OverthinkingYizhan

a candy archive of my own | overthinkingthis on ao3 | oldobsess on twt

[overthinkingyizhan]

Boys in blue

Ok, so Weibo Night was days ago now, but I'm still thinking about it. It's been six years since we've seen them interact in public, so I sometimes wonder about the fumes that I'm running on... like, how much of a clown am I to be here for so many years?

I should give up the idea that we're ever going to see them together in public again. For years now, when they've attended the same event, we've gotten used to them doing this crazy dance where only one of them can be on the floor at a time.

This year, neither of them sat on the floor, and it was pretty glaring because everyone else in their row was seated, and what are the chances that the two who abstained would be these two?

I know the solos will say that they hate each other that much that they didn't even want to run the risk of seeing each other or appearing in the same frame. Personally, given the stupidity of trying to seat Yibo in row 2, seat 27 last year (links in the A/N for this drabble), I think the more rational explanation is that Yibo wasn't going to play that game again and sit in any seat that Weibo assigned him, and Xiao Zhan was going to support him in that.

It was a good call on their part because there was some other nonsense with the seats between them that I am not going to even try to explain, because it sounded so stupid to me. So if Weibo Night is always going to have seating drama, then the boys should steer clear and just chill backstage together.

Anyway, Xiao Zhan could easily have sat in his seat... I saw photos of him standing to the side for a while before his portion of the program, and his solos were incensed that he was somehow forced to stand, as if he had nowhere else to sit.

So yeah, the fact that these two never sat in their seats is big candy to me. And their second outfits for the nights? Also huge candy.

Like... look at them? Dark blue suits paired with black shirts? Similar poses by their studios?

(Love how Global Fever was there again, in her place of honor, and posted this image of them standing the same way to accentuate how matchy-matchy they were.)

And blue? Right after Yibo said in Exploring the Unknown 2 that blue was his new favorite color. I guess Xiao Zhan likes it too. Also, it's not lost on me that blue is Lan Wangji's color, and that blue and red (Xiao Zhan's color) make a CP.

By the way, that denim collared jacket on Yibo made me think of the outfit Xiao Zhan wore at the Tianjin fanmeet. Familiar, no? Dark blue jackets with lighter blue denim lapels, worn over black shirts?

I really wonder if that was intentional, or just another Yizhan Coincidence™️... at this point, I am going to go with the latter. Jackets with denim lapels are kind of a unique style, and there are a gajillion photos of Xiao Zhan in that jacket, so it's not like no one would remember that jacket, least of all Yibo.

Of course there was kadian and other coincidences, but their total absence from the event hall and those matching outfits/poses sealed it for me. Go ahead and call me a clown, but I'm enjoying 2026 so far! ❤️💚

[overthinkingyizhan]

Are these two for real?

OK, so on the day that Xiao Zhan is going to be performing three songs for the Dragon TV New Year's Eve gala, YBO posts old photos of Yibo ice climbing in a bright red jacket.

It's weird enough for YBO to suddenly post these photos because Yibo climbed that glacier back in February 2025... that was *last* winter. So why post the photos now? Is it because he's wearing a red jacket and it's like a personal red sea for Xiao Zhan's big NYE performance? ETA: ok so the glacier doc dropped, but the timing is still crazy cuz read on...

Then 15 minutes later, XZS posts photos of Xiao Zhan rehearsing for his NYE performance. It's always sus when their studios post so close in time, right?

Even crazier is that in the photos that XZS posted, Xiao Zhan is wearing a Glacierboy leather jacket. Wait, what? Glacierboy? Right after YBO posted photos of Yibo on a glacier!?

ETA: oh that shirt under his Glacierboy jacket reads, "happy hound, happy home"? Like "happy wife, happy life," but make it a gouzaizai??

This was a coordinated hit to our hearts, another Yizhan Coincidence™️, right? Am I crazy?

Welcome to 2026!

(And yes, I wrote a drabble about this!)

[overthinkingyizhan]

Holiday sweets

Fresh yizhan candy has brought me screaming out of inactivity! On December 23 (爱战 or "love zhan" day) Xiao Zhan posted a rare selfie of himself and put it in the 3rd (zhan) slot. Seems completely purposeful, right?

Oh look, there's a cute snowman wearing sunglasses in the 2d (love) slot and the snowman has a distinctive smirk.

Who is known for his smirk?

Xiao Zhan likes to cue Yibo's smirk.

Makes you wonder what he was thinking when he did this at a fanmeet:

Anyway, it wasn't just the smirk, he added eyebrows to the snowman. IMHO, that's not a common feature to put on snowmen, but *someone* has really distinctive eyebrows.

