i don't make decisions i just speak the visions

HAHAHAHAH WELL!! initially plums were on the table bc i was picking a stone fruit for fic1 symbolism reasons. i can't remember if it was me deciding if fx should have peach vs plum, or mq having cherry vs plum. i think the latter bc i can't imagine fx with anything but peaches? and even though mq is canonically associated w the cherries (he wanted to get some for his MOM) i probably wanted to be original. but theeeen, i learned more about the stone fruits and was like, well, i just don't see how a plant associated with winter can fit in the south. but i didn't want it to go to waste, so i kept my plums in the freezer so to speak

HEHEHHEHEHEHHEH

hx is a better judge of character than yy so he knows more. he knows that yy is repressing most of his emotions, and therefore hx is constantly trying to bait and prod him into speaking his mind, almost like playing with his food. hx also knows that despite his mask, yy is tenderhearted and kind, and would like to instill similar weaknesses in their protegé/daughter, so he's trying to minimize damage

yy on the other hand..... see, hx is a great actor, but yy is always watching, and he's bound to catch a slip eventually. yy is well-versed in the art of masking so he knows to some degree that hx's words and actions are a front for something. of course he does, they've been working together for so long. yy also knows that hx's ruthlessness stems from his sense of justice. eye for an eye. it's not a soft kindness, but there's something there, and if yy could just get to it.....

as a bonus, here's what they DON'T know about each other

hx doesn't quite understand how it is that yy can hold so much resentment yet be able to just sit on it and not do anything about it. like, are you sure you don't want revenge? why not? you don't want to hurt the people who hurt you? don't you think it's unfair? don't you want payback? i can give it to you. i can help you. just say the word.....

HAHAH LATE REPLY BECAUSE THIS VENERABLE LIEGE LORD'S PSYCHE IS FALLING APART LIKE A GLACIER IN THE GREENHOUSE. ANYWAY

tbh the general masses don't even acknowledge yinxuan as a ship at all and i could leave it at that...... and i could also bring up some other poasts i already made about their similarities and potential fic ideas.... but to keep it Funky Fresh i will say that i'm mostly rotating plot points rn, so probably not applicable to the ship in general but specifically to the fic

i want everyone to consider that although they are very similar people [see above], their outlook / approaches could not be more different. hx, notoriously, got to work and had a master plan and laid the foundation. you can't say he was repressing anything so much as projecting his pain into a passion project. and hx was generally in control the whole time, you could say. that whole arc was the exact opposite of a spurious accident. meanwhile, yy didn't process SHIT lmao he just kept smiling and repressing his annoyance and anger until finally his control SLIPPED with devastating consequences.

- lang qianqiu. well I would like her story a lot more but the point of her character is that she refused to change when confronted with some horrible revelations so I think she's got a steadfast nature

- quan yizhen. can't improve upon perfection

- yin yu. the way everyone seems to forget about her she might as well be a woman

- he xuan. as shown in the text

- hualian as a pair. as you all know, xie lian cooks (badly, but he cooks) and hua cheng's complex backstory was flattened for the plot. hualesbians

characters whose neuroses would be funnier as women

- feng xin. thank you ju yang for inventing the Strap That Gets You Pregnant

- mu qing. layering internalized misogyny onto her already existing minefield of insecurities plus making her even more similar to her mom for devastating effect. kicking my feet giggling

characters who would be hotter as women

- qi rong. what's better than a two-bit cringefail villain? a two-bit cringefail villainess

- jun wu. problematic MILF who ruins everyone's lives around her i can't finish this section I am addled with lust

people who should never be women