#zzh info

[bizarrequazar]

Zhang Zhehan, 813, and Zhang Sanjian FAQ

I’ve been thinking for a while that I should make this as a starting place for people just learning about the situation. Please let me know if you have any corrections or anything you would like me to add.

1. What happened to Zhang Zhehan? / What is 813?

On August 13. 2021, a photo was spread by online water armies of Zhang Zhehan in front of cherry blossoms from a trip he had taken to Japan in 2018. This was accompanied by claims that he had been there to visit the Yasukuni Shrine—a politically controversial shrine which honors WWII war criminals—and that he held right-wing anti-Chinese sentiments. This photo was later joined by others, all either photoshopped or with falsified context, “backing up” these accusations along with further claims slandering him and his family.

In the days following, Zhang Zhehan lost all of his endorsements, had all of his past works taken down, had all of his social media shut down, and was boycotted by the private association CAPA without the chance to defend himself. His name and image were also later banned from social media, he was used as a negative example in schools and on exams, and his name is blocked from registration on some social media sites and certain devices. He and his family have been subject to intense harassment including death threats.

All of the accusations against him have been shown to be false and he is currently pursuing legal action, but he is still unable to speak or appear publicly in any capacity.

Further reading:  -  Talking points pamphlet  -  Wiki page

2. Who was behind 813?

The boycott was issued by the China Association of Performing Arts (CAPA), a private industry association that at the time held sway (but no official authority) over many social media and streaming companies. CAPA is heavily suspected of being the ones who orchestrated the entire incident and related events, see point 4 below.

2.5. Was Gong Jun behind 813?

No, he had no motive whatsoever, was still a small name in the industry at the time, has no industry sway, had his most popular show taken down because of 813, and was targeted by similar attacks in the months after. If he had not stayed quiet about 813, Gong Jun very easily could have been taken down by it as well. Please see point 7 below if you have this belief because of Zhang Sanjian / zhangzhehan_super3, and if you have this belief because of the Twitter account Justice for Zhang Zhehan please know that she is an idiot.

3. Was 813 caused by censorship / homophobia / the Chinese government?

No. There is no evidence for 813 having anything to do with censorship, it was perpetuated by private venture capitalism. The Chinese government had no known involvement—CAPA has no government affiliation, and both the NRTA and MCT confirmed after inquiry that they had nothing to do with Zhang Zhehan’s cancellation. Quite the opposite, it was said by Li Xuezheng that government officials were in attendance during the interview between him and Zhang Zhehan released 2022-01-01.

4. Why Zhang Zhehan? / What was the motive behind 813?

The exact reason is not known for sure, but it is heavily suspected that he turned down an exclusive endorsement deal with one of CAPA’s subsidiaries around March / April 2021. CAPA took this as a slight and, because he was heavily in the public eye at the time, they decided to make him an example of what they could do to people who refused to play their game.

Other smaller parties who participated in 813 were driven by industry competition, private capital, mob mentality, and/or because they’re shitheads who found it fun.

Further reading: Lead-up to 813

5. Does the lack of news about Zhang Zhehan mean he’s given up / he’s lost his case?

Absolutely not, and quite the opposite in fact. Avoiding the public eye is the best thing Zhang Zhehan can do to avoid media frenzy and the potential skewing of the narrative that that could cause. Due to the length of time it has been since 813, whatever Zhang Zhehan first does when he becomes public again is guaranteed to cause a stir, and therefore he has to be very careful about not saying anything publicly until he and his case are at a favourable point to do so.

Further reading:  -  Question about the length of the case  -  Breakdown of the legal process in relation to Zhang Zhehan’s case

6. Could Zhang Zhehan pursue a career internationally instead? 

Until his name is cleared, no. 

Zhang Zhehan did not have enough international recognition prior to 813 to realistically build a career overseas, and he has not shown fluency in any language other than Mandarin with which to do so. Even if he did pursue this, until his name is cleared he will always be associated with 813 and would struggle to find success with how he would be viewed by Chinese diaspora. 

As well, given the nationalistic nature of 813, seeking a career overseas would communicate guilt and/or giving up on his case.

7. Is Zhang Sanjian / the zhangzhehan_super3 Instagram account / the person releasing new songs Zhang Zhehan?

No. There is overwhelming evidence that Zhang Sanjian etc. is a scam using Zhang Zhehan’s name and image, utilizing photoshopping, deepfakes, and impersonators. 

The people behind this have known professional connections to CAPA, and the activities the scam has engaged in have consistently been aimed at further damaging his image. The Zhang Sanjian persona is characterized as having given up on clearing his name, being degrading and rude to both his fans and former costars, and giving up on his career in China to pursue international fame (see point 6 above). Practically every action made by the persona and related parties go completely against Zhang Zhehan’s character and/or make no logical sense for someone in his position.

Further reading:   -  Timeline of the IG’s early activity  -  Deepfake breakdown  -  Collected information about the Bangkok concerts  -  Wiki page for the IG account

8. Why doesn’t Zhang Zhehan speak out against Zhang Sanjian?

See point 5 above. It is likely that part of the original aim of Zhang Sanjian was specifically to try to bait him into saying something against it. The scam has been trying very hard to control the public narrative via buying public screens, commissioning tabloid articles, releasing a ridiculous number of songs and artificially raising hit counts on these, etc.

9. Why go through so much effort to erase Zhang Zhehan / continue the Zhang Sanjian scam?

For CAPA, Zhang Zhehan winning his case and overturning his boycott will heavily diminish their industry influence (not to mention jail time, hopefully). It could, in the best case scenario, even lead to the complete disbandment of the company under Chinese anti-monopoly legislation. (see the first point under [this post])

For the smaller players involved in the scam specifically, the motive is by and large personal financial gain. Many are known to be in debt / have been in debt but are suddenly now making lavish purchases (Sophie for example), some are known professional con men (Peter), and some are seeking other personal goals such as trying to get famous themselves (Lexus), to promote their own businesses (the Chens and the gym bros), or even for sexual gratification (Hewitt). 

As well, it’s important to keep in mind the financial scale of the extremely lucrative Chinese entertainment industry. The amount that has been spent on 813 and everything since is barely anything in the grand scheme of things.

Further Resources:  -  Zhang Zhehan wiki  -  Masterlist of my posts about Zhang Zhehan  -  My ZZH info tag

[bizarrequazar]

A couple small additions:

None of Hao Jingfang’s works have ever recieved a screen adaptation, yet she was talking about this as if it was a sure thing before she had even properly started writing the book.

Prior to 813, some fans disliked her for implications she made about Gong Jun’s acting abilities, basically implying that Zhang Zhehan had had to carry him through the filming.

Can confirm I have also read some of the novel and it reads like a bad pulp from the ‘70s, including using long-outdated “science” as its basis.

Summary of Hao Jingfang's involvement in the WOH fandom:

Who is Hao Jingfang? Hao Jingfang 郝景芳 is a Science Fiction writer who won the Hugo Award for her novelette Folding Beijing back in 2016.

May 6, 2021 (two days after the WOH concert)—Hao Jingfang posted a review of WOH. She claimed the show helped her get rid of her writer's block and inspired her to continue working on her new book. She said she liked Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan and wanted them to star as the main leads of the film adaptation of said book. She said that she planned to have Word of Honor's scriptwriter, Xiao Chu, adapt the novel for screenplay.

Hao Jingfang soon started publishing chapters of the novel—titled 宇宙跃迁者 (Cosmic Jumper)—online. And everytime she would put Junzhe/LLD references on her blurbs. A huge chunk of Junzhe fans expressed support for this project.