Like, if you're going to draw Yibo, you're gonna put eyebrows on your art or it won't look like Yibo. It's one of the features you'd include to distinguish him from Xiao Zhan.

If you still think that's all just coincidence, just creative license for snowman-making, then consider this: Xiao Zhan posted his snowman photo at 13:11 (with a snowman emoji if you needed more reason to take note of that snowman photo) and his studio reposted it 2 minutes later at 13:13. Yizhan Yizhan?? That's pretty frickin loud!

If that still doesn't make you suspicious, just a little over an hour later, YBO posted video of racer Yibo at 14:45 (意思:是我 or "meaning: it's me") with a smirking face with eyebrows wearing sunglasses. 🤯

That's such a specific emoji, no? I mean, I've got a "cool" emoji with sunglasses 😎 and a smirky emoji 😏, but YBO used an emoji that had all the features of Xiao Zhan's snowman. And posted it with that timestamp right after Xiao Zhan cued that snowman photo in his post. I LOVE THESE GUYS SO MUCH

Listen, just a week ago, their studios also posted things that looked coordinated. First it was YBO posting with the siren-loud kadian 13:17, or yizhan together (一战一起).

Then a few hours later, Xiao Zhan's studio posted at 18:00 (YIBO!!) and in the 8th photo, Xiao Zhan is holding a photo of a home. Is he saying that Yibo is his home?? 😭😭😭

I know I'm a kadian clown, but all of this makes me so happy.

And because I've been quiet so long, let me add one more "coincidence" that I really enjoyed, right around Xiao Zhan's birthday.

First, on October 3, Yibo showed up at Paris Fashion Week wearing this Loewe outfit:

Green is his fandom color, but yellow??? That's the yizhan ship color and everyone knows this. When solos see the yellow, they get mad. Why the heck did Yibo wear this blindingly yellow sweater?? Did his stylist choose it? No, HE did. In an interview, Yibo was asked why he chose this outfit. He said: "I was debating between this and another outfit and chose this one in the end." When asked why, he said, "Because of the colors and the chill vibes." The COLORS. Just before Xiao Zhan's birthday.

On Xiao Zhan's birthday a couple of days later, Xiao Zhan appeared in adorably domestic photos wearing... a sweater with a sporty car on it.

Ok, it's a Tod's sweater, so sure, maybe it's just to showcase the brand, but WHY A CAR? Because the next day, Yibo would be in Shanghai for an 8-hour endurance race. A *car* race. This was too much of a coincidence for me, so I did what I do when the candy is too sweet... I wrote a fic (another drabble in the collection I add to whenever I feel inspired).

There's so much other candy that I've enjoyed this year and that I hope to save in my blog someday. Maybe it will be a new year's resolution. Good lord, it's 2026 soon!

Happy holidays, and please eat the candy responsibly!

[wipbigbang]

WIPBB 2025 Project - A Royal Mess (陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF, Chinese Actor RPF)

Posting on behalf of the author and artist!

Project Title: A Royal Mess Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF, Chinese Actor RPF   Link To Fic OverthinkingThis: AO3 Link To Art By Minami: X | Bluesky Summary: Prince Tiantian is beautiful, kind, and set to ascend to the throne of the kingdom of Henan. Everyone thinks he could be the perfect match for Prince Xiao Zhan, but the sweet young prince might be too sweet for Xiao Zhan's taste. He's even more troubled because Prince Tiantian seems to be keeping a big secret from him. Does it have anything to do with the rude, domineering, and devilishly handsome Prince Bo? One seems to live only in the daytime, and the other, the night. Can Xiao Zhan unravel the mystery of the two princes before time runs out? Warnings: None Characters: Wang Yibo, Xiao Zhan, Lan Qiren, Nie Huaisang, Wen Ruohan, Qingheng-jun, Original Characters Pairings: Wang Yibo/Xiao Zhan When I Started: October 2020 How I Lost My Shit: Life happened, other fics took over, couldn’t figure out the magic part How I Finished My Shit: I decided I wanted to read this story, Minami agreed to make art for it, and this event gave me much needed deadlines

[overthinkingyizhan]

I know I've been AWOL, but finishing some long-languishing fics ate my life this year... here's one of them! It feels great to finally have it done, because I started sketching out the ideas for it way back in October 2020!

