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yea-baiyi · 2 years

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Hi again...... How are you? I love reading your answers and your blog.....Make me want to re-read the book TGCF (again) and re-watch CQL (again)....😄

If you don't mind me asking, can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from Word of Honor? And your top 5 favorite moments from the drama? Sorry if you've answered this question before....Thanks....

HI MY BELOVED yes please keep asking me things i love coming up with answers!!!

ngl i’ve not watched WOH/SHL in a while, i’ve been planning to rewatch soon but i’ll do my best here!! let’s see how long this post gets :^)

top 5 favourite characters:

1. zhou zishu. i am so weak for zhang zhehan and his pretty face and his glorious side profile and all the little details that he put into this character. his slow smiles of wonderment as he’s falling in love. god. i’ll admit, it took me a while to like him as much as i liked wen kexing, but ultimately zzs is THE backbone of the show, it’s his story of finding love, regaining the desire to live, and finding meaning in having someone that you want to spend your life with. after reading qi ye i also appreciate zzs’s backstory more and i’m rooting for him!!! to find love and be free from the world of politics and corruption!!!

2. wen kexing. MY BOY HE WAS MY FAVE THE MOMENT HE STEPPED OUT ON SCREEN. ok ngl rewatching is kinda hard bc i keep noticing all the ways gong jun is a less experienced actor, but god when i first saw him. i thought he was SO beautiful it was such a perfect casting. i love his stupid pretentious flirting and his corny attitude and his fake fake smiles that only barely hide his feelings. the way he simply does not process emotions. what a ridiculous man. i want 20 of him

3. ye baiyi YOOOOOOO INSTANT CLASSIC. BEST CHARACTER EVER WRITTEN FOR TELEVISION. seriously though i am obsessed with this horrible little man??? the important thing to understand, ye baiyi in the novel is an 80 year old man stuck in a 20 year old body. that’s funny on its own, but ye baiyi in the show is a 20 year old guy who has lived for 80 years. imaging being gay and in your twenties forever. fuck. i too would be petty, exhausted, constantly pissed, and constantly roasting the shit out of baby gays. he’s just so funny oh my god. what a legend

4. gu xiang. my girlbossssssss i am very partial to the colour purple and so she gets points for that. also i love her outfits. i love that zhou ye added so much more dimension to ah xiang in her portrayal. gu xiang is someone who grew up around trauma and violence, yet she chooses to be good and kind and optimistic in her own way. i love the sibling/master dynamic with wkx, her relationships with the other members of ghost valley, her entire romance with cao weining. god that romance—the awful vulnerability of that scene when he saw her kill the beggar (who turned out to be an assassin). the fear of showing someone what you had to become to survive. you’re not proud of it, but you’re not the least bit ashamed, and yet it’s terrifying that they could reject you for it. god. god. god. they. her. ahuggh

5. gao xiaolian. maybe a surprising one but this girl just stuck in my head so much. this show really did so well with its women??? gao xiaolian initially exemplifies a sort of “ideal” weak, pure, feminine stereotype, a first in contrast to the many dangerous and colourful women of ghost valley and the scorpions. and yet her strength stands out immediately — her care for her father, her sense of duty, her no-nonsense approach to things. she’s remarkably clearheaded, and i love that she chose mercy over revenge in the end; it’s not necessarily what the show agrees is right, but because it’s her stance. and she’s sticking to it.

honorarable mentions: shen shen, xie’er, chengling, jby and wu xi because i’m BIASED, also helian yi deserved better <3

top 3 scenes:

1. wenzhou saying each other’s names three times — will anything ever match this moment. i still get chills thinking about that scene holy shit. i watch it over and over it haunts my dreams how could they even come up with this scene let alone film it and show it to the world. something shl drives home is the simplicity of real happiness (“only when i met you did i discover what a simple thing it is to be happy” screaming crying choking) and this scene says it all. “to be able to sit here, in the daylight. have someone call my name like that. that would be good.” and zzh’s line delivery. drives me nuts

2. the confrontation with ye baiyi. another iconic scene for the ages. the way they had the exact same plan because they’re zhiji. the way wen kexing runs because he’s feeling too much and he’s scared. this scene is zhou zishu grabbing him by the shoulders and saying—it doesn’t matter to me. it doesn’t matter. i knew all along and i loved you anyway. i love you and i am with you; your fate will be my fate now. my favourite thing about the scene has to be after the confrontation, when the tension is gone. and they go right back to bickering and teasing each other. zhou zishus exasperated “what do you think i was gonna do”. the bitching and complaining. yeah i’d die with u. but i’m gonna remind u that you’re a lotta work. chefs kiss perfection

