The Star Around The Sun

Description

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Xia Xingcheng, with average acting skills and appearance, had been a small star in the entertainment industry for six years. But one day, a famous director invited him to act in a gay movie titled “Gradual Distance” with numerous award-winning movie emperor Yang Youming. In the movie, they had a sweet love; out of it, there was polite coldness. In the movie, they had a sad ending; out of it, there were ambiguous feelings. The contrast between what was in the movie and what was outside of it often made Xia Xingcheng unable to find himself. Because of Yang Youming’s guidance, he had stepped into the ranks of actors, but also because of Yang Youming, he couldn’t distinguish between what was reality and what wasn’t.

Xia Xingcheng didn’t expect that the movie would finally push him into the abyss of pain and happiness.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Caught in the Act
Love Story at Starry Night
mingri xingcheng
ming ri xing cheng
TSATS
บทประพันธ์แห่งดวงดาว
明日星程
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Deep in the Act (4)
Your Distance (3)
Assistant Architect (2)
Perfection (2)
Kill the Lights (1)
I Ship My Adversary X Me (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Completed
  2. danmei
  3. TBR BL that i believe hold the potential to make i...
  4. The feels (BL drama)
  5. Did Not Finish -- Other

Latest Release

Date Group Release
02/27/20 littlemonster c8
02/24/20 littlemonster c7
02/23/20 littlemonster c6
02/22/20 littlemonster c5
02/21/20 littlemonster c4
02/20/20 littlemonster c3
02/19/20 littlemonster c2
02/18/20 littlemonster c1
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Review
85 Reviews


vassal101
vassal101
Jan 26, 2021
Status: c104
Story is fine, romance is fine, up to a certain point. I was actually thoroughly enjoying this novel when the author ended up dropping some serious homophobic bullsh*t into the mix that ruined the entire experience for me. I'll tentatively put some of the more plot-related stuff as spoilers, but I urge anyone thinking about reading this novel to look at what I have to say regardless.

First of all, neither of the main characters are gay. "But this is a BL novel! Boy Love!" Yeah, no. Written in 2018 and... more>> it still utilizes the tired, inaccurate, borderline homophobic trope of I Would Never Fall For Another Man Besides You/I'm Not Gay, I Love You As A Person/etc. I don't know about you, but as a queer person myself I find this extremely grating and genuinely hurtful. Gay (in the umbrella term sense) people don't just fall for anyone because of their s*x or gender - of course we love people because of who they are as people, they just happen to not be people of the exact opposite sex/gender. It's very offensive to imply that we only fall in love with others because of their sex/gender. This is unfortunately extremely common trope, so as much as it irritates me I've also learned to shrug it off sometimes and make up my own canon, especially when it's only mentioned once or twice or alluded to ambiguously. But this author insists on bringing it up at every turn! Their insistence on MC and ML's heterosexuality is constantly shoved in your face, and considering the actual homophobic nonsense that shows up later in the novel, I think I'm entitled to be offended at their specific use of this trope.

Spoiler

The homophobic nonsense in question is the author's decision to make both actually canonically gay characters in the story (or at least where I'm dropping it) at best spiteful and at worst quite literally attempted mu*derers. In the spiteful case, ML calls over a photographer friend to take a picture of him and MC for his home. The friend is gay and is told of their relationship, and shows a little bit of jealousy and dismay at the fact that two (again, supposedly entirely 100% straight!!!) catches are taken. He's really not even that jealous or grating of a character, but MC acts like a huge c**t and flaunts his relationship at every turn, absolutely rubbing it in the friend's face for... literally what reason? But in any case, why couldn't the canonically gay character also be in a happy relationship? Why is he assumed to be promiscuous and single and thus embittered? And anyway, wouldn't he have kind of a right to be annoyed considering both MC and ML are so, so adamant about their heterosexuality? My respect for the main characters went down the f*cking drain during those chapters, I swear. They were so rude for literally no reason, and again, the canonically gay character's characterization was just so ridiculously pointed and biased. And in the second case, MC is hit on by a gay coworker; when he rejects the coworker (who he "had a bad feeling about" beforehand and who ML warned him away from for much the same reason *rolls eyes*), the coworker quite literally drowns him several times while shooting a scene to the extent that MC catches an illness and gets sent to the f*cking hospital afterwards. He literally tried! To! Kill! Him! Because he's a scary gay pe*vert who just has to get his way? My god. I'm not saying all gay characters have to be perfect or lovable, but when the only ones in your story are there to be jealous or abusive in comparison to the Oh So Holy straight-gay couple it's really genuinely problematic and insulting.

