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While I'm online instead of falling asleep:

<<锦瑟>> 李商隐 (Li Shangyin)

锦瑟无端五十弦,一弦一柱思华年。
庄生晓梦迷蝴蝶,望帝春心托杜鹃
沧海月明珠有泪,蓝田日暖玉生烟。
此情可待成追忆,只是当时已惘然。

Ok, I've never paid that much attention to late Tang poetry (yes, I'm an unlettered oaf), and I have to admit that this poem caught my attention just now solely for the last bit in the third line: 玉生烟 (Yu Sheng Yan). Which is the name of Wu Yanshi's disciple in Thousand Autumns! Not sure if the author did take the name from this poem or if it's just a coincidence (or from another poem) but it is so adorable that I'm squeeing inside. (Tho' the poem is supposed to be a sad poem. But.) From what I gathered, 玉生烟 means a misty haze caused by sunlight on (jade)stone and refers to something ungraspable (I think?). Is it intended to be a sly reference to Yu Shengyan's very, very slow realisation of his shizun's infatuation with Shen Qiao? :))))

All the more delightful because this lyricism contrasts with Yan Wushi's terrible penchant for puns (Li Qingyu... tou).

***

In order to avoid writing my Yuletide fic (I know, I'm procrastinating, as usual), I started watching Crossfire Episode 1 on YT (穿越火线) and binged-watched it over the week. Fast-forwarded some of it, mostly when they were shooting at each other... Loved the earlier storyline of how e-sports started in China, the team's struggles and the prejudice against gaming especially professional gaming.

(There's two storylines, one starting in 2008 and one starting in 2019, and it's surreal to see a narration of how the 2019 team makes it to the national championship in 2020-2021 (!!!) and then flies to Singapore in 2021 (!!!!) for an international competition. Well, they probably made this in 2018-2019 and could not have anticipated the pandemic. Still.)

I watched it for Wu Lei (hello Fei Liu!) but ended up enjoying Lu Han's character more. The last episode was satisfying in that they caught the baddie at last but there's a lot of nationalist jingoism and of course, they had to defeat the Japanese team first (ahhhhh, China, never change).

***

By the way, I was grumbling the other day that Xiao Zhan didn't seem to have learnt the flute while filming the Untamed... turns out that he did learn it, there's bts. I guess the scenes where it didn't look right to me was... probably me? -_-; (Or the way that that they filmed those scenes, hmmm).

ruminatory

Jul. 12th, 2021 12:00 am
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The less said of RL the better, so I've been only coming home and watching tv and collapsing on my couch and watching endless repetitions of Xiao Zhan gossip on yt - just a few things that's been on my notes:

Fic-adjacent:

The things I would like to rant about fanfics with 'ancient' Chinese settings (I'm looking at you, Untamed and Word of Honor fics) but have no energy for but here is a list:

1. There are no weeks in ancient China. If you tell me a character is meeting someone next WEEK, I am instantly thrown out of the story. Bonus if characters suffer from Monday blues because the concept of weekend also doesn't exist.

2. Addressing your elders by their name. Each time Lan Wangji speaks to his brother, "Xichen, see you next week" (see above), I twitch. Even more so when he addresses Lan Qiren by name. Even WWX calls him 'old man' (MDZS Q).

3. The months are not called January, February, March... I guess it would translate to First Month, Second Month...? And therefore Qixi does not happen on 7th July. It is on the 7th of the Seventh month (hence the name).

4. The dantian (or golden core, for cultivators) is not located in the chest area.

5. People generally DO NOT take on their husband's family name after marriage. Just don't. It's cringey. I guess unless yours is a weird as fuck A/B/O or d/s fic... in which case I twitch just as much, but quietly.

