Word of Honor [2021]

 The Untamed was first, Word of Honor second. Loved it. The basic idea is completely different and yet, I could draw you several parallels. One thing is for certain. While I could name practically all of the characters in The Untamed, I can only name some from the Word of Honor. 

Anyway, Word of Honor. There are two main characters. Zhou Zishu and Wen KeXing (Zhen Yan). And yes, he was born with the name in the brackets but isn't really using it. And well, the plot is a little convoluted, but the main point is this mysterious armory. And almost everyone is trying to get the parts necessary to open it. Only, they also need a key and the key was given by KeXing to Zishu so yeah, nobody knows that. 

Also, KeXing is formerly Zishu's shidi but hey, that's not even... 

Oh, who am I kidding, just go watch it! There are just too many subplots for me to give you a proper concise summary. But, you've probably guessed by now that yes, this is BL. Or whatever passes as BL in China. 

Also, if you get mad after finishing episode 36, don't despair, there's a bonus episode, episode 37. It only has some 11 mins or something like that, but it's important, trust me. You need to watch it as well. 

Though, if you haven't watched a Chinese Wuxia drama yet, I would suggest you start with something that doesn't have as many subplots as this. Or as many names and characters you need to keep track of. Still, it's good and it was over way too soon. Thank god for fanfiction! I honestly don't know what I would do without fanfiction. Especially for this and The Untamed. I need it. I need my daily fanfic fix. :D Yeah, I'm a fanfic addict.

Anywho, go try it and then come back and share your thoughts in the comments, okay? I'll be waiting!

~AnnElfwind

Written on the 11th of August, 2021

Hero's Heart Day 2021 was...

 ...heartbreaking. It was just too cruel. There was this quest. Aspenvale Academy. The style of the quest was more along the lines of a dating sim game, but with DF characters instead. And it had Tomix in it. So when they said to pick someone to focus on and go on a QuestVenture with, of course, I zeroed in on Tomix. So I'm picking all the options that would raise the relationship with him. And then it starts glitching. In a pre-programmed way. So, I start getting curious. And then the first part ends. So I have to wait a week for the second one. And I played that... Yesterday. Yes, it was yesterday. So I read through it till the end. And when they tell me to pick a partner, I pick Tomix. And what do I get instead of anything else? I get a scene of the Hero visiting Tomix's grave. Because Tomix is dead. 

And yet, his soul is still missing. So where the hell is he? I'm still believing the theory that he occupies the body of his brother who lost his soul. At this point, the theory is unlikely, but hey, I'm not giving up on it. I have to believe it. Tomix is the best character out of all of them! 

So yeah, this year's Hero's Heart Day was heartbreaking. At least for me. What they did to Tomix was not cool and I'm still not over it. And I don't plan on getting over it. Not unless they bring him back. I know I wrote a ranting post about his death almost right after I finished the Void ship saga. For the record, I no longer ship Tomix and Warlic in the romantic sense of the word. But I do enjoy fluff between those two. Gimme fluff. I'm probably gonna have to go and re-read the one sole fic that has some serious fluff between Warlic and Tomix that exists. Seriously, DF is such a well of possible fanfiction ideas, and yet... There's not that much unless you count all the stories with a female Hero paired with one of the NPCs. And that is not something I like. 

Really! It's not fair! It's always my favorite character that has to bite the dust! I hate this! What am I doing wrong? Am I picking the wrong favorites? At least The Untamed had a happy ending. Even if they didn't kiss... (In the drama).

Done. I'm done. I just needed to scream a little about this. 

See you later.

~AnnElfwind

Written on the 21st of February, 2021

Handsome Siblings [2020]

 I have recently finished another Chinese Drama. This time it's titled Handsome Siblings. It tells the story of two brothers (Jiang XianYu and Hua WuQue) that were separated at birth and told that they are each other's enemies. Only, they meet each other and realize that they have way too much in common and that they enjoy each other's company. And obviously, when one of them realizes that the other is the one he was told he has to kill, he only does it because it was an order from his aunts. He doesn't really want to do it, but still, he tries. And fails again and again. Until they finally agree to have the fated duel in three months flat. And enjoy the time they have together until then. 

Ancient Detective [2020]

 

Okay. Let me first say one thing. 

I CALLED IT. I FUCKING CALLED IT!

Thanks. Now, that statement won't tell you anything. At least not if you didn't see the drama. And even then, it might not tell you anything. But I just had to say it. 

As for the drama. I'm hoping for season 2. No idea if we'll get one or not, but I'm hoping. The drama itself, it's pretty good. The main character is called Jian Bu Zhi. He can't remember a certain part of his life and is trying to figure out what happened in Shenij Valley. Mainly because he's trying to uncover his father's killer. 

There was a fight in Shenji Valley and it has four survivors. Jian is trying to learn what they know. But they seem to keep dying before he can interrogate them. And along the way, he solves mysteries. Because he's a detective damn it! 

And he also meets some friends and a love interest that I could have done without. Frankly, the pairings are the one big issue I have with this show. 

So, his best friend and brother - Zhao Wo Huan, love interest Zhan Shi Qi and the love interest of Zhao - Ming Yue. Then we get Ye Xiao Xiao who is a doctor. And that is another big part of the drama. A race for Jian to find out what happened in Shenji Valley with enough time to get treated so that he doesn't die. Because, he was poisoned in the first episode or so, and then a technique called the cold palm or something similar was used to stop the poison from spreading. But it's all slowly killing him. And the only person who knows how to reverse it lives in Heiwu Ridge. But Jian is stubborn and wants to first find out what happened to his father, how he died. 

The Untamed [2019]

 Well, get ready for a lot of gushing. I love that show. And yes. The Untamed is a show. Normally, I would link to IMDB but when I'm writing about something more Asian, I prefer to link to sites specifically dedicated to those. Most of the time, I'm watching JDramas and Movies, but recently, I discovered that the Chinese might be a bunch of prudes, but hey, they know how to make an awesome historical drama. Well, this would probably be more wuxia/fantasy, but still, I'm gonna go with the historical fantasy genre here. 

So, I should also probably mention that it's BL (Boys Love). Well, at least the book this is based on is, the drama itself, more of an intense bromance. But like I said, that's because the Chinese are a bunch of prudes. Seriously, if nothing else, they could have included at least a single kiss at the very end of the last episode where they reunite.