RisaBliss

Their new ep together sounds so good (4 songs,), you can find it here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseBL/s/U4gyJTSAlS

How has it been five years? I remember that rooftop kiss like it was just yesterday...story has a simple straightforward plot, but everyone involved in this show delivered everything and more in spades and so beautifully. The slow burn yearning and the transition to lovers was incredibly well done. Five years in and although we keep getting so many BLs year after year, but I have yet to find a BL with this level of easy chemistry and natural acting. I even have the Bad Buddy merch and boxset. Till date, the only purchases that I have made for a drama like ever lol

Good acting and synergy between the love interests in BL is SO important to me. I hate it when the cinematography, music, the set design is all top notch but the acting it so stiff. I can forgive low budget anything as long as the acting and the chemistry is on point and the story supports that. Can't believe how SO many BLs with actors suffer from stiffness, it's crazy. The best contender to me for Bad Buddy has got to be Sammy's Children's Day when it comes to chemistry and the slow burn romance (god I miss SCD and it's only been over a month since that aired). Maybbbe the main couple in Kiseki Dear To Me (altho the plot does get crazy for that towards the end, I like to close my eyes and ignore that part. Also the On1y One (still heartbroken over that one not getting a second season ever).

No wonder, MDL totally bamboozled me!

LOL yep that's what prolly happened
I was heartbroken when I first saw that there were only 9 eps (i started the series thinking it was gonna have the typical 12 ep length)

Yess, wasn't there like a rumor floating around that there would be 12 eps if season 2 drops (maybe that's is the mandela effect, don't take my word for it)

I found this show after watching TMS as well and was prepared to drop it because I was still in the TMS withdrawal phase and had resigned myself to not finding anything else interesting. But then the show took my by the throat and I decided to read the novel after ep 7 or so because I really couldn't hold my curiosity back anymore haha. I discovered the Wattpad link, and then the futilescans link afterwards.

I remember seeing your comments in futilescans chaps after I would finish some haha, the translators def would appreciate your comments because they were so nice. Them uploading 7 or 8 chaps per day is crazy fast, guess they saw the series brought in lots of new curious readers and they really wanted to help out the fans.

Really appreciate them for the work they put in. Also, I've noticed that they have reedited some chapters, so excited to reread them once they are done. Also, they said they are translating the author's other work, so I am definitely waiting for that to get translated as well. I believe that one has like 40 chaps and they have translated 19 so far. It's called Ant's Cry, so do check that out if you wanna read another She Xie Dian Dian novel.

Oh nice, yeah def give WOH a go if you have the time. It's a little slow in the first ep, but things pick up quick towards the end of it (that's when the two leads meet). Make sure you watch AvenueX's videos on the lip reading and hidden details in WOH on youtube when you are done w the show. She breaks it all down in her videos. Also the Word of Honor subreddit for deleted scenes and other stuff.

So basically, you know how most CDramas are dubbed by dubbing artists separately? So Chinese fans noticed the actor's mouth movements didn't match with what was being said. So what the actors said were 10x gayer and they just changed the dialogue in the dubbing to get the script past the censorship. But the crew made it so that the camera shows the mouth movements so fans can lip read the gay stuff that was actually said. It's wild.

Imagine if we had 5 more eps at this point in addition to the 9 we got...yes I am being delulu

Ohh, now I am curious. Did you watch the drama first and read the book after for SCD or the other way around? How did you come across SCD and what prompted you to start it? I remember taking a Gagaoolala subscription to watch another BL. SCD was trending on the front page at the time and I really liked the coloring of the banner. Then I saw that it had high ratings on mydramalist and was like, we definitely need to watch this. At the time, only 6 episodes had been out, so when I reached the end of the sixth ep, I was kicking myself for not waiting until all the eps had aired lmao. Agree w you on the second CP, I wanna see how their story goes in the second season.

I may have flamed WOH too hard above, but honestly, it had been my hyperfixation for the entirety of Feb-March. I was straight up obsessed with it, watching reaction channels on youtube and joining discussion threads like for SCD lmao. For a censored BL from China, I think the actors and the rest of the crew did an amazing job in bringing the romance through life. Since they couldn't be overt about it, they tried introducing romance elements whereever they could. The two leads keep flirting every chance they get. Especially one of the leads, like no censorship could hide how gay his gaze was for the other male lead.

