The Problematic of the Unproblematic

Chapter 7 - Zhuxian’s FirePart 2

written by Lala Loop
consulting by Bunny
editing by kakashi

Bai Qian gasped for breath as she arrived in front of her Second Brother’s place.

Qingqiu, due to their parents’ decision to stay out of all the realms’ affairs a long time ago, had not been sending people to the Demon Tribe for investigation. And truth be told, they had not bothered to train anyone for that purpose either. Most of the Fox people whom her Fourth Brother chose to consult with were swordsmen and scholars. With an effective shield, behind which were a moderate number of men and women strong enough in powers and cultivation to protect themselves and prosper as a tribe, they only engaged with the Nine Heavens and the rest of the realms whenever necessary; and that was how it had been for millennia. Bai Qian had only decided to open the door more to the Celestial Tribe after her engagement with Yehua was made. But even now when they were no longer bound to that engagement, the mutua…

JoAnne: You know how we've all been saying the weather this winter is crazy, how we can have a snow storm on Monday and then Spring-like temperatures a couple days later? I can beat that. This morning on the CT shoreline we woke up to freezing temps, iced over cars, and lots of slush with ice underneath. This afternoon it's almost 50. What's it like where you are?

kakashi: Stop using Fahrenheit, my friends. Nobody gets it. But yes, ice cold nights and really warm days is what we're having too - spring is coming fast. I had a lovely, sports-filled vacation in the mountains and am ready to take it really slowly at work for the next 6 months or so.

Shuk: We have have almost three weeks of nothing but cloudy drizzle and rain, with one sunshine morning somewhere in the middle. I think they have put giant sponges on the snowplow trucks just to push the water off the roads.

Panda: Our high was 59F yesterday and 21F today, so yes, the weather is having a right laugh. We had …

Chapter 54bwritten by kakashi
edited by Panda & LigayaCroft

“A Demon,” Jie Jing repeated to herself and a small smile made two dimples appear on her cheeks briefly like this discovery made her truly happy. She slid the doors shut behind her, her eyes fixated on his face with guarded curiosity.

Yu Dian realized he had gotten to his feet at her appearance. He also realized he was staring with his mouth open. He closed it - but he could not take his eyes from her however hard he tried to be more polite.

Shuk: New year, new episode! Exciting things have been happening, resulting in yet another delay in squeecapping.  But now I hope we are back on track to continue our crazy ride!

I also want to introduce our guest squeecapper, El, who I met in a Discord channel sponsored by the intrepid friend of Thai dramas, AlwaysMeena. El is going to dip her toes into this because of her love of Bomb. Haha, just kidding, El.
Guest El: Hello! Thank you very much for the invitation! I’m so excited << SARCASM!!!! 
I’m doing this to show how much I like Shuk!
Trotwood: I was wondering about that last comment. I wouldn't say these were Bomb-lovin' posts. I mean these are SnarkCaps rather than Squeecaps for a reason.
Kmuse: Getting back into Cubic right now is working out for me. I somehow broke my foot so this is the perfect pick me up and a good excuse to watch something Thai. Also, it puts things in perspective. At least I am not stuck staring on stairs or living with flocked hair. Things c…

Chapter 6 - Of Poison, Plots and Petty Princeswritten by kakashi
edited by Bunny

“Thank you for letting me work at the House of Lanxiang, JieJie.”

Feeling especially grateful on this turbulent day to have found temporary refuge at her establishment, Feng Zhiwei pressed the hand of her friend Zhuyin with fervor.

Chapter 54awritten by kakashi
edited by LigayaCroft & Panda

“Don’t touch anything!” Tian Gu whispered in alarm.

“Why? Do you think I’ll go up in flames?” Yu Dian whispered back.

But he did pull back his hand that had sneaked forward towards the exquisite books in Donghua Dijun’s shelf. As much as he longed to pull out and bury his nose in Poems of the Lost Summer, power suppression was brutal up here, by far the worst he had ever experienced. Yu Dian felt like he was being crushed by a mountain, just standing was a great struggle, let alone walking.

Chapter 7 - Zhuxian’s FirePart 1

written by Lala Loop
consulting by Bunny
editing by kakashi

“You!” Shaowan’s voice boomed from the other side of the corridor. “Moyuan!”

Moyuan had known it was coming. That was the reason he had decided to quietly leave the dueling field and go back to his room and prepare for the celebration. On the one hand, Moyuan had an understanding why his name was being bellowed like this. But on the other, he still did not see what the fuss was about. He had not done anything wrong, had he? And they had won, hadn’t they?

JoAnne:  We've had snow, we've had rain, we've had ice, we've had a legal excuse to eat as much chocolate as we want, and we've had 5 MILLION new dramas start.
kakashi: Surpriiiiiiise. Mark is featured this week. It's because he put on glasses
SakiVI: I'm very sad that things I like end.  Everything feels blah as a result.
Trotwood: I'm chairing a search committee, and I can't watch as much as I want because I need to read through application files. I wasn't much before, but you're definitely not going to see much of me down there. 
Panda: Had an amazing extended weekend. Sadly I am feeling most dreadful today

Chapter 5 - He who conquers others is strong. He who conquers himself is mightywritten by kakashi
edited by Bunny

Feng Zhiwei opened her eyes. Where was she? It seemed to be morning and she was on a bed, only… this looked oddly familiar… The Prince of Chu’s residence?

