#Zhou Zi Shu X Wen Ke Xing

[gabrielokun]

[queerbrainrot]

A Very Subjective Show Recommendation

Basic Info:

Titles: Word of Honor

Main Leads: Zhang Zhe Han as Zhou Zi Shu and Gong Jun as Wen Ke Xing

Overall Tropes etc.: Morally Grey/Black Main Leads | Soulmates | Revenge Story | Childhood Friends to Lovers | Hidden Identity | WantedCriminal4WantedCriminal | Feral4Feral | Ride or Die | "I'm dying" vs "I won't let you" | Amnesia | Fake Identity | Found Family | Criminals adopting an orphan and being better parents | Villain(?) Fuckery | Non Traditional Husband-Wife dynamics | Playing House As Everyone Tries to Kill Them | "I WILL DIE FOR YOU" "no, I WILL DIE FOR YOU" | Villain Redemption Questionmark

How many episodes: 36

Trigger Warnings / Content Warnings: Non-graphic non-traditional self-harm, child abuse, child death, death of family members, death of loved ones, drugging, alcohol, torture, forced suicide via poison, non-graphic non-traditional suicide attempt, violence, brainwashing, hints of incest (between cousins), sexual harassment (background character perpetrator @ background characters, secondary femme character - perpetrator gets killed)

My plot description:

Zhou Zishu who is a former Wuxia-CIA leader gets so mentally unwell that he decides to leave his organization through a prolonged suicide to get at least few years of 'normal' life. He pretends to be a homeless alcoholic-beggar when a too pretty poetry-speaking Wen Kexing who sees Zishu's shoulder blades and decides 'that's my future husband'. Since that moment onward he stalks Zishu because yes he's that unwell. Zishu stumbled on a massacre and accidentally adopts an orphan in the process. The orphan has some very sought-after artefact so Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing try to keep him alive as the not-so metaphorical ghosts from their pasts try to kill them all.

MyDramaList plot description:

In order to leave the assassin organization The Window of Heaven, the leader Zhou Zi Shu performs an obligatory departure technique, leaving him with three years left to live. He disguises his face and tries to live the remainder of his days as a drunkard wandering the martial arts world. Three months later, he meets the mysterious Wen Ke Xing, who immediately notices Zhou Zi Shu’s façade. The two then grow closer when they get entangled in a conspiracy regarding the Glazed Armor, a protected legendary key to a powerful armory.

SCORING:

Chemistry between characters: Off the charts, convinced this show and the amount of the not subtle queerness in it is the reason why China did a temporary ban on queer romance adaptations. 1000000/10. Gong Jun made 'did you know i like men' into a facial expression.

Plot: 8.5/10, yes we have the artefact and armory thing but honestly the relationship of the leads and their relationships with others take the main chair. Overall though I liked the plot.

Ending: Cried. From two reasons. 10/10.

Did it drag aka did I feel the need to skip forward: Never, I rewatched it in full like 5 times by now I think. 10/10.

Was it easy to understand while going in blind: Honestly? Yes. It's more character driven than plot driven. 10/10.

Other characters: Honestly, loved everyone on screen. Obviously the villains were hate-able, but played well. Loved all of the supportive characters - especially Wen Kexing's and Zhou Zishu's little found family - so it was nice to watch even when main leads weren't on screen for X time. 10/10.

Other Big Pros:

Wen Kexing's costumes. His make up and wardrobe. Whoever was responsible - I hope your pillow is cool and you may never stub your toe. Chefs kiss.

Gu Xiang and her himbo husband - all they needed was her walking him on a literal leash along with the metaphorical they already have.

Zishu's wigs look amazing. Just wanted to say.

Everyone is so pretty I'm experiencing bisexual rage.

STRONG!!! WOMEN!! WHO ROCK!!! SHIT!!!! UPPPPPP!!!

Thoughts/Opinions with some spoilers:

I know this show gave a heart attack to few censors at least. I have no idea how they got away with so much - ZZS and WKX calling each other sOULMATES? Overall cannot recommend it enough. It's easily digestible, engaging and will have you crying, squeeing and fanning yourself. Sometimes all at the same time.

[fictionkinfessions]

Oh! Cannots!! Wen Ke Xing from Word of Honor. Why, you may ask? [points at my Wie Wuxian kin] I mean, really, do I have to say more?

Literally looked at that man and went oh... Oh no... I better not be him... And then I wasn't?? I'm pretty sure??? Like even Zhou Zi Shu fits the pattern [not the color scheme, but the personality??] and I wasn't him somehow. Like hell yeah, win for me, but that was honestly not how I thought that was gonna go lmfao.

