta say, when a producer decides to pour water on Zhu Yilong, they  commit to it.

Speaking of commitment, here’s Huo Daofu holding his hand up over Wu Xie’s face like a tiny umbrella. 

Bonus 1

Look at the yellow duffle coat on that kid. She looks beautiful and classic, and the mustard yellow color just pops so nicely in this scene. 

The mustard yellow also visually marks her allegiance to gold-dragon-wearing Xue Wu. 

Bonus 2

This look is Wu Xie’s antique-scheming outfit, but now he is wearing the Sunglasses of Manpain. They belong to Pangzi, but Wu Xie is wearing them while he waits for Pangzi to collect his angst from the morgue.

These sunglasses are good to wear while contemplating the fact that, despite the many differences in narrative tropes between Chinese and Western media, the one where a female character is hurt and/or dies merely to further a male character's emotional development remains a constant.

That said, this is a nice small signifier of their relationship, as he puts these glasses on Pangzi, allowing him to hide his feelings, while hugging him, allowing him to express his feelings.

#dbmj #wu xie #the lost tomb reboot #reunion: the sound of the providence #huo daofu #canary3d-original #lost tomb lewks #my gifs

[ruhrohimrorny]

What Subjects I Think LOK Characters Would Teach:

Lin: PE, obviously. Dating Kya and all the kids are happy cause there’s a noticeable shift in Lin’s mood once they start dating. She no longer forces kids to run a mile every day and instead does it once a week now, so the kids are hoping her and Kya stay together. She also coaches Golf and Lacrosse.

Kya: Waffled between MILF Math teacher, MILF Science teacher, and hippy/chill Music teacher, but decided on MILF Science Teacher. Getting strong Biology vibes. Very fun labs and not strict at all. Her and Zhu-Li are super passionate about leading the Science Bowl team. Seeing these young people be so passionate about STEM and helping their fellow teammates makes her hopeful for this young generation.

Tenzin: He kinda gives math teacher vibes, but a large part of his character in the show is about him keeping his history alive, and teaching others abut learning and respecting history, so I feel like he’s a History teacher. His class is a lot of notetaking but he plays quiet music and does a five minute meditation in the middle of class to encourage kids to relax, so students really like him and actually listen to him. Also, he’s kind of gullible so they make up fake trends to tell him. He once spent a week addressing people as “brony” cause students told him thats what people say now instead of bro. Kids got a good laugh out of that one. Him and Pema are another favorite teacher couple.

Bumi II: Def gives off eccentric/unhinged English teacher vibes. Very interesting and informative conversations in his class, but things get off topic very quickly. Whenever kids ask about Bum-Ju, he gets distracted and will talk the entire rest of the period about what to dress Bum-Ju up as for Halloween. Probably plays a lot of videos. And students don’t worry about if they read the books Bumi II assigns cause they don’t think he’s even read the books he assigns. When having discussions about the books in class, sometimes kids will make up stuff and say it’s in the book and for the most part, Bumi II goes along with it cause he doesn’t know what actually happens in the books.

Varrick: Also gives off eccentric/unhinged English teacher vibes, but because he’s a businessman/war profiteer, I’m gonna have to say he teaches Econ and gives students lots of unsolicited financial advice. Also supervises the Engineering and Robotics Club.

Zhu-Li: Science teacher, probably Chemistry. She’s very good at explaining and getting kids to follow her instructions. Not only is she a co-supervisor for the Science Bowl team, she helps Varrick run Engineering and Robotics Club, cause if it were only Varrick running it, no kids would come. His intensity and eccentricity scares them.

Iroh II: He’s definitely the young Math teacher everyone has a crush on. Very chill and doesn’t give a lot of homework. Kids love when he shows pictures of his dog to the class and eventually he brings in the dog cause admin think the dog is too cute to say no to.

Tonraq: Resident DILF History teacher. Kind of a hardass but also a nice dude so most everyone passes his class. Probably that History teacher that is also a football coach, so during fall he doesn’t give a FUCK about whether anyone actually turns anything in. Him and Senna is the teacher couple that seems like opposites but actually are pretty similar and balance each other out.

Senna: That English teacher that every mentally ill student becomes emotionally attached to. You know what I’m talking about. She’s so sweet, funny, and chill so all the kids love her class. Tries to include memes in her presentations to seem “with it” but they’re like, doge memes from 2014. But the kids appreciate the effort.

Pema: Definitely the sweet English teacher that occasionally has a mental breakdown when the students test her patience. Otherwise very chill. Also teaches the Childhood Education and Development class. Her, Senna, and Bumi II run the school newspaper.

Bataar: Drafting. Pretty chill, very skilled, and def smokes on the weekend. Also, him and Suyin are that teacher couple that everyone likes.

Suyin: Dance. Super nice and always has like to of those smelly plug in things going so her room smells good and has a “good vibe that evokes emotion”. Always plays EDM or weird 80s rock to get the kids moving. She runs the school dance team. When Bataar has prep period, he sometimes drops in to see Su dance, cause she’s mesmerizing to watch. All the kids think that, coupled with the fact that they eat lunch together every day, makes them the cutest couple ever.

Amon: Drama. He loves directing kids on how to totally live a role. If you can imagine, he sometimes gets a little overdramatic about drama, forgetting that these are just highschool kids, not Oscar winners, but his passion makes the class more enjoyable. Runs Drama Club with Tarrlok.

Tarrlok: Probably Physics. A difficult class, but he’s pretty good at explaining so most kids don’t struggle too much. His main focus is running student government, which he takes pretty seriously. Sometimes too seriously.

Unalaq: Teaches Psychology. The most pretentious teacher on campus. It’s literally so bad, that even other teachers avoid him. Amon abandoned his coffee still being brewed in the machine in the staff room cause Unalaq walked in and he didn’t want to be in a room with Unalaq again after he said that Amon’s outfit “looked like something stolen from the lost and found of a funeral home”. Unalaq sees it as “telling it like it is”.

Zaheer: Government and Politics. Tries to teach the class very well but also injects his own opinion into teaching a lot. The students find him scary but some also kinda think he’s hot. Also does Yearbook. Him and Senna run Mock Trial. Replaced the old Government and Politics teacher Hou-Ting after she retired. She was that one old teacher that made it a hobby to harrass students and constantly reminisced about when you could smack students.

P’Li: Math teacher. Much scarier than Zaheer. Plays her trash ass music very loudly while the kids work. Def yells at kids. She’s kind of funny when she’s in a good mood tho, and when she roasts kids it’s really funny cause it’s usually dead on. Her and Zaheer are those teachers that flirt a lot and you know they’re sleeping together.

Ming-Hua: Art. Loves drawing and, you guessed it, watercolor painting. Very chill and plays soft music but lets you listen to your own music. Super sarcastic and all the students eat it up. Literally a universal favorite. She runs Art Club and Fashion Club.

Ghazan: Guitar. Pretty cool teacher that definitely has some weird stories. All the students know he has a crush on Ming-Hua cause they flirt constantly, but he denies it. Runs E-Sports Club. Idk why I think that, it just feels right. Him and Ming-Hua are also the kinds of teachers kids become emotionally attached to.

Kuvira: Government and Politics also. Seems calm and reasonable, but is a total ass. Makes kids give up their phones, allows almost no talking, gives out more detentions a week than most teachers do in one year, and doesn’t allow for much discussion. Everyone wants her class cause she’s hot but most drop within the first week, to the point that counselors have to say no to some kids so they don’t have to get rid of the class altogether.

Bataar Jr.: Computer Lit teacher. None of the students respect him so they’ll play Minecraft the whole time or play inappropriate videos really loud. Doesn’t really put much effort into teaching, which for some kids is a dream, but for others is an annoyance. Him and Kuvira are the teacher couple that makes everyone say “wtf”. Literally no one knows why they’re together.

Izumi: Secretary/Attendance. Pretty much remembers everything and is super organized. She is the glue that holds the school together. Most students don’t know her name though cause she’s super quiet and works mostly behind the scenes. Whenever Zuko sends anyone her way though he reminds them of her name and to say thank you cause he recognizes how hard his daughter works to keep everything running smoothly. Izumi catches on to this and always manages to thank her dad with a nice tea and a hug.

Toph: Vice Principal. Scary as fuck. Doesn’t ever call kids’ parents cause she efficiently scares the shit out of every kid, so they never do whatever bad thing they were doing again. When she has to work dances, Katara always tries to get her to dance with her. She resists every time, but she always gives eventually. She’s happy to though, cause although she’ll never say it out loud, seeing Katara this happy at her old age warms her heart.

Katara: Health Clerk. Very sweet and everybody loves her. Sometimes kids pretend to feel sick just to talk to her. She doesn’t mind though cause a kid that has a tummy ache and a kid that needs to talk are both kids that need help, and she’s happy to offer whatever support she can. She also always offers to supervise dances when the school has them and always manages to bust a move.

Zuko: Counselor. Wants to be to students what his uncle was to him. Aang and Sokka were counselors too, some years ago. And while they could give some good nuggets of advice and offered the kids amazing support, they also would totally fuck up student’s schedules by accident cause those numbskulls were exactly that- numbskulls. So usually Zuko would have to fix that. He misses fixing their messes and, more importantly, he misses them (they aren’t dead, just retired). He hopes to retire soon too, cause he’s getting too old for this, but he secretly doesn’t want to retire just yet cause working at school allows him to see and spend time with Izumi. Since they’re both working, it’s not like they have too much time together, but even just her popping into his office to bring him tea or check in on how he’s doing that day brings a smile to his face that doesn’t leave for the rest of the day.

Raiko: Principal. After Toph stepped down cause she’s “too old for this shit” (her words), Raiko stepped in. The students aren’t a fan of him but he’s not terrible. And since Toph is still Vice Principal, she keeps him in check.

