Can you distinguish what's true and what's false?

新聞女王 The Queen of News · 2023

been rewatching a lot of old tvb dramas lately

anyways, favorite tvb dramas of KC, +wing, the Kevin Cheng :) (my beloved ivan was THIRTY NINE FLKFJDLSK)

it speaks volumes and it's an actual credit to his face because that i spent a week looking for specific scenes that burned into my core memory. and note that in burning flames 2/ point of no return, he was just a minor character but he was so hot that i can still remember him years later?!

honorable mentions/non tvb:

1999 / Legendary siblings/ 30 years old 2001 / Shaolin Seven Sets / 32 years old

2011 / Bu Bu Jing xin /42 years old <3 2013 / Red Dust/ 44 years old

Wallpaper Project @lyrical.stars  
 1436 x 3113 Available on Telegram / LINE

Set 473: Barack O’Karma 1968 

Am a fan of the character of 蔣簥 and despite my many issues with the show and its unremarkable writing, am rediscovering the reasons why it left an impression in my mind. Quite a few lessons to be gleaned here.

Ending & Thoughts: Secret Door 2023

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good thriller drama. But I don’t know if I would consider this a good one. There was way too many annoying characters in it.. like very few likeable ones. It got to the point I started rooting for the evil characters cause of how horrible everyone else is. Probably the first TVB drama I’ve watched where there’s so many characters that I hated.

Luna’s mother in law definitely wins in the obnoxious, irritating character department. My goodness I just wanted her to die. Every time she shows up on screen I just wanted to fast forward. Literally you’re like so old already can’t she just chill out? She’s always so rude to Luna and so damn selfish. She played a huge role in Luna becoming evil. This old lady kept pushing too hard and wouldn’t let go of her. Every time Luna takes a step back even if it meant her putting aside her pride and dignity this grandma crushes it and gives no effs about it. This grandma is so convinced she killed her son, well lady if that’s what you think why don’t you SHUT UP? Aren’t you scared she will kill you too? And she tried to and let me tell you it was satisfying I wished she did die though. She actually convinced her son to not give his liver to his own daughter, Ching Ching even if it meant her niece dying. Manipulated her niece into thinking how awful of a Mom she is and tried to take her away. Luna even gave her the insurance money and agreed for all 3 to just live together, yet she wasn’t satisfied. She barely cared for Ching Ching back then and only shows care now cause she knows no one wants to take care of her selfish butt. So when she fell down the stairs, as bad as it sounds I was happy cause this woman is soo crazy like she actually installed a spy cam on Ching Ching jacket like wtf? Anyways I was very disappointed that she survived that fall, yes she is paralyzed and can’t talk anymore but like Ching Ching is still taking care of her and will for the rest of her life. In a twisted way the Grandma got what she wished for. She wanted Luna out of the picture and Ching Ching to always be by her side and well she got it.

One thing that gets me worked up is that Ching Ching, won’t ever really know that the only person who truly loved her is her Mother. She just thinks of her as a criminal who killed her Dad and paralyzed her Grandma. She doesn’t understand the reasoning. Now I get it murder is murder… people should never go down that road unless it’s out of self defence. But Luna did all of that cause she was pushed way over the edge. When she tried to seek psychiatric help and take medicine, the Grandma tried to use it against her to take away Ching Ching. The Dad didn’t want to give her liver to her Ching Ching, which meant her daughter could die while waiting for another donor. He also didn’t show a lot of care and wouldn’t even listen to Luna’s reasoning only saying how he wants to divorce her cause she is a daughter of a thief. But Ching Ching is too young to even realize that those two people caused so much pain to her Mother. So while Ching Ching thinks about the seemingly good memories she has with these 2 people, her Mother was coping with trauma from the harsh verbal abuse she suffered in that household.

Yip Siu Tin, damn his character was evil of the evil. He committed every crime possible. Yet I find his character more likeable then the Mother in law. Solely, because he talks shit and he knows it everyone else tries to play the victim too hard. This guy though always gets away with everything even in the end the police was never able to charge him with anything. Justice did not prevail for him, Luna in one final act decides to take him to the grave with her. And I loved how Luna was the one to do it, she always lived her life scared of him and the idea of becoming him. So for Luna to be the one to end it all was great. I do wish we got some last words from Yip Siu Tin, though he was irredeemable.. he had done way too many bad things and is not capable of being a good person. But I do wonder if for those last final moments of his life, while he watched his own daughter cut both of her wrists and wait for death.. did he wish he could save her? Now, Luna had stabbed him with a needle that temporarily causes him to be unable to move. But he can still see and hear what is happening, we also see him attempt to move his fingers when he saw Luna slowly lay down. So it just makes me think whether if he was able to get up, would he save Luna? Or is he that shit of a person he’d just get up and save himself? Would’ve been nice to hear an inner monologue from him at that moment.