[overthinkingyizhan]

Hi and goodbye

It's become an undeniable pattern that when one of the boys is busy promoting something or otherwise in the limelight, the other will lay low. It's rare to see it play out so blatantly as it did today, when Zang Hai Zhuan, Xiao Zhan's hit drama, finished airing. To mark this day, Xiao Zhan's studio took to Weibo to post a goodbye message:

Meanwhile, Yibo has been somewhere in the Americas, filming the second season of his Discovery Channel adventure series, Exploring the Unknown. There has been no official confirmation of where he is or what he's doing, and other than promotional posts for endorsements, there was nothing new from him directly in over a month.

Until today.

The man has been missing for over a month, with only hints from other climbers as to where he could be, and on the day that Xiao Zhan's drama concludes, he pops up with some selfies and says "hi".

Oh and fans found that his post time was xx:33 (in whatever timezone)... gotta love the 33 kadian 🥹 He just had to pop up and say, "zhanzhan" 😅

He loves his 33...

Anyway, less than 12 hours later, Xiao Zhan posts his farewell to "Xiao Hai" (little Hai) from his personal account.

I don't know what timezone Yibo meant his post to be, but if you take the difference between the minutes for their posts (xx:33 and xx:35), you get two minutes. I am probably just clowning, but I just like the idea that Xiao Zhan meant to reply to Yibo's post with 2, or "love."

It feels so coordinated, doesn't it? Having Zang Hai walking away on the same day that Yibo pops in with selfies to say "hi" after weeks of radio silence?

We love these supportive boys. Is it now Yibo's time to shine? We shall see!

[overthinkingyizhan]

2024 AO3 Wrapped (6 months late)

Now that I'm kind of back on Tumblr, I went back and looked at some of my past posts and realized that I'd missed posting a wrap up of my writing in 2024 (because things in my life went to hell at the end of the year). I had actually decided a few months ago that I was done writing fic; things had been really bad irl (which is why I didn't post anything here), and I was struggling to find joy in anything, let alone a hobby where I posted things I created and let people judge me publicly 😂😂😂

Anyway, the clouds have (sort of) lifted, and I'm dipping my toe back into writing. It turns out it's when real life is difficult, I need an escape and a distraction. It really shouldn't have been a surprise, since I wrote my first fic during the pandemic!

So I'm going back to take stock of what I wrote in 2024, and hope this inspires me to write more in 2025.

This is mostly just for me, so feel free to scroll on by!

How many words did I write in 2024? I wrote 80,374 words and posted 81,095 words. The reason why I posted more words than I wrote is because I had started the year with 24k already written for two fics: When Wang Yibo Met Xiao Zhan (a "When Harry Met Sally" fusion), and the world pulled over your eyes (a "Matrix" fusion). When Wang Yibo Met Xiao Zhan was finished and posted in 2024, and the Matrix AU was completed in 2025.

How many works did I publish in 2024? I posted 11 works, but I didn't finish posting the Matrix AU by the end of the year.

What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)? I think I am most proud of the world pulled over your eyes because I tried to tackle a lot of big existential questions and also tied the story to the themes and lyrics from Xiao Zhan's album. But I didn't finish this fic in 2024... I actually archived it for a time (around the time my life went sideways), and began reworking it when Xiao Zhan released 我们. If I have to pick a fic that I completed in 2024, then I would say the blooming flower of time. This was my birthday fic for the boys in 2024, a character study using Hua Cheng and Xie Lian from Tian Guan Ci Fu (TGCF). I just really enjoyed writing a Yizhan and Hualian crossover and exploring the parallels between these two pairings!

What work of yours has the most hits? In 2024, it was my drabble collection, Yizhan Dribs and Drabbles, with 7609 hits.

What work of yours got more feedback than you expected? That would be my drabble collection! I posted 18 new drabbles to this collection in 2024, basically whenever something that happened in the fandom inspired me. Since I was only writing 100 words, it was not a huge time commitment (although it would frequently take me 1-2 hours to revise and polish before posting because every word counts when you only have 100 of them). I liked having this collection to update because then I got to give voice to all those silly stories that came to mind when something fun happened in the fandom, but I didn't have to commit to writing a full-blown fic. I've been surprised and delighted that so many people have read and commented on these drabbles... it is my second most-commented fic, just behind We Are Made to Love!

Favorite title you used in 2024? I would say please advise me for the rest of my life. This is a translation of the Chinese title for Xiao Zhan's drama, "Oath of Life" and it was perfect for a fic where Xiao Zhan reaches out the internet for advice on how to find love. And I got to use a beautiful edit from "Oath of Love," created by Max_Maks!

If you use song lyrics, which artist's songs did you pull from the most in 2024? A toss-up between Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo! I referred to their both of their songs repeatedly in drabbles. Yibo's "Like the Sunshine" was featured prominently in When Wang Yibo Met Xiao Zhan and we lit the bonfire while we chatted. And the world pulled over your eyes turned into a love letter to Xiao Zhan's 我们.

