Sect Leader and Little Shimei's Story

[extrapenguin]

Do you want 14 minutes of extremely cheesy femslash, complete with falling asleep on someone's shoulder, collisions with boobs, hot looming, and blood coughing? Well, I do! And though figuring out where the hell the clips used in that MV I was obsessed with came from, I found some! Behold: Sect Leader and Little Shimei's Story. (Chinese: 教主和小师妹的故事) (ETA: Also in HD!)

Now, that is in Chinese, and while the Chinese is pretty simple, it's still Chinese, and a number of people require engsubs. Thus, in a fit of hubris, I have engsubbed the thing! Google Drive folder with subtitle download. Have fun with Demonic Sect Leader Xiao Rufeng and rebellious little disciple-sister Ye Xiaoqi! (And if you notice something wrong with the translation, please poke me so I can fix it.)

Other trivia:
- The whole production, save extras for that one scene, involved less than 10 people and had zero budget. Director-screenwriter-cinematographer-editor 知竹zZ did it all herself and paid out of pocket.
- They shot some side stories?

Comments

[ratbones]

Holy crap, the director-etc-etc is amazing. Slightly sad that the excessively touchy-feely training sequence didn't make it into the main thing, but at least I still get to see it!

[extrapenguin]

IKR? I think some stuff must've been left on the editing room floor (how DID Ye Xiaoqi turn up in Shuzhou completely fine but without Xiao rufeng???), but that hands-on training sequence could've been inserted just fine.

(Personal headcanon: upon seeing Ye Xiaoqi go down, Xiao Rufeng went on a murder ramage to beat the fuck out of the dashixiong. While she was doing that to the side, Ye xiaoqi woke up and decided to go to shuzhou to ask after the sect leader. Xiao Rufeng followed her all the way to turn up and be stone-faced in an appreciative way.)

[ratbones]

Yeah, that ending is very mysterious. I like your headcanon! For sure Xiao Rufeng went berserker mode when Ye Xiaoqi went down, it had to have happened.

I have a pretty similar headcanon, something like: Xiao Rufeng exhausted herself completely and was left for dead, while the dashixiong and brought Ye Xiaoqi home ("she's an idiot, but she's our idiot" logic). Ye Xiaoqi ran away as soon as she was well enough and went to Shuzhou, refusing to believe Xiao Rufeng was dead. Maybe Xiao Rufeng thought Ye Xiaoqi died as well, or thought she'd gone willingly -- either way, because I am a cheeseball, I like to think they were both surprised to see each other at the end. And that it cut there because Ye Xiaoqi launched herself at Xiao Rufeng and kissed the hell out of her dumb stoic face.

...as you can see, i am composed enough to squee in words today. i love them a lot, also the acting in that silent final scene is really quite good.

[extrapenguin]

And that it cut there because Ye Xiaoqi launched herself at Xiao Rufeng and kissed the hell out of her dumb stoic face.
I 100% support this interpretation. Unf the acting in that scene, yes. The dramatic way Xiao Rufeng walks through the rain to gaze at Ye Xiaoqi under her umbrella! I want more of it and love the clips. ♥ IA that they must not have spoken for a while, and then they had a happy reunion. Ahhh. /a bit drunk, squee might not cohere

[ratbones]

I love the umbrella thing a lot. First off, it looks pretty. But secondly, the umbrella-sharing -- Ye Xiaoqi did not need Xiao Rufeng to share her umbrella. She was already under a roof. But as soon as it's offered, she wavers forward into Xiao Rufeng's space like she can't help it, and, ohhh, the chemistry in that! (Also Ye Xiaoqi's toothy smile is just precious. They're both hot, that helps. :P)

[extrapenguin]

But as soon as it's offered, she wavers forward into Xiao Rufeng's space like she can't help it, and, ohhh, the chemistry in that!
Yes! I am hearteyes. Umbrella! Roof! Of course the umbrella is better; Xiao Rufeng is beneath it!

I was also 100% for Xiao Rufeng starting to lambast dashixiong and his methods after he was rude to Ye Xiaoqi. (Also, trivia: her fan reads 风清, which can be short for 风清弊绝, meaning "eliminate abuses and clear the air". Such a nonstandard demonic cultivator!) For all that she's an ice-faced sourpuss, she also cares so much for this bubbly person who turned up and declared she'd be her disciple now. And Ye Xiaoqi's "I really like this person ... I want to be her disciple, obviously!" is like the xianxia version of the life goals vs wife goals internal debate.

Also Ye Xiaoqi's toothy smile is just precious. They're both hot, that helps. :P
Yes. Yes. This. The shot of Ye Xiaoqi smiling at the camera after the boob collision scene was just wonderfully heart-throbbing.

[ratbones]

her fan reads 风清, which can be short for 风清弊绝, meaning "eliminate abuses and clear the air". Such a nonstandard demonic cultivator!
Omg, what a fantastic detail. Xiao Rufeng for president, honestly. She's not even really a jerk with a heart of gold, she's just a -- actually, no, there's a word for this, she's kuudere. With a heart of gold.

