#wkx as fixed top

[tbgkaru-woh]

I may seem very picky but honestly, despite having themes or dynamics i like or dislike, I'm able to love everything AS LONG as it has fixed dynamics of my preference.

No "switching as default", no "i used to too but now i will bottom for whatever reason", no "I'm bottoming now but I'm topping next time", no rapid character change just because there's stereotypes around what bottoms or tops act like. No. Just character preferring to be the bottom and default being seen and wanted as a bottom. That's it, that's all I want to be happy and all over someone's idea.

BUT IT'S SO RARE

[birbfeeder2artisticboogaloo]

some more sketches and doodles~

OK SO i read this really cool fic called 'under wind and rain' where chengling is zhou zishu's son (he's trans), and before deciding what to do, zzs considers wandering alone in the world raising chengling himself. he doesn't end up doing that but i was like....what if he DID?? and what if.....coincidentally....young wen kexing and little a-xiang are on a trip outside ghost valley (maybe before wkx becomes valley master?? idk??) and they meet young zzs and baby chengling on the road??? AND THEN SOULMATES TRUE LOVE. FAMILY FEELS. idk they move into siji manor maybe?? and han ying should be there. (sadly he was not present in the fic, but jby and wu xi were!! it's really very good, but cw for past non/dub-con! in case that's not ok for u!)

sidenote: zzs in the top middle doodle looks like he's wearing a bonnet. i considered fixing it, but it was too fucking funny. so bonnet zishu stays >:D

[nattastic]

I don’t understand the wenzhou top/bottom debate. They’ve got such big switch energy.

I mean…

I MEAN

(Bonus soft bois being soft)

[three--rings]

Word of Honor/Shan He Ling Fic Recs

I’ve been procrastinating on making this post because while I’ve read a good number of WOH fics, many of them are short and were written during the run of the show.  I keep feeling like I need to read MORE fic before I can pick the really best ones and that’s an impossible task, so whatever, here are some fics I like.

Wenzhou unless otherwise noted.  Roughly listed in order of where they take place in the canon timeline.

with morning come by Shaderas (E, 2K) PWP of a morning after Wenzhou’s first time.  After a drunken, rough night of sex, the morning brings a very gentle and loving second round.  I love ZZS almost overwhelmed by the sincerity and gentleness of this.

warmth by triedunture (E, 4K) Set during ep 16, when they are spending a night in the cave.  On the surface it’s a PWP, but there are so many emotions being processed that it’s heart-rending.  Grief and crying and love and tenderness.  Both very gentle and very prickly, because it’s Them.  Just perfectly in character and capturing the mid-drama Wenzhou mood. 

with your heart beating and your eyes shining by thatbug (E, 4K)  WKX starts a game of questions late one night over wine, and they discuss past relationships and sex.  ZZS is basically inexperienced/bad at sex and they discuss what they like and what they might like together.  It’s a really lovely fic about talking about sex and then exploring new things together. (Or new to ZZS.) 

On the Moor, the Creeping Grass by etymologyplayground (T, 6K) One of my favorite authors bringing their brilliance to SHL?  Yes, please.  This is set during the ep 24-esque period in Four Seasons Manor, featuring ZZS getting injured and WKX helping him with his wound.  A lot of teasing and bantering, some soft cuddly sleeping together, lots of quoting of poetry, longing, wistful storytelling, and a little biting.  It’s utterly gorgeous with such a quietly aching tone, while being so very soft.

One Step Forward, Three Steps Back by hollybennett123 (E, 14K, ZZS/WKX/Han Ying)  Wen Kexing sees how Han Ying and Zhou Zishu look at each other and arranges for some fun with the three of them.  Lots of dirty talk and fun d/s play, as well as interesting character study of the three of them and how they relate to one another.  But mostly it’s very, very kinky and slutty.

passers-by, late in spring by @pumpkinpaix (E, 3K) - This is one of my very favorite SHL fics, and I’m only slightly biased in saying so by the fact that it’s both very much to my taste and the author is a friend.  It’s smut, PWP really, post-nonspecific-canon (book influenced) and d/s.  It’s got a dominant (bottom) ZZS and submissive (top) WKX and honestly I think has influence more than a few smut writers in this fandom, including myself. 

