Fu Ling And Chong Zhao: All In One. Part 2 Of 2

Why are you always taking their side? Why can't I?

FANGS OF FORTUNE 大梦归离 — 2024, dir. Edward Guo, Luo Luo, Wei Nan

Withered and abandoned

Close-ups:

I wanted to honor Li Lun so much that I started drawing in digital. This is my first digital work (not bad for the first work, huh?). I have started it even before drama was over and finished it yesterday. The hommage to Li Lun/Zhao Yuanzhou is in two intertwined trunks of Li Lun's true form tree. My favorite part of the picture is the rattle drum, though.

How to be a more interesting character than the Main Hero (Pt.2)

Shangjue and his didi (pt.1/2)

Shangjue has a strong bond with his cousin (whom he counts as his brother), but their personalities are very different and it makes their relationship really interesting.

"Of course, you can interrogate Yuanzhi-didi." For Shangjue the rules mean more than his personal attitudes, so, as his beloved didi happens to be a suspect, Shangjue voluntarily hands him over to be locked up in prison and later denies the possibility that he could plant an evidence in order to deflect suspicion from him. He says, that he would avenge didi if he would be unjustified tortured to death by the Main Hero (it means, he thinks it`s possible as a result of imprisonment), but does nothing against rules to protect his didi. And it hurts didi a lot and makes him think that he isn't good enough to be protected by Shangjue, because it is natural for many people to go against the rules in order to help loved ones. But so is the core of Shangjue`s personality: between his personal feelings (for his didi) and the rules of the clan he will definitely choose the second (because he isn`t a person yet, he allows himself to be only a clan function).

His didi Yuanzhi is a full opposite to him. He values Shangjue the most and would definitely do any wicked thing to help him. He is cunning and ruthless, but Shangjue deals with his fierce spirit and teaches him a lot of things, including how to respect elders.

"Elder Yue is someone who you should respect."

Didi is very perceptive to every act of love from Shangjue, as we can see in the scene with the conversation about a spy`s token, and later, in the conversation about Secret Trial of Adulthood, and he is very jealous to everyone who can get attention from Shangjue, too, because of his absolute insecurity in that he can be loved by him and can be his didi instead of deceased one. This little story about them, a paper lantern and a poisoned porridge broke my heart (I thought Yuanzhi died and was very upset during my awaiting for the next episode):

Yuanzhi thinks that Shangjue cherishes the most only those who are not around him anymore, and maybe it`s because of his trauma. He believes he was the reason Shangjue’s mom and brother had died, because he was the last one who came to the shelter’s gate, and Shangjue’s brother got an opportunity to sneak outside and met his doom.

But he is wrong thinking that deceased ones are more important for Shangjue than alive ones. Yuanzhi thinks in an egoistic way, he can`t imagine love can be shared among many people in someone`s heart. Shangjue didn`t stop loving his mom and brother but he also loves his didi as much as he loves them.

"Brother!!!"

"Stand off!!!"

"Blood..."

And we can see it in a flashback, when young Shangjue says that the best thing he could receive is a didi (which is Yuanzhi).

Unfortunately I can add only 30 GIFs per post, so there will be part 2/2. Shangjue. Introduction Shangjue and his didi, Pt. 2 Shangjue and his fiancee

they're like the sun and the moon 🥺☀️🌑

Let me rumble in your ask box. First of all, your Li Lun series is what made me stop from being a total ZYZ lover and THINK, and OH BOY, how wrong I was in my first assessment of the characters, so THANK YOU.

I now find Li Lun a much more compelling character than ZYZ. ZYZ suffers from both internalized inferiority complex (stemming, probably, from him being the vessel of malicious energy and blaming it on himself being a demon) and superiority complex (humans are better than demons, and everyone who disagrees is a loser). He has a borderline split personality where his inner demon ZHu Yan is in direct conflict with his humanized version, Zhao Yanzhou (the name btw is Baize Goddesses' dead brother's). The whole fallout with Li Lun is not as much because Li Lun murdered a bunch of humans, but because Li Lun represents everything that ZYZ hates about himself (being a demon, being wild, wanting freedom and lack of control, etc) and is trying to suppress.