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I'm very disappointed that none of the other reviews for this novel have mentioned these issues. Everything I discussed above was borderline triggering for me and left me feeling shaken, hurt, and above all, just really disappointed. I really liked this story and the characters till these problems became so prevalent, which is why I gave it two stars instead of one, but I have to emphasize my lack of recommendation for this one. There are better written entertainment industry novels out there that aren't homophobic and insulting. Don't waste your time with this one. <<less
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haruka3011
haruka3011
Jul 15, 2020
Status: Completed
I have read many entertainment novels but among them this novel is the best for me. Why? There are a lot of reasons and I don't know if I will finish saying this so I have made a list of facts for this precious novels.

1. In this novel, there are no revenge or face slapping (a little) , not about investor or actor competing for resources, et.

2. It mainly contain how the movie was shoot, how the actors

immerse themselves into the play and how they feel when they shoot... more>> the play. And you will see the different styles of directors. What's theirs beliefs is how they shoot the movies.

3. What's more interesting is that everything is from the perspective of MC. So you will also need to figure out the story from MC view. Even when shooting the movie, what's the director wants, what should be done to perfect the play, the MC have to figure out himself (of course sometimes ML help too).

4. There is no description such as MC is a very bright boy always smiling or ML is such a cool person or warn person. As I said, because the novel is from MC's view, what kind of person the ML is ? You need to figure out from MC view. And matters what one's personality is, I think it will be different to who you are interacting. And yes you can see that in this novel.

5. For the romance, I like both the interaction of MC and ML very much. For the MC, the ML is his idol so when they are in a relationship, he will show his love without reservation, he will get jealous and will try be his most important person because he love the ML. I like where the MC says "technically I still like girls but because he is Yang Youming that I like him".

6. For the ML, because he is the older one in the relationship, he will try to shoulder the burdens and try to considerate MC. But he is also a human being, so there will be times when he will afraid of disappointment, betrayal and hurts.

To sum it up, you should give a try to this novel and you will realize this is a hidden gem. In this novel, I like their relationship very much. They know themselves what they want, they know what their partner needs. So they will try their best to show their love. <<less
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rhianirory
rhianirory
Jun 24, 2020
Status: Completed
this story has both pluses and minuses.

I really like the detailed descriptions of the movies and the MC's growth as an actor. At the start, both MC and ML have normal IQ and EQ and are more realistically portrayed than the usual for BL. They are just like the rest of us, having dated and experienced both relationships and breakups before they found each other, making them easier to relate to.

I also really liked the MCs' journey from confusion to realizing his own feelings, and that once he did, and... more>> circumstances permitted it, he acted on those feelings instead of dithering for 100 chapters. His action is so decisive that those around him think he's still too deep in the character of the first movie for quite some time, which leads to some mild conflict.

sadly, when they get together, the MC goes from level-headed to acting like
Spoiler

a 12yo brat. The personality shift was surprising and too abrupt for me; the change is all at once and suddenly it became the stereotypical 'older ML coddling and pampering his child lover' dynamic.

the reduction to a spoiled child while together with the ML is very off-putting, especially considering that his overall IQ and EQ are mostly normal otherwise, though he seems to have impulse control issues once in a while, (like at the company).

[collapse]

After the personality change, I was never able to regain my enthusiasm for the story and ended up skipping chapters here and there. The second half sticks close to the usual formula BL, (fluff and some drama when he gets blacked, but the ML takes care of it for him). There are some good moments as well as ones that made me roll my eyes and skip chapters.

rating this was hard because the first part is good and the second part is ok, with fluctuations between good and poor, depending on the situation. I finally settled on a 3, which is, I will remind people, not a bad rating.

as always, thank you to the translators. <<less
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xinxie
xinxie
Mar 07, 2020
Status: Completed
I've been hopping from several translated CN novels but nothing could capture my interest for long until I chance upon this one.

This novel is very well written -- realistic and well paced as the same time, funny. It totally captivated me with enough details of the characters, their feelings and the backgrounds. The scenes in the movies they're making were described pretty well that I can imagine them like I'm in the set or as if I was the MC acting the part. In addition, I learned a lot from... more>> them and subsequently, enjoyed those movies immensely as each has a charm of its own, viewing from adult (genre or) perspective.

I like every moments relating between the main characters but my favorite would be on the MC's feelings, in his emotional journey towards the ML from their first movie collab. I really think it's beautiful, and so was that movie. Every time I remember those scenes, I feel fuzzy inside and even can't help the anticipations, the longings, the gradual development of love, etc felt by the MC.

