rheasilvia: (Sleuth - Wang Zhi Huanyi)
Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty is a historical detective/action drama that revolves around three very different government officials. Together (mostly), they investigate a series of crimes and mysteries, and happen upon a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire.

Our three heroes meet when investigating the strange murder of a Marquis’ son – a case that is inexplicably connected to the disappearance of the Crown Prince’s best friend. They go on to bicker, eat lots of delicious food, build a lovely found family with an excellent batch of secondary characters, and try very hard (and with varying success) to stay on the emperor’s good side.



All three main characters are interesting and competent in their own way, and they complement each other well. The show is at its best when they all work together and spark off each other. )

Sleuth is based on a m/m novel, like so many recent dramas, but in this case, I don’t think it’s worth watching for the book pairing. Tang Fan and Sui Zhou build a strong and interesting friendship in the series, but I don’t particularly ship them as a romantic couple; the chemistry just isn’t there for me. However. Add Wang Zhi to the mix and it’s a different story. This may be the first drama that gives me OT3 vibes.



Would I recommend it?

Absolutely! I must warn you that this drama does have a number of annoyance factors, including Tang Fan’s occasional over-the-top childishness (apparently intended to be funny?) and several very grating plot points. But even so, I find it entertaining, pretty, and a lot of fun – and it has Wang Zhi. ;-) It also does interesting and interestingly nuanced things with Chinese history, if that’s your kind of thing. So I would absolutely recommend you check it out.

Where can you find it?

The first four eps are subbed on YouTube. The entire series is available here, and also on Viki.

I found this drama thanks to [personal profile] maggie33 and just want to say: thank you, it's lovely! :-)

Taskmaster

May. 15th, 2020 05:43 pm
rheasilvia: (Rainbow hearts)
Guys. Would you like to relax your brain with something cheerful and bizarre? Then I have a rec for you. :-)

Taskmaster is a British comedy game show that has comedians compete through a series of pointless, bizarre challenges. Tasks include things like:
- paint a picture of a horse while riding a horse,
- hide a pineapple on your person,
- put as many swedes as possible on a Swede,
- create a music video for a nursery rhyme, and so on.
It's hilarious.

Turns out I enjoy watching people take ridiculous tasks very seriously. :-) The contestants are - almost without exception - hilarious and nice and wonderful. So far there's been only a single contestant I disliked, and he is more than outweighed by a later contestant whom I loved. (You will know her by her terrifying cuddling technique, which involves chocolate cake and deranged giggling.)

The first ep is here! So far, five seasons are up on YouTube, with four (and a half) to come. I can't wait. If you check it out, I'd love to know what you think.

I came across this series because they've been issuing a number of Home Tasks, and one popped up for me - "Turn Your Bathroom into a Venue For a Great Night Out". Also quite fun.

I've also been checking out various Chinese dramas, and plan to post about them, too.

I hope you're all doing well! I will try to be around more on DW - I miss you guys. Unfortunately, it's been a bit of a spoonless time for me, but I hope to gather my cutlery soon. ;-)
rheasilvia: (Da Qing stop flirting)
If you are following I Ship My Adversary x Me (我嗑了对家x我的): It's been updated again! The translation is now up to 25 of 47 chapters.

Just in case one of you hasn't come across this canon yet: I Ship My Adversary x Me is a m/m cnovel, and is the most adorable, fluffy crack. It features an adorable, fluffy, very handsome and extremely bad actor beginning to believe in (and ship!) the romantic relationship a group of fans are convinced exists between him and his rival.

I think my favorite thing about the book is the ridiculous, adorable way the main character sees the world and thinks about things. An example of him marvelling at how fan-servicy his "´rival" is being lately:

Honestly speaking, ever since last night where for the second time, he tossed me a huge piece of fluff just as I was feeling despondent, whenever I see him about to throw me another piece of fluff now, I only want to lie down and shout, “Throw it! Throw it everywhere! Throw it on my face! Throw it more accurately! Don’t only throw a little at me because you think I’m weak and fragile!”