Luna was just overall a tragic character it’s like she never stood a chance at having a happy life. Her father was an abusive alcoholic who traumatized her childhood. She grows up having to hide her identity ends up marrying into a rich household BUT her husband and mother in law treated her like doormat. She was basically a second maid, no one really cared about her feelings. I’m confused why her husband even married her. Her father gets out of jail and looks for her immediately and right away restarts the abuse. Physical abuse from her father, verbal abuse from her husband and Mother in law. Her anxiety is crippling from trying to hide her past. Back then if she had embraced that she is a daughter of a thief things would’ve been so different. One thing for sure she should’ve chosen Zhong Zhi Kiu back then, as they had an understanding for one another. The tragedy of her character doesn’t sit well with me, cause she’s always been treated so badly I really wanted her to have a happy ending.

Yeung Yan Hiu, Roxanne Tong plays her and I noticed she got a lot of hate for her bad acting. But I didn’t see it that way at all, I just think people are so blinded at her annoying character they think it’s her acting. For real you guys are hating on someone cause of a damn character. Yan Hiu was so fudging annoying as well. All she did was follow Luna and especially Zhi Kiu around cause she has biased views that children of incarcerated parents are as evil as them. She would do mindless things to get in their way. And what makes it more annoying is that the one she should be investigating and stalking is Yip Siu Tin himself. Like she knows damn well he’s the criminal and the one who shot her Mother. But no let’s follow Zhi Kiu and Luna around cause she’s related to him like wtf? If Siu Tin was still in jail or dead I’d understand her investigating them but like bro he’s alive and well? How about you take yourself over there and try to find evidence instead? Why are you bothering the side characters when the mastermind that you know yourself is right in front of you?

That’s the thing with this drama, we all know Siu Tin is this undeniable villain the amount of horrible crimes he committed is scary. Yet, they focused more attention on catching others. The biggest example would be Zhi Kiu capturing Siu Tin and basically got him to admit some criminal things.. but even though he plotted this he didn’t record anything. But of course when he does this to Luna, he has a handy dandy recording device. LIKE LMAOOO are you serious??? Siu Tin has done some horrible stuff and has admitted to so many crimes in front of you and others but no one, NO ONE ever decides to film or record anything. Luna, did what she did cause of her deteriorating mental health cause of the effed up abuse she received practically all her life and opened up to you yet you were finally “smart” enough to record? I don’t know man, is it dumb or lazy writing?

The things I did like though was that Zhi Kiu’s Father was not a good man. All his life he believed his Father was forced into this and that he’s not all bad. But then we finally get video proof (which is stupid cause who would have such a clear video of something that happened 30 years ago + who on earth would hold on to this footage for so long only to release it now) that shows his Father pushing the pregnant lady onto the floor contrary to Zhi Kiu remembering it as him trying to ��save” the lady. We also get another backstory that his Father is an awful wimp of a man. Only thing he did right was call up his old friend and ask him to take care of his son. It was nice that TVB decided for once to not twist the narrative of “oh he was actually a good man”, like nah he wasn’t a good person and the death was needed.

The ending wasn’t satisfying for me, I felt that it was too rushed and there were some questions left unanswered. Does Yan Hiu and Zhi Kiu end up together? How is Yan Hiu’s Father now? The randomness of Luna’s husband raising his insurance money was not explored… like did he do it out of his own free will? Definitely not a drama I would rewatch but it is the type of drama I won’t forget.

Nat over the years

Asian beauties actresses in sword wuxia HK TVB ATV series area 80s – 90s – 2000s - thiluutips

So...this is going to be really hard to explain, but I find that Cheng Yi lowkey reminds me of Dayo Wong. 

Dayo Wong is a HK stand-up comedian, and I first watched him in You’re Hired, a 2009 TVB comedy drama, back when I was in high school, and my teenage self found him to be really charming and also quite handsome, despite him not being known for his looks in HK. 

And when I first saw Cheng Yi in Love and Redemption, my first thought was that his eyes and jawline reminded me of Dayo Wong’s. 

I feel like you can’t really see the resemblance in pictures, and it’s hard to justify my point just through images alone lol, but I just feel that they exude a similar vibe, despite Cheng Yi often acting very reserved and restrained roles, while Dayo Wong plays very talkative and sarcastic characters. 

But then seeing how chaotic Cheng Yi is in BTS footage of his dramas just further heightens the similar vibes between them. Cheng Yi is quite the loud and witty comedian himself. 