Pairing you wrote the most for in 2024? I only write Yizhan, although I did write a Yizhan-Hualian crossover in 2024!

Favorite pairing you wrote for in 2024? Yizhan, as always!

What work was the quickest to write? Putting aside the drabbles, probably unlatched, the fic I wrote after Yibo's new year's eve performance of "I Am Here," because I was so upset about the almost-catastrophe with his wire work.

What work took you the longest to write? That would be When Wang Yibo Met Xiao Zhan, which was 38,823 words and 10 chapters... and I had started working on it in 2022!

How many WIPs do you have in your docs for 2025? Too many! 😭

What's your longest work of 2024? When Wang Yibo Met Xiao Zhan

What's your shortest work of 2024? Besides the individual drabbles, that would be unlatched, at 583 words.

What WIP are you taking into 2025 with you? The Matrix AU (which I did finish!). Recently, I began working on a fairy tale that I started writing in 2020(!), and I also have a "Your Name" fusion I would love to finish.

What's your most common "Additional Tags" tag? That would be "Established Relationship" because that's my headcanon for Yizhan!

Your favorite character to write in 2024? Obviously, it's between Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo!

The character that gave you the most trouble writing in 2024? It's always Xiao Zhan. He's so complicated, cerebral, and guarded.

What one pairing you want to explore in 2025? Maybe Hualian? I enjoyed writing the TGCF crossover for the boys' birthday fic, and Hualian is probably the only other pairing that has captured my imagination.

Which work of yours have you reread the most? Of the fics I completed in 2024, I would say the TGCF crossover... it has a chill, contemplative vibe that I like to unwind to.

How many kudos in total did you get in 2024? 2006

Which work has the most comments in 2024? The drabble collection. At the end of 2024, it had 273 comment threads.

Did you do any collaborative works in 2024? Sort of! I asked Max_Maks if I could use some of her edits in my fics (please advise me for the rest of my life, we lit the bonfire while we chatted), and then she created an edit for me to go with my thread fic, Who Was That Guy? She's so kind and talented, and created art for me in 2025 for the Matrix fic!

Did you write any gifts in 2024? Yes! I wrote two more installments for my climbing AU series, (boulder buddies and climb with me), and gifted them to a friend who also climbs. This series was inspired by the fact that Yibo became a rock climber in 2024. I was so excited, since I made him a climber in fic back in 2022!

Did you receive any gifts in 2024? Yes! The friend I wrote the climbing fics for wrote me a lovely "second chances" Yizhan fic called One Way Street ❤️💚

What's your most common category? I only write Yizhan, so it's m/m.

What do you listen to while writing? I don't, because I need silence to hear the characters' voices and to visualize the scenes I'm writing.

Favorite work you wrote in 2024? Gosh, I really don't know. In 2024, I wrote a wide variety of fics. Rom com, sci-fi, soc med, threadfic, fandom cross-over, the drabbles, and some sequels to past fics... it's really hard to pick one. I'm proud that I tried a lot of new things in 2024!

Favorite line/passage you wrote in 2024? I enjoyed writing all the bickering in When Wang Yibo Met Xiao Zhan, but this is a passage (from climb with me) I really like, for the atmosphere it sets for a meaningful moment:

30. Biggest surprise while writing in 2024? I think I'm constantly surprised that I'm still here and writing, five years after falling into the Yizhan pit. So yeah, in 2024 I had a kind of resurgence in writing, and that was fun, just trying out different fic ideas. I didn't think it was possible to get a second wind in a fandom where the guys haven't interacted publicly in five years, but Yizhan continued to inspire, and I still had stories to tell.

So here's the post-script I can write now (because I am writing this halfway through 2025): In March I wrote in the author's note for the last chapter of the world pulled over your eyes that I had written my last fic. With all the horrible things going on in my life and in the world, it seemed frivolous to spend my time writing fics. Also, the fandom had changed... it was smaller and a lot of the friends I'd made in the early years had moved on. I'd been here for five years. It seemed like the right time to move on.

But then Yibo showed up looking beautiful in his Vogue spread, and I felt moved to write a drabble about it. And then, because I ruined my kadian chapter count (I'm a slave to kadian, so I had planned to end the drabble collection at 38 (zhanbo) chapters), I decided I would at least keep writing drabbles. 😂

I stuck around in the fandom, and honestly? It has helped distract me from the shitshow of real life. So I've dusted off that fairy tale I started writing in 2020, and am planning to get it done for the WIP Big Bang Finish Your Sh*t.

