山河令
I meant to post something earlier this week because we're having a new Presidential address tonight, which might lead to a new rant - especially as it's never a good sign when Macron is the one doing the talking so I was all, quick! I need to write a post that is not a rant before you all think I spend my days ranting, which I promise I'm not ;) Work has calmed down a bit recently, meaning I've enjoyed being able to take a breather, the weather is absolutely gorgeous right now... things are ok! And I'm posting this before they - potentially - get less ok.
You know how it goes when you fall head over heels in love with a piece of media and you have to talk about it every day, everywhere? I'm at this stage, I'm right there *waves* So today, in my TED Talk, I will sing the praise of and express my love for Word of Honor, the latest Chinese drama that I've started watching.
I'll start by stating that I wish every slasher in the land watched Word of Honor because it truly has everything one could wish for in a show. Of course, I'm kidding, to each other their own and all that, plus I know it's a genre that is definitely not to everyone's taste and, obviously, not everyone would like it anyway even if they happpened to be into Wuxia. Still, I wish every slasher out there could at least meet Wen Ke Xing and Zhou Zi Shu because they would be so delighted about the way this particular relationship is being treated!
The canon source is m/m even though the drama isn't. I mean, I do find descriptions and/or articles that talk about 'BL drama' but it actually/officially isn't (when you know how strong the Chinese censorship turns out to be, it's not surprising). In any case, it reads that way; in addition to the deep connection between the main characters, there seems to be several 'hidden messages/symbols' usually associated with love between husband and wife or with homosexuality, so, you know... Still, Official BL or not, it has many of its codes. Don't we love the Soulmates trope? We do, we most definitely do.
Let's say if you wanted to enjoy a male friendship that transcends traditional friendships, WoH is for you, and if you wanted to enjoy a not-so-slow burn relationship between two male characters, then WoH would be for you all the same. Then again, if you wanted both, well, aren't you the lucky one, you can have both!
At its core, WoH tells the story of two men who find salvation and love when they find each other. That's it, that's the show. The fun of it that you can interpret that love however you wish. I mean it, bromance or queer relationship, this drama has one of the most beautiful depictions of love and friendship I've ever seen. It's pure joy, really ♥
It's so refreshing to have male characters constantly express their love for one another. I'm not even talking about subtext, I mean plain text; canon dialogues, canon scenes, it's all there for you to enjoy on-screen, be it with their actions, their words or the looks. Oh my god, you guys, the looks! I swear I've seen canon m/m couple who looked at each other with less love and tenderness than these two. It's actually a bit unreal - and they haven't known each other for long in the episodes that vid uses. Imagine after 20, 30 episodes ;)
Even better yet, the show has darker elements and thus characters hurt and suffer - physically and mentally - which pushes many of my buttons, they do questionable things that they regret later on and try to atone for, the action scenes are super awesome, the intrigue engaging, the secondary characters loveable and/or interesting too... I'm lapping it up all ;) It's actually a pretty clever mix of cute and domestic moments and dramatic ones. They do know how to keep a good balance.
Anyway, it's definitely my happy place of late <3 And don't we all love those? ;) This entry was originally posted at https://castalie.dreamwidth.org/537299.html.