ZYZ is very hypocritical. He pretends to be broad-minded, poised, and noble but has no problem killing a random human to prove his point or demons (like a little Pagoda demon). He is very condescending to Li Lun even though every single thing Li Lun says ZYZ is (liar, betrayer, etc) is true.

What's even more interesting, instead of trying to sort it out with the friend he had for 30k years, he spends his time trying to prevent Li Lun from establishing a connection with ZYC. Why? Because, as he said once, "I have everything and you have nothing, and you're a loser" - this is his attempt to prove Li Lun and what LL represents is the "losing" side and his own choice of becoming a human is the right one.

Now, back to Li Lun- he is wild, untamed, betrayed multiple times by ZYZ , And yet. Even though he is positioned as a villain, all it takes to bring him back to the good side is a talk with ZYZ/ZYC. Which, BY THE WAY, could've happened much earlier, and could've been handled much better. He constantly talks about wanting to kill ZYZ's friends but in the end only kills one, and only when cornered. He also inadvertently HELPS them to grow and face their worst fears.

Just imagine if ZYZ doesn't let his petty anger win and tells Li Lun that the plan is to put him back into his root and let him re-cultivate? That would prevent Ying Lei from getting killed, pull LL firmly on the good side, and potentially prevent Bai Ju from getting killed too (because now they would have 3 demons and a mountain god fighting the big bad).

Also, in the whole story, it is Li Lun who drives the changes and makes Zhuo Yichen evolve. (This is by the way why I prefer LLxZYC to LLxZYZ or ZYZxZYC). It is violent, it is painful, but in the end, it is LL who pushes ZYC out of his comfort zone, makes him confront his fear, and lose control only to regain control and autonomy, and "beat" the destiny later. And, in return, it is ZYC who, through being human and compassionate, pulls LL from the brink and shows him there's another way to deal with his emotions. They save each other, even though neither originally plans to do so.

I think, the redemption arc for LL is so convoluted because by that time he let go of ZYZ and shifted his focus on ZYC. ZYC is the character who showed him compassion and understanding. I Know ZYC said he doesn't understand LL in that alley talk- but I think he did. He was also the one who cleaned up ZYZ's mess and sorted it out with LL and the root.

I think, in the end, the two characters who experience growth and profound change are Li Lun and ZYC, and NOT ZYZ. He remains frozen/stagnant in his self-hate even though he stops being suicidal at some point. His inner conflict between the demon Zhu Yan and the humanized demon ZYZ is not resolved even in the very end.

This is also the reason why we are not allowed to see the natural progression of a situationship between ZYC and LL- because if it were given more time, we would see them drawn to each other, and ZYC realizing LL was right about ZYZ. And, of course, from the storytelling perspective, you can't let the beast steal the love of the prince away from the princess he is supposed to save.

It would also put into question the whole "destined soulmates for the win" narrative. No matter how much the show tells me that the destined ones are the true love, it shows quite the opposite- the original Baize goddess and her demon, Zhu Yan and Li Lun, ZYZ and Wen Xiao- they all were, to some extent, destined- and they all ended up in a tragedy. And they want me to believe ZYZxZYC will be any different? Even though their ending is somewhat optimistic, ZYZ did not overcome his internal strife, which would put him on a collision course with ZYC just like it put him against Li Lun decades earlier. ZYC and Li Lun are similar in that they accept themselves for what they are - and this is something ZYZ is innately against. This isn't bound to end well.