Sometimes I couldn't believe what I was watching onscreen for a cdrama. Fans were all like 'is this even allowed?'. I am talking ancient Chinese love poems every 10 mins or so, sucking poison from wounds, calling each other soulmates every now and then casually, sparring (more like courtship/mating dances) through pink cherry blossom backgrounds to highlight the romantic nature of the two leads...like they even get a happy ending at the end though all the fans were sure they were gonna get a sad ending because the two main leads were just so flamingly gay. People kept joking for months that the censors had fallen asleep for WOH. The creativity and the willingness of everyone in the cast and crew to respect the original source material's gay romance (also a Priest novel named Farway Wanderers) was what made me really like this show. Like, you can just add a female love interest and call it a day. But they didn't and I really like that. Ofc, BL is pretty lucrative so they definitely knew what they were doing, but I liked that they were pretty risky about it.

The two male leads have more skinship/romantic framing compared to the second couple (hetero couple) in the drama, which I really appreciated.

WOH was my first wuxia ever, and will also prolly be the last. I am not really a fan of costume dramas in general

I completely forgot about the crime scene confession, thanks for bringing that up! You are right, that really didn't feel like Liuyi talking to a person he has feelings for, more like introducing a friend to his parents and then mourning their deaths.

The semi-romantic scene in the beginning when LiuYi looks up after Qinglong hands him the kerchief, I agree. That was the most romantic vibe I felt between the two of them too. I feel like even in that scene, we get a sense that it is Qinglong who has feelings for LiuYi (especially when he slumps against LiuYi and then straightens his tie after). LiuYi just enthusiastically waves bye to him and then is all excited about the nightclub (or needing to stay at the studio for a month, not sure about this part). Like, if he had the feels for Qinglong as well, wouldn't they show him act flustered/thoughtful a bit?

Like you, I did feel a vibe in the beginning but then it kinda disappeared

Omg sorry if I have spoiled anything from the novel accidentally in that case. Definitely don't read the thread, some novel spoilers are present.
No worries, I'll just ask it here. I was wondering whether you got the vibe that Liu Yi liked Qinglong or if it was one-sided on Qinglong's part in the drama.

It's actually interesting just how many changes the drama made in comparison to the novel and yet I feel the spirit remainds the same. This is the first time I actually feel like the drama adaptation does justice to the BL novel. I don't know if you've watched Word of Honor, but the scriptwriter changed so much from the book that even one of the main leads (Zhou Zishu) have completely different personalities in the drama and the book (the scriptwriter received so much hate for it from the Chinese netizens). Not to mention they changed so much of the plot that you could really feel the drama fall apart towards the final few episodes. Had they stuck to the book, the drama could have been more cohesive.

But coming to this drama, though they have omitted and compressed so much stuff to fit in the 9 eps, I feel like the pacing is still relatively smooth (except for the last ep, which felt a lil' rushed. I really wanted to see a longer and intense scene of Chu San saving himself before Liu Yi appearing to rescue him instead of that being the post credits scene. That's the first time we see Chu San being a mastermind outside of romance.)

I saw in a different thread that you mentioned the second CP being a little disconnected from the main plot in the drama, and I agree. It was a little confusing trying to figure out what was going on, though they did make it clear at the very end of the season.

They can change Qin Hao's appearance like you said since he is important.

'I think we need to keep our distance' is def ooc for book Chu San. Book Chu San is shameless beyond compare. But I kinda liked that Chu San was so flustered. Also, that scene where LiuYi grips Chu San's chin and you can see Chu San panicking had me fangirling because of how cute it was. LiuYi just gliding through the blanket to reach Chu San was such a cool shot.

Ahh, thanks for bringing up Chai Jidan, you've unlocked a core memory. I've read Advance Bravely by Chai Jidan and that made me blush so hard cuz of the descriptive smut lol

Silent Reading has been on my dusty TBR for a while, I guess this is my sign to start it

Unrelated, but I need your thoughts on the Qinglong and Liuyi discussion happening in my thread above! I like how you analyze things, so super curious to know what you think as well

You have brought up one of my favorite confrontations between the couple in the novel. I love that scene because of how raw and romantic it is. The tables have turned and Liuyi is desperate to keep Chusan with him and he is practically begging for Chusan to be his. It is so heartwrenching (and so satisfying because we have seen all the shit that Chusan has gone through for Liuyi by then that we just want Chusan to get some kind of confirmation from Liuyi that he loves Chusan just as much as the latter).

