ShortCircuit

Shen Mo was a painter. He had an affair with Zhou Yang when he was a student, and ZY's family paid some thugs to kidnap him and break his hands. ZY was promptly whisked away from the country and SM was left waiting for him in their room, hoping he'd be saved. Nobody came until Ji MingXuan, who's sister is now involved with ZY, paid a visit to make sure that Shen Mo won't make a fuss (they were told a completely different story than the truth). (ETA Forgot to add, it was JMX who saved Shen Mo from the thugs).

He finds Shen Mo completely out of his mind, eating moldy bread (because he's in a psychosis and can't tell reality from imagination) and mistaking JMX for ZY. At first JMX is repulsed by SM's state and he leaves telling SM he'd come back - only to return the next day and find SM in the exact same place, outside, waiting for him because his mind is completely broken by the assault and ZY's betrayal.

So then JMX first brings him food, then cares for him, all the while playing along with SM's psychosis in order to keep him as sane as possible, and then eventually he falls for SM and they make love.

And then SM remembers the past and comes out of his psychosis. He doesn't know who this man is and why is he playing like they're lovers, so he rejects him and then JMX threatens him with ZY's wellbeing to make him stay with him (JMX) and be safe. He gets him a job, officially, but his actual "job" is to be JMX's plaything.

This is an abusive story, so yes they do it in that state, too. ('Cause the first time wasn't normal either, with SM not knowing who JMX is). And yes, it does read like rape even if Shen Mo doesn't physically fight back. So be warned.

Then ZY comes back from abroad, now engaged to JMX's sister, and SM finally learns who exactly set up the assault where he lost his ability to paint.

Eventually, JMX comes clean with his feelings, and after a somewhat longish separation, they're reunited and start anew in a more healthy manner. Shen Mo had moved on and opened a small shop of his own, and even started painting again with the other hand, and when they meet again, he can stand up for himself and face JMX equally.

I highly recommend the novel, it's very abusive but also very good. And the HEA is earned, I think. It's already been published in English officially, but the fan TL might still be somewhere around.

Oh yes, Sistah... trust me, I know :D

There's a novel they're basing it on. Do you want plot spoilers?

Like Everyone Hates the Substitute Until He's Reborn, LOL? Or The Substitute Awakens?

And then there are those where they're brothers (though not twins) but it's still a fight for their lives anyway?

Danmei has all the tropes and toxic relationships you'd want. (And people complain about My Stand-In LOL.)

Weeeell, TECHNICALLY, there's ONE walking gay. The other one is a carried gay, LOL. (Carried on their back, carried princess style, carried caveman-style. I see a lot of being carried in A-Zai's future LOL, A-Lie seems prone to carrying him).

You ARE aware that there are about two dozen cdramas that are called Glory, or Glory-something, or the more than two dozens called Blossom-something, or Legend of... whatever, etc?! They are NOT that inventive when it comes to English titles, LOL. I don't suspect them of trying to link it to TLOF. And you even aknowledge the story is similar to a lot others that came before, why would they need to copy that series or try to get compared with it, LOL?!

The world ended 22 days AGO in the first scene. DAYS. Not years. There hasn't been a lot of time for everything to go empty. Except for obvious pin-point destruction (fires, explosions, impact craters or whatever) that might have happened in the little time that passed, there's little yet to build a completely settled post-apocalyptic world.

And again, this drama is NOT about post-apocalypse, it's supposedly a love story. Where do you see that marketing about it being a zombie drama, LOL?

Oh anyway, everyone decides based on their own likes and perceptions, not every drama is for everyone. I myself might not like it in the end, but I'll just stick with it as long as I like it, just as everybody else can do :) I hope you find a drama you like better, soon.

I don't like the use of AI myself, but that pushing the line thing is not an argument.

It's like saying the use of CGI took jobs from the people in the animatronics business (and it did). You might counter that they re-trained and found new jobs in using CGI or something, but it's not actually true. Every new industry breakout changes the former industry norms, and people always suffer. You might also counter that those people at least could remain in the field and AI is not giving anyone a chance for new jobs, which is partly correct. But all the same, the original argument, that allowing some changes will lead to complete change does not stand.

