[ SECRET POST #5205 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5205 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.



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02.
[When They Cry]


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03.
[Shadow and Bone on Netflix, based on the books by Leigh Bardugo]


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04.
[Word of Honor]


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05.
[I Am Still Alive]


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06.
[Car Talk]


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07.
[A/B/O]








Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 24 secrets from Secret Submission Post #745.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

04. https://i.imgur.com/vXR7GzB.png
[Word of Honor]

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, I get this, but you don't *have* to let fandom dictate your viewing choices.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

I know that, obviously. But you can understand why it might be tempting to get into a new fandom just as it's blowing up, right?

OP

[(Anonymous)]

I decided to start watching and I'm hooked! It's not exactly like The Untamed, but I can see why there's a lot of fandom overlap. I'll reserve full judgment until I've finished it, but so far I'm enjoying it a lot.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

I'm curious OP, what's the level of gay? And are you watching it on Netflix?

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

not the OP, but it's not on netflix. There's an official (free) youtube channel for it and also maybe on Amazon Prime? Both are putting out only a few episodes a week and are only a little over half way through. If you want to avoid spoilers though, you have to be careful because all the episodes have come out in Chinese (and also in English on a pay platform).

It's very gay without being actually gay (in the way The Untamed was- showing as much as they can within the censorship lines). There are lingering touches and long gazes into each other eyes, etc.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

I'll check this out I think. Thanks for the info!

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

so....................

not actually gay at all

because it's chinese

and because the cast and staff quite sensibly wish to avoid imprisonment and/or conviction and/or other consequences because of the censorship

so, in conclusion, IT'S NOT GAY.

****MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW****

[(Anonymous)]

I'm watching it on Youtube with English subtitles, I don't think it's on Netflix? The level of gay seems... fairly gay.

****MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD****




Wen Ke Xing (the guy in red) makes absolutely no bones about being into Zhou Zi Shu (the guy in blue), and he's a HUGE flirt, making regular comments about ZZS' beauty and physique and how amazing he must be even though he's in disguise as a beggar when they first meet. ZZS isn't interested initially, but eventually comes to view WKX as his soulmate, even though he doesn't really know the man very well and WKX quite obviously has some secrets he's not telling. When WKX learns that ZZS is dying, he's absolutely distraught and equally torn up that he's keeping some very serious secrets from the man he thinks of as his soulmate.

IMO, the chemistry between the two leads isn't as strong as it was in The Untamed, but it's pretty clear to me that they've got a strong bond that goes beyond bromance.

[(Anonymous)]

I've found that probably a little over half the Untamed folks I know have tried out WoH. Many are very into it. Others, not so much. Personally, I don't find it anywhere near as engaging and the plot, so far, much more convoluted and harder to follow.

[(Anonymous)]

Ha, that's kind of funny, because I recently rewatched The Untamed and that plot is... something else. I thought WoH was easier to follow because at least you don't have that huge flashback to deal with.

General Spoiler Alert (nothing specific)

[(Anonymous)]

I love Word of Honor, and I love the Untamed! There's a lot of similarities: based on BL novels, and the showrunners and actors clearly knew the novels were a romance and kept in as much as they could get away with.

However, they're different shows, both in scope and in pacing. I can see why people would like one but not the other. The Untamed is still probably my favorite (so many side characters I love!) but Word of Honor is different because other characters can recognize they love each other--really, this show pushed the envelope. They've literally cut each other's sleeves.

Protip to anyone who decides to try Word of Honor: the ghosts aren't really ghosts, they're criminals and undesirables. Think of Ghost Valley as Australia.

Re: General Spoiler Alert (nothing specific)

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed. The romance seems more explicit in this one. Not only do the two leads figure it out much sooner, but everyone acknowledges that their relationship is Sui generis even if they can't explicitly label it as romantic love. They're treated as a couple, and there's more physical affection and touching, especially on Wen Ke Xing's part.

Re: General Spoiler Alert (nothing specific)

[(Anonymous)]

They also apparently filmed a lot of very unmistakable dialogue and just dubbed it over with something else to pass censorship haha. It's just a pity they obviously have a much lower budget than The Untamed had, it really shows sometimes. And they use the title song far too liberally imo, though it gets better in the later episodes. And the slightly changed ending apart (which I find okay but not great), I'm generally in favour of quite a few things they changed from the novel (especially the role/character of the Scorpion).

Re: General Spoiler Alert (nothing specific)

[(Anonymous)]

> Think of Ghost Valley as Australia.

I cackled, thank you for that.

[(Anonymous)]

I honestly dunno if I'd call it "the new Untamed". It IS extremely gay (obviously in a not-openly-gay-but-subtext way), and it was quite enjoyable, but the plot was a bit of a clunker for me, and the ending did a character seriously wrong, in a way that makes the happy ending feel unearned. (Trying to keep this non-spoilery as I can: the fallout from Character A's unilateral decision that Character B was quite upset about should've led to a conversation-slash-argument, but it didn't - and then the situation repeats almost identically, with Character A making a very similar unilateral decision, and then... happy ending. Alrighty then.)

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah I was okay with a lot of the things they changed from the novel but the ending was not one of them. Especially since there wasn't really a need for it but from what I've seen it has a lot to do with how Chinese censorship works. It's not that different from the Hays Code - so gay or implied to be gay characters getting a 100% happy end is not allowed, and the way the ending was changed reflects that.