Also!! Hua Cheng???? [more intense motioning towards Wei Wuxian] the pattern literally set itself up!! Don't get me wrong, I have big kin vibes for someone in Heaven Official's Blessing, but the fact that I didn't instantly kinfirm Hua Cheng is a genuine surprise.

- Wei Wuxian #🪷

x

[ritsugi]

Wen Ke Xing X Zhou Zi Shu

[eyenaku]

Ji ji fu ji ji

a o e i i er ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong i ia iao ie iu ian in iang ing iong u ua uo uai ui uan un uang ueng ü üe üan ün a o e er ai ao ou an en ang eng yi ya yao ye you yan yin yang ying yong wu wa wo wai wei wan wen wang weng yu yue yuan yun b ba bo bai bei bao ban ben bang beng bi biao bie bian bin bing bu p pa po pai pei pao pou pan pen pang peng pi piao pie pian pin ping pu m ma mo me mai mei mao mou man men mang meng mi miao mie miu mian min ming mu f fa fo fei fou fan fen fang feng fu d da de dai dei dao dou dan den dang deng dong di diao die diu dian ding du duo dui duan dun t ta te tai tei tao tou tan tang teng tong ti tiao tie tian ting tu tuo tui tuan tun n na ne nai nei nao nou nan nen nang neng nong ni niao nie niu nian nin niang ning nu nuo nuan nü nüe l la le lai lei lao lou lan lang leng long li lia liao lie liu lian lin liang ling lu luo luan lun lü lüe g ga ge gai gei gao gou gan gen gang geng gong gu gua guo guai gui guan gun guang k ka ke kai kei kao kou kan ken kang keng kong ku kua kuo kuai kui kuan kun kuang h ha he hai hei hao hou han hen hang heng hong hu hua huo huai hui huan hun huang z za ze zi zai zei zao zou zan zen zang zeng zong zu zuo zui zuan zun c ca ce ci cai cao cou can cen cang ceng cong cu cuo cui cuan cun s sa se si sai sao sou san sen sang seng song su suo sui suan sun zh zha zhe zhi zhai zhei zhao zhou zhan zhen zhang zheng zhong zhu zhua zhuo zhuai zhui zhuan zhun zhuang ch cha che chi chai chao chou chan chen chang cheng chong chu chua chuo chuai chui chuan chun chuang sh sha she shi shai shei shao shou shan shen shang sheng shu shua shuo shuai shui shuan shun shuang r re ri rao rou ran ren rang reng rong ru rua ruo rui ruan run j ji jia jiao jie jiu jian jin jiang jing jiong ju jue juan jun q qi qia qiao qie qiu qian qin qiang qing qiong qu que quan qun x xi xia xiao xie xiu xian xin xiang xing xiong xu xue xuan xun

[heretherebedork]

ZZS really did say 'let's ditch everyone else, take our son and go wander the world for as long as I have left, my soulmate.'

[jacksjoke]

[alleycvm]

Chengling is always aware about his master.

I forgot that aside from not being aware of Kexing's plan and feeling confused and hurt by it; Zishu also did something drastic and risked his own life thinking his soulmate was dead.

[jjheejz]

What is Fate?

[Part 1/5] Before meeting each other:

*Shenenigans before they met and knew each other*

- 27 March 2020: Posted on the same day on Oasis (绿洲 - a Chinese version of Instagram), with the same tag, with a moon and star light respectively [The Moon X Star saga] - This is the purest form of coincidence.

- ZZH's birthdate: 11 May (English format: ddmm, Chinese format: mmdd = 0511), GJ's birthdate: 29 November (Chinese format: mmdd = 1129)

0511+1129=51129 not real math here

What's the common number?

- GJ went to pray for the success of WOH before filming begins, but he later realise the Goddess he prayed to, is a Goddess of love. (And he also heard that praying to that Goddess was quite 灵 - aka will come true).

- ZZH was under a big agency, with big resources but the company is famous for building actress careers, not actors. He was there for 6 years, with the very manly image + a tad joker roles). GJ was in the Entertainment industry for 6 years, but as an independent studio, he has to run around everyday busily just to find opportunities to get casted (no connections to rely on).

- ZZH was later under Zhao Wei (to put it in perspective to those who don't know her/dk her scale of popularity, she was and is still very well-known for her character role as Yan Zi over 10 years ago, the role was even more popular than Zhou Zi Shu was - by comparison). She became a Director and looked highly of ZZH’s acting on an acting competition show, she later granted ZZH his own independent studio.

Her: Quick! Go seduce people! (ZZH was supposed to act out flirting with a girl but he couldn't act it out well)

Don’t ask about her rainbow shirt while saying that, it’s coincidence.

