"They mean to kill their golden goose"... That's exactly what communism does... Sadly...
LOL, what they have (and had) was never communism. You guys better get informed into what communism ACTUALLY is supposed to be and not the anti-socialism propaganda that's been fed into Western countries.
Communism: there is NO private property (not even housing), all the means of production are common, everybody contributes what they can and receive what they need. That's the textbook definition. Its leadership is collective and nobody amasses any wealth.
Socialism is a broader from-the-people-for-the-people school of thought, of which communism was supposed to be part of but was NEVER achieved. What the Soviets had was mostly Leninism, a kind of a precursor of communism, that had leading classes over the working class, and when the USSR fell, it and its umbrella countries allowed that leading class (that had become deeply corrupt interim) to change into a class of oligarchs that STILL ruled directly or indirectly, despite the pretense of moving toward capitalism.
The other half of socialism is social democracy, that had a pretty nice success in the Scandinavian countries that we take now as some of the best places to live in on this planet. While the original thought was that there shouldn't be any centralised leadership and everything is also collective, social democracy decided there should be property and rights and all BUT the center of progress should help the PEOPLE, not the corporations or JUST the owner class. (That's why you have everyday propaganda through media controlled by that owner class that tells you each and every minute you'll be happy and FREE if you just lose all your social protections and social safety nets and trust that the owner class will care for you and keep you around, because "who would use their products otherwise". For all the duped people - take a look at the AI implementation in EVERYTHING and what that causes for the working people. You might be surprised how little YOU personally are needed for the owner class to keep living their own safe lives.)
What the CHINESE had was a copy of Marxism-Leninism viewed through a dark lens depending on who the ruler of the day was. Mao ZeDong was one of the foremost visible leaders of it and probably now XJP wants to carve his name in history like MZD or something. What China is today is, despite the famines and brutal supression of civil movements and all - is due in large part to a central leadership that DID take all measures possible to take the country from basically late feudalism into what it is now - everything capitalism provides financially, China also has, and that's for 1.5 BILLION people. Just compare it to the other super-peopled country that's right next to it - India, the world's "largest democracy" at least in numbers - and see what the CCCP managed to do in 100 years, starting from about the same place if not a worse one than India.
This is not an apology for what the CCCP is doing to its own citizens or in the countries where they're going with their Road and Belt initiatives. What I'm trying to say is - it's not simple and easily reduced to "let the people free to do whatever they want" when you're talking about around 19% of the world's population. It's not "communism always does that" - communism wouldn't even have the means to touch something like what China did create over 70 years of modernising China (even if through suppression and murder and all other means a lot of times).
/political rant ends here.
Anyway, XJP is still an idiot (not literally, he seems to usually be quite clever) who might over-reach at some point. I know they're facing a fall in demographics brought about by their own old one-child policy, and that's on them. They're veering as hard as they can in order to convince young people to have kids, not be gay (or just hide it by having a family and kids), just multiply enough that an ever-growing economy miracle keeps happening (and BTW that's a capitalist concept, this infinite growth), and that they won't fall in the same trap that all evolved countries eventually get into.
1. They mean to kill their golden goose. Chinese dramas are the ones that actually make Western audiences LIKE any Chinese media. I guess they're going to censor and invent new rules until nothing appeals to a larger audience than an older and more bored national public and that's that. Oh well. Maybe that's their whole idea.
2. On a more closer-to-reality side... is making soldiers look like soldiers in drama meant to start another patriotic push and present the army as a way of advancing in life? In that case... I am guessing they mean to actually make a move on Taiwan soon enough and need some ready-made "patriotism" by that time.
PS XJP should be really careful (not that he doesn't know it, probably). You can't keep pushing the lid down when things start boiling. Something's eventually going to give.
As a side to what had been discussed (as in an offered opinion by your interlocutor), they've got most everything kind of twisted. Because 1. There IS no love relationship between LXC (Lan WangJi's older brother) and MY (Meng Yao), despite them being presented in just ONE instance as having a strage interaction. In the novel (and aside that one instance, in the drama) there is NOTHING else to suggest they are in any way shape or manner, lovers. They are supposed (by LXC) to be zhījǐ (知己), which is something different and does not include a romantic relationship.