Myself, I think the AI bubble will burst sometime soon. It's unsustainable long-term, all the data centers they have and are building take way more power and water than we can reasonably provide and TBH, outside specific fields, the results given by AI are absolutely sh!t. So in the long run, I expect we'll see a lot of specialisation - like using AI for gene editing or in medical research, very probably, sadly, in military use, and maybe a bit in the special effects zone. And I also expect it'll tend to raise costs a lot, which is already an issue on the idiot companies who let go programmers and hired prompt-writers (I don't pity them, they made their own bed).

But overall, it's a shifting norms period and things will settle as they will. A plead in the comment section of a minor drama that will only be seen by a few hundred people at most, all powerless to change anything (because we all vote in our countries, did it change anything much?) will not lead to anything much but frustration all around.

If you really want to see advancement, there are plenty of non-profits that have a thing to say about it and can actually lobby the politicians for real change. That is the place to reason about it.

I get it you see something of you in him and so you can relate very hard to his problems. But I think you're projecting too much and he's not really that way.

He DID make all the mistakes that pushed people away so he ended up alone. He DID play with QL's feelings then abandoned him at the first threat to his career. He DID threaten him with exposing his relationship with CY and plotted with people who would do anything just to split QL and CY apart. He DID call Sister Lan while she was trying to drive on rainy mountain roads, having a tantrum and indirectly causing her to lose control of the car and die.

He is NOT an innocent nobody would help, here. He's frustrated he's not given credit or trust, but he blew all his chances to get that credit and that trust.

I'll give QL the credit that he knows how people work, and he can see their true colours. If he's unable to reconnect with SYH based on being betrayed years back, I'd say he knows better than us if he should risk and give him some trust again. LOL, the only time he does give him trust is when he's letting him set up a fake date to make his breakup with CY believable, at great pain to himself, I might add. That tells you something about SYH's actual personality (not when he's desperate for help).

When they were first meeting for that variety show, in the first part of the drama, what was he doing? Taking photos of QL wherever he went and whoever he met, tracking his moves, trying to use him to re-start his career. Even then he was calculating QL's worth to himself, not reaching out for a friendship.

Sorry, can't spare too much mercy on him. He did what he did and he earned the lack of friends and the lack of trust from everybody (which is why later in the series, when he finally gets it, he makes that decision that he does.)

You're judging a BL story by comparing it with a successful (and well-budgeted) mainstream series, on 4 eps of 20-some minutes each that don't tell the whole plot already.

I mean, the AI issue is granted, but this is a BOYS LOVE story first. NOT a zombie/post-apocalypse only story. This IS what it promised, I don't get what you were expecting. They might give you info on the organisation next episode, as far as you know. Or not. Give it time to tell its story. (Or don't, you do you).

I think they're doing a good job considering their restrictions and budget, and I'm waiting to see what else do they have to say before making a judgment on the whole series. But again, to each their own.

OMG it's coming tomorrow, please don't ruin it please don't ruin it please don't ruin it, pretty please!

If you can, DO watch it on Gaga, the subs are WAY better (and the subber left side notes explaining a lot of messages onscreen that on YT I think were left untranslated.

The Small Theater are a few very short eps (2-4 minutes each) that accompany a few of the regular eps. They're mostly scenes of QL and CY kissing like crazy that are not included in the regular eps (because of reasons). Not all drama eps are paired with a Small Theater ep, they're about 10 or so. They're on Gaga too, with subs (for those that include dialogue, 'cause not all of them do. They're busy doing... errr, other stuff.)

I don't think other than that the regular eps are different on Gaga than on YT or elsewhere.

Actually, we DID see that first accidental encounter (I can't remember which ep, and it was a short scene). CY was meeting WenShu somewhere in a hotel where the agency was doing a promo event, and QL mistakenly thought he was a room service attendant or something, LOL. CY had been interested in QL already but QL never saw him on radar hahaha (well, CY was VERY young at that age, 17 or something).

