history and synopsis

[flirtyfox]

Notes

◦ Headcanon will be limited, but for the sake of understanding, I will add events and thoughts that I believe canon strongly suggests.

【Please read so as to be warned. There will be no more warnings past this point. There will be mentions of attempts at sexual assault, sexual extortion, and suicide. 】


The Mortal Realm - History

◦ Sui and Yan Hua meet

〉Duke Yan is sent to retrieve Sui, a nine-trailed fox who's staying in the mortal realm and gaining massive popularity. Sui currently works for Fan Mansion, a business that resembles an upper-class brothel where only the most beautiful and most talented artists are allowed to work. Instead of allowing the patrons to choose their desired employee, the workers choose from the patrons and sex isn't guaranteed.

〉Yan finds himself captivated by Sui and accepts the deal offered by the fox: if Yan spends some time with them in this world, in time he'll go back to the Celestial realm of his own free will. After the two bond in various ways, such as attending festivals, Sui manages to seduce Yan. but the fox is not yet ready to commit.

The Celestial Realm
◦ The fox settles down and happiness is hard-won

〉The two return to the Celestial Realm and begin to live with one another. Time continues to pass, and the couple becomes closer. Just as Sui initially won Yan's body, Yan now wins Sui's heart and finally, they become exclusive.

〉Unfortunately, their relationship isn't without danger. The princess of the celestial realm, Goddess Linlang, is in love with Yan and her jealousy won't be forever abated. Meanwhile, Yan's birthday approaches and Sui plans a large party, making and decorating everything himself. To hide the fact that the nine-tailed fox wasn't banished and now instead lives with Yan, his theme calls for masks, allowing Sui to hide his identity. Though the party is a hit, the two decide to sneak away, and Sui waits by the gate while Yan changes. When Yan, wearing the same mask as before, suddenly appears, Sui happily grabs him and removes the mask, only to see another man. Another man who happens to be the Emperor of the Celestial realm.

〉Shocked by the beauty of the same fox he tried to banish, the emperor is immediately smitten. He grabs Sui and becomes aggressive but is rudely rebuffed. He's saved by Yan who appears and begs for forgiveness. Though the emperor fakes leniency, the truth is that he now wants Sui for himself, and that's only possible if he remains close.

〉He soon executes his plan. Yan, who's become a Star King, is sent to fight an ever-increasing number of battles. One day, he's called to the court and praised for his work and offered the princess, the very goddess who longs for him, as a reward. While Yan tries to politely reject the offer, the servants inform Sui of what's happening. He rushes to the court and challenges the emperor who again backs down though with an ulterior motive -- his goal is to leave Sui with no one but him, a plan that requires Sui's hatred to not burn too bright.

The Spirit Realm

◦ Torn apart

〉Yan is no longer in charge of any men and instead, now lives with Sui in his home in the Spirit Realm.

〉Not ready to admit defeat, the emperor breaks the seal on a mighty demon in hopes of having Yan killed or away long enough to win Sui. Yan is approached while practicing the sword with Sui — who's gained some skill but still loses to the Star King — and his presence on the battlefield is requested. Pointing out that he's no longer involved and is now just a humble citizen, Goddess Linlang leaves. Still, the seed of worry is planted in Yan's heart and that night, he tells Sui that he's going to fight. Angry, Sui warns he won't wait for him.

〉So Sui waits for him.

〉After having nightmares every night since Yan left, his love finally returns, but he's gravely injured. Rushing him to another goddess, one likely more connected to the Spirit Realm instead of the Celestial Realm, Sui begs her to save Yan, knowing the cost will be his tail. It's the same deal Sui's sister previously made and the reason Sui avoided love -- the deal resulted in her death.

〉After Sui accepts the cost and is gravely injured, Yan is healed. In Fairyland the Greenhill, Sui lies dying and is about to pass when Yan arrives and gives him the Dragon Spirit, a piece of Yan and the very artifact that saves his life. However, things have changed dramatically. Linglang claims she gave half her life to save Yan and, in gratitude, he's agreed to the engagement. Likewise, Sui has no memory of his time with Yan. To further complicate everything, Sui believes his tail was injured as punishment for his debauchery.

〉 Despite their problems, the two reconnect. Yan still remembers his love for Sui, and Sui is easily attracted to the brave, handsome man. However, the goddess arrives and announces their engagement, and threatens Sui. Realizing that Yan is taken and unwilling to risk her wrath or be with a taken man, Sui coldly sends Yan away and refuses most of his visits.