silver lining, strike me down by brosnyaa (E, 6K) This is actually novel canon mostly rather than drama canon, but it’s great fun.  WKX and ZZS make a series of bets (5+1 to be exact) involving kisses and...other activities.  Lots of fun banter and teasing, leading up to genuine connection and sweetness. 

fanged teeth hiding behind gentle eyes by ShootMeDead (T, 4K) A story about the relationship between WKX and the women of the ghost valley, specifically the unimportant servant women.  This is something I really wanted to see explored in fic, so this hit the spot.  Ties in to a generic happy ending for Wenzhou as well. 

lonely dream by @minmoyu (G, 4K) A post ep 36 fix-it, a really lovely story that is soft and romantic and gives us a very happy ending, but doesn’t ignore the very real pain and trauma that ZZS goes through.

silent and immutable as snow by elrohir - (E, 3K) Set after episode 36, this is a fixit of sorts, a primal scream of a fic.  Raw and emotional, ZZS dealing with grief and then anger when WKX comes back to life.  A fic for wallowing in the angst of the drama ending.  (I also recommend the author’s other SHL fics.  It was tough to pic one so read those too! They are lighter!)

time enough series by scheherazade (3 fics, E & T, 4K-9K) The first fic deals with ZZS saving WKX post ep 36 through dual cultivation.  The second has Ye Baiyi visiting immortal Wenzhou on the mountain, and the third deals with Gu Xiang and Cao Weining’s rebirth and discovery by Wenzhou.  There are some really lovely moments throughout. 

Non-Canon AUs:

run (back to you) by synonemous (M, 11K) A modern AU in which WKX and ZZS are both CEOs and ZZS leaves his company and goes into hiding to avoid his former boss, but WKX comes stalking him.  ZZS is delightfully grumpy throughout, but WKX is willing to be patient (some heavy stalking notwithstanding) and they end up gradually fitting together.  A very soft modern story despite the specifics of the plot.

Ill Omens series by manic_intent - (2 fic, E, 4-5K) Zhou Zishu is a hulijing.  WKX is fascinated, naturally.  And Ye Baiyi takes exception to him feeding on a mortal, no matter how much WKX protests it’s consensual.  I just really love the worldbuilding/use of folklore here.

[minnarr]

the layout of four seasons manor, part 2

you can find part 1 here

okay, so before, i mentioned something i called the bridge courtyard. this is the second major courtyard we see used in four seasons manor, and i’m going to spoil it ahead of time: i still don’t know how it fits into the layout. 

Kitchen

the kitchen is roofed but otherwise open-air and this means we actually get a pretty good look at this courtyard while wkx is cooking for spring festival

so on the side facing away from the courtyard, we appear to open onto a walkway with those four petal screens. on the...let’s say top side of the kitchen, a building with steps and no porch; across a bit of courtyard, another walkway cuts the courtyard in two, partially covered with more of those four petal screens on both sides, and on the bottom side o fthe kitchen there’s another building, this one with a porch with a railing. interestingly, we recognize this railing from elsewhere: outside zzs’ room.

i looked through my screenshots, and i actually can’t find a similar railing anywhere else, including the front of gentle winds and light clouds, so i’m kind of confident saying this is whichever side of that building includes zzs’ bedroom, and this is the courtyard that opens onto.

also, if you squint at the that same screenshot, in the background you can see some blurry brown upright shapes. hmmmm....