***

Also watching:

《山河剑心》| Thousand Autumns

《山河剑心》| Thousand Autumns, Chinese animation, Yan Wushi/Shen Qiao, wuxia, wip (16 episodes in the first season so far), BL. Chinese title is <<千秋>> by 梦溪石 if anyone wants to read it at http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=2423737 which I'm going to do as I dearly want to know the ending. It's been translated into English, I believe, but I haven't looked into those yet.

spoilery )

One hilarious thing with the Tencent English subtitle (I think they did it?): apparently 'qi deviation' has been translated as 'infatuation' which is... either a beautiful mistake or an awkward misunderstanding.


Hospital Playlist season 2

I was a bit taken aback at first because I was expecting it to be made up of band practice and cute flirting and food, but that was of course me being self-selecting after re-watching my favourite clips over and over again. But now at episode 4, I do feel that it's a little more sober in terms of the patient stories and the upheavals among the doctors. But even so... How awesome is it?

Loved episode 1: the constant duality, the will-they or won't they... How many times did Min-ha pace before Seok-Hyeong's office before she entered... and the realisation that a different doctor could turn the prognosis of a patient upside down. All in the context of waiting for Songhwa's reply to Ik-sun's almost confession. And the incredibly cute couple, a milder version (to make public or not).

Episode 2: And then, just as we (I mean me) were getting used to feeling heartbreak - even Jeong-wan and Gyeo-Wool's adorableness can't make up for it... almost -

Episode 3: A lot of bleak outcomes, patient-wise, and even knowing it's 'just' a medical drama, you can't help your heartstrings getting tugged. Also, how awesome is Rosa?

Episode 4: Ugh, poor Jung-won.
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Non fanfic:

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho. Lives up to hype, though the K-drama-esque revelation at the ending was... very K-drama-esque. Or maybe that's just me. Jessamy (hate the name), a Harvard grad, returns to Malaysia only to find herself being haunted by her grandmother. As she tries to resolves a minor case of possession (her own) family secrets come out. In some places, it was pretty reminiscent of listening to the hairier tales of my grandma's family. Is there a genre such as SEA modern gothic? Because I think this might describe the plot. Now if only everything took place in an old Peranakan shophouse as well...

I love her dialogue, and how the Manglish never becomes awkward. I feel ultra-sensitive about writing set in SEA that try to portray the way people actually speak - it grates when it feels fake or awkward - and Zen Cho has always done it well in her previous works. And love all the in-jokes, though I've probably missed a few at the first reading.

***

Fanfic writing:

Does anyone know how Zhang Zhehan and Gong Jun address each other, other than as Zhang-laoshi and Gong-laoshi? I'm tired of trying to figure this out via variety show clips and fan-vids on Youtbe. I know, I suck at research. Also I get distracted by the pretty. Also there's a lot of Xiao Zhan clips because c-entertainment news is mad full of it. And also. Much as I love staring at the pretty, it grates to keep coming accross WYB-XZ clips. I mean, I get that people adore Wangxian - as do I, but purely in fic. I think that that (RPS) ship has long, long sailed off a cliff. Anyway, Youtbe, stop giving the things I do not want.

Am I writing RPS of ZZH and GJ? I don't know. I have an idea but first I need to know what they call each other. I guess I can always invent some xiaoming or buddy-names...


TV:

Dream of Red Chamber, 2010 version. I'm not that much of a fan of having someone narrate the scenes to me, even though I know it helps in keeping the plotlines in mind. It's distracting. And this version mainly just follows the narrative sequence of the 1987 version; y'know, they could have done something interesting with the ending instead - instead we get the same old, same old Gao E version, except without the good songs of the 1987 version. Other than that. It is indeed very, very pretty. But the sound effects are *groan*. I know it's meant to portray a dreamlike atmosphere or the Dreaded Hand of Fate or whatever, but it unwittingly makes things feel cartoony. And I wish they'd just indicate which character it is (there are so many) when they appear onscreen after a few episodes' absence. And Yang Yang looks just fine as Jia Baoyu, BUT the actor who portrayed his younger self was way, way more... transcendent? And I've seriously having dissonance when I look at Li Qin as Xue Baochai versus the Li Qin whom I like in Joy of Life. Argh. Thankfully she is later acted by someone older, so I can dislike her in peace.