I really love both the MC and ML. They're really good together. Not over the top romance, just the right amount of it. I highly recommend this, but read it when you feel like reading it, especially if you are looking for a mature BL story (this genre highly relates to the movies they acted in in case you, the reader needs a heads up).
Thank you to the translator, littlemonster for your hard work.
I read up to the latest translation, c11 and then MTLed through the end. I can't extract myself in front of my laptop from reading this. If not for my internal organs screaming in pain, I would have finished reading this in one go. I just took few hours of sleep to rest my body a little and then continue to finish it. I love the author's descriptive writing style. Although there's a little flaw, it's passable for me compare to those other CN BL novels I read. <<less
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wistful
wistful
Apr 12, 2021
Status: Completed
It's ok, but I have a really hard time getting into stories where the majority of their courting or interactions happens because MC gets too drunk and has to be taken care of by the ML.

Once or twice is ok, but it just kept happening over and over and over again. It felt like I was watching a cliche 2000/2010 Kdrama in book form. There's nothing sexy or attractive about having to take care of someone who can't handle their alcohol or know their limits.

Anyways after finishing the novel, it... more>> doesn't really get better. It's just rehashes every danmei trope ever. The two leads are just inexplicably sexually attracted to each other and build their relationship around that. Their entire dynamic boils down to acting spoiled x getting doted on. And of course once they get together, the usual crop of "evil villains" have to show up to try to break them apart, all so they can reaffirm their love to each other.

Another reviewer made a stink about how the novel is triggering or homophobic and I just have to boggle at how poor their reading comprehension is/are completely new to Cnovels/zero understanding of anything Chinese. The only thing I'll say in defense is that this is generic tropey stuff.
Spoiler

The accusation that of the "we're not gay, just in love with each other" line was literally a single throwaway sentence said by the MC when he was confronted by the divorced ex-wife of the ML at an event. It's called giving her some face.

The "bad representation" was one gay guy who fills the role of the stereotypical villain who has to attack the MC so readers can get some hurt/comfort scenes from the ML. Funnily enough they don't talk about the other "evil villain" of the fangirl who leaks pictures to the media to try and break them up.

The other "bad representation" was the gay photographer who was butthurt that MC hooked up with ML. It was regular single dog ribbing between two guys who are relatively friendly with each other and falls more along the lines of "how did an average dude like you bag the hottest guy in the industry? With this skinny ass?!". The pinching ass/s*xual harassment thing was MC playacting/being cute to ML. Not an actual complaint because MC felt unsafe or victimized.

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Of all the complaints to have, that was the most ridiculous. The story takes place in modern China, where gay marriage is illegal. So you will have everything that fits that setting, including gay people having to hide their orientation or else it negatively impacts their career, conservative family members (violently) against the relationship, and everyone trying to discourage the couple out of principal.

If any of that is triggering to you, then you're a privileged brat. Now you know how gay people in China have to live. <<less
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toleroid
toleroid
Apr 21, 2021
Status: extra 2 part1
Read through some other reviews and I just wanted to add that reading the novel in Chinese definitely made me more uncomfortable than in English. It doesn't come through in the translation because English doesn't have certain social nuances, but in the dialogue, it's incredibly obvious that Yang Youming treats Xia Xingcheng as a child / junior, and not in a funny or playful way. To me, this is a realistic representation of a iffy / borderline immoral relationship.

They were both extremely impulsive, and the male lead Yang Youming was... more>> especially unprofessional. It's bad because he clearly has so much sway in the industry that no one is willing to criticize him. The only person who was willing to openly express some concern about their relationship, in their circle, was the director. Even then, because he frequently cooperated with YYM, he couldn't say much.

Also, a key point in the story was that YYM preferred XXC over his ex-wife because XXC is extremely "obedient" and has a childish personality. XXC is the kind of person who can close his eyes and pretend nothing his happening in a lot of situations, and he doesn't ask unnecessary questions.

Overall, I thought it was a great story. It made me uncomfortable and it was certainly not a happy romance, but it was very interesting.

Re h*mophobia, I don't think this novel was homophobic at all. The reviewer who brought up that point clearly didn't understand some parts of the story. <<less
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A.mikki
A.mikki
Jul 21, 2020
Status: c33
I usually don't review, but I figured I should warn those who get secondhand embarrassment. It's really good so far! I like trying to interpret the ML thoughts from what the MC see, and the MC is really cute (though a bit distressing). However let me tell you the the secondhand embarrassment is real! Some of these scenes are downright brutal for me; that is why I haven't caught up yet. Anyway happy reading!
Spoiler

I caught up now. The embarrassing parts only happen before they get together. Once they get together there's a whole lot of fluff and sexy time (ง ื▿ ื) ว

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ylial
ylial
Dec 29, 2020
Status: Completed
I really love this one! I even have a hard time from extricating myself and moving on fr this novel. I thank the author for an ABO extra for switching my emotions fr novel.