Training Area

like these, maybe?

across the screened walkway from the kitchen is this space that includes some weights and wooden dummies. it is placed beside the steps to a building called everlasting:

looking the opposite direction from the first shot, we can see a building hemming in the other side of the training area. worth noting the position of the shorter dummy and the weight thing on the bent stick - I think the piece of building is closer to everlasting, rather than the connecting wall. 

and when we switch to the person watching chengling, we see this behind wkx:

which. you know. i don’t understand what’s going on here. is it a second bridge opposite the everlasting doors? is this just an absolutely bonkers vista we can only see from this 1 angle through the part of the courtyard with the bridge we already know about? i think the former is more likely, but if nothing else, this project is establishing how awful i am at spatial understanding.

i do want to point out that from this angle, around the corner of everlasting you can see more building, maybe set back a bit but parallel to this face of everlasting? with what looks like a round door

Painting Room

i point this out because there is totally a room with a round door looking out onto a courtyard: it’s where we see wkx working to fix up the painting

this is maybe grasping at straws a little to link to the others here: i’m not sure we see that lattice pattern around the door on the round door seen from the training area. but i do want to talk about this room, because it’s lovely.

we first see them enter it through a side door when zzs wanders out of gentle winds and light clouds after sleeping in that first morning

across from those swinging doors it opens up into more space:

behind the table we get this screen:

also, we are really hitting that four petal motif that we also see in the screens on walkways throughout the bridge courtyard, so i’m still pretty comfortable placing this on the bridge courtyard

Flower Petal Room

speaking of the four petal motif, we’ve got another room with it, and it also probably opens up onto the bridge courtyard. the scene referenced above where wkx walks through the courtyard and sees chengling training happens after he leaves zzs crushing flower petals in this room:

we don’t have much to go on with this room, and i can’t tell if the screen behind zzs is decorative, a room divider, or a window, but it’s definitely not one of the screens from the painting room; those have only two rectangles between the edge of the petal and the frame of the screen

Festival Dining Room

one last room: the room they eat in for spring festival. this room appears to be close enough to the kitchen to run readily back and forth; chengling fetches soup pretty quick. the doors also face a screened walkway matching the one the kitchen faces, possibly across the way from it?

here’s a few other angles. this is a pretty empty room, but there’s clearly more of this building behind the screen. the chairs and table either match the ones they use in gentle wind and light clouds or were dragged over for the occasion. this man owns all of these buildings and 1 tablecloth.

i won’t swear this isn’t the same building as medicine room, the screen looks similar with orange and blue mountains, but there’s no sign of those trefoil cutouts and we get a pretty good look at this room so they’d have to be in the part past the screen

when chengling shouts for them, they run out of this room and into the courtyard and we get these glimpses:

is this a second or third bridge? i don’t remember any of the other shots of bridges ending so close to the edge of a building as this one does; one end seems to connect with the porch outside this room. we’ve got gold post-ends again, though, so maybe this is actually where wkx played flute that one time

Hey, Didn’t This Say Something About Layout?

look.

this is my best stab at how at least the kitchen, gentle wind and light clouds, everlasting, the training area, and the stuff we can clearly see between them fit together. damned if i know how it fits with the rest of the manor layout.

here’s a whole bunch of screenshots from as it zoomed in over top of the manor, if it helps

i don’t know how sets work; maybe just the first courtyard and the front of gentle wind actually fit in here. but this is what i got.

Two Security Quirks

just throwing these together because they didn’t go anywhere else. first, the secret room. where is it? we don’t know. but it’s pretty dank:

also, window of heaven decides to try to attack the side doors. i think these might be them. this is looking to the side as zzs exits gentle wind and light clouds

[danhoemei]

By unpopular demand of 1 (one) whole person @wkxs​, who asked someone to write this scene of zzs playing a make-up artist for wkx’s evil eyeshadow™️, I went and made this, so aye have it *booing noises*

[also on ao3, cw mature]

--------

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

A clearly exasperated voice broke the silence of the otherwise quiet room. The sound was soon followed by a rustling of the robes when the only other person in the room turned around to glance at its source.

Zhou Zishu stood in the middle of the room with his arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. Morning sun, which peeked through a window nearby, lit the bottom of his robes and an area around him, adding an almost ethereal and imposing tinge to his look.

He stood there on purpose.

“I am not going to wait an hour or so until you deem your eyeshadow perfect.”

Wen Kexing sat on the edge of the bed, half turned from the nightstand and a mirror which now reflected the side of his head. His arms were still up, hovering near his face and revealing a palette full of different shades of red held in one hand, and a brush in the other.

