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thatswhatsushesaid · 1 year

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my feelings on mdzs cross-medium pollination are so context-specific and driven by what I am trying to achieve in a given moment, but terms like 'frankencanon' and 'medium-bleed' really do help

medium-bleed: a scourge, the stuff of nightmares, a wily bitch to deal with when arguing with anyone who drops their hot take in the tags only to add, either in reblogs or the notes, "admittedly I may be misremembering whether this happened in the novel or in the drama or in the animation" like!!! please god just double-check your work before you submit it to fandom turnitin.com okay. also if I'm reading a fic tagged mdzs rather than cql or the untamed on ao3 and the author starts referencing jgy's time in the cloud recesses babysitting nhs or minshan's demonic flute solos, I'm immediately annoyed no matter how good the rest of the fic is. because that doesn't happen in the novel! and I'm looking for novel fic! (in this example anyway.)

however!!

frankencanon: my beloved!! my self-indulgent brainchild made tenderly from the imperfect component parts of its disparate source media to create, exclusively for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of my good pals, a version of the mdzs jianghu where the vibes are just right for whatever specific feeling we're seeking to achieve (e.g., the novel canon beats of jgy's characterization paired with the on-screen emotional intensity and intimacy that zzj and lhk bring to the xiyao dynamic).

frankencanon is that joyous feeling you get when you and your besties all have a grand time at the renaissance festival, because even if some of you are dressed up as elves and your roommate's corset is anachronistic, you all know what you're there for, and besides there's funnel cake.

medium bleed is when you go to your city's new living history museum expecting to see exhibits and buildings that accurately (or as accurately as the profession allows for) recreate the period in time from the past that they are meant to be educating the public about, but the curator didn't do their due diligence with fact checking the exhibit placards, and the actor-educators can't remember whether they're supposed to be talking about the irish catholics or the pennsylvania germans today. in other words you walk away really confused and knowing less than you did before you showed up (and also you're probably chaperoning a bunch of grade school kids so, you know, my sympathies).

I forgot where I was going with this so I guess I'm done writing now!

#mdzs #mdzs meta #sort of #meta about meta #frankencanon vs medium-bleed #i qi deviated thinking about this for too long

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sugarbabywenkexing · 2 years

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shl for the fandom meme? or demon girl if someone else has asked this, you've made me so curious about it 👀

Word of Honor

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

ZHOU ZISHU. He is blorbo to me. If anyone says blorbo I think of him 💖

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

Zhang Chengling is so son shaped. He's so enthusiastic and hard working and I love him to bits

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

This is a Han Ying appreciation blog 24/7

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

Also Han Ying 😔

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

In the same way blorbo means Zhou Zishu to me, Wen Kexing means poor little meow meow. He's the poorest and littlest meow meow the world has ever seen

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

Zhou Zishu

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Zhao Jing needs to be gone immediately

Demon Girl

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

Ming Xia my beloved

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

Also Ming Xia

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Ming Xia's policeman best friend whose name I don't know (unfortunately I don't appreciate him enough either 😔)

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

Ah-Xiang aka gay butler ZZJ

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

Jiang Xue Wu to continue with my let women be awful and bad agenda

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

You Tong needs a little bit of tormenting. For fun

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Ming Xia's mum, whose name I also don't know

#asks #fractured-ice

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justawanderingbabbit · 3 years

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Plot fix-it: Miss the Dragon

Be warned, what follows has spoilers, so open the read more link at your peril.

And, also, be aware that I really don't like the series, not just because of how ZZJ's character turned out. So if you like it, you probably don't want to read this.

So the basic plot of the Miss the Dragon drama is that the titular character wants to become immortal and is heavily injured in the process. His best friend(?)/guide, Mingge Xingjun, the Immortal of Fate offers him advice and he goes chasing after some piece of armor that will help defend him against the heavenly tribulation required for ascension.

In the process of fetching the armor, Yulong is injured and a pretty human girl comes to his aid. (There's bunches of reasons why this part gets annoying, but AvenueX says it better than I can.) He proceeds to become obsessed with trying to repay her and somehow falls in love in the process.

This results in various moments of 'hilarity' and tragedy much beloved of RomCom Xianxia dramas. I don't tend to watch those series for that very reason, but this one has Zhu Zanjin and therefore was of interest to me.

The situation culminates in Yulong somehow being forced to wait three whole lives for his beloved, because Reasons. (Possibly it's part of his punishment, I'm not sure because, honestly, I did a LOT of skipping.)

Over the course of most of the series, ZZJ's character is mostly played for laughs, with occasional bouts of helpfulness and apparent pining. He gets involved in the romance of another pair as well, manipulating a little bird spirit into becoming the beloved of some other immortal.

It's in the last arc that ZZJ's character suddenly starts behaving in a truly skeevy fashion. Up until then he'd been goofy and about as lacking in understanding how love works as every other male in this series. Then, quite suddenly, he starts being blatantly (to the audience) manipulating the situation so that he can Something Something Something Profit. (Precise details aren't clear but one synop says he's trying to become the Lord of Heaven.)

I've already gone into why I think this is a horrible idea. Now I'm going to suggest how the writers could have still had their RomCom and managed a decentish plot. (Okay, one I could have lived with.)

One way, of course, is to foreshadow MGXJ's underhandedness much earlier. Show signs that the demons have a traitor in heaven helping them. (This never seems to happen, because the story spent so much time on YL and his girlfriend's wangsting about miscommunicating.) I don't like this concept, because I wanted ZZJ to get a chance to play a fun, funny, good character.

So, an alternative. MGXJ goes to help YL fetch that armor and is injured by resentful energy. The rest of the series can proceed as suggested, with occasional scenes of him trying to help YL and (at the same time) fight the infection that he can't admit to for fear of being destroyed or killed or something. In the process, he keeps thwarting his infected self's plans and working the other characters towards realizing what's going on with him.

Of course, this would need the writers to admit there's more to the story than just the constant wangsting and miscommunicating of romantic leads. It could even end in much the same way, except for MGXJ demanding YL stop him. (I admit, I'd prefer YL saving him somehow, but I know how Chinese drama tends to go, and a tragic end to a good character is painfully common.) The real villain could be the Heavenly Emperor, who is sus, damnit, really sus, based on his rigid interpretation of rules and such.

So, yeah. That's my thought on how that show could have gone. Maybe it's not great, but honestly, I think it's better than what did happen.

#miss the dragon #zhu zanjin #mingge xingjun #I want a better story #I also want my hour or so of watching back #still so damned salty #zhu zanjin deserves better!

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