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Nirvana in Fire
I have posted fic! I wrote this fic two years ago and finally managed to get it beta'ed and ready for posting. Better late than never, huh?
In other news, I have joined the C-drama bandwagon.
That show gave me so many feelings, oh my god!! D: D:
Beware of spoilers, since I marathoned all 54 episodes in like two weeks and will be talking about all of it.
It took me a while to warm up to, well, most of the characters, really. My first fave was Lin Chen, and I was very upset when I learned he wouldn't be in most of the show. I liked Mei Changsu well enough, but it took till later in the show for me to get attached to him (I did get attached to him! Most definitely. Protect the sad man in grey. :| )
Meng Zhi was another quick fave, partially because he's lovely and partially because his facial hair is amazing. I really wanted to ship Mei Changsu/Meng Zhi for a while ... because I couldn't quite warm up to Jingyan? He seemed pretty boring in the beginning. I was more interested in Meng Zhi, as well as Xia Dong/Mu Nihuang. I still love those two and want all of the battle academy fic about them!
Around the absolutely heartbreaking disaster that was Jingrui's 25th birthday (how could you do this to him??) I got very invested in Jingrui/Yujin. They're like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, though I do hope they got a better ending than those two. Jingrui makes me have many feelings, he's so sweet. I loved the conversation he had with Mei Changsu when he left for Southern Chu--the whole thing about "I liked you and I wanted you to like me back, but it's not like you owe me anything". Such a smart boy!
I finally got invested in Mei Changsu/Jingyan when they had their shouting match in the snow about freeing Wei Zheng. What a fantastic scene, and so well acted. Generally, the longer Mei Changsu didn't tell Jingyan who he really was, the more invested I got--it started to seem so fucking cruel and unnecessary, but at the same time it was obvious that Mei Changsu still loved Jingyan. So many good, conflicted feelings! I also really enjoyed Jingyan's development from an abrasive kid to someone who learns how to walk the fine line between being diplomatic and holding on to your values. Very good content indeed.
The culmination was great, so satisfying, and I really appreciated how few people this show needed to kill to get an emotional reaction from me. Sure, there was the whole Chiyan Army in the past, but on-screen death of beloved characters? I count one. Game of Thrones, take note.
That one of course still wasn't okay and needs fixing. I've already poked AO3 a little, but haven't quite found the fic that I want yet. There's also a few ideas I want to try out in fic myself. I'm not sure I'll manage to write a whole fic in this fandom--so much research, ahh--but I do wanna try my hand, at least.
And to make this a little more than just a feelings- and info-dump, here's a link to a blog post with a bunch of really adorable promo pictures that most of you have probably seen already, but that I was absolutely delighted to find: Cute promo pics this way.
Have you seen NiF? (If not, what are you doing reading this??) If you have, please talk to me about it! :D
In other news, I have joined the C-drama bandwagon.
That show gave me so many feelings, oh my god!! D: D:
Beware of spoilers, since I marathoned all 54 episodes in like two weeks and will be talking about all of it.
It took me a while to warm up to, well, most of the characters, really. My first fave was Lin Chen, and I was very upset when I learned he wouldn't be in most of the show. I liked Mei Changsu well enough, but it took till later in the show for me to get attached to him (I did get attached to him! Most definitely. Protect the sad man in grey. :| )
Meng Zhi was another quick fave, partially because he's lovely and partially because his facial hair is amazing. I really wanted to ship Mei Changsu/Meng Zhi for a while ... because I couldn't quite warm up to Jingyan? He seemed pretty boring in the beginning. I was more interested in Meng Zhi, as well as Xia Dong/Mu Nihuang. I still love those two and want all of the battle academy fic about them!
Around the absolutely heartbreaking disaster that was Jingrui's 25th birthday (how could you do this to him??) I got very invested in Jingrui/Yujin. They're like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, though I do hope they got a better ending than those two. Jingrui makes me have many feelings, he's so sweet. I loved the conversation he had with Mei Changsu when he left for Southern Chu--the whole thing about "I liked you and I wanted you to like me back, but it's not like you owe me anything". Such a smart boy!
I finally got invested in Mei Changsu/Jingyan when they had their shouting match in the snow about freeing Wei Zheng. What a fantastic scene, and so well acted. Generally, the longer Mei Changsu didn't tell Jingyan who he really was, the more invested I got--it started to seem so fucking cruel and unnecessary, but at the same time it was obvious that Mei Changsu still loved Jingyan. So many good, conflicted feelings! I also really enjoyed Jingyan's development from an abrasive kid to someone who learns how to walk the fine line between being diplomatic and holding on to your values. Very good content indeed.
The culmination was great, so satisfying, and I really appreciated how few people this show needed to kill to get an emotional reaction from me. Sure, there was the whole Chiyan Army in the past, but on-screen death of beloved characters? I count one. Game of Thrones, take note.