And then there's 2. All the women in the drama are basically superfluous in the novel. The way their characters were developed respect the general ideas in the short form presented in the plot, BUT most of it is new compared to the original material (particularly Mme Yu, YanLi and Wen Qing.) So to say that the drama plot had any intention of making some grand (or understated) statement based on this being a work written by women for women re: male love... is kind of really stretching it for a bit.
3. The actual relationship between the lead characters IS very much like portrayed in the novel (allowing some small changes). There is NO PDA and no implied respective love in the novel until the very last chapters (because WWX is totally oblivious and LWJ is completely non-expressive). "WYB's acting" is just fitting the character - he is not one given to any emotional displays (basically only WWX usually manages to get his feathers visibly ruffled). The actual reveal is one of the climaxes of the novel, too, and if you're so inclined, I do recommend the novel for all the actually danmei bits.
4. What danmei is and how it differs from Western BL (or even other kinds of MM romances) is a subject worth talking about. And yes, there are visible differences. Though TBH, while rare, pairings where the men switch (both can top or bottom, from time to time) do exist. In MDZS, it's true that LWJ is the definite top (gong) and WWX is the definite bottom (shou) but they are still MALE. There is no hint of WWX being in any way female just because he's the shou. The part where danmei (like most BL writing, TBH) is a way for women to explore their sexuality is also true.
Then again, everyone will take whatever catches their interest in any drama :D
(1st ep only)I didn't expect this to be so action-packed. First ep is good, the BGM is amazing, YAN AN!!!! *heart…
Wait, did I see it right, is there another character that TJR plays who MIGHT be the actually fated one for JJY's character?!
I like their dumb-and-dumber act, LOL, TJR and YA are so nice together (and YA still has those smouldering dark looks from FoF. I approve).
I don't yet get the story - so everybody's either a fox or hunting down a fox etc. But why? (Borrowing a line from famous villains LOL) Can't mankind and heart-ripping foxes learn to coexist?!
I think this won't get too deep into feelings but will probably work on action and friendship / setting up forbidden romances. I'm okay with that.
Anyway, more Yan An is always too little Yan An. Let's have him in the picture more LOL.
I didn't expect this to be so action-packed. First ep is good, the BGM is amazing, YAN AN!!!! *heart eyes* (if they kill off his character in the drama I'll go present a petition to the company in person LOL).
OMG did CDL look so beautiful in that red wedding gown!!
Watching episode 1 and the fl described the Ml as eccentric and scheming. Huh! How did she come up with this?…
She's suspicious and for good reason.
Also, at least for about three quarters of the drama, the FL is whip-smart and catches on a lot of very subtle hints. She gets dumber in the final arc because of reasons.
Even when just announcing the release date of a drama, you just HAVE to bring in the controversy that's been settled for a year now. You just can't help yourself, I guess.
Is the MDL article section just going to turn into a tabloid?!
He didn't kill them though. (Not that he's not a psycho - he very much is, never stopped. He and the other crazy…
I actually loved that character. He wasn't shown DOING a lot of bad things, there were a lot of rumours around him being unhinged, so there was some plausability of him changing (yeah right - well, it's a drama, we can only hope).
But then LOL, the one who made him change through the power of her love was the one I couldn't stand. I was sad he ended that way, then again, they'd have been truly crazy together LOL. Better he be left with that chance at redemption. Too bad she never learned any kind of a lesson :(
FH was so good in the beginning, and again, suffered from a weak final arc. Oh well...
Well-executed plots and solid endings in the timeframe they're approved for. That's what I miss. Also, original…
Nirvana in Fire has the best pace and wraps up beautifully. It's one of the few that does it right. Also Fangs of Fortune, The Untamed, I Am Nobody, Oh No Here Comes Trouble (Taiwan), so there ARE some examples of doing it right.
But long novels' adaptations in the era of short runtimes... not so much, sadly.
Wonderland of Love. Wonderland of Love will give you kids - two - and they're aware of EVERY little cringy thing their dad ever did when pursuing their mom. (She told them. There's a picture book, too. They know everything.)
Yeah, kids should be mandatory in such dramas. When I read the end chapters of Blossom I got really mad - Song Mo is CRAZY about his kid LOL. He was SO CUTE as a dad in love with his child. They should have had that in the drama.