When 813 happened, Hao Jingfang condemned Zhang Zhehan on the blurb of a newly posted chapter (without explicity naming him, but it was very obvious who she was talking about)

She said that since she was writing a story about "heroic Chinese people leading the world" it was very important to her that the actors starring in the adaptation have clean reputations. In the last line, she implies that ZZH's moral character and patriotism is lacking. She deleted it a few hours later.

A few days later, she posted a new chapter and the blurb contains more Junzhe references. Junzhe fans called her out for still using the references after she had already condemned ZZH. She deleted it and never used Junzhe references on her blurbs after this again.

The fandom stopped paying attention to her and supporting her work after 813 and she slowly disappeared from the fandom's radar. She appeared again sometime in December when Li Xuezheng was active and talking about ZZH's case. She made a post that can be read as veiled support for ZZH.

Months later at around May 2022, Hao Jingfang once again appeared in the fandom when her main weibo account was muted. She then accused GJ on her side account of being the one behind the muting of her main account. Did she provide a shred of evidence? No.

It's worth noting that prior to the muting Hao Jingfang wrote and posted an essay talking about the war in Ukraine and the COVID situation in China. These topics (especially at the time) were considered to be highly sensitive and controversial. Her being a public figure talking about these topics on weibo is the most likely reason she was muted, especially since it was clearly stated that she was muted for violating laws and regulations, and not just for community guidelines.

Fans then found out that Hao Jingfang is actually friends with the Word of Honor scriptwriter Xiao Chu and a man by the name of Zhang Peichao.

Who is Zhang Peichao? Zhang Peichao, also known as Patrick Zhang and "Doc Creepy", is a psychoanalyst based in Shenzhen who follows the teachings of Freud, believes in stuff like the Oedipus complex, asserts that homosexuality is a response to childhood trauma, encourages gay conversion therapy, etc etc. He first appeared in the fandom when WOH was still airing and published a few essays about the show. One gimmick of his is psychoanalysing the characters according to his sick and perverted views, like saying that Wen Kexing's sexuality is due to Oedipus Complex. Zhang Peichao also seems to be obsessed with the actors themselves, particularly with ZZH and the character he plays in WOH, Zhou Zishu.

TLDR; he is a creepy perverted slimeball hence the nickname "Doc Creepy"

But the reason Hao Jingfang's connection with Zhang Peichao is interesting is because he's suspected by the fandom to be the heart and soul of the Zhang Sanjian scam. And the big accounts that heavily promote Zhang Sanjian have also expressed their support for Hao Jingfang's unfounded accusations against Gong Jun.

Since she attempted (and failed) to start a smear campaign against Gong Jun, we haven't really heard from Hao Jingfang after that. The rest of the updates on this situation are from unverified sources (eg. released chatlogs) so I won't include them.

P.S. I've read about half of her novel 宇宙跃迁者 and it sucks. Don't bother wasting your time and money on it. If she's "at the forefront of Chinese sci-fi" then Chinese sci-fi is fucking doomed. There are much better sci fi works on jjwxc.

[wohdaily]

Dear Wohdaily! I have always appreciated your reblog and creativity power, it was great way to find other creators. But your recent reblog about "film about ZZH" worried me quite a bit! A year after LXZ crusade, we still don't have any news from official cn sources about him. Ppl who are sourcing info now seem to be all connected, the narratives they use are everchanging - what makes verification of authencity impossible. I know, we all want ZZH back, but looks like we need to still be careful ☔

Thank you for your message! We reblogged that post you're referring to for the translation of the video. We don't want to not reblog posts made with sincerity, and ZZH fans can and should judge these posts for themselves. I hope you understand!

[shijiujun]

山河令 | Word of Honor - Mega Masterpost

Hey guys, here’s a FULL masterpost of the following for all Shan He Ling | Word of Honor items, basically a where-to-find-what:

General - Where to Find What

Episodes - Where to Watch What

Merchandise - Stores to Look Out For

GJ & ZZH - Variety Shows, Magazines & Endorsements

♣ Updates as of 19 May 2021, updates for the GJ/ZZH sections will stop hahaha this is THE END ;-; of SHL-related promotions for em. Will only add on if more SHL merch or BTS footage comes up! ♣

(1) Novel ➩ JJWXC | Translations (Full) | No New Edition Print (For Now) - Because the first edition was printed a few years ago, the novel is 11 years old haha

(2) Drama Rec ➩ Here (I did this on the first day it aired so it’s based on the first four eps so yeah some info like where to watch is not updated but ignore that) (3) Audio Drama ➩ Here (Seasons 1 & 2, with 2 recently released)

(4) 山河令 Manhua ➩ Here (Up for two weeks and then taken down for some reason)

(5) Official Accounts to Follow ➩ 山河令 Weibo | Youku Official Twitter

(6) Wrap-Up for SHL Filming ➩ Here 

(1) Official Episodes (36 + 1 Special Ep)

➩ 山河令 on Youku (Original Simplified Chinese) - *How to Pay on Youku

➩ Word of Honor on Youku (Subtitles) - *How to Pay on Youku

➩ Word of Honor on Youku YouTube (Subtitles)

➩ 山河令 on Line TV TW (Traditional Chinese)

➩ Word of Honor on Viki (Subtitles)

➩ Word of Honor on Amazon Prime 

➩ Word of Honor on Netflix 

(2) Behind the Scenes ➩ 山河令江湖番外篇 on Youku - Partially (70%~) behind a paywall, each episode costs about 1 yuan (or if you’re in Singapore $1.50 SGD which is fucking expensive, in Indonesia it’s apparently $0.30 and in Malaysia $0.20 LMAO) - But you get about 4-8 minute long BTS cuts with original scenes released with original voices + green screens

➩ Word of Honor on Youku YouTube (Subtitles) - Definitely not full release of BTS and even if they did release everything, it’d take a while, but there are already some subbed ones on the channel, just have to do a search

(3) Noteworthy Extras

➩ Special Ep (Youku): 7 minutes long with the first 4 minutes an FMV and the actual alternate or extended ending (depending on how you see it) in the last 3 minutes - You have to pay for it on Youku (both on the CN and EN/multi-language versions), we’ll have to check this week if YouTube will have it available for free. 

In any case it’s a happy ending I suppose, do all of you know it’s a happy ending? I’m seeing people reblogging my posts with so much angst in the tags about how the ending is devastating (which I suppose it is by my interpretation anyway for Ep 36 but Ep 37′s healing properties have been spread far and wide)

➩ Ep 6 (YouTube)

➩ Ep 7 (Youku, BTS)

➩ Ep 12 (YouTube - BTS in Youku, Original Voices in Youku)

➩ Ep 17 (LINE TV TW & YouTube)

➩ Ep 20-21 (YouTube)

➩ Ep 27 (Youku) - Part 1 | Part 2

➩ Ep 35 (Youku)

➩ Official Interview with Cast

(4) 山河令 Concert - May 3 & 4 2021

➩ Livestream on Youku - *How to Pay on Youku

➩ Livestream on Youku YouTube - For international fans, think this is a cheaper option overall hahahaha

➩ Concert Trailer - Highlight 1 | Highlight 2 (I AM LOSING MY MIND)

➩➩➩ Footage now available subbed on Youku YouTube and unsubbed on Youku

➩ SHL Concert Merch - RWB Hair Accessories

(5) 山河令 Official OST

➩ Spotify

➩ YouTube Playlist

Official Stores for SHL Merch

➩ 歪瓜出品 - First store to come up with SHL merch, has shikishi boards, standees, keychains, cushions, fan, badges, puzzles and ZZS’ hairtie most recently. Also officially bought the rights to two popular WenZhou fanarts for merch, the other stores don’t have the same design. Ran by Boss Hu, a young dude who’s hilarious af on Weibo and has been trying to get permission to produce more merch and also struggling real hard to get us WKX outfit-inspired sweaters!