Best danmei modern slice of life I have ever read. It is really written well. The characters are very vivid and the emotions portrayed are gradual and strong. The novel is focused on love development between MC and ML. It is realistically written even the ending.... more>>
Spoiler

I wish they can tell the world their relationship after the MC establishes himself and win awards... Yet the story ends with their relationship hidden

[collapse]

I negate @rhiannirory statement. MC can emphatize but as director he zeng said he has a lot of room for improvement.

  1. His talent in first movie is due to ML. ML is able to bring the MC into character unlike his 2nd movie without someone guiding and bringing him into character during acting
  2. His slightly sloppiness in 3rd movie (2nd movie with ML) is being with ML itself since he likes ML and feel bad about the MLchara experience
The ML has really long patience and tolerance to his loved ones. Whereas the MC, his chara portrayal is suitable for his age.
Spoiler

I really like the ML here, he's really mature. Due to his patience and tolerance for his wife, his wife thought that he didn't care enough for her... I really wish someone like him since I'm spoiled XD

[collapse]
<<less
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Klein_00
Klein_00
Aug 23, 2020
Status: c66
I can say that this story really deserves the attention.

  1. Its not your typical fluffy and cliche love story.
  2. The storyline provide an understanding point on the character's development and point of view. Its on par with reality's expectations and not some straight overpowered MC though I don't know what to say about the ML (natural talent?). Then again, at the end of the day we'll be reminded that both MC and ML is just another pair of human being and they have their own strength and weaknesses.
  3. For the entertainment circle setting, the story pace isn't too fast nor too slow while also has its interesting turn of events. (Theres a part where I thought the author gonna stretch the story onto few more chapters telling how MC were having his days without the presence of ML, yet it didnt happen)
  4. The story emphasizes on how actors were expected to act and the reality that hits most artists soon after.
Kudos to the translation team for the good work. Looking forward to more updates
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White Sky Translations
White Sky Tr
Dec 02, 2021
Status: Completed
I thought I’d written a review for this but seems like I haven’t. I felt obligated to write one just because of some lower reviews recently so I wanted to balance it out.

I love love love this novel. I love the sweetness, the bitter sweetness, the angst, the romance. I love the MC’s naïveté and his growth into a mature actor. I love the ML’s mature personality. I love the drama and the conflicts and the making up.

In fact when I read this I felt it was a perfect novel,... more>> hitting all the right emotional notes for me for a really immersive experience. I literally couldn’t stop reading and had swollen eyes from no sleep the next day.

So I was shocked to read some of the negative reviews here. After reading them I think I kind of understand why. It’s the difference between an Eastern and Western perspective.

Western people (including Asians who have grown up overseas) expect a lot more political correctness... or if you prefer logic/sense in novels. More realism. Some of the issues raised (such as the unfair relationship/distribution of power between the MC and ML) are major current issues in the western world getting a lot of attention for good reasons.

However Chinese readers have very low awareness of such things. It’s just escapism for them. Please remember Danmei is not actually written for an LGBT audience (there are actual realistic Chinese novels that are although they are few) but are novels written by mostly straight women for female readers who are also straight and want to indulge in fantasies about good looking men.

It really depends to what standard you are holding an internet novel to. Perhaps you believe that all writing should conform to higher standards - anything less is perpetuating archaic thinking. That’s totally fair.

However if you just want to read some really delicious escapist drama, this one won’t disappoint. In fact maybe because the writing is so lyrics and well done (and the translation was so excellent) that people expected more for it than their usual fluff novel where I’ve seen much worse political incorrectness but which are still beloved.

I’ve said all this but honestly to me I didn’t notice any glaring social issues at all. Perhaps my standards aren’t quite up to scratch or I’m too old fashioned. For example one reviewer was angry that the ML and MC don’t seem to think that they are gay... did they read the whole novel? In one chapter the ML straight up says he’s gay...

Anyway I felt obligated to write this review of one of my fav Danmei novels as I’d hate for readers who would otherwise love this novel to be put off by the low reviews. Particularly since the translator has done such a loving and wonderful job. <<less
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Yangkxin
Yangkxin
May 09, 2021
Status: c88
So I'm at around chapter 88 and dropped the book because:

    1. there was a review who revealed plot spoilers which I didn't like for the story
    1. and throughout the whole time I was reading, I've been feeling that something was seriously off with the novel
What I truly liked about the book was the author showing each of the scenes of the movie MC and ML are shooting. Rarely entertainment novels do that, so honestly, it was a nice breath of fresh air.