“Why am I here? Was yesterday a dream?” she murmured.

“What did you do in your dream?” a languid voice she knew all too well said from nearby.

kakashi: In the last episode, we had swords. In this episode, we have...a sassy Demon Princess! And much, much more. Read on, my friends.
JoAnne:  That is the look of a princess who understands subtext...or at least it's the look of a woman who knows she's now got two hot guys to play with.
Panda: The Demon Princess is a firm favorite.

Chapter 53written by kakashi
edited by LigayaCroft & Panda

Right after stepping into the sanctuary of her chambers and closing the door behind her, Shao Wan let out an extensive sigh that had been building up inside of her for the better part of the long day. She felt nauseous, a feeling intensified by the dull, persistent headache pulsating behind her eyes. She had not eaten any proper food after waking early this morning- there had been little time between meetings. Besides, nothing they served had appealed to her, even just the smell of the spices routinely used in Demon food upset her stomach. For lack of any better options, she had nibbled on dried fruit and sweet, sticky pastry she had washed down with tea, but all it did was make her feel bloated and ungainly. At least she wasn’t throwing up anymore these days, but that was only a small consolation.

kakashi: It's an absolute disaster, I don't even have Chen Kun pictures this week. Oh wait, found one.
JoAnne: It's a good one. I think it will fill the bill.
Panda: Look at that profile!! Mark also had some pretty pics out today, will post in comments :) Wanted to start Trap, but couldn't because any time not spent watching Nirvana in Fire with the hubby, was spent marathoning The Eternal Love 2. I had no idea how much I had missed the Horny prince and season 2 was even more madness! I forwarded all the boring court stuff and laughed myself silly at all the antics. Recommended for a fun, light watch. 
SakiVI: I watched both Painted Skins.  I like the second one better. In the meantime, what's with steadily rising fevers that won't come down without taking both Advil and that arthritis-strength Tylenol together? It was so uncomfortable, and a bit like watching a shipwreck on my thermometer.  Even with meds, I could feel it trying to break through, like I had a …

Chapter 6 - The Realm of TrialsPart 5

written by Lala Loop
Consulting by Bunny
editing by kakashi

How she had made it back to the safehouse, how she still had the heart to go back, Bai Qian was not sure. But she was standing in front of the kitchen stove once again, soaked from a brief and sudden downpour that had happened when she was about a few yards away from the protective shield. Perhaps she could have made an effort to avoid being drenched, but she was not at all interested in her own comfort or safety at the moment.

Chapter 4. All Roads lead to Prince of Chu’s Residencewritten by kakashi
edited by Bunny

Avoiding Feng Zhiwei and her cumbersome questions quickly turned into a game Ning Yi enjoyed immensely. He had other things to worry about, but Feng Zhiwei was so delightfully naive. But not only that, she was also persistent and a very fast learner, forcing him to change his strategies several times a day. Soon, he found himself waking up in the morning with his mind immediately turning to situations she could use to ambush him. That led to him designing counter strategies to throw her off successfully should such situations really arise. Excellent training, exactly what he needed to learn how to plot faster than anybody else in town.

Chapter 52written by kakashi
edited by LigayaCroft&Panda

To Ye Hua, Fuxi was primarily one thing: an awe-inspiring Primordial from the dawn of time. He was a legend of yore, their Creator, blessed be, whose legacy they lived and breathed every day.

Learning about his true heritage had changed nothing about this. Fuxi may be his “father” by blood but he would always be the venerated Father Immortal to him first and foremost. Maybe that was the reason why Ye Hua had never asked Mo Yuan anything personal about his childhood, about growing up with the God who had created the Celestial Tribe.

JoAnne: In search of things to calm my brain (and warm my hands) I am knitting a scarf.  For those who knit, it's the Zick Zack scarf, using two different self-striping fingering/sock yarns.  (If you choose the right color combos it ends up looking like a Missoni knit.  The jury is out on mine.) You can see a bunch of them (it's a very popular pattern) on Ravelry, plus the pattern itself is available for free. In other news, most of my drama-watching happened on the weekend. Today I watched six inches worth of scarf.

kakashi: Happy Birthday, Chen Kun!

Trotwood: I'm only sort of diving back into drama watching. There are things I planned to watch but I'm not sure I'll have the energy to ever catch up. So many meetings and trying to adjust to the 14-hour time difference didn't help either.

Panda: Happy Birthday Chennie 😍😍.

SakiVI: I inadvertently celebrated by watching the lesbian love story he was in, Painted Skin: The Resurrection. It was really good.

kakashi: I really like it when men brandish great swords.
JoAnne: Yeah, but they have to know what they're doing, otherwise it's just awkward.
Panda: Oooooh great ridged swords, sign me up.