Hospital Playlist 2, coming this week. Can't wait. OMG. It's coming this week. Can't wait. Did I mention that I can't wait?

I think the reason that up to now, I can't make myself watch TV set in contemporary times (and so I've only been watching period shows or fantasy shows) is I dread seeing Covid appearing on TV. Don't ask me why, but I feel like if they portray the pandemic or don't portray the pandemic and it doesn't ring true to me I might throw my TV away. (If it was obviously made before Covid, I'm fine.) That's why I still haven't really watched History 4 even though I was pretty excited for it earlier this year. Besides the fake/not fake incesty plot. Look, after your stepbrother takes advantage of you while you're drunk the ONLY correct response is to cut him out of your life forever (whether or not you wish to make a police report, for the sake of family cohesion blahblahblah). That is exactly the time to spit on his 'love'. Instead (from the clips I caught) you tell yourself you're in love? I can't.

Lucifer season 5b. I liked this more than season 5A. Linda is my guiding light.


...I came to talk about ONE book.
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In a bid to catch a lot more Wenzhou aka LLD clips on Youtube, I somehow ended up catching a lot of somewhat fantastical to seemingly delusional RPS (my characterisation) video clips for the actors, and incidentally learning a lot (true or not) rumours about the actors, other actors, and crazy world of Chinese entertainment. It's been a trip.

(I'm trying escapism recently.)

Anyway. I've also been watching:

Imperial Coroner (period drama, mystery, ancient-China-vibey coroner solving crimes), which is amazingly good: it's tightly plotted, logical sequences, starts to hint at an over-arching plot within the first few episodes, and the intelligent characters (including the female lead) are all extremely likeable.


The Long Night (crime thriller, dark), which I started watching last year. It is devastatingly good and also makes you rage, rage, rage at the injustice and unfairness of life. Stars Bai Yu, whom I didn't realise at first was the same Bai Yu of Guardian, because he's that good.

TV

Feb. 25th, 2021 01:30 am
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Watching 庆余年 Joy of Life on youtube and enjoying it so much that I dread it ending.

The setting is supposedly feudal China (it gets complicated) and the main character is Fan Xian, a young man who somehow has the memories of 21st century earth and is making his way in the world, and delves into the mystery of his mother's death (and existence) while negotiating political pitfalls. Acted by Zhang Ruoyun, whom I've never heard of before but am now an enthusiastic fan of.

Chen Daoming is the emperor of Nanqing (or Qingguo, as the characters refer to it) and he is all kinds of awesome. But then, he always is. As is the the slippery, scheming Chen Pingping, head of what is the equivalent of IA of the imperial court. I sort of fangirl over a series with a plot that moves quickly, where characters speak in semi-cryptic sentences (because they're all plotting like mad) and many-layered period costumes, haha.

Li Qin is so pretty and adorable but I'm totally won over by the the Princess Royal and the way she makes a 'hm' sound so sinister. 'Hm' yes I'm plotting against you; 'Hm' Cross me and die, etc, etc.

And I cannot lie, I started the series for Xiao Zhan, who appears as a supporting character in the later episodes, and I'm quite enjoying his extremely serious demeanor here. I think he took on this role after filming The Untamed, and the improvement to his acting is obvious. It's mildly annoying that the other shows that have been released so far are projects prior to the Untamed, and much as I fangirl him I cannot help liking this later project more.

At episode 41 now, no spoilers please.
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Person I know: There's no such thing as evolution! Things don't change just like that.
Same person: Do you know that the Covid-19 virus mutated?

(Next) Person I know: It's not a scam! It's an investment opportunity. ____ is going to return my money! There's no need to make a report.
Me: I have tried my best and saints can't do more.
Same person: Might I interest you in this scam-awareness FB group?

Me (hands over TWO keys): Here's the front door key and the mailbox key.
Client: But they are unlabeled! How do I know which is which?!
Me: I know, it's gonna be really tough to figure this out.