#lok #tlok #the legend of Korra #legend of Korra #Katara #Toph #Zuko #President Raiko #Izumi #Bataar Jr #Kuvira #Ghazan #Ming-Hua #P’Li #Zaheer #Unalaq #Tarrlok #Amon #Suyin #Bataar Sr #Pema #Senna #Tonraq #Iroh II #Zhu-Li #Varrick #Bumi II #Tenzin #Kya #Lin

[leatherbookmarking]

this might be very villain apologist (or perhaps ‘not a boring person’) of me but the fact that Villains* do Bad Things is automatically much more interesting and meaningful when it’s a result of an event in life that traumatized/hurt in any way a character that might have been happy, rather than when it’s just something they were born with or the way they were raised.

i’m mostly talking about meng yao, and how there are people who insist he was manipulative from the start and his only goal in looking pitiful and eating unbuttered bread** was to gain nmj’s affection and CLIMB, CLIMB THAT SOCIAL LADDER!***, but ALSO i’m talking about xue yang, whose idea of the weight of his life/body vs others’ bodies/lives is often seen as ‘oh he’s a psychopath/sociopath/there’s Something Wrong With His Head’ rather than, yknow, a result of his incredibly traumatic childhood and his way of dealing with it

this has no bearing on people’s actual irl beliefs, although of course i do have the right to just... not want to chat with someone who thinks my little boy is hands down an evil piece of trash, but i always think it’s interesting how there’s this strong need to dehumanize those you (for the lack of a better word) find Bad™, while at the same time turning a blind eye to the fact they’ve been mistreated in the past. because, of course, if someone’s been hurt, then naturally it’s our instinct to feel bad for them. but when someone’s Bad™, Bad™ since birth, then there’s nothing we, or anyone, could have done to change that, so there’s no use feeling bad for them.

even in those cases people admit that something unpleasant happened, well, it was their choice to let it affect them, right? look at wei wuxian! he’s had bad things happen to him and he turned to actively harming himself instead of others, like a normal person! see, it’s possible to turn out okay****. meng yao, sure, people told him his mom’s a ho, but did he have to be so angry about it? he could have just settled for a life of being told his mom’s a ho*****, his boss was happy with his work, isn’t that enough? instead he chose being evil, therefore, he’s Bad™. sure, xue yang lost one finger as a young boy, but couldn’t he have taken revenge of equal degree******? instead, he chose being a murderous psycho. Bad™!

it’s all very obvious, but it’s interesting.

* actually antagonists, characters whose goal is opposed to the one of our beloved protagonist, but i assume “villain” is shorter. also, thank you zhu zanjin for your service

** i understand ‘plain unbuttered bread’ might be a figure of speech, but considering meng yao was eating actual bread, did they put butter on their flatbread ~back then~? i have a feeling they didn’t

*** which, by the way, would have been valid of him. i don’t know why so many people can spit on meng yao or su she for wanting to rise above his status in one sentence and then criticize the cultivation society for how they treated wwx or the wens from dafan. the thing about the right to live comfortably and with dignity is that it should go to everyone, including people you don’t like

**** as we all know the most correct way to deal with your past is to bottle it in yourself. the second most correct way is to hurt yourself. there is no third most correct way, but there’s a most wrong way, and that is to hurt others, because that makes you an asshole, really. fuck you.

***** in which everyone collectively forgets how much it hurt to be bullied/ostracized at school, to deal with unfair teachers/superiors, and generally how fun it feels to receive daily reminders of how powerless and worthless you are

****** you know, the way noble cultivators, who’s never had to worry about dying alone in a ditch, do. because if young master X says your fighting is shit and you challenge him to a duel, and he beats your ass, then it’s super fucking embarrassing, but he does not, technically, have the right to dismember you and leave your corpse to rot and be eaten by stray dogs.

#there are also the thoughts i have about the concept of 'meng yao enjoys causing people harm' but that's for another time maybe #shut up shrimp #i miss li zhe. i might rewatch another episode of mrh perhaps

[skullsandwineglasses]

Novoland: Pearl Eclipse (Eps 35-48) Final Review

After episode 34, I decided that it would probably be best to wait until all the episodes are out so that I can binge watch it. Watching 2 episodes a day and then writing 500-word rants each time is just so tiring and time consuming. Binging it in one go would save more time. 

So here were my thoughts that I jotted down/live blogged in a stream of consciousness-like fashion as I watched the final 14 episodes. Spoilers ahead.

-Ep 35 opens with Hai Shi and Jian Ming getting married. While I liked Jian Ming’s desperate confession in ep 34, I’m not sure how I feel about them getting married so immediately. I mean, you’re going from teacher/student to husband and wife literally over night. Calm down. I haven’t had time to accept this relationship yet. 

-and whoop, there we have the emperor being poisoned and JM taking the fall because of the Bai Xi. Of course the drama doesn’t let Hai Shi and JM consummate. 

-Ep 36 - Okay, I see what Jian Ming’s doing. He’s “giving” the Emperor his ring that the Emperor asked to have when they were younger, and he’s hinting to the Emperor to take care of Hai Shi. But damn, the betrayal Hai Shi must feel though. 

-Ep 38 - there has been a lot of angsty scenes between nep 36 and 38, but for some reason, it doesn’t feel angsty? Maybe it’s because you know that all that it would take to resolve the angst is if Hai Shi finds out that Jian Ming is poisoned on the Emperor’s behalf and that he had the Emperor take her as a concubine in order to protect her. Granted, she’ll still be angry that he’s making choices for her, but they don’t love each other any less. There’s no hate. Unlike dramas like say, Love and Redemption where the leads do things that cause actual harm and damage to the relationship to the point where you wonder if things can ever be reconciled between them. And plus the Emperor is on their side and rooting for them, so there’s no unnecessary love triangle like I expected. So with an ally, it doesn’t feel angsty and hopeless. 

-The real scene stealer is seeing the Emperor hurting for Jian Ming though. Xu Kai Cheng’s overall acting may be questionable because it lacks the nuance that this role should have (righteous but also toxic and abusive), but I do appreciate when he goes berserk for Jian Ming’s health. It does get a little repetitive at times though because XKC makes the same facial expressions, but it’s passable. I originally found the connection between the Emperor and JM to be lacking because they didn’t have very many heart-to-heart bonding moments, but I still love it when the Emperor drops everything he’s doing to rush to JM. 

-Ep 40 - Nice to see Hai Shi accomplish things on her own, save a village, and gain recognition and respect in her own right as Hu Zhu fu ren. Jian Ming is become more and more like a ghost, helping her from the sidelines, watching her succeed. Is this the life that Hai Shi is meant to lead? Get the power that comes with being the Emperor’s concubine and use it for good? The Emperor lets her do as she pleases because he has confidence in her. I can see how this kind of marriage of convenience could have worked in the novel. 

It’s also kind of jarring seeing Jian Ming being so over-protective of her when he’s always sent her on missions when she was younger? I mean, she’s led an army before and protected a border. While it’s nice to finally see Jian Ming being concerned over her, this change in his attitude doesn’t really make sense. He knows better than anyone that Hai Shi isn’t delicate, so why is he treating her like a glass flower?

Also, Zhuo Ying finally has scenes again, so good for him. 

The merfolk are also finally becoming a bigger plot point, so I’m glad the story is starting to tie back to the opening. 

I don’t know how to describe how I feel about this drama. It’s not overly frustrating, but it’s also not something that I’m sitting on the edge of my seat for. It’s engaging to watch, the characters are interesting and smart, but I’m not sure if I’d watch it if not for Yang Mi and William Chan. 

The Emperor is a good friend, but I hate that the drama is trying to erase his abusive behaviour towards Ti Lan. 

I also can’t figure out what kind of character the Emperor is. He’s technically an anti-hero, but the drama seems to portray him as more of a tortured hero who’s always there for his BFF, as if the drama is afraid that we’ll hate him. 

-Ep 42 - Zhuo Ying and Zhe Liu though. 

-Ep 43 - Aaand the cat’s finally out of the bag. 

-Ep 44 - Her mother’s sacrifice was so unnecessary. The leads never feel like they’re in any real danger, and the villains are just so weak, easy, predictable, and one-dimensional. Hai Shi, Jian Ming, and Lang Huan fell off a cliff, and 15 minutes later we see that they’ve long made it back safely to the palace and are already one step ahead of Ji Chang to foil his plans. Like, how?? Sure, we’ll get an explanation later, but it just feels like I never have to worry about the leads since they’ll always make it through in one piece to save the day. (EDIT: we never got an explanation about this.)

There are 4 episodes left, which worries me. What new problem is the drama going to introduce to prolong this?

-Ep 45 - Zhuo Ying’s mission in Hu Ku is summarized in the letter. On the one hand, I’m glad that the drama doesn’t spend too much time focusing on his storyline since it’ll feel like an entirely different drama, but on the other hand it makes his story feel like an afterthought. 

Ugh. Jian Ming is still so frustrating. And controlling. But he spins it so that he seems like he’s done everything for Hai Shi’s own good. He thinks he’s dying, so he pushes her away and makes the Emperor take her as a concubine because he thinks that’s the best protection of her. Now that everything’s resolved, he’s trying to win her back. Does he really think that he can push her away and then reel her back whenever he wants? But of course, Hai Shi’s been waiting for this moment for 45 episodes already, so she accepts. 

Omg, I just realized why the drama sent Zhuo Ying away. It would be hella awkward for Zhuo Ying to be present when his sister and father figure get together. While he did accept that they had feelings for each other before he left, it’s still awkward. Why is this the first teacher-student romance drama that makes me feel so awkward about the whole setup? Am I the only one? Yang Mi and Willian Chan look great together, but it’s hard to be fully immersed in their relationship. 

“I will never let you down in this life.” With 3 episodes to go, that’s a definite foreshadowing that Jian Ming’s going to break his promise. Jian Ming hasn’t even let Lang Huan cure his poison yet. Does Hai Shi become pregnant and Jian Ming dies and the Emperor raises the kid as his own? After all, the drama is called “Hu Zhu fu ren”, so Hai Shi probably remains as Lady Hu Zhu until the end of the drama. This is giving me Princess Weiyoung vibes. 

