#three generations of chuang

[boyuans]

280423 张紫宁ZINING Weibo Update

#zhang zining #bo yuan #omby #li xinyi #aries' updates #three generations of chuang #two of them debuted #li xinyi almost debuted :(

[justforbooks]

Phil Baines, who has died aged 65 of multiple system atrophy, was one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary British graphic design. His work included books, posters, art catalogues and lettering for three important London monuments – the memorial to the Indian Ocean tsunami in the grounds of the Natural History Museum and the 7 July memorials in Hyde Park and Tavistock Square, commemorating the victims of the 2005 London bombings. These projects point to Baines’s defining attributes: a scholarly appreciation of letterforms, a deep-rooted respect for materials and a love of collaboration.

Such attributes can also be seen in Baines’s cover designs for the Penguin Great Ideas series (2004-20), works by “great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries” that gave him a canvas on which to display his typographic philosophy. The Saint Augustine – Confessions of a Sinner cover, for instance, uses ancient ecclesiastical letterforms and yet looks superbly modern. For Chuang Tzu — The Tao of Nature, Baines arranged letters to suggest a butterfly in flight. David Pearson, one of two art directors for the series, described how his “often-oblique approach gave the series a crucial added dimension”.

Born in Kendal, Cumbria, Phil was one of the three children of Martin Baines, a construction contract manager, and Joan (nee Quarmby), a horticulturalist. Growing up in a Roman Catholic household, he began studies for the priesthood at Ushaw College, County Durham. During the holidays from Ushaw he worked at the Guild of Lakeland Craftsmen, Windermere, and from there his interest and confidence in art grew.

At the start of his fourth year, he quit Ushaw, and in 1980 began a year’s study on the foundation course at Cumbria College of Art and Design. In 1982 he moved to London and enrolled on the graphic design course at St Martin’s School of Art (now Central Saint Martins), where he met Jackie Warner, whom he married in 1989, and where he was among a talented cohort, many of whom went on to study, as he did, at the Royal College of Art.

Richard Doust, then leader of the first-year course at St Martins, recalled the portfolio Baines submitted for admission: “I was so excited … I was sure he was going to be someone very special. He quickly established his individuality. He made typography and particularly letterpress his own territory.”

Baines was fiercely individual – he did not join schools of thought or align himself with fashionable camps. Instead, he built a creative practice based on his belief in the “humanist” qualities of the English typographic tradition.

His contemporaries were using the computer to bring a new complexity to graphic communication. Smart software allowed for the overlapping and interweaving of text in ways that echoed the ecclesiastical manuscripts that Baines admired so much. He was no Luddite, and used the computer himself, yet his work invariably retained an element of the handmade.

Paradoxically, his work was greatly admired by the new generation of digital designers. Neville Brody, for instance, included Baines’s work in his experimental typography publication FUSE, produced to demonstrate the malleability of the new digital typography. Baines’s work does not look out of place among the other contributors, many of them American typography radicals whose multi-layered layouts were driven by modish theories of deconstruction and poststructuralism.

In 1988 he returned to Central Saint Martins (CSM), as part of the faculty. In staff meetings his willingness to say the unsayable was a frequent cause for consternation among colleagues. To his students he preached a doctrine of “object-based learning”, a typically contrarian notion in the age of screen-based and virtual graphic design. He was appointed a professor in 2006 and retired in 2020 as emeritus professor.

Despite his commitment to teaching, Baines did not give up his work for clients. As well as designing books for leading publishers, he worked for the Crafts Council and the Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, and designed the signage for CSM’s King’s Cross campus. He designed exhibition catalogues for Matt’s Gallery, south-west London, relishing the creative three-way collaboration that existed between the gallery’s director, Robin Klassnik, exhibiting artists and himself.

He wrote books that contributed to the understanding of visual communication: Type & Typography (with Andrew Haslam, 2002), Signs: Lettering in the Environment (with Catherine Dixon, 2003) and Penguin by Design: A Cover Story 1935-2005 (2005), the last of which helped establish Penguin cover art as one of the most important bodies of graphic art in British design history.

With Dixon, he co-curated the Central Lettering Record, an archive of typographic history housed at CSM, and in November 2023 his work was celebrated in an exhibition, Extol: Phil Baines Celebrating Letters, at the Lethaby gallery, CSM. He was appointed as the Royal Mint advisory committee’s lettering expert in 2016, and reappointed in 2021 to advise on the integration of lettering on new coins and medals, with consideration given to special issues and the accession of King Charles to the throne. For this work, in 2023 he was awarded the Coronation medal.

Baines was an enthusiastic runner and cyclist, and loved music, especially the Manchester post-punk band the Fall. He was a collector of signs, lettering, and railwayana, and built his own studios at his home in Willesden Green, north-west London. A few years before his retirement he moved to Great Paxton, Cambridgeshire, where he took up bellringing.

He is survived by Jackie and their two daughters, Beth and Felicity, and by his father.

🔔 Philip Andrew Baines, graphic designer, born 8 December 1958; died 19 December 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

#just for books #Phil Baines #in memoriam

[dialectrician]

Chuang argues that untill the nineteenth century there was essentially no such thing as China, the word didn't exist and neither did the concept. For example:

It seemed really hard to believe to me, that there was no concept for this huge state which had existed for nearly two thousand year in roughly the same location, and which, though it often changed dynasties or split apart, always ended up reforming.

But looking at the timeline of imperial China, the periods of division are much longer than I thought, the "ephemeral" divided states often lasted generations or centuries, and some Chinese dynasties only ruled the entirety of "China proper" for a very brief period of time.

The period considered "golden ages" are almost the same as the period of lasting rule of the whole of "China proper" by a native Chinese dynasty. That means the latter is quite rare.

Starting in 221 BCE we have the founding of the Qin Empire, which lasts only fourteen years, after five years of division comes the Han Empire, which except for a brief interuption by the Xin Dynasty rules continuously untill 22O CE.

Then we have the Three Kingdoms period which ends with the Jin unification in 280 CE. But though the Jin Dynasty would last longer, they only ruled the whole of China for a pathetic 24 years. Then there's the Sixteen Kingdoms period, followed by the Northern and Southern Dynasties period.

In 581 CE there's the founding of the Sui dynasty, which is replaced by the Tang Dynasty after only 37 years. The Tang would last 289 years.

In 907 CE the Five dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period begins. In 979 the Song dynasty is founded. I wasn't sure if the Northern Song should be counted as a united China. They ruled most of it, but there were still two other dynasties, the Western Xia and Liao. Ultimately I decided it didn't count because Xia and Liao, althought founded by non-chinese, seem to have been "Chinese-style" empires and controlled some territories in China proper (including Beijing!). By the Southern Song, The Liao had been replaced by the Jin (unrelated to the previous Jin dynasty) and the Song had lost contol of even more "core Chinese" territory. Then the Mongols show up, and do their usual thing.

This leads to the creation of the Yuan dynasty in 1279, which only rules for 89 years before beeing replaced by the Ming in 1368, which are then conquered by the Qing Dynasty in 1644, which rules China until 1912.

I think you can roughly periodize the imperial era as such:

There's the "Old Empire" from 221BCE to 220 CE, which is mostly just the Han dynasty. That's 441 years.

A "First Intermediate Period" of almost continuous division (the cringe Jin basically don't count) from 220 CE to the Sui unification of 581. That's an enormous 361 years.

A "Middle Empire"frome 581 to 907 (326 years total), which is mostly just the Tang dynasty.

A "Second Intermediate Period" from 907 to 1279 (372 years!) where again there is aways several states in China proper.

The "New Empire" from 1279 to 1912 (633 years), which lasts much longer than the other twos, but more than half of the time it is under a foreign dynasty.

(I am well aware of how presumptuous it is to make up my own periodization of Chinese history based off glancing at Wikipedia)

Overall, from 221 BCE to 1912 CE, (2133 years):

China is united under a "native" dynasty for only 1062 years (50% of the time).

It is united under a "foreign" dynasty for 357 years (17% of the time)

It is several states for 714 years (33% of the time).

There were only three "native" dynasties which ruled the whole of China for a non-trivial amount of time (Han, Tang and Ming), and one "foreign" dynasty (the Qing).

So I guess it's plausible than people would not have conceived of "mainland East Asia (as Chuang calls it) as one country which is periodically divided, but instead several countries which are occasionnally united.

#history #china #east asia #chuang

[fumpkins]

New encryption tool is designed to thwart quantum computers

An encryption tool co-created by a University of Cincinnati math professor will soon safeguard the telecommunications, online retail and banking and other digital systems we use every day. Credit: Andrew Higley/UC

An encryption tool co-created by a University of Cincinnati math professor will soon safeguard the telecommunications, online retail and banking and other digital systems we use every day.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology chose four new encryption tools designed to thwart the next generation of hackers or thieves. One of them, called CRYSTALS-Kyber, is co-created by UC College of Arts and Sciences math professor Jintai Ding.

“It’s not just for today but for tomorrow,” Ding said. “This is information that you don’t want people to know even 30 or 50 years from now.”

Ding’s algorithm was designed to withstand probing from quantum computers, which harness the power of quantum mechanics to speed calculations. The faster the calculations, the more quickly a security system can be breached.

“Given enough time, you can decrypt any system,” Ding said. “But if it takes 10,000 years, nobody cares.”

The institute, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, selected CRYSTALS-Kyber among three other tools.

Symmetric encryption uses math to protect sensitive electronic information, from the texts we send to financial documents we share. Public-key systems help the sender and receiver to create a shared secret key, which is used to encrypt and decipher data to deter uninvited third parties.

“The implications are very profound,” Ding said. “Without a modern encryption system, we don’t have the internet. We don’t have secure communications. No online banking. No software updates. Our whole digital society relies on modern cryptography.”

Among the advantages NIST cited for CRYSTALS-Kyber was its efficiency.

“It can’t be too slow,” Ding said. “You don’t want lag time. You want to read your message immediately.”

Likewise, you don’t want the encryption to take up valuable computer storage.

The federal agency also chose three algorithms to verify people’s identities during digital transactions.

“The sister of Kyber is called Dilithium, which is used for authentication. They’re used together sometimes and sometimes they’re used separately,” Ding said.

The names might ring familiar to fans of “Star Trek” and “Star Wars.” Kyber crystals power lightsabers while dilithium crystals power the warp drive of the USS Enterprise. Ding credited his collaborators for the colorful names.

“Encryption is not as easy to understand as ‘Star Wars,'” he joked.

The need for improved cybersecurity can’t be overstated, said Richard Harknett, chairman of UC’s Center for Cyber Strategy and Policy.

“Quantum technology has the potential to undermine the fundamentals of how we securely exchange digital data,” Harknett said. “Professor Jintai Ding has been a leader in this field for decades and has worked consistently to solve this looming threat. He and his team have provided NIST with a solution that will benefit global security.

“We are fortunate to have Dr. Ding, whose vision has driven cryptography to a new level. UC talks about next lives here. Dr. Ding has proven it does.”

The standards adopted by the United States often become the de facto standards around the world, Ding said. So the new cybersecurity could have far-reaching implications.

Ding took a circuitous route to studying cryptography. His expertise as a tenured professor of math at UC was in quantum algebra. But in 2001, he read about a quantum computer created by MIT physicist Isaac Chuang.

“I was amazed. I immediately realized that we have to replace all the existing key code systems protecting our data,” he said. “I gave up what I was doing and switched to cryptography. UC gave me a lot of support.”

Implementing the new security is expected to take years because it’s not as easy as installing a software patch. But its protections could last for a generation.

Even as encryption tools get more powerful, others are working on new attacks to crack them.

“This is a game we’ll keep playing,” Ding said. “We can never be complacent.”

