Untitled

[darwingirl]

I just watched “Blue Eye Samurai.” I loved it! The animation is beautiful. The plot an instant winner with me, but not doing spoilers. Definitely not for little kids. Lots of gore, lots of nudity and sex—like YAYY. At first I was bummed that it was in English, because I’m happier with Japanese voice actors and English subs. However, big DUH, it’s Netflix and is dr using in umpteen countries with their voice actors. It wasn’t until the end of the last episode that I caught some of the voice actors’ names—George Takai and Kenneth Branagh are two I spotted without digging further into the cast—and it clicked belatedly for me that, yeah, this is the English version!

I was riveted by the beauty of the work, the plot and the characters’ growing interactions and deepening complexity as their relationships grow.

Also, women forging lives for themselves in 17th century Japan.

Did o mention that I loved it? 🤣 Gush gush.

[darwingirl]

As a fan of Xiao Zhan I thought I’d watch “The Longest Promise” which turned out to be a waste of time. The ambiguity of the ending alone made me furious. However there’s so much more to dislike. It’s not danmei and my brief forays into

B/G romance have left me cold, except Cang Lan Xue which has enough gender-bending and humor as well as wuxia elements and Dylan Wang—don’t need to say more than that!

Summing up: The Longest Promise” is a hugely long series in which you NEVER get to see Xiao Zhan’s dimples is an enormous fail! His character is so tamped down that he’s hardly there and how sad is that from Wei Wuxian???

[darwingirl]

So happy you like my suggestion! Gotta go with what you love, and I love my danmai guys! Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo I especially treasure! Just watched it yet again—lost count—because I need to visit with them on a fairly regular basis. 🤣

[darwingirl]

I noticed that as well when I “helped” with pronunciation and reached the same conclusion. He got discouraged and closed the book. O had to backtrack to get him to open it again and continue. So yeah…..

And yeah theem pork is funny; maybe if you recount that to him many years hence he’ll see the humor. That again maybe not.

[darwingirl]

Back to the future redux. Artemis flight around the moon. Was I, like Rip Van Winkle, asleep for the last 50 years? All my SF idols (Asimov, Clarke, Pohl, Sturgeon and the rest of the futurist gang of SF writers of the forties, fifties and sixties+) must be revolving in their graves. A fly-by?? I’m gobsmacked!

[darwingirl]

So, over the last few weeks of withdrawal from CLJ I’ve been watching a bunch of random stuff, depending on my mood. I signed on to Rakuten Viki, but haven’t started Unchained Love yet. Don’t know the name of the series in Chinese, but will find it and use it. I’m going for it because it has Dylan Wang, who I really like. So far, none of the danmei titles that were previewed on YouTube a few months ago (I made a list—actually it’s a wish list), have made it to Netflix or Viki or anywhere else in the US as far as I know. Hope springs eternal of course.

Read all four volumes of Scum Villain in English, since my Chinese is at the “10 word level” and I’m far far away from trying to translate from the Mandarin. Maybe a year—year and a half. And that’s a BIG MAYBE. Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong, is satiric, and I found it a bit hard to follow in the first volume, but figured it out eventually.

the main character finds himself inside a video game he’d been playing (if I got that right), so there’s him and game him. Took a bit of mental juggling—and not all of us are good jugglers! I’m going to read the entire book again when I get a chance. And not just the sex scenes, honest.

For danmei fans who aren’t interested in soft focus sex scenes it is extremely rewarding, especially the 4th volume of “extras” which illuminate some of what happened in the plot and fill in gaps in the back stories, plot, and of course, feature more blb sex, and they are truly EXTRA in the best sense of the word.

[darwingirl]

I’ve trying to understand my obsessive and besotted repose to Cang Lan Jué. I’ve watched it five times in a rather short period of time. I haven’t multi-binged since I was a kid and read “Little Men” nine times for completely different reasons and satisfactions. I am mainly a danmei fan, and checked out CLJ just to “see” if I might like it. Actually watched part of the first episode and thought it was “twee,” but the kicker is that I only watched part of that episode.

Then watched “Eternal Love” and was completely unexcited about its hetero plot lines (except maybe the fox and the god who wiped his name off the love list eons ago), so never again. But my daughter mentioned that folks really liked CLJ, so I went back, watched the entire first episode and the rest is obsession.

So now I’ve given lots of thought and many viewing hours to what it is that makes CLJ so captivating for me. Dongfang Qingcang—incredibly sexy. Yeah, but it’s the fact that he’ll go all the way to “I’m a little fairy,” to MLS and back that makes me love his willingly to abandon his gravitas and play for laughs. The gender bending itself doesn’t hurt either, but mainly it’s doing it all and giving it his all that wins me over. So I’m conflating the aactor and the character here—sorry to purists, but it’s so appealing and is part of his growth.

Also every main character grows and changes, the essence of good literature. Shangque, Jie Li, Danyin, Orchid, ChangHeng, Yun Zhong, Rong Hao, Xue Wan Qing, Die Yi. The arc of growing self-knowledge I find very powerful and beautiful. At bottom all are love stories (including unrequited ones) that through their growing self-knowledge enables each character to find and keep their love or NOT—but then there’s acceptance of the loss and growing/moving on. Except for Die Yi who dies having never even been noticed by Rong Hap—but that happens …..

And I love the Moon tribe. And all the music. And the scene in which Rong Hao and ChangHeng are floating through a Chinese landscape painting, and—-well you get the picture.

Will I watch it again and read it when I can get it? YEAH.

[darwingirl]

Definitely not going to forget!

[unforth]

My mom, after reading MDZS vol. 4: so, can you rec me more like that?

Me, sweating because she is asking this in the living room on Christmas day: um. Depends? What'd you have in mind?

Her: maybe a little less...vanilla?

Me: ....that really doesn't help.

Her: you know. Spicy!

Me: ma, I've written porn for kinks you've never even heard of. My gauge of spicy isn't going to match yours.

Her: hey, I'm worldly. Try me!

Me: ... ... ... (frantically trying to think of anything that would make the point out without being completely beyond the pale in front of my more normal family members present on Christmas day, finally settling on one that as long as none of them know what it is, it should be fine, and if they do know what it is, they probably won't admit it) ...do you know what oviposition is?

She does not, in fact, know what oviposition is. And will almost 100% ask me to explain tomorrow. My only chance of escape is her forgetting. Fortunately she is 78 and will likely forget. Unless she sees this tumblr post. Because she follows me on tumblr now. Yep, that's my life. 🤣🤣🤣

[darwingirl]

So what is oviposition anyway?

[aceinthetrap]

Painting of Dong Fang Qing Cang

@SHIGUANG机

[darwingirl]

This is stunning! Echos of Rembrandt in the treatment of the robes in particular—Rembrandt’s folks looked you straight in the eye, but dongfang’s lowered eyes and pensive look speak to elements of LBF&D very clearly—there a lot on his mind!

[aceinthetrap]

Painting of Dong Fang Qing Cang

@SHIGUANG机

[darwingirl]

This is stunning! Echos of Rembrandt in the treatment of the robes in particular—Rembrandt’s folks looked you straight in the eye, but dongfang’s lowered eyes and pensive look speak to elements of LBF&D very clearly—there a lot on his mind!

[darwingirl]

I’ll check it out when I get a chance and let you know. And I do agree—will the disappointment of the abridgment be compensated sufficiently by the BL? Never too much of that!