So. Is it real?
Sep. 27th, 2023 09:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thisfanfeelsThe short answer: Yes, in my heart of hearts *.
The long answer requires pages and pages of an essay (that will never get written, not by me anyway), and a developing one at that, with lots and lots of references, has many, many caveats and extrapolations. Even then, the conclusion is... it's complicated.
The funny thing is, the more convinced I am, the less I want to post about them as a unit. I will not be tagging this post, nor mentioning names. Shipping two actors because they had insane chemistry in a show, who seem to be good friends, feels harmless and really good fun. Writing some thoughts here is meant to help process my response to this phenomenon. The shipping should have stopped at Weilan, which in itself was very lovely to swoon over; with the end of the Guardian roadshow, everyone should have moved on.
But it didn't stop there. These two provided so much fodder off-screen in the early years (2017/2018) when they were more giddy, less showbiz savvy and less guarded, that their past interactions have become memorialized as endless fascination for fandom. What's even more astounding for this shipper (me) - their sweetness continued over the next 5 years up to present time (albeit never directly or conclusively, and never intentionally in the same frame).
I can think of a dozen reasons why certain familiar pieces of jewelry, or word plays, symbols, themes, objects, garments, songs, references, posts/photos would appear occasionally. The worst reason would be: all along, it's a business arrangement between them i.e. keeping the myth alive keeps fandom shipping/buying/watching their shows. But I don't think so. The next worst reason would be: it's one-sided affection, with one of them publicly declaring his feelings by what he wears or sings, to the other one who is keeping distance personally and professionally. But I don't think so either.
The truth probably lies with private reasons that fans will never know, as is appropriate.
Obviously, for the romantic sucker in me, the best reason would be: they are indeed, in a committed relationship. Happiness is meant to be shared and love shouted from the mountaintops, but certain kinds of joy are not legal in their country. Hence the indirect showing of, but not direct telling about, of their (hypothetical) friendship. Perhaps The Friendship is an open "secret" within the industry where powers-to-be close one eye so long as discretion is practiced, and that our boys continue to be upright citizens who serve their country with entertainment and charity and civic duties and patriotism. Which they do, all the time.
For certain, there are challenges. Long-distance, busy lives, intense pressure, privacy, uncharted territory, uncertainty of trust outside the inner circle, haters/anti's, general nastiness of a highly competitive industry, and a finite shelf-life if they don't seize every quality opportunity available.... Even for regular people like us, any one of these considerations would be detrimental to a relationship. Which is why this Friendship is so precious - despite the obstacles, it is still enduring, still evolving.
One or perhaps both have said in separate interviews about making choices. The gist of it being, while there is stress in making a choice, once decided, then that choice should be pursued wholeheartedly and without regrets. Perhaps one or both might have said this also, separately always but in sync with the messaging, that to worry not about the future and its unknowns, but to enjoy the now - the happiness in the present.
Anyway, that aside, they are both amazing actors who keep growing. If I were to take away anything from interviews aired or printed over the last few years - there are 100's, of which I've only seen a fraction of - it would be their consistency and persistence with their values and professional goals. They want to do good work, they want to be recognized for their crafts. In support of them as individual artists, I am currently watching through all their work.
OK, enough rambling. If this is a very real, very private relationship, I ought to be mindful of shipping responsibly. Perhaps future posts will be reviews of their shows instead.
(*Based on my own suppositions from English-language media and other fans' postings, as well as google translations since I can't read Chinese social media sources. In other words, my very limited observations are my own, with absolutely no concrete basis for accuracy or truth).
The long answer requires pages and pages of an essay (that will never get written, not by me anyway), and a developing one at that, with lots and lots of references, has many, many caveats and extrapolations. Even then, the conclusion is... it's complicated.
The funny thing is, the more convinced I am, the less I want to post about them as a unit. I will not be tagging this post, nor mentioning names. Shipping two actors because they had insane chemistry in a show, who seem to be good friends, feels harmless and really good fun. Writing some thoughts here is meant to help process my response to this phenomenon. The shipping should have stopped at Weilan, which in itself was very lovely to swoon over; with the end of the Guardian roadshow, everyone should have moved on.
But it didn't stop there. These two provided so much fodder off-screen in the early years (2017/2018) when they were more giddy, less showbiz savvy and less guarded, that their past interactions have become memorialized as endless fascination for fandom. What's even more astounding for this shipper (me) - their sweetness continued over the next 5 years up to present time (albeit never directly or conclusively, and never intentionally in the same frame).
I can think of a dozen reasons why certain familiar pieces of jewelry, or word plays, symbols, themes, objects, garments, songs, references, posts/photos would appear occasionally. The worst reason would be: all along, it's a business arrangement between them i.e. keeping the myth alive keeps fandom shipping/buying/watching their shows. But I don't think so. The next worst reason would be: it's one-sided affection, with one of them publicly declaring his feelings by what he wears or sings, to the other one who is keeping distance personally and professionally. But I don't think so either.
The truth probably lies with private reasons that fans will never know, as is appropriate.
Obviously, for the romantic sucker in me, the best reason would be: they are indeed, in a committed relationship. Happiness is meant to be shared and love shouted from the mountaintops, but certain kinds of joy are not legal in their country. Hence the indirect showing of, but not direct telling about, of their (hypothetical) friendship. Perhaps The Friendship is an open "secret" within the industry where powers-to-be close one eye so long as discretion is practiced, and that our boys continue to be upright citizens who serve their country with entertainment and charity and civic duties and patriotism. Which they do, all the time.
For certain, there are challenges. Long-distance, busy lives, intense pressure, privacy, uncharted territory, uncertainty of trust outside the inner circle, haters/anti's, general nastiness of a highly competitive industry, and a finite shelf-life if they don't seize every quality opportunity available.... Even for regular people like us, any one of these considerations would be detrimental to a relationship. Which is why this Friendship is so precious - despite the obstacles, it is still enduring, still evolving.
One or perhaps both have said in separate interviews about making choices. The gist of it being, while there is stress in making a choice, once decided, then that choice should be pursued wholeheartedly and without regrets. Perhaps one or both might have said this also, separately always but in sync with the messaging, that to worry not about the future and its unknowns, but to enjoy the now - the happiness in the present.
Anyway, that aside, they are both amazing actors who keep growing. If I were to take away anything from interviews aired or printed over the last few years - there are 100's, of which I've only seen a fraction of - it would be their consistency and persistence with their values and professional goals. They want to do good work, they want to be recognized for their crafts. In support of them as individual artists, I am currently watching through all their work.
OK, enough rambling. If this is a very real, very private relationship, I ought to be mindful of shipping responsibly. Perhaps future posts will be reviews of their shows instead.
(*Based on my own suppositions from English-language media and other fans' postings, as well as google translations since I can't read Chinese social media sources. In other words, my very limited observations are my own, with absolutely no concrete basis for accuracy or truth).