I honestly wish the show handled Li Lun's story much better. We had so many wasted opportunities- from the hilarity of the chaos LL, ZYC, and Ying Lei would've caused (just remember the episode where LL goes on a bro trip to the brothel in Bai Ju's body), to ZYZ maybe getting off his high horse and admitting his mistakes - and growing through it, to Wen Xiao realizing that just because she has hots for ZYZ doesn't mean ZYZ is blameless and always in the right, to ZYC developing even further with the push from Li Lun, to Li Lun himself dropping his disdain for humans and realizing there are bad ones on both sides. Then, maybe, his sacrifice would've been much more meaningful. Or, maybe, it wouldn't have been needed at all.

But, alas, we got what we got, and now we are reduced to writing fix-it fics )))

Welcome to the Li Lun club! After my metas, I can't ship LLxZYZ anymore, too... While I discussed the plot with my friend, we agreed that ZYZ has inner homodemonphobia, that's why he hates LL so much for no reason. As for "ZYC pushes LL towards redemption because he shows him some other way" - it doesn't work. Humiliation is not the way of showing understanding or another way out. But I agree there was a lot more potential of developing good relationship than between LL and ZYZ. And I disagree there ultimately was a single character who gets character development. ZYC began loving ZYZ almost immediately, I didn't see him overcoming his painful past (but he was the closest to the character development). LL stayed the same - he wanted ZYZ and did everything to have ZYZ by his side, his mindset stayed the same. ZYZ was stagnant, indeed. LL and Ying Lei exist in this show just to be humiliated, maybe it somehow should make us see ZYZ and ZYC in a good light, but for me it doesn't work, because I'm not interested in ZYZ's and ZYC' characters and feel narrative injustice towards LL and YL sharply.

Recent visually beautiful and generally watchable Russian fantasy movies

(because I start forgetting they exist at all) Ironically, all of them are adaptations of books/comics.

I Am Dragon / Он — дракон (2015) This movie is a very free adaptation of the novel "The Rite" / "Ритуал" by Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko (Марина и Сергей Дяченко). It's a reinterpreting of an ancient tale about a maiden, a hero and a dragon. I don`t like the novel because it's very postmodern, wracks the typical fairytale plot and hurts my escapist feelings by ugly reality, but the movie is pretty fairytale-ish and nice. Firstly, it is visually beautiful and represent Slavic pseudo-medieval lore the way it should have always been in Slavic fantasy.

Secondly, as a love story between a monster and a maiden, it has got A PLENTY of tropes I'm usually looking for in Chinese dramas, so I understand very well why it was pretty popular in Asia.

Thirdly, when I said it's visually beautiful I wasn't joking. The main hero is played not by an actor, but by a male model, who is shirtless all the time (and sometimes pantless) and has a very fit and good-looking body. It's something unbelievable that someone in Russia made a movie to please women's eyes! Really, it's insane!

The folk-rock band Мельница wrote an insanely beautiful song "Обряд" (The Rite) for this movie (more matched to the book plot, though), but it was never used as OST, which is a shame. The song is about a black sheep girl, who is denied by society and asks a dragon to come for her and to take her away, because the dragon is denied by this world just like her. You can listen to it here. The band also has a song "Змей" (The Wyrm) (based on Lev Gumilev's poem), which is more accurate to the plot of the movie: the wyrm kidnaps maidens to make them its wives, but they are all dying during the flight; at the end of the song a hero-knight is ready to shoot it in order to stop it. Listen to it here.

It ends with HE, which is better than the book's obscure ending, so it is pleasure for me to rewatch it till these days.

Major Grom: Plague Doctor / Майор Гром: Чумной Доктор (2021)

It is an adaptation of Russian comic series "Major Grom" by Bubble comics. I am traditionally not very happy with the source material, but it is very good reworked to be the screen play of this movie.

It's very beautifully made in terms of director's, cameraman's and screenwriter's work, which is a rare thing for Russian movies. Also, the actors are young and handsome, especially the villain, which is a rare thing not only for Russian movies, but for the current Western movies, too. It has got a lot of allusions to Russian reality and a lot of beautiful views of Saint Petersburg, the second capital of Russia and one of the most beautiful Russian cities. And it has got some unusual visual solutions that turn it into a comic it should be.