-Ep 46 - Jian Ming can’t actually be dead right? Who was that person in the carriage who stopped by the announcement board before leaving the city? Was that him? Also, they still never explained exactly how Hai Shi and Jian Ming got themselves out from the bottom of the cliff back in ep 44? 

lol so yeah, he isn’t dead. The drama keeps showing us the beginning and end of things, but it keeps withholding the middle. It keeps intentionally misleading us. That’s not good storytelling. If you have to omit information or outright lie to the audience in order to stir suspense, then it just shows that you don’t know how to create suspense. Countless of times already, the drama makes us think the worse, but then it’s revealed that it’s just a lie or a cover up that the leads designed. It. Keeps. Changing. The. Story. Did the writers ever hear about the boy who cried wolf? If you keep showing us dead characters and then reveal that it was all part of a scheme and that they aren’t really dead, then we’re less and less likely to believe you when a character dies. 

LOL Jian Ming bringing up Zhou You Du again. 

-Ep 47 - omg why does Jian Ming’s hair look like that. When you thought his hairstyle couldn’t get any worse. 

This married life montage though. Not complaining. 

What is up with Ti Lan’s brother. And General Tang randomly showing up again with his obsessive and unrequited love for Ti Lan. This drama just keeps bringing up random problems. I mean, I guess this what actual empires were like. Never a dull moment. Enemies and rebels popping up any time. 

-Ep 48 - The Emperor and Jian Ming have weathered situations worse than this, and this is how he goes? By a random brother-in-law usurping the throne? Guess things happen when you least expect them too. But damn, losing 2 women he loves? Just when he wanted to give himself another chance at love.  

So it’s going to be the other way around from what I thought. Hai Shi and Jian Ming are going to raise the Emperor’s child and help him navigate the court. It’s unfortunate that they’ll be sucked into the palace politics, but you knew that Hai Shi and Jian Ming could never really leave. Their fate is tied to the court. 

Omg no, nevermind, it’s just going to be Hai Shi raising the child Emperor as Hu Zhu fu ren. Jian Ming is going to sacrifice himself for the heir by creating a Bai Xi again. 

I admit though, I got emotional when Hai Shi talked about her imaginary storyline with Jian Ming. 

Again. Lots of Princess Weiyoung vibes. Another FL who becomes the Dowager Empress and takes on the burden of an entire kingdom. 

I glad Zhuo Ying got his happy ending and that Hai Shi still has a brother who shares her memories of the past. 

Aaaad, yet another twist. In the 5-year epilogue, we learn that Jian Ming isn’t dead yet. Just weak since he takes on all of the young Emperor’s pain and weaknesses because of the Bai Xi. While they don’t outright say it, the young Emperor talks about his “teacher” who’s always happy to see Hai Shi, and so we assume that it’s Jian Ming. After the credits, we see a masked Jian Ming turn towards the camera, which is basically confirmation that he’s still alive. 

Honestly, it’s so hard to live blog this drama because information keeps changing with new twists they introduce. 

Overall review:

It’s fine? Could have been shorter. Not angsty enough (though you can’t say it didn’t try). I like that the relationship between the Emperor and Jian Ming stayed consistent throughout. I also liked that the drama brought back Lang Huan. I had thought they forgotten about her. The Emperor x Ti Lan storyline is problematic as hell and you can skip all of their scenes and not miss anything about the overall story. Ti Lan is such a flat character though. 

The drama is messy, but it reminds me of a dark fairytale kind of messy. It’s dark. It’s idealistic. Everything’s too convenient for the main leads. Lots of side journeys and quests and side characters. 

It’s a typical Mary Sue drama that’s for Yang Mi and William Chan fans. I don’t think I would have kept going if it weren’t for them. But even then, their chemistry could have been better. Their relationship progression feels underwhelming and a little disappointing. It’s weird because the drama basically gave us all the elements that helps make an angsty idol romance: an emotionally repressed ML who’s forbidden himself from falling for the FL, several side characters who try to woo the FL, the ML purposely pushing the FL away to protect her leading her to misunderstand him, the eventual reveal and reconciliation, and then a brief period of happily every after. And they threw in some steamy scenes too. The drama’s given us all the different combination of scenes that the leads could have together. And yet. I’m not as invested in the relationship as I hoped I’d be. 

I don’t know. Am I being too critical? The last costume drama I watched was Ancient Love Poetry, which was also panned by a lot of people, but I actually enjoyed that one. It took awhile to warm up to, but the lead characters grew on me. 

I feel like the drama was too afraid to task risks because they didn’t want to offend any fans. Like at the end, you assumed that Jian Ming died, but then in the epilogue you learn that oh wait, he’s still alive. He and Hai Shi just can’t be together because of their roles and duty to the young emperor, so they love each each other from a distance. But, affairs happen all the time, so you can imagine. It’s an open ending. Or, maybe they get together in the future. But as long as he’s still alive, there’s hope for them. 

Because they spent so much time giving Hai Shi and Jian Ming a taste of married life, I don’t think they have any regrets. We as the audience also get closure because we got to see them be together for a little while. 

On MDL there’s speculation that Hai Shi was pregnant with Jian Ming’s child at the time and so she’s actually raising two children. But honestly, I don’t care whether or not Hai Shi and Jian Ming had a child. First of all, they don’t need to have a child to strengthen the bond between them. And second, I’m just not that invested in them. 

Anyway, I’m glad to be done with this drama. I usually feel a pang of withdrawal and bittersweetness after I finish a drama because I’ll miss it. But I don’t feel that with this one. It was watchable. I was entertained and engaged, but it wasn’t memorable. 

#novoland: pearl eclipse #斛珠夫人 #cdrama #yang mi #william chan #cdrama review

[project-paranoia]

Live Watch: Guardian  Episode One, Part One

It's Guardian!  The show that got me interested in this genre!  I love spooky things and I love mysteries and fantasy!  I simply adore it so much!  When I can't sleep I just put on a playlist of Guardian in the background.  I was aware of censorship before - every country has some version of it, but to some degree this was my first deep dive into how it might effect a piece of media.  Guardian is exceptionally acted and incredibly written, as well as suffering from obvious dubs where the dubbing voice actor sounds nothing like the previous actor and odd cuts that are disrupted.  In some ways it's the little drama that could fighting its way past their studio going bankrupt while they were filming, reshoots, and being taken down and altered several times.

In some ways Guardian's struggle fits the spirit and aesthetic of the show. Worn in like an old pair of jeans but still making an effort.  Putting emphasis where things count and hoping the kindness of the universe will make allowances for the rest.  Attention to detail where the story really matters.  It has the charm of a community production put on out of love with actors and crew who would not be anywhere else in the world for any amount of money.  That feeling of love comes through, and whether or not I'm barely literate I have so many words to share.

Part of why I love it as well is it has that feeling of 80s and 90s fantasy, like Moomin, Xena or Condor Heroes. Everything feels lived in, nothing's been spit shined except for Shen Wei's suits. It's an old city street of a show, it has history and character built in. 

*After all that I don't know that I have a tonne to say about the intro.  It's very good but it's also full of spoilers.  I think having the intro song be in English does make a difference in making it appealing to English speaking audiences as well as standing out as different and interesting, which the show is. Speaking of Spoilers!  Spoilers below!

* The obligatory beginning narration is beautifully animated, I have another post that will be done some time before the heat-death of the universe talking about the fascinating world building options.  Unlike some Make It SciFi plots, this one has legs and implications.

* Remakes rarely are able to meet the original on equal ground - and I struggle to believe the actors would Fit as well - but part of me really wants to have a chance to have the Dixingren worldbuilding really leaned into.  The writing is good enough we get implication but no real follow through.  I want fifty episodes of how Dixing functions, give me more pseudo-science behind the mutations, what are the biological differences.  I'm hungry for more!

* I love the cameos of later characters, and the way there was some effort to be discrete with spoilers.

* It's Ya Boy!  I love Shen Wei.  With that music cue and that sinister turn around they really set him up as dubious.  I wish they went with something a little different with the intro so his character wasn't spoiled.  The writing, directing, and acting was so good and spoiling who Shen Wei is kind of took the teeth out of that.

* Also cheers to the costume designer who outfitted Zhu Yilong so well and made him look jacked with the fit of those clothes.

* Also you can tell this is a real university because the staff has to sit in tiny student chairs.  I'm not joking, please be warned if you're going into academia.  Unless you have tenure life is An Adventure - and even then.

* Also shout out to Shen Wei's Prized Cabbage and the Queen of our hearts, Li Qian.  Why is this actress not in more things?  She has such an expressive and lovely face and she really goes all the way in with her acting.  I respect an artist that acts from their chest. Also that windbreaker, white skirt combo is chic and fun all at once, it draws the eye and makes her melt into the background all at once - perfect for the character.  I love her so much.

* Here's another one of Shen Wei's coats, it's a lovely color for him but it also is so thin that it looks like it crinkled up just from being worn.

* I'm being distracted by details and missing plot stuff.

* Story of my life.

* I love Li Qian hovering along behind Shen Wei like a duckling following their mother.  A) Mood and B) it quietly informs their dynamic.  Shen Wei has like one person he can trust but no one he can really confide in and it's the same for Li Qian. A ship will find a port in a storm and Shen Wei has Big Da-ge Energy. My fanfic heart hopes they found comfort in the pseudo familial relationship with each other while it lasted.

* Even in episode one we receive foreshadowing, we love and respect some excellent writing.  For those of you who missed it - Professor Ouyang is talking about Lin Jing who I love partially because he's so outrageous large but has the total opposite of intimidating energy.  

* What did they feed you Lin Jing? He is so tall and wide, but they do a lot with camera work to try to make him not quite as big.  Side note, I would really love to see the actor who plays Lin Jing (Liu Minting) both in more dramas but more specifically in a role where he was like a minister or scholar - someone intellectual.  I think the combination of being such a big gentleman and also someone who like plots or plans would be really dynamic if it was written well.  