NIST announces first four quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms

Provided by University of Cincinnati

Citation: New encryption tool is designed to thwart quantum computers (2022, August 26) retrieved 26 August 2022 from https://techxplore.com/news/2022-08-encryption-tool-thwart-quantum.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

New post published on: https://livescience.tech/2022/08/26/new-encryption-tool-is-designed-to-thwart-quantum-computers/

[mystlnewsonline]

Bank Employee - Diape Seck - Sentenced - Fraud

Former Bank Employee Diape Seck Sentenced to Three Years in Federal Prison for Fraudulently Opening Bank Accounts as Part of a Larger Bank Fraud Scheme Targeting Churches and Religious Organizations. Accepted Cash Bribes to Open the Accounts From Co-Conspirators Engaged in Check Fraud and Rental Car Fraud Schemes Greenbelt, MD (STL.News) U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang today sentenced Diape Seck, age 29, of Rockville, Maryland, to three years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in a bank fraud scheme in which he and his co-conspirators obtained or attempted to obtain almost $2 million by fraud, including the theft of checks from the mail of churches and religious institutions.  Judge Chuang also ordered Seck to pay restitution in the amount of $1,708,446.49 and to forfeit $114,647.50.  A federal jury convicted Seck on February 24, 2023. The sentence was announced by Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland; Postal Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey D. Pittano of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG); Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; Chief Terry Sult of the Cary, North Carolina, Police Department; and Sheriff Dusty Rhoades of the Williamson County, Tennessee, Sheriff's Office. According to the evidence presented at his eight-day trial, from at least January 2019 to January 2020, Seck, a customer service representative with Bank A, conspired with Mateus Vaduva, Marius Vaduva, Vlad Baceanu, Nicolae Gindac, Florin Vaduva, Marian Unguru, Daniel Velcu, Vali Unguru, and others to commit bank fraud.  Specifically, the evidence showed that Seck fraudulently opened bank accounts in fake identities in exchange for cash bribes.  Co-conspirators engaged in fraud that included fraud involving rental cars and the deposit of checks stolen from the incoming and outgoing mail of churches and other religious institutions into the fraudulently opened bank accounts.  The co-conspirators then withdrew the funds and spent the fraudulently obtained proceeds. As detailed in the trial evidence, Diape Seck facilitated the opening of hundreds of bank accounts at Bank A for his co-conspirators, who used purported foreign identities, often but not universally Romanian, to fraudulently open bank accounts with him at Bank A, as well as bank accounts at other victim financial institutions.  Seck opened accounts for co-conspirators without their presence in the bank, without verifying identity information, and opened accounts for co-conspirators who opened multiple accounts at a time under different identities.  To conceal his improper activities, Seck opened accounts for the co-conspirators at the same time, he conducted legitimate bank activities.  The co-conspirators paid Seck up to $500 in cash in exchange for each of the fraudulent bank accounts he opened. According to court documents and witness testimony, Seck violated numerous bank policies in opening approximately 412 checking accounts in a one-year period from approximately January 2, 2019, through January 3, 2020, relying predominantly on purported Romanian passports and driver's license information.  Checks payable to and written from churches and other religious institutions from around the country were deposited into many of the 412 checking accounts, which were not opened in the names of the churches. The co-conspirators fraudulently negotiated the stolen checks by depositing them into the victim's bank accounts, including the fraudulent accounts opened by Seck at Bank A, often by way of automated teller machine (ATM) transactions.  After depositing the stolen checks into the bank accounts, the conspirators made cash withdrawals from ATMs and purchases using debit cards associated with the bank accounts.  Co-conspirators also used fraudulently obtained debit cards to rent cars which they used and then failed to return, resulting in charges by the rental car companies, which had to be "written off" by Bank A. According to court documents, co-conspirators deposited at least approximately $780,064.04 in stolen checks into the accounts Seck personally opened on their behalf, and the bank had to write off at least approximately $921,590.50 from the co-conspirators' rental car fraud in the accounts Seck opened for them. Co-conspirators Vlad Baceanu, age 38; Marian Unguru, age 36; and Vali Unguru, age 20, all of Baltimore, Maryland, previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud.  Mateus Vaduva, age 29, of Baltimore, was sentenced to five years in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $1,320,885.84; Nicolae Gindac, age 52, of Dania Beach, Florida, was sentenced to 54 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $1,096,660.11; Florin Vaduva, age 31, of Dania Beach, Florida was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $1,096,660.11; Marius Vaduva, age 28, of Baltimore was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $1,334,230.84; and Daniel Velcu, age 43, of Baltimore was sentenced to 34 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $1,313,499.79 after they previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, HSI, the FDIC Office of Inspector General, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Cary (North Carolina) Police Department, and the Williamson County (Tennessee) Sheriff's Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Wright and Darren Gardner, who prosecuted the case. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice Read the full article

[cesiopagnotto]

Baji Youlong

Ming Duoduo, I admire you. She forced herself to be calm, and her tone was quite relaxed. "The poisonous incense of my funeral door is probably useless in front of you." In the field of martial arts, I have to of the three talents? "Lady Liu, you have no chance," said the middle-aged man with his sword. "You can rest assured that I will be able to get my capital back." Lady Liu was no longer timid. "If you're lucky, you should." You can earn one. "Maybe you really have the determination to die." Lao Dao has a pretty good idea that it is not difficult for a person who deliberately fights to the death to fight to the death of the other party. The three of them were one to one, and no one could beat Mrs. Liu. Mrs. Ben doesn't care about life or death. "When people die, there is nothing left." "People will die sooner or later. There is not much difference between living for a day and living for a year." "In fact, you have no reason to fight with us." "You are forcing me to die. In the past, this lady was a friend of the five sons of Zhongzhou!"! One of you is not worth half to shelter. The little brute of money forced me to be a friend who had done my best for you, and the poet girl was killed and wounded, and could not get any benefit from you. Friends, if you can really rebuild the mixed stew palace, it should be said that it is God's will; it is not the luck that you have worked hard to get. This pass person is like today. If I don't die, I will lobby all the heroes in the world, and the General Assembly will be a mess of the palace, and I will be irreconcilable with you. "It's not fair for you to say that, Mrs. Liu." Lane tone a soft, aluminium coated steel tube ,side impact door beams, "Jing Hong swordsman and you are the same, the same for this." Can you blame the palace for sheltering him when the people of the palace come and harass him? "I know that you think that my men have been killed and wounded by working for you, and that I am no longer useful." So in order to get the support of Zhenwu Garden, he sacrificed me to shelter the little beast. But you're missing two important things. Reality. "What are two important facts?" "First, the little brute, those friends of Zhenwu Garden, have been scared shitless by the Baji Youlong, and are against the Baji Youlong." People, Jianghu friends know that it must not be a good thing. How dare they stand up for Zhenwu Garden and be spurned by others? So you can't get it again. With the support of friends from Zhenwu. First, your enemy of life and death is still elusive to track your whereabouts, you rebuild the palace of chaos. Wishful thinking, hit a wrong slot, your life and death is still uncertain. Abandon my top friends and turn into you. Threatening enemies, if you are not foolish, you are short-sighted and ignorant. If I am willing to cooperate with Yang Yiyuan, do you think The result? "You.." "Are you confident that you can trap me?" Lao Dao's face gradually o tone a soft, "as long as the little beast to me, I am still your friend." Friend. "People can't be handed over to you." Lao Dao said in a deep grove was the outer courtyard of Guanhou Jingshi District. Wall, as long as you jump over the wall and go out, you can stay away from the dangerous situation of Yuxuguan. Liu Biao took the lead and rushed into the small peach grove, followed by the startled swordsman. Behind the figure scurrying, is the night eagle. Why are you here? Jing Hong Chuang Ke crouched down and looked back alertly to see if Mrs. Liu was hiding in a tree. Here we go. As soon as Liu Biao hits the hand type,Precision steel tubes, sweeps to the courtyard wall, the status low person explores the way in front, Liu Biao plays the role of the attendant to be quite dutiful. cbiesautomotive.com

[solatgif]

TGIF: Roundup for July 1, 2022

I spoke with Ruth Chou Simons on a variety of topics regarding faith and culture. She talked about her testimony as it comes to being an Asian American Christian, switching majors from biochem to fine arts, our callings and careers, serving Christ and stewarding our gifts, and shared encouragement for Asian American women authors. The video and article transcript are available: Telling Her Own Story: An Interview with Ruth Chou Simons.

Videos from our Asian American Leadership Conference are now appearing on YouTube! Pastor Owen Lee of Christ Central Presbyterian Church gave the first keynote of the AALC Conference: Embracing and Celebrating the Asian American Church.

Our monthly newsletter features our most popular resources. Read it now and join for free. Check out my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group and TGIF Playlist on Spotify. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram.

We thank God for TGC, SOLA, KALI, and the inaugural Asian American Leadership Conference! We’ll be adding our videos to this playlist on YouTube.

Articles From Around The Web

Nitoy Gonzales: Demystifying the Bible

“If the Bible version can’t be understood, is it really fulfilling its main purpose? If our favorite Bible is not making itself accessible to an ordinary guy, has it failed its purpose?”

Related: How to Read the Bible With Your Family by Faith Chang

DJ Chuang: 9 More Things About Asian American Christianity

“Some denominations have had ethnic and racial ministries for decades. Yet independent organizations can be a healthy sign of ownership, autonomy, and growth.”

Related: Asian Americans Who Are Presidents Of Major Evangelical Organizations

Follow us on YouTube to stay connected with us! Interviews, podcasts, conference messages, and more. You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Books, Podcasts, Music, And More

Rooted Ministry: Rooted Reservoir Parenting Panel

In this TGCW22 Auxiliary Event, Collin Hansen, Katie Polski, Anna Meade Harris, Tracy Yi, and Kevin Yi share about parenting and ministering to the kids in your life today.

Truth in Love Podcast: Rescue Skills (feat. Deepak Reju)

How do we help those who are struggling with sexual sin, especially when it comes to fighting temptations and dealing with sin and shame?

Mosaic Podcast: Global Leadership in Mission (feat. Patrick Fung)

Rev. Dr. Patrick Fung (General Director of OMF International) joins Jackie and Justin of Singapore Bible College to share his wisdom on the topic of leadership. Patrick reflects on the qualities of a good leader and challenges that leaders face in Asian and global missions contexts.

Aaron Lee: Related Works

Book Reviews: Gospel-Shaped Marriage by Chad and Emily Van Dixhoorn, Illustrating Well by Jim L. Wilson, The Book of First & Second Corinthians by Alabaster. Listen to our TGIF playlist on Spotify. Join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group.

Check out our International Students series, focused on connecting international students with the gospel of Jesus Christ, featuring four articles by Karisa You.

Featured This Week On SOLA Network

Aaron Lee: Telling Her Own Story: An Interview with Ruth Chou Simons

Ruth Chou Simons on her testimony as it comes to being an Asian American Christian, switching majors from biochem to fine arts, our callings and careers, serving Christ and stewarding our gifts, and encouragement for Asian American women authors

Bethany Ho: Three Important Lessons for Showing Hospitality

As we fix our gaze on Christ, the supreme example of hospitality and service, we can move forward in confidence knowing our obedience to him will bear much fruit as the Holy Spirit works alongside us.

Karisa You: 300 Yeses: How God Changes the Lives of International Students

“Imagine the infinite ways these [international] students could reach their hometowns and countries with the Gospel if they were to return from the U.S. after meeting Jesus here.”

Owen Y. Lee: Embracing and Celebrating the Asian American Church

The Asian American (AA) church is good and beautiful, and the calling to minister in the context of an AA church is a wonderful and joyous thing!

TGIF: Roundup for June 24, 2022

The Foreigner’s Blessing That Broke Me / The Paradox of Christ for a Polarized World / Father, Here Is My Little, My All

General disclaimer: Our link roundups are not endorsements of the positions or lives of the authors.

[three--rings]

Word of Honor: Watch It Already

Yeah it’s time to do a rec post for real.  Because seriously, y’all, join me.

NOTE: All gifs in this post were made by @jingyans​, who very graciously allowed me to use them.  Please do not repost and go see her blog for all the gorgeousness!

What is it?

Word of Honor/ Shan He Ling/ 山河令 is a Chinese drama series with 36 episodes currently in the process of airing.  It is based on a danmei/BL webnovel by Priest called 天涯客/ Tian Ye Ke/ Faraway Wanderers.  (Which I have not yet read, so everything in this post will be based solely on the show as aired up to ep 11.)

It’s set in Fantasy Ancient China, much like previous popular series The Untamed and is part of the same general genre. 

What’s it about?

Okay.  So Zhou Zishu was the leader of the Window of Heaven/Tian Chuang, an organization of spies and assassins who worked for a prince.

He saw basically everyone he cared about/his entire sect killed for the organization, and he decides he wants out, but there’s no leaving alive.  He essentially manages to find a loophole by using a cruel fantasy method to basically slow poison himself, guaranteeing his death in three years.  But he’s free. 

Cut to six months later, when he’s living his best life being completely drunk in a gutter, disguised with a fake tan, terrible beard and general squalor.  He draws the attention of a mysterious gentleman, our love interest Wen Kexing.

Wen Kexing completely fixates on Zhou Zishu (or Zhou Xu, as he introduces himself), declaring him incredibly beautiful, despite his rough state, and starts a bit of light stalking.

These two have a lot of humorous bantering around, before eventually stumbling into the plot in the form of a young teen boy who is the only surviving member of his brutally murdered clan.  They are tasked with taking him to someone trustworthy and thus the two equally mysterious warriors now have an adopted son together. 

That’s the basic set-up, and the show is pretty much evenly split between really adorable flirting, wacky hijinks, and operatic political drama plot.  All of these typically involve fight scene choreography.  Though, to be fair, I’ve seen less than a third of the show at this point, though I have something of a feel for what is coming from people watching it without English subs.

So...about that romance?

Look, there’s no beating around the bush here, I really can’t imagine being into this show if you’re not into the idea of a prominent romance between two male characters.  The novel, being danmei, is blatantly a queer romance, but this is China, which means censorship. 

**And I’m only saying this because this is tumblr, and no one cares what we think here, but, look, it’s a freaking miracle this show passed censorship because it is NOT subtle at all in its gayness.  The plot...really doesn’t make sense without a romantic aspect, and it’s really hard to miss.  It’s so blatant, that it’s hard to watch without remarking on it, which means a lot of people are afraid of the show being pulled or edited by the government before it’s done airing.  There’s precedence for that happening.  Seemingly even the makers are concerned, hence them releasing 9 episodes a week, up from the original 4.  So please, if you do watch it, don’t go yelling in the comments or on twitter or wherever about how it’s showing up the Chinese government’s censorship or whatever because that’s putting people’s careers in real danger, not to mention harming the show.**

ANYWAY.  The romance involves a HUGE amount of flirting, mostly initially from WKX to ZZS, but fairly soon they start throwing around the word “zhiji” aka “soulmate” to describe what they mean to each other.  If this seems very blatantly romantic, it IS, but it can also describe a platonic connection, which is how they manage to get away with this.  Still, it’s swoon-worthy honestly.  The mood for me is a very good period romance, because I’m wildly flailing about their sleeves touching or hands brushing over here, so if that’s your jam, please join us.