The plot revolves around a mysterious serial killer (kinda bad Batman), a black sheep police officer and Russian Mark Zuckerberg (kind of). Mark Zuckerberg is the best guy of this movie and I like him a lot! Серёёёёжа! 🧡🧡🧡

This movie wasn't popular in Russia because of political situation in the country by the moment of its release (the both sides found out in there something insulting for them and banned it), but even if it has something like that, I honestly didn't pay attention to it. It's just a nice blockbuster with a tragic and handsome villain. The villain also has got his own BL-drama (in the comics they are really lovers, it`s as obvious as it could be shown in a Russian comic).

By the way, the villain is hot, insane, ruthless, sensitive and suffering. How does he contain all of this character treats in one personality? you may ask. He doesn`t. He has dissociative identity disorder, I would answer.

I don`t know if it works by now, but some time ago you could watch this lovely movie on Netflix.

The Master and Margarita / Мастер и Маргарита (2024) This is a loose adaptation of Russian classical novel "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov. I genuinely hate this book, but the adaptation reinterprets it, divides it into very interesting layers and makes it understandable and beautiful.

It`s layered, so it will probably be hard to understand what layer are we currently on if you are not familiar with the original story. The first layer is an ugly Soviet reality, the second layer is a plot of the novel that the main hero is writing, a story within a story. The third layer is the insane intertwining of the first two layers. On the reality layer the Master loses his job and freedom because of friend's denunciation and becomes star-crossed lovers with a married woman. On the novel level he meets devil, who visits Moscow by chance, and the devil gives him and his woman opportunity to live their lives being free from everything that usually tortures people IRL. Somewhere among those layers is a little plot about Jesus and Pontius Pilate.

The movie is visually beautiful. Although it feels pretty anti-Soviet, Soviet visuals of the movie are gorgeous. There were used the Stalin-times concepts of Moscow of the Future, the CGI buildings in frame came from the real architecture projects of those times. The Stalin Empire architecture style and views are typical for Moscow (but as I know, ironically, this all was shot in Saint Petersburg). It seems to me that this movie is heavily stuffed with visual allusions to the Western works: devil's escort looks like bunch of Pennywises, Margarita is Enchantress from Suicide Squad I, the scene of blood dripping is from Blade I etc. Usually, when I see it in Russian movies, it feels like plagiarism because I can recognize the reference but there is nothing except for these references . But here we have got the plot, so the allusions work as allusions and don`t irritate me.

The movie is dark, disturbing, uncomfortable. It really makes you feel as if you watch devil and his escort marching around you; they ravage, kill and destroy everything and you can only breathlessly, helplessly and in fear watch them. The German actor playing devil is insanely good. He stole the movie and I understand why it should have been named Woland (the devil's name) instead of the current movie's name. You may want to watch it, because it's very unusual in terms of plot and visuals experience, especially when you are not familiar with the book.

The video is a fic trailer to a canon complained AO3-story about requited unrequited hyunlix love. Beware: the fic is E-rated, the video is M-rated for some еrотiс elements.

Enemies/Rivals to Lovers recipe

(with the mild version aka Pride and Prejudice and the tragic version aka Romeo and Juliet) Step 1: The main heroes are on the opposite sides of any scale (the grumpy one vs a cheerful one, a kind and stupid one vs a cunning and vile one, a demon vs a god, a master vs a servant, people of enemy states or absolutely different cultures etc.).

A cheerful and funny little bird demon-yao Qing Qing and a grumpy and stone-faced deity of Netherworld Xue Qianxun Step 2: They are forced to communicate with each other without a chance to avoid it (e.g. an arranged marriage, being trapped somewhere together, working as a mole in the enemy camp etc.).

Asura King Xuan Ye plays out damsel in distress to get undercover into Heavenly Realm and his future lover Ran Qing is the one who "rescues" him.

