between hope & hell / entre l'espoir & l'enfer

In the dark, only you are the light for me.

It's giving

Winter has arrived on Poob.

Remember that book where Siri and Ferus went to the club or some thing.

another example of how good the framing in this show is, and how effectively it develops the central relationship, is the way it's used here to create a shared flashback between fang duobing and li lianhua.

the back and forth starts before entering the flashback, with the exact same pattern i talked about here, that goes from a wide shot of fang duobing leaving, to a one-shot of li lianhua, to a pov shot (again, in slow motion) that shows us what li lianhua sees:

but here, rather than staying with li lianhua, we switch to a one-shot of fang duobing, and it is he who provides the entry point to the flashback, as we can see him recollecting, hearing li lianhua's past words in voiceover before it switches to the scene itself:

the scene continues to play out, and while the li lianhua in the past, who had been so moved by fang duobing's understanding of li xiangyi, sincerely amends his "new friend" toast to a "best friend" toast, the camera switches between over-the-shoulder shots of the pair:

over-the-shoulder shots are generally used to show connection, since both characters remain in the shot, while enabling the viewer to focus on one at a time, and this sequence is certainly no exception; the connection shown here comes across even more strongly when contrasted against what is going on in the present timeline.

finally, just as we entered the flashback through a one-shot of fang duobing, we exit it through a one-shot of li lianhua, and we do so immediately after focusing on the past fang duobing's face:

this cut, from the warm memory, seen in an over-the-shoulder shot that brings the two of them together, to the isolation of a one-shot of li lianhua, completes the sequence; just as the voiceover of li lianhua brings fang duobing into the flashback, this view of fang duobing's face is the exit point from it, and is clearly in the mind of li lianhua, with his unfocused gaze.

the sense of li lianhua coming out of the flashback is further strengthened by how his gaze does then come into focus, when he sees the flute that fang duobing had broken lying on the ground:

a close shot of li lianhua gathering up the pieces, both in one hand, completes the process as li lianhua also leaves the space and the memory, but will, quite literally, not let go.

the inescapable structure of tragedy, the lines of causality

Like… if you open a coffee shop and run it for a while and it makes you happy but then stuff gets too expensive and stressful and you want to do something else so you close it, it’s a “failed” business. If you write a book or two, then decide that you don’t actually want to keep doing that, you’re a “failed” writer. If you marry someone, and that marriage is good for a while, and then stops working and you get divorced, it’s a “failed” marriage.

The only acceptable “win condition” is “you keep doing that thing forever”. A friendship that lasts for a few years but then its time is done and you move on is considered less valuable or not a “real” friendship. A hobby that you do for a while and then are done with is a “phase” - or, alternatively, a “pity” that you don’t do that thing any more. A fandom is “dying” because people have had a lot of fun with it but are now moving on to other things.