And Ye Xiaoqi's "I really like this person ... I want to be her disciple, obviously!" is like the xianxia version of the life goals vs wife goals internal debate.
Ahaha, accurate. Why not both, right? Hands-on training! I do think Ye Xiaoqi was innocently oblivious at first, but I also doubt she'd sit around and agonize about catching feelings. She'd just kiss that woman. Which: some kind of goals!

Yes. Yes. This. The shot of Ye Xiaoqi smiling at the camera after the boob collision scene was just wonderfully heart-throbbing.
*swoons*

[extrapenguin]

She's not even really a jerk with a heart of gold, she's just a -- actually, no, there's a word for this, she's kuudere. With a heart of gold.
Yes! Her point about demonic cultivators not being worse than righteous path ones was so apt! Oh, and her name has the "wind" hanzi, too: 萧如风. (Ye Xiaoqi is 叶小柒.)

Why not both, right? Hands-on training! I do think Ye Xiaoqi was innocently oblivious at first, but I also doubt she'd sit around and agonize about catching feelings. She'd just kiss that woman. Which: some kind of goals!
Ah yes, the intersection of it all! I agree Ye Xiaoqi wouldn't agonize at all, and would just throw herself at Xiao Rufeng after getting over the OMG SHE'S AWESOME feels she seems to get every time she gazes upon Xiao Rufeng enough to, y'know, move. :P

(Also, tomorrow is Snowflake Challenge's rec a canon time, and we both know which canon I'll rec! I plan to include icons as well, including of the aforementioned smile.)

[starandrea]

YAY (I was even motivated me to re-download vlc)! Thank you! ♥

ETA: Okay, so my current strategy is to watch all Chinese media without English subs, and my limited Chinese got, like, 20% of this on the first try. So I'm not totally sure what's going on, is what I'm saying. But I really enjoyed watching it. :)

[extrapenguin]

It's nice and simple, innit? :) I think I got, like, half of it on the first try and 80% on the second before I started subbing. It's very good practice material!

[starandrea]

Yes! That's what I thought too! :) I was like, wow, I actually know most of these words, I just can't process them quickly enough to follow the dialogue!

[extrapenguin]

Hanzi subs are so useful. (I would've had zero luck with just listening.) I'll have to check out the director-screenwriter-producer at some point to see if she's made anything else iddy but easy to understand.

[china_shop]

I'm such an idiot -- I spent ages figuring out how to download video from bilibili because I didn't realise the video was in the Gdocs folder as well as the subs. *facepalm*

Anyway. Thanks for this! It looks fun! Will hopefully actually get around to watching it later. *collapses in a braindead heap*

[extrapenguin]

:D I admit it was partly intentional - the video description said to spread it around, so I wanted to give it more views. The short film itself is lots of fun! I hope you'll enjoy it.

[china_shop]

:D I admit it was partly intentional

Ha, okay. I feel marginally less idiotic now... ;-)

[solo]

Oh, that sounds intriguing!

[extrapenguin]

It is SO SHIPPY. Extremely cheesy/tropey as well! I love it to pieces and I hope you'll enjoy it as well!

[maggie33]

Demonic Sect Leader and rebellious little disciple? That sounds great, so thanks for subbing it. I will defintely watch it on weekend. :)

[extrapenguin]

It's so adorable! I await your reactions. :3

[maggie33]

Just a quick comment to tell you that I've just watched it and it's delightful. Xiao Rufeng is fantastic and beautiful and I'm in love. :D

[extrapenguin]

Yay! \o/ She is wonderful and swoon-worthy indeed.

[trobadora]

Oh, this is delightful! Thank you for the link and the subs!

[extrapenguin]

♥ Ye Xiaoqi is just too adorable.

[trobadora]

And Xiao Rufeng does stoic extremely well! (Also, she's seriously gorgeous, which never hurts. *g*)

[extrapenguin]

She does! Tall and gorgeous and stoic and such an excellent foil for our bubbly shimei. I am simply sdasdf. Especially at all the bits where she is minorly shaken by e.g. Ye Xiaoqi colliding with her boobs.

[feather_qwill]

Thanks for sharing this! Very sweet... wish I knew how the happy ending got there, but I'm glad that it did. :D

I wish I could watch the extras, but they seem to be down. (T_T)

My pet theory is:
Dashixiong & co decided to back down so they could take YXQ back to their sect to save her life--just because they're antagonistic to XRF doesn't mean that they're total heartless monsters to their own, after all, and maybe add a pinch of "shit, we bit off more than we can chew, how can we retreat without losing face?"--and XRF lets them go because she obviously wants YXQ saved and her own resources are way far away. Then YXQ is like, hovering on the verge of death or in a coma or something else suitably dramatic for a couple of months or a year while XRF mopes.
But then somebody shows up in Shuzhou wearing the personal token of the powerful local sect leader, so someone obviously notices and sends a message, and XRF comes, hoping...
*sigh* <3<3<3

[extrapenguin]

Yay! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Fanwanking does seem to be necessary to get to the ending, yeah. If Ye Xiaoqi is taken to her own sect to recuperate, that begs the question of why she was allowed to keep the token, though all the other potential routes all have their own problems...