Step 3: One party get impressed by unique character features of other (e.g. the person is the only one who isn't terrified by other's scary reputation, the only one who treats other party well etc.).

Even kings and princes are in absolute terror seeing Gwi - an immortal all-powerful vampire, and only Hye Ryung hates him so much that dares to bicker, scold and deny him. Step 4: One of the parties takes the first step towards another and that melts another`s heart.

Even if Hou Ling Changjin hurt Princess Bao Zhu for her miraculous blood, she still cares for him and doesn`t hold a grudge.

"You are injured!"

Step 5: Here come mutual pining, UST and moral sufferings "what is more important: to fulfil the mission / to be accepted by the society / whatsoever or to love?"

Gong Shangjue doubts if he can indulge himself being gentle with the girl he likes if she is an assassin from the enemy clan.

Shangguan Qian adds Shangjue`s favorite flowers into her tea and thinks about her mission of taking him down.

Step 6: It`s time to confess the feelings.

Leader of a diabolic sect Li Chenlan comes to save his beloved who hated him and tried to kill him and promises her to be her sword and shield. So romantic!

Step 7: The parties try to solve the problem that keeps them apart. If the problem is internal (it has something to do with beliefs and prejudice of a person), here it will be solved and «happily ever after» begins.

Despite of his low social status Hao Du ventures to participate in the competition, wins the right to marry the princess (who he is in love with) and dares to be honest explaining that he did it not only in order to save her from a Barbarian prince but because he truly wants to be with her. Step 8: If the problem is external (there is a large-scale conflict and the parties are just some insignificant participants of it), one of the parties sacrifices themselves to solve the problem.

Before saving the world by the cost of his life Demon God Tantai Jin engraves his name on his own tombstone placed next to his beloved wife's one, so in the future she could mourn him in a suitable place.

Step 9: In a satisfying story there is a magical reward of party's brave deed, which is a happy end.

Demon Lord Dongfang Qingcang sacrificed himself in order to save the girl he loved and died but his girlfriend (who happens to be a Goddess with abilities to resurrect the dead) nurtured a piece of his primordial spirit for 500 years and brought him back to life. Side note: If you want to add some chili pepper into your story, you can break this scheme any step from Step 4 on: pining could be one-sided, UST could never ever be resolved, characters could prefer their goals to love or maybe death or other circumstances would do them apart against their will.

The Wolf and Ma Zhaixing finally got together but the cruel world couldn`t allow it to last anytime long.

Bon Appétit! Your Enemies to Lovers story is well-baked!

Also you can see: Asian dramas and Love tropes Asian dramas and my favorite types of characters Asian dramas and relationship dynamics (Pt. 1) Asian dramas and relationship dynamics (Pt. 2)

Li Lun, a villain I feel for (Pt. 4/4)

Since we know that LL’s redemption is not the point, and the main purpose of him being in this story is a̶ b̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶v̶i̶s̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶i̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶b̶a̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ a bunch of plot twists to be sacrificed, everything what happens next is pretty logical. After that conversation with ZYZ’s boyfriend LL moves to the last two stages of acceptance: depression and, actually, acceptance. He got his answer to the question “why do you treat me like this?” but he can’t turn back time and be of superior attitude as current ZYZ’s boyfriend is, so he understands that he will never be able to get ZYZ back. And since he is insanely obsessed with ZYZ, losing hope to reunite means for him losing the meaning of his existence. So, he doesn’t try to possess any other healthy body. He doesn’t even try to find a remedy for the current one, or to notify ZYZ’s squad that their friend’s body is dying in hope they will save Little Traitor (as far as he knows they can do literally impossible things). Of course they can! GJM’s sleeves are full of aces for them! He just waits for his body to die.