3. gu xiang going apeshit after cao weinings death. zhou ye’s florence pugh Acting moment. god. so good. holy shit. u simply don’t get that in historical dramas especially from female characters. jesus fucking christ holy shit. i was sobbing. the grief and shock and rage and outrage; like, she loved cao weining and cao weining was such a good boy, but it just boils down to. how could they do that??? how could they just do that???? they just came in and destroyed something that was good, that was their plan all along and that’s it and his life is just over and now there’s just nothing???? and gu xiang just rages and rages and it’s about revenge but it’s barely even about that, she doesn’t even get to make the murderer pay, it’s just lashing out against the absolute senseless violence that just happened here. catharsis, my literature teacher might say. oh god i am tearing up

honourable mention: that scene where wen kexing goes apeshit and monologues over someone’s grave. i cannot for the life of me remember when that happened but i remember watching that when the episodes were coming out and being THRILLED bc that kind of scene has to be a theatre kid’s DREAM to perform. anyway i need to rewatch shl

#shl #word of honor #woh #zhou zishu #wen kexing #wenzhou #ye baiyi #gu xiang #gao xiaolian #shl meta #honest answer is i stan jing beiyuan over everyone here but he’s not actually a character in this djdhshdmdn #god i could write more about ah xiangs death though #it’s so fucking. augh. aggrhgh #wenzhou also. drives me nuts. !!!! insane i’m insane #i liked xieer a lot while watching but i got kind of pissed at his storyline so he didn’t make the cut #chengling is cute but he’s like. a less interesting jin ling to me??#hrngh my memory of shl is patchy at this point so. unfortunately can’t pull details out my ass like i can with other posts lol #but aughhhh the restaurant scene. it’s like looking into the sun it’s too much to bear #ask

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nancywheelxr · 3 years

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i'm not sure if you prefer more specific prompts but if you have any interest, something canon-era (compliant or divergence) in the realm of "ye baiyi & every- or anyone"? whichever characters you wanna include; a moment or moments where he feels like maybe there is a little more to the rest of his life than duty and death. it's not only warm food he's been starved of for decades. your writing is great, i hope you're having a good day!

hi! thank you sm! i love getting prompts regardless, honestly, the only difference is that more specific ones tend to get done faster if only bc I already have a loose idea where to go with it! anyway, this somehow turned into a fix-it. that being said, I hope you’re having a lovely day too!

They’re so painfully young.

A bird chirps in a tree somewhere nearby and around the fire, Qin Huaizhang’s disciple throws the blanket on the Wen brat’s face. What set off his sensibilities this time, Ye Baiyi doesn’t know, it might have been the perceived coddling, it might have simply been the fussing– either way, it’s pointless. Does he not know the brat will simply wait until he’s asleep to cover him? Does he not know their ridiculous dance around each other is nothing but time wasted?

How do the young ever get anything done?

Foolish. Have they ever been that foolish? Changqing, he knows, was a most ridiculous man with even more ridiculous ideas– who’s the bigger idiot, then, the fool or the one who loves him?

“Ye-qianbei,” the boy appears at his side, wide-eyed like a newborn deer and with legs as shaky as one too, “if you’re cold, we have more blankets.”

The absurdity of the situation– to ask Ye Baiyi if he’s cold! What’s the night chill compared to the snowy grounds of his mountain? To him, is this not warm weather? “Little fool,” he says, shaking his head even as he laughs, “you’d do better worrying about your idiot master and his idiot friend.”

The kid looks across the fire, grimaces. “I don’t dare, I don’t dare! My brothers used to tell me not to get in the way when my parents were arguing!”

What a ridiculous child. Ye Baiyi laughs again. “They’re not arguing, they’re being dumb. Watch this,” he flicks a little rock at them, hitting Qin Huaizhang’s disciple in the forehead and earning an outraged glare from the Wen brat. “Qing Huaizhang’s disciple, your disciple is freezing off while you’re fooling around. Is this how you the two of you are going to raise your child?”

Beside him, the kid makes a startled little noise like a scared little rabbit before launching into a stuttering denial, but it’s too late, Qin Huaizhang’s disciple has already turned to focus on him as if smelling blood. “Chengling, are you cold? Why didn’t you say so?”

“Ah, no, no, I’m really not,” he tries, but he is, he wouldn’t have known to worry about others if he hadn’t been feeling the chill himself. “Ye-qianbei! Ye-qianbei–”

“Ah, ah!” Wen Kexing interrupts, shaking a finger in his direction, “why are you calling him? Come here, have this blanket since your Shifu is being stubborn.”

The boy goes obediently, shuffling around and nearly tripping on the log, and allows the Wen brat to wrap the blanket around his shoulders. Predictably, once he’s tucked in, the kid beams, pulling it tightly around himself.

“Chengling, if you’re cold, you have to tell us,” says Qin Huaizhang’s disciple as if that’s a scolding, as if he’s not fussing over the child himself, stoking the fire and throwing in more kindling.

A silly child with even sillier parents. Ye Baiyi snorts, shaking his head, and for a fleeting moment, he imagines walking this path alone– searching for the truth on his own, a silent forest stretching all the way to Longyuan Cabinet, only his footsteps left behind to prove he was even there at all– whatever. Picking up Qin Huaizhang’s dumb disciple and his dumb companions might not have been his worst decision so far.