* Also I like the exchange where without a word Professor Ouyang indicates he has one last thing to say, it's private and that he would like Shen Wei to ask Li Qian to leave. That's What You Can Do With Good Actors!

* Li Qian is just so pretty and the actress emotes so well!

* Shen Wei totally understanding what's going on with this shady research immediately and wanting to stay as far away as possible.  We see one of the first examples of him being aggressively polite to remove himself from a situation.

* "i'M jUST aN oRDINARY sCHOLAR." No one buys it Shen Wei.

* Angy Thinking Face

* One thing the show is really good at is using establishing shots really well so you always know where everything is and everything is going

* Guo Changcheng, all around good boy and angel.  We stan a nervous legend

* Zhou Yunlan Arriving.  Why is everyone on this show an Absolute Legend

* Guo Changcheng protecting himself with his certificate is too cute.  This young man is trying his best and I support him.

* Also that coat is Young, Pure, Stylish; I love it

* Zhao Yunlan, what's wrong with you? You are amazing!

* His irreverent style and disregard of usual policy makes him fit in really well with his band of misfits and special cases

* Guo Changcheng's OO face is too good, elastic face

* Da Qing my love!

* Jin Ling, I think he has an all seeing eye on his hoodie thing. Illuminati Confirmed.

* Also they filmed the shots so well, so you always know where everyone is in relation to everyone else

* Our Prized Cabbage!  I love her!

* Great handheld work: shaky and unhinged, but not migraine inducing

* Foreshadowing in the form of a shadow and reaching for the necklace

* Da Qing's cat behaviours. I really want behind the scenes of the actor discussing how cat was he going to cat

* We get our first real example of how Zhao Yunlan doesn't feel safe emoting negatively and so he uses a super sunny mask to hide his feelings, except with Da Qing who he lets his anger show with because he trusts him.

* I'm not even halfway through and I've written so much, peace and blessings to the readers of this.

* Zhao Yunlan's swagger, after his childhood having a little power must feel comforting and good

* I love how Da Qing is talking as a cat less than a meter from the medical examiner.  Does the examiner not care or does he know?  Is he deaf?

* Harassing Guo Changcheng is the new team sport

* Zhao Yunlan Realises Something Music

* Also, Lollipop Measurement

* It's nice to see Zhao Yunlan just being himself with Da Qing, he's able to really be honest and genuine with him

* Slow Look Moment

* This moment is so fascinating!  Shen Wei doesn't know what's going on yet.  He just sees an old friend who winces when he sees him and disappears.  We mostly see things from Zhao Yunlan's point of view, but from Shen Wei's perspective this is a first part of just some Odd and Confusing Happenings

* This cat though!  I love him!

* The delicate way they’re both feeling each other out.  This must be so confusing and startling for Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan is trying to figure out if this teacher is going to bust him or what.

* He forgot to let go, way to set off Zhao Yunlan’s suspicions

* “Mark Stewart” Is he though?  Who picked out that English name?

* Li Qian!  I love her and I love that striped blouse. Fashion.  Got to look good when you’re resisting a mental break. *Also she hears a meow and looks around at eye level, I love that for her.

* Zhao Yunlan!  You can’t take pictures of young ladies without their permission.  What is wrong with you!

* I love Da Qing’s very cat attitude of I Will Have Vengeance for These Wrongs

* Two for one! Shen Wei meets two faces from his past.

* Also, I get a little frustrated about people making a big deal about the 10,000 years versus 1,000 years age thing with Da Qing.  a) He has amnesia and b) the thousand years refers to the amount of time needed to cultivate to a certain stage in Chinese mythology - usually by absorbing energy from the sun, moon, or depending on the animal other sources.

* I feel so bad for Shen Wei, who knows what he thinks.  Were his friends brainwashed?  Did they forget?  Can they not say for some reason?  What is happening?

This review is getting a little long, so join in tomorrow for Part Two~~!

#Guardian #watchthrough

[yukihime242]

It’s been a while since I last met Mona from that meteorite event where everyone was trying to get a free Fischl. Yet, here we are, bumping into a very smug Mona who takes lots of pride in her astronomy.

Not many game developers pays attention to the details of the games and it is precisely the reason why I love Genshin Impact so much. Sidetracking a bit, after dealing with Stormterror and moving onto Liyue, you will hear the two Fatui in Mondstadt talking about the events in Liyue.

Which is why I am so happy with the greeting conversation with Mona. I completed the meteorite event before being able to unlock Mona’s character story event, so this part here is absolute gold.

Details are very important. 

Anyway, Mona explained that her readings had brought her to us. She wanted us to accompany her back to Mondstadt to retrieve an old box for her teacher.

I personally would not question the details of her readings since some things were just meant to be. However, it seems that the actual reason for us to accompany her to Mondstadt is simply to witness a battle between her and the guardian of the box.

I hate to disappoint you, Mona, but that successor is probably going around Mondstadt trying to do fish blasting.

Regardless, we followed her back to some inn whose owner kindly took her in during her stay there. As a show of gratitude and appreciation for taking care of her, she was willing to assist in looking for a ring albeit being reluctant at first.

As usual, I am the one who has to find the ring. Alas, the ring was swallowed by some slimes. And as usual, I got to retrieve the ring back with no worries and returned it to Mr. Zhu.

Seriously, man. You’ve got to have a box containing all of those rings why can’t you just keep them locked tight in the box?

But then, 253 rings is really something...

I also forgot to mention one more thing. Mona wanted me to learn a bit of astrology so that she could best the successor and show to her master that she is more than capable of taking care of herself.

As I mentioned, Mona, you don’t really have to worry about that since the successor is more interested in being a little bomber.

For a job well done, Mona decided to treat us to a meal at Wangshu Inn. Unfortunately, Paimon overindulged herself on the food, leaving Mona with practically nothing to eat.

Seeing how hungry she was, Paimon suggested that we cook her a meal instead. We head up to find the innkeeper to ask if we could borrow his kitchen. He decided to give us the recipe for a dish of golden crab and this got Paimon pumping.

Paimon, this is for Mona, okay? That poor damsel has nothing to eat thanks to you!

After presenting that luxurious dish to Mona, we hit the road once all tummies were filled. Taking a break at Stone Gate, we were greeted by some passing merchants. Fortunately, Mona was able to see through their lies and they were instead bandits. 

We continued on to Mondstadt and finally get to meet the great sucessor.

If you guys have yet to guess based on what I wrote earlier, yes, the successor Mona refers to is Klee.

We asked her whether she has in her possession a box which her mother, Alice, gave to her for safekeeping before leaving Mondstadt. Klee excitedly remembers that box and said she used it to bury her treasure...

Oh dear...

She went running off towards Windrise to find the box and Mona told us to follow her.

We arrived at the location to find a dendro slime... Did she just use a dendro slime as a sign post?

We battled the dendro slime and finally retrieved the box. We brought it back to Mona who was reading a book while waiting for us.

Unfortunately, the box was empty and she demanded to know what happened to the contents of the box.

No, darling, you are not. Don’t worry about it.

So, yep. Mona unintentionally was reading the diary of her master. She could not go back as her master would be able to figure out that Mona would be lying to her.

With no other choices left, Mona decided to stay in Mondstadt for a while yet is also another problem.

Since, there were no known lodgings, we had to approach Kathy at the Adventurer’s Guild for help. She suggested a place who was owned by the Goth Hotel owner. 

The deal was that if anyone could break the seal on the door, the place would be theirs.

Mona proved that it would be a cinch for her. She broke the seal and by the said deal, the place would be hers. Or so we thought.

Think there was some sort of miscommunication because I also thought that Mona would get it all to herself. Unfortunately, there is rent involved.

After resolving the small details, Mona now has a place to stay. But the lack of mora caused us to be concerned for her.

#mihoyo #Genshin #genshin impact #genshin mona #genshin impact mona #mona genshin #mona genshin impact

[july-19th-club]

hi, i am very sorry to bother you, but i am trying to get into The Untamed and i am having a lot of trouble just... understanding it? even its basic premise? i tried watching the netflix show and got really confused and then i tried looking stuff up on the wiki but that was also incredibly hard for me to parse. if it's not too much trouble could you, like... give a very basic summary as if i am a particularly slow child? if not dwbi don't feel obligated to respond! again sorry to bother you

ok i myself am not DONE with the show, but i think i can parse out the beginning of it for you, and the main thing that might help your understanding is that the first two episodes take place in media res, and THEN the next like...twenty or so jump back to give a linear flashback of what happened to GET us to the first couple episodes. so because of the nature of the present-day/WOAH BIG FLASHBACK structure, you’re not meant to know everything that’s going on to start with; there are lots of things in the first couple episodes that ONLY become clear once you’ve gone back and established who the characters are. it sort of plops you right down in the middle of the action and then rolls you all the way to the beginning so as to clarify a few things.

i’ve heard a couple people say that if you don’t want the confusion of this, start with episode three,  and then go and watch episodes 1&2 AFTER you’ve finished all the way up to about a quarter of the way through episode 33. this seems needlessly circuitous to me, so instead i will try to give you a basic rundown of the important plot stuff so you’ll know what’s happening in the beginning. after you get to the flashback as episode 3 starts, it’s pretty straightforward from there and things are explained as the action unfolds in order.