They stared at each other without moving for a moment before the eye contact got broken by Wen Kexing shamelessly running his eyes across Zhou Zishu’s whole body. He turned around completely, relaxing his body from sitting upright to leaning askew on one arm which he put casually on the nightstand, still holding the half-closed palette in it.

“Well I am not going out without it,” he span the brush between the fingers of his free hand, leaving a subtle arch of red powder in the air.

“We’re just going shopping.”

“Where people are gonna see us,” the brush stopped abruptly, pointed at Zhou Zishu as if to make the point stronger.

Zhou Zishu stood still like a statue, only his head turned sightly to the side and his eyebrows moved up.

“We have a reputation to uphold,” Wen Kexing explained, answering to the unimpressed questioning gesture of his partner.

“What reputation,” the corner of Zhou Zishu’s lips twitched.

The nightstand creaked as Wen Kexing leaned more onto it and put his arm up to support his chin on the hand.

“Of being sexy,” he winked. The effect was slightly damaged by the palette still stubbornly - or purposefully - held in his hand, a wide messy box hanging next to his face.

Of all the reactions Zhou Zishu could have given, the one he did not expect himself to fall into was to burst out laughing. He threw his head back and let his shoulders shake to the rhythm of his laughter. Despite having closed his eyes, he still saw the ridiculous image of the half-dressed man winking with his half-painted eye, who looked more like a disheveled maiden who had just woken up and tried to hastily correct her make up rather than a flirtatious philanthropist.

His reaction must have been a surprise not only to himself but also to the other man, because as soon as he calmed down enough to look back at the source of his mirth, he was met with wide, slightly shining eyes, and an expression which he could describe as a mixture of stunned and transfixed.

The man seemed to finally start breathing again. He sat up straighter and licked his lips.

“Ah-Xu, you are so-”

“Ok.”

Wen Kexing blinked and halted in his movement again.

Before he reacted in any way, Zhou Zishu walked towards him and without any prelude pushed him back onto the bed. Wen Kexing fell back without any resistance, but Zhou Zishu could still feel a subtle twitch of the body beneath him as the man got trapped by the weight of a fully grown person straddling him. Wen Kexing obediently let the palette and brush be taken out of his hands.

Zhou Zishu hung just above Wen Kexing, satisfied with the quickness and the lack of fighting.

“I’m gonna do it quick and then we’re going. And no complains for how it’ll look.”

Wen Kexing stared up quietly with a content smile and twinkling eyes.

“Sure.”

Zhou Zishu’s eyes narrowed as the thought of this whole situation going exactly as the bastard planned crossed his mind. However, he quickly put the thought aside and moved his attention to the palette to choose the first shade.

The brush glided across the pale skin, leaving a trail of deep red which added a dangerous glint to the dark eyes below, staring intensely into his own without a break. Zhou Zishu could admit to himself that he did like when Wen Kexing had this sharp smudge of color on, which complemented his eyes and made others turn their heads to look at the man with either admiration or fear. He could admit it after all this time, but only to himself.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a feeling of a soft caress on his lips, which instantly brought him back to reality. He blinked a few times, trying to bring his attention back to the smiling eyes directly below his own, so close that it was almost hard to focus on them.

“You were smiling. I couldn’t resist.”

“I was not,” Zhou Zishu countered as if on reflex. Only now did he notice that a set of hands was put on his hips at some point and started rubbing small circles on them.

“Sure, whatever you say,” Wen Kexing tilted his head slightly back, his smile growing wider.

A loud clank echoed throughout the room as Zhou Zishu closed the palette in one quick move and energetically leaned back.

“Well, I’m finished, let’s go-”

He chocked on the last word as the world suddenly span around and darkened. A dark veil of hair soundlessly fell around him, blocking the light and cutting off his surroundings. All that was left was a pale face tinged with red, floating right in front of his eyes, connected to a slender neck which grew out of a strong chest peeking out of a loosely tied, slightly open robe. Zhou Zishu swallowed.

A strand of hair must have tingled his cheek, because of how itchy it felt.

A chuckle came from above, luring his eyes to dart up again.

“Like what you see?” the man’s voice dripped with satisfaction.