〉Alone, scared, and hurt, Sui finds himself feeling more and more isolated. Deciding to leave, he agrees to join the demon king in the demon realm, but Yan follows after, refusing to let him go. The demon king appears and the two begin to fight. However, because Sui believes that his ex-lover used and betrayed him, he stabs Yan in the chest so he can escape with the demon king. The goddess also arrives, angry that a war would be started over Sui, and uses half her life force to kill him. The Emperor, who planned this to claim Sui for himself, is angry and refuses to help her win Yan's heart after he leaves.

〉Unable to find Sui in any of the other realms, Yan kills himself and is reborn into the mortal realm.

〉In the mortal realm, the human Sui, is unable to handle being a failure and takes his own life as well.

The Mortal Realm (China) - Synposis
◦ A new life

〉Sui finds himself in a place between worlds. Here, he meets 233, a cat-like being. 233 explains that if you die without finding your true love and thus with a broken heart, you're given a second chance. To make this possible, Sui finds himself in the body of a 28-year-old man who recently killed himself after failing in his career. If Sui wants to complete his mission and return to the spirit realm, he has to not only fulfill the human's wish but find true love as well.

〉Sui wakes in the human world to the sound of knocking. His assistant, Zhou Yang, is here to drive him to work on his small part in a two-bit soap opera called My Fiery Life. Here, he steals the show despite the actress becoming jealous of his screen presence and trying to sabotage his performance. The director is so impressed he begs Sui to stay, but Sui refuses due to the low quality of the show.

〉That night, Sui sees a holographic display of Yan Xun, nicknamed the God of Beauty, that's shown in celebration of his 7th anniversary. Something is triggered inside of the fox, and he starts to cry. Others around him notice and begin to take photos, which go viral on the internet.

〉Witnessing his surge in popularity, Sui's boss tries to connect Sui with Yan. Because of his strong reaction the night before, Sui refuses, angering his boss.

◦ Reunion, the start of success, and the pitfalls of fame

〉Sui gets an audition for The Legend of Dai Zhang, a historical drama produced by Yan, who's previously quit acting. When Yan arrives, Sui greets him politely, but Yan can smell his own scent on Sui, making him realize who the young man is though Sui's memories of Yan have been forgotten.

〉Sui faces only one real rival: Meng Qing, a successful actor with a past with Yan. However, Yan ignores Meng Qing when greeted, causing the start of some strain. Though Meng does an excellent job, Sui follows after and shines in the role, even pulling Yan into the performance and demanding he act out the part of another character. To Meng's annoyance, Sui receives the part and Yan accepts the role of his costar.

> The fox also begins to work at The Universal Group, a company run by Yan.

〉It's soon discovered that Meng is sleeping and working with Jing Sun, the head of Stars Entertainment. The arrangement seems to be for Jing to keep Meng on top of the acting world while Meng keeps him satisfied in other ways. Angry that he's lost the part, he complains to Jing, who begins to implement plans to handle Sui. The first step is to release news that it was predetermined who would get the part of Dai Zhang.

〉To combat the rumors, Sui is scheduled to appear on the talk show 'The Sound of Music'. Though the past Sui couldn't play any instruments, Yan knows the current Sui is quite musically inclined and plans to show the world why Sui is the perfect person to play an elegant gentleman.

〉Wu Sheng and Guang Chen are the hosts and though Chen is a very kind boy, Sheng has a hidden agenda. His first questions revolve around Sui's past performance, which was always very poor, even showing clips of The Happy Life, Sui's last work from ten years prior. Realizing he can't deny the bad quality, he claims to have used the ten years to study and improve, working hard to hone his craft. Still, with an odd air, Sheng claims he must have worked hard on learning to kiss ass.

〉During the break, Sui searches the memory of the former Sui, and the truth comes to light. Sheng has been interested in Sui for a very long time and was frequently rejected. Now, Sheng confronts him in the guest room and claims Sui must have slept with a powerful sponsor to achieve the rise in fame. If them, why not Sheng as well? Cornering Sui, he tries to assault the fox, who isn't strong enough to fight back. Thankfully, Sui is saved when Chen comes to find Sheng as there is a problem on set. When Sheng promises to continue their time together later, Sui slaps him and assures him they won't.

〉Back in the seat, angry at the rejection and the interruption, Sheng decides to sabotage Sui's appearance on the show. While the plan had been for the fox to play the piano, Sheng instead switches it to the Guqin, a traditional, stringed Chinese instrument. This is meant to make Sui fail on live television and embarrass him as punishment.