But there were two points that made the story off from the beginning:

We have our MC and ML, and the two characters they're portraying in a movie. The two characters are referred to endlessly in the book and they are central to our MC's and ML's relationship development.

So usually in a novel, the main characters are set early in the chapters and there's these initial characteristics that allow the reader to first get to know them and establish what kind of character they are. But in my opinion, the novel didn't do that. Maybe it was just the author's style or maybe it was central to the plot, but the absence of that exposition made it hard for me to figure out what sort of person MC and ML are.

In novels like these we have a few tropes like the extremely gullible and kind actor shou, film emperor gong, cunning shou that face slaps, gong who will coolly destroy internet rumors for shou, and online water armies attacking everyone. But there are also unique characters that overturn the usual stereotype and this novel is one of those. The problem is, it's certainly not like other tropes but I have no idea what exactly is our main characters. It's like when you have to do a profile on someone and describe their personalities except you have no idea who they are.

This first problem is related to the second point which made the story off. Remember the two movie characters they're portraying?

Spoiler

Apparently, our actors got too deep in their acting, and their inability to extract themselves from their role caused all the drama in chapters up to the last I read (and maybe also after that).

[collapse]

Because the author explained the movie details closely and highlighted the relationship development of the movie characters, it is easy to confuse the movie characters and our own main characters.

And when we read about an entertainment novel MC acting out a role, as a reader we can figure out that MC and the movie role are two different people. MC is this new actor shou trope who loves acting and his role can be someone who is a poor hardworking student with a scripted life story and personality different from him. Yet in the Star around the Sun, novel MC has no developed personality and because of that I keep feeling that the author is trying to fuse movie MC and novel MC together. Because novel MC had no personality, and movie MC did, it wasn't hard to fill in the void.

MC and ML lacked the backbone in their personalities. The author made us match novel MC and movie MC but we all know that movie MC doesn't exist in the novel world. And novel MC is also trying to separate himself from the movie MC role.

What is he trying to separate? From the book it said that MC is trying to separate his feelings for ML and movie MC's feelings for movie ML, so it's not really personalities he's trying to differ.

But if his personality is actually not the same as movie MC then what is it? It was mentioned that movie MC is introverted and novel MC wasn't and loved talking to fellow actors and making friends but that WASN'T established in chapters to 88, MC was always worrying about his feelings for ML and ML. It was always about their feelings, the relationship between them, and etc. Etc. But their own personalities wasn't developed much! At all! At least from the early chapters until 88.

And I seriously disliked, almost to the point of hating, exactly that. The focus was too much on their feelings yet the character himself didn't even have a developed personality. It's like there's smoke all around the air yet no fire.

But I also can't help thinking that if you take out the personality factor, then how the author wrote it out and also made me confused about novel MC and movie MC's feelings is actually kind of smart. Leaving the character development aside, how MC and ML's relationship was written and their struggle to separate themselves from their roles was well-developed. And the author's writing even made the reader feel confused and anxious to separate them too.

There are still a lot of things I want to point out but this might be a really long review by then. So with a last sentence I'll just sum up everything I've written and my thoughts on them.

Our MC and ML's character development had no proper development but much was focused on their relationship and the author was genius in that aspect, yet I hoped the author also developed well our characters' personalities throughout the love drama.
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Prakruti000
Prakruti000
Nov 17, 2021
Status: --
MC : Xia Xingcheng ; movie MC : Fang Jianyuan ; ML : Yang Youming ; movie ML : Yu Haiyang

I was attracted to this novel because of the synopsis. I indeed had already imagined the state of MC even before starting. Translation was very comfortable.

I was immersed in the first arc. Only after ML completing his filming was I realized something was off. MC had already fallen for ML deeply. But I didn't find a sensible reason why he loved ML except for his immersion in character (and maybe... more>> because he is inspiring?? Like MC admires ML). Later, MC found out that ML had already divorced and decided. I didn't quite get what he decided. He confessed to ML. ML firmly refused. After, under some circumstances, they immediately have s*x and I was utterly shocked to see ML accept MC the very next day.

I had to agree that ML also started to "fall" for MC during filming which I thought as my blind guess. There was no other possibility. Then their love life started but as it progessed, I was pissed off by MC's attitude. I really wanted to smack him awake. Because, other than a reason that he was unable to distinguish between movie ML and real ML, I found no other thing like love, warmth or whatever. It simply felt like s*xual attraction and infatuation. Until I reached 90-ish chapters by great difficulty, I couldn't continue further. I really wanted to know when and how the the heck did ML loved MC that much. I dropped and directly fled to extras. Then, I found this.
Spoiler

It grew increasingly difficult for Yang Youming to maintain his indifference and stay away. He could no longer disengage from his role and examine this man's body through the eyes of his character as they shot this intimate scene. Xia Xingcheng's body drew him in. He was aroused.

