#dangai

[blov01]

🌺🌼🌸🍁🍃

[blbeloved]

Challenging Common Perceptions About Sex and Sexuality on Chinese TV

Watching this video what strikes me is how the presenter is able to illustrate the important points she is making throughout her script’s narrative, with Ancient Danmei adaptation footage as well as scenes from other magnificent queer-coded historical CDramas, but there exists no other country on Earth you can replicate this for.

I was only vaguely interested in the substance of this setting-the-record-straight video (I knew most of this history already) but what really hit me was the extent of relevant visuals that could easily be assembled to support the text. In the opening introduction above, she is able to illustrate her points using visuals from several Chinese TV adaptations created from Danmei novels - Love Is More Than A Word; The Untamed ; WoH, and still didn’t run out of content for the next 20 minutes.

I have often wondered why it is that Chinese TV and China-based streaming platforms have dozens of EPIC, including fantasy, wuxia, cultivation, detective, martial, and imperial court Danmei or other queer homoerotic story adaptations featuring MM or FF love on a grand, 50+ episodes scale, but there is not even one single gay Game of Thrones in the ostensibly more “accepting, non-restrictive and uncensored” Anglophone queer media sphere.

While China has these in dozens, many rivalling or exceeding GoT or Marvel scope of ambition, it would be hard to find five big budget, blockbuster queer cinematic masterpieces each, from the prolific filmmaking Anglosphere, even if you were to ask for the historical or costumed as well as any modern era queer, big-budget spectaculars to be combined. An interesting paradox, isn’t it?

- What’s the Reason the West has Not Produced Even One Gay GoT? -

This I think is a valid enquiry but rarely have I come across comparative media analysis such as this really honest, moving and illuminating reflection by a queer American person inspired by his multiple re-watches of CDrama, The Rise of Phoenixes, in which the author tries to wrestle with this very conundrum.

Very different perspective from how most western viewers of Chinese queer media usually approach evaluating these types of productions which are often produced by Chinese queer people themselves. This is definitely partially a result of evaluating the products of other peoples’ culture on the basis of naturalising and elevating the shortcomings of the media you grew up on, and then imposing them as the minimum standards for everyone else everywhere.

Even many international viewers who are fans of a Danmei novel before its adaptation seem to forget Danmei is meant to stand as a disruptive, anti western-centric force, in active resistance to normative discourses of western narratives, and still tend to evaluate them from the limits of what is available at home.

Consequently, Chinese Dangai and mainstream queer-coded CDramas depart from Japanese and other BL traditions by not being primarily concerned with the currently existing world of individual queer students or salarymen as in Thailand, South Korea or Japan, but with imagining whole alternative worlds in which systemic transformations producing just, new civilisations can be carved out and impacted on by people who happen to possess same-sex desire and who use their queerness to change the world around them, not just who gets to sleep with whom.

It’s the idea of *transgressive male intimacy* that constitutes the central nervous system of Chinese BL, not merely transgressive male-male sex, hence a much more socially and politically panoramic romantic, emotional, and erotic potential is contained within a queer Chinese TV production (A Couple of Mirrors), even when it’s queer-coded (Nirvana In Fire) or an original screen play that’s barely ambiguous (Killer And Healer) or less covert (ABO Desire) than its international peers. Among regional BL film producing countries only China offers this magnitude of narrative depth and expanse at scale and it’s always nice to see that acknowledged.

Important to remember that China has no media rating system according to age, so there is no such thing as *NC*, *Adults Only*, *PG*, and so on; if a piece of media passes the quality test in China, that makes it equally good for everyone to consume. This means both a minor child and an adult can be inspired, informed, validated and entertained by the same outstanding works, for example Ne Zha 2.

Sort of adds another layer to perspectives on censorship and media freedom when it comes to diversity and accessibility of explicit and implicit queer representation; a single, narrow story that’s allowed to be told about men, masculinity and sexuality in any time period for a restricted audience, versus a wider creative pallet of options that are available for the enjoyment of the entire population of cinema and CDrama consumers.

Among other things, this comes in very handy for illustrating the odd script about the normalisation of queer love in China, both ancient and modern 😉.

Link to the Rise of Phoenixes article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/01/the-refreshing-gender-politics-of-the-rise-of-phoenixes

The Refreshing Gender Politics of ‘The Rise of Phoenixes’

Seeing yourself on screen is a beautiful thing, even if you need subtitles.