➩ Rua哇��� - First to come up with WenZhou dolls. Currently they have a 10cm version and also a 20cm version. 

➩ Omodoki [Via Rua哇吧] - Hairpin, cushions, glazed armour keychain, enamel pins and other cute things like bookmarks too

➩ 阿里鱼 [Via 咕噜文化] - SHL OST. Enough said. PO is over so there is no link but once they produce it the listing might go up again.

➩ 娱影文创 - SHL-themed jewellery based on ZZS’ alcohol gourd and sword Bai Yi, or WKX’s fan, also has tote bags and the glazed armour

➩ 一直娱 - Another app, items cannot be bought directly from Taobao. They’ve got mugs, hair ties, scrunchies, mouse pads, coasters and a lot of cute other things that the other stores don’t have, including customizable phone covers etc. and best part is they sell WenZhou posters from scenes from the book. They’ve also got an official photobook, but IMO the one from 吾流文化 is more worth it.

➩ 啦啦酱JK - Wen Kexing outfit-inspired kimono outerwear, and also WenZhou inspired ties and ribbons

➩ 吾流文化 - SHL Photobook (the full version with costume, set and character designs etc.) and also matches another box set of items that include a fan and standee and some other things 

➩ 月心引力 MOONLY - Perfumes in liquid and solid form. They’ve also bought the rights to a set of WenZhou fanarts, and they’re making white-haired WKX for standees and freebies etc.

➩ 优酷模玩 x TOFU - CUTEST WENZHOU FIGURINES

➩ 地澈天清 - HANFU AND DRESSES!!!! Inspired by WenZhou I WEEEEEP they look real good and are also in the affordable range - A summary of what you’ll see

➩ CanCan x Youku - Cutest WenZhou fam items!!!! With WKX white-hair

➩ Prismland - New accessories!

(1) About ZZH/GJ

➩ ZZH Weibo | ZZH Studio Weibo | ZZH Instagram

➩ GJ Weibo | GJ Studio Weibo | GJ Instagram | Wuhu-Famous

➩ Ship Name: Lang Lang Ding (LLD) or JunZhe - Although there’s no really strong RPS to be honest, most people I know use JunZhe and LLD as a mix of platonic friends + the WenZhou drama ship, or use JunZhe just to shorten their names because they appear at a lot of shows/shoots/interviews together, faster to type as well. The word Lang Lang Ding comes from 浪 (lang) which means to wander, and then 钉 (ding) as in nails, the nails that ZZS inflicted on himself.

(2) Noteworthy Interviews

➩ Goodbyes to SHL - ZZH | GJ

➩ About their Characters (Youku)

➩ Interview with ELLE TW

(3) Fansites (Check out their Photobooks - Mostly for WenZhou and also individual events and they will add on the upcoming concert footage and shots as well)

➩ 越界 (Both)

➩ 起意 (Both)

➩ 怦然心动 (ZZH) *Special mention they’ve been around for the longest so far, about 3 years, way before SHL and they’re REALLY generous

➩ 春秋荒梦 (Both)

➩ 同谋 (Both)

➩ Percent511 (ZZH)

➩ 105度 (ZZH)

➩ Plenilune (GJ)

➩ From May (ZZH)

➩ 月下思凡 (ZZH)

➩ 初霁 (ZZH)

➩ 未央 (Both)

(4) Variety Shows (Since SHL aired - Mar 21 to Apr 21)

➩ Happy Camp (Youku or YouTube) - 3 April 2020 | 24 April 2020 (GJ only)

➩ Ace vs. Ace (Youku or YouTube)

➩ Ace Actress (Youku or YouTube) - Ep 1 | Ep 2

➩ CHUANG 2021 (WeTV) - Part 1 | Part 2

(5) Magazine Shoots (Since SHL aired - Mar 21 to Apr 21)

➩ 精彩!OK (Both)

➩ Madame Figaro 

➩ ELLE/ELLEMEN - ZZH/GJ

➩ SE 南都娱乐 - GJ

➩ CHIC - ZZH

➩ Wonderland - For ZZH’s Birthday

➩ Glitz - GJ

➩ VOGUE/VOGUEME - GJ (Not cover)/ZZH (cover)

(6) Endorsements (Since SHL aired - Feb 21 to Apr 21)

➩ Both

Tom Ford - 03 Lark and other shades

Armani Giorgio - Foundation

Wahaha Yogurt

➩ ZZH

Pandora - Jewellery

NIVEA - Sunscreen

Oneleaf - Skincare

Elizabeth Arden - Skincare

Sensodyne - Toothpaste

OPPO - Phone

Joyoung - Blender

Maybelline - Superstay Foundation, Loose Powder

Ariel - Laundry detergent XD

Baidu Maps - Don’t ask this is damn weird

Clinique - SKincare

Costa Coffee - Coffee mugs

Longines - Luxury watch 

水星家纺 - Bedsheets (He’s clearing the entire household)

Ahava - Hand cream

JBL - Earphones + Speakers

Killian - Perfume

Glico - Pretz

梦幻新诛仙 - Game

➩ GJ

KFC

Bearkoko - Dietary sweets

Wolong Nuts !!!

Sisley - Skincare

Vita - Drinks brand

Centrum - Supplements

Fresh - Skincare

Tangle Teezer China - Haircare

Loreal - Sunscreen

TT语音 - Some gaming social network thing

Revelation - E-gaming

Beast - Candles, aromatherapy

Ya-Man - Men’s skincare

ROEWE - Car brand

Braun - Shavers

Plant Selected - Oat Milk

YSL - Rose perfume

Tiffany & Co.

Louis Vuitton

Nescafe

[kagehikaru]

Zhang Zhehan case sources

I just wanted to put together a post of currently (January 2023 revision) relevant articles / accounts and pages to follow when it comes to Zhang Zhehan’s still developing situation.

ZZH information archive with daily updates:

Published articles:

China’s Extreme Cancel Culture and Increasingly Hostile Online Environment (June 14, 2022, teddyfoxfluff)

Zhang Zhehan denies entering Yasukuni Shrine, says he's willing to be investigated (January 11, 2022, Lim Yian Lu)

Ennis' ZZH info tumblr posts:

Collected Information on the Zhangzhehan_Super3 Instagram Account

Masterpost of ZZH informational posts

Teddyfoxfluff's blog with clarifications of Zhang Zhehan rumors, translations and other explanations:

Clarifications for Zhang ZheHan

Flora's daily updated timeline of events during Li Xuezheng's involvement:

Justice of the People Timeline

My carrd link list with all of the above:

[jeriafterdark]

813 - The Reprise - Part 8 - Uncle Li's account deleted days before Unmute - April 8, 2022

Sigh, I just wish one time when I wake up and check social media, it'll be good news?

Masterpost here

Summary so far:

The context of what's happening may help us better understand this decision.

I reference blue here - she's gone and compiled a lot of important tweets on the case of Xie Yihua / the BDY Teashop / ZSJ.

1. Gong Jun and cyberviolence

Currently, GJ is being heavily slandered, had his private information hacked, and is pursuing legal action against all the perpetrators. Toxic ZZH solo fans are also a part of the problem here, as well as usage of "water armies" etc to spread rumors. We don't know who exactly paid for this to happen, but it's happened before during the heyday of ZZH/GJ promotion in 2021. There may also be evidence linking Xie Yihua, ZZH's ex-music manager in this.