[collapse]

What does this mean? Firstly, I can understand a considerably inexperienced actor like MC to get immersed into the character and be unable to pull himself up to the point of losing himself and reality. But if an exceptionally skilled and EXPERIENCED actor like ML (this is emphasized in the novel) did the same, should I believe? Should I accept and go with the flow?

The fact is that both of them didn't fall in love but were greatly affected by their movie characters, got to a point where they couldn't distinguish between reality and virtuality yet they didn't want to get out of this daze! They were hooked by the lust, nothing else. To say they liked each other, I really want to find out their characters but the author cleverly mixed up their characters with their movie characters. I can't tell Xia Xingcheng and Yang Youming had fallen for each other. I can only say Xia Xingcheng had fallen for Yu Haiyang while Yang Youming for Fang Jianyuan. Because except for their physical bodies, there was nothing else like character, behavior, beliefs that belonged to them, the real them.

I don't want to separate them. If they leave their obsession on characters, involve in a relationship, get to know each other thoroughly while falling in love, I would cheer for them. But it didn't seem to happen. They were just cheating themselves. I didn't want to continue.

The first question came to my mind while reading the novel was 'Is homos*xual relationship really a taboo in modern China as mentioned and emphasized in this novel? ' It was mentioned like they would be doomed if they expose their relationship. It was a bit over.

I am very confused to say anything about characters. I can only say that MC and ML barely had any traits. ML could be mentioned as the typical yandere and MC was mentioned as sunny and extrovert but I didn't feel so. Infact, movie's mainleads had a bit more character. And side characters were really sided. I don't have much impression. Some of them were even displayed as petty villains that opposed MC's relationship. I hated MC (his actions and thoughts). I didn't care about ML's cliche character. One or two side characters were interesting but I didn't get much of their stories.

I has a headache by the way the author displayed 'genders' topic which had already been mentioned by a reviewer.

I definitely don't recommend this. Better try other novels. <<less
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cas_ciel21
cas_ciel21
Feb 11, 2022
Status: extra 3 part7
A entertainment bl novel about the personal struggle of a straight male actor being attracted to their idol. I love this kinds of in depth details about prejudices, idolization, attraction and romance. It has its moments and flaws but this became one of my favorites.

Its a romance story that is grounded in reality and but still some thoughts, I feel of the author bleed into the novel. The actions of the main leads are understandable but I did wish a lot of things or used tropes to be not part... more>> of this novel, cause the tone of the story isn't a typical bl one where its all tv drama.

Its all bittersweet and unfair but still a happy ending, and I just want to comment on one of the reviewers
Spoiler

the ML said he was gay, though its only on the last few chapters

[collapse]

Also thank god for Gooseberry the translation got better. <<less
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CrossMyHeart
CrossMyHeart
Feb 03, 2022
Status: Completed
I adore entertainment industry novels so perhaps I am biased but this story has quickly become one of my favorites.

Summary: B-tier actor Xia Xingcheng (MC, shou, 24) finally gets a chance to star as a main character in a super famous director's movie and alongside the film emperor Yang Youming (ML, gong, 37), but it's a LGBTQ+ movie. The MC has had numerous girlfriends but he finds himself attracted to the ML. However, the ML is currently married and unavailable which coincides with the plotline of the movie. As such,... more>> the MC finds himself blurring the lines between the film and movie.

First, it's a very easy read. The language is simple yet beautiful and despite being fairly fast paced, there is no loss of feelings. At some points I was overwhelmed by emotions and cried. During the first arc, I was very impressed by how the author made the MC's feelings ambiguous. The author consistently switched between saying the MC's name and the name of the character he was playing, showing how their feelings were overlapping. You can really feel how confused the MC was. Similarly, the ML was giving off mixed signals (which honestly made me dislike him a little at the beginning).

What really stands out to me from this novel is definitely their relationship once they get together. Maybe it's because they are older adults and have had previous relationships, but I felt that they handled their relationship in a very mature manner. Even when they fought, it wasn't melodramatic.

Spoiler

I actually really liked how after the CP get together, they had their first huge fight which caused them to step apart and the MC decided to make the ML chase after him to decide how they went from there. I have read this part four times already because I liked it so much. And after they reconcile, they are stronger than ever.

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The ML becomes incredibly endearing once he commits to being in a relationship with the MC. I truly enjoyed their dynamic and how they supported each other. Also, if you like acting at all this is a fun story as the MC really does want to become a better actor and you can see him developing throughout the novel. The few angsty scenes are just enough in my opinion, mostly focusing on h*mophobia though there are a few minor antagonists that are quickly resolved.