I’m going to get into slightly more spoilers under a cut, because I think it’s very fun to watch the show without knowing ANYTHING about it, but if you need further convincing/specifics please follow me.

The show also seems to involve a lot of alternating fluff and angst, which, let’s be honest here, is kinda what we like right?  It seems like they don’t want to keep us in pain for more than an episode or so without some resolution, but then new pain happens again.  These two break up and get back together a lot, is what I’m saying. 

Why should I watch it?

Like most good danmei, the show balances deep romance with interesting and exciting plot, but the characters are the real stand-outs here.  Both male leads are older than your average drama protagonists, somewhere close to 30.  And they are both essentially villains.  Not just characters with dark pasts, but really the bad guys of other people’s stories.  The novel is actually a sequel to a totally different romance, and at least ZZS was an antagonist in that story. 

(Above: Evil is a good look on Wen Kexing.)

But here we have two very morally dubious characters: one who has given up that life and one who is still actively causing harm, and the story is about how they connect and change as a result.  (Again, I’m drawing slightly on what others have said of where the story is going and also just making assumptions.) 

If you have a moral problem with loving and shipping dark characters, this isn’t the show for you, no matter how cute it may appear.  This isn’t a “pure” couple, no matter how little on-screen sexuality we will get.  But if you love exploring morality and complicated characters who don’t always make the right choices, like I do, this is Your Thing.

Thankfully, the scriptwriter has come out and said there will be a happy ending for the main couple, at least.  So there’s that to hold on to as we face the angst and pain that is inevitably coming.  (From the novel I hear, yes, there’s some serious suffering in store.) A lot of us thought the show looked light and fun and now...we’re gonna be in pain.  So consider this fair warning as well. 

There’s also a cast of very easy to like side characters, in particular the “kids” A-Xiang (WKX’s servant) and Cheng Ling, the boy they rescue.  There’s also a colorful cast of villains that have huge amounts of style if nothing else. 

Downsides?

So the show was made on a VERY limited budget.  Overall I think they did a fantastic job.  But the seams DO show from time to time.  There’s not a lot of CGI (which is a good thing imo) but sometimes there are very obvious places they didn’t have the resources they needed, like crowd scenes made of the same 4 actors cut and pasted again and again, lol.  However, I think they did a great job on the costumes for the most part, and the sets look nice. 

There’s also been some criticism for the makeup which ZZS wears in eps 2-5, his disguise.  He’s meant according to the novel to look totally different and ugly.  But in reality he has a tan, some small scars, a painted on beard, and is dirty and disheveled.  Making his skin darker and calling that “ugly” is an unfortunate trope. I think the criticism is valid to an extent, but I hope it won’t destroy anyone’s enjoyment of the show. The makeup is gone forever midway through ep 6. 

Where can I watch it?

I’m going to assume most people reading this will be looking for a version subbed in English.  That is available on Youtube on the Youku official channel.  As of this typing, they have released 11 episodes with subs.  There are no fansubs otherwise available.  The Chinese language release is somewhere around ep 20-something? That is available through the Youku website. I believe their release schedule has the last episode coming out around March 23, but we’ll be weeks behind for the English version.  (Pardon the lack of a direct link to YT, but just search Word of Honor and you’ll find it.  If I have links tumblr will disappear my post.)

So please, come join us in this hell.  It’s been a while since a ship hit me so incredibly quickly and a lot of people have the same feeling, it seems.  Give it a few episodes, and see if you’re not WILDLY in love by episode six.  (Before that I was in like.  After episode six I wrote emergency fanfic.) (Episode six pictured below.)

#word of honor #shan he ling #山河令 #threerings' recs #cdrama #danmei #faraway wanderers #long post #threerings recs TV Shows

[shijiujun]

山河令 Photobooks | WenZhou Intro Translations

Heya guys! I’m translating some tidbits from the official SHL photobook, starting with the below. Will post all the costume design inspirations up (all 14 of them) when I’m done, but you can check my Twitter thread on @/jiuxiaoer for updates if you are curious, am on Set 4 so far.

Photo quality isn’t great because I don’t have a good camera or scanner haha so bear with me!

***Please do not repost my photos and translations ANYWHERE***

Name: Zhou Zishu

Origins: The 5th manor lord of Four Seasons Manor. When Zhou Zishu was sixteen, he inherited the position after his beloved shifu Qin Huaizhang died of illness. Unable to keep Four Seasons Manor’s reputation from declining, he led the elite from the manor and pledged their support to Jin Province’s military commissioner, to which the Zhou family was loyal to. He then formed Tian Chuang (Window of Heaven). Zhou Zishu’s aim in establishing Tian Chuang was to give himself to the mission of upholding justice, helping the weak and to be a beacon of light in dark, uncertain times. He hoped to pray for fortune and happiness for all who lived, to ensure peace, but he could not help but feed the predator (Prince Jin) himself, turning into an caged beast (eagle) in the struggle for power. The numbers of Four Seasons Manor’s original members declined to zero, all 81 of them.

After painfully losing all his brothers and loved ones, disheartened and unmotivated, he decides to leave Tian Chuang. He hammers one nail every three months out of the seven required ones, a price to pay for him to steal the next three years away for himself and manages to buy his freedom. From then on, he puts on a disguise and hopes to spend the rest of his remaining days wandering jianghu. That is, until he meets his zhiji coincidentally at the end of a bridge in Yue Province, and that’s when he realizes fate has other plans for him.

Appearance: He seems arrogant and distant, is handsome and beautiful like no other. He only has two clear sides - black and white - and his face is slim and pale. HIs mouth is as thin as a single line, and all in all, this adds a tinge of heartlessness to him. His eyes are incredibly bright, his gaze half hidden and whenever he raises his eyes, one shudders.

Personality: Determined, mature, is magnanimous and open to listening to others. He is someone to be feared/respected, gentle and strong. He has the reputation of being “Saint Zhou”. He knows that some things should not be done, but still has to be done, and similarly, that some things can be done, but he is unable to. He is as deep as a frigid pond that extends thousands of feet deep, as calm as quietly flowing water, akin to two layers of grey dust (i.e. there are two layers to his character).

Accessories:

(1) Bai Yi Sword

A light and soft blade that has a handle resembling a crown, fit for a gentleman. The handle is flexible and has carvings that mirror that of the lines in white jade for embellishment. The blade itself has the two words “Bai Yi” inscribed on it in clerical script. It can usually be hidden around the waist and can be used at will whenever necessary.

It was forged by one of the first generation of master blacksmiths Rong Changqing and was originally called “Nameless” (wu ming), before it was changed to Bai Yi by Ye Baiyi. It was then gifted to Qin Huaizhang, and then passed down to Zhou Zishu.

The sword will display different types of characteristics to reflect the wielder’s different state of minds and personalities. In Zhou Zishu’s hands, the sword is clean, bright and decisive, and is truly a sword made for a gentleman. In Wen Kexing’s hands, one cannot evade or hide from the sword and can penetrate the toughest of objects.

(2) Two Pouches

One is white, with matching-colored strings and yellow tassels. The other is forest green, with dark wavy prints, paired with matching-colored strings and blue-gray tassels.

(3) Alcohol Gourd

About the size of a palm with an actual vine as a handle and a screw-on cap. The brown rope connects the handle to the waist of the gourd and is convenient to hold onto.

(4) Alcohol Vessel

Made of bamboo and wrapped with a brown layer of leather. Has carvings as illustration on the sides, the handle is colored and is spectacular with gold accents.

(5) Vials for Disguise

White jade liquid vials - with brown tassels to accompany the bottles which are coupled with red coral beads.

Name: Wen Kexing

Origins: Healer’s Valley Wen Ruyu and Gu Miaomiao’s son. His parents are implicated in the Rong Xuan incident and die as a result, having lost everything as a young boy, he falls to the depths of the Ghost Valley and has to struggle to survive. Through hundreds of trials and challenges he becomes highly skilled, then takes on the mantle of a the new Ghost Valley Master. Although he has sunken deep into filth and darkness, he keeps his burning, genuine heart; although he resides in hell, he is still unbearably kind. In the pursuit of revenge, he swears to eliminate all the sin and filth from the world, to cleans the world with his own body and commands all the ghosts to clear the nest and head outside, causing chaos within the martial arts world. He originally thought he would live the rest of his life as something that is not fully human, a ghost, but suddenly meets the only light in his lifetime.

Appearance: Handsome and elegant, carefree; with well-defined features, with doe-eyed innocent eyes, confident and at ease; once you see him you’ll forget his origins/background. His face is fair and white, his eyes bright. It is as if a deity/immortal has descended into the human realms, so beautiful, akin to a demon(ness).

Personality: Seemingly evil and out of control, someone who laughs and rages for no reason, but has a passionate heart. He is heartless and distant to everyone around him, immensely arrogant, but is incredibly warm to people close to him. He is akin to the beauty of the last vestiges of the spring season, a kaleidoscope of colours within black.

Accessories:

(1) Fan

The design draft shows a white fan made with seashells and ivory. The fan guard would be made of carved ivory with clouds for prints, while the ribs and face of the fan are made with shiny shells which look like one cohesive piece when opened. Bright and elegant, beautiful beyond belief. However, because using these animal-made materials is prohibited, they changed it to a wooden fan in the show itself. A fan is a representation of a man’s status and where his culture lies and its beauty is enough to amaze the world.

The fan is not only a refined-looking belonging that lies in his sleeves, but also a light and convenient weapon. When faced with his enemies, he can take them out in a single move.

(2) Short Blade

The handle of this blade is made out of white jade and is encrusted with silver embellishments and red gems. The sheathe has some silver metallic carvings and a white tassel with jade beads. There are further carvings on the skeleton of the blade, and it can cut through nails and other metals, even gold and jade (an idiom to describe how firm, strong and solid the blade is). The blade is short and easy to conceal, and is Wen Kexing’s defense weapon he holds close to him.

(3) White Jade Hairpin

The hairpin that Gu Miao Miao and Wen Ruyu entrusts to him before they die, and this hairpin is the key to the armory. In Episode 31, Wen Kexing gifts this pin to Zhou Zishu, and in Episode 36, Wen Kexing takes it from Zhou Zishu’s hair and uses it to open the armory.

(4) White Jade Flute

The body of the flute is made with white jade and it gets its shape from bamboo. Both ends have silver embellishments, the silver parts were manufactured separately. The tassel is in silver with a honey-colored (amber) bead at the top. The final product got rid of the bamboo sections and extra silver embellishments to make it look simpler.

In Episode 4, Wen Kexing uses this flute for the first time to play the Bodhi Heart Clearing song. It is firm, with hundreds of turns and twists, no regrets, all to aid Zhou Zishu in recovering from his inner injuries.

(5) Alcohol Vessel

The vessel body is made out of bamboo with a brown layers of leather encasing it. Golden accents, carvings on the side and a dark-colored handle.

(6) Night Pearl Stone

In Episode 18, Wen kexing uses this pearl to look into the mountain valleys of Long Yuan Pavilion.

(7) Alcohol/Wine Holders

In Episode 3, Wen Kexing orders Ah Xiang to use this as a holder to help Zhou Zishu heat up his wine

#shan he ling #shl #word of honor #woh #山河令 #shl photobook #shl merch #wenzhou #wen kexing #zhou zishu

[verycharismaticdragon]

So, stars were finally in position for me to write up the analysis of WenZhou’s first kiss. I'll admit, on my first read-through it felt very sudden and out of nowhere – but the second time around, having a better understanding of both characters and making sure to read closely, it made much more sense.

Before getting into the scene itself, let’s make sure we are all on the same page about where the characters’ relationships are prior to it. Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing, at this point, have been locked into a mutual interrоgation for quite some time, trying to fish out the other’s identity without uncоvering their own. Wen Kexing wants to know how ‘Zhou Xu’ fits into a domino fall of his revenge plan; Zhou Zishu is trying to figure out just what for is Wen Kexing sticking to him.

By this chapter, Zhou Zishu has already determined three most probable options for who Wen Kexing might be, Ghost Valley Master included; moreover, Wen Kexing killing the Ghost who attacked them in the underground cave solidified his suspicion on which of those options is most likely. Wen Kexing, for his part, has already name-dropped Tian Chuang, and also tested Zhou Zishu by offering him a piece of Lapis Armor. So Wen Kexing by this point is almost sure, though he doesn’t quite believe it yet, that Zhou Zishu is honestly uninterested in the whole goose chase. While he initially followed Zishu out of caution, now it almost entirely morphed into curiosity. Can such a person actually exist? Who is he? Wen Kexing is determined to find out.

It’s a bit of a competition at this point, and both of them hate to lose. This is important for understanding the scene.