That one of course still wasn't okay and needs fixing. I've already poked AO3 a little, but haven't quite found the fic that I want yet. There's also a few ideas I want to try out in fic myself. I'm not sure I'll manage to write a whole fic in this fandom--so much research, ahh--but I do wanna try my hand, at least.
And to make this a little more than just a feelings- and info-dump, here's a link to a blog post with a bunch of really adorable promo pictures that most of you have probably seen already, but that I was absolutely delighted to find: Cute promo pics this way.
Have you seen NiF? (If not, what are you doing reading this??) If you have, please talk to me about it! :D
no subject
Okay. I will not force myself, then, just do it at a comfortable pace (which will nonetheless be pretty fast, I think, since I have time).
I'm curious about the Untamed just because everyone and their mom (in some case literally) is talking about it, but I also tend to not be very comfortable in huge fandoms. I don't know if Untamed is really as big as it feels right now, but it feels pretty big!
I already feel that Guardian is big (or bigger than it was when I started), and it's still active and shows no sign of stopping even two years after the canon. The Untamed is supposedly much more prolific, people in my Guardian circles keep complaining about the ao3 tag being like a firehose. So I guess it's big all right?
I adore Qin Xiao Man, she's great, and I like her dynamic with Luo Fei.
Me too!
I'll have to check out Dreamlike Life! I have so many shows to get through. D:
Dreamlike Life is ... bad. :) I love his character to bits, but the rest of it is terrible soapy drama with terrible acting and sets that look like theatre stages. I still love it to bits, because the female lead is allowed to be strong, and Luo Fusheng is allowed to be the softest and most caring boyfriend ever - despite being a mafia enforcer (which makes no sense, and Zhu Yilong is pretty bad at?). But the character development for the female lead was nice to watch. The production did a few things right when it came to character development in general. I definitely recommend it for completeness, not because it's any good. I have a Luo Fusheng cut of it (sadly unsubbed), if you want that at some point.
no subject
Honestly, it's starting to feel omnipresent like Stucky was back in the day. I can imagine that the tag is a little overwhelming. But we'll see, maybe I'll enjoy the show.
being a mafia enforcer (which makes no sense, and Zhu Yilong is pretty bad at?)
Aw man, all my love to Zhu Yilong, but I can't quite take his menacing vibe seriously even as Hei Pao Shi. He always looks more sulky and annoyed than dangerous (which, he's very good at sulky and annoyed!). I love it for Guardian, because I adore the idea of the Black-Cloaked Envoy swooping around in his cloak rolling his eyes as he zaps criminals for annoying him, but mafia enforcer ... I dunno.
I may get back to you about the cut! Though I always get fomo with supercuts, so maybe I'll have to sit through the whole thing, after all.
no subject
Lololol thank you! I am never sure what I'm allowed to say, since there are some fans in the Guardian fandom who react allergic to critical comments. He is such a warm person, he just can't pull off the bad guys.
My very first reaction post to Guardian was about him fighting the monsters in the mountains and my comments "even fighting monsters, he looks like this" - and some people were convinced that he looks scary and aggressive, and I was like... no? He looks cute? He can swing a weapon all right, but that's the only scary thing about him. :)
But what he has in spades is vulnerability, and that's imho the most important skill for an actor to have, so I am not complaining.
For Dreamlike, some people say that Luo Fusheng is only "acting" like a badass and bully, but really isn't one, and that's why it looks fake - and I can almost believe that. I'd not put it past Zhu Yilong to layer some more acting into his acting.
(Have I sent you the Dreamlike BTS yet where he cries for a minute? In my "crying top ten" it's way up there with the DW BTS from David Tennant crying over the Master. (Except for the stupid soundtrack they put over it, meh. But Z1L's acting is A++.))
Though I always get fomo with supercuts, so maybe I'll have to sit through the whole thing, after all.
I'm a completist, too. I either watch the whole thing or nothing at all. I fast-forward through the other actors' scenes like nobody's business, though. ;DD (In fact, I did that with the first ten Guardian eps, as well. Saw some of those for the first time on the group rewatch. :D)
no subject
Hee, I don't really see that, either. I do think you can draw something scary and discomfiting out of Shen Wei's character, but it's less about the way he looks and more about how he can be pretty, well, alien? To humans, because he's Dixingren and also grew up 10k years ago and has a pretty unyielding moral code, but also to his own people, just because he's so insanely powerful. And I guess if you combine that vibe with the black robes and mask, you can get kind of a scary vibe ... but only if you can't see his face. ;)
I have not seen this BTS, no. I am curious; I don't think I've seen him cry yet? Bai Yu, neither, not beyond what he does as Zhao Yunlan on the show.
Hee, I tend to sit through the whole thing at least once, and then dip back in for favorite scenes. It does mean, though, that if sitting through the whole thing gets too boring, I tend to stop watching.