A Thousand Years at the Pear Garden

* An original male lead, viewed through the eyes of an ordinary passerby as Boss Shang puts on a dazzling show at the Pear Garden.

* My knowledge of The Sideburns only goes up to episode 20 of the TV adaptation. Lots of headcanon, with some elements from The Taoism Grandmaster. Expect monsters, demons, and ghosts.

* Serious drama, no CP. I just want to use these characters to express my feelings about The Sideburns and traditional opera.

* The opera The Legend of the White Snake featured in this story is based on the Peking opera version on Bilibili. It's a wonderful production, and I recommend giving it a listen. The plot has been substantially adapted for this story.

Theme: A thousand-year-old opera tradition