2. Xie Yihua, ZZH's ex-music manager, takes advantage

ZZH's name is being misused and taken advantage of by his ex-music Manager, Xie Yihua ("hua-jie"). She and her relatives are in charge of a company that is producing ZZH-related merchandise, under the guise of it benefitting him (it's public information, he receives no profit from it). She actually registered trademarks for merch in March 2022, right after LXZ got muted. Curious, isn't it? (Sources in QV's tweet history, I forget which one it was, THERE'S SO MANY THINGS ABOUT XIE)

She is actively collaborating with many "fandom" personalities to promote this new brand, actively stealing ZZH's identity for her own benefit. These collaborators include but are not limited to: other solo fans, Hu Laoshi (that older writer lady who really liked ZZH during WOH), and unfortunately, Zhang Su (Susu) - ZZH's childhood friend. Susu said himself that he hasn't had much recent interaction with ZZH himself, and he thinks he's supporting his "bro" by wearing the merchandise - this is as far as anyone knows, no one knows anything about their true relationship. Perhaps it's just misguided loyalty, perhaps he has other things to gain.

Even solo fans are angry at her. A prominent solo fan (and toxic GJ anti) even came out and said that she knew Xie Yihua was going to do this months before bc Xie consulted with her and other fans about it, and felt that she was taking advantage of traumatized fans.

There's been a lot of evidence dug up by QV/Flora/Blue/etc on the bird app disproving any connection between ZZH and these impersonations. For example, this analysis on ZZH's writing style: ZSJ, the prominent ZZH impersonator, likes to write essays about random shit. But he uses érhuà, a specific way to add the r-sound to spoken Mandarin. However, ZZH is from Beijing, and his native accent - he actually doesn't know how to use this or chooses not to.

Anyway, have a look at the sources cited above for more info on that matter.

3. The muting and deletion of Uncle Li, Li Xuezhang (LXZ).

Uncle Li stood up for ZZH when no one else would, in November, he took a stand against CAPA and rallied public perception in ZZH's favor. His hashtags trended up to billions, public opinion shifted. (Refer to my masterpost for the history of this).

He then got "muted" by weibo - Weibo likes to silence people all the time. I suspect it's because Uncle Li was actually causing a huge stir behind the scenes, in the darkest parts of c-ent - that he was a threat. So they muted him on the pretense that he shouldn't be bringing up these battles during the Beijing Olympics 2022. That was February.

He was due to be unmuted by Weibo (120 day mute) this Sunday, April 10. But. Today, people have found that his account was deleted.

And this his Drama's studio account (Roving Inspection Team) posts an important message from LXZ himself:

"During this critical moment, our Director Li has something to say, "no matter what I believe in justice and the leadership of the Party towards a more just society. I'm well. Thank you for your concerns. I hope everyone focus on their real jobs, abide the law, and use our powers to repay our country, love our Party and our government! Social media will not have LXZ going forward. Thank you everyone!" - QV translation

So Uncle Li has decided to exit social media.

4. What does all of this mean?

All right all right everyone, let's stay calm and give this news time to settle. The very fact that Weibo decided to delete his account rather than let him continue SPEAKING by UNMUTING HIM, must mean that he's a very large threat to whoever is behind all of this. The curious coincidence of Xie Yihua making and promoting merch right after LXZ gets muted is interesting too. My hypothesis is this:

ZZH was banned by malicious forces working together to take him down due to some perceived threat that they believed he possessed. He was, and still is, a very strong force in c-ent. Seeing this moneymaking opportunity leave, his ex-music manager, Xie Yihua, combined talents with some of these very forces to manipulate him out of the usage of his own name, and thus milking his name for money, and giving him none of it. (Despicable). QV has already shown that Xie Yihua may have ties to CAPA itself and that she has quite the debt to repay.

The Gong Jun slander is a part of the puzzle, possibly trying to incite fans and distract from the real happenings of this illegal enterprise.

So, many people involved are jumping on this bandwagon to milk ZZH's name for more money. The most important and driving factor of corruption scandals is $$$. Follow the money, right? Well, it all leads back to ZZH's powerful name, CAPA, Xie Yihua.

Because Uncle Li was going to come back and start uniting the fandoms again, and probably start laying into Xie Yihua for acting illegally, and in DOING SO, start DISRUPTING this new money-making scheme. So? His account is deleted.

There is no doubt in my mind, and I am always full of doubts (that's due to my 10+ yrs of training as a research scientist) - that these are all impersonations - NOT the real ZZH. And that they are THREATENED by the truth coming out. AND THAT MUST MEAN THAT-

The police case IRL is still going, and probably going well. Not only that, QV, and the twitter folks are doing an excellent job in disseminating information that is actively threatening this new scam Xie Yihua is running. I'd recommend staying tuned this weekend.

Now, I could be wrong, that's definitely possible. But only time will tell. Uncle Li's legacy inspired us to continue staying strong and fighting against corruption in c-ent lol - what a strange way to live the fandom experience. As I've always seen, whenever there's a void, there will always be those who will step up and fill it.

5. Right now, it feels a bit hopeless and dark

It's always darkest before dawn - I think what we've all been through together is something that will tie us together forever lol. This fandom, through collective trauma, rebuilding self-confidence, will find the light again. I don't doubt it for a second. You are free to take breaks, do something else, come back when you want to. But I will be here, I don't think I can leave - I need to see this to the end, whatever end that may be.

As someone who loves good storytelling - Word of Honor caught my attention forever, and this IRL drama still isn't over!

I'd like to quote from one of the greatest experiences I've ever had, a story led me through darkness and despair -

"Hear - the song at creation's end. Feel - the agony of hope's demise. Think - and find your way in the darkness.

Follow your light... or fly my child, and never look back!"

-EndWalker

We smile together, suffer together, and find a way to the light at the end of the tunnel together - or we can run and leave. I'm staying.

As always, take care of yourself, and thanks for reading~

[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.

[gaywatch]

This is a new server so we are still ironing out the kinks. Have fun and feel free to share!: https://discord.gg/6fkYE3EYpc

For any and all looking to follow ZZH's case and c-ent in general, I've joined this lovely looking server that keeps incredibly up to date on its info. Will definitely be as handy as following QuelleVous on twitter (if not more since the server is a group effort). <3

[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. 

[bizarrequazar]

Collected Information about the Bangkok Concerts

This is a post collecting information and sources about the concerts held by the Zhang Sanjian scam gang on May 10th and 11th. I will keep this updated as more information comes out. Please let me know if you have any questions, corrections, or additions.

[Masterpost of my informational posts about the situation]

Lead-Up

The earliest account to promote the concert was a planted fan trying to collect information from other fans in group chats, not an “official account”. This was on April 10th, only a month prior to the day the concert would be held. Accounts officially associated with the scam would not start promotions until April 20th.

Someone who contacted the venue on April 20th was told that the hall had been booked for 05-11 but that the venue could not disclose who it was for.

On April 22nd, the Instagram made a post announcing the ticket sales using a promotional photo from 2021 that had been made for the concert the real Zhang Zhehan had been planning prior to 813. This post did not include a link for purchasing; including links to purchases increases the chance of Instagram checking an account for fraud activity.

The production company for the concert is partnered with CAPA.

Seat prices went up to 16,000 baht ($465 USD / 3200 RMB) and went on sale on April 22nd. As a comparative, the BTS member Suga held a concert with VIP tickets pricing at 6200 baht.

Within hours, scam believers were saying that tickets had sold out, but on the actual purchasing site they were instead listed as not available (ie. reserved for sale by scalpers). On May 3rd, these reserved tickets that had not been sold were made available again with less than half sold.

On April 23rd, it was announced via the Instagram that an additional concert would be held on 05-10 due to “popularity”. (As I write this, I realize that it’s odd for them to book 05-10 rather than 05-12 since it means those first comers who bought tickets for 05-11 would not get to be the first ones to see “him”.) Tickets for this became available the following day and “sold out” within ten minutes only to become available again; it’s likely this was just a glitch. 