Link to the full video the clip comes from: The Romance of Male Concubines in the Han Dynasty of Ancient China - https://youtu.be/WMCl-4SKjbs?si=FYSpo-c78n19RGa_

[minoyrheyr]

I love when Priest's pairs have these brief moments when they are casually talking and they suddenly start smiling/laughing in the most carefree way to show that they are in the same page or very comfortable around each other in that scene. I just love the simplicity of these affectionate gestures. I love their interactions.

[sparrowsnowflower]

Rebirth of Souls IchiRuki

[distinguishedshoeduckdonut]

FINAL GETSUGA TENSHO

[shijiujun]

A Summary: The Spirealm | 致命游戏 (Kaleidoscope of Death 死亡万花筒 Live Action) & Why You Should (Eventually) Watch It

Talk about the most short-lived drama release ever, not even totalling two hours if I recall. Creating this summary as I've seen a handful of confused friends, so here it goes!

It's going to be a long review because I sped through all 78 episodes and only properly watched the first two doors, but I got you. You'll get both the brief book rundown and the drama parts!

If you just wanna see the bromance (LOVE) parts please skip to section 4!!!!

1. Overview

Title: The Spirealm (kinda awful I'm sorry it's a mouthful) or 致命游戏 which means fatal game

Adapted From: Danmei (BL) Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu

Novel Prints: There are GORGEOUS Thai, Vietnamese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese versions printed, AND Singapore publisher Rosmei has signed the license for the ENGLISH version, probably going on sale this year (preview is here). You can still access fan translations by Taida on I think wordpress and someone else on Tumblr sorry bad memory (they did half and half each) if you'd like to read it for context. It is one of my FAVE danmeis EVER and I am a die-hard OG book fan, check out my full danmei review here.

Total Episodes: 78 (20 minutes each with the exception of last episode which 10 minutes, with several BTS not that I think we will get to see all of them yet)

Where to Watch (LOL): Erm considering that iQIYI China AND International took the episodes down, there is no legal way to watch this, BUT thanks to some cnetz with super fast and great wifi, we managed to get ripped HD versions without subs. iQIYI is very hard on copyright though, they've taken down several subbed and unsubbed versions already on YouTube, but you should type the titles of show into Twitter and the top tags will tell you where to access the raws and very little subbed episodes, that may also be taken down at any point. I have the Chinese raws but as it's hosted on a cloud, I had to pay to access it.

Main Characters: Lin Qiushi & Ruan Nanzhu/Ruan Baijie (in the novel) and Ling Jiushi & Ruan Nanzhu/Ruan Baijie (in the drama)

Produced By: iQIYI so for SURE they won't film it fully BL even if the original is, but I've seen enough bromance cuts

Main Actors: Xia Zhiguang (Ruan Nanzhu/Ruan Baijie) + Huang Junjie (Ling Jiushi)

2. Summary

Book (drama follows closely if not removing the supernatural premises): Lin Qiushi, a designer, opens the door to his home one day from inside and sees 12 iron doors outside. Confused, he opens one of them and arrives at a snow covered village in the mid of winter, and meets Ruan Baijie, who's a pretty, unusually tall and whiny/timid woman. They realise that they're in a horrifying door game, and they'll have to find a door and a key to get out, while battling a long-haired, human-eating deity. They, along with a few others, have to survive day after day until they get out, and on the first night, two people have died in gory ways. Ruan Baijie and Lin Qiushi partner each other, and despite seemingly timid and crying all the time, she saves Lin Qiushi a few times mysteriously, and Lin Qiushi finds himself trusting in Ruan Baijie.

They get through the door together and when they leave successfully, Lin Qiushi realizes that the people who died in the door will die in real life by some freak accident too - car accidents, forced suicides, a robbery gone wrong, a lift trapped in the air and going ablaze, and more. That night, Lin Qiushi wakes up to see a super handsome and tall Ruan Nanzhu at his bedside and this man feels familiar to him, but he can't put a finger on it. All he can think of when Ruan Nanzhu says his name is Ruan Baijie (ahem he would later find out who it is of course). Ruan Nanzhu takes him to his mansion in the suburbs where he meets a group of other people just like them, who're forced to go through the doors for survival. Ruan Nanzhu then invites him to join Obsidian, his organization.