BASIC PREMISE: this is a story about two men (wei wuxian and lan wangji) in ancient fantasy china. they’re also each other’s love interests, although due to censorship reasons, this is established mostly via context clues rather than physical stuff. we follow them forward and backward through time as they navigate political upheaval, war, some murder mysteries, and ghost troubles. HERE’S HOW IT STARTS.

a) a young man is seen falling off a cliff to his death in battle. two men are with him; these fellows will become important later. for now, all you need to know is that the guy in white likes him and the guy in blue doesn’t. a scholar narrates the battle in a voice-over, and seems THRILLED that our hero has just died.

b) FAST FORWARD 16 YEARS

c) as the scholar finishes his lecture, we see a very confused man waking up in a very bloody room. this is wei wuxian, the guy that died in the prologue; he’s just been resurrected and tasked with taking revenge on a shadowy figure’s enemies. we quickly learn that he’s as confused as we are. he doesn’t know much except that there seem to be some ghosts possessing people in the household where he’s woken up, and that none of these people seem to like him very much. crucially, none of them know he’s the man that died, however: they seem to think he’s someone else entirely. he takes advantage of this, puts on a mask, and disguises himself so that nobody recognizes him.

d) at this point, we meet several other people who will become important: the crowd of chipper young gents in white who are setting up flags all over the place are “the juniors,” a group of students who specialize in magical fighting skills and exorcisms. at the climax of the episode, their teacher shows up to help them battle the ghosts; he’s the guy in white from the prologue! that’s lan wangji, our second romantic lead. our hero is extremely happy to see him, but doesn’t show his face. ghosts vanquished, our hero leaves town the next morning. so too, does a mysterious figure whose face we don’t see, but who carries a fan and seems to have a lot of gold to spend on scholars telling stories about battles.

e) EPISODE TWO: our hero wanders about the countryside, still trying to figure out why he’s alive. on the road, he meets a crowd of travelers, who provide some background info on the world our story takes place in. our hero experiences a couple weird flashbacks on his way to the temple, including one at a graveyard tended by an old man. the woman we see him imagining? she’s an important figure from his past.

f) OTHER PEOPLE WE MEET IN THIS EPISODE: a somewhat bratty teenager in gold; this is jin ling. he’s a rich warrior, but he’s also an orphan and a bit touchy about it. he’s busy setting traps for demons in the woods, and when he gets into an argument with our hero about his attitude...

g) HIS UNCLE SHOWS UP. this is jiang cheng, and the most important thing about him right now is that he’s the other guy from the prologue - the guy who pushed our hero to his death. this is understandably worrisome, but before he can figure out wei wuxian is alive, lan wangji and the juniors show up and our hero is able to escape.

h) at this point, lots of things happen at once, culminating in the juniors fighting an animate statue and our hero stepping in to help them. he does so via makeshift flute, which seems to be his primary weapon; with it he summons a figure in black who flings some chains around and really kicks ass. he’s another figure from the past, but before we can find out about him, everyone i’ve mentioned sort of converges on the scene and it’s clear at this point that our hero may have given himself away.

i) FLASHBACK TIME. the episode ends with a flashback to many years before, some time prior to the battle in the prologue. our hero is enjoying a stroll through a nice town with two people who we quickly learn are his siblings - a sister and a brother. first mystery solved: the brother is jiang cheng, our cliff-pusher. they’re on their way to school as episode 3 begins, and from there the series follows their adventures as juniors some sixteen+years prior, what they do after school, how the war begins, and why our hero dies in battle. when it’s all said and done, this part of the story takes us all the way up to ep33, when we revisit the battle, now with context. after that, we’re back in the present.

do note that lots of characters have several names and titles, so i can break some of those down and that might clear up some of the confusion as well. i recommend the TVTropes page if you want a breakdown of ALL the titles; it’s pretty thorough and sometimes wikis can be overwhelming. the only ones you’ll need to know from the start tho are these ones:

wei wuxian = wei ying = the yiling patriarch > all same guy

lan wangji = lan zhan = hanguan-jun (his job) > all same guy

i realize this is very long, but i wanted to be thorough for you. if it sounds very confusing, it IS based on a novel, mo dao zhu shi, which i have not read but which you can find online and which i believe does the flashbacks in a more spaced-apart way. i hope this answered your question??? i realize i kind of went for it, but i wanted to give you a thorough recap without too many spoilers.

#the untamed #long post #Anonymous #anon i REALLY hope the length of this post doesnt scare you off lol i was trying to be thorough

[chromeskiesstuff]

The Killing of Three Thousand Crows Recap EP 1 三千鸦杀

This drama has been a huge blast - I am 8 EPs in and the plot, characters are wonderful and refreshing. The main leads are a hoot themselves, being very hilarious and have their own unique personalities. Props to CGI and costume theme who does their best to make it realistic while in budget, in particularly the costumes feel so natural and pretty.

So just a brief introduction:

This is a Xianxia adaptation from novel of the same name. Xianxia = it involves immortals. Our heroine, Yan Yan, or with her adult/real name Qin Chuan (覃川) is a mortal princess of her country and it has been destroyed by the demon people. Her people are slain and she vowed to kill off each and every demon people to bring peace to her people.

The Male Lead is Jiu Yun (九云), a powerful young immortal who has a crush on her, and he has seen through her ten lives/ previous reincarnation.

We started off with our male lead, Jiu Yun and his friend. His friend ponders why he is sharing with him a drawing by his Shifu/Master and what is it about.

He replied that this was about a war where drums are beating, and bones anre piling up. He also said he didn’t understand the meaning of the drawing for thousand years.

The cinematography is pretty amazing and the narration done by Zhen Ye Cheng (yes our Male lead does his own dubbing along with Zhao Luo Si) is nothing short of haunting. The sequence is written in a semi-classical format, and its a thing of beauty when it combines with great cinematography, great colour combinations, great symbolism (eg drums that reinvigorate a dying party) , great prose and great narration. Look at her red robes flowing in harsh winter while hitting the drums. Maybe I should translate this part later :D

His friend retorted. “It’s normal for mortals to be in war”. He replied "I finally met her yesterday. I have been searching for her for a thousand years” while the screen switch to her facing her enemies alone. 

I presume she didn’t survive. Based on some notes on the novel this was her past life. Anyway I really dig these prologues as of late as its normally shot wonderfully and in a simplistic manner + introduce the whole thing.

The scene switched to an enormous paper bird flying down to a city.

I love the design of the paper bird. Its delicate. Can I have one for a Mercedes?

Our heroine slept at class, slacking off  from learning paper folding spells which is a secret skill of Dali royalty. He also scold her that she have already learn for a year but she knew nothing.Her Shifu challenges her to make ten paper crane. 

She could fight with Bai Qian with tardiness though what Bai Qian did is even more crayy

She defended herself that paper folding spells emphasize on making it freely/casually. Under her shifu threat, she back off, saying she can do it anyway, but instead she made a frog.

The sequence is amazing btw. The CGI is really on point here :D

The paper container too is delightfully designed. Along with the sunscreen panels at the background

The set design and the headdress. Its amazing. Look at the Peach blossom background :D. And I enjoyed her acting a lot. She displays the right amount of mischievousness here :D

Our princess met with her brother and to cheer her up,  her brother shows her a painting he obtained. She said the painting is fine but not worth two to three thousand coins. 

Yeap. It looks like regular drawing even from my POV. But I hope whoever drawing this is not offended T_T (based on TMOPB the artist will normally on set whenever their artwork is shown)

He asks her to look at it carefully. Soon the garden turns into winter, and winter plum blossom starts blooming, and sometime later it turns back to normal. She excitedly asks him where he obtains the painting. He told her he obtained it from the famed painter, Gongzi Qi (公子齐).

Cue hilarity ensured of Gongzi Qi being synonymous with celebrity, full-on with fans dying to have his artwork and to see him,  and her brother the prince being very excited to obtain one. While looking for the artist, a scroll appears on his hand and he looks both happy and confused.

Here’s how he describes Gongzi Qi:

Gongzi Qi, he was rumoured to be extremely handsome, with one of the kind drawing skills. He was rumoured to apply rare immortal spells to his artwork.

She muses that man is too proud. And if Gonzi Qi said his art skills are his second-best skill, then his music skills should be out of the world. Her brother said he wrote a song titled East Wind Peach Blossom Flower .. nope it's half a song not a full song (WTF XD) and he refuses to write the other half, saying that no dancer will be able to dance this song (I see you Gongzi Qi, you are tempting her). Indeed our princess is up to the challenge and asks her brother to request him to finish the song so she can dance to it.

The siblings then visit their cousin, where her brother advises her not to be rude. Apparently their aunt and cousin are attending their mom’s 40th birthday celebration.

After greetings and praises, the two women throwing barbs at each other, we know that Xuan Zhu (玄珠，the cousin) recently start to learn immortal skills under a mysterious teacher. Their barbs become a quarrel, causing their companions to try to rein them in. Yan Yan excuses herself. The quarrel continues as both are tugging a purple handkerchief. 

A man came in. Yan Yan seems to be jealous that this guy (Zuo Zi Chen, 左紫辰) seems to come here to visit Xuan Zhu. He clarifies that he is here on behalf of his father to see her cousins. She instantly brightens up and let him go. 

OK, first crush? And guy seems to be interested.

At the court, the King seems to be really worried about Tian Yuan, as they have usurped three countries around Dali. He is also worried as his prime minister Zuo (Zi Chen dad) applies for retirement at this time due to health. He announces that he will pay a visit to Prime Minister Zuo.

Our Prime Minister seems quite healthy (healthier than the king!!) and performs some ritual that's clearly demonic.

This is performed in front of a satan like figure. That's demonic even in Taoist book right?

Our prince got the sheet music, but with a bet from Gongzi Qi: She must be able to perform it, else he will make her a laughing stock. While visiting the prime minister, she took the opportunity to visit Zi Chen. She blocks him from visiting the king. Instead, she wants him to ask him something on the new music sheet she obtained since he is extremely good with music.

uwuuw the music sheets are so pretty

Zi Chen was amazed since he never saw such complicated tunes. There is a catch though. The verse she pointed out is rather bloody and will cause the audience and the performer to feel very sad, totally inappropriate for a birthday celebration. He answers the way to go is to change the tunes from a sad tone to a happy one.