Maybe he could have found the place already if he were on his own, but at the very least they’re entertaining. Ridiculous, he thinks fondly, shaking his head at the blanket the kid has left folded at his feet.

ii.

What a mess.

Rong Xuan, you little brat, he thinks. How long has it been since the boy had first toddled up to him, little hands grabbing fistfuls of his robes? Too many, an eternity, and now nearly all of the boy’s friends are dead, all but one, and Ye Baiyi has to pay his respects to this freshly dug grave in his place.

What a mess.

If you were in trouble, why didn’t you come back? Questions, questions, it’s too easy to ask them now. Why didn’t you ask for help? Why didn’t you send for us? Why did you think it would accomplish, running away? Stupid child, did you think we would turn you away?

No, there’s no use asking them now, no point in dwelling in the past. What is there to change, after it already happened? Life is a very long road and the past is a land too distant to travel back to; Ye Baiyi would rather focus on the now.

Avenging their child had not been part of the promise he made to Changqing, but Ye Baiyi found the truth of this matter as he told him he would and the truth of it is that someone poisoned his disciple, his child. This cannot go unpunished, so for a while longer, he’ll live.

Further still, a little ways down, is Wen Kexing, whose parents died for Rong Xuan’s mistakes. A child growing up in a harsh world on his own. This debt, he’ll repay too.

For all that he gives his promises away like currency, Ye Baiyi is not sure how he feels about the piling of them– they stretch his finally numbered days, always pushing the deadline further. After the Heroes Conference, he’ll be done with the Ghost Valley. After he finds Rong Xuan’s murderer, he’ll be done with this mess. After he repays Wen Kexing, he will be at peace.

And then–

Well. And then wine. Warm food. That was the plan, was it not? Heavens, he’s beginning to sound like Qin Huaizhang’s silly disciple, isn’t he? This won’t do. Changqing, even you would laugh at them. Tell me, then, if you were here, what would you do? Ah, something nonsensical, most likely, like go watch the plum trees bloom.

Ye Baiyi shakes his head, laughs. Changqing ah, won’t you tell me what to do? Maybe this time I’ll listen to you.

iii.

What kind of nonsense is this?

In all fairness, as much as his opinion of Wen Kexing has been as changing as the seasons, his uncanny ability to be an annoying nuisance has never flickered. He was annoying when he was staring down Ye Baiyi’s sword and he was annoying when he kneeled on the forest bed in apology and plea.

Surely, it’s no surprise that he is annoying now, allegedly dead.

And yet, Ye Baiyi had not anticipated this level of stupidity from him: the brat did not tell Qin Huaizhang’s disciple of his plan.

Children, honestly.

Now, the hem of his robes is wet and a few feet away, Qin Huaizhang’s disciple is wasting perfectly good wine in an unnecessarily dramatic manner. “Whatever stupid thing you’re planning,” Ye Baiyi says, eyeing the broken jar by the rocks, the dullness around the brat, “don’t.”

Zhou Zishu whirls on him with all the grace of a dying wet cat as if he’s in any condition to be fighting anyone, as if his hands weren’t shaking and his steps didn’t falter. The sword, once elegant and proud, wavers. Stupid boy. “Ye Baiyi, you–”

“Have you lost your manners down that jar? Or just your common sense? Put that away before I knock it off your hand myself,” he sighs, shaking his head. He should have stayed in his rooms, like planned, until the Heroes Conference; none of this has anything to do with him, his role in this play is mostly over, he just has to wait it out the intermission. And yet. “What kind of nonsense were you thinking? That fool, Wen Kexing, ran around for days like a headless chicken trying to save you and for what? You to throw it away?”

“What’s the point?” Qin Huaizhang’s disciple laughs, cold as the mountains, “what’s the point if he’s not here? Tell me, qianbei, why should I care to live if my soulmate is gone?”

His sword is dragging up the mud and Ye Baiyi wants to call him disrespectful for it, but the sight of it alone dredges up a well of grief that drowns the words in his throat. Why, indeed. This terrible emptiness, Ye Baiyi knows well– the hollow silence that comes where once a familiar voice called your name, the cold where once there was warmth, a hand never reaching back. Snow, all through summer and spring.

“Because that dumb disciple of yours will not last a day on his own,” he tells him, watching the water run towards the cliff’s edge, “because Qin Huaizhang has only you to pass on his legacy. Because that ridiculous hairpin on your head.”

“That’s not fair,” Qin Huaizhang’s disciple says, sounding exactly like he had been about to do something incredibly stupid earlier that would render this entire charade pointless from the start.

Truth be told, few things are, least of all, fate. Ah, but Ye Baiyi had unchanging decades to come to terms with that, perhaps he should spare the boy the heartache, unfounded as it is. “It’s not, but enough is enough. What are you crying for? Did you think it’s that easy to get rid of that pest? He should be ashamed if a little tumble is all it took.”

“Qianbei… you mean?”

Ye Baiyi heaves a pointedly tired sigh. “Yes, yes, the brat is alive. Probably holed up somewhere in that blasted valley of his.”