〉Of course, Sheng didn't account for the possibility of Sui actually being an ancient nine-tailed immortal fox who'd mastered most Chinese-styled instruments. His bad. Not only does he manage to play it well, but he does so with enough elegance and skill that most doubt about his ability to play the role of an ancient gentleman is dispersed. Later, when 233 points out that Sui would have been in trouble if Sheng chose a Western instrument instead, he hardly seems bothered. Luck is important too, right?

◦ Vying affections and resurfacing memories

〉Chen is so impressed with Sui's skills that he starts to fall for him. Later that night, he asks him to a cafe. At the same time, Yan also makes his move and asks Sui to dinner, leaving Sui to make a choice.

〉Perhaps still disturbed by the strength of his feelings toward Yan, he gracefully rejects his offer and accepts Chen's. While the two are at the café, Yan happens to pass by and seeing the two together, orders Sui a slice of cake. Being the player he is, and because it's not technically a date, Sui has Chen take a photo of Sui with the cake and send it to Yan in thanks.

〉While planning Sui's photoshoot to promote the movie, Yan learns from secretary Mu that Sheng has assaulted other actors in the past and as a result, begins to have him blacklisted.

〉Meanwhile, a photo shoot is arranged for Sui. Mu iurges Yan to take part in the photos and the two begin to flirt. When pressed by Yan, Sui says he hadn't decided on who to choose between the two men, but they kiss and start toward something more. Pointing out the bad timing, Sui promises to continue another time.

〉The next day, 233 informs Sui that due to his nonchalant attitude toward the second task (falling in love as a human), it's automatically started and been raised to the highest difficulty. If the person he chooses isn't the one meant to be his true love, he'll die.

〉Behind the scenes, in an attempt to crush Sui, Stars Entertainment approach Sheng. Together, they plan to ruin the fox. Though Sheng stalks him, Sui soon has to move apartments due to the amassing popularity making his current apartment too dangerous.

〉In yet another attempt to sabotage the play, Jing bribes the dance teachers on Sui's drama to quit. Xu Yiyao, another actress on set, finds herself without the required tutors. Since it's a piece set in a period Sui is familiar with, he's able to teach her in their stead. During the sword dance, some memories return and Sui remembers he was once lovers with Yan. The two reconnect and start a relationship.

◦ Trouble in paradise and an old enemy

〉As the videos of Sui's dancing increase his popularity even further, Stars get the chance they need when Chen is cast in the drama and continues to show his interest in Sui. Though initially, his performance is poor, Sui directs him through the proper emotions and motivations.

〉Chen invites Sui to a pub, which Sui accepts. Later that night, he tries to make Yan jealous, but Yan outwardly states that he'll leave should Sui cheat. The fox assures him that his intentions are to let Chen know that he's a taken man.

〉The night they meet, Chen drinks too much and drunkenly kisses Sui, which Yan sees as he waits outside of the pub. Yan, now angry, leaves while Sui takes Chen to the bathroom to help him clean up, planning to reject him when he's sober. Instead, he's grabbed from behind and drugged into unconsciousness.

〉The next morning, Chen and Sui wake up in bed together. While Chen is embarrassed and slightly delighted, Sui knows something else happened. Soon, he receives a phone call from Sheng who tells Sui that he must do everything he says or risk having pictures leaked. While Sui hardly cares about his own pictures, he knows it could ruin Chen.

〉Worried about the repercussions to Chen, Sui keeps the secret, causing the fight between him and Yan to continue to the point that he returns the key to Sui's apartment.

〉Eventually, Sheng makes a move and demands Sui to come to room 3609 of the Four Seasons hotel the next night. The following day, he gives Mu the key to return to Yan. When Yan arrives at the apartment, he finds a note from Sui, saying he chooses Yan, not Chen. Now that he's developed a plan with 233, the fox feels confident in being a bit more honest regarding the situation.

〉Coincidentally, Zhou Yang waits in the lobby of the same hotel. He sees Sui arrive and go upstairs. Assuming he's meeting Yan who would take advantage of Sui, a common worry from Yang, he calls Mu to complain. However, Mu is with Yan, who's been trying to find Sui. The two rush to the hotel.

〉In the hotel room, Sui plays along until an invisible 233 causes Sheng's camera to fall over. As Sheng tries to fix the camera, Sui hits him from behind, dresses him in the bondage gear he'd brought for Sui, and takes pictures as insurance later.