Can anyone explain what the fake pregnancy with Consort Qi? Was it just that - A fake pregnancy? which made them…
It was a plot designed to get Wei Yan away from the besieged city and the Crown Prince. The Emperor obviously was aware of the previous link between Wei Yan and his (the Emperor's) consort, so he used it to fake a pregnancy news and placing her in mortal peril (because of the adultery accusation).
She never was pregnant.
She also didn't die because of the Emperor. At least in the drama, it appears she got involved in the Eastern Palace fire and died because the Crown Princess put into action her own plan to save Qi Min by replacing him with another available child of his age, Sui YuanHai.
He didn't kill them though. (Not that he's not a psycho - he very much is, never stopped. He and the other crazy…
I don't bother with the promo materials, LOL. The actor did an amazing job with the character (I mean, he's a psycho, we're supposed to hate him, and the fact he's handsome doesn't change it one bit. Which reminds me - I HAVE watched Deng Kai in other dramas, and he IS handsome even when playing a goody-two-shoes character LOL).
I also don't mind other people's fantasies. If they want to see a touch of redemption possible, I don't care - let them fantasize. The story is done, the ending won't be changed, let them write fanfiction, IDC LOL.
My fellow POJ mourners … what do we watch next? How am I going to move on? 😭
Bloodhounds 2. I really want a kdrama that catches me, and I can't find it lately. This one is bingeable and there's WDH and LSY and Rain in it, they can't mess it up too much. I mean, it's an action drama, as long as nobody dies...
3 
Communism: there is NO private property (not even housing), all the means of production are common, everybody contributes what they can and receive what they need. That's the textbook definition. Its leadership is collective and nobody amasses any wealth.
Socialism is a broader from-the-people-for-the-people school of thought, of which communism was supposed to be part of but was NEVER achieved. What the Soviets had was mostly Leninism, a kind of a precursor of communism, that had leading classes over the working class, and when the USSR fell, it and its umbrella countries allowed that leading class (that had become deeply corrupt interim) to change into a class of oligarchs that STILL ruled directly or indirectly, despite the pretense of moving toward capitalism.
The other half of socialism is social democracy, that had a pretty nice success in the Scandinavian countries that we take now as some of the best places to live in on this planet. While the original thought was that there shouldn't be any centralised leadership and everything is also collective, social democracy decided there should be property and rights and all BUT the center of progress should help the PEOPLE, not the corporations or JUST the owner class. (That's why you have everyday propaganda through media controlled by that owner class that tells you each and every minute you'll be happy and FREE if you just lose all your social protections and social safety nets and trust that the owner class will care for you and keep you around, because "who would use their products otherwise". For all the duped people - take a look at the AI implementation in EVERYTHING and what that causes for the working people. You might be surprised how little YOU personally are needed for the owner class to keep living their own safe lives.)
What the CHINESE had was a copy of Marxism-Leninism viewed through a dark lens depending on who the ruler of the day was. Mao ZeDong was one of the foremost visible leaders of it and probably now XJP wants to carve his name in history like MZD or something. What China is today is, despite the famines and brutal supression of civil movements and all - is due in large part to a central leadership that DID take all measures possible to take the country from basically late feudalism into what it is now - everything capitalism provides financially, China also has, and that's for 1.5 BILLION people. Just compare it to the other super-peopled country that's right next to it - India, the world's "largest democracy" at least in numbers - and see what the CCCP managed to do in 100 years, starting from about the same place if not a worse one than India.
This is not an apology for what the CCCP is doing to its own citizens or in the countries where they're going with their Road and Belt initiatives. What I'm trying to say is - it's not simple and easily reduced to "let the people free to do whatever they want" when you're talking about around 19% of the world's population. It's not "communism always does that" - communism wouldn't even have the means to touch something like what China did create over 70 years of modernising China (even if through suppression and murder and all other means a lot of times).
/political rant ends here.
Anyway, XJP is still an idiot (not literally, he seems to usually be quite clever) who might over-reach at some point. I know they're facing a fall in demographics brought about by their own old one-child policy, and that's on them. They're veering as hard as they can in order to convince young people to have kids, not be gay (or just hide it by having a family and kids), just multiply enough that an ever-growing economy miracle keeps happening (and BTW that's a capitalist concept, this infinite growth), and that they won't fall in the same trap that all evolved countries eventually get into.
Oh well. Sadly we live in interesting times.