Through various doors, Lin Qiushi grows and supports a super intelligent and powerful Ruan Nanzhu, falls in love with him, gets through many many scary doors with him and some of their other team members, makes friends, loses them to the cruelty of the doors as they ponder over what the door means, and what being alive/dying means.

And at the end of it, at the end of of it all, when they're all good and living their life, Lin Qiushi also finds out what Ruan Nanzhu's secret is, and the lengths to which Ruan Nanzhu went to, just to be with him.

Drama: Ling Jiushi is a VR game designer who gets pulled into a game, and he meets Ruan Baijie (in his male form) right off the bat (SO NOT CROSSDRESSING I AM SAD). All the parts are actually the same as the novel, albeit with the game setting and Ling Jiushi and Ruan Nanzhu's identity adjustments to suit the game premise. Most of the other doors and their lines are the same, just that the ending is a bit more confusing than it could be. There's a big bad as well and they actually show the opposing organizations when in the novel, these other organizations aside from Obsidian didn't even actually have a face or goal to them.

3. Characters

^ Them in the book (based on manhua that never got to go live LOL) (RNZ/RBJ left, LQS right)

^ Them in the show (LJS left, RNZ right)

Ruan Nanzhu/Ruan Baijie: MY HANDSOME CROSSDRESSING INTELLIGENT ALOOF BUT WHINY (WHEN IT COMES TO LIN QIUSHI) SASSY BOSS!!!! He's super mysterious and super thick-skinned too, and all he wants is Lin Qiushi's attention the moment he meets him. He's intrigued by Lin Qiushi's calm and his brains and the way he handles things, and has a lot of trust for him right from the get-go. This is also shown in the drama itself. As the leader of Obsidian, he cares a lot for his team members and his friends even if he doesn't show it most of the time, and the last thing he wants to do is lose Lin Qiushi, and he would do ANYTHING for Lin Qiushi, ANYTHING!!! Just look at him whining:

Ling Jiushi (Lin Qiushi): In the novel he's super calm, has quite a lot of brains, a little bit of a blur in the beginning but he's super smart as well. Worries a lot for Ruan Nanzhu and is also a loyal friend to some of his only friends, and feels a lot when he loses them. Falls gradually in love with Ruan Nanzhu in the novel, like they just belong together. In this drama, Ling Jiushi holds that same trust for Ruan Nanzhu, but in demeanour he seems a bit more like a klutz and and not as cool as he was in the novel, but I guess it's acceptable. Literally like the only thing he loves more than RNZ (maybe) is his cat Chestnut LOL and RNZ is NOT really happy about that but Chestnut LOVES RNZ

Yixie and Qianli: CUTEST TWINS ;-; WHO TREAT RNZ and LQS as their big brothers LOOK AT THEM BOWING AND RNZ/LJS like parents LMAO

A handful of other characters who will keep turning up and get your hearts ;-;

4. ALL FAVE BROMANCE MOMENTS + TROPES

THEY TOUCH EACH OTHER A LOT LIKE HOLDING HANDS AND TOUCHING FACES, PIGGY BACKING?!?! DID I MENTION FACE TOUCHING

WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP THEY HELP EACH OTHER WHEN HURT OR GET HURT FOR EACH OTHER

AND WHEN THEY WAKE UP IN BED THE OTHER IS AT THEIR BEDSIDE

AND DID I MENTION HE FEEDS HIM IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

AND THAT THEY DATED UNDER THE FIREWORKS LIKE THE NOVEL DOES NOT EVEN HAVE THIS SHIT

AND THE KABEDONS

AND FINALLY RUAN NANZHU RIZZ OMG

5. Settings

They REALLY OUTDID THEMSELVES. THIS JUST FROM DOORS 1-6:

THEY LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THE NOVEL DESCRIBED!!!!