On April 24th, a promotional video was posted for the concert using only footage from 2021 (same context as mentioned above).

Some tickets had been available as a “tour package” through a company that had a history of scamming customers. On April 26th, the tour package’s name was changed then deleted from the company’s website. On April 30th, the Taobao shop selling these packages was closed without refunds and over 400 people who had made purchases had their information leaked. Some people who purchased these packages were later left stranded at the airport for hours when they arrived.

On May 5th, the Weibo Supertopic used by scam believers, which had been filled with people reselling tickets and encouraging others to fake information for travel visas, was deleted. The following day, “official” accounts directed users to a new Supertopic that was created less than 15 minutes after the previous one disappeared despite it taking 1-3 days for Supertopics to be approved. This new Supertopic was made private on May 9th then deleted as well on May 10th.

On May 6th, photos were posted to the Instagram of “Zhang Zhehan” in what appeared to be Thailand. The following day several photos and a video were spread of “chance encounters”, originating from accounts that did not belong to fans.

The scam gang requested that people who had bought VIP tickets provide their home addresses so they could be sent tshirts and light sticks, four days prior to the first concert date. Have fun getting doxxed, I guess.

On May 8th, a new song was released to streaming sites by the scam gang despite it being only two days before the first concert. As a comparative, for his mini-concert to promote his Another Me EP in October 2020, Zhang Zhehan released only two of the three songs for streaming prior to the concert, leaving the third song 不说 to be debuted at the concert before releasing for streaming.

On May 9th, several photos and a video were posted by paparazzi of the venue being set up. It was noted that workers present in these photos were fully dressed despite there being a heatwave with outside temperatures climbing to over 40°C; it’s uncommon for AC to be on during set up, though not impossible.

On the same day, a figure fully covered in sweats and a hoodie was filmed entering the venue for rehearsals. Again: heatwave. 

May 10th

The venue looked less than half full less than ten minutes before the set start time.

A collection of some photos that look obviously off: [1] [2] [3] [4] 

Chinese CPFs keeping track of things concluded that three different impersonators were likely used, with one possibly being a woman. There were visible differences in the nose, jawline, eyebrows, Adam’s apple, butt, and stature. Furthering this, people watching reported that the costume changes were remarkably fast and there were no breaks over the course of 20 song performances (3 hours).

It’s quite likely that the cameras used for the screens inside the venue were using deepfake tech to correct for these mistakes. Yes this can be done live. It was noticed that the screens seemed to noticably lag more than is standard (example, comparison to another concert) and occassionally jumped.

Some of the audience members visible in photos look quite unexcited to be there. It’s possible that people were hired to fill empty seats, especially given that so many were left unsold that they decreased the number of seats physically present in the venue. A number of people looked to be in quite a hurry to leave afterwards. There is hearsay that some of them may have been students who were paid to attend. [translated chatlog between Chinese fans]

About an hour and a half after the concert started, the bought hashtag #Primordial Theater# suddenly appeared on the general Weibo hotsearch, reaching #14 before completely disappearing ten minutes later. Coincidentally, the Weibo administration account made a post shortly afterwards warning about celebrity impersonation fraud.

Around this time, all photos of the concert posted by Ranyi, one of the “official” accounts, were removed by Weibo and the account was later banned for violating community rules. Similar photos and a video were also removed from Xie Yihua’s Weibo accounts.

A whaler who made a post that she shook hands with him at the concert forgot to change her VPN to Thailand, with it instead saying she was in Japan. 🤡

There are rumors that some whalers who attended said it was fake and closed their accounts, I haven’t seen direct evidence of this yet. Also a rumor that one went to the police. Some whalers were reportedly afraid to speak out about what they had seen at the concert because they had given the scam their personal information.

May 11th

There was significantly less posted footage and discussion of this day. Many people who had attended gave excuses such as phones being too low on battery to film, only having blurry photos, wanted to capture the moment with their own eyes, etc.

Additional photos that look distinctly off: [1] [2] [a whole collection] (Here’s an example of full-face prosthetic makeup btw) 

Videos show that barely anyone in the audience appeared to be singing along to some songs, including Surround.

Comment about the vocals from a trained musician: “The voice doesn't feel open, it feels like it's covered with a layer of veil. Generally speaking, the voice is not clean, and secondly, the breath is not stable, and the voice is obvious. Trembling, as well as out-of-tune and treble, the treble sounds very laborious, and the out-of-tune is also sandwiched between the two notes, and the way of vocalization is not right, it is all in the throat, singing like this is easy to hurt the throat and make it hoarse.” (mtl) 

[Video comparing the singing to Zhang Zhehan’s]

A video and group photo showing Xiao Yu were passed around, with him being visibly too short in relation to “Zhang Zhehan” in the photo.

Again, many of the photos posted by Xie Yihua were removed by Weibo.

VVIP ticket holders (on both days) were able to take photos with Zhang Sanjian afterwards:  -  Reports from them say that Zhang Sanjian was quite touchy-feely and eager with hugs (😰). If you look at old photos and video of the real Zhang Zhehan, he was always very polite and often kept his hands clasped when taking photos with unfamiliar people.  -  The attendees were assigned a number so the photos could be sent to them afterwards. Standard practice for celebrity photo ops is that the photos are printed there; being sent later allows time for editing to be done.  -  It took two weeks for people to be sent their photos. Despite this, some of the editing is... not very good.

Followups

Yahoo! Taiwan published an article talking about the concert, referring to Zhang Zhehan as an “artist who insulted China”.

[Written notes] from a Twitter space discussion about the concert. Main points not previously covered here:

It was learned by Chinese CPFs that any Chinese person who wants to hold a concert outside of China needs to get written permission to do so. There is no evidence that the scam gang did this, and it’s doubtful that someone in Zhang Zhehan’s situation would do so.

If you watch the videos of Zhang Sanjian talking at the concert, it looks very performative, not a real emotional response like what you can see in videos of the real Zhang Zhehan at his past concerts. Especially at a concert after 813 and not seeing his fans for two years, wouldn’t you expect him to get quite emotional?

Likewise, there are enunciation differences and dialectic differences in how Zhang Sanjian spoke.

If the point of the concerts was to make money, they would have started promotions much earlier, it doesn’t make commercial sense to announce it at such short notice. The intent of the concert was to get attention.

Another intent seems to be to try to divide CP fans, similar to how last year they succeeded in dividing haizhe and whalers.

Following the concerts, there was a significant uptick in fans of other celebs harrassing those saying the concerts were fake—especially in c-ent fan culture, fans of other celebs can and will happily take advantage of the scam to eliminate their bias’s competition even if they are aware that it’s a scam.

This post was last edited 2023-05-24.

[zhongwans]

How ZZH's Instagram account was compromised

aka the question that's been plaguing us all since last year. But now we have enough info to put together a theory. (As always all this info is thanks to the hard work of QV and her friends. I'm just compiling)

During 813, Xie Yihua's son, Abner, said in a comment on Bilibili that ZZH's instagram account isn't actually his. It was set up by staff when ZZH was still under the management of his former boss, Yu Zheng, and that the phone number that was registered to the account doesn't belong to ZZH.

This means whoever has access to the actual phone number can reset the password and take control of the account.

Also how on earth did Abner know the details of the IG's account's security (or lack thereof)? Did his mother tell him? We already know Xie Yihua is ZSJ's handler.

On June 2020, ZZH posted on his IG after months of inactivity, and in the comments section he thanked a woman named Virginia. We can infer from their convo that he had lost access to the account sometime ago and that this Virginia helped him gain access again.