Before Zhou Zishu could answer, he heard a click of the palette being opened, and he realised that it got taken out of his hand at some point.

“Your turn now.”

At last, completely woken up from his daze, Zhou Zishu plastered an open hand on Wen Kexing’s face and pushed it back.

“Hell no.”

A cheerful, slightly muffled laughter resounded throughout the room, soon followed by the sounds of tossing and fighting.

The clash did not last as long as it often could, after all their encounters sometimes could extend to the whole day of running around and breaking unfortunate things which stood on the way. This time, however, it was one of the instances which gravitated towards a playful banter and lingering touches, those that gradually extended in time and frequency until both men rolled onto the bed again, kissing and grabbing at each other.

The temperature in the room seemed to have risen despite the coldness of the morning seeping through an open window.

Wen Kexing, who landed on top of Zhou Zishu and pinned him down with his weight, finally released his lips. He leaned back just a bit, still leaving their faces so close that their noses rubbed together.

“Say,” he breathed out. “What if we went tomorrow.”

Zhou Zishu’s dazed, half-lidded eyes were glued to Wen Kexing’s, his face hot and body warm. Even though he was asked a question, he was not given time to answer. He felt a shiver run across his skin after Wen Kexing dove down and left a wet kiss on his neck. Zhou Zishu opened his mouth.

A sudden knock rendered both man still and speechless.

“Shifu, shishu, I’m ready!” Zhang Chengling’s voice broke through the door and rang through the silence like a bell.

As sudden as the knock, Zhou Zishu threw Wen Kexing off and swiftly jumped off the bed. He fixed his clothes and put on his outer robe, tying it hard and smoothing out any wrinkles, all the while focusing on his breathing and the flow of his qi.

“Be ready in ten minutes or we’re leaving without you,” he threw over his shoulder, voice calm and collected, only glancing at the man who was still lying on the bed and looking with dark eyes in the direction of the door.

Zhou Zishu left the room, quickly closing the door behind him and blocking the sight of the insides from Zhang Chengling. It was not needed though, as the boy already stood several steps away. One could say that he was used to backing up as soon as he reported his readiness, either to make way for the men, or to keep away from the ever-so-loud room filled with unimaginable feats.

Zhou Zishu passed him by and stopped only after walking for a moment. Enjoying the morning chill on his skin, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath of refreshing air in. Zhang Chengling was just behind him, and as he stood by his teacher, he couldn’t help but keep glancing at him.

“Spit it,” Zhou Zishu finally couldn’t bear the fidgeting next to him.

“Shifu, you’re awfully red, are you sick? Should we postpone the trip after all?”

The last word transformed into a quiet yelp as the boy’s head got gently hit on the back, and he looked up with pitiful eyes at the back of Zhou Zishu’s turned head.

“Shut up, brat.”

[sixteenthshen]

“guide” to wordofhonor on weibo

Are you addicted to Word of Honor? Has it made you sign up for your own Weibo account for stalking purposes? 😋Do you make gifs and stuff yourself but you don’t know who to follow?

These are pretty much the only people you’ll need to follow on Weibo to get “firsthand” news, before Twitter or Tumblr. TBH, about 80% of what’s downloaded and re-upped to Twitter comes from these few fan accounts (& they repost the quality content “the right way”). Why support these re-posters if you have your own Weibo account 😋

The official accounts: 

Zhang Zhehan (Zhang Zhehan’s studio)

Gong Jun (Gong Jun’s studio)

Word of Honor

Super topics: (what is a super topic?)

langlangding super topic  (浪浪钉 - official cp ship name) - this includes wenzhou and junzhe only. do not post top!zzs/top!zzh here*. Super topics work best on mobile devices (not computers), you can select the category of your choice - click the cut to see more). 

zhouwen super topic - this is where you get your bottom!wkx fix, do not post bottom!ZZS or RPS here! 

word of honor super topic  - for all things word of honor (except RPS), although it’s for all of WoH, there’s a lot fewer fans than LLD, plus it includes all the other characters. If you’re going to follow only one, even if you hate RPS, I recommend LLD & check the category for drama. 

please note that the drama and novel are kept separate for wanky reasons (do not cross tag “天涯客/tian ya ke“ if it’s only related to Word of Honor).