In summary, this is an easy, romantic read that checks all of the boxes! I can't really think of any complaints (except perhaps that there are large time skips that happen in the length of a paragraph but you just need to pay attention to catch them). It's fast paced and the dynamic between the CP is excellent! <<less
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glitteryjoon
glitteryjoon
Nov 28, 2021
Status: c1
If i’m being honest, had it not been for the lack of reading material and my utter boredom, I would not have read this; not because it was bad, but because of some of the reviews that I’ve seen.

I’m not going to make this too long because I literally just finished the extras and I’m still very much in my feelings, but if I had to do a quick cons of the movie, my only problem would really be the beginning portion of the novel and maybe just a pet... more>> peeve that wasn’t as prevalent as some reviewers made it out to be.

1) I do wish that they had made the MC and ML have a more obvious love. And what I mean by that is one where you’re not constantly questioning if it’s really just a from the psychological burden of the filming or if it’s real. Ultimately, I chose to think that XX definitely only fell for the ML as the character from the first film because other than that films character, he only had an idolized version of the ML in his mind and even as they first started dating it was still a more awe inspire worship— a fan having s*x with their idol type of feel. It did slowly change as they had more and more interactions outside of the movies and their personalities stabilized, but I do think it would have been more sweet if it hadn’t happened like that. However I like that it was such a different storyline than your average entertainment novel.

2) I saw a reviewer mention how the author used gay stereotypes and the gay photographer friend was ultimately seen as a petty catty gay guy that was jealous and made moves on whoever. I think that’s a perception problem because from how I read it, his attitude would fit anyone. Whether it was a female that found out her long time love had ended up with someone else or a guy who thought he wasn’t the girls type only for her to end up with a guy that was similar to him. It’s not catty or petty to be hurt or upset and think “so it’s just me he doesn’t want” or “am I not good enough” which was kind of how he thought.

meanwhile, there was mentions that the MC was rude and showy but lbr not being able to show off your relationship and share how happy you are with anyone would get suffocating. He was just happy to be able to flaunt his relationship in front of someone else.

the only other real con I guess is just that XX was hellbent on the “I’m not gay, I only like him” train. First of all, I think bl authors are under the impression that there’s only gay and straight. It’s very rare to see other s*xual orientations even mentioned correctly let alone at all. Classifying him as gay would ultimately be wrong because he was able to have relationships with females. And for the ML to say he was gay was interesting but again, wrong (at least in my understanding of sexualities) because he can find himself attracted both sexually and otherwise to the opposite s*x. But saying that they’re a straight man but only in love with this one guy has always been a pet peeve for me. It makes me feel like that’s the only way people can accept gay people or like it’s wrong to only ever be attracted to the same gender. I’m pan and have an attraction to anyone so long as their personality and mine mesh well and I tend to believe that that’s usually how these “I’m straight but only like this one man” types should usually be classified. But idk. Anyway, that phrase or conversation didn’t happen enough to truly anger me. It happened once or twice and ultimately didn’t take away from anything else.

I made this a lot longer than I intended too, but I guess because I am a bit overwhelmed and emotional it’s making me want to explain in more detail.

i truly truly think this was a very beautiful novel. I loved how the filming would take you into the world of the movie and would keep you there by using the films character names instead of the mc’s and mls name.

i enjoyed them a lot and even found myself getting into the movie, guessing how the plot would play out and who done it.

when they weren’t filming movies, the characters that were shown were pretty well fleshed out and had depth to them that were pretty understandable. Especially the mc’s agent and the obsessive fan (not that I know what an obsessive fan goes through in their minds, but thr novel made it understandable how her viewpoint could come happen)