***

It's been an interesting couple of months. Work is pretty hectic, and I'm stuck between hoping it quiets down soon and fearing that it really does quiet down, leaving me out of a job. Also bitching about new HDB (aka public housing) launches, as usual.

Hope everyone enjoyed Deepavali (Diwali), although I was annoyed that it was not on a weekday. I really could have used a long weekend, cruel world!

Also, a bat just flew in my window and went straight to the bananas in the kitchen. *sigh*


***

Watching:

琉璃 aka Love and Redemption, which is turning out to be just the emotional outlet I need, as it contains as many angsty parts as the lovey-dovey parts, so I can revel and ff as I like. I adore Tengshe, by the way.

A few episodes of the Crown, mainly for Gillian Anderson's portrayal of Thatcher.

The Untamed, again, while I wait for the other Xiao Zhan shows to air (and to a lesser extent, Wang Yibo's).

Chinese version of Hikaru no Go. The version of Sai is... indescribable. The ff button is pretty useful. But I really do appreciate how they show the weiqi/Go world. And not to bitch on Queen's Gambit, but Hikago (anime or Chinese version) is still better.
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*gets home*
*rips off mask*
*takes deep breath*

There are definitely days when Covid's only the sixth or seventh thing on my mind, and then there are very powerful moments when I feel like it's the topmost. On the other hand I've not caught a single cold this whole year due to everyone wearing masks, washing hands and keeping their distance. And now that I've jinxed myself...

***

I got my Yuletide assignment! Hm, time to get my writing muscles to work. I've only been writing some random chapters of my MDZS fics these few months.

Watched the first and last episodes of The Queen's Gambit, which is on Netflix. Story of a chess prodigy called Elizabeth. How did they find someone with such wide big eyes and who can blink them in such a coolly challengingly way? Actually, make that coolly, intellectually, challengingly. Loved the last episode where she goes to a tournament and proceeds to thrash everyone (emerging, in true American-narrative trajectory - compare with Hikaru no Go - the winner) and with intense looks across the chessboard without it being necessarily sexually seductive (no doubt it's there somewhere, but I didn't notice). Ah, it reminds me of why I love Hikago so much.

Not sure whether to watch the middling episodes where despite a traumatic childhood, her genius was noticed, she's set on the path to being famous, while spiraling down in her personal life due to addiction, until she climbs up and achieves success because of support from her best friend/sister, etc, etc... you know how these stories go.

Also, the dresses! She wears a different dress for every match (while the male competitors, of course, just get by with suits - maybe even the same suit, who could tell?). The blatant sartorial inequality is kind of enraging but I do love dresses.

TV and fic

Oct. 3rd, 2020 04:03 pm
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Happy Mid-Autumn festival, everyone!

I guess most people are like me, at the stage where I have good mask days (when I don't mind it so much) and bad mask days when for some reason it keeps fogging my glasses and it feels hard to breathe. Work has been perplexingly hectic (my industry is heavily affected by the economy, so you'd think that business would have cooled, but...). Most days you look back and can't believe it's the last quarter of the year, and where has it all gone?


Watching:

Love and Redemption aka 琉璃 (with English sub, if anyone wants), xianxia. Wiki link if anyone wants.

It's a pretty fun outing wherein the God of War is a woman, and reborn on earth as Chu Xuanji. I'm totally there for the many devoted scenes of the male lead, Yu Sifeng. And Xuanji's spirital animal, Tengshe (which I think would translate to Touda in Japanese).