Fan accounts: 

看起来就很李海 (aka 李海老师 - cp fan) if you only follow one weibo account for #浪浪钉/LLD, it should be this! (this is her bilibili site if you can’t access w/b)

浪钉急速升温 (aka 急速升温/升温 - cp fan) posts many exclusive bts videos 

Mississippi_Flower (aka MF - cp fan) posts leaks + info related to Ace Actress 

please note that all the above cp fans also ship RPS, so be warned. wenzhou-only fans don’t actively post so much anymore since there’s no new content.

and one special mention: LAIN_LEI (my favourite wenzhou artist)

Misc stuff & warnings behind the cut

How to filter what you want to see in the LLD Super Topic (on mobile devices only - Chinese version of Weibo). You can install both Weibo and Weibo INTL on your device! 

screenshot of my iPhone with both apps. they’re both logged into the same account. the chinese version is more full-featured but it doesn’t allow you to download videos. & why yes, i’m showing off my special icon of junzhe 😋

*Chinese fandom is very strict about fixed pairings, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Recently, a lot of antis (anti-LLD) and corporations are also trying to tear down Word of Honor and LLD’s popularity for their own agendas by sharing a lot of Advance Bravely (?) related stuff. They’re trying to kill cp fans’ enthusiasm by turning them off with - hey look your gong is also a shou. Do not post anything like this there ok? Don’t let them win! Thx. 

You may also see these warnings (please respect the content “owners” requirements): 禁二传: Forbidden to download and repost on any other site (as if it’s yours) without permission. Yes this includes downloading it and posting it to Twitter, even if you post the weibo account owner’s name. Take a screenshot and link them to the content owner’s weibo or bilibili page. 禁二改二传: Forbidden to download to use in your own “creations”, such as compilation videos. Also forbidden to download and repost on any other site (as if it’s yours) without permission 

In CN fandom, the warnings and watermarks are more important than the medium being fan fic, fan art, leaked videos, fan vids etc.

If you respect fan artists requests to not have their work reposted without consent, then you should also respect these content uploaders’ “rights” if they specify that you shouldn’t re-upload it elsewhere (especially without a link). Sometimes they have paid thousands of dollars for the videos or photos, sometimes these are acquired through their connections. 

[sugarbabywenkexing]

6 and your characters shall be: wkx, hjw, ming xia, frodo and mianmian ^^

6. Trying to fix broken-down automobile in the rain with

Han Juwon gets top marks here because he's the only one that can actually drive a car. We'll figure something out

Ming Xia would run to the nearest garage in the rain, regardless of how far it was, and save the day

Wen Kexing's plan would be to look slutty and helpless at the side of the road until someone pulls over, which would probably end in mixed success

Mianmian and I would get the boot open, go "yeah that looks like there's something wrong with it", call for help and then chill out until we're rescued

Frodo is a rich young gentleman who's never done a day's work in his life and would absolutely know less about cars than me. If Sam is there too then I'd bump him up to top of the list

[thegreymoon]

Word of Honor

Oh, this poor evil baby 🙁

He’s hoping that this slimeball will go public with their relationship, like he isn’t already grooming the younger model right under his nose to replace him as soon as he’s done using him. 

***

What the absolute hell. I am once again watching the wrong episode! 😠😠 What the fuck is wrong with me and my brain!! At least I caught it earlier this time, smh. Anyway. Back to the real episode 27 now 🤬🤬

***

Oh, sweetheart 😢

He’s preparing to meet Ye Baiyi and die, isn’t he? He fixed A-Xu’s painting and then gave himself one last good day with the man he loves and their child. This is his goodbye 😭😭

***

Oh, ZZS intercepted him first!

He knows. He absolutely knows. 

***

Here it comes 😱😱

I don’t want!! Please take us back to the happy scenes!! 

***

Yep. Zhou Zishu knows. 