6. Overall Thoughts

PROS: This was NOT a cheap production, I'm telling you, they followed the cases very well and there're a lot of super recognisable lines, if not ALL of them, even if they changed the cases a little. I think they did it because in the novel originally, the author DOES leave a lot of details hanging like someone dies and you know he had a background and there are some shady things happening but the author NEVER actually goes into detail. So the drama did their best to cover these loopholes, even if it felt a little awkward at times. Money went into settings and attires and every damn thing, this looks EXPENSIVE. And if you've ever imagined each door and the bosses inside in your head, you might have felt chills go down your spine because damn did they really colour the book's settings for me (despite its differences). DID I MENTION that Xia Zhiguang really got the damn memo and he was a passable Ruan Nanzhu/Ruan Baijie who knew how to turn on his BL eyes. PLUS they really did some of the character deaths really well - they're technically some of the biggest parts of this story so ;-; (not two main of course)

CONS (maybe): They did away with the supernatural/horror premise and replaced it with a GAME premise, which means that there's a scientific element to it and the try to explain away stuff with the game, including the ending. I don't 100% get the ending, but the feel/vibe is about the same. Might not be for hardcore reader fans tho! They skipped out on a couple of doors, some of which were my faves, but it's fine, it's long enough LOL. They give away/explain some of the clues and surprises super early which means you don't get that added boom at the back as well. Despite that, I have to say they tried to round up the loopholes from the book as much as they could and give it an explanation while tying elements/conspiracies across doors (probably also to save cast fees LOL). And as always it's not a solid ending, it's an open confusing one, and even more confusing than the book itself because THERE IS NO CERTAIN HAPPILY EVER AFTER WITH HUBBY for it (there is in the book tho, they live together happily every after). Secondl,y, I'd say HJJ's acting is a bit stiff and OOC compared to the novel, but Xia Zhiguang really made up for it.

-------

HOPE THIS HELPS YOU GUYS!!! But I guess if you need subs it's going to be a long LONGGGG ride, considering that iQIYI doesn't seem to be going to be able to put it up anytime soon CRIES.

[bloodysimpsonchibi]

Can't Fight Fate (But We'll Go Down Swinging.)

Bleach Week Day 6: Dangai/Fate

This entry and the last one are both on the angsty side so watch out. Also, I've been reading a lot of Lovecraft lately and some of that might have bled into this story...

⪻────𖤓────⪼

'What is fate?'

"Come on Ming! Hurry up! We have to keep moving!"

"Right!"

'Is it just the name we give to the future or is it a force that guides us through our present lives toward our destiny, like a tiny piece in some grand cosmic puzzle that will never be finished?'

The women's frantic footsteps echoed through the Dangai, overshadowing their raspy breaths. Behind them, trails of red formed from the many wounds adorning both of their bodies. It was a miracle in of itself that they were able to escape with their lives with how vicious the ambush was but that thought would have to occur to them later in the safety of the Human World. For right now, they were being pursued by a different enemy, not one of malice but of cold reason. The Kototsu was lapping at their heels, barreling through the inky dripping walls of the Dangai like a hungry weasel chasing two mice through a narrow tunnel.

'Is there a point to how fate runs our lives, some significance to the roles we are forced to play or is it all just a giant meaningless farce, like a mindless child throwing his toys about until they break or get lost?'

Ming wheezed as the wound on her side cried out. She could feel blood well up in her mouth. She could feel the cruel glow of the Kototsu's eye on her and knew it would catch up to her at any moment. It was no use. Her wounds were slowing her down too much and she had spent too much energy just surviving that vicious battle to reach the Dangai in the first place. Before her, she noticed her beloved captain, the heart of her world, struggling to run as well. She was faring better than Ming but she could tell from the sharp breaths she was taking and the slight curve in her momentum that she was near her limit as well. But she was ahead of Ming, closer to the exit, closer to safety.

She still had a chance.

'Is fate on our side, protecting us in these dire times in ways we can never fantom or has it been attempting to destroy us this entire time, through Aizen, through Yhwach and now through those...things!?'

Soifon shook her head, not wanting to allow the hideous and powerful horrors that chased her and her beloved into this death trap in the first place to occupy her mind. Bad enough that they already occupied the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. She knew the Human World was next and it stood the least chance of all of fending on the invasion. But he was there, the man who had defeated Aizen and Yhwach, the man who had shattered fate both times before. It all rested on him now and if Soifon and Ming could just reach the Human World and find him...

That's when she felt the push.

At first, she thought she had simply tripped on her own blood but as she looked behind her, she saw Ming with her arms outstretched, bathed in the light of the Kotetsu's eye, mere moments away from being torn out of the very current of time forever. Her face was smiling, even as tears welled from her eyes like waterfalls.

"Ming!"