***

the stars in the hazy heaven tremble above you, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, royalty AU, Cinderella-fusion, by cicer


Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, backstory of Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji's mother and maternal family, by x_los

rather cruelly used and rather reserved, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, by x_los

chinese tv

Jun. 18th, 2020 12:58 am
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Watching:

Romance of Tiger and Rose: It's kinda cute? There's a femdom which is not very well developed but it's still fun. It's essentially a light-hearted romance (24 episodes) which plays with some drama tropes enough to make things fresh and I'm enjoying the costumes and being intrigued by Chen Qianqian's braids. Quick review at Cfensi here

2019 Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre. I'm just skipping to my favourite parts*: when Zhang Wuji fights off the orthodox sects at Bright Peak, not-so-incidentally defending the Ming sect; when he 'returns' to Wudang and meets Zhang Sanfeng and learns taiji in an hour; when Yang Buhui decides she wants to marry Yin Liting; when the lady in yellow comes to kick Zhou Zhirou's ass. Glad to see that the Ji Xiaofu/Yang Xiao relationship is a little less rapey this time round; there's a bit of Stockholm syndrome, but compared to previous versions/interpretations, I'm willing to let that go. Somewhat.

- I'm always kinda disappointed in Xie Xun at the end, when he decides he'd rather be a monk because apparently all that time of being imprisoned by Shaolin monks and listening to their Buddhist scriptures have... changed him? Well, Louis Cha puts it down as 'reforming' but from my perspective, isn't it brainwashing instead? I'm like, damn, even Zhang Wuji later realises he'd have to get away from the Ming sect***, and you? You'd decided to throw in your lot with a bunch of hypocritical monks instead? (I hasten to add that the monks in Heavenly Sword are portrayed as arrogant, prejudiced, self-righteous assholes, and this is something that Xie Xun and many of the other characters know well, and yet...). Also this version of Xie Xun, the 'Gold-haired Lion King' (:-P) has really nice, shiny hair for someone who's been imprisoned in an underground dungeon for months. ^____^;;;

*There have been so many TV versions of Jin Yong's Condor trilogy that unless that version is really spectacular**, I'm quite ehh and happy to skip the parts I'm bored by and re-watch the parts that tug at my heartstrings. E.g. I'm forever soft for Yang Guo/Xiaolongnu, especially their reunion at the heroes' meet and the one 16 years later; also when Yang Guo tells the world to fuck off about his and Xiaolongnu's relationship; and Xiaolongnu kicking Quanzhen ass; and Xiaolongnu and Zhou Botong friendship - it's the only time when Zhou Botong doesn't seem tedious to me. Total avoid: the rape scene. Total cringe on the giant condor - I cannot watch it except as parody: condor as transport device in the 2006 version, for example.

**The results have been generally mixed.

***I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't read the newest revised version of Heavenly Sword but Zhang Wuji's little speech at the end when he declines to be emperor is pretty good: that the Ming sect made their living (so as to speak) by fighting against the ills and corruption of those in power and it's totally self-serving to now hype yourself as emperor on the basis that since we're the 'good' guys, we're gonna be a good emperor. It doesn't work that way because of that thing about power corrupts. (Of course as history proves, this was why they got systematically wiped out - because one of theirs rose to power. Zhu Yuanzhang who became first emperor of the Ming dynasty totally knew how dangerous religious-based rebel sects were. Whereas if the Ming sect had not meddled in politics, they could have muddled along as a halfway accepted jianghu religious-based sect, y'know, like Shaolin.)
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1) Re-watching The Untamed again: I'm not the only one who notices that EVERYONE wears the same make of shoes, am I? I mean, this has to do with how the production team does their work, of course, but it's very obvious when you film characters slo-mo-ing into the scene and rich or poor, from Gusu or Qinghe, they all wear the same shoes. Somewhere out in CQL-verse, there is a shoe manufacturer which has a monopoly; and it is probably from the Lanling clan, which explains why they're so wealthy. :p

I'll not ask who makes all those little tassels.

2) Following HIStory3: Make our days count
And it is adorable. And daring, for what it's worth?, in terms of the sexy scenes? I must try a crossover with Trapped soon.

3) Re-watching Story of Yanxi Palace vs watching for the first time, Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace
I do like Zhou Xun lots, but Yanxi Palace wins it for me, being a better story* and a little bit more naturalistic in terms of the relationships between the characters. It has serious moments but knows not to take itself super-seriously. And the costumes and hairpieces are excellent. I watch just to admire the pretty.