***

LMAO, he’s really going, “I don’t care what he did, you’re taking him over my dead body!” 😅

***

This would be an absolutely gorgeous fight if it wasn’t so upsetting 😕

***

He’s magnificent 🔥🔥

***

Ye Baiyi is just ridiculously powerful! Like, ZZS and WKX are top tier masters of martial arts in this universe, not to mention its most effective and dangerous killers! This is established! And yet Ye Baiyi takes them both down in a couple of moves. He barely breaks a sweat! 

***

All my tears 😭😭

***

Aww, yes, Ye Baiyi! 🤗🤗 I knew I stanned you for a reason!!

***

Also, I think it’s hilarious that his condition for sparing Wen Kexing was that he ‘learns to behave’ 🤣🤣 I know that he meant that he should learn to behave like a normal human and not cause chaos and carnage wherever he goes, which is a tall order for someone who was raised by murderers and had his entire psyche warped since childhood by torment and hate, but considering all of YBY’s previous interactions with WKX and how he thinks he’s an ill-mannered brat, I found this pretty funny 😆😆

***

Aww, my guilty puppy 😢

Just like Gu Xiang, he’s ready to die, but he doesn’t want his found family to know what he is and hate him for it 😭

***

They are such idiots, and so in love, and so adorable!! 😭😭

I love them so much, they are so healing!! 

***

Aww, look at these two puppies being all adorable!! 🤗

***

WHO ARE YOU CALLING EVIL??

I WILL PERSONALLY COME THERE TO FIGHT YOU!! 🤬🤬

***

Oh, thank goodness.

Somebody did spoil me for this early on, but it’s nice to have it confirmed. I don’t see how Chengling cound forgive him if he was the one responsible. The deaths of his family were so horrible and cruel. 

***

Oh? 

So, Scorpion has the piece of armour that Zhao Jing claimed was stolen? And this is also what he gave to him as a ‘token of his sincerity’? I never made the connection!  

***

LMAO, he’s a child 😂😂

But he hasn’t had anyone to play in so long 😢 It was just horror and misery for years and years!

***

The one thing I really appreciate about this how are all their beautiful costumes 💜

Especially his gorgeous outfits!

***

Anyway. Moving on to episode 28 properly now! 

***

Never mind the BL, I don’t understand how they managed to get her past the censors 😶

***

They are gorgeous!

These robes are so beautiful! 

***

How is his face so smackable? 😠

He’s just so easy to hate. 

***

Okay, so I have never personally killed a chicken, but I’m pretty sure this is not how you do it 😂😂

***

LMAO, well, that went as well as could be expected 😂😂

***

LOL, his wisdom!! 😂😂

Why is this so funny to me? 😂😂

***

The expression, I mean. Obviously, it’s not funny that the best of his generation is dead while he’s still alive and stinking up the place.

***

This disgusting filth, he spat on her memorial tablet!! 🤢🤢

I am so going to enjoy seeing you die 😠😠

***

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.

***

I HATE HIM, I HATE HIM, I HATE HIM. HE’S THE MOST LOATHSOME KIND OF MAN THERE IS AND HE HAS JUST RUINED MY DAY.

Scorpion, baby, you can do better than this! Please do better than this!!

***

I can’t even watch these two eat after that scene just now. I feel nauseous. 

All the hate for abusive men. I can’t stand them. They ruin everything. 

***

Somehow, I doubt that’s going to be the case, but OK.

***

Oh, so it was *just* on his desk, was it?

There is zero chance this was not intentional and that this whole thing is not a trap for Zhou Zishu. 

[sixteenthshen]

Hello. I read several of your posts about the word of honor. Very interesting and explains a lot. I'm from Russia. May I ask why Chinese authors and readers hate switching pairings? Thank you

Hi! Sorry it took me a while to reply to your question. (I had too much to say!) First, I've only ever discussed the switching issue with c-fans concerning fan works. So quite a bit of this is based on some assumptions. And I’m not speaking for everyone, just based on my limited circle of friends. The biggest chat group I’ve been in for Word of Honor only had 400 people, the group I chat in the most often really has only 15 or so very active members.

