ArkTaisch

For those completionist fans who want a copy of the original 1997 text of “Lungbarrow” without shelling out a ridiculous amount of cash to buy the hardcopy (and because I wanted a digital version to read on my e-reader) I decided to scan my battered paperback and share it.

To be honest, the revisions were an improvement, but it’s still interesting to me to see what was changed. One of the changes was to replace the random squiggle in chapter 16 with a description... yeah, a random squiggle which I also omitted since I didn’t want to deal with trying to get an inline image to show up correctly. (I did include my scan in the dropbox link.)

Ok, so I love a good urban fantasy/supernatural show, and this one is one of the best that I've ever watched. Good writing, great chemistry, does a lot with what it has, making simple things scary or creepy, but it's not really horror... it's actually full of hope and optimism despite being about a bunch of sad ghosts full of resentments and obsessions!

The underworld isn't that grim, either. The soul ferryman concept is basically like the one from Greek mythology, but the way they go about it is based on Chinese traditions and folklore. Plus the iPhones, they really love their iPhones in hell, LOL!

Some of the English subtitles are a bit dodgy and there's a lot of references to Chinese folklore and pop culture things, but I think it holds up even if you miss things (I'm sure I did)... but there's tons of little jokes...

Like the whole "Chinese Ghost Story" AU which one of the side characters (the fujoshi... subs translated it as "pervert", ha) writes in-universe, where she ships Zhao Li with Xia Dongqing.

And the White Snake with the umbrellas...

In the legend the romance starts with the scholar lending the snake fairy an umbrella... but that all went badly, so now she's trying to recapture that magic... and dissing the meddling monk (for some reason the subs called him "Pharoah"?!!) on social media....

The two characters with the ridiculously heavy regional accents got recruited... but the underworld apparently has linguistic standards! I guess it's like all the aliens who speak English when conquering the universe in English language shows!

There's even a rabbit on the moon! (Kunlun is the moon, huh...) I thought he was annoying at first, but he grew on me!

And for once, the overall arc did not disappoint! Everything fit together well by the end, with the mysteries being revealed bit by bit over the three seasons, and the s3 series finale was very satisfying! (Then there's the last episode of s2, which really should be placed at the end of s3... it takes place on a different level of reality and is apparently some CYA forced ambiguity to get the show past the censors? But it was an interesting story on its own terms however you decide to fit it with the rest of the series or not.)

That little crystal is the original Dark One! (At least, it is in my OUAT AU for "Revenant Heart" and "The Way of the Word"...) Here it's just the Black Guardian's voice tormenting Turlough and urging him to kill the Doctor, but post-Enlightment, I have it become sentient and possess Nimue, and once she drinks from the Grail, it has the Dark One magical powers.

The crystal is a "contract", i.e., a deal, and we know how the Dark One loves deals!

I was not as impressed by the romance. It all felt too forced to me, and the ML came across as too bland for me. A few nice twists at the end, but it was all too carefully constructed. Also, too many of these infinite flow danmeis have the ML be the system/godlike NPC/evil god and I'm a bit bored with it.

I actually felt more chemistry between WJY and Su Cheng! Friends to antagonists to friends again (lovers in this alternate version of the story), I love it, two humans each with their own specialty, but ending up at odds... Anyway, the development between those two felt much more "natural" (as in, not so forced by the author into some platonic ideal danmei couple) to me. The liar and the prophet both manipulate reality, but in very different ways.

Doctor Who fandom, you've let me down...

But forging on! There's like a zillion other little directories...

The fun of diving through all the ancient files on the other computer that I also kind of forgot about...

And wow. Even after bracing myself... yeah. Props to this show for keeping me invested and not boring me in the later episodes!

Poor Xie Yong-er, doubting her own reality even on her last breaths. Our main leads transmigrating into her story turned her arc into an inevitable tragedy, and she kinda realized it at the last moment.

Loved XHD and XHB's confrontation in the prison scene. For a moment, Duan Wang reminded me of the Evil Queen from "Once Upon a Time", displacing his blame and hatred on the softer target for years and going way over the top with the villain role.

Around episode 20 is generally my favorite stretch in Chinese dramas, since the characters are established (meaning I finally remember who is who) and it's time for everything to come together, the big scenes, the critical point in the plot where everything changes, and everything is at a high point. If I make it this far watching a show, usually this is the best part, and "How Dare You" is no exception.

I love how the female lead is so trope-savvy. Comes up with the best plans, ha ha ha. Great chemistry with the male lead, too. A great set of side characters. Uncle/Aunt Bei my favorite ambiguously gendered #1 fighter since Dong Fang Bu Bai. Adorable set of scholar-officials. And a damn scary empress dowager.

"Wife chasing crematorium" may be my favorite name for a trope. Was so excited to hear a character say it out loud! (Well, the first time I noticed it, anyway)

My playlist this week: songs from 1990s Hong Kong fantasy movies.

Those were the best!

I love this cover of "Yi Sheng Suo Ai" ("Love in a lifetime"). The erhu and guitar are perfect accompaniment here.

LOL! "Street musician"/"flash mob" instrumental cover of THE Swordsman song!

And here's Wangxian from the "Untamed" carrying on the tradition with GAI's version!