So, right before the kiss, Zhou Zishu correctly guesses that the Lapis Armor Wen Kexing ‘took for himself’ was stolen by Fang Buzhi, and that Sun Ding killed the thief to get it – as it went missing even as the money was intact. There are many possible ways things might've unfolded, but in any case, if he's indeed the Valley Master, then self-proclaimed Philanthropist Wen is at least in some way responsible for the thief’s death. Not that Zhou Zishu cares for upholding justice; he just sees an opportunity to gain an upper hand in his interrоgation. (And if Wen Kexing has been irritating him by insisting that he’s a good person, really, these hands haven’t killed a chicken much less a human*, well – proving he’s full of shit is sure a nice bonus.)

So this is what Zhou Zishu says:

“What are we to do about this, Mister Charitable Wen? You didn’t kill him, but he died because of you.”

You see, this sentence is designer-made to piss Wen Kexing off. If he ordered the thief dead, this is Zhou Zishu telling him his game was seen through; if he didn’t, then this is Zhou Zishu blaming him for something out of his control; moreover, Wen Kexing absolutely knows Zhou Zishu doesn’t give a shit about Fang Buzhi or murder in general, so this is just blatant, in his face hypocrisy on top of the accusation.

Remember, Four Seasons Manor was an intel-gathering organization first. Private investigators, in a sense. If Zhou Zishu is good at murder, he is even better at interrogating people. And here, he is trying to provoke Wen Kexing into a reaction – people who are thrown off balance make mistakes, after all. If Wen Kexing tries to explain himself, Zhou Zishu will get valuable information; if Wen Kexing reacts with violence, that will at minimum prove that ‘Good Person’ Wen is nothing but a mask, and might even get him some proof for the Valley Master theory.

And it doesn’t not work, you see:

Wen Kexing was no longer smiling, and there was an unreadable flash in Zhou Zishu’s eyes.

Zhou Zishu clearly sees he has struck some nerve, and he gears up for whatever follows. He is pretty much prepared for, say, Wen Kexing trying to deck him in the face like a normal person would.

Except, well, Wen Kexing is his match, and sees right through what Zhou Zishu is doing. So he goes for an outside-the-box option.

Wen Kexing suddenly laughed, his hand as quick as lightning gripping Zhou Zishu’s chin as he leaned down and kissed him.

That’s one way to throw off a cоp, huh.

Wen Kexing turns the game right around with this one: it isn’t a random action, but one precisely targeted at things he knows unsettle Zhou Zishu: physical contact, blatant flirting, Wen Kexing’s close attention… I've talked about Zhou Zishu’s unreliable narration before; yet even as a reader, it’s possible to notice his reactions to Wen Kexing do not exactly match up to his words – and Wen Kexing, unlike us, experiences those reactions without a filter of Zhou Zishu’s inner voice. But to use an example we got to witness: how about that time in chapter 8 when Zhou Zishu freezes as Wen Kexing touches his face, and doesn’t step back until Gu Xiang sees them and makes noise? And that one wasn’t even flirting on Wen Kexing’s part, he was just trying to determine if Zishu is wearing a mask, like Zishu (technically) gave him permission to before. Point is, Wen Kexing knows he provokes a reaction from Zhou Zishu, and he even knows it’s not all discomfort like Zishu claims.

So the kiss is a bit… you provoke me, and it is working, but aren’t you forgetting I also know just how to provoke you?

And, really, Zishu’s words do work, because right after the kiss, Wen Kexing picks up where they left off and argues with the actual content of Zishu’s line, even reveals he still has lingering doubts about Zhou Zishu not wanting Lapis Armor – but the kiss ensures Zhou Zishu doesn’t feel like he scored a definite win over Wen Kexing. It's a reminder that Wen Kexing knows just as well how to one-up him.

So, generally, this is where the kiss came from. Now you know I’m not entirely joking when I say WenZhou’s first kiss was the closest they ever came to having a serious fight – Zhou Zishu intentionally tried to make Wen Kexing angry, Wen Kexing responded in a way he knew Zhou Zishu wouldn’t like… But ultimately, they move on fairly quickly: Zhou Zishu is aware he started it, if upset it has backfired in a way he wasn't able to predict, while Wen Kexing, having won the round, doesn't hold Zhou Zishu’s underhanded interrogation against him.

–––––– * Wen Kexing’s full line was actually ‘those hands of mine haven’t killed a chicken, much less a human, ever since I began wandering jianghu’, which is most likely the honest truth – just omitting that he only entered jianghu recently and was lоcked in the Ghost Valley prior to that.

- tyk meta masterpost -

–––––––

A disclaimer so nobody gets the wrong idea. Obviously, the kiss was a diсk move on Wen Kexing’s part. It was a response to a diсk move on Zhou Zishu’s part, but it still isn't a normal, valid, or advisable way to let someone know you aren’t keen on the way they are interrogating you. Kids don’t do this at home etc etc. Explore it in fiction like the rest of us.

#things that didnt fit in: considering zzs' greatest hits in qiye. getting kissed by a guy he actually likes is karma going v gently on him #also wkx's skewed understanding of bоundaries def plays a part in him choosing a course of action here. the last time #wkx has seen hеalthy cоnsensual relationship was when he was nine. hes kinda flying blind for this one #stopping when the other party shows theyre not into it is already a courtesy nobody afforded HIM you know #but this is a hugе topic and deserves its own pоst #tian ya ke meta #wenzhou #wen kexing #zhou zishu #tian ya ke #faraway wanderers #tyk #priest novels #danmei novels

[demi-shoggoth]

2021 Reading Log, pt 32

156. PNSO Encyclopedia for Children: The Secrets of Ancient Sea Monsters by Zhao Chuang and Yang Yang. This is probably the least of the three PNSO Secrets of books. The text comes off as awfully judgmental about the swimming capabilities of a number of the marine reptiles covered within, and the inconsistencies in the art are noticeable (a Tylosaurus depicted with clawed flippers on one page, without on another, that sort of thing). A number of the anecdotes in the book were already inaccurate when it was written in 2015 (Elasmosaurus with swan-like necks attacking fish from above, plesiosaurs in general beaching themselves to lay eggs). I do commend the coverage, however. About five placodontids appear in the book, as well as several choristoderes and pistosaurs. And most books aimed at this age set view marine reptiles as a sideshow for the dinosaurs, instead of devoting an entire volume to them.

157. Bleeding Skull! A 1990s Trash Horror Odyssey by Joseph A. Ziemba, Annie Choi and Zack Carlson. This book is a collection of reviews about direct-to-video horror movies of the 1990s, almost all of them independently produced and shot on video. There’s a genuine affection for the movies involved—Ziemba is the director of the American Genre Film Archive, and you don’t have that kind of position if you don’t love schlock. It’s basically the book I wanted Analog Nightmares from last year to be: it’s not uncritical of the Z-grade movies on display, but instead can tell the difference between a good viewing experience and a bad one. And I may have developed a parasocial crush on Annie Choi based on her writings found here.

(note: this is not the cover of the edition I read, but that’s a library-bound copy that’s more than a century old. Unsurprisingly, no images of that exact version exist online, and it’s a pretty boring cover besides)

158. Curious Myths of the Middle Ages by Sabine Baring-Gould. The oldest book I’ve read this year, published originally in 1866, in an American edition from 1894. Baring-Gould was a pioneer of folklore studies, and is writing primarily about European myths—Prester John, Pope Joan, William Tell and the like. Baring-Gould has a passion for the idea of the Ur-Myth later espoused by authors like James Frazer in The Golden Bough, and like in that book is a little too eager to assume that the Indian version of all of these Indo-European stories is the “original”. He’s also definitely blinded by his role as an Anglican minister. He accuses basically everyone except Catholics and Anglicans of being idolaters and heretics (in later chapters he is especially huffy about Methodists secretly being holdovers of Druidism), is wildly antisemetic at times, and occasionally views stories as corrupted versions of the Biblical truth. A valuable resource for people interested in European myth and folklore, but not one to be taken uncritically.

159. Around the World in 80 Plants by Jonathan Drori, illustrated by Lucille Clerc. This book is as much about the social history of plants as it is about their biology. The countries the plants are attributed to are ones where the plant has cultural importance rather than necessarily being its origin. For example, castor beans are discussed in Italy in the context of Fascist torture methods, and opium poppies are covered under Australia because Tasmania is a major global supplier. The tone is droll, slightly moralizing, and very British. The illustrations, which to my untrained eye appear to be in pastels and colored pencil, are lovely. The book is worth checking out on their merit alone.

160. Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid by Thor Hanson. The subject of the book is how the behavior and evolution of life is changing in response to climate change. Range shifts, behavioral and phenotypic plasticity, and evolutionary adaptations are all covered here. The tone is conversational, and the topics covered flow well together. I like the focus on individual scientists, their research, and the recurring theme of all of these specialists pivoting to climate change studies as the 20th century ended and the 21st century began. What I didn’t like was how the last chapter doubled down on personal responsibility being the primary way to solve the climate crisis. The average person supports green policies! It’s the fossil fuel companies and their inroads into government that are preventing it from happening! Turning off the lights when we leave the room isn’t going to fucking cut it, Thor!

#reading log #medieval folklore #b-movies #climate change #evolution #ecology #botany #marine reptiles #children's books #paleontology #gore tw #sorta

[missfangirll]

If im not too late, I'd request anything for Beiyuan/Wu Xi. There are so few works out there for them :c

So, I wanted to write some XiYuan fluff and somehow ended up writing Dad!Beiyuan bonding with Chengling, Beiyuan thirsting after his husband and a sort-of-fix-it for WoH episode 36?? 😅

The plot follows the show, after episode 36, but their shared past in the novel (Qi Ye) did happen, if that makes sense? 😅 Sorry for the confusion.. The title is a Chinese poem called 蝶恋花 by Liu Yong.

Anyway, here's some XiYuan fluff/dad!Beiyuan/WoH fix-it? 😂😂

- - - - -

Fandom: Qi Ye, Word of Honor Rating: General Relationship: Wu Xi/Jing Beiyuan, Jing Beiyuan & Zhang Chengling Tags: Fluff, Bonding, Beiyuan thirsting after his husband, Fix-it of sorts Words: 2565 Summary: In an inn, Jing Beiyuan and Wu Xi, together with Zhang Chengling, await the return of Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing, who have run off to die on a mountain. Beiyuan has to care for Zishu's disciple, while being distracted by his husband.

Read on AO3

- - - - -

Butterflies in Love with Flowers

Jing Beiyuan has plenty of practice waiting.

He has waited for sixty years at the Three-Life Stone, has waited for Helian Yi for six lifetimes. Has waited in the Imperial City for his schemes and machinations to bear fruit, has waited for Wu Xi. He has plenty of practice.

Which doesn’t mean, however, that he is a patient man.

Jing Beiyuan paces the inn room he shares with his husband, deliberately walking closely past Wu Xi who is sitting cross-legged at the low table reading, looking entirely unperturbed. Much to Jing Beiyuan’s dismay, that is to say, so he brushes Wu Xi’s back with the seam of his sleeve every time he walks by.

Wu Xi doesn’t react for a while, but after the sixth turn, without saying a word, he casually grabs Jing Beiyuan’s sleeve and, turning slightly, pulls him down in his lap, effectively trapping him there with both arms tightly around him.

Jing Beiyuan is a lot of things, but he's not an idiot, and he would never let an opportunity pass to cuddle his husband. With a deep sigh, he settles into the other’s embrace, leaning his head on Wu Xi’s broad chest.

“I am worried,” he admits eventually.

Stroking his hair soothingly, Wu Xi just hums in quiet understanding.

"I'm worried about the two idiots on the mountain," he adds, as if that wasn't obvious, and Wu Xi, as expected, doesn't reply. Jing Beiyuan continues, unbothered by his husband's lack of reaction. "I keep telling the little idiot," here he pauses to marvel at the fact that he distinguishes his companions merely by the grade of their idiocy, then sighs inwardly, "that his shifu and shishu are fine, that he should focus on his training in order to have something to show his shifu upon his return, but sometimes I…." He trails off, snuggling closer into the other's neck.

Zhang Chengling isn't coping well with the fact that both his mentors left with the intention to die on that mountain, albeit with different purposes in mind, and Jing Beiyuan has had to forcefully stop him from climbing that mountain himself, twice by now. For now he seems to have begrudgingly accepted his fate, although Jing Beiyuan can see his outbursts of anger for the fear they are.

He inhales deeply, willing his thoughts to calm down. All they have to do now is wait, wait for Zishu and his little maniac to return safely, and return they will, he has no doubts about it. He can’t, for Chengling’s sake.

A knock on the door interrupts the silent moment and with a groan, Jing Beiyuan clambers out of his husband’s lap to open the door, while said husband reaches for his abandoned book. The elderly innkeeper in front of him doesn’t spare a glance at Jing Beiyuan’s slightly ruffled hair, fiddling with the cap in his hands. At the other’s raised eyebrow, he bows so deep his forehead seems to touch his knees, and Jing Beiyuan has to bite back a grin.

“Yes?”, he asks magnanimously. The man shifts uncomfortably. “Your highness,” he begins, but Jing Beiyuan interrupts him with a hand on his shoulder. “I am certainly not worthy of such a noble title, my good man, just call me Lord Seventh, and speak freely. What bothers you?”

