thunder boy ⚡️ [inactive]

Say what you want to say [now].

Once I'm done with this cigarette, you won't get to do so.

we get three distinct phases of Chi Cheng and Guo Chengyu's relationship, and their presentation to the audience is very carefully constructed. i think it's a big part of what makes them so compelling. to begin with, we see the first two phases out of order (present situation first, past situation second), and it does so much to build out the complexity of their connection, especially because we, as the audience, start out with a lie about the past, which leads us to interpret their current behavior a certain way: guo chengyu is chasing chi cheng partly out of guilt and in an attempt to redeem himself. he seems like a bit of an asshole about it (not least because he fucked his best friend's true love). chi cheng is uninterested but lets it happen for some reason.

but then as their old relationship is revealed (phase 1), we are slowly forced to recontextualize their phase 2 behavior. chengyu is no longer the bad guy trying to atone, he's the innocent victim guy still somehow trying to atone, still trying to be there for his best friend, his person, his brother, his soulmate! you kind of start to realize that their relationship was so much bigger than we knew, bigger even than what was supposedly the biggest relationship in chi cheng's life. it becomes obvious that chi cheng's anger and apathy are just hiding immense hurt. that the devotion was never one-sided. and it just adds a whole new layer to the second phase, you know? like, the lie does so much for the narrative, i can't even explain it. a narratively load-bearing lie.

Why are you here?! I'm here to deliver warmth to you.