ETA HA!!! FOUND IT!!! It's episode 4 of the Small Theater, LOL. THAT BASTARD QL STOLE CY's FIRST KISS!!!! OMG hahaha~ I didn't remember that part. And it's even more hilarious because 1. that's basically the same pattern their first night after they met again went by, and 2. THAT's where CY gets an impression of QL as a bear that he references later in the drama :D

The father's problems also were an issue for a long time. When Shi YuHao threatened QL with exposing his and CY's affair, he had set pictures and collaborated with Xu dad to hold CY's dream of Hunter School over QL's head. When they arranged for fake date pics for the paparazzi, SYH told QL the Xu dad was laundering money through his firms, had been for a long while, and any scandal about his family would bring it all up to light. I guess QL breaking up with CY and playing along with SYH didn't manage to completely divert the attention from Xu dad who eventually got life in prison. Maybe it didn't become a national press scandal because WenShu managed to clear it up.

All I have to say is that is one very unfortunate picture.

There is a happy ending - and a marriage. There is also sadness. But the main two couples are HEA.

There is also amazing cinematography, incredible OST, shown-not-told plot, this is one of the best danmei I've ever watched.

Here's proof. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDCQ9aC7QBc

RE: this drama. I'm kind of certain at this point A-Lie isn't actually gay yet (or he'll at most be gay-for-A-Zai only), but he sure noticed A-Zai paying all that attention to him and has PLOTTED and already calculated how to seduce him from his base by using that interest. That's a scum move, A-Lie. Bad boy, no biscuit!

I guess they really need a subject to study how the immunity works, but there will surely be a few unsavoury characters who will try to use those findings to grab power before a vaccine or cure to the virus is developed. I think A-Lie is either too trusting, or he's deep in that organised survivalist org he's into and might not be adverse at all to use A-Zai for those purposes.

If it's the first... I really hope he doesn't have some family to rescue or something, because he'll throw A-Zai to the wolves for that. If the second... he's already scum for playing with his feelings, even if his motives are for a grander purpose.

Anyway, the zombies are tame so far. We'll see how it goes.

Ah yeah, we're going to watch this all out.

At 4th ep's end - I did expect that. I mean, he was acting all very obvious except to the unsuspecting eyes of Cpt. Oblivious LOL.

Did someone say this OST is AI-made? 'Cause I saw a long list of songs they used, and the BGM sounds pretty cool too.

Anyway. Leaving that aside - WOW oh WOW!! As soon as they found one or two minor loops in their draconian rules, the Chinese IMMEDIATELY started releasing amazing danmei at the speed of sound LOL. This summer was a whole feast, and if they keep going like that, we'll be soon drowning in danmei (this is not a complaint!)

BTW, how are they crediting Hong Kong for this? I thought there are no more autonomous rules for HK after China took it back.

Too late... I watched the trailer. Boy are they cute. I might dismiss the whole zombie thing because I can't resist the pretty... :(

I'd argue that some dramas do not work on hero/villain tropes but some have the anti-hero as a protagonist (as in Mouse). They don't all need redemption arcs either.

On another tangent though, why are all news posted only by Lily Alice and lately it turned into ALL articles being posted by her? Where did the other editorial authors go?! Since the beginning of the year it's mostly the same 3 or 4 people, LA included (and her account is mostly used to post news scandals, her latest added drama is in 2024, it's obviously either a publicity account to attract traffic or someone's alt they're using because they think scandals are fun. I tend to believe it's the first).

I mean, I knew it took a lot of time for editorials to be published, since the mod team is volunteering their free and unpaid time, but then they added that ridiculous rule of having to go to a person who was already a published article author for any editorial you'd like to propose and that seems to have driven away basically everybody who was ever interested in writing anything for this site.

Is this going to go on? It's kind of cheapening it all out, TBH. At least allow people to submit articles if they're so inclined without making them wait for half a year before you either publish them or not. No wonder a lot don't even bother any more.

Are there zombie scare jumps in this one? (I hate zombies and vampires LOL, though I fell for Nour before I knew what it entailed, don't hold me to my aversion to those topics hahaha~) This time I want to at least know what I would get myself into...

OMG Wang Kai and Peng YuChang in the same drama?! I... I feel compelled to watch it.

It doesn't look Republican era by the attire, does anyone know what period it's set in?