overall, I think this is yet another novel I’m thoroughly glad I pushed through and read and that I had nothing else to read otherwise I’d have never read this. Don’t listen to the reviews, if this interested you at first then get through the first film arc first and then decide if you want to continue reading. Cause it really does become such a sweet novel. And I’m always happy to have a clingy couple. It feels more real. <<less
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curryninja
curryninja
Apr 29, 2021
Status: --
I find it really weird how the ML just accepts and agrees to be with the MC... like after all that rejection? very abrupt... If we can get a POV side story with him it would've been better. It feels forced, and unnatural just for the sake of the story. After they are together MC loses IQ and becomes a lovesick idiot. Excuse you, how about better your acting or something instead of being lovesick 24/7. It was not as good as I expected due to a lot of people... more>> liking it. <<less
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Eferia123
Eferia123
Oct 07, 2020
Status: Completed
  1. The story is so amazing and awesome!
  2. Really mature story.
  3. The character is not OP.
  4. The love between MC and ML are wonderful and their respect each other.
Rating 4.8
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LWH22
LWH22
Feb 20, 2020
Status: 70
I read the 1st chapter here and it peaked my interest, so then I read it through mtl & now I'm at chapter 70 and it is pretty good actually. I thank the translator for getting me hooked. It is mainly about the interactions between the two main characters, which I like. It's very descriptive and at times atmospheric and I can imagine the scenes happening like a movie. I can see Xingcheng's character development from admiration for his idol to falling in love after seeing how nice Youming is... more>> to him on set (even if Youming may only be acting as his movie character who is supposed to be in love with Xingcheng's character in the movie). However, I struggled to understand Youming. I still have some questions about why he did some things like
Spoiler

when Youming asked Xingcheng if he liked girls, or was he acting as his character in the movie when he asked that, but then why was he acting as his character from the movie at that time after seeing Xingcheng coming out of his room with a girl in the morning. It just didn't make sense to me.

Maybe I'll find out after I finish this novel.

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It is good, I recommend it. <<less
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ryzll
ryzll
Sep 25, 2022
Status: Completed
This rollercoaster story has brought up so many emotions in me that I'm surprised I managed to survive reading this in 24 hours time with little breaks. My eyes are still sore so I'm gonna go ahead and say that this is definitely a lot of angst.

All this time, I've been reading fluff, sweet and innocent stories, and I could count with a single hand how many I've read with mature drama settings. The love here wasn't overly sweet from the start and it was pure tortured. The feelings were... more>> too raw—their love was too raw. I was as nervous and afraid as MC in the whole lot of the novel.

MC and ML... I don't know what to say. After all the tears I had poured out for their love and the tension as I waited dreading for another reality problem, I just feel like both of them are very... humane.

I have never fallen in love, I don't know what it feels like, but the two of them brought me a new perspective of love. There was no time when I thought of just stop reading, because, even through this hardships and heartache, ultimately, I wanted to see them last. I wanted to see their end. I wanted to see them happy as I close off from their characters. Their love felt too beautiful to let go. So in my opinion, I think for the MC and ML's character is just that they are too perfect as a whole together. And I just wish them to be happy honestly.

Also, MC and ML never got public. I wish they did but I'm also relieve they didn't. Their society was portrayed too realistically and I know for sure that it'll be harsh. Just like with their close relatives and friends. Although, I was a little peeved and unaccepting with the general reaction to their relationship by their close ones, I can sort of understand that this kind of thing is just not that easily accepted. It takes time and not everything is as smooth as it could be considering their circumstances and their s*xual orientation.

On another note, I really want to appreciate how well woven the in-movie characters and MC and ML. It was so smooth and in depth with how the narration would switch with the in-movie names and their irl names. The emotional pacing was also well balanced and I have never felt so lighter after they confirmed their love mutually to each other.

For this, I want to thank both the author and the translator for the hard work and this beautiful piece of love story. It felt different and unique and I will probably remember this for a long while. I don't have much confidence in myself to reread it again but if I did, I will definitely go back to those relaxing and sweet moments in between the chapters.

P.S. honestly, I'm tired. and this novel has the seven out of eight reasons for it. my eyes are puffed and my nose are stuffy. I feel so uncomfortable yet at the same time, it's like I was the luckiest person in the world to be able to meet MC and ML and got to know their story. It's unbearably emotional for me right now, but I do hope that to whoever's reading this, I hope you'll enjoy this book as much as I did, and feel these raw feelings as much as I did.

have a nice day (❁´◡`❁) <<less
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cloudyunyun
cloudyunyun
May 03, 2022
Status: Completed
This novel is truly beautiful! If you’re looking for something light, fluffy with a small amount of angst BUT with a solid plot, look no further as this is the one for you!

... more>>
Spoiler

I must admit that the feelings between Xia Xingcheng and Yang Youming runs deep. There’s a lot of issues they are personally grappling by themselves but the author has written it in a way that it is subtle and instil a sense of hope for the readers.

Not everything is hopeless as long as you have enough willpower to solve it. Just like our star, Xia Xingcheng who pursued Yang Youming and seized the chance to sleep with him to prove his sincerity and his passion for the latter!

I adore these two so much.

Their wedding scene was touching. A very big thank you to the translator, Gooseberry TL for their hardwork and quality translation. This novel certainly touched the hearts of many.

Kudos to the author, the translator and the fanartists! Kudos to our beloved star and the moon, Xia Xingcheng and Yang Youming. ❤️

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