ETA

*I mean, at its core it's a story of Wei Yingluo getting revenge even if it takes her 20 years. And she still ends up winning the harem stakes. Who doesn't like that?

Also, both my favourite characters at present have the surname Wei (it's even the same Chinese character). Hm...


***

The Untamed | Chenqing Ling | MDZS, all of the Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian (main or background):

Wei Wuxian’s Kidnapping Back and Forth Farce (Starring Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji) by misscam

Inquiry, Lan Yuan | Wen Yuan, background Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji, by incendir

At Your Side, by suzvoy

Dimples, Lan Xichen,by bodhan
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Of media consumed:

1. Finally got bored with Netflix!

(a) Well, for a given value of bored. I've been using it to re-watch the bits that I really enjoyed, like the encounters with the foodimals in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, the sky lantern scene in Tangled, the post-cave testflight(s) for Iron Man's suit, and Kim Hang Ah rescuing Lee Jae Ha in King 2 Hearts (all scenes). And the last episode of Hwayugi, which I'd been avoiding (and it turned out to be not as awful as I was expecting).

(b) Also because I'm really with Netflix for season 4 of Lucifer, really. So much so that I've not been paying much attention to Endgame playing in theatres, even though I was looking forward to it - I'll probably get round to it next week or so. Been trying, though not very hard, to avoid spoilers on that front.

(c) And also because my absolute favourite K-dramas of recent months/years, Beautiful Mind and Are You Human Too? are not on Netflix, but Viu. (Goblin is, so at least that's that.) So that rules out binge re-watches.

(d) Also no Nirvana in Fire.

(e) And also because I've been watching Taiwan's BL series on youtube. I'd had a go at Guardian, which is a China product, but lovely as the the main characters are, the basic plot premise just annoyed me a lot. So. Taiwanese BL. As expected (which is unfair on the whole, but my experience of watching Taiwanese dramas, especially the soaps, has caused some bias), the plots are just about serviceable, the dialogue is clunky, and the meet-cute scenes are all hackneyed (okay, 'all' is an exaggeration, but close). But it is something of a novelty to see a BL series play out as banally as a typical hetrosexual romance. Even the character names are punny.

I've been watching the HIStory series so far, which is a bunch of short drama series (mostly half-a-dozen roughly 30min episodes per offering) and it's been predictable but kinda fun. Acting ranges from awkward to okay to "hm, not bad, you had me convinced for a while", while displays of affection range from kissing to pushing the other onto a couch or bed, then fades to black: roughly the same as what I'd expect from a typical Taiwanese romance on TV for general consumption...? And novelty aside, the guys are cute. Not necessarily handsome or good-looking, but damn they're cute, all big eyes and earnestness and wholesomeness. Also, once in a while, it's nice to listen to some Taiwanese slang rather than the China/Chinese variety.

Just a word of forewarning: some people may want to pass on HIStory2 - 是非, which is between a college student and his professor. Apparently the power imbalance issue never comes up? They deal (vaguely) with bullying, homophobia, age difference, family dynamics (the prof has a kid) but not that. I know everything is soft-focus in a romance series, but that was a strange omission. So, forewarning in case you are bothered by that. (ETA) If that doesn't bother you, it's pretty good and I liked it. Oh, and HIStory2 - 越界 (Crossing the Line) is high school romance with volleyball and fauxcest (two pairings) and it's cute too!

What I'm really on, though, is HIStory 3 - Trap, which just started two weeks ago, and features a romance between a cop and a gangster. (The secondary couple is also cute as heck.) It's tropey but sooo adorable. I think cop/gangster pairings are my idfic. Trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i-qaUOVu1Q
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Every time I start to feel regretful about being jobless, my ex-colleagues helpfully 'update' me on the latest procedurally/ethically questionable wtf thing that my ex-bosses have decided/said. And yes, there have been more than one. (I shall have to refer to them by number soon.) It's unnerving when senior lawyers forget that they are lawyers...