I used to have a very judgemental view of why some people don't like switching (not just the Chinese, but Asians in general, like in yaoi). Because it's related to female "fantasy". In almost every slash fandom you go to, the more popular character is usually the bottom (or bottoms most of the time). Of course, there are switching fics and flipped-around pairings, but by and large, you'll notice that there's always the same trend in all fandoms. The preference for a fixed gong/shou pairing isn't exclusive to just the Chinese; it's just a lot more noticeable when it comes to Asian fandoms, because they don’t care about being PC. 

(the post got too long, I’m putting the rest behind a cut)

All popular novels targeted at cishet women work the same way (helping them build a fantasy by placing themselves in the lead character's shoes, the female lead or the shou). For BG novels, I think Twilight is an excellent example of this; for danmei, MXTX (both for popularity and enabling fantasy). As a matter of fact, most danmei books have the shou as the main character (these novels are marked as "主受文" on jjwxc, meaning the shou is the #1 main character).

For readers, it's part of the reader-fantasy. Asia still has relatively rigid gender expectations compared to the West, and it translates into BL/slash/danmei/yaoi fandoms. If we use WoH as an example, how many bottom!WKX fics and art are created by fans whose favourite character is WKX? I'll bet it's a majority. Generally, danmei fans tend to prefer to have their favourite character as the "primary" shou.

Non-Chinese fans are just more willing to ignore canon and write what they like, while Chinese fans who don't like it tend just to give up and move to the next one. Neither method is wrong; we can't help what we prefer.

For writers, novels with a couple (CP) that switches tend to be less popular. So if you're an author, even if you don't mind switching, why would you minimize your possible success?

Priest's novel fandoms tend to "suffer" a bit in terms of popularity as both characters in her novels are always pretty strong/toppy. I've had Chinese friends tell me they gave up on finishing some books because they "supported" the wrong CP, even though Priest doesn't write explicit smut, and they can easily skip over the suggestive few lines of text!

When it comes to fan works, many people who hate switching or flipped CP say that by doing so, the characters become OOC. I don't think this view is necessarily correct as I can usually imagine specific circumstances where switching can happen in character. The novels I struggle with finding a scenario where switching happens in-character are Qiang Jin Jiu, Faraway Wanderers & SVSSS (the side pairing).

The unreasonable fans may even claim it's disrespectful to the original work (I don't think they really believe this, though).

Most groups, topics and CP-specific forums ban all talk of switching (互攻) or flipped-couples (逆cp). You'll often see stuff like "不拆不逆" (don't split the CP and don't flip them), "拆逆SI" (split/flip them and you die) in group rules. It’s also the same the other way, for example if you post WenZhou in a ZhouWen group, you’re also going to get scolded. 

Fans don't like it, and to be honest, people with agendas to snuff out Word of Honor's (and RPS) popularity in China have been posting a lot about GJ's role in a previous danmei adaptation to turn the fans off (it works), so I get why it’s not allowed. I heart WoH and the actors, I don’t want them to lose fans just because of something as silly as topping/bottoming.

I used to be quite bitchy (and judgmental) about the lack of switching in fic because it's not realistic. After immersing myself more in c-fandom (WoH forced me back into fandom!!), I've become less judgmental about it. Because I realized the fans know it's not realistic as well, and they're okay with that. Before, I thought they were just lying to themselves tbh.

I even prefer switching (or flipped around pairings) in some fandoms because sometimes the shou is often feminised. I hate that. If I'm going to read something like this, then I might as well be in an m/f fandom. I want both the characters to seem like men and have masculine traits.

If you've been reading gay romance novels (written for men) on Amazon from before m/m novels (written for women) became popular, you would know what I mean by the difference. (I’m not trying to sound like a dick, I just don’t know how to explain this difference well) Also, does this make me seem old?? LOL. I'm going to be in my mid-thirties this year. I like that m/m novels tend to have happier endings (since I am a woman), but I also find that feminisation of the bottom/shou happens far too often.

To me, a big part of the appeal of Word of Honor is the beautiful gong who's super shameless (美人攻 ) and the alpha!shou who thinks he's the top. If it were no longer the case (ZhouWen instead of WenZhou), honestly, WoH would just be like any other danmei novel/adaptation.