Qin Huaizhang’s disciple is as wide-eyed as his baby-deer disciple and if he actually starts crying, Ye Baiyi will drag Wen Kexing out of hiding kicking and screaming just to push him down the cliff again for making him witness this. He’s too old, he has little patience for the dramatics of the young, and he’s supposed to be drinking the best wine from the Yueyang area.

So before he’s pulled even further into their nonsense, Ye Baiyi turns away, back to town and his quarters where he can drink and meditate in peace and really, Qin-xiaozi, your disciple is even sillier than you.

At his back, he hears Zhou Zishu call, but his voice is lost to the waterfalls and Ye Baiyi makes no real effort to catch the words. What’s there to say? Pah, he’s already done more than his share on this, at no point did he promise to intervene on their pointless little dance. Once this is all over, that brat has better pay for all the wine in the land. And make those dumplings, too, for good measure.

iv.

Nobody told him whose wedding this is.

Considering they are in this thrice-damned place, he’s assuming it’s one of the ghosts, but Ye Baiyi figures the brat would be more annoying if it was his and Qin Huaizhang’s disciple’s. Then again, his own presence here is unfathomable, as is the insistence with which the little idiot had asked him to come. What on earth has Qin Huaizhang’s disciple told that child? Give someone an inch and they’ll take a mile, truly– now that boy is running around thinking Ye Baiyi cares about these lunatics.

“Who let him in!” Wen Kexing is screeching from somewhere, and Ye Baiyi mourns his peace as the brat approaches with his purple shadow trailing after. Had she been there this entire time? He squints. No, he would have noticed it, she’s very loud. “Old toad monster! Why are you still here? Who allowed you past the gates?”

“Who are you to tell me where to go?” He scoffs, flicking his sleeves as he crosses his arms. Nearby, a ghost hastily scurries away. “And it was your dumb disciple who begged me to be here. For what? Will there even be a banquet? And you call that decorations? That lantern is so crooked, it’s offensive!”

The purple child bristles. “Ah! And who does that silly boy think he is, inviting people to my wedding! Old man, you! Of course there’s gonna be food! Master and Luo-yi have been–”

“A-Xiang!” The brat cuts her off, closed fan tapping her forehead, as if everyone and their grandmothers don’t already know he’s been running around making preparations. What face is there to save, shameless as he is? If Ye Baiyi was a lesser man, he might have rolled his eyes. “Stop running your mouth, what is your husband going to say? And you! What crooked lantern? You’re going blind in your age!”

Still, even as he speaks, a pointed glare sends the ghosts scattering like mice, rushing to check on the decorations. Ridiculous. “No wonder the girl has no manners. What, you only know how to be polite when asking for something?”

Wen Kexing grumbles. “This one apologizes, qianbei.”

Well, that’s certainly worse. Unsettling. If even Wen Kexing starts being deferential, then what has the world come to? No, Ye Baiyi finds he’d prefer the brashness. Stupid child, what’s the point in changing his tune now? Pah. “Girl,” he says to that purple wisp of a thing, “your master is a pest. Where’s the wine?”

Baffling enough, the girl laughs, tugging at her master’s sleeves. “Master, master, Zishu-ge was right! You did make a friend!”

“What nonsense is this! Don’t you know when A-Xu is teasing? Friends! As if–”

“What rubbish have you been filling these children’s heads with?” He shakes a threatening finger in their direction. Not that it matters, considering the girl has already stepped back, giggling as she sidesteps Wen Kexing’s fan.

Leaving them to their childishness, Ye Baiyi slips out of the crowd, picking a jar of wine as he goes. The alcohol is good, burning down his throat, and he hadn’t thought he’d step foot in the Ghost Valley, not like this. Something in him will always recoil at this place, always lay the blame at the valley’s mouth, a yawning jaw that’s swallowed whole the people most precious to him with no mercy.

And yet, Changqing ah, you bastard, look at it. They’re holding a damned wedding, and here Ye Baiyi is, drinking their wine. Are you happy now? Did you become a bodhisattva yet? Fate makes fools of them all, there’s no way around it. He pours the wine over the rocks, lets it spill and run like blood. Xuan’er, did I not tell you not to climb so high? That shifu wouldn’t always be there to catch you if you slip on the ice? Ye Baiyi laughs at the memory– always clear in his mind, suspended in time, unfading, even if his sight blurs with tears– that boy, always scaring them half to death, climbing up the frozen mountainside as a child, then crying in fright once he looked down.

“Look at the mess you’ve both left me,” he says out loud, downing the rest of the wine, and the silence is never quite as loud as in the hollow space where another would speak. For so long, Ye Baiyi knew to leave room for Changqing’s teasing, for their child’s incessant questions, even Rong-furen’s tired voice. Then, nothing. “What do you have to say for yourself, hm? Typical. I’ll drink for all of us this time, then, how about it? Changqing, I’m keeping my promises, so you’d better keep yours or I’ll–”

The jar breaks where it falls from his fingers and he shakes his head as if dispelling the murky thoughts from his head. Perhaps, coming here was a mistake. The ashes have already been sent back to Changming, so what business does he have in this place? To see it closed with his own eyes? Besides, a wedding or two, a handful of people, are not worth the bloodshed creating the valley has brought, no matter what Changqing might say.