1. They mean to kill their golden goose. Chinese dramas are the ones that actually make Western audiences LIKE any Chinese media. I guess they're going to censor and invent new rules until nothing appeals to a larger audience than an older and more bored national public and that's that. Oh well. Maybe that's their whole idea.
2. On a more closer-to-reality side... is making soldiers look like soldiers in drama meant to start another patriotic push and present the army as a way of advancing in life? In that case... I am guessing they mean to actually make a move on Taiwan soon enough and need some ready-made "patriotism" by that time.
PS XJP should be really careful (not that he doesn't know it, probably). You can't keep pushing the lid down when things start boiling. Something's eventually going to give.
And then there's 2. All the women in the drama are basically superfluous in the novel. The way their characters were developed respect the general ideas in the short form presented in the plot, BUT most of it is new compared to the original material (particularly Mme Yu, YanLi and Wen Qing.) So to say that the drama plot had any intention of making some grand (or understated) statement based on this being a work written by women for women re: male love... is kind of really stretching it for a bit.
3. The actual relationship between the lead characters IS very much like portrayed in the novel (allowing some small changes). There is NO PDA and no implied respective love in the novel until the very last chapters (because WWX is totally oblivious and LWJ is completely non-expressive). "WYB's acting" is just fitting the character - he is not one given to any emotional displays (basically only WWX usually manages to get his feathers visibly ruffled). The actual reveal is one of the climaxes of the novel, too, and if you're so inclined, I do recommend the novel for all the actually danmei bits.
4. What danmei is and how it differs from Western BL (or even other kinds of MM romances) is a subject worth talking about. And yes, there are visible differences. Though TBH, while rare, pairings where the men switch (both can top or bottom, from time to time) do exist. In MDZS, it's true that LWJ is the definite top (gong) and WWX is the definite bottom (shou) but they are still MALE. There is no hint of WWX being in any way female just because he's the shou. The part where danmei (like most BL writing, TBH) is a way for women to explore their sexuality is also true.
Then again, everyone will take whatever catches their interest in any drama :D
I hope you enjoy it so far :)
Rain's chara: I'll give you 1 billion Won.
GunWoo: *hesitating*
Rain's chara: Okay, I'll add 5 billion if you win.
WooJin: Wow, 15 billion Won!
That's Freakazoid level of jokes, LOL, I like it :D
I like their dumb-and-dumber act, LOL, TJR and YA are so nice together (and YA still has those smouldering dark looks from FoF. I approve).
I don't yet get the story - so everybody's either a fox or hunting down a fox etc. But why? (Borrowing a line from famous villains LOL) Can't mankind and heart-ripping foxes learn to coexist?!
I think this won't get too deep into feelings but will probably work on action and friendship / setting up forbidden romances. I'm okay with that.
Anyway, more Yan An is always too little Yan An. Let's have him in the picture more LOL.
I didn't expect this to be so action-packed. First ep is good, the BGM is amazing, YAN AN!!!! *heart eyes* (if they kill off his character in the drama I'll go present a petition to the company in person LOL).
OMG did CDL look so beautiful in that red wedding gown!!
Also, at least for about three quarters of the drama, the FL is whip-smart and catches on a lot of very subtle hints. She gets dumber in the final arc because of reasons.
Done.
For binging, Blossom, obviously.
Tabloid, indeed.
Is the MDL article section just going to turn into a tabloid?!
But then LOL, the one who made him change through the power of her love was the one I couldn't stand. I was sad he ended that way, then again, they'd have been truly crazy together LOL. Better he be left with that chance at redemption. Too bad she never learned any kind of a lesson :(
FH was so good in the beginning, and again, suffered from a weak final arc. Oh well...
But long novels' adaptations in the era of short runtimes... not so much, sadly.
Yeah, kids should be mandatory in such dramas. When I read the end chapters of Blossom I got really mad - Song Mo is CRAZY about his kid LOL. He was SO CUTE as a dad in love with his child. They should have had that in the drama.
She never was pregnant.
She also didn't die because of the Emperor. At least in the drama, it appears she got involved in the Eastern Palace fire and died because the Crown Princess put into action her own plan to save Qi Min by replacing him with another available child of his age, Sui YuanHai.
I also don't mind other people's fantasies. If they want to see a touch of redemption possible, I don't care - let them fantasize. The story is done, the ending won't be changed, let them write fanfiction, IDC LOL.