I also lowkey feel that Yang Zi reminds me of Charmaine Sheh. They both have huge round eyes, very dainty lips, and high-pitched, squeaky voices. Both are also very outgoing and are known to get along well with their male co-stars. Also, both are known to be very serious about acting. 

Coincidentally, Dayo Wong and Charmaine Sheh were both in You’re Hired. 

I feel like you won’t know what I’m talking about unless you watch TVB dramas, but I just need to get this off my chest. Like how I made a previous post about how I find Chen Xiao to vaguely remind me of Leslie Cheung. 

self portrait inspired by the moon goddess chang'e

河國榮 Gregory Charles Rivers

(30 April 1965 — 2 February 2024)

Posted this on my Insta Stories a couple days back but decided I'd do a post here too because I realised I'm still feeling saddened by Mr Rivers's passing.

For people of certain older generations, especially those who grew up in the 1990s watching Hong Kong TVB series, Mr Rivers, aka 河國榮 (Ho Kwok-Wing) to HK TV viewers, was an easily recognisable and familiar face, having been (at that time) the only foreign/Caucasian face to appear consistently in HK television armed with an impressive fluency in Cantonese.

I guess his passing has affected me more than I thought it would because firstly, I'd admired him for his proficiency in Cantonese and subconsciously looked to him as an inspiration.

As someone who grew up being terrible at Chinese (both Cantonese and Mandarin) and got teased for being “the banana” (i.e. yellow on the outside but white on the inside), the constant presence of this Caucasian guy on TV who could speak better Cantonese than I, partly spurred me on to learn Cantonese better myself.

Secondly, he represented an age when HK and by proxy, Cantonese, was flourishing; Mr Rivers's story of coming to Hong Kong purely motivated by his love for Cantopop and the Cantonese language is (sadly) not the kind of story one will hear very often again…

With his passing, it's like yet another bit of the shine of “Golden Age” HK being taken away…and this “Golden Age” was part of my childhood, so it means another part of my childhood is gone…

Anyway, I'll end this post with this video of an interview Mr Rivers did (c. 2007), sharing briefly his thoughts on his experiences as a foreign actor in HK.

河生，對於學緊廣東話嘅我嚟講，

您畀咗我唔少不知嘅鼓舞。

呢一點，我會喺心裏永遠默默感激。

希望您而家搵到了安寧，同妻子一路走好！

lau ching-wan in drag????

Man Wai Sam ♕ QUEEN ambitious, charismatic, leader Chui Hiu Mei ♖ ROOK devoted, sensitive, efficient Hui Si Ching / Cathy ♗ BISHOP cunning, outgoing, competitive Jeung Ga Yin ♛ QUEEN curious, rational, creative Lau Yim ♞ KNIGHT righteous, outgoing, focus Leung Ging Yan / George ♟ KING PAWN paranoid, social, confident Ku Siu Wa / Kingston ♚ KING? unknown

新聞女王 The Queen of News · 2023

A quick dose of Shaolin action from the 1983 Chinese drama, Tiger Hill Trail.

Every once in a blue moon, I get haunted by this drama, one I watched more than 25 years ago. 🧐🤔

The main female character is unforgettable, and the psychopathic villain (all the red flags 🚩🚩🚩) is fascinating too. But I wonder what made this show memorable despite not being the type of storylines I enjoy.

(I have a few favourites from this era which don’t surface much in my consciousness. There is only one show from this period which I rewatch once every decade, but the reasons for that is clear to me).

Now that it is available on YouTube, maybe a rewatch (skimming) is in order to clarify on the whys.

TSFR09 + "Funeral Disaster" Video

!!! EMAIL ALERTS ARE NOT WORKING AGAIN !!!

There's no NCIS again this week (because next week will feature the 1000th & 1001st episodes), but I got to watch the live solar eclipse news coverage! Once again, I updated another depressing chapter of "Two Steps From Restitution":

As to why I was so eager to release the funeral scene... It's based on the original funeral scene in "Two Steps From Heaven", but the entire story behind the drama's funeral scene is a lot worse than what I wrote in today's chapter due to blatant infidelity (which I could never include in any of my fanfics @_@). As seen below, only family members may wear white flowers at a [Chinese] funeral, so you can probably deduce who's at fault & not welcome here...

I repeat—EMAIL ALERTS ARE NOT WORKING AGAIN!!!

My favorite part of Brutally Young is probably this secondary character.

I can't even remember what his name is. Tyson? Like maybe taken after Mike Tyson?

Anyway, he has never been in a scene where he wasn't showing off his buff arms while doing Yat Guo's dirty work or playing receptionist at his bar.

Perfect. No notes. 10\10.

(Also gonna be lawyer Kaiba's thought process when he sees mob Jou in a sleeveless hoodie for the first time.)