Title: 老洞 | The Old Miao Myth

Media:: A supernatural mystery/horror/suspense series set in 1930s Shanghai, made in Hong Kong in 1984 and starring Andy Lau, Ray Lui, and Patricia Chong.

Approx length: 20 episodes, ~14 hours

Where to find it: For an English-subbed version, message me or check the past letters in my journal. :) If you don’t need English, TVB sometimes has it available on YouTube or their website.

Summary: The plot centers around a mysterious idol/statuette, 老洞 (“Old Cave”), which is said to bring wealth and protection to whoever guards and worships it... but may also destroy your entire family if you don’t. When the story starts, the Tse family has had the statue for nearly 20 years and is the richest family dynasty in Shanghai, but other people are beginning to find out where the statue is, and scheming to get hold of it. Meanwhile, there’s also a perpetually-shifting lovers/friends/enemies triangle going on between the youngest son of the Tse family (Tse Seung-Cho, who's been entrusted with protecting the statue), his mysterious new best friend (Jin Bong, who is secretly scheming to steal the statue), and their mutual love-interest Yan Sou-Sam. All of them get caught up in a lot of tragedy and are never really sure who they can trust.

I recently wrote up a fandom promo for this series (on c_ent), so check there for more babbling, screencaps, etc. :D

What I love about it: I love the horror vibes and all the trauma the characters go through, as well as all the relationship drama and conflict among the main three characters — particularly the two guys, whose rather ill-advised friendship starts up around the same time deaths occur in each of their families, each caused by someone in the opposite family. We get some triad-brotherhood vibes, shifting power dynamics, drunken confessions, trust and betrayal, continual but mostly pretty understated angst, and also everyone living in fear for their lives all the damn time. The show admittedly has problems; it's very dated and low-budget and full of ethnic stereotyping, and parts of the plot make no sense at all. But I like three main characters a lot. <3

What I'll be requesting: I'll be requesting Tse Seung-Cho and Jin Bong, and would love to read just about anything about them, together or separately (or with Yan Sou-Sam, or just about anyone else at all from the series). I'd be especially into hurt/comfort, heavy angst, or outright darkfic for this fandom. You can see some specific prompts in my Fic in a Box letter.

Are there sections of canon that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Yes! I'd be happy with stories focused on any part of the series starting from the first episode, so you could definitely watch just the first few episodes and write about those, if you don’t have time to watch the whole series.

Content warnings: Nothing graphic, but LOTS of death, including child death and suicide. There’s also a brief attempted rape (by random criminals on the street). And the plot hinges significantly on the premise of non-Han cultures having witchcraft or dark magic.