Is this a comforting story to be told later, if– by the bridge, in case–

His thoughts grind to a halt, veering off suddenly into attention to his surroundings. Someone is coming. Indeed, from his place near the entrance, Ye Baiyi can see in the distance a mob climbing up the path, silent as thieves in the night, with only a blue streak of disciples in plain sight at the front.

So much for avoiding bloodshed. Did they even wait for the dust to settle after the monks left town? And what kind of harebrained scheme is this? Has this generation been born with no brains? Such a reckless, petty move! No honor, agreeing to something and then plunging the knife behind their backs.

There is little time to curse their dishonesty, though, with their numbers fast approaching, so Ye Baiyi swipes a last look at the desolate landscape and slips back inside to sound the alarms. After all, heaven knows that little purple girl will be terribly loud if she doesn’t get her wedding, and Ye Baiyi is not looking forward to remembering what headaches feel like. Honestly, if these people would stop nearly dying for five fucking minutes–

Today, the mirror showed a new patch of white hair, faint lines at the corner of his eyes.

Time, it seems, is catching up to him.

It’s exhilarating.

The plum trees have already lost their blossoms, winter gone as swiftly as it came, the cold melting to the lingering warmth of spring. Today, he walks past blooming azaleas, purple and red radiant against the blue backdrop of the sky.

It brings him to little Qin Huaizhang standing beside Rong Xuan, trying so very hard to impress his friend’s seniors with all the desperation of youth. The poetry he had waxed about his sect’s gardens– Four Seasons Manor, blooming all year round! Ye Baiyi had found him so silly, blabbering while Rong Xuan beamed, so quick to pick the fights Rong Xuan dropped.

At the time, had he not thought history was repeating itself, if kinder? The Baiyi sword, gifted with the promise to keep his dumb disciple out of trouble? He still remembers Changqing’s face, the hypocrite. So exchanging swords for cursed books is fine, but anything else and you draw the line? At least promises were as reliable as the person making them.

Now, he has to admit, the silly boy had not been wrong– Four Seasons Manor stands in more color than Ye Baiyi had thought possible. If he’ll have time to witness all its blooms, he doesn’t know, but this spring, he’s here, and isn’t that enough?

At the gates, the young disciple lets him in without a word, bowing respectfully like his seniors have never done. Good. At the very least, those two good-for-nothing brats had the decency to forewarn their juniors of his arrival. How long has it been since Qin Huaizhang’s disciple woke up from the procedure? Aiyah, Ye Baiyi can’t remember, he had been traveling south at the time.

Well, it’s long enough to be past the need for coddling, that’s for sure. “Qin Huaizhang’s disciple, what kind of Sect Leader are you that you won’t come greet your esteemed guest?”

“Not really a Sect Leader,” comes the voice from his left as Zhou Zishu rounds into view, his silly disciple trailing faithfully after him. He looks better now, death no longer draped over his shoulders like a shroud, smiling like he found peace somewhere in the months since that disastrous wedding. “Qianbei, this one is honored to welcome you to our house. You’ve come at a good time, A-Xiang is visiting with her husband too.”

“Who’s an esteemed guest here? All I’m hearing is a bunch of freeloaders!” says Wen Kexing from somewhere inside the building, just as loud and brash as always, and following his words, the thundering footsteps of children.

Ye Baiyi snorts, shakes his head. Changqing ah, wait a little while longer, will you? I’m on my way, but I have some places to visit first. Meet me by the bridge, I’ll tell you all about it in a bit.

#woh #word of honor #yby #ye baiyi #fix it fic #shl #wen kexing #zhou zishu #gu xiang #wenzhou #ye baiyi/rong changqing #woh fanfic #woh tag #yby tag

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chalkrevelations · 3 years

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Ep 27 of Word of Honor, and that was … Well. That was definitely the unicorn chaser to spending so much time and hugging with Awful Yifu in the last episode.

(Spoilers, as ever, so scroll away and come back later, if you’re still planning to watch unspoiled.)

I mean, what is there to say?

Ha, no, really, I can find plenty to say. Buckle up, I guess.