The other man bows again, not as low as before, but it still looks uncomfortable. “Your lordship,” he begins, and Jing Beiyuan sighs, hearing a slight huff of laughter from behind. Wu Xi knows of his resentment against his past life and the decorum it entailed. “Your lordship,” the man repeats, sounding increasingly desperate. “Your, umm.. The young master… He… The courtyard…” He doesn’t finish his sentence, but Jing Beiyuan has a vague idea of what he is trying to say, so he just nods and breezes past the innkeeper, who hastily shuts the door and scrambles to follow him.

From the inn’s inner courtyard he can already hear a dull thudding noise that grows louder as he approaches. In the yard, next to a small wooden shack, he finds the source of the noise: Zhang Chengling, gracelessly hitting the timber wall with a training sword, his face and back sweaty, his hair in disarray, his mouth a thin line. Jing Beiyuan nods to the innkeeper, who retreats to another building, then slowly approaches the boy, keeping his distance from the sword. Leaning on the wooden wall, he stays silent, observing Zishu’s disciple. The boy has grown a finger’s breadth over the last weeks, his body starting to stretch, his face about to lose the softness of childhood. He has seen a lot these past months, Jing Beiyuan muses, and feels infinite fondness for the little idiot.

Zhang Chengling has seen him, of course, but doesn’t make any move to stop his grim assault on the shack, so Jing Beiyuan says after a while, “You might want to use a real sword when you intend to put a hole in that thing.” His teasing doesn’t gain a reaction, however, the boy still hacking away at the wood. “Chengling,” he says after a while, softly, gently, “they will return.”

“I know,” comes the strained reply, but the beating doesn’t stop. The hits seem to grow less forceful, though, and Jing Beiyuan inches closer. “If Tian Chuang had succeeded,” he adds quietly, “we would know.” He looks directly at Chengling who stubbornly avoids his gaze, but his movements slow further, until he swings the sword like a flag bearer his banner in a parade. Jing Beiyuan carefully closes the distance, intercepting the last swing with his hand, gripping the wooden sword. He notices its shaking, and it’s only a heartbeat before Chengling collapses into his arms, letting go of the sword and wrapping both arms around him in a desperate embrace. Jing Beiyuan lowers the sword, then enfolds the boy in his arms, a hand on the back of his head, and lets him sob quietly into his shoulder.

“I miss them,” the boy snuffles into his robes, his face hidden. “Sometimes I dream about them, dead and cold, buried under all that snow and I…” He hiccups, then starts sobbing again. Jing Beiyuan breathes slowly. A few days after Zishu, and then the Ghost Valley Master, ascended the mountain, there had been news of an immense avalanche that had buried a large group of people, presumably the joined forces of the Window of Heaven and the Scorpion King. But nothing had reached them since, and all of them had grown restless, even Wu Xi, even though he would never admit to it.

A hand on the boy’s back, Jing Beiyuan rubs soothing circles. “Come with me,” he says at last, “Let’s go inside and have some tea, hm?” A nod, then Chengling takes a step back, sheepishly rubbing his red eyes. “‘m sorry,” he mumbles, but Jing Beiyuan just huffs. “Never be sorry for how you feel,” he admonishes gently, putting an arm around the boy’s shoulder, subtly scooping the wooden sword up with the other hand. “Let’s have some tea and sweets, what do you say?” Chengling sniffs again, then says with the hint of a smile, “Didn’t the Great Shaman explicitly forbid us to eat sweets before dinner?” Jing Beiyuan makes a carefree gesture, then, lowering his voice, adds in a conspiratorial tone, “We have to hide it, then,” which finally makes Chengling laugh. A lighter air around them, they stroll back to the room. (Wu Xi gives them a stern look as Jing Beiyuan retrieves a bag of sweets from his sleeve, but says nothing when they share some over tea, which Jing Beiyuan secretly finds endlessly endearing.)

⚘⚘

The next morning finds Jing Beiyuan on a bench in that same courtyard, at the other side this time, half hidden under a canopy hung with ivy. In the middle of the courtyard, illuminated by the rising sun, Wu Xi is practicing his martial arts.

Jing Beiyuan admires everything about his little venom. His honesty, his loyalty, his unrestrained emotions, but watching the other train always leaves him breathless and with a dry mouth. Wu Xi, in his usual black robes, is a sight to behold: Even under layers of cloth his broad shoulders are visible, his long black braids with the silver hairpiece, the moon mirrored in a clear lake at night. Wu Xi in his robes is a force to be reckoned with. Wu Xi without his robes, in just some black pants, is… Well. Enticing enough to make Jing Beiyuan leave the bed before sunrise and watch him train, even after being together for years and having seen his husband naked plenty of times. Still, watching him move through the forms is different. His skin glistens with sweat, making the light catch on his collarbones, his abs. His movements show a raw power, a graceful intensity that always reminds Jing Beiyuan of a large tiger. He moves silently, with deadly precision, as if he wanted to sneak up on a hidden assassin. He doesn’t use a weapon, but Jing Beiyuan knows how strong he is, how fast, and is pretty sure that a sword would only slow him down.

Distractedly petting the sable that is curled contentedly in his lap, Jing Beiyuan marvels at his husband, until Wu Xi ends his performance with a graceful vault, landing on his hands and feet like a large cat. His hair, tied back only with a simple black leather cord, falls over his face with the movement, his eyes like glimmering coals behind the black curtain. It reminds Jing Beiyuan of their early days, of the time Wu Xi wore a veil, and he himself a mask of another kind. Trying to hide the slight shiver, he smiles at his sweaty husband who now approaches him. Before he can say anything, Wu Xi steps between his knees, carefully scooping up the sable, then reaching down to cup the nape of Jing Beiyuan’s neck. With a hint of restrained power, he pulls him up and into a searing kiss. Smiling against his lips, Wu Xi whispers, “Room,” and Jing Beiyuan lets himself be pulled.

It’s still early enough in the morning that they don’t have to be overly cautious, so when they shed their respective robes - and pets, Wu Xi’s tiny green snake gets set in its cage, while the sable leaps nimbly away from the commotion - Jing Beiyuan can’t suppress a giggle at his husband’s eagerness.

“What brought this on?”, he asks, a little breathless, as the other’s teeth close over his pulse point. Wu Xi stills for a heartbeat, then bites down harder, licking over the spot, which elicits a shiver.

“You,” is the answer, and Jing Beiyuan pulls away a fraction to look at his husband with a raised eyebrow. “I can’t remember doing anything out of the ordinary,” he smirks, “whereas you were--”

“You watched,” Wu Xi breathes into his neck, leaning back in. With another giggle, Jing Beiyuan lets himself be pulled to the bed.

Later, when they lay under scrunched up covers, sated and sweaty and content, Jing Beiyuan nuzzles into Wu Xi’s chest, inhaling his sharp scent.

“Would you do that,” he asks eventually, his voice quiet. “Sacrifice your life, I mean. For me.”

“Yes,” is all Wu Xi answers, firm and without hesitation. “I would. I will. Everything.” His arms tighten around Jing Beiyuan. After a long silence, the latter says softly, “But what if I didn’t want that?” He turns slightly to look up. “What if I didn’t want a life that’s bought with yours?”

Wu Xi doesn’t meet his gaze as he replies, “I still would. I couldn’t bear the thought of being without you, Beiyuan. I’m a coward, but I couldn’t. I thought I’d lost you once, and I..” His voice breaks, and Jing Beiyuan reaches up to cup his face. “You’re not. I would like to say that I would react differently, but…” He shrugs with a wry smile. “I wouldn’t. If I could save your life by giving up mine, I would. I would, and then wait for you again at the Three-Life Stone, until you came to meet me. And maybe this time, you would be the one with white hair.” Snuggling closer, he trails a finger over the other’s chest, then places his hand on his sternum, feeling the unrestrained energy underneath. Wu Xi turns his head, then cups Jing Beiyuan’s cheek, meeting him in a slow, languid kiss.

“I love you,” he breathes against the other’s lips, “I have loved you for all your lifetimes and I will continue to love you in all that follow. Where you go, I’m going, Beiyuan.”

⚘⚘

It takes almost another month until Zishu and his little-, no, his giant idiot return. On a sunny afternoon, as if they had just been out for a stroll, they saunter casually into the inn’s dining room, and Jing Beiyuan almost drops his teacup, staring in disbelief. Before he can say anything, Zishu grins - he grins! - at him and plops down into the bench opposite him, Wen Kexing at his side. Jing Beiyuan notices in utter shock that the latter’s hair has gone completely white.

“Wha--,” he starts, but now the waiter has spotted them, hurrying over. Giving their, admittedly quite ragged, appearance a cautious once-over, he clears his throat, but Jing Beiyuan hurries to assuage him. “Whatever these gentlemen desire to eat,” he declares, probably with more grandeur than necessary, “they will receive.” The waiter hurries to nod his head like a turtle, but Zishu just shakes his head. “Just cold water,” he says, much to Jing Beiyuan’s and the waiter’s astonishment, but the latter immediately scrambles off to bring them their order.

Jing Beiyuan looks scrutinizingly at both of them, then says slowly, “Welcome back.” Zishu nods solemnly, taking Wen Kexing’s hand under the table. “Sorry it took so long,” he says quietly. Jing Beiyuan snorts. “You don’t have to apologise to me,” he gestures into the general direction of the inner courtyard, “but to your silly little disciple.” Zishu at least has the decency to flinch, looking uncomfortable. But it is Wen Kexing who speaks first. “How is he?”, he asks, and Jing Beiyuan notices the cautious fondness in his voice. Shrugging, he admits, “There are good days and bad.” After a pause, he adds, more quietly, “And good nights and bad.” Zishu nods, as if in agreement, and Jing Beiyuan’s curiosity wins over. “What happened?”, he asks animatedly, gesturing to the state of their robes, then Wen Kexing’s hair. “You were gone almost two months, and--”

Zishu interrupts him, sounding incredulous. “Two months?” He casts an uncertain glance at his companion who looks equally stunned. “Oh.” Inhaling slowly, he adds, “Well, I’d prefer to tell the story only once, so where is that useless disciple of mine?” Grinning, Jing Beiyuan gestures again to the inner courtyard. “Training.” Zishu gives him a skeptical look, then gets to his feet. Ignoring the waiter who just arrived with their order, he heads for the inner courtyard. Jing Beiyuan tilts his head a fraction, looking at Wen Kexing, both smiling slightly. Then, from outside, “SHIFU!”, and a dull thud, followed by another muffled “Shishu!”.

Smiling into his teacup, Jing Beiyuan closes his eyes. Some stories seem to have a happy ending after all.

#qi ye #lord seventh #七爷 #wu xi #jing beiyuan #xiyuan #otp: soulmates are stupid i love you on purpose #word of honor #a tale of the wanderers #faraway wanderers #wen kexing #zhou zishu #wenzhou #my writing #fanfic #fluff

[stiltonbasket]

(Is this where you submit prompts? I really dont know ^^💧) Prompt for the renouncement au: I don’t know why i love when gossip is involved, so maybe something about people’s opinions on wangxian’s marriage and how it slowly changes to a better perspective to the point that anyone who doubts their feelings for each other gets immediately shut down. And you could add some juniors shenanigans to make wangxian have that good of a reputation because i miss them </3. Thank you for your time and effort! (And sorry if this is not the place for the prompts, i will submit it again if you say so ^^’ )

(author’s note: please please reblog if you can, since that’s how we get prompts for future chapters!)

Lan Siyong considers himself one of the more moderate elders among the Lan sect. 

He has been close friends with Lan Qiren from childhood, and he saw Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji grow up into the fine, upstanding men they are today. When the two of them were boys, he even had fond thoughts of attending their weddings, and watching them take on the most sacred of duties with glad, willing hearts. 

Learning that Xichen would never wed had been a disappointment, but Lan Siyong rallied again when Lan Qiren confided the reason why the boy rejected marriage—chastity in an upstanding cultivator was to be lauded, especially in an age where Jin Guangshan had once demanded such high respect, and there could still be children born to Lan Huan if he decided to cultivate them. And of course, Wangji was there, and Lan Siyong knew from the first that he would be the kind of youth to fall in love deeply, at first sight, and remain passionately devoted to his mingding zhiren until he drew his last breath. 

But then Lan Siyong had Wangji’s own sword turned upon him at the Burial Mounds, because the one that his many-times distant nephew loved so dearly was none other than Wei Wuxian. 

“Qiren,” he says hoarsely, when the lotus-scented wedding invitations arrive from Lotus Pier. “You cannot let this happen—an unrighteous cultivator, one who spurned orthodoxy without remorse and led Wangji down such a dangerous path—”

“What has been done has been done,” Lan Qiren replies. “We have sent the bridewealth, and the marriage was contracted between Xichen and Jiang-zongzhu. All their terms have been agreed upon, and the date set.”

And then, after a brief pause: “He makes Wangji happy.”

Lan Siyong nearly cries. He does not attend the wedding, for fear of shaming Wangji with the open despair that appears on his face whenever he sees Wei Wuxian, and sends the newlywed couple the most expensive gift he can afford in an effort to do something useful. 

Wei Wuxian is the one who writes him a letter in thanks. Lan Siyong almost has a qi deviation.

__

“You know,” one of the other elders mutters after the second wedding ceremony: namely, the ceremony held in the Cloud Recesses, since Jiang-zongzhu demanded that his brother should be married at Lotus Pier first. “Wei Wuxian refused to have a blessing for children spoken at the an chuang ceremony.”