I just want to cuddle him. ;-)
rheasilvia: (Fall leaves)
Day 2
In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you did not create. Drop a link to your post in the comments. See if you can rec fanworks that are less likely to be praised: tiny fandoms, rare pairings, fanworks other than stories, lesser known kinks or tropes. Find fanworks that have few to no comments, or creators new to a particular fandom and maybe aren't well known or appreciated. Appreciate them.


Have a completely mixed bag of wonderful fanfic in (relatively) rare fandoms and pairings!


The Hawk Killer by [personal profile] glitterburn
Onmyouji, Abe no Seimei/Minamoto no Hiromasa
Lovely, long, plotty and wonderfully characterized Onmyouji story that can (and should!) be read as original fiction. Slight AU.
Author's summary: Impoverished provincial nobleman Minamoto no Hiromasa arrives in Heian-Kyo to restore his family’s pride, but meets with resistance at every turn until the eccentric and wealthy Lord Seimei offers to take Hiromasa under his wing.

this is not a chick flick by bookesque
Greek Mythology, Hades/Persephone
Hilarious, wonderfully written, and unexpectedly sweet. Hades falls in love, but is clueless as to what to do about it. The other gods insist on giving advice. This goes about as well as you'd expect, considering that Zeus is the gods' foremost authority and his best trick is turning into a giant animal to abduct his crush.

The Death of Girl Number Two by cm(mumblemutter)
Profit, Gail Koner/Jim Profit
Twisted, disturbing, and sweet in a really disquieting way. Perfect, and perfectly Profit.
Author's summary: Jim Profit needs a wife. Gail doesn't volunteer.

My Elf Policy, by [community profile] papersky, and
Elf Insurance by [personal profile] stakebait
Origfic poems based on misread spam - funny, witty and all-around lovely!

These Bonds are Yours by olavina
Teen Wolf, Danny/Jackson
Canon reinterpretation: Jackson comes up with a solution to the Kanima problem. Very short, but absolutely on target, and makes so. much. sense.

Dirty Work (and sequels Wait and See and Come and Go with Me) by kalena
Chuck, Chuck/Casey
Casey hits upon a sure-fire way to keep the asset loyal and calm: sex. Everything would be going perfectly, too, if Casey weren't getting distracted.

They Say of the Elves, by brancher
Lord of the Rings, Legolas/Gimli
The hazards of intercultural relationships. Sweet and poetic and funny, all at the same time.
rheasilvia: (Default)
(Repost, this time with a link to the vid. Sorry, I don't know why the embed code keeps vanishing on me. Argh.)

This is one of the funniest fanvids I've seen in quite a while. I can't say anything about why it's so funny without spoiling it, but it's short, and you don't have to know (or like) X-Men: First Class to appreciate it - so if you have 3.5 minutes to spare, just trust me and have a look. :-)

I should do a panfandom rec post with my favorite vids one of these days.
rheasilvia: (Default)
After a long search, I have at last found high-quality pictures of Winnetou and Old Shatterhand! And I want to share them - only partly because I harbor a vague hope that someone will feel inspired to make icons, which I will then be able to snag. *g*

Warning! This is picspam of the worst kind. Dial-up users beware.

WTF? I have no idea who these people are. Explain yourself, woman! )

OMG! Yes, I know who these people are. Take me directly to the pictures! )
rheasilvia: (Default)

Gah. I've managed to misplace an excellent Saiyuki story that I wanted to recommend to [profile] solo____   - and I'm having a complete blackout concerning its title and author. Maybe one of you knows the story I mean and can point me in the right direction?

It was a very, very well-written, dark short story that's told in reverse, starting out with Sanzo shooting someone and going back in time in several steps to show how and why this event occured.


ETA: Yay, found it! [personal profile] cicer recognized the description, even though it turns out I'd twisted things around a bit in my mind.

The story I was looking for is "Down, Down, My Friends; We're Going Home" by [personal profile] harukami. If you like Saiyuki and haven't read this story yet - and if you don't mind a bit of darkness - it's definitely a story not to be missed! It's simply amazing.

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