Clearly, I’m going to talk about The Scene, and there’s a lot going on here, besides the obvious cake frosting of everyone coming to everyone else’s rescue and the fighting and the crying and the declarations, and then once it’s all over, when everybody’s still hopped up on adrenaline, before the crash hits, the shouting and the laughing. At the end of it, we’re not even 20 minutes into the ep, and I feel like that should have been the climax (har), but they probably knew nobody would be able to concentrate on anything else that came before it. I’ve seen a couple of interviews now where Zhang Zhehan said he wanted to play Wen Kexing, and given the chance, he would probably still pick that role, and then everyone involved in the interview rambles on about the complexity of the Wen Kexing character, and it makes me worry that Zhang Zhehan isn’t giving himself or Zhou Zishu enough credit for the depth and range that he pulled out of the character. There’s a lot of various people yelling at various other people in many different places in this show, but there’s not been a scene yet that I felt it like I did when ZZS shouts at WKX after Ye Baiyi finally goes away, wanting to know what the fuck he was thinking. That felt real, and it felt layered – like, there’s a bone-deep fear that’s giving that anger extra strength, fear about the fact that WKX could be so self-destructive. Which also may force ZZS to confront for the first time the idea that WKX could die and leave him alone, just like all his other shidi died and left him alone. I’d have to go back and rummage around in previous eps, but I feel like this could be the first time ZZS really has to confront the idea that could happen, and he’s probably not at all prepared for it, because he’s understandably expecting to be the first to go. But this idea that WKX could just disappear, and get himself killed (because let’s face it, Ye Baiyi tossed them both around like toys), and ZZS would never see him again – that he would abandon ZZS like that, just to hide his secrets – I think that might be part of the anger, here. (You don’t fail me … and Zhou Zishou’s expectations for what constitutes not being failed are a pretty low bar, consisting mainly of not getting yourself killed like a fucking dumbass, and even that bar suddenly seems to be too high for Wen Kexing to clear.)

There’s also a clear parallel here, need I say, to the scene in a previous ep when Gu Xiang (WKX) begs Shen Shen (Ye Baiyi) that even after Shen Shen (Ye Baiyi) kills her (him), could he just for god’s sake not tell her (his) boyfriend who she (he) really was. Wen Kexing’s supposedly thought-out plan was basically just going to be what A-Xiang came up with on the fly, and stupid babies need the most love, I remind myself grimly, particularly when all this is about something Zhou Zishu already knew anyway, because he’s a brilliant former merciless assassin, not a good-hearted self-deprecating cinnamon roll who thinks he’s the least talented person in his sect like Cao Weining. We’ve also got some tasty philosophical stuff in this whole confrontation, including competing responsibilities – loyalty vs. justice vs. integrity – along with ideas of retributive vs. restorative justice. This is another good Zhang Zhehan acting moment, because that whole bit about how, actually, Grandpa, his shifu would have been about guiding his shidi toward kindness and making up for the mistakes he made – I actually believe he’s wholly thinking about Wen Kexing when he pulls out this philosophical rapier, and not at all about how restorative justice benefits ZZS, himself, considering how much blood he has on his own hands and that earlier conversation about frying in oil for 80 vs. 100 years. Good job, my friend. The one thing that makes me sad about this scene is that I’ve seen That Extra, and I hate we were robbed of not only Zhou Zishu actually laying his head on Wen Kexing’s shoulder but of Gong Jun’s single crystalline tear spilling down his cheek. Zhang Zehan’s right, that was a better take.

Anyway, Ye Baiyi proceeds to put WKX under house arrest, which, just. So he has to live with ZZS for the rest of his life? Please don’t throw him into the briar patch, right?

Also, yes, WKX. He’d die for you, dumbass. God.

Just to drive home the point of how the Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishou and Gu Xiang/Cao Weining relationships are the same relationship, we then go to a scene … well, we then go directly to a scene where Cao Weining is just sitting there, chin in hand, gazing adoringly at Gu Xiang, much the way Wen Kexing has been gazing adoringly at Zhou Zishu since about Ep 3 2 1 … but that also leads into a scene where Cao Weining is interrogated about Gu Xiang by his shixiong in a milder, miniature version of the grilling ZZS just took from his elder. “Do you know who she is?” Whoever she is, he’s going to continue to respect her boundaries. “I promised her, so I won’t betray or distrust her.” “We’ve been through so much together.” (“We’re in the same boat anyway, we might as well stay together.”) I won’t fail you. Nobody in this scene has actually made the Ghost Valley connection, yet, and Cao Weining is not as canny as Zhou Zishu, so we’re not yet going to get any kind of resolution on the issue in this relationship - but given the way these relationships are running on parallel tracks, I have positive feelings about how Cao Weining is going to meet this challenge (not that I didn’t, anyway) once the info finally does come out.

What else, what else? We do go back to Xie Wang and Awful Yifu in this ep, and oh boy.

Xie’er: Ghost Valley Master’s faithful minion Heartless Amethyst Fiend has been sent by her master to sneakily follow Cao Weining and infiltrate the Gentle Wind Sword Sect where the Glazed Armor is being held.

A-Xiang, chillin’ outside the gated community in a rustic cabin with her fiancé, doing some mending and waiting for her wedding day: Never speak of my former master again, I have utterly left that life behind me. Also, what should we have for dinner?