“Gossip is forbidden,” Lan Haiyang says tranquilly. He stopped caring about practically everything after his son’s wife gave birth to the whirlwind that calls himself Lan Jingyi, so Lan Siyong has long since given up relying on him to fix any kind of sect turmoil. “And they already have two children. I have not seen a finer Lan disciple than Lan Sizhui in all my days.”

Lan Siyong is forced to concede this last. Wangji has two good children, even if the Yiling Patriarch is perhaps the most unsuitable person alive to raise them with him, and a couple’s choice to expand their family is up to them, and no others.

“He should at least have let the blessing be spoken, though.”

Lan Siyong does not disagree with this. Traditions are traditions, and surely even Wei Wuxian should know to respect them once in a while. 

__

“It’s worse than I thought,” Lan Siyong murmurs, on a summer afternoon about six weeks after Wangji’s wedding. He passed Haiyang’s grandson and his friends on his way to the refectory that morning, and heard them discussing how heartbroken Wangji had looked upon hearing that Wei Wuxian did not return his love. “I ought not to have eavesdropped, but—poor Wangji!”

“Poor Wangji what?” Lan Haiyang asks, as if their little Lan Zhan being in trouble was all in another day’s work to him. “What’s happened to him now?”

“Wei Wuxian disavows Wangji’s love at every opportunity,” he replies dismally, going over to the refreshment table to drown his woes in chestnut cake and tea. “I fear for him, Haiyang. To love for so long, and to wed his beloved, and have children with him, and still…”

Lan Haiyang snorts into his tea. 

“What do you mean by that?” demands Lan Siyong, more than a little offended. “Wangji is in distress! We must do something!”

His friend does not reply. Honestly, it’s as if no one remembers what Wangji suffered for Wei Wuxian’s sake. Lan Siyong even tries raising the issue with Lan Qiren, and then with Xichen, but all he gets in return for his pains is a tray of fresh-baked red bean buns from the hanshi and another cryptic comment about Wangji’s supposed happiness from Qiren. 

Yet again, he is forced to leave his worries for another day, and try his best to follow rule three thousand, one hundred and sixty-two: that the affairs of a married couple should not be discussed by outsiders, even if they happen to be close, concerned family. 

Lan Siyong thinks his hair might be turning white by now.

__

And then, in early winter, Lan Siyong is roused from his bed one night and told that Wei Wuxian has gone missing. He joins the search party that Wangji leads, and follows him to a dark house in the woods with the Ghost General leading the way—and then he watches as Wangji kills at least a dozen men in an effort to reach his husband, whom they find unconscious in a cave beneath the house with corpse bites dotting every visible inch of his skin.

Lan Siyong nearly weeps as he hears Wangji’s desperate whispers to his beloved on the way back to Gusu, and watches him hold Wei Wuxian close while refusing help from anyone who offers.

Let him live, Lan Siyong prays silently, when Wei Wuxian is carried into the infirmary with Wangji at his side. Please, for Wangji’s sake, let Wei-gongzi live. 

__

“Qiren?”

A few days after the news about Wangji’s soon-to-be-born daughter is made public (public being a subjective word, since ceremony preceding the birth of a third child is unnecessary, and Wei Wuxian had said that he would rather wait until the baby arrives to make a formal announcement) Lan Siyong discovers Lan Qiren in one of the common rooms, sitting at a writing desk with his head buried in his hands. It’s a strange thing to see his friend do, since Lan Qiren has not looked so distressed since those three dark years after Wangji’s sentencing, and he hardly even looks up when Lan Siyong lays a hand on his shoulder. 

“It was just four weeks ago that Wei Ying was kidnapped and confined in that dungeon,” Lan Qiren says blankly, after he registers Lan Siyong’s presence and turns around to greet him. “If he—oh, heavens—”

Two weeks later, Lan Siyong requests a week’s leave from teaching to attend the trials of Wei Wuxian’s kidnappers, who are being held under Nie-zongzhu’s jurisdiction in the Unclean Realm. He has always believed himself to be a gentle man, but when the only sentences dealt are life imprisonment and execution, Lan Siyong’s heart is strangely devoid of any pity. All he can think of are the corpse bites he saw on Wei Wuxian’s face and throat, and a baby girl who nearly perished with her father before she had the chance to take her first breath. 

On his way back to the Cloud Recesses, he purchases a bolt of thick cream-colored silk with fine sky-blue embroidery and brings it to Wangji as a gift after the next monthly sect meeting.

“Xinhua-jun will need wider-cut robes before long,” he says, when his nephew gives him a curious glance before bowing low in thanks. “Zewu-jun has told us all that he and the child are in good health, and that the little one is growing well. All of our good wishes go with them both, and we pray that you should not hesitate to rely on us in the months to come if it should be needed.”

Wangji’s eyes go soft. “Thank you, San-shushu. It is much appreciated.”

__

Lan Siyong gets his first chance to hold Wei Shuilan at the baby’s full-moon ceremony, while Wangji and Wei Wuxian are running back and forth through the banquet hall to greet the arriving guests, and seize the first trusted elder they can reach to watch little A-Lan for a moment. At first, Lan Siyong merely stands by her cradle to keep an eye on her, but then she seems to sense her parents’ absence, so he picks her up and jogs her up and down to keep her from crying; and then he begins to hum softly beside her tiny ear, soothing the baby back to sleep by the time Wei Wuxian returns. 

“My good Lan-bao,” Wei Wuxian croons, cradling the child to his chest before rearranging her crumpled swaddling clothes. “Such a good baobei, to take your nap even with so much going on! Just like your A-Die, thank goodness, and not like your A-Niang.”

Curious, Lan Siyong clears his throat. “What do you mean, Wei-gongzi?”

Wei Wuxian laughs. “I never sleep properly at night, but Lan Zhan always falls asleep at hai shi, even if he isn’t in bed yet,” he says, with his voice so full of love for the newborn child in his arms and the husband who gave her to him that Lan Siyong feels strangely humbled. “A-Lan’s just like him that way.”

At that moment, Wangji appears with a plate of cut fruit and lotus cake before presenting it to Wei Wuxian. “Here, Wei Ying. Give A-Lan to me, and eat your lunch.”

“Lunch?” Wei Wuxian asks, confused. “But we’re having the banquet in just an hour.”

“You have been having your luncheon at this time for the past six months,” Wangji says stubbornly. “I will not have you going hungry even for a minute, xingan.”

“Lan Zhan, sweetheart…”

Thank heaven they found each other again, Lan Siyong thinks, slipping away to find Lan Qiren with a rising lump of tears in his throat. I do not think anyone else could have ever made Wangji so happy.

#wangxian #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #renouncement verse #wangxian arranged marriage au #my fic #god this was long #BUT THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD PROMPT ;_; #<3

[fwoopersongs]

临终诗 - last words

by 孔融 (Kong Rong, 153 - 208 CE)

言多令事败，器漏苦不密。 yán duō lìng shì bài, qì lòu kǔ bù mì Speak overmuch and it leads to failure; a vessel which leaks suffers for its poor sealing.

河溃蚁孔端，山坏由猿穴。 hé kuì yǐ kǒng duān, shān huài yóu yuán xué The bursting of a dam may be traced to the boring of ants, a mountain’s collapse to the cave-nests of apes.

涓涓江汉流，天窗通冥室。 juānjuān jiānghàn liú, tiānchuāng tōng míng shì Slow streams join the Yangtze and Han River’s flow; a window to the sky is the opening into a dark chamber.

谗邪害公正，浮云翳白日。 chán xié hài gōngzhèng, fú yún yì bái rì Vilifiers and the wicked inflict harm on the just and fair; clouds conceal the brilliant sun.

靡辞无忠诚，华繁竟不实。 mí cí wú zhōngchéng, huá fán jìng bù shí Fine words are spoken without loyalty or sincerity, like marvelous blossoms that do not bear fruit.

人有两三心，安能合为一。 rén yǒu liǎng sān xīn, ān néng hé wéi yī Man is often of two minds, their hearts split in three - how can they unite?

三人成市虎，浸渍解胶漆。 sān rén chéng shì hǔ, jìnzì jiě jiāo qī Three gossipers can make rumored tigers in the city true; even glue dissolves when soaked long enough.

生存多所虑，长寝万事毕。 shēngcún duō suǒ lǜ, zhǎng qǐn wànshì bì To live, to survive, there is much to consider and worry over, only in eternal sleep will all of these myriad troubles cease.

..............................................................................................

In Word of Honor, otherwise known as SHL 《山河令》, there have been many many MANY chinese poems quoted - kudos to the actors for delivering their lines so smoothly because these aren’t like your everyday speech at all - most of which I’ve never heard of!

Kong Rong’s 《临终诗》 ‘poem written before the end’ is the first of my Heard in SHL series, in which poems learnt through this drama are translated and explored. There will be no discussion of SHL here though - for that, please refer to What is the meaning of Tian Chuang 天窗 in which @tian-chuang​ discusses the interpretation of two key lines in this poem, also quoted and modified slightly in the drama, that are relevant to a certain organization within the story. 

Some background on the poet and the circumstances under which he wrote his《临终诗》:

An official and writer who lived during the Eastern Han period, Kong Rong was the 20th generation descendant of Confucious.

// Sidetrack for Confucianism in the Han Dynasty & descendants of Kongzi (Confucius):

Through the interpretation of the scholar Dong Zhongshu, who lived during the Han dynasty from around 179 - 104 BCE, Confucianism became strongly linked to the cosmic framework of traditional Chinese thought (quote source). It was under the rule of Emperor Wu of Han, which spanned from 141 - 87 BC, that saw the rise of Confucianism as its principles were adopted into state philosophy and ethics in the empire.

However, even before that, in 195 BCE / 205BCE, when Emperor Gaozu of Han (Liu Bang)  offered sacrifices at Kongzi’s temple in Qufu, Shandong, he granted the 8th direct descendant of Kongzi, Kong Teng the title of 奉祀君 or roughly Lord of Ceremonial Ritual. Thus beginning the practice of Emperors bestowing titles upon the descendants of Kongzi as a gesture of respect. Kong Teng later became Grand Tutor of the King of Changsha, and his great great grandson, Liu Ba, shared a similar role as the Grand Preceptor to Emperor Yuan of Han.

Sources are provided so you can explore yourself! Goodness knows how trapped in the link clicking loop I got, just reading up… 

Sidetrack ends. //

But coming from a revered family is not everything. He was famous in his own right for his writing and poetry, and was honored as one of the Seven Masters of the Jian'an reign-period (196 - 220 CE).

Have you ever heard of that idiom 孔融让梨 / Kong Rong gave up the bigger pears? This is the same Kong Rong. It’s even ended up in the Three Character Classic, which had been used as an introductory text for children up until the 19th century (see paragraph 1, part 10).

According to Baidu, Kong Rong was also the sort of person that, even early in his career as an Assistant to the Minister over the Masses, would go in plainclothes to investigate corruption among officials and openly confront superiors who intended to sweep it all under the carpet.  Years later, when there was a consensus among his peers in favour of the revival of amputation as punishment for crimes, he was able to convince them to give up the idea through an appeal to logic.

Those angered by his direct nature tended to think twice before offending him, because he was so highly respected.

Among them was Cao Cao - Grand Chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who kept a tight hold over state affairs with Emperor Xian installed as figurehead. In public and in private letters, Kong Rong would speak his mind, pointing out mistakes and wrongdoing where he saw them with his sharp tongue. He praised good habits and deeds as well, and ensured that word of them spread far and wide. He believed positive things should be adopted and negative deeds avoided. For this, the scholars loved him even more dearly.

Of course, he criticized many of Cao Cao’s actions, opposed his policies and was openly loyal to the Han Court. He also submitted a memorial advocating a “recommendation to emulate the policies of old regarding the 1000 li of land surrounding the capital: enfeoffed nobility may not own land within this area” which would have strengthened the power of the imperial family.

Cao Cao’s wariness and anger towards him culminated in a strong desire to ensure his death. Chief of Military Advisors, Lu Cui, hence accused Kong Rong of various crimes such as "plotting a rebellion", "slandering the imperial court" and "disrespecting court protocol". He was found guilty and executed in public along with his family.

Translation of 《临终诗》:

Keeping the background of its writing in mind, to me, the poem reads as quiet but passionate, both a reflection and defiant statement. If you were wondering whether it was written during his imprisonment while awaiting sentencing, you would be right!

To be clear, I don’t believe he ever plotted against Cao Cao - at least there were no records of him doing so - so it was likely his words which landed him in this. He was a person who habitually reflected and corrected his own mistakes, and so the first three lines are an acknowledgement of his faults and a warning to others.

言多令事败 | speak overmuch and it leads to failure 器漏苦不密 | a vessel which leaks suffers for its poor sealing

He had been very vocal in his opposition of Cao Cao, and did not keep his dislike of the man secret. Kong Rong was a social butterfly and fond of calling for gatherings with friends. He spoke openly of his opinions there, but realizes now that that had been unwise.

河溃蚁孔端 | cause of a bursting dam may be traced to the boring of ants 山坏由猿穴 | a mountain’s collapse to the cave-nests of apes

And the accusations against him were really based on things he had said in the past. Easily overlooked and dismissed as small matters, but apparently just as easily used as punishable crimes if one had the mind to do so. Through these ‘small, innocuous matters’ he had made enemies, left weaknesses out in the open, and now they had come back to him in the most disastrous and final way possible.