However, I wouldn't mind the scriptwriters changing this part in chapters 73 + 74 in the drama. As much as I love this scene in the novel, I would prefer if Qinglong's feelings toward Liuyi remained unrequited. I like the idea of Liuyi being clueless of Qinglong's feelings while innocently wanting his beloved brother and his beautiful sister being a couple and all three of them can be one big happy family. Like a big oblivious stray dog who just wants his pack to stay together after he has found a safe space in them after all the horrendous abuse he has endured. Additionally, him not reciprocating Qinglong's feelings would make Chusan Liuyi's first true love, which is so cute to me.

Some other changes from the novel I noticed; Liu Yi is a lot more oblivious and innocent in general in the drama. In the novel, he was smart on the uptake about He Chu San's feelings for him, like he clocked that immediately and wanted to quash it. In the drama, he finds out through that kiss in the car He Chu San gives him while he thinks he is asleep. And then even after that, he is quick to believe the explanation that He Chu San gives him about the 'cognitive disorder' and genuinely thinks the dude is kissing him up because his testosterone levels are all fucked lmao. Tbh, deep down I do think he thinks it is bullshit, but he is too caught up panicking inwardly and being like 'i dont want to unpack this' and latches onto something convenient to keep things between them like they were.

Honestly I loved it because now He Chu San can do some really gay stuff (pinning him to the table and staring into his eyes, eating meatballs off of Xia Liu Yi's stick, pin him against the wall for a few minutes) and completely blame it on his 'cognitive disorder' and now Xia Liu Yi can use that as an excuse to bask under all the gay attention and not so subtly check out He Chu San as well. Like, He Chu San is aware Xia Liu Yi is skittish and he has to give him some explanation to hold on to while Xia Liu Yi comes to terms with his attraction to He Chu San as well. He Chu San is actually such a mastermind.

I feel like I love the way both the drama and the novel has gone about it. But I ultimately prefer how the drama is handling things, even if I do think the novel went about some moments better.

Speaking of dogs and animal analogies, I was wondering about another thing. In the novel, the cat motif comes up for Liuyi multiple times. Like there are whole extra chapters where he is dreaming that he is a Pallas cat. Then there's the temporary tabby cat tattoo He Chu San made him get on his back 'accidentally'. Also He Chu San's constant comparisons of Liu Yi and a wild cat; of taming the ferocious wild cat he found in an alley and making him his.

But in the drama, there isn't any cat motif for Liu Yi. They changed it to a dog instead. From the dog barking sounds in the background whenever Liu Yi glares at him in the beginning episodes to He Chu San calling him a stray dog/little black dog multiple times ('a little black dog bit me'), to He Chu San drawing a dog with sunglasses and a smirk on the calendar (can we talk about how adorable that cartoonish dog was tho? It's like He Chu San drew the dog version of ep 4 Liu Yi when he returns to Liu Yi's home in the sunglasses).

Like, it's one of those changes where I am wondering, why would they change something as innocuous as portraying Liu Yi as a cat in the novel to a dog in the drama?

As for what they will do with 73 + 74...if they do go along the Qinglong's feelings unreciprocated route, I do hope they replace it with something similar but angsty. Like I wanna see Liu Yi desperate/downbad for Chu San again to the point of tears (because ep 9 has me convinced there is nothing hotter than an anguished expression on Liu Yi's face as he is searching for Chu San). Give me all the fights and the feels and the raw declarations that hurt meeeee.

I blame To My Shore for fucking up my brain chemistry lmao. Like I do want a good hurting before the making up.

Can someone help me out, I am confused about one thing. I know Qinglong and Liuyi had feelings for each other in the novel. But in the drama, is it one-sided on Qinglong's part or does Liuyi also have feelings for him? I got the vibe that Liuyi only liked him platonically in the drama. What do you think?

Sure!

It was pretty active while the drama was airing, but it is quiet now

Have you found any platforms where there's live discourse/discussion regarding this show? Really wanna find other fans who are talking

omg i forgot, that would be perfectt

Added to my list! Thankyou