I can see how you would come to the conclusion you did, Xie’er, but wow, the only time you’ve been more wrong in your life is about your Awful Yifu. Speaking of which, it appears the cat Awful Yifu is out of the bag. Xie Wang is still all, “Since you saved me, you can take my life back if you want,” and here we are in Zhou Zishu-Prince Jin territory again, shades of ZZS in Ep 1 not even blinking as he offers himself to Prince Jin and takes the gamble that he won’t just get his head cut off for his troubles. ALSO, I distinctly remember telling you, Xie’er, that you were empathizing (although not sympathizing) a bit much with the women of the Department of the Unfaithful, and here we do in fact get an explicit comparison, looking back to the conversation with Beauty Ghost about her loser boyfriend, when you refer to yourself as “also a gambler” as you take your leave of Zhao JIng. You need some Water of Lethe, buddy. Or do you think – to return to that conversation and the parallels with Beauty Ghost – that if you remember all this, you’ll stop making the same mistakes?

A last few random things:

lol, let’s all take a minute to giggle over the fact that ZZS has, in Ye Baiyi’s words, associated with this dude. Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Sorry, but I had to pause the show at that point to snicker like a 12-year-old.

Chengling: “How dare those ruffians beat my two dads! Let’s burn down their house.” Wow. OK. Xiang-jie has been … some kind of influence on her didi.

Last scene of ZZS and WKX, oh my god:

ZZS: You’re feeling bad for keeping a secret from a kid? What about me? How are you going to make it up to me?

WKX: Oh, my goodness, look at the time. I’m feeling so … sleepy. Yes, that’s it. I must go to bed. You also must be so … sleepy. You should. You know. Go to bed. Too. Also. To cure your … sleepiness. As you do, in a bed. Where I will also be.

Me, to the screen: He’s going to make it up to you on his back.

Also me: :facepalm: You are a pair of merciless killers. How are you this adorable?

#zhang zhehan #zhou zishu #wen kexing #ye baiyi #gu xiang #cao weining #xie wang #zhao jing #zhang chengling #word of honor #word of honor episode reax

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thegreymoon · 3 years

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Word of Honor

Oh, he absolutely knows!

But Gu Xiang is too smart to slip up.

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Oh, so you deserved to be skinned alive 😠

Imagine whipping a baby!! 💀💀

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Aww, look at my murder gremlin taking advantage of the situation to get pampered by A-Xu 🤗

And A-Xu is so gentle with him here, I cry!! 😭😭

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Ah. So I guessed right.

OK, it wasn’t the biggest leap of logic, but still!

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Yes, please figure some things out and make better choices in life! Make friends with the Ghost ladies and team up to murder your groomer!

I know he’s murder-happy and insane, but Zhao Jing makes my skin crawl. I want him dead.

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Oh, sweetheart 🙁

Do we want to know what it is you’re trying to forget?

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I love her so much 😭😭

She is everything that is adorable and perfect! And her relationship with WKX is the best thing!! He loves her so much and wants all the good things for her!

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I love him to pieces!! 💙💙

Poor CWN 🤣🤣 He has no idea how close to death he is and that the only thing protecting him is the fact that she loves him! Also, I love how WKX feels like CWN has no redeeming qualities except for the fact that he is stupid and therefore easy for A-Xiang to manipulate 🤣🤣

And I feel like I have to take a moment to appreciate the parallels here. All her fears about CWN rejecting her if he knew the truth about her are the same ones that he feels about A-Xu 🙁

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Don’t touch me, I’m crying 😭😭

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OH MY GOD 😭😭

I LOVE HIM, I LOVE THEM!! FAVOURITE RELATIONSHIP, FAVOURITE EPISODE!! 😭😭

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LMAO, of course 🤣🤣

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Brb, crying forever 😭😭 He said he wants to retire from the martial world and live a tranquil life with A-Xu 😭😭

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HAVE I MENTIONED ALREADY THAT I LOVE THEM??

BECAUSE I DOOOOOOOO!! 😭😭

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Be afraid. Be very afraid 😠😠

Your beloved Scorpion killed him and you have no idea! He may not be as malleable or as obedient as you think.

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Look at this literal paradise they are coming home to!

There is zero chance this ends well. It’s giving me so much anxiety!

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Oh, be quiet 🙄

I was fully expecting to see a pile of (possibly reanimated) corpses when they walked through that gate and they found a few cobwebs instead! Just go get a broom, boys, and check if the roof needs repairing!

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Well, shit 😶

So, WKX has been exposed. Good thing that manor has all those inbuilt defense mechanisms, then!

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OMG 😭😭

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You should really give Chengling his own room, boys!

Then you can cuddle freely when you have nightmares! 😋

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I’m so stupid, but it occurred to me only just now that Wen Kexing has been shown as having healing/soothing skills from the start of this show.

I never paid too much attention to this because the killer side of his personality was the more entertaining one and I just took the healing as another aspect of of his martial arts... which, now that I think about it, makes no sense. It took me way too long to connect these dots.

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I think it’s best if you sleep with him every night from now on!

You know, to keep an eye on him! Just in case! 😋

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I have no real opinion on Prince Jin so far and I know he’s supposed to be the villain, but currently, I am leaning more towards liking him than not liking him, I guess?