Girl is clearly enamored with him and his skills. He turned around and ask whether his modified tunes sounds right. She thinks it's great. And she gifted him a hairpin, helping him to wear the new hairpin. She finishes pining the hairpin and touches his face. He reciprocates by grabbing her hand tenderly

OMG I must say this scene is so well done. Very tender, and little words need to be said.

After she left, his father looks for him. He looks anything but friendly. He asks whether he knew the reason the king came. Oh gosh, the prince is way too naive. His father is clearly plotting about something. But he is a young man in the midst of meeting his first love, maybe that's why he didn't catch on the shenanigans.

The Princess is totally unaware of the plot tho, she happily shares her joy with her maid, Aman and hoping for the day Zi Chen will marry her. She also declares that she will be able to conquer the tough music sheets and it will prove Zi Chen's musicality is superior to Gongzi Qi. 

At night Gongzi Qi visited her, leaving her a note. She wakes up and declared again that she will win their bet. Gongzi Qi hears her in the court garden and leaves with a smile.

It seems like the budget is spent on the prince wardrobe. His gear looks very natural and menacing ha. But the candles deco is totally inferior to TMOPB Ye Hua house. Maybe the Demon People are saving the $ for war?

Yan Yan dance is stellar, she interprets the music sheets beautifully, with peach blossoms,snow and leaves. The audience including her brother, Zi Chen, and Gongzi Qi are amazed.

Oh wow the music is wonderful. It reminds me of TMOPB EP30 Peach blossom scene OST - the warm and sweet feel kinda touch. And the dance is shot beautifully. Although I think some of the dance moves are done by a professional dancer? Not a problem imo since one of the most beautiful performances in cdrama history is choreographed by a dancer.

And YESSSS.... his wardrobe is really on point here and the angles the cinematographer take is really good. He is not your conventionally attractive lead so I understand that some angles will not stand out. Kudos to the production team!

The dance ended and Gongzi Qi was shocked that she changed the ending of his sheet music. HA, SO YOU KNOW SHE IS GONNA PERFORM AT HER MUM’S BIRTHDAY BASH PARTY AND YOU WRITE HER A BLOODY TUNE? lmao he is pissed and serves him right XD. And what's wrong with your bestie XD? He seems to have a tendency to pine after a married woman.

They met Shifu who seems to be their ShiXiong (Elder brother disciple). Shifu reminded Gonzi Qi that since he is an immortal, he shouldn’t involve with mortal matters especially when Yan Yan is still very young. Gongzi Qi asks if he insists on doing it? Shifu replied that her fate has been decided and he shouldn’t go against fate. He seems to accept that decree and he hands over a huge scroll of painting, requesting Shifu to pass it to her.

Note: The reason why Shifu is able to involve is that he owes a debt to the Dali Royal family per the book.

At night the city is being attacked, and Yan Yan wakes up feeling happy and refreshed. She saw the painting scroll, both her and her maid marvelled at the painting and she told her maid that she wants to go outside alone to visit Zi Chan.

Meanwhile, Zi Chan father sent his son away “ For praying in the temple. Do request for glory at Royal Court”. His son wonders as his dad will not need it because he is retiring. His dad replies smoothly that it’s for Zi Chan. Zi Chan wanted to pray for his father’s health, and his father praised him lightly, sending him away. Looks like he is sending him away for safety. 

COMMENTS

I have been waiting for this drama for some time, and luckily they are no longer stuck in broadcasting hell. This EP has a lot to unpack, introducing the background and characters. I feel this EP wonderfully introduces multiple characters while making Yan Yan and Zi Chan characters unique. Yan Yan character is sweet while slightly spoiled, she is still very charming herself, and have all the characteristics of a well-loved high born lady. Zi Chan too stands out as the highly ranked son, with his politeness and his crush with Yan Yan being really subtle. Plot-wise it is interesting and hopefully, the revenge plot won’t be too over the top later. The drama is also not afraid to insert some modern jokes (AHEM CELEBRITY ARTIST) while feeling super natural in doing so.

 The magic spells they introduce are fairly unique too (paper magic) which can be quite handy. The brief introduction of paper cranes and paper frogs are delightful. The costumes are delightful too. One of the difficulties of cdrama production is making costumes natural relative to the period and making it beautiful. I love Zi Chan wardrobe here because he looks great in it while not making him too prince-like. Likewise I like that Gongzi Qi wardrobe are slightly more fancier than a normal immortal /Taoist disciple (YEAH HIS WEIRDASS WAYS) but not that fancy.

I think one of the downsides for this drama is the set production. Some of the sets like the snow scene are totally beautiful, while at some parts its so obvious the wood is made of plastic, or the garden looks too tropical. That being said I understand cdrama fantasy budgets are tight + high likelihood of delayed broadcasting, so these downsides are relatively minor, plus the cinematography team is killing it, so I think in overall any fan of xianxia should watch it.

#the killing of three crows #三千鸦杀 #cdrama #recap #review #thoughts #the killing of three thousand crows

[i-am-an-accidental-hipster]

Anime and Animation Recommendations (Includes shows I would never recommend, please read the accompanying text)

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: I feel like this is what would happen if the album Clockwork Angels by Rush was turned into anime, but the main character was replaced by two brothers who actually have a personality and an interesting backstory. Essentially, it is a mix of a compelling take on western philosophy from an eastern perspective, good character writing, and FANTASTIC art direction. Characters undergo meaningful development, it has no filler, and it avoids the problem of power creep fairly well. Adding to that its heavy use of Sakuga an minimalist animation, and it is one of my favorite anime of all time.

Mob Psycho 100: Criminally underrated. With a plot borrowed from a japanese web-comic maker who is surprisingly good at making comedy and relatable themes meld seamlessly, and animated by Studio Bones which is basically my favorite studio, this show is absolutely fantastic, to the point at which it competes with ol’ Fullmetal for my favorite anime. Like its sister anime One Punch Man, this show uses VERY heavy use of both Sakuga and minimalist styles of animation, switching between them in a way that is hardly noticeable but also really captures the feel of the situation; it even switches art styles regularly, and the animators are not afraid to try new things, making the show an absolute blast to watch. Despite its comedy focus, the main characters undergo extensive development, sometimes in the span of a single episode, and the combat sections are mesmerizing to look at.

One Punch Man: Really good show, slightly overrated, but mostly deserving of the attention it gets. As someone who was unemployed for a long time, this show really captures the difficulties of someone in that situation. The plot, such as it is, is pretty repetitive by it’s very nature, but it’s animated by Mad House studios, and is basically composed entirely of Sakuga with short spurts of minimalist animation to remind one of the original web comic (you may notice a theme in the anime I like), making it a blast to watch. Would recommend.

Hero Academia: The Naruto of our generation, and it’s easy to see why it’s so popular. The character designs and personalities are all memorable (such that you can actually remember all their names), and basically all of the main cast gets at least some screen time; as a result, it is really easy to remember basically everyone’s names. Because of the memorable character designs, it is no surprise that the fandom is bursting at the seams with shippers, but for the most part it’s non-toxic and results in a lot of pretty good fan art. And of course, as you guessed, it has Sakuga, and makes good use of it. Finally, as an aside, it has one of the best portrayals of a paragon archetype character I have seen in a long time, in the form of All Might. Would recommend, but I really don’t have to because it’s all over the place.

Guerren Lagann: Good animation, good character designs, stupid nonsensical plot. A really fun anime if you turn your brain completely off and just watch the GIANT ROBOT FIGHTS.

Kill la Kill: Good animation, but I can’t stand the character designs and the plot is so physically painful I couldn’t watch past the fourth episode (I only watched in the first place because some idiot on youtube said it had interesting themes, which it does not). Do not recommend.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team: Good anime, but the fanservice is too much for me. Just as I was getting invested in the plot (a treatment of the Gundam war from the perspective of the grunts on the surface), BOOM NAKED BOOBS HERE. No seriously, it came out out of nowhere so suddenly it gave me a heart attack. Mixed feelings on this anime.

Death Note: Good anime. A little melodramatic. I love L, ‘cause he’s basically me but smarter. Would recommend.

Bleach: SO MUCH POTENTIAL WASTED. Season 1 was GREAT, season 2 was ok, and then I couldn’t get past the Bount arc. Would recommend for the sake of the first two seasons.

Attack on Titan: two words: CRIMINALLY OVERRATED. It’s basically edgy trash with little depth or nuance, and a plot that seems ripped from Starship Troopers.

Assassination Classroom: Really good, actually. Well animated, decent character designs, a little weak on character development. Korosensei is my spirit animal (I’m a teacher). Goodness gracious, he embodies everything I want to be in terms of being a teacher, except perhaps his obsession with big boobs. Would recommend.

Psycho-Pass: Very cerebral, very interesting, very mesmerizing, has complex themes. Only downsides are that it’s basically a torture porn during the entire first half of the first season, which means you don’t want to eat before you watch it, and really only the main two protagonists and the main villain have good character designs. Would recommend for those who don’t mind seeing a lot of mutilated bodies and who like complex themes.

Now for shows that look like anime:

Avatar the Last Airbender: No surprise, this is a really good show. Minimal filler, and what filler there is doesn’t feel like filler. Good action, excellent handling of complex themes, good magic system. The plot starts out okay and then ramps up significantly after the season one finale. Where this show really shines, though, is it’s characters, who are almost all memorable and have great voice acting. Better yet, almost all of them get character development. Also a good exploration of eastern philosophy. Would recommend to those three people who haven’t seen it yet.

Legend of Korra: Good action, good art direction, really good animation. Not sure I like most of the characters, though. to be honest, Varrick, Zhu Li, Bumi, and Bo Lin are the only protagonists who I like in this show, besides of course the returning caste from the previous show. Season two was pretty bad, but the plot was very strong for seasons 1, 3, and 4. Some things felt very shoehorned. Almost all the villains were so incredibly compelling that they almost made up for the bland protagonists, and each one represented an individual theme, which was a very nice touch. Kinda screwed up some of the lore and the magic system, though. Mixed feelings on this one.

