Chapter Text
OK, I’m a little behind on the Youtube subs but ANYWAY, Ep. 22 of Word of Honor, and as prologue to my keysmash emotional flail for this one, I was rummaging on AvenueX recently and watched one of the videos in which she talked about WoH losing its original cast because of the Covid lockdowns and how Zhou Ye was the only actor who stuck with the production until it could finally start filming, even though her career was already pretty hot at the time, and she could have done any number of other things. And I offer that bit of background because this episode’s keysmash flail is a lot about HOW HAPPY I AM TO HAVE A-XIANG BACK INTERACTING WITH THE WHOLE FAMILY FULL-TIME, and how grateful I am that Zhou Ye was so adamant about this because Gu Xiang, in her hands, is a FK’N GIFT. Y’all. A-Xiang’s developing relationship with Zhou Zishu - the way he teases her with that little head tilt(!), and the rough-edged protective streak she’s developed for Zhang Chengling, and the way she and Wen Kexing so clearly care about each other, despite what their lives must be like in the Ghost Valley - the fact that kind of caring could survive in each of them, and that it probably has something to do with their relationship, in addition to her relationships with the women in the Department of the Unfaithful (as an aside, oh my god, I love that there are multiple women in this show, and that we get to see their relationships with each other). Her increasing struggle as she tries to confront whether she can fit in the world of humans (despite everything she’s been told) vs. the world of ghosts, and her ferocity - the way she literally bares her teeth at ZZS when they argue! And then, the push-pull between her and Cao Weining is just delightful - the way she keeps running away (lit. or fig.) the moment she feels vulnerable, including the water splashing scene when she chases him away in this ep as they clean up, and the way he respects her boundaries and stops at the distance she indicates in that scene, even as he encourages her to open up to him. I love them SO MUCH. They’re a reflection of the relationship between Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu, with a lot of the same beats, that really makes more explicit what censorship keeps from happening in some cases with ZZS/WKX, but more than that, they’re fantastic to watch as themselves, as their own characters and their own couple.
ALSO, this ep was just a wallow of found-family feels - I was clutching at my shirt hem in delight during the restaurant scene at the beginning, and then. Then! The family that fights assassins together, stays together! And further to Cao Weining, don’t think I missed that little acting grace note, show, when he steps up and holds Zhang Chengling’s shoulders in protective support during the confrontation with Shen Shen.
Also also, I am SO GLAD that ZZS continues to be as smart as he should be, as the former leader of Tian Chuang. The little moment when he catches WKX’s comment on Long-Tongue Ghost! The almost immediate payoff we get with that! The way he backs off, just as he constantly continues to respect Wen Kexing’s boundaries and stops at the distance(s) he indicates, even as he encourages him to open up.
Finally, yes, yes, WKX’s emotional confrontation with Shen Shen, but more than that, the way ZZS insists on Shen Shen using the name that Wen Kexing has chosen for himself, NEVER gives away the truth of WKX’s disappearance but continues to let Shen Shen believe that WKX grew up in Four Seasons Manor to give WKX the choice of how much he ever wants to reveal to anyone of his personal history, and the way he finally chases Shen Shen away to stop him from badgering his shidi. My HEART. I CAN’T, ya’ll.
I want to live here at Li Manor forever, show.