Based on ZZH's IG activity, he did stop posting for a few months and only started posted there again when he started filming WOH. That's when he thanked this Virginia person.

There's an interesting comment under Flora's tweet saying that when they first read this, their interpretation was that this Virginia helped ZZH gain access to his account by setting up a VPN for him. And I was the same. That's also how I initially interpreted it, that ZZH wasn't able to access his IG because of the Great Firewall. But with all the info that has come to light, it looks more like ZZH was unable to access it because it was set up by someone else, with a number that didn't belong to him. And Virginia probably helped him by contacting whoever it was that had access to the account in Yu Zheng's management.

So if all this time ZZH's IG account was under the control of someone from Yu Zheng's studio, how did it wind up in the hands of ZSJ's team?

Recently, Yu Zheng was seen promoting the hat from ZSJ's brand. (Photos from bluebird and QV)

It's worth noting that Yu Zheng doesn't seem to like ZZH very much. He interacted with a ZZH anti and implied that it's ZZH fault Zhao Ge did not air. So why is Yu Zheng promoting "ZZH's" brand if he doesn't even like him?

The person Yu Zheng interacted with literally has the username 'zzh liar' and is an active ZZH anti.

And for those who don't know what Zhao Ge is, it's the show where Yu Zheng asked ZZH to come back for additional shoots while he was still recovering from his knee injury. This is widely understood to be the reason why ZZH's knee was messed up for good. More details here.

Zhao Ge was already running into problems way before 813. The script had a lot of elements that likely got it into trouble with the censors, plus in December 2020 more than a hundred industry folks signed a letter calling for a boycott against Yu Zheng and another person for being notorious plagiarists and all around shitty human beings. If it's not the script that sank Zhao Ge's chances of airing, then it's Yu Zheng's awful reputation as a plagiarist amongst his peers. Even before 813, the chances of Zhao Ge airing were not looking good.

Yu Zheng was brought to court by Taiwanese author and producer Qiong Yao for plagiarizing one of her novels, and a Beijing court later ruled in her favor. He was ordered to pay her millions. So you know...Yu Zheng is quite literally a criminal. That along with the script is probably why Zhao Ge will never see the light of day. ZZH should actually be the angry one here because his knee was pretty much ruined forever just for a shitty drama that will never even air.

A document that was circulated amongst ZZH fans last year and associated with him can also be linked back to a lawyer that once worked on Yu Zheng's legal counsel. Coincidence? Maybe. But it's interesting how many times his name comes up in relation to ZSJ.

And this is just personal speculation but I wonder if Yu Zheng was pissed when ZZH blew up after he was no longer within his management, and he could no longer reap the benefits of ZZH's fame for himself. Remember during the WOH concert ZZH mentioned that a lot of old friends suddenly came up to him after WOH's success, asking for all sorts of favours and whatnot, and then him apologizing for not being able to attend to them all. Looking back on that, it's interesting that a lot of people involved in the scam had more or less a connection with ZZH in the past. The Chens from the teashop, Xie Yihua, Zhang Su, Xiao Chu Nada, etc. And now Yu Zheng.

So yeah this is it. Yu Zheng's involvement with ZSJ was the last piece of the mystery behind the compromised IG account.

[chalkrevelations]

Word of Honor, Episode 30. STILL A LOT. This one got long.

(Spoilers. Scroll away and come back later, if you need to.)

Yeah, so, A-Xiang and I are crying again. At least they’re good, cathartic tears, this time? Poor Cao Weining – he continues trying to make sense of all this (It’s all a misunderstanding, right? My good friend Wen Kexing was framed, right? He can’t possibly be the terrifying master of the Ghost Valley, and you can’t possibly be his henchwoman, right?), but nothing he knew is true anymore. Nothing except his faith in A-Xiang. I know you’re good, he tells her. I won’t fail you. And they do make this explicit here, with him saying, “I made a promise I will never fail you in my life, not even once.” I’m flailing on the couch, at this point. Come here, my little cinnamon roll, and let me squeeze the stuffing out of you. And oh. Oh. It just hit me that a girl who was raised by the Department of the Unfaithful (as well as WKX) has found a man who will vow this to her and mean it. Also, I don’t know if this is the closest we’re going to get to this theme made explicit with Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing, but Cao Weining and Gu Xiang continue to act as proxy here for the m/m couple that has to be more circumspect. (Also, I would compare the way this promise, spoken out loud, bookends this ep – Cao Weining’s heart once again offered here, at the beginning, and the undertones of betrayal in Xie Wang’s words to Zhao Jing at the end, but we’ll get to Xie’er in a bit.)

Digging into our continuing parallels, I said a bit back - Ep 26? sometime before Wen Kexing’s identity had the ultimate reveal in the confrontation with Ye Baiyi, at least - that Zhou Zishu was beyond “you don’t fail me and I won’t fail you” into “even if you do fail me, I won’t fail you.” That’s where Cao Weining is now, knowing (finally) what A-Xiang’s been hiding from him, as ZZS knew about the Ghost Valley even before it was actually spoken out loud. Even if A-Xiang is there to infiltrate his sect, even if she’s helped cause all this death, Cao Weining will follow her into death and reincarnate with her to stay with her and protect her forever. (Ugh. My heart. Cao-dage, how are you like this?) Last ep, watching WKX’s frantic efforts to save Han Ying, I think there was some callback to the Four Sages of Anji, but I also pointed to what I saw as a callback to the paired conversations in Eps 22/23, when Cao Weining tells A-Xiang to be more careful because he knows she’ll feel bad if she kills an innocent accidentally, and ZZS tells WKX he’s trying to protect him from more sins on his hands. This ep, there’s a literal flashback to that Cao Weining/Gu Xiang conversation in Ep 22. I also want to go back to the interminable infodump in the Longyuan Cabinet cave in Eps 19/20, where - similar to Cao Weining finally learning and accepting who A-Xiang is in this ep - Zhou Zishu has finally put together all (well, most) of the pieces, and he makes it clear that he knows (at least part of) who WKX is by calling him “Zhen Yan” to his face. The color palettes for the two couples match in these scenes – slightly more saturated and intense for the older couple, but lavender for WKX and A-Xiang, blue for ZSS and Cao Weining; we also have an enthusiastic hug that’s met by a hesitant response. Although roles are reversed in the hug – A-Xiang hugging Cao Weining, ZZS hugging WKX - the way they shot Cao Weining’s response in this ep, hesitant hands finally going around A-Xiang’s back, is almost exactly the same framing and movements as WKX’s response to ZZS’s hug in Ep 20 (7:37 in Ep 20, 9:00 in Ep 30). I’m just sayin’.

Also, I might or might not have rewound three times to watch Cao Weining wipe the tears off A-Xiang’s face and her responding radiant smile. You can’t prove anything.

The other big parallel I see in this ep is a return to the ZZS/Prince Jin and Xie Wang/Zhao Jing relationships. Everyone is telling their creepy gaslighting mentor/parent figures to fuck off in this episode, apparently. (We even (kind of) get to see WKX do this, seeing the scene of him in the aftermath of killing the past master of Ghost Valley in flashback as A-Xiang tells her tale to Cao Weining). I have to think it’s not just coincidence that the ZZS/Prince Jin and Xie’er/Awful Yifu confrontations play out in the same ep. Not to mention the fact that both happen in the middle of a big fk’n mess, lit. and fig., that ZZS and Xie’er have made of not just their physical surroundings, but their Awful Prince’s/Yifu’s plans.