〉Before they're able to escape, the system administrator shows up and drags 233 away for interfering too much in Sui's life. Sheng wakes up and calls for the guards, once again trapping Sui.

〉As punishment for trying to escape, Sui's placed in restraints and whipped, causing him to wonder if this is also a curse, just as his death had been. Before it can go further, Yan and the others arrive, saving Sui and stopping Sheng.

〉In the hospital, Yan and Sui reconcile. Again.

◦ Life, and work, go on

〉〉To further promote Sui, Yan arranges for him to appear in the famous magazine 'Mode'. Since Ji, the editor-in-chief, seems to have a crush on Yan, his initial impression of Sui isn't favorable. Yan chooses the theme 'foxes', causing another memory to almost return to Sui but this time, it's a memory of being saved as he lay dying.

〉In the photos, Ji manages to capture an injured and vulnerable-looking Sui but wanting to showcase both sides of a fox, Sui changes his hairstyle and clothing for a more prideful look. The magazine combines the photos and shows two sides of Sui: vulnerable and proud. His popularity rises.

〉Stars begins to spread rumors that Xu Yiyao, who is one of their talents and an actress in Sui's drama, helped Sui replace Qing on that particular cover of Mode. Sun urges Yiyao to release a statement saying she did so because she felt like she owed him for his mentorship. However, she refuses and begins to be targeted by anti-fans.

〉Realizing she's being targeted, Sui and Yang go to visit her and run into a strange delivery driver on the way. As they arrive, the driver is giving Yiyao the box which seems to be from Qing but when she opens it, there's a nasty surprise inside. While Sui is comforting her, Stars Entertainment calls and tries again to force her into their offer. Overhearing the conversation, Sui takes the phone and informs them that Yiyao will be signing with the Globe Group. He's then nice enough to tell Yan, who's actually the one who owns said group.

〉Both Stars Entertainment and the Globe Group try to recruit Luo Cheng, a famous actor who'd been in the business since he was a very young child. Since Luo is a very odd individual, he challenges Sui and Qing to a tea-making contest. Qing predicted this and had been studying the art of tea making for his film, which increases his confidence. The execution itself is very skilled though it seems his leaves were a bit old. Sui, in contrast, doesn't go through the ceremony but offers him iced milk tea -- it's an action he believes his character would take should he have existed in modern times. Because Luo says Sui's better fits the character he's portraying and, and perhaps unfairly, because Luo likes Sui more, he agrees to go with the Globe Group. Sorry Qing, you probably deserved to win that one.

〉Knowing Stars is trying to sabotage their reputation and expose their relationship, Yan decides to find a way to make his relationship with Sui more public. To achieve this, Yan convinces Sui to try for Liu Yaochun, a part in the LGBT movie 'Endless Longing', requiring him to crossdress and sing the Kunqu Opera despite the harsh reputation of its director Wang Yun. Though he gets the part, the director asks Yan and Sui to live together to better understand an LGBT relationship. Realizing that was Yan's plan all along, Sui gets a little sulky.

〉That night, while Sui sulks, 233 shows up though he's in the form of a real house cat without his usual powers. Everyone can now see him so Sui tells Yan he's forgiven since Sui was also keeping a secret and had adopted a pet. However, 233 arrives with bad news: the probability of Sui completing the new movie is only 50%.

◦ More memories bring further disaster

〉Yan's birthday approaches but remembering what happened on his birthday in the Immortal Realm (see history), he only wants a small affair with him and Sui. However, Sui enjoys such events and wants to throw a party. Deciding it's not against his wishes if it coincides with the wrapping of Yan's role in their drama, Sui moves forward with his plan.

〉During a game of Truth or Dare, Sui learns that Yan's name was originally Yan Hua. This brings back memories of the time in which he was being threatened by the Goddess. Since Sui has yet to recall memories of their love, this causes him to once again assume he was fooled by Yan. Angry at the deception -- both in the Spirit Realm and while in their human bodies, Sui leaves to stay with his assistant.

〉The next day, Sui does poorly on set. After being told to make things right with Yan in order to keep the company's resources, the prideful fox decides to quit.

〉233 tries to visit Sui but disappears. The system administrator appears and says that since Sui will fail both his missions at this rate, the result is that 233 will die. Pointing out that the papers aren't signed and the press conference hasn't been held, Sui decides not to quit and approaches Yan, agreeing to live with him under three conditions: his assistant will get a lifetime contract, he'll get all the resources he needs to rise in popularity quickly, and that they remain nothing more than boss and employee.