***

Segueing from Love in the Moonlight into Reply 1988, which is a sweet coming-of-age drama of a bunch of 18-year old kids who live in the same neighbourbook and also (the part that grabbed my attention) Choi Taek, a young baduk genius (who is described as being a god of baduk who struggles a bit at normal life), and includes this hilarious scene: Play-ing Baduk with Taek. And when the Fujitsu Cup nearly became a container for kimchi. ^____^

***

Nearly forgot: hope you had a great Deepavali!
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Still reading 瑯琊榜 Nirvana in Fire, chapter 121 of 149. I'd say that reading this novel is improving my Chinese, but unfortunately a lot of it is classical Chinese or archaic words (or both) that don't see much use in modern times. Kind of fun, though, if you are interested in the language.

And between the more serious chapters I turn to clips of the series for entertainment (beware spoilers), like this one of Xiao Jingyan watching Mei Changsu aka Lin Shu pull his sword (oh dear, that sounds so naughty). I love that moment when Mei Changsu is inwardly going "ohshit ohshit I just gave myself away wtf I'll just pretend nothing's happened".

Or where Xiao Jingyan gives Mei Changsu aka Lin Shu a present (wtf, it still sounds naughty)- and also, that moment when you'd expect Mei Changsu to gasp and say, "I do!"

And I've rewatched this like five times: where Fei Liu splashes Lin Chen with water while Mei Changsu watches - a rare instance of a cheerful and genuinely amused Mei Changsu.

瑯琊榜

Oct. 24th, 2015 01:50 am
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I'm now sad it's too late to nominate 瑯琊榜 Nirvana in Fire for Yuletide because it's awesome and there's just so much to work with and I really want someone to write me Mei Changsu/Xiao Jingyan fic. Or Mei Changsu/Lin Chen fic.

Trailer in Mandarin, pretty long - but I love that they used so much guqin. English trailer, short

Have been spending nearly every minute of my free time watching it and I have to say, everything aside, this is one of the prettiest dramas I've seen in a while (and that's not counting Hu Ge, hehe) - the cinematography is lovely, balanced, and the production team has clearly paid attention to details in the props, setting, etc. Satisfying to watch.

Not to mention the sheer plot-fulness of it. Pacing is quite fast, which means scenes don't drag on. There aren't many female characters, the drama being focused on political and court intrigue in a time when such things are dominated by men, but the women that appear are varied and there are understandable motives for what they do or not do. Xiao Jingyan's mother Lady Jing (Royal Concubine Jing?) is pretty much badass, though I really like Xia Dong who is some kind of investigator with the equivalent of the NSA.

Mei Changsu is - well, as the main character, he's certainly arresting, though I have to giggle sometimes when he looks sooo soulfully into the camera and then I have to think to myself "OMG is that really Hu Ge?" I do wibble over his backstory, though, and his super-sad fate, and his self-imposed mission. Also his intellect, and all those significant stares he exchanges with Xiao Jingyan. Though I enjoy the cheerier interaction with Lin Chen.
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[personal profile] yifu posted on this: China TV-series 琅琊榜, which has the odd translated title of Nirvana In Fire (wonder which publicist thought that up) (see also http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Nirvana_in_Fire); I just search for "langyabang" on Youtube.

It's a serial-numbers-filed-off version of ... costumes and setting looks like it could be 3rd or 4th century China, where there were still many small countries and territories, a time when kingdoms rose and fell in a matter of decades. This one features a fictionalised country of Liang, into which comes an ethereal-looking (to use [personal profile] yifu's description) strategist played by Hu Ge (yes, really), who is sickly but brilliant in mind. He goes to Jinlin, the capital of Liang, with a hidden agenda and backstory that slooowly becomes clear as he strategises one of the princes to the throne.

