A Lost Tomb Meta Argument for the Bond Between Liu Sang and Wu Xie
Listen. Liu Sang may get all clever and snarky at Wu Xie with passive aggressive one-liners at first (Lucille Bluth voice: good for him), but here I want to talk about how the progress of LTR and their own personalities point to them developing a really sweet friendship over the series.
Note: I havenât read the books, just seen snippets, so I know there are things here that wonât hold up to the source text; Iâm doing this meta based on the show alone, apologies for any confusion or big anachronisms to the book.
1.) They are both defensive, snarky, and wary people whose life experiences have made them this way. Wu Xie hides it far better behind his charm and smiles, plus he does usually have his iron triangle and family support to fall back on. But I like that when Liu Sang confronts Wu Xie over the whole âyouâre dying and in a dangertomb dude wtfâ thing, you get to see the look on his face right after Wu Xie responds being all âbitch try me I will deny everythingââ Liu Sang actually looks pleasantly surprised by it, and keeps his mouth shut until the situation becomes too obvious. That face in that moment isnât confusion or fear, thatâs some straight-up recognition. Like, oh shit, heâs still annoying but itâs weird now because I totally get him and appreciate that he has a spine after all. Liu Sang is a stranger here, he just met Wu Xie like 12 hours ago, but somehow he understands him perfectly in that moment and I appreciate that acknowledgment of kinship.
2.) Beneath all the prickliness, they are both soft at heart. Wu Xie had ten years of hell to transform into a excellent liar and actor, Liu Sangâs backstory is trauma after betrayal after trauma. But we see how they are both capable of extraordinary goodnessâthe first time we meet Liu Sang, he awkwardly tries to help a small child he believes is in danger, and later becomes a member of the squad despite his half-hearted efforts not to like them. Liu Sangâs loyalty, once earned, is powerful and unconditional. Wu Xieâs best (and most double edged) qualities are, as Iâve discussed before, his compassion, love and loyalty, and these qualities overwhelm his guardedness over and over again in the series. Despite that coldly pragmatic Wu mindset he sometimes develops, what ultimately drives Wu Xie and what makes the show is his passion for adventure and love for his people.
3.) Xiao Ge. The Venn diagram betwixt our two foxes. Thereâs a reason the Wu Xie/Xiao Ge/Liu Sang tag is alive and well. Honestly though, they both gravitate towards Xiao Ge at first due to their fascination with him, but Wu Xie has had the benefit of getting to know Xiao Ge much sooner and in a different capacity and is already his boyfriend one of the very few people whoâs truly close to Xiao Ge. He is himself possessive over Xiao Ge to a degreeâIâve seen some hilarious jealous-Wu Xie postsâbut I think a lot of it stems from a place of long familiarity that has been hard-won. Liu Sang starts from a place of what he admits is idolization, but I think a turning point happens early on in the tombs, when he admits to Xiao Ge that he played a trick on Pangzi and Wu Xie that indirectly got them into trouble. Liu Sangâs expression shows that he knows how foolish this joke makes him look now that something bad has happened, even though they both know he didnât mean any real harm. BUT. He owns up anyway to do the right thing. Like Wu Xie, Liu Sang is a person whose pride can get the best of him, but who is capable of casting it aside once he realizes itâs a problem. He then shifts gears and uses his ability not to impress Xiao Ge but to help save Wu Xie and Pangzi. He then chooses to follow the group at a distance from then on rather than trying to still stick to Xiao Geâs side. I donât think itâs really just fear of Pangzi, as is claimed by that character in the showâI think itâs more awkwardness and even some guilt. Once things change and the friendship grows, Liu Sang is no longer trailing behind. I appreciate that they so clearly come to occupy different places in Xiao Geâs lifeâhis soulmate and his protegeâbut they also come to be friends.
4. The realness of their interactions. Liu Sang is the only person in this series who meets Wu Xie for the first time as his present dying heir self, not sweet bebe Wu Xie, not sheltered Tianzhen, and he sees him as he truly is and treats him like a regular person (no disrespect to the marvelous Xiao Bai, but she does put Wu Xie on a pedestal for so much of the series until she knows better). Itâs clear that Wu Xie also sees Liu Sang as he is, not just a clever tomb raiding tool or pretty-boy but instead this lonely kid who is human and vulnerable. (I have to wonder to what degree his regret over everything that happened with Li Cu influences how easy he goes on Liu Sang in the show?) He doesnât react to Liu Sangâs initial sass on the beach, doesnât really get mad for the trick Liu Sang played in the tomb, and (hilariously) wonât ever let Liu Sang thank him for the instinctive rescue as they are escaping the tombsâtheyâve already silently jumped to âitâs cool, I gotchaâ status in like three episodes.
Most importantly: I truly believe that once they meet, Li Cu and Liu Sang will form a âhow did my life get turned upside down and admittedly way better in the long run due to this insane cardigan-rocking disaster and his equally insane friendsâ club and that they will have commiseration meetings during parties whenever Li Cuâs Adopted Dad and Liu Sangâs Idol are gettingâŠcozy.
I also have a headcanon that during a random visit to deliver something, Liu Sang learns he now has a room thatâs entirely his at Wushanju, fully soundproofed to protect his ears and located by a private door out to the courtyard so he can come and go as he wishes.
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