The idiom of ‘ant nests burst dams’ or 堤溃蚁穴 originates from a line in Han Feizi’s twenty first chapter, 《喻老》 Illustrating Laozi’s Teachings, that goes roughly so - with units italicized (take with a pinch of salt please because I have no context):

千丈之堤，以蝼蚁之穴溃；百尺之室，以突隙之烟焚 qiānzhàng zhī dī, yǐ lóuyǐ zhī xué kuì; bǎi chǐ zhī shì, yǐ tū xì zhī yān fén a dam of a thousand zhang may collapse from the boring of ants for their nests, a building of a hundred chi may be burned to ash from a spark in the narrowest crevice.

(There are apparently more political interpretations of this whole poem, by the way. I am choosing to ignore them as they are somewhat beyond me and I don’t want to mislead anyone.)

涓涓江汉流 | slow streams join the Yangtze and the Han River’s flow 天窗通冥室 | a window to the sky is the opening into a dark chamber

Continuing the analogy of small things combining for a far greater result - although… here the tone seems to have shifted from ‘what went wrong’ to ‘what should have been’.

Little streams 涓涓 flowing quietly, but gradually ever onwards, coming together to form a river like the Han River 汉江, which itself joins the Yangtze 长江 and rushing into the sea. It reminds me of idioms like 细水长流 in the sense of ‘do something small, but keep at it continuously and great things can be accomplished’. Had he been more discrete, more could have been accomplished for his wish of seeing the return of power to the legitimate ruling house of the Han Dynasty. Like sunlight shining into a dark room, chasing away the shadows.

As a aside, the reason 江汉 | jiāng hàn instantly made me interpret it as those two particular rivers is because from the Book of Poetry 诗经, there is this... Greater Odes of the Kingdom - Jiang Han 《大雅·江汉》.

And of course, the skylight, or as I called it, the window to the sky, was an opening on the roof of the house that allowed light and wind to enter. A number of sites - in Chinese only, sorry - (development of the window) (the romantic window ~) I found while trying to get a suitable photo mention that in the beginning, there were two types of windows, ‘窗 / 囱’ on the roof or ‘牎’ on the walls.

(Photo Source)

So the skylight 天窗 is the way through (for light) 通 into the dark chamber/room 冥室, would be how this sentence can be interpreted as shown in the photo above. The association of the word 冥 | míng with the Buddhist afterlife and underworld likely came after Kong Rong’s time, as Buddhism had just been brought to the Han people during the Yongping era (58 -75 CE) under Emperor Ming of Han less than 80 years before his birth, and was not widely practiced even up to the Three Kingdoms period (220 - 280 CE).

The next four sentences are about the external factors that have led to this situation. Here, there is anger and disdain for those with ill-intentions who seek to bring down the just, and also for gossips adding fuel to the fire. There is also a lament for the fact that it is the nature of man that they cannot stand united.

谗邪害公正 | vilifiers and the wicked inflict harm on the just and fair 浮云翳白日 | clouds conceal the brilliant sun

Slander 谗 from the cunning and evil 邪 harms 害 the just and fair / the proper enforcement of justice 公正. He’s certainly not the first to fall to this and shall not be the last, but that overwhelming indignity and helplessness of being imprisoned and convicted on trumped-up charges will never lessen no matter how many times you have seen this. Especially when it happens to yourself. The clouds blot out the sun, like the villains who cloud the vision of their lords.

靡辞无忠诚 | fine words are spoken without loyalty or sincerity 华繁竟不实 | like marvelous blossoms that do not bear fruit

How do they do that? With their deceptively flowery flattery, so easy on the ears, but none of it truly meant.

人有两三心 | man is often of two minds, their hearts split in three 安能合为一 | how can they unite?

And with such people around, you can never be sure of who they may be. One might be acquainted with a person, know them by what they show on the surface, but who can know for sure what they are thinking? Everyone has their own intentions and that makes it impossible to unite.

三人成市虎 | three gossipers can make rumored tigers in the city truth 浸渍解胶漆 | even glue dissolves when soaked long enough.

The line 三人成市虎 is a reference to an alleged speech by an official of the state of Wei in the Warring States period (475 BC – 221 BC), recorded in Annals of the Warring States. It has since become the proverb, 三人成虎 - three men make a tiger, which refers to the idea that if an unfounded premise repeated by many individuals, the premise will be erroneously accepted as the truth. Glue may be used to ensure things are stuck tightly together, but once they are soaked for long enough, they will inevitably loosen.

So these untruths may be unsupported, but repeated often and long enough, they can cause irreversible harm to even the strongest person.

生存多所虑 | to live, to survive, there is much to consider and worry over 长寝万事毕 | only in eternal sleep will all of these myriad troubles cease

This may sound like he has accepted his fate, but has he really? His rage, resentment, helplessness and exhaustion have reached their peak. ‘Living in a world like this? Might as well be dead’, he says. 

And these are his last words.

#临终诗 #孔融 #heard in shl #poems #i wanted to just translate and briefly explain #but joke's on me i guess #i do so love doing this though #even if i cry on twitter a lot #there's like only ONE picture hahaahhaha #and a wall of text #sorry not sorry #i had fun xD #commentary

[chalkrevelations]

OK, Word of Honor, Episode 9, and I know last time I got deep in the weeds about symbolism, but this week, I’m getting back to basics and rambling on (and on) about what this show is really about: Zhou Zishou and Wen Kexing and their relationship.

First, though, the usual warning: SPOILERS. Not just for this episode, but potentially for the entire show, so drive past and circle back around later if you want to watch all 36.5 eps unspoiled.

Bear with me on this one, because this ep spends a LOT of time on ZZS and WKX, and I think a lot of that time is ZZS making some Monumental Life Decisions, including how he’s going to proceed in this relationship and how he’s going to approach his life moving forward. But I’m finding myself needing to work through it chronologically, and it’s. A Lot. Also, let’s face it, ZZS has been my ride-or-die at least since he dropped to his knees and started disrobing in the middle of the throne room in Ep 1, so a chance to wallow in his emotional journey is a chance I’m gonna take.

So, we do have a brief opener when we find out Dead Guy who the Yueyang disciple was shrieking about at the end of the last ep is Fang Buzhi, AKA the Nine Clawed Fox, the guy who lifted WKX’s (Danyang) Glazed Armor (along with some replicas). He got got by mysterious somebodies in the previous episode, and we find out now that he has three tiny needles in his neck, which ZZS recognizes as a Tian Chuang technique. This leads ZZS to 1) assume it must have been Han Ying who did it, so the (Danyang) Glazed Armor is now in the hands of Tian Chuang, and 2) realize that maybe this is not the best place for the former leader of Tian Chuang to be hanging out right now, so he makes their excuses, because he knows that Gao Chong must be VERY BUSY now that he’s got this corpse on his hands, so they’ll just BE GOING, thanks so much. Gao Chong hopes to see them at the Hero’s Conference, and WKX responds in a Significant Tone that of course he’ll be at the Hero’s Conference, and now ZZS has his Thinky Face on again, because WKX is not nearly as subtle as he seems to think he is when he’s making Pronouncements.

The ZZS/WKX Show really starts kicking into gear that night, at the Getting Lucky Good Luck Inn, where we open on ZZS wandering contemplatively around his room, looking beautiful in the soft light of evening (your FACE, Zhang Zhehan) and ruminating on Prince Jin’s motives for wanting the Glazed Armor, like he’s never met this power-hungry asshole before. Also, he thinks to himself, wtf was that, with Gao Chong keeping anybody from seeing Chengling in the last ep? There’s a knock on the door, which momentarily confuses him - understandably, because as we’ll see, WKX doesn’t generally get the concept of announcing yourself and waiting to be invited in by knocking first, preferring to dramatically bust open doors (at least to ZZS’s bedroom) and grace you with his presence, whatever your thoughts on the matter are. He’s accompanied by waiters and dinner, and ZZS realizes his senses are going, presumably because he can’t smell this spread that WKX has procured in an attempt to prove what a good provider he is (what did I say about food and bonding? ZZS fed him in the market, and now it’s his turn to feed ZZS). WKX tells us that life is just three hots and a cot - which gives away more about your life than you would likely be comfortable with us knowing, Lao Wen, given how close to the vest you’re holding your cards – and that everything else can wait if you can have a meal with someone you like. :coff: (Also, remember this, it will come around again.)

Cut to dinner by flickering candlelight, the better for soft lighting to caress ZZH’s exquisite face, but ZZS isn’t into it at all, staring into space instead of eating WKX’s proffered Courtship Delicacies. This earns what’s possibly WKX’s most hypocritical and amusing comment yet, which is to ask ZZS, “What is it that you can’t tell me?” ZZS - apparently - is still feeling soft about WKX’s help against Tian Chuang’s Chengling-kidnapping attempt - or maybe he’s thinking that a little bit of opening up on his part will soften up WKX - because he hardly has to have a spoon dug into his ribs at all to admit that he’s wondering if it was a mistake to bring Chengling to Five Lakes Alliance. My dude, just steal him back, then. WKX laughs at him and tells him he’s got such a handsome face (true) along with a kind and innocent heart (false, he’s a former government spook and assassin, a part-time ill-tempered gremlin, and a whole-ass troll), and therefore girls will clearly go crazy for him (true, just ask me). ANYWAY, A-Xu, (WKX continues) now that the requisite random no-homo boilerplate is out of the way, are you really thinking of taking on Chengling as a disciple, because now is apparently not too soon to have the adoption conversation about Our Son. I almost expect him to pull out the adoption papers then and there. Instead, he pulls out a story - which is awkwardly placed and kind of clunky, actually, despite being thematically important - of a dog he had once, given to him by Someone Very Important, although of course he’s not going to say who that was (:facepalm:), and his mother warning him that he’d have to take care of it for life, and then he betrayed it.

So, there’s a lot going on here. We’ll eventually find out that ZZS gave Zhen Yan a puppy, so will this story of a gift dog jog ZZS’s memory into realizing that WKX is Zhen Yan without WKX actually telling him, so that WKX can tell his Bundle of Neuroses that it’s not reeeaaallly WKX’s fault ZZS figured it out? Also, WKX sees ZZS being like this about Chengling, and in the Chengling = Zhen Yan equation we’ve already established, is it possible this will prime ZZS to remember another disciple/young boy he took responsibility for, at one point? Of course, on ZZS’s side of things, it’s possible that hearing about this dog that WKX failed is likely to remind him of the way he failed his own responsibility to all the other disciples of Siji Manor, so, excellent way to take a stab at his heart, WKX! However, ZZS breaks the miserable tone we’ve become mired in by smacking WKX, chiding him for comparing their son to a dog, and getting them drinking. See, here, Chengling is the dog. Earlier, the two sisters A-Xiang rescued were the dog. Later, A-Xiang will be the dog. Unfortunately, WKX is going to have a blind spot and never quite realize that, in the Ghost Valley schema he’s set up, the Department of the Unfaithful is also the dog, but we’ll get to that in later eps. For now, cut to later that night: After dinner and a washup, ZZS sits on his bed, and we get some special effects to indicate that his hearing is also giving him problems, so he deploys his special Nightly Nails Torment meditation pose, and then we get the second instance of WKX playing the xiao to help him meditate and rest. (Junjun, your hands on that xiao …) ANYWAY, we get a gorgeous little bit of physical acting from ZZH here that could easily have been overplayed but is nicely restrained and subtle, with just the slightest smile when ZZS realizes WKX is playing, and then his whole body visibly relaxing as he allows himself to sink into WKX’s now-familiar musical embrace the meditation. It is :chef’s kiss:

Cut to next AM, when ZZS is now a very cranky boy, and I get this, because I also am exceedingly irritated when people bust into the room where I’m sleeping with an abundance of cheerfulness and try to get me to interact and do things without at least half an hour to creep my way out of bed, two cups of coffee, and an hour of silence before any attempts to converse like a reasonable human being (I’m looking at YOU, mom), and I don’t even have the excuse of seven Nails pinning me. Also, when WKX whips off the blankets, we learn that ZZH dresses to the right. :hands: I’m just making an observation. So, WKX wants to go to Yuefan Tower like some kind of wide-eyed tourist, and despite some smacking and scowling and death threats, we then smash-cut to the Tower, where ZZS has apparently come to the conclusion that the only way to deal with the ADHD gremlin crawling into his bed is to humor him about this daytrip. I think you could have come up with some more creative ideas that didn’t involve leaving bed, but I guess you’re not the fast one in this relationship, Zhou-ge. Srsly, though, I’m sure WKX would have been happy to do all the work, my dude. (I don’t always have strong top-bottom preferences, but you probably aren’t going to have much luck convincing me that ZZS is not a pillow princess who wants to just lay back and be spoiled. “Aren’t you a very capable man?” indeed. WKX has to do ALL THE WORK, god. I don’t know if I’m swimming against the current here – god knows I was in Inception fandom, where I felt the same way about Eames - but here we are.) Also, I can’t believe WKX didn’t just sit in the bedroom and creep on A-Xu’s beautiful sleeping profile for at least the amount of time it would have taken to drink a pot of tea, another viable option if it was me in this scenario. Tch. What kind of stalker are you, Lao Wen?