I think it's a bit of an unusual side of Chinese culture (even though in the series, Liang - and other countries - haven't been heavily Sinicised) that makes you think sickly scholars are totally cool, even though the country of Liang, like its neighbouring country, is supposed to prize itself on martial arts and the physical prowess of its armies. Luckily this is fiction, or I would totally side-eye the interplaying concepts. The court intrigue isn't just confined to the harem, but to different departments of the government and army - and the characters are multi-dimensional, all with different motivations for their plots. There's a bit of romance, but overall the series is quite focused on stuff like loyalty, integrity, brotherhood, and so on. Add villains that you love to hate, lots of action scenes, people talking in occasional mock literary Chinese (they probably dumbed it down a lot for plebs like me), georgeous clothes, and I'm there.
issenllo: strawberry thief print from William Morris (Default)
Blind Spot, Hiccup/Astrid, How to Train Your Dragon, by ArtemisRae

***

More Heyer reads: Black Sheep, The Nonesuch, Sprig Muslin and Lady of Quality (last few chapters). Reading a bunch of Heyer within a few days really brings up the similarity of plot devices and the amount of variation that can go into stock character types. Also, Bath. Okay, I think I've got it mostly out of my system for now.

Probably because I have been have also been alarmingly distracted by the 2013 TV version of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, aka The Swordsman. The novel is by Louis Cha, though much of the story in this TV version has been greatly changed in the adaptation, which I have mixed feelings about. I was never the greatest fan of the novel itself, probably because (1) I read it after the watching The East is Red where the so-called evil Dongfang Bubai was played by Lin Ching-hsia and I spent half the time looking for this character while reading (in the novels this character only appears for a chapter or so); (2) the hero of the novel Linghu Chong is arrghhh, stupidly loyal to his teacher when people have tried throughout the novel to tell him that his teacher is a dishonourable hypocrite bastard. On the other hand, it does make Yue Buqun (the teacher) a really great villain, almost Iago-ian in his manipulativeness. (Although I adored the music they created for the Sam Hui movie version.)spoilers and too long thoughts )
issenllo: strawberry thief print from William Morris (Default)
So I woke up to 阳关三叠, from one of our CDs, played by my dad as a way of being Chinese-y without resorting to the usual barrage of Chinese New Year songs.

Lunar New Year has come early and took me a bit unprepared. Usually there's a bit of a longer lead-time from Jan 1. But it's supposed to especially auspicious this year as it is the year of the dragon. Ironically, this year bodes ill for those born in the year of the dragon as they are supposed to have offended the god of Jupiter (太歲) - so the astrological section says - by their very existence this year. Well, well.

Happy New Year anyway!

***

步步惊心 )

The Yearly Revolution, 4 parts (scroll down for links to the other parts) Sherlock/John, Sherlock, by [profile] methimyesterday

Moving In, Hikaru/Akira, Hikago, by [personal profile] harukami
issenllo: strawberry thief print from William Morris (Default)
School is: on the good days I say to myself, "I'll finish all my reading or die trying." On the bad days, "I'll finish all my reading or else." >_<

Um, right. Finally re-remembered that I can crosspost.

Infiltrate, Sherlock/John, Sherlock, by [livejournal.com profile] ladyflowdi and [livejournal.com profile] mirrorskippy. Wherein Moriarty is, as expected, horrible. Long fic (which is why I have the AO3 link). Can't help thinking it's redundant of me to warn for death and violence and torture in this fic, given the fandom... not to mention the sex scenes. Oh well.

Also by the same writers:
a sequel The Love Song of Two Idiots, and another sequel, Speculation, which is a kidfic.

Secret Vulcan Mating Rituals, WIP, Kirk/Spock, reboot Star Trek, contains surprise Dr Who and surprise myth (I don't know enough fanon to judge whether Mormon tale equivalent has any fandom-ly basis anywhere or is the author's pure invention, sorry) but those probably shouldn't detract too much from the fic itself, by chase820

K-drama: Dong Yi )

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