Dragon Prince: Season 1 was good, introduced a really cool magic system, nice complex themes, and a diverse and likable cast. The down side was that it suffered from some... questionable choices in animation style. Season 2, on the other hand, is... just really, really, really good. It has a good chance of becoming the next Avatar the Last Airbender if it keeps this up. It explores the magic system in fascinating detail, the themes are developed with a depth that rivals that of Korra, the plot has thickened, and the characters have developed significantly in likability and relatability. I highly recommend this one.

Voltron Legedary Defender: Starts out really good with Sakuga all around, kick-ass action scenes, and a decent plot. Unfortunately the shippers infested the fandom to the point where they were actually influencing the direction of the show, and the plot suffered as a result. Over the course of eight season, the show slowly decayed into a hollow shell. Mixed feelings on this one.

Ben 10: Kinda overrated, but still good. A nice watch on day you just want to relax and watch well-animated fights, but don’t expect it to make much sense.

Generator Rex: Criminally underrated. I love all the characters, all the action is great (even if it doesn’t make sense sometimes), animation is pretty good throughout, and it actually has really good technobabble. Honestly, it is my favorite show out of all of the ones on the list, despite its problems, just because of the really cool aesthetic. The main character starts as an obnoxious stereotypical Cartoon Network Protagonist, and develops into my second-favorite depiction of a paragon archetype. All the villains are memorable (even the silly ones). The first season has the best stand-alones (with some absolutely hilarious comedy episodes, dark edgy episodes, and fascinating pieces of science fiction); the second season has a season finale so good it made me cry, and the third season has by far the most interesting plot. I have a recommended watch order if you want to watch it.

Samurai Jack: Minimalist, very stylized, has some kick-ass fight sequences. Each episode has it’s own plot with not much in terms of overlap, but even the minor characters are memorable. My favorite is the Scotsman, but that is really no surprise if you watch the show. The Yin Yang dynamic between Jack and Aku is really interesting in its own right. Would highly recommend.

Teen Titans: Starts out mediocre, quickly gets good by the end of the first season, then ramps up to amazing by whichever season had the Trigon arc. Characters are almost as instantly recognizable as those in Hero Academia, and each one gets character development. It also has some standalone episodes that are almost as good as the standalones in Generator Rex. YOU SHOULD WATCH THIS SHOW.

Young Justice: Very similar to Generator Rex in many way. Memorable characters with good character development, good sci-fi, good action, and a similar season structure. It’s having a new third season right now which, despite the drop in animation quality due to limited funds, still manages to be engaging (especially the Vandal Savage origin episode and the three-episode arc devoted to Cyborg’s origin). Would recommend.

Transformers Animated: Criminally underrated, largely because of its... different animation style which is more like the animation for Teen Titans than the original G1 series, and the fact that they changed a lot of the lore. It has surprisingly complex themes, the voice acting is spot-on, and they do a good job of handling power creep. Though many of the protagonists start out kind of unlikable, they get really good development as the series goes on. By season 3, every single character has become so likable that it becomes legitimately distressing when they get hurt, and they play it to good effect. To give you an idea, when my sister saw the season finale of this show, she had an enormous melt-down at the end when her favorite character died (not telling who). It took three days to calm her down (the only way to do so was to introduce her to the idea of fan-fiction. I HIGHLY recommend this show.

#fullmetal alchemsit brotherhood #anime #young justice #dragon prince #generator rex #my hero academia #mob psycho 100 #transformers #samurai jack

[infiniteleftdoesffxiv]

Getting to know me(me) (again-ish??)

One; Name/alias --

Real name is Nunya Biz, but I go by Infi or Ilma, depending on where folk know me from.

Two; Birthday --

Sep. 1st! I have no idea why the date feels satisfying, but it does.

Three; Zodiac Sign --

Virgo (Aug 23rd to Sep 22nd)

Four; Height --

I have no idea for sure, but apparently around 5 foot 4.

Five; Hobbies --

I have a lot. Besides RP and MMOs, I write fanfiction and original fiction, draw traditional and digital art, sew, collect porcelain dolls and various figures, and I write music as a side pursuit.

Then there's the cooking and baking... Don't get me started on reading. And crochet. And misc. miniature crafting. Or the other video games...

Six; Favorite Colors --

I'd have to say my favorite color of all time is pink. Hot pink, soft pink, pastel pink, neon pink, magenta to salmon... I love pink.

I also love reds and oranges and purples. Blues also come in closely; yellow is a color I'm very much "meh" on. Green... Overall, I'd say I hate it in general terms fjfjshhsjdjfh

Forest green, neon green, or pastel green. Any other greens are greens I Dislike:tm:

Seven; Favorite Books --

I haven't read it in a while, but I remember that I loved "The Cat Who..." series. It was just a fun time. I should read them again...

Warriors was another that I was head over heels for, a while back. Never finished the series, though -- I got to the end of the third arc, read a couple of the extra books, then fell out of reading them.

"The Secret Piano" is also a good book, but it's... Not so much a fiction book than a translated autobiography by Zhu Xiao-Mei. It was a bit of a difficult read (for me, at least), but it's definitely a good book to read if you're interested in what happened during the cultural revolution in China.

Eight; Last Song Listened To --

LittleJayneyCakes' cover of Regardless, Cannon Busters' ending theme.

Nine; Last Film Watched --

Oh god I don't remember. We're gonna count the last film that I chose to watch, since that's easier to remember. Think it was called "Olden Time"? It was an animated short film about an uhhhhh... think of Lumiere and Cogsworth from BatB? YEAH. Except with a TV and a windup cat doll. Old 50s-ish era TV set gets tossed out, meets a little windup cat doll. Things go from there.

It's a cute little bit of animation! Also sad at bits. I don't remember how it went, really, it's been around a year, at LEAST since I've seen it, but it was good. Do recommend.

Ten; Inspiration for Muse --

I've got so many, you'd have to ask for specifics, but a short list:

Eloise, Narua, Nim, Berriath, Tabitha, Carmen, and Fraeswys were based off of original/previous characters I've had in the past.

The rest are original to FFXIV-verse, and the starting point for them always has been "let's take a hook and build off that" (i.e, Yellow Dove: Maelstrom. Sechen: Xaela. Ryoko: Astrologan and Geisha.)

Eleven; Dream Job --

I don't remember if I've said it on my blog before, but my DREAM dream job would be as a paramedic.

My second dream job and the one I'm actually shooting for is to be a piano teacher. It's just... I love it so much, and the thought of passing on that knowledge and helping other people work to play it is just something that makes me happy. It won't be easy, but I'd think it rewarding.

Twelve; Meaning Behind URL --

Uh. Um. Hm. Yeah. I think it's obvious. Self explanatory.

My username tends to be Infiniteleft, and I play FFXIV now, so.... Yeah. Actually, you can also find my BNS blog simply by changing ffxiv for BNS. There's screenshots of Taiwoo (original Tabi), Carmen, AND Nim up there, I think. Alongside a couple of shitposts.

As for "Infiniteleft".... I have NO IDEA why I went with this, but. From what I've been told I told people, I really liked the infinity symbol when I was younger, and I'm left-handed, so I mushed them together because I needed a username. After a previous set of aliases which I won't disclose for the sake of my own peace of mind, this one stuck.

Tagged by: @benes-diction had an open tag so I went ham. Hi Jonesy.

Tagging: Gonna leave this one open, too, actually, with respect towards some people just wanting privacy for the first set of questions. If you wanna do it tho. Please. Go wild.

#ooc post #tag meme

[zirroxas]

So I Found All the Characters With Unique Backstories

Spent some time rooting around in the files to figure out which characters the game actually gave unique background descriptions to. There’s 94 in total. There’s something around 750 historical characters in the game, but only these comes with unique backstories. 

Some of them are quite hilarious. 