ANYWAY, at Yuefang Tower, ZZS tells us about the Four Sages of Anji, a senior-citizen polycule of soulmates who are, conveniently, at this very moment, on a boat in the lake beside the tower, playing music and sword-dancing. This is the first time they’ve been seen in 10+ years, after they put down their various swords and ran off together to live like hippies off-the-grid in the woods, probably skipping around naked, drinking “tea,” and having lots of sex. ZZS sighs wistfully while recounting this tale and calls them “a breath of fresh air.” There’s some discussion and poetry quoting and literary references to soulmates, and somewhere in here we get a shot of ZZS and WKX from behind which makes it super-obvious how hard they’re working the costumes to make Gong Jun look as broad as possible. He’s got the power shoulders on this set of robes, compared to Laopo ZZS’s soft, unstructured, flowing robes, and with those shoulders tapering down to the belted waist, they’ve got Junjun seriously working the Chris Evans Dorito silhouette. Meanwhile, focus back on their conversation: ZZS thinks that “the world is not important, finding a soulmate is,” giving some MAJOR FORESHADOWING for the end of the show (which we are accepting as “Ep” 37 because WE ARE), when we get that icy separation from the rest of the world but they have each other. WKX gives him a yearning look. ZZS looks back … there’s really no other way to put this … coyly, not meeting WKX’s gaze directly. This offers WKX and us a chance to admire his profile once again, thank you, Laopo. ZZS waits until WKX looks back out at the lake before looking at him directly, and his face journey, y’all. He’s thinking that it might not be bad to spend his remaining time with this soulmate, I think he’s starting to re-think the slow suicide, and he’s also thisclose to just letting WKX have him. Y’all, he seriously wants WKX so bad, here. It may be the first time we’ve seen this level of interest from him - it may be the first time, in all that we’ve seen of him, that he allows himself to even have that kind of interest. I think this is the next big step from Ep 6, when he allowed himself to enjoy being desired - now he’s allowing himself to desire, to want something again, other than a chance to drink himself to death in the gutter. This, right here, is a crucial point when he makes the decision to spend whatever time he’s got left living rather than just dying, and I’m flailing on the couch. This is the face of a man who’s ready to Make Some Declarations while getting railed within an inch of his life. SOMEONE IS GETTING SOME TONIGHT. Or he would if he wasn’t going to turn out to be such a fuckup. FFS, WKX.

But first, we cut to a scene of them back at the marketplace, wandering through as WKX mocks various sects in town for the conference – including the Mount Hua boys, who apparently look like virgins make their first trip to a brothel – and ZZS supplies background info on them. WKX asks if ZZS can tell what sect WKX is from, and ZZS calls him a messy bitch before asking if WKX can please stop making him play guessing games about everything and just tell him what WKX so clearly wants ZZS to know. (I know, right? But no, because then WKX might get what he wants, and he’s way too terrified for that, so you have to guess. That way, it’s not his fault when you figure out who he is and reject him, as anyone clearly will do because he’s unlovable and unforgiveable and not even really human, A-Xu.) WKX immediately changes the subject to ramble about the Hero’s Conference and how laughable all the sects are for wanting to be seen as heroes, blah blah blah, rinse and repeat. ZZS comments that only inexperienced people want to be heroes, that experienced people know “every character of the word hero is written in blood,” and yes, the character they’re using for hero, “ying,” is still the same character used in Han Ying’s name (which is not, by the way, the “ying” used in Wei Ying’s name, to cross streams for a moment). ZZS says he’s too old to be a hero (I and my knees feel you, my dude), now he’s just a wanderer, and he asks if WKX wants to be a hero or a wanderer, and WKX says that as a wanderer, all he needs is ZZS, and I’m telling you, someone absolutely would be getting some tonight if only he wasn’t such a fuckup, Lao Wen.

I’m’a try to wrap this up soon, because it’s gotten v. long, but we then cut to that night at the Getting Lucky Inn, ZZS drinking in his room, WKX busting in with his usual dramatic flair, with wine, inviting ZZS up to the roof to drink and look at the moon. He clearly has ulterior motives, but unfortunately for everyone, we’re going to discover they’re not the ulterior motives ZZS is expecting. As they lean back on the roof together, hands almost-but-not-quite touching, a romantic tune playing, WKX tells ZZS that he’s like, really happy! Just super happy! So happy! Ask me why I’m so happy, A-Xu! Spoiler alert: It is, unfortunately, not because he’s getting ready to get some from his laopo. This is particularly unfortunate, because ZZS chooses this moment to take another big step in this relationship, telling WKX that he’s not going to ask about things WKX doesn’t want to tell him, that he’ll wait for whatever WKX wants to tell him. On the surface, this comes off a little bit like, I’m done with asking when you’re not going to answer anyway, but in context – particularly on the back of the earlier scene when ZZS watched WKX turn on a dime and immediately change the subject to avoid exposing anything when ZZS asked WKX to stop making him guess everything – this is as good as a declaration of going all-in. ZZS is committing to this relationship on faith, without having all – or even most – of the answers about WKX, and his approach is going to be to wait until WKX is ready to reveal whatever information he feels safe and comfortable revealing. In practice, he’s going to end up being better or worse at this, depending on the day, but what it reminds me of, already, is that moment in the 20s (Ep 21? 22?) when A-Xiang and Cao Weining are arguing about her killing the beggar guy, he approaches her, she yells at him and points to the ground to indicate exactly how close he’s allowed to get to her, and his respect of that boundary she lays down is instantaneous and absolute. That’s what ZZS is saying he’s going to at least try to do, here. It also reminds me of the way he’s going to respect WKX’s decision on whether or not WKX is going to claim his place as a disciple of Siji Manor, without it affecting their relationship, so we really are starting as ZZS means to go on, here.

Unfortunately, we then find out that what WKX is actually so happy about is that his plan to burn down the jianghu is starting its next big step, and their romantic evening is interrupted by a bunch of dudes fighting and killing each other over a bunch of fake Glazed Armor. WKX mentions that he’s so happy the show’s started; he’s alternately amused, satisfied, and smug as they watch various fights; he seems to be expecting ZZS to also be amused; and I feel like the implication is that this was his real motive for inviting ZZS out onto the roof, to be able to watch this show with him. ZZS – who’s spent enough time standing ankle-deep in blood for six lifetimes and was working hard just a few weeks ago at drinking himself to death to try to forget what that feels like - is displeased and horrified, rather than very proud of what WKX has accomplished; he pushes WKX away from him when WKX approaches him to ask if he doesn’t think it’s all so very amusing; and he calls WKX crazy, then turns his back on him and walks away. To make things worse, the next morning, after WKX brings breakfast to ZZS’s room and actually knocks, only to find that ZZS has left in the middle of the night, WKX will witness an angry mob gathered outside the house in the woods where the Four Sages of Anji are staying for the Hero’s Conference, demanding a piece of the Glazed Armor the Sages are supposedly holding for Gao Chong, and eventually leading to the deaths of all four of these peaceful aging hippies whose commune in the woods was ZZS’s ultimate dream, leaving WKX horrified by the fact that his actions have consequences, including some that are going to make his boyfriend even more pissed off at him.

SO. All that happened. There were some other people in the episode, too:

We see A-Xiang and Cao Weining having lunch. She asks him why he’s not eating, calls him fat and cute, then proceeds to tell him about Ghoul, who likes to eat the faces of pretty boys. Her conversation skills could still use some work. Cao Weining vows to kill the ghosts of Ghost Valley who would do such awful things. A-Xiang actually ignores this slander about the evil of the residents of the Ghost Valley in a way that she doesn’t usually – usually she looks kind of unhappy when the Evilness of the Evil Inhabitants of the Evil Ghost Valley comes up, going all the way back to ZZS’s comments in Ep 2. Right now, she’s too busy pumping Pooh Bear for information, asking about why the Ghost Valley would have left a pile of heads on Yueyang’s doorstep if the Five Lakes Alliance is so great, so what is Five Lakes going to maybe, perhaps, do about this? Cao-dage is suspicious … that A-Xiang might be scared, but don’t worry, he’ll protect her. Oh, sweetheart. I could eat you up with a spoon, right along with Ghoul. Also, it finally registers that A-Xiang called him cute, but she has to step away for a quick confab with a henchwoman.

We also have to watch Chengling get bullied some more by a Yueyang shixiong who I think is Gao Shan, who we’ll later see bullying some prisoners in the Yueyang dungeon as he admits that he’s doing it to relieve his own frustrations and make himself feel better -  fantastic disciples you’ve got there, Gao Chong, I’m super-impressed by the morality and ethics you’re instilling as a sect. Once again, I have to consider WKX’s position on the jianghu as a hive of scum and villainy. Anyway, once Bullying Hour is over, Chengling runs into A-Xiang, and he can’t manage to prevent the waterworks as he confesses that he thought he’d never see any of them again and that ZZS didn’t want him. UGH. Zhou Zishu, come and get your child back. He’s at least somewhat mollified by Xiang-jie telling him she’s been sent to take care of him, and god knows she’s managed to keep WKX fed and clothed this long, so she has some experience as a minder, as counterintuitive as that seems.

We get a quick shot of Han Ying (My Beloved) with two identical pieces of Glazed Armor, apparently realizing that there are fakes out there.

Deng Kuan shows up, beaten and stumbling, and nearly gets turned away at the front gates of his own sect as a beggar – have I mentioned how unimpressed I am by the Yueyang disciples? Deng Kuan appears to be the only one of them worth anything – before they realize who he is. He is put to bed and tenderly nursed by Gao Xiaolian, who cries over him as he won’t wake up.

Finally, Gao Chong, Shen Shen and Zhao Jing (uh-huh) are horrified to discover that there’s fake Glazed Armor fk’n everywhere in town, making Five Lakes Alliance look ridiculous, which is just fabulous as the Hero’s Conference is coming up, guys. Shen Shen, because everything is a nail, vows to kill anyone who makes problems. Later, Hei Zi, who plays Gao Chong, has an utterly fantastic moment after the deaths of the Four Sages (wow, I did not remember that we wrapped up their entire storyline within a single ep), when he’s haranguing Beggar Gang Chief and is literally all, “You want the Glazed Armor? :pulls a piece out of his robe: HERE. You want some more? :pulls another piece out of his robe: TAKE IT.” It’s a great acting moment, his delivery is perfection.

#zhou zishu #wen kexing #zhang chengling #gu xiang #cao weining #han ying #deng kuan #gao chong #word of honor #word of honor episode reax

[brokehorrorfan]

Previously only available in box sets, Tremors 2: Aftershocks, Tremors 3: Back to Perfection, and Tremors 4: The Legend Begins will receive individual Blu-ray releases on July 13 via Universal.

1996’s Tremors 2: Aftershocks is directed by S.S. Wilson and written by Wilson & Brent Maddock (Tremors). Fred Ward, Christopher Gartin, Michael Gross, and Helen Shaver star.

2001’s Tremors 3: Back to Perfection is directed by Brent Maddock and written by John Whelpley (Earth: Final Conflict). Michael Gross, Shawn Christian, Susan Chuang, and Ariana Richards star.

2004’s Tremors 4: The Legend Begins S.S. Wilson is directed by S.S. Wilson and written by Scott Buck (Dexter). Michael Gross, Sara Botsford, Billy Drago, Brent Roam, August Schellenberg, and J.E. Freeman star.

Existing special features for all three direct-to-video sci-fi/horror/comedy sequels are expected to be carried over.

Tremors 2: Aftershocks:

The giant underground creatures that terrorized a desert town in Tremors are now plowing their way through Mexican oil fields, gobbling up everything and everyone around. Down-on-his-luck Earl Basset (Fred Ward) and gung-ho survivalist Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) reunite as two desert desperados who take on the task of destroying the monsters. Partnered with them is Grady Hoover (Christopher Gartin), a young man in need of kicks, cash, and a career change, and Kate White (Helen Shaver), a sexy and intrepid scientist who's seen it all... until now. Together they devise an ingenious plan for tracking and killing the creatures.

Tremors 3: Back to Perfection:

Those morphing, man-eating monsters are shaking things up again in the dusty little town of Perfection, Nevada - and survivalist Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) is the only solution to the latest in evolution! Aided by a couple of young local entrepreneurs (Shawn Christian and Susan Chuang), Burt pits his impressive knowledge of weaponry against the newest and deadliest generation of Graboids. If Burt and his new partners can't find a way to stop them, then the creatures that put Perfection on the map will wipe it right off the face of the earth.

Tremors 4: The Legend Begins:

When workers in a remote mining town of Rejection, Nevada, fall prey to an unseen creature, the mine's owner, Hiram Gummer (Michael Gross), great-grandfather to Tremors' Burt Gummer, hires a mercenary to destroy the carnivorous creatures before they swallow up his profits. What follows is an all-out assault that takes the battleground from deep in the earth to a suspense-filled showdown on the streets of Rejection!

Pre-order Tremors 2: Aftershocks, Tremors 3: Back to Perfection, and Tremors 4: The Legend Begins from Amazon.

#tremors #tremors 2 #tremors 3 #tremors 4 #michael gross #fred ward #dvd #gift #billy drago #helen shaver #tremors 2: aftershocks #tremors 3: back to perfection #tremors 4: the legend begins #tremors ii