'And if fate is truly against us, if it truly seeks to destroy us, can we stop it? Can we as individuals actually go against the current of fate itself, fight back its hand and shout "No, I will not be your puppet!?" Could such words ever be a true declaration of war or just wasted breath?'

"Go Captain! Find Ichigo! Find Urahara!" Ming cried out with a whimper. "I...I love you!"

"Ming! No!" Soifon screamed, the tears she had kept locked within herself finally escaping. She had already lost so much in these last hellish days since the invasion began. Another Head Captain taken down. Her home destroyed. Her Division erased. Even Omaeda was gone by now, having sacrificed his life so she and Ming could escape. Throughout all the terror, all the tragedy, she had managed to keep Ming only to lose her to that damned monster that ran through this domain like a mindless beast.

As she did so long ago when Yoruichi had vanished from her life, Soifon swallowed her grief and ignited it with the flames of her rage. "No!" She got up and leapt toward the Kototsu. "Bankai!"

'Maybe it is a fool's dream to defeat fate. That's what the elders would tell you and long ago, there was a time where I would have never questioned what the elders said. But that was before a certain fool came to our Soul Society and spit in the face of our rules, before he revealed the snake hiding in our midst and made us realize, little by little, that the only true path was forward. No matter how grave or dire the times grow, even if everything seems lost, you must never stop moving forward. You must bite your tongue, raise your blade and resolve to win the battle, no matter how hopeless. To fight even when there is no sign of victory, that is the only way one could ever hope to beat fate!'

In a small glow of light, Soifon's arm became engulfed in the giant golden missile that was her Bankai. While still in midair, she aimed it directly at the Kototsu's eye.

"C-Captain, don't!" Ming screamed. "You can't harm the Kototsu! It's impossible! Save yourself!"

But Soifon couldn't hear Ming's words, or rather refused to hear them. She refused to entertain the idea of losing the one she loved, to the Kototsu, to the invaders, to that damned Fate. With all of her resolve poured into the missle, she launched it directly into the approaching behemoth's eye. The explosion went off, knocking Soifon back.

Ming shielded herself from the explosion with a whimper. A gust of air tore at her clothes and wounds and when it was over, Ming refused to lower her hands, not wanting to face the Kototsu as it consumed her or her lover. She waited, waited for the moment her body made contact with the behemoth and she was torn from reality. But nothing happened, nothing save for a shudder throughout the Dangai as something came to a screeching halt behind her. Slowly, Ming lowered her arms and turned her head.

The Kototsu still stood but it was missing a huge chuck of itself. Where its eye once rested, now was a gory, smoking crater several times wider.

"You...You stopped it..." Ming whispered in disbelief. "You actually stopped the Kototsu, Captain?"

Ming felt a hand tighten around her wrist and was pulled to her feet by Soifon. "Come on, before it recovers!"

Ming gasped then, finally fully processing what had happened. she nodded and followed her captain toward the dim but visible light ahead of them.

'My name is Soifon and I was once the captain of the Second Division of the Gotei 13. I'm not sure if I can claim such a title anymore. I'm not even sure if they'll be a Gotei 13 after this. But I know one thing for sure. I will not let fate take any more from me than it already has. There might have been a time I surrendered fully to what fate wanted but that was before Ichigo Kurosaki came into our lives. I've seen him fight fate and win! I know it can be done! So me and Ming, we'll make it to the Human World and find him again. If fate dictates that we must fall to such an enemy, we will not allow ourselves to fade away so easily! We'll take a page from Ichigo's book and shatter fate itself!"

[lunarriviera]

hey loves, i can't say much tonight as i'm exhausted/unwell from a very weird long horrible day and already flat on my back in bed. BUT i see various of you here on the hellsite panicking about the jitd ending. and i mean i understand why, we have all been burned by dangai before, especially when it's a priest adaptation, bc she's just out here writing Happily Gay Ever After, which is not allowed. (still feel bad for all those people who never saw the extra shl episode 😢)

but here's the thing. i can't tell you how i know this, but for two three separate reasons, i can say: just trust, okay? we are not gonna get kicked in the teeth on this one. shit will fr be ROUGH in those last few episodes, bc as usual we're dealing with self-sacrificial idiots, plus people who are extremely damaged (priest girl sometimes i worry about your childhood). but i am here to promise that the ending will not let you down. you are safe, you are in trustworthy hands. <3

PS there's reasons youku had to sell it to wowow, right? don't forget that!