So, first off, we cut to Bad-Touch Prince Jin. I knew it, you creepster (and ZZS knew it too!). And yet, I still cannot believe you. You kidnap him, try to kill everyone in Four Seasons Manor for the second time around, burn his house, plan to get him drunk and take advantage of him, lit. and fig., and now you’re fondling his sword? Eurgh. There’s definitely an air of “bathe him, dress him, and bring him to my chambers” with ZZS at the beginning of this scene, even if we’re actually in the throne room and not any bedchamber (not that I don’t also enjoy the leather bracers-updo-evil collar look on ZZS, so I’ll give Prince Jin points for good taste, at least). Prince Jin pulls out the poor yifu prince card, because it’s lonely being in charge, you know. And now, we’re back to how could you leave me. Aaaaand then, he blows off Han Ying (Han Ying!), the last sort-of vestige of ZZS’s Four Seasons shidi, and oh, boy. You done fk’ed up now.

So, I love how clearly done with all this ZZS is, from the first minute we see him this ep. I keep hearing this role was a departure from Zhang Zhehan’s norm, and while I plan to check out some of his earlier work, I’m honestly glad I got to see him first in this. I hope it opens up some more doors for him. I keep being struck at various moments by his physicality as Zhou Zishu, which has a weight behind it that just … ah. I keep failing to put it into words, but it gives a substance to the character that makes ZZS feel real, and it’s not particularly in his big action fighting scenes that it keeps hitting me, like you might expect when it’s something about the way he moves and carries himself. I started turning this over in my head last week, when I talked about how I felt that shout at WKX in the wake of the fight with Ye Baiyi in Ep 27, moreso than any of the other various shouty characters we’ve met in the show, even when their yelling is louder and more sustained. There was something visceral about ZZH’s performance in that moment. It reminded me of an earlier scene when Wen Kexing’s been drunk under the table by Ye Baiyi but insists that he’s fine, just fine, and Zhou Zishu, who’s trying to make him go to bed, makes a feint at him and then hits him on the shoulder. (Hold on … I just went and found it, it’s at 37:19 in Ep 17.) Not just the hit, but particularly the feint preceding it struck me the same way Ep 27’s shout did. It’s something that maybe comes through strongest when ZZH is doing leashed anger, where the character’s raw emotion is simultaneously supposed to be controlled but leaking through – that contrast seems to showcase what I’m talking about. Or maybe not just anger, but any really strong emotion, because I got it in this ep, among other places, from the little lip tremble as ZZS drinks some of the wine before he pours one out for his dead homies, as well as from the way he works his jaw to get himself back under control after bringing up all his dead shidi. Also the tiny lip quirk and deliberate breathing while Prince Jin disparages Han Ying. (Not the snarl when he’s faced off with Prince Jin holding his sword blade right before the cheesy cut to close-up split-screen, though. That one didn’t hit right, unfortunately.) ANYWAY, this whole throne room scene with Prince Jin is basically porn for me, with ZZS simmering the entire time until he finally breaks and everything explodes. God, the only thing it’s missing is actual tears.

Cut from the scene of ZZS literally striking back at Prince Jin to what’s going to be – at least it looks like – Xie Wang’s breaking point. Xie’er and his henchwomen seem genuinely surprised that Awful Yifu is the one who shows up as reinforcement for the Gentle Wind Sword Sect, and I’m still trying to untangle all the various strings of this web. I don’t know if I’ve missed some things, or not put something together properly – I feel like Cao Weining, all “Slow down, I can’t keep up!” Anyway, we get a very public repudiation of Xie’er by his Awful Yifu, which is interesting because nobody is supposed to know they’re connected in the first place, right? Yet, clearly Mo Huaiyang does, and no one in his sect – all of them standing around in the subsequent cave scene - seem to react with any kind of shock to the info that Zhao Jing is Xie’er’s yifu. Aren’t we supposed to be hiding this from everyone? So that not only the jianghu but Prince Jin doesn’t know it (yet)? Anyway, as well as getting slapped, Xie’er gets a couple of places with good little maniacal laughs in. Given the apparent surprise at Awful Yifu’s appearance, I’m assuming this was something Xie Wang really didn’t expect, and this public repudiation is the breaking point? Or that Awful Yifu hid this alliance from him? Not that this attack on the Gentle Wind Sword Sect was part of a deliberate long-game to fuck over his Awful Yifu by fucking up this alliance? Anyway, Xie’er has learned his lesson about his Awful Yifu – or at least he says he has - so maybe there will be some deliberate fuckery of Awful Yifu going forward from here? Have you learned your lesson, little gambler? Finally?

I do have to warn you, Xie Wang: Do not touch A-Xiang. This is a hard limit. You will be dead to me.

Scattered other things:

Duan Pengju, omg, this asshole. I love how he just gets dismissed from the throne room like a lackey once he’s delivered the guy Prince Jin actually wants. I love how ZZS says, out loud, with everyone in the throne room to hear it, why would I leave this loser in charge of anyone I cared about? I looooove how utterly dismissive of him ZZS is even as ZZS is literally being tortured by him. ZZS’s mockery and whole air of how he’s just ever so bored with all this torture is delightful. However, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE ENDING THE EPISODE THERE, SHOW. I’m going to have to wait until at least Thursday to find out what happens??? (This is d/t work schedule, which is 12-hour shifts on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, leaving no time to watch as the next eps upload, if I want to sleep).

I don’t know if this is deliberate, but when we cut to sleeping Wen Kexing near the beginning of the ep … we’ve just seen him in his very red robes as Ghost Valley master in A-Xiang’s flashbacks, and I notice that what he’s wearing now – it’s not the pinkie pink of the robe he wore to match the winter plum blossom forest, but it’s not blood red, either. It’s muted, something in-between, kind of salmon colored.

Bwahaha, dying at our two little foodies in the cave being the first ones to say “Hey, somebody’s cooking something!” Also, A-Xiang, my clever girl. You know to avoid letting Xie Wang or Zhao Jing (or Liu Qianqiao?) see you. What are you putting together in your head and coming up with about this tangled web of alliances? Also, I see you call Cao-dage over to your hiding spot. Are the two of you still there to hear the conversation between Zhao Jing and Mo Huaiyang, and how Mo Huaiyang and Zhao Jing are working together with the Scorpions and the Ghost Valley?

Last but not least, no intention to leave Jin Palace alive, ZZS? I seem to recall you telling your boyfriend, the terrifying master of the Ghost Valley, that there would be time for him to rescue you once he woke up from his nap. Is it possible you were lying so he wouldn’t feel bad? Mn. Possible. But I also remember the way you yelled at WKX over his plan to get himself killed and leave you alone, and I remember the fact that you won’t fail him, and I have to wonder if your plan really was to die, or if you’re bluffing when you say that to Prince Jin.

[accio-victuuri]

Ppl speculating something brewing between HJY and XZ is just absurd. GG worked with Darren Wang too but I din't see anyone shipping the them.

But just coz HJY is another BL actor, it makes sense?

In that case, imagine the speculations or assumptions that can arise from ZZH, HJY AND WYB!

Also I stanned HJY before TU so I know he's very casual and a social person. He's like playful, coy and protective over all his co-stars, including Timmy Xu, Dilreba and so on.