〉Sui is set up with Ji Manchuan, the Univeral Group's top singer, as a partner in an upcoming reality show "Dream as a Horse".

〉While on location, during their free time, Manchaun and Sui separate as Manchaun wants to play video games and Sui wants to explore. While walking, Sui is knocked over by a child in a mask that causes the memories to forcibly resurface. With his brain overwhelmed, he faints. This time, he remembers the happier times he spent with Yan and the lies both the Emperor and Goddess used to deceive them. Yan arrives upon hearing of Sui's accident and, again again, the two reconcile. He also withdraws from the talent show.

◦ Current events and more pitfalls

〉233 reappears while they're on vacation but then a new, mission, left secret to the audience, is unlocked, prompting Sui to tell Yan they need to get back to work.

〉Sui and Yiyao go to dinner where she tells Sui about her previous dating history with Meng. After accusing her of sleeping with directors to get parts, he disappeared for a year before resurfacing as a big star. In return, he tells Yiyao of his encounter with Meng in which he told Meng of Yiyao's poor treatment but was brushed off. Knowing he cares so little, Yiyao finally feels ready to move on.

〉Sui is cast to star in the second season of Dream as a Horse. His opponent will be Meng. Ming and Sun cheat by discovering the topic of the episode: Chinese clothing. There are three judges and two experts with each contestant getting one expert. Meng's already rigged the contest to assure he get the better expert, leaving Sui with the expert who's less familiar with the topic. Yan is also revealed to be the guest star.

〉The designer's approach to select the contestant with Designer Han — the designer without knowledge of Chinese clothing — getting the first choice. Because Meng assumes Yan was brought in to help Sui cheat and get paired with the more experienced designer, he mistakenly steps forward with the assumption he's working with the 'lesser' designer, only to find that Sui didn't cheat at all and was paired with Han.

〉The task is simple: take the money provided and design an outfit that fits the theme, but each team will draw a note to determine their budget. Meng's team draws a note giving them 5,000 Yuan while Sui's team draws a note only giving them 500. To compensate for such a vast difference, Sui manages to haggle the price of some more expensive fabrics. However, Meng calls in a favor for a friend and receives an even more expensive fabric for free.

〉While Yan investigates Meng's cheating tactics, Sui's fabric is swapped with a plain, feminine garb. To further worsen their odds, the designer also accidentally bleeds on the fabric. To hide the blood and increase the aesthetic of the fabric, they paint cherry blossoms into the cloth. Seeing Meng receive great reviews, Sui sets the mood of ancient China by singing an ancient song as he enters. Though the mixture works well, he loses points for wearing women's fabric. It seems Meng has won.

〉Yet, Yan has already created a plan to expose the cheating. The act of swapping the fabrics was caught on video, instantly labeling Meng as a cheater. While the actor's fame receives a harsh beating on and off the show, Yan decides he wants to strengthen his relationship with Sui. The two go shopping for rings, but their appearance catches a lot of eyes. In hopes of negating some of the attention, Sui sends Yan to another store while he plans on choosing a ring and going home. Instead, he's attacked by a Meng fan who throws acid toward the actor. Yan, sensing something is wrong, jumps in front of the fox. While he manages to protect his face, Yan's arm is badly injured.

〉With the attack, the couple is exposed and rumors begin to swirl that Yan uses his power to manipulate actors. Angry at always playing in the hands of fate, Sui announces that he's quitting and is in love with Yan. Meanwhile, Yiyao exposes her past relationship with Meng. After his fans hear of his two-faced nature, it seems like Meng's career is finished. While Yan recovers in the hospital, he hears of Sui's announcement, and the two get engaged.

〉And then there were so many issues behind the scene, the story had to end. It may sound like I'm summarizing only the major points but things really do move this fast now:

* The secret job was to get human Sui and human Yan together. Human Sui now has talent and confidence and goes on to become even more famous. Sui and Yan are reincarnated as their spirit selves. Somehow, Sui's sister is alive now. Seriously, even the series just says "i don't know, but she's alive".

* Heaven seems to have forgotten all about them and their pasts. It's a blank slate. However, they've met up again and plan to be married when they're older. The two go to pray for a child at the marriage tree, and 233 is reborn as a human and becomes their child.

* I made none of that up. The end.