GJ began from the start as an independent studio (an anon pointed out my original caption for this part, you can read a very bit more into how 'independent studio' works here).

= this grants a whole big deal on what you can do, unlike being tagged under direct agencies, you are free to choose what you endorse, what you do, what you wear etc. So choosing to do cp Marketing things, is also your choice. You call the shots. You agree to it (which is why so many brands love them, no agency/label restrictions, and endorsement indirectly even comes in pairs)

- They were both single before casting (it was one of Producer Ma's criteria for the roles).

- Zhou Zi Shu is 29 years old, Wen Ke Xing is 28 years old. During filming, ZZH was 29 years old, GJ was 28 years old.

- As much as I feel it's not appropriate to be using Covid situation as a positive note, would just like to point out that because of this, the original ZZS actor left the crew. It was then that ZZH took over this role.

- Height difference. (I'm a sucker for this type of ships, it's my default criteria). LDK (Scorpion King) who was originally casted for WKX is 180cm, the original cast for ZZS was 179cm.

- Both are very humble.

- ZZS had nails in his body. ZZH also have nails, in his permanently injured left knee. Don't ask, having nails in the body was not a criteria.

Bonus

- WOH script: About 59 BL adaptations were scheduled to be broadcasted in 2021 (which meant most filming were done in 2020), of which there was a change in BL adaptation script regulations. WOH was one of those that got approved (one month) before the new stricter regulations were made.

= Where you find some of the sweetest moments in WOH, is thanks to this early approval

- I think the biggest fate ignition is Priest, the author of the original novel. Her novel genre is generally quite platonic, which fits the Chinese BL adaptation restrictions a little better. It was a just right perfect novel for filming.

🌻To returning readers: Updated info are in purple for your easy references!

🌸Part 2 - During filming here

🌸Part 3 - After filming, before broadcast here

🌸Part 4 - Broadcast/Promotion period here

🌸Part 5 - WOH concert and after

🌻[Ongoing updates] Will add if I remember or found new ones - last updated 220721.

🌻For long posts like this, I tend to look back for grammar and phrasing mistakes (sometimes info updates), so when you reblog for future references, do keep in mind that there may be updates in the original post! :)

This couple's fate is novel level and as someone who used to write (casually for fun), their level of fate is beyond my average peasant mortal comprehension.

[gabrielokun]

[ithappensoffstage]

What is word of honor? The gif sets have finally pulled me in and I can’t resist. Where do I start? Where can I find it? Help and thanks!

Word of Honor (Shan He Ling) is a Chinese danmei (male x male) drama series! It’s based on the novel "Faraway Wanderers" (天涯客) by Priest. Basically, Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing are soulmates who meet when Zishu has decided to end his life and Kexing has decided to end the martial arts world, and they throw each other’s plans off quite a bit.

The official summary is:

Zhou Zi Shu, the disillusioned leader of a royal praetorian secret service, takes drastic measures to leave his former life behind and wanders the pugilist world. He unexpectedly gets involved in a conspiracy after he steps in to save a young boy.  He also meets the mysterious Wen Ke Xing, who is on a quest to avenge his parents’ deaths. They become bosom friends through a series of adventures involving a legendary treasure that is rumored to give its owner ultimate power over the pugilist world.

Note that this says “bosom friends” -- the correct term here is really “husbands,” but the show cannot be marketed that way due to censorship in China. However, having watched a number of C-dramas, I can tell you that SHL manages to be extremely queer, surpassing even blatant subtext like in “The Untamed” (implied proposals, marriage, etc.) to show cutting sleeves (in China, the story of the cut sleeve is about homosexuality), frequent hand-holding, activities between the male leads typically reserved for husbands and wives, and all manner of other overtly romantic things.

You can watch it on viki or on the official Youku YouTube channel for free!

I hope that’s enough to get you started! Feel free to pop back in with any questions, etc. at any time! Enjoy!

EDIT: trigger warnings for suicidal ideation, self-harm, some graphic deaths, and blood (can’t have wuxia without a lot of bleeding!)

[jacksjoke]

MAN....

[devkartika]

Wen Ke Xing x Zhou Zi Shu

[alliaskofyou]

i have an angsty wen ke xing x zhou zi shu fic idea

👀👀👀

[heretherebedork]

The pain when ZZS realizes his senses have grown worse, have truly begun to fail him in new ways just as he sees the future holding hope is one of the most honest scenes. He's still hiding it from WKX. He's still hiding from Cheng Ling. But he can't hide from himself.

ZZS knows whats happening to himself. He knows his fate.

And, for the first time since he made the choice.

He hates it.

[jacksjoke]