This scene in the cave is very beautiful yet meaningless. Li Lun’s lifeless and dark birthplace is now in intense blooming! It’s so beautiful, it means… What is it supposed to mean?🤷🏻‍♀️ There is no redemption, no reason to bloom if only sophoras aren’t trees that bloom only before their death. The only thing that changed in LL’s mind is his acceptance, both of irreversibility of their break-up with ZYZ and of his inevitable death.

Then we have a super strange monologue, in which LL says that he has no place in this world and no home (But darling, why? In this drama there wasn't a single scene where LL was denied by someone except for ZYZ and his friends, they are not the whole world! He is still a part of demon society, no one can take it away from him!). Throughout the drama there was also no sign of him searching for his place in this world! Not a single scene about it! He just wanted to talk to his ex and that’s it! Hearing him speaking of an absence of home while watching his home all over blossoming was really weird.

Although I found it very nice to see Li Lun treating Ao Ying well (It’s so rare for villains, especially obsessed ones, to treat their servants well!), I didn’t understand what this scene was for. To show us that LL is good now and is able to do good deeds? But I already had no doubt he is, because he saved those demons from the dungeon, and saved Great Wilderness centuries ago together with ZYZ, and all that jazz. He never treated Ao Ying bad in frame, so this scene doesn’t work as a contrast to his previous behavior neither. It’s here just to show us dying, miserable LL and to prepare us for feeling for him a little bit more while he will be sacrificed.

In the end of his monologue LL says that he is ready to die but wants to have a great stage to die on and someone to take with him into nothingness, and goes to… ZYZ! So, since he has no hope to get him back, he wants to die trying to take ZYZ with him, I suppose. It’s so within his obsession plot line, although is hella pathetic.

But Ao Ying disturbs his plans and shows him what end should meet every obsessed person in a Chinese drama. She transfers the poison out of Little Traitor’s body into herself and dies for a person she was obsessed with. So now Li Lun knows what to do.

He passes out at the threshold of ZYZ’s residence, and no one of the main characters uses this opportunity to pull his soul out of Little Traitor’s body! Not dying anymore, he talks to ZYZ again and says that he regrets they broke up and wants to return those times. And ZYZ says once more that LL should leave Little Traitor’s body and die. Why doesn’t ZYZ say by this very conversation that he doesn’t want Li Lun to die and has a way to keep his soul alive? Just because. LL is not convinced by ZYZ’s generous offer, so he fights the whole bunch of ZYZ’s friends, loses this fight and gets expelled from Little Traitor’s body. But SUDDENLY ZYZ asks his friends to spare LL’s life and to return his primordial spirit into his own sophora root that once was a love token between them. So LL could chill in his birthplace for a hundred years cultivating himself a new body and would stay alive. Why didn’t ZYZ offer it to LL before, when LL asked him multiple times to spare him? 🤷🏻‍♀️ No idea!

LL’s behavior oddly swings from his willingness to die to his willingness to survive, but Ao Ying paved him the only way obsessed characters could follow, so if he can’t be with ZYZ anyway, he dies saving him. His act of dying is the last part of break-up acceptance: he regifts ex’s gift to his current boyfriend and symbolically hands him over the burden of caring about ZYZ. And lastly has a tantric threesome sex with both ZYZ and his new boyfriend.

"Zhao Yuanzhou, I can't bear seeing you this weak."

I discussed my unhappiness with LL’s plot with my fellow @i-selina and she voiced the thought that there is some sort of Chinese cultural pattern in dramas saying: “your misery is your own weakness and a reason others will try to make you even more miserable”. My cultural pattern says that one should be merciful to other’s misery, that’s why I would like to see Li Lun’s inner fracture get healed and his true redemption arch happen, letting him stay alive. But GJM didn’t seem to bother even developing the main characters, so I shouldn’t expect that much of him here. He was busy making FoF insanely beautiful. No one can be equally good at each aspect of cinematography. Still love Li Lun, though.

Here is Part 1 Here is Part 2 Here is Part 3

Happy B'day, Felix!