Hey Anon! Thanks for the info! Yeah. I think it’s because of the ‘he acted in a BL drama’. LOL at the trio with Web! 😂

[shijiujun]

tbh i think a good way to explain to i-fans why c-netz are so mad at zzh is to use nazis in place of japanese army, because i-fans are much more familiar with western history than chinese history. so many seem to think this is some overreaction but they personally wouldn't support a western celeb who did the same thing with nazis.

ifans, please read: imagine a celeb went to a pro-hitler, goebbels and mengele shrine and took smiling pictures there. then, they went to a wedding and took photos with someone who openly said the holocaust was a good thing. would you accept that this person was just a harmless idiot who didn't know what ww2 was? or would you think they were a rightwing freak? or would you think they were some edgy douchebag who thought he was being funny or ironic?

this is why everyone is so angry at him. judging by weibo comments, some people do think he's truly a bad guy, but a lot more people think he's just stupid and trying to be edgy. no one, absolutely no one, thinks he was truly ignorant of ww2 war crimes and was just accidentally at the shrine.

so yeah, ifans, if you're sat there wondering why everyone is "overreacting", i want you to think of a western celeb (let's pick ed sheeran) and imagine what people would say if he went to a nazi shrine and started hanging out with nigel farage. you wouldn't consider it an overreaction for him to be dropped from any sponsorships he has, right? it's the same thing.

(sorry for using your ask to write this essay, min, but i saw your post about this screencapped on twitter so i figured other people might come here looking for info and i figured i'd head them off before they all annoy you)

oops sorry just saw this! oh the shitstorm has already started hahaha on mine, but thanks for the above!

[naanima]

@lilian-cho

For your viewing pleasure // research info Zhang Zhehan's body circa 2015/16 (NIF era). Because why the fuck not.

As far as I know all of these were during Demon Girl (半妖倾城), which according to his fans was really really really bad.

But he hot, and it is like softcore porn. So, yay. As you can see, ZZH actually slimmed down quite a lot for the role of Zhou Zishu.

According to his long term fans, apparently he has been shirtless in EVERY single drama where he played a significant part in?!?

So much fuck-boy energy. Lololololols.

Thankfully balanced out by his limited brain capacity to only love acting and one sport (basketball before, and golf now).

Also, I cannot fucking believe I did this post.

[jjheejz]

What is Fate?

[Part 5/5] WOH concert and after

WOH Concert (3-4 May 2021)

- The fact that they even have a grand scale wedding ceremony drama concert

- GJ did not attend ZZH's first solo concert, but both of them have their own concert together for the first time

- Chinese have a traditional tradition of calculating auspicious dates (metaphysics). It can be calculated commonly for when to move in to a new house, bury a deceased, open a business, hold a wedding etc. 3 - 4 May were auspicious dates for Wedding and marriage registration.

- The concert was held at a stadium in Su Zhou, but the entire city was blatantly supporting everything and anything about WenZhou like it's New Year's Eve. Eg. Building, helicopter banners, bus advertising, drone show, lantern display, subway endorsement, city's official account using WOH quotes applying to safety regulations, curated photo booths, life sized figurine of WenZhou (YouKu kept it as prideful display at their office entrance after the concert), crowds of fan support and cheers etc.

Drone show snippet:

- Both of them were given the center of attention for the entire 2 days of WOH concert. It was WenZhou/JunZhe concert in disguise as WOH concert.

= This gave them both the opportunity to show what they feel for each other openly (whether as WenZhou themselves or as JunZhe)

- To have a stage to be what they are* and have fun, while being accepted and greatly supported by a sea of Mountain people (山人), no matter how one sees it, it's an extremely touching form of support for them

*Disclaimer: obviously they weren't 100% themselves, mindful of the fact that this stage was monitored by important media bodies (not exactly sure what kind, but somewhat government-ish regulators I presume), but their gaze and body language is just as natural as what they are.

= The fact that the country in general is not open to this kind of relationship, yet they were in a place where most of the people were supportive.

- Yes, there were some important bodies (or eyes) during the 2 days concert. Which was why all the actors and actresses were warned. For whatever reason they chose to continue in their own way, it's daring consensus of support. And for whatever reason the regulators didn't do anything (there weren't any big news at all from them), is also a miracle.

- They had the opportunity to sing a duet on stage, live. For the audience, GJ's singing skills started from November 2020, ZZH likes GJ's singing, and 5 months later, they have a duet on stage.

- Official acknowledgement of cpfans

= First in history where the recognition was officially verbally mentioned in-person. You can say this fate belong to the fans.

- ZZH had the opportunity to vow a promise to GJ witnessed by X million of people in the stadium and those watching livestream, that he will always be there for GJ. He did not only vow as a companion to GJ, in ZZH terms, he actually vowed "I will love you forever" [ZZH on 'love' saga]

- The in-ear mic had the voices of the backstage crew's coordination. ZZH took it off early, but GJ was still wearing them during the exchange. That itself is a stressor as the backstage coordinator must have warned extremely sternly and loudly and GJ was shakingly nervous. When ZZH was giving this vow (which in the concert BTS release, we see him say "Don't I have a segment to speak to WKX?" Note, it's WKX, not GJ), the backstage crew was cursing and swearing when ZZH went with "I have things to say to Jun Jun." (as WenZhou, they have a disguise/a shield, with direct GJ, it's just...danger danger red light) Try imagine being the backstage crew and going all mad and crazy over what ZZH said that moment.

= ZZH's daring courage to say things like these was probably built up from his sportsmanship, hot-blooded passion from his past. It's beyond my peasant mortal's comprehension.

- Supporting Cast shenanigans and warnings for them, link here

After

- After the concert was over, solo fans expect the main leads to break up even as co-workers or say, being even in the same frame. This expectation is extremely strong in the industry for years. The same goes for JunZhe despite this time many are cpfans but they do know this prevalent expectation. So imagine crying over the vow and the next moment, just hours after the concert, JunZhe is happily sticking to each other singing in the same frame as if they did nothing big a few hours ago. They sang a phrase together with this lyrics: 30% arranged by fate/god, 70% arranged by hard work. A love for perseverance will lead to success/winning.

= Debunking expectations, breaking many years of industry's common consensus successfully. They invented after after-sales CP service.

- Stage, endorsements, film scripts, major public events, variety shows, top brands etc. Poured in, and although it's all solo events, we see traces of the other half.

- Aside from that, we now see social media exchanges (almost always for the other half), brand endorsement captions (almost always about the other half), official brands partnering with each other because of them (despite being legit competitors) etc.

- The word 'support' or at least 'love seeing them together', is the general reason CPfans are fans of them. But to both GJ and ZZH, it really goes beyond the word itself. Acknowledging is just the beginning. ZZH does take LLD to heart and GJ is very interactive with LLDs in his own quirky way.

*From the [Star X Moon Saga], to the developed feelings because of this drama and actually accepting their feelings, to the fact that the pitiful budgeted amount for WOH was not well received at all before it was broadcasted but boomed records in the end, to the open shipping support by the production crew/casts/general media/fans/brands/cities, to the climbing successes and mountainous opportunities opened for GJ and ZZH overnight, everything was unprecedented and unexpected, but they all dramatically happened to the two of them in a span of one year.

Bonus

A fan went to a temple to check out JunZhe's fate. You can only check for one person and she checked for GJ. She passed her result to a Master and he immediately tell her to give up because that person is taken and turned away. The fan quickly corrected and say she's actually checking for someone else, the master turned back and checked her read again and said, everything is aligned to their favour, it's blessed by the Gods. (If I can find the full article again, will add on more but that's the gist, surfing in China made me love Google's search engine algorithm so much more).

A few other fans who 抽签 (Chinese praying tradition - simply put: draw a stick of varying luck). They all got the bestest of luck for JunZhe. (Reading the readings, I'm just...in awe...I...)

= Borrowing the meaning of another famous novel title, to me, this is a true "Heaven's official blessing" pair.

-------End of series-------

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

🌸Part 1 - Before filming here

🌸Part 2 - During filming here

🌸Part 3 - After filming, before broadcast here

🌸Part 4 - Broadcast/Promotion period here

🌻Upcoming: JunZhe Saga series

🌻[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! :)