cai mao  -- Competent Sailor  -- "Cai Mao is adept of naval combat, and a budding admiral." cao ang  -- Prince Min  -- "Cao Ang's fate is to one day be prince of the House of Cao, be it in life or in death." cao cao  -- Strategic Mastermind  -- "The wily Cao Cao sees opportunity in the hardships of others, skewing things to his advantage." cao pi  -- Political Animal  -- "In war, you can only be killed once, but in politics, many times.""""" cao ren  -- Brave Hunter  -- "The skills of a fearless outdoorsman --horse-riding, archery, and hunting --make Cao Ren a valued battlefield ally." chen gong  -- Master Magistrate  -- "Chen Gong knows that even great men are imperfect, and righteousness is often not immediately obvious." cheng pu  -- Bandit Killer  -- 'The General of the Household Who Defeats Bandits' is living proof that bravery can overcome adversity. dian wei  -- Brute of Unmatched Power  -- "Such prowess! This is old Elai again!""""" dong zhuo  -- Cruel Tyrant  -- "Consumed by his hunger for power, Dong Zhuo's despotism knows no bounds." fa zheng  -- Vindictive Strategist  -- "The intelligent and vengeful Fa Zheng should not be crossed, lest you become the target of his deadly schemes." gan ning  -- Pirate of the Bells  -- "Cao Cao may have Zhang Liao, but I have Gan Ning! Thus we are evenly matched.""""" gao gan  -- Loyal Nephew  -- "Ever the rebel, Gao Gan's true allegiances shall only die when he does." gong du  -- Master of the Land  -- "Far from being just a heartless bandit, Gong Du is a principled soldier of honour." gongsun du  -- the Warlike  -- "In war, Gongsun Du does what is required of him; he revels in bloodshed and conquest." gongsun zan  -- The Iron Fist General  -- "Defence of the frontiers requires more than just the resources of a warlord, but also a merciless attitude." guan yu  -- God of War  -- "A famed warrior and righteous slayer of all who dare oppose him, Guan Yu's deification is already assured." guo jia  -- Astute Advisor  -- Guo Jia is a confidant of unparalleled foresight --to ignore his counsel is to invite failure and defeat. han fu  -- Diligent Agriculturalist  -- "Using his ability to manage food supplies with tireless efficiency, Han Fu is a most valuable logistician." han sui  -- Tireless Insurgent  -- "Insurrection is in Han Sui's blood. To him, subservience cannot be permanent." he man  -- The Most Powerful  -- "I am He Man, the devil who shoots across the sky! Who dares challenge me\?""""" he yi  -- Leader of the People  -- "With unwavering faith, He Yi inspires others to follow in his righteous footsteps." hua xiong  -- Fierce Beast  -- "With a head shaped like a leopard's and ape-like shoulders, Hua Xiong's ferocity is matched by his appearance." huang gai  -- Unreadable Warrior  -- His outward demeanour belies his real allegiances --Huang Gai truly is the very definition of inscrutability. huang shao  -- Wielder of the Heavenly Way  -- "All uprisings, no matter how widespread, stand little chance of success without strong leadership." huang zhong  -- of the Ageless Strength  -- "The venerable Huang Zhong, to whom age is just a number, is frequently underestimated in battle." huang zu  -- Ranged Ambusher  -- "Huang Zu likes to start offensives on the front foot, from a safe distance and out of sight." huangfu song  -- Aged General  -- "In the brutal business of war, there is no better teacher than experience." jia long  -- Short-sighted Peacekeeper  -- "Jia Long may dedicate much time to forethought, yet still lacks caution now and then." jia xu  -- The Blade in the Dark  -- Decisions made in secret can have the deadliest outcomes. jiang wei  -- Budding Commander  -- "Known for being an expert general despite his inexperience, Jiang Wei has a precocious talent for war." kong rong  -- Master Scholar  -- "Kong Rong claims descent from the great Confucius himself, attested to by his remarkable wit and scholarly fame." kong zhou  -- Pure Conversationalist  -- "A master at the art of Qingtan, Kong Zhou utilises discussion and debate as a means of intellectual self-improvement." lady sun  -- The Rising Sun  -- "As surely as the sun rises, the Lady will always endeavour to get her way." li ru  -- Vicious Shadow  -- Behind every despot's schemes is the intellect of a consummate strategist. ling tong  -- Daring Errant  -- "For some men, war is a chance to prove one's self and seek adventure." liu bei  -- Virtuous Idealist  -- "Despite having come from modest beginnings, the blood of ancient Han emperors flows through Liu Bei's veins." liu biao  -- Gentleman of the Han  -- "A man seldom ruffled, Liu Biao demonstrates his aristocratic pedigree through stable officiality." liu dai  -- Generous Attendant  -- "In spite of the harsh realities of palace life, Liu Dai conducts himself according to his nature: with kindness and benevolence." liu xie  -- Former Emperor  -- "While no longer leading their people, they still strive to bring peace to the land." liu yan  -- Opportunistic Ruler  -- "Some men just want to watch the world burn, while others use the opportunities placed before them." liu yao  -- Welcoming Magistrate  -- "Liu Yao appears to be a 'yes' man, but is nevertheless known for his staunch incorruptibility." liu yu  -- Prosperous Trader  -- Liu Yu's rapport with foreigners and minorities has enabled him to amass considerable wealth from trade. liu zhang  -- Proponent of Peace  -- "A timid and suspicious noble, Liu Zhang displays a willingness to avoid war, even if that means surrender." lu bu  -- Warrior Without Equal  -- "With unpredictable loyalty and unsurpassed martial skill, Lü Bu is the most dangerous warrior beneath the heavens." lu fan  -- Go Master  -- Go is not just an abstract game of strategy --it is a measure of one's aptitude in tactical forethought. lu meng  -- Late Scholar  -- "Despite becoming literate late on in his career, Lü Meng has proved himself a most able scholar." lu su  -- Charitable Envoy  -- "Ever the philanthropic diplomat, Lu Su's affluence empowers his charitable nature." lu xun  -- Scholar General  -- "Equal parts brains and brawn, Lu Xun can oversee both civil and military matters." ma chao  -- Most-brilliant Warrior  -- "With a complexion like jade and eyes like shooting stars, Ma Chao is a warrior truly brilliant in appearance." ma dai  -- Fraternal Warrior  -- There are few things more important to Ma Dai than bloodline and family. ma teng  -- Protector of the West  -- "Ma Teng may treat his friends well, but he remains merciless with the Han's enemies." mi zhu  -- Dependable Administrator  -- "In these interesting times of fluctuating allegiances, the steadfast loyalty of Mi Zhu can always be relied upon." pang de  -- White Horse General  -- "Pang De is an unrelenting force, whose avowed enemies know they must face him sooner or later." pang tong  -- Fledgling Phoenix  -- "Having risen from the ashes of obscurity, the 'Crown of Learned Men' is an advisor of the highest esteem." pei yuanshao  -- Virtuous Outrider  -- "Whether in charge of brigands or soldiers, one must lead by example, always riding at the head of the host." shi xie  -- King Shi  -- "With his long and distinguished record of sophisticated service, Shi Xie is destined for stately eminence." sima yi  -- Silver Eminence  -- "If you cannot fight, defend. If you cannot defend, flee. If you cannot flee, surrender. If you cannot surrender, die!""""" sun ce  -- The Little Conqueror  -- "Sun Ce has been likened to the warrior-kings of old, with an aptitude for military leadership that belies his youth." sun jian  -- Tiger of Jiangdong  -- "Claiming ancestry with the renowned military strategist Sun Tzu, the fearless Sun Jian has war flowing through his veins." sun qian  -- Upstanding Loyalist  -- Sun Qian's word is an unwavering bond. sun quan  -- Emerald-eyed Administrator  -- "Striking looks and a sturdy frame betokens Sun Quan's great nobility, heroism and longevity." taishi ci  -- of Exceptional Dexterity  -- "From horse-riding to archery, Taishi Ci excels in all manner of physical pursuits." tao qian  -- of the Sincere Jurisdiction  -- "Tao Qian may be a highly influential and ambitious figure, but expansionism is not on his personal agenda." wang lang  -- Ardent Educator  -- "A keen imparter of knowledge, even when it is neither wanted nor welcome." wang xiu  -- The Righteous Hero  -- "Never can it be said that Wang Xiu was ever disloyal, dishonourable or unwilling to come to the aid of those he serves." wei yan  -- Disobedient Tiger  -- "For the distrustful Wei Yan, a violent betrayal always simmers below the surface." wen chou  -- Fierce Firebrand  -- "If only Wen Chou were here, I'd have nothing to fear!""""" xiahou dun  -- Hotheaded Officer  -- Those who know Xiahou Dun know not to get on his bad side. xiahou dun 2  -- The One-eyed Exile  -- "You really don't want to know what he did with his eye after losing it to that arrow...""""" xiahou yuan  -- Maker of Ways  -- "When it comes to military logistics, where there's a will, Xiahou Yuan has a way." xu chu  -- Tiger Fool  -- "Xu Chu is a man of simple thoughts and principles, but an impressive warrior who fights with a bestial rage." xu huang  -- Guardian of the Gates  -- "When assigned to guardianship, Xu Huang is an immovable sentinel, requiring a tremendous effort to bypass." xu shu  -- Disguised Diplomat  -- "His body may be in one place, but his heart is in quite another." xun you  -- Gentleman Attendant  -- "A member of the learned scholar-gentry, Xun You is a profound thinker of great insight." xun yu  -- Hegemon's Aide  -- "Here comes my Zifang!""""" yan liang  -- Valiant Vanguard  -- "A foremost general of considerable military prowess, the gutsy Yan Liang is unmatched among ordinary warriors." yu jin  -- Enforcer of the Law  -- "As an imperious, by-the-book disciplinarian, Yu Jin rules his subordinates with fear and drilled-in obedience." yuan shao  -- Preeminent Commander  -- "Yuan Shao's astuteness, dignity and arrogance are the mark of his ancestors, many of whom served emperors past." yuan shu  -- Ambitious Powermonger  -- Yuan Shu is an ambitious but overconfident individual --time will tell whether such qualities shall trip him or aid his desires. yue jin  -- The Lion of Yangping  -- "What Yue Jin lacks in stature he makes up for in fierceness, fearlessness, and deadliness with his bow." zhang chao  -- Flowing Calligrapher  -- Such graceful skills with ink and brush are the mark a man of great education and scholarly puissance. zhang fei  -- Drunken Brawler  -- "Hold my wine...""""" zhang he  -- Courageous General  -- Zhang He's fearlessness enables him to retain his composure when having to adapt to unfavourable situations. zhang kai  -- Slayer of Tyrants  -- "The unjust rulers of the old regime shall perish.""""" zhang liao  -- The Heavenly Dragon General  -- "The model of professionalism and organisation, Zhang Liao has heavenly leadership skills." zhang lu  -- Celestial Master  -- "Just as water penetrates mountains, Zhang Lu always seeks to overcome hardness by his own accord." zhang yan  -- King of Black Mountain  -- "With his scores of followers, the bandit leader known as 'Flying Swallow' wields the influence of a king." zhang yang  -- Ignored Warlord  -- What is the fate of he who is forsaken and unjustly distrusted by his fellow warlords\? Only heaven knows. zhao yun  -- Light in the Dark  -- "In the darkest times of war, the auras of the most resplendent warriors gleam brightest." zheng jiang  -- Bandit Queen  -- "Hell-bent on plunder, Zheng Jiang goes to unspeakable lengths to obtain her loot." zhou tai  -- Man of Many Scars  -- "His scar-riddled skin is a canvas of stories, telling of countless bloody battles past." zhou yu  -- Melodic Strategist  -- "If there is a mistake in the tune, Zhou Yu will look up.""""" zhuge jin  -- Bookish Scholar  -- "Having studied history and poetry in years past, Zhuge Jin is a man who appreciates scholarship." zhuge liang  -- Sleeping Dragon  -- "A peerless genius and insightful strategist, there are few situations that Zhuge Liang's astute intellect cannot overcome."

#total war #Total War: Three Kingdoms