Sorry, A-Xu, I’m a traitor, but I will probably end up eating my words here anyway 🙁

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My heart hurts, they are so hopeful! 😭😭

The world is about to fall apart around them and A-Xu thinks he has gotten a second chance. Lao Wen is restoring his painting, full of hope that Ye Baiyi is coming back to heal the man he loves. Chengling thinks they now get to be a family and I am just waiting for the next episode to come and wreck me 😭😭

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His hair is turning white very quickly.

So he really is under some kind of deaging spell with an expiration date. Or he traded immortality to bring justice to his dead disciple and his time is now running out? Hmmm.

#word of honor #woh spoilers #woh ep23 #woh ep24

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theoppositeofprofound · 3 years

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Word of Honor Thoughts

A-Xiang, my baby girl! Getting to see her go feral at the end. It is what she deserves and her terrible fate is a good representation of the Themes (the world is cruel and there is no just reward for goodness, even and especially the righteous are ultimately terrible)

XiSang Gui!!! I love her the most. Tragic milf rights, please let her mom everyone

Watching Scorpion betray everyone and get people he clearly cares about murdered: ah, baby. Baby boy

Ye Baiyi stealth winner of the passive suicidal tendencies game.

The ending as censored is obviously garbage but the ending with the epilogue is pretty good. Same themes of Feudal Martial Arts Society Sucks, Quit Your Job that we see in The Untamed. Especially with Prince Qi and Wu Xi demonstrating the good end that can result when you change your name and leave the country. Just quit! If you don’t like the hypocrisy of society, hit da bricks!

#word of honor

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thegreymoon · 3 years

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Word of Honor

So, my stupid self is going back two episodes because I somehow managed to skip one WITHOUT EVEN NOTICING 💀💀 HOW!!

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Aww, cutie is alive!

Ahahaha, shows how much I worried about him, I never even once bothered to ask myself what happened after he was stabbed, I just assumed her magic pills saved him 😅

Now that I think about it, neither he nor Gu Xiang, or anyone else, for that matter, shows up in the upcoming two episodes 🤔 It was all Wenzhou, Chengling and Ye Baiyi dealing with that nasty little imp.

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Oh, yeah, she was kidnapped too 😅😅

I guess that it’s time for me to face up to the fact that I couldn’t care less for Sister Xiao Lian 😬😬 They could never have brought her up again and I would not think to ask what happened to her.

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Are we seriously expected to trust this slimy cheater now? Seriously??

GU XIANG, PLEASE STOMP HIM!! 😠😠

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Gu Xiang is my favourite for a reason 🤗🤗

She’s smart and adorable and everything that is good and perfect 💜

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Aww, look at these adorable gremlins flirting!!

Poor Chengling and Ye Baiyi, they will never be able to unhear them 😆😆

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Of course, it’s these three rapist/murderer creeps that are colluding with the enemy 🙄🙄

This show is really making it easy to pick sides, lmao.

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He’s my new favourite among the colourful side characters 🖤

Such a fantastic, expressive actor!

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I mean, they are violent, dangerous and criminally insane, but they are still pitiful 😕

The Ghost Valley is a prison of sorts, I guess?

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I love how everyone is a brat in Ye Baiyi’s eyes 😆😆

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LMAO, I love him 😂😂

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Their bickering is my favourite thing 😆😆

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He’s delightfully insane 😂😂

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LMAO, these ads incorporated into the show are hilarious 😂😂

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Why is this so funny to me 😂😂

Poor Chengling, three highly skilled masters are entertaining themselves by watching him suffer over alcohol and nuts 😂😂

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This fucking creep.

How many boys does he have calling him father? I don’t like where my mind is going here.

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Brb, need to crawl out of my skin for a bit... 🤢

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Priceless 😂😂

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OK, so he’s entirely too worried about the grey hair 🤔

Is he under a deaging spell or something?

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Aww, look who’s all vulnerable tonight! 🤗

How do you say no to that face?

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Censors were totally sleeping on the job for this episode 😂😂

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Oh, puppy 😢

Don’t be so sure about that!

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Jumping forward to episode 20 now! I can’t believe I nearly missed this gorgeous episode, smh 😠 Considering that the next two are all Wenzhou et al. getting lost in a doll-infested mountain, I can only hope that I would have figured that something was off the next time Gu Xiang showed up and I realised the plot had moved on without me 🙄🙄

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So, it is confirmed.

Since he ended up in Ghost Valley and grew up all traumatised and insane, I imagine whatever happened to his parents can’t be pleasant.

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I’m not sure I’m a fan of this whole ‘everyone’s parents here had a profound bond’ plot twist. The number of coincidences is stretching my suspension of disbelief and I’m not feeling the emotional impact of this reveal, despite the fact that Gong Jun is very pretty when he cries.

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Dead at last 😑

Let us move on, please!

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Everything about this death scene fell flat for me, but let’s at least appreciate how beautiful he is 💜

Also, can we kill the old man’s evil son now, please? I’ve been looking forward to it for three episodes (plus an accidental fourth one 😫)!

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I am so invested in these two puppies and their baby romance 🤗

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I can’t even begin to express how much distaste I feel for the fact that this magnificent woman is having a mental breakdown because of that sleazy predator scum 😠😠