LIFE ADVICE FOR YOUR TEENS AND EARLY TWENTIES (and Probably Beyond But I Haven't Made It Much Farther

LIFE ADVICE FOR YOUR TEENS AND EARLY TWENTIES (and probably beyond but I haven't made it much farther than that so far):

GO OUT BY YOURSELF

LEARN HOW TO NAVIGATE PUBLIC TRANSIT WITH NO SMART PHONE

TAKE ONLINE CLASSES

MAKE PEACE WITH DISAPPOINTING YOUR PARENTS

GO TO THERAPY IF POSSIBLE

FOLLOW AFTERCARE INSTRUCTIONS FOR NEW TATTOOS AND PIERCINGS

EAT A MEAL BEFORE DRINKING

DON'T MIX DRUGS

IT'S HARD TO BE YOURSELF WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW YOURSELF SO JUST KEEP TRYING NEW THINGS

THROW EVERYTHING AT THE WALL LIKE SPAGHETTI TO SEE WHAT STICKS

YOU WILL DISCOVER YOURSELF THE SAME WAY YOU DISCOVER NEW COFFEE SHOPS AND NEW BANDS

YOU WILL GET THERE

DON'T MAKE A LONG POST IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE YOUR VOICE WILL START TO HURT FROM SHOUTING

I’m actually kinda obsessed with Di Feisheng and Jiao Liqiao’s whole deal before the Eastern Sea Incident and everything that followed. Like it’s obvious that she’s made her feelings for him clear to just about everyone from the very beginning, and judging from his (lack of) reaction when she voices them to him, I would say that he’s also perfectly aware the entire time. And in another inferior tv show, if a traditional alpha male supervillain type of character like this (which Di Feisheng actually isn’t, but that’s a different post someone else has to make) discovers that his female subordinate is in love with him (which Jiao Liqiao actually isn’t, but I’m sure that this post has already been made twenty thousand times) and the feeling isn’t reciprocated, he would either 1) start distancing himself from her/undermining her influence and authority in the team/disregarding her contributions because he’s just that weirded out, 2) take advantage of her feelings to get her to do all of his dirty work, or 3) start being extra nice to her and turning a blind eye to everything she’s doing behind his back because he feels sorry for her/feels like an asshole for not being able to love her back. And Di Feisheng did none of these things. Instead he behaved like a normal person who touches grass with both hands every single day of his adult life and said “sure. And what’s that got to do with me?” Like he literally just didn’t care that she was in love with him. He just didn’t care. In fact he cared so little that he’d never even let this piece of information affect his decision making at any point throughout the entire show. It didn’t even affect his attitude towards her or changed his opinion on her as a person in any way whatsoever, he didn’t think less of her or her abilities because of it and didn’t take it into consideration and went easy on her when he found out she’d been going behind his back. He was just completely, utterly, and so so profoundly unbothered by any of this, it was incredible to watch. My followers who still aren’t watching mlc must think I’m lying, because how is this even possible? And I really need to find a new way to articulate this but once again: Watch the show. And I feel like at some point during the earlier days of the Jinyuan Alliance, a new recruit must’ve gone into his office and been like “there’s no easy way to say this, but you’re giving that girl way too much power. I know you feel sorry for her and that’s the only reason you let her order us around like this, but do you know what the other sects are saying about us out there? It’s embarrassing. You need to stop this madness right now boss” and he was like “actually ‘that girl’ is your boss, not me. You’re not important enough to call me your boss. Also you shouldn’t be saying any of this because in addition to the power to order you around, I also gave her the power to fire your ass. And in case you haven’t heard, her pink slip is laced with a poison to melt your entire dick off from the root” and the guy was like “well not if you fire her first. Ok, so I didn’t want to do this, but do you know what she’s saying about YOU out there? It’s honestly so inappropriate, you need to get rid of her right now. You don’t even like her” and then he just looked him in the eyes and said “don’t be ridiculous. The girl is my second in command because she has two business degrees, a PhD in Chemistry, is the only person here that can speak a foreign language, and can drink six me under the table. We don’t have much interaction outside of work because our sleep schedule don’t match, and will never be friends because I find her music taste kind of cringe, but other than that, as long as she does her job, what she’s thinking about anyone here in her own free time–and her own head–is none of my business.” Then a bright, saccharine voice rose from a dark corner of his office: “Right now I’m thinking about how that robe brings out the veins on your neck, and it’s making me want to put you on a leash” and he was like “naturally. And that’s none of my business”

I binged I am Nobody 異人之下 in 3 days and howling at the end of the finale (internally, it's the middle of the night) and nearly falling off my bed (thankfully my cats didn't witness it).

IT IS REALLY GOOD!!!!

Please watch it!!!

It's addictive like a good shonen manga and there's so many interesting characters!

I have a soft spot for these two boys in particular:

I AM NOBODY 异人之下 · 2023, dir. Derek Hui — Since you've already made the choice, no need to feel torn or pull a long face. I didn't pull a long face. In fact, you and Zhang Chulan are the same. You did something you shouldn't.

mysterious lotus casebook introduces qiao wanmian as li xiangyi's ex-lover who clearly has some lingering sadness over their relationship still, and you think, "oh, she's going to be the woman who waited and stayed loyal to him for a full decade and never stopped thinking he'd come back (to her)". great. that's... great. and THEN. you find out that in actuality, a-mian did an admirable job of getting her shit mostly together and she's moved on. sure, she still misses li xiangyi (and honestly she missed what he represented to her more than him as a partner) but she's got a steady livelihood going and another man at her side who, up until he started being a dick, she didn't regret being with.

and after that, you realize. you know who spent ten years frozen in time and thinking about li xiangyi? who cannot let go of the memory of him even when they've been told he's dead? who's described as clingy in canon and still hounds him in the present at every turn about their past relationship? di fei-fucking-sheng. the narrative turned a-fei in the yearning lover left behind, complete with relationship metaphor. ''the moon that year wasn't as bright as today'' to "the bright moon has already sunk into the western sea". this show made li xiangyi di feisheng's literal baiyueguang so that a-mian could go live her best life getting what she deserved, and not be bothered by whatever template role she'd have been stuck in otherwise. everyone say thank you to mlc

You’ve probably seen that post floating around Tumblr a while ago:

my favorite thing i’ve learned in college is that way back in ancient china there was this poet/philosopher guy who wrote this whole pretentious poem about how enlightened he was that was like “the eight winds cannot move me” blahblahblah and he was really proud of it so he sent it to his friend who lived across the lake and then his friend sends it back and just writes “FART” (or the ancient Chinese equivalent) on it and he was SO MAD he travels across the lake to chew his friend out and when he gets there his friend says “wow. the eight winds cannot move you, but one fart sends you across the lake”

So I got curious, and I did some research, and apparently, the poet was Su Dongpo, also known as Su Shi (8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), and he wasn’t just a poet - he was a writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and a statesman of the Song dynasty.

That particular event happened while he was assigned to an official post at Guazhuo, and the “friend who lived across the lake” was actually Chan master Foyin, who was the master of a temple on the mountain on the opposite shore.

A translation of the poem Su Dongpo sent to master Foyin:

“Bowing with my highest respect To the deva of devas Whose fine light illuminates the whole universe, The eight winds cannot move me, For I am sitting upright on the golden purple lotus blossom.”

Foyin wrote “Pi” on the poem (”fart”, but also “nonsense”), and sent it back, and the rest is history.