Thanks to the readers and friends who reached out with kind words and encouragements to keep writing. It meant a lot to have that support, and to know that people cared when things seemed hopelessly dark. Hopefully I'll have good things to report when it comes time to write the 2025 AO3 Wrapped!

[overthinkingyizhan]

I'm clowning again

I kind of take it for granted now that the boys and their studios do kadian to send meta-messages, so I mostly stopped checking them. But what better way to get back into tumblr than to record some recent stuff from Xiao Zhan and his studio.

I like to think that Yibo enjoys seeing it, since he's far from home now (apparently filming in the great Canadian outdoors for season 2 of his Discovery Channel series, "Exploring the Unknown).

So on May 28 (28 is ai bo or "love Bo" day), Xiao Zhan's studio posted five times. The first one went up at 10:05, or Xiao Zhan's birthday. This is how you know their time stamps are intentional.

After establishing that, yes, they do kadian, XZS posted at 13:00 (yizhan!) and then 20:30, which is 8:30 pm... or bozhan. Hello!

The last two posts of the day were typical for recent XZS posts, with 2s and 3s in them. Totally expected that the studio would be using timestamps to spell out their love for their laoban. I laughed because on "love Bo" day, they sandwiched the yizhan and bozhan timestamps in between the posts with Xiao Zhan-focused timestamps.

Interestingly, on the same day, Xiao Zhan himself posted a still from his drama, Legend of Zang Hai, with a cartoon finger gun superimposed on his hand:

Finger gun! This was a gesture that the boys made for each other throughout the filming of CQL, and here it is, on Love Bo day. The timestamp is 21:20 (or 9:20 pm), so with the date, it's 5/28 9:20: 我爱博, 就爱你... "I love Bo, just love you"

What's even sweeter, and more sus, is that on 5/23 (Love Zhan day), Xiao Zhan posted a photo of him displaying... wait for it... a finger gun. So Xiao Zhan posted finger guns on Love Zhan and Love Bo day... and just those two days. 😭

Time stamp? 19:48, or 依旧是博... "it's still Bo." 😭😭😭

No really, the finger guns on these days, the time stamps... how is that all a coincidence?

By the way, there is no way that Xiao Zhan doesn't know what 13 means in kadian... look at this belt that he wore in a video XZS posted:

See it? The 13? And that letter looks very much like a B for Bo, doesn't it? (It's actually an R, for the clothing brand R13). Xiao Zhan and his studio clearly know that 3 is zhan and 1 is clearly yi, so 13 is yizhan, the ship name that Yibo himself coined.

Wow, Xiao Zhan must have searched high and low for a belt like that, kind of like when he wore the rainbow belt with a heart and a Y on it. That takes some effort!

Actually, I like to imagine it's Yibo finding those belts so he can claim Xiao Zhan publicly haha.

Anyway, yeah, Xiao Zhan and his studio are on a kadian tear while Yibo is hidden somewhere in North America... I scrolled through XZS's recent posts and nearly all of the timestamps have 2s and 3s in them. Check this out:

One of the very few outliers is the 17:31 timestamp on 6/1, and what a coincidence, it's a pretty clear kadian for 一起战一 or "together zhanyi" (and there's an 8:30 pm, or bozhan post right after it). I scrolled back through May and found that XZS was pretty consisently posting with 2s and 3s then too, with a few notable exceptions like:

Look at that... yizhan yizhan yibozhan yizhan... okay okay, we get it, you miss Yibo. 😭 We miss him too! I'm sure we'll get some loud posts in return when he's back.

In the meantime, enjoy the candy!

P.S. While I haven't been updating this blog, I was still clowning over the candy, mostly through drabbles that I wrote from time to time. The author's notes (as usual) contain links to the shenanigans that inspired the drabbles. So if you're interested, you can check those out!

[overthinkingyizhan]

My brain is exploding

I'm sorry I haven't really been posting here in forever, even though there has been a lot of candy, especially during the period around their birthdays. Real life, you know. But these two sustained me through the catastrophe of the pandemic and... everything else... so I will try to post more, if not just to try save the candy I've collected over the years on a more stable (or at least less evil) platform.

ANYWAY

There's so much speculation about the hidden meanings baked into Xiao Zhan's first solo album, and we haven't even heard the songs yet. But if you know anything about me, you know I love the puzzles, and especially kadian and photo hints.

So this is making me crazy:

Early on, people ID'd the red in the image as hexadecimal code 911005 (Xiao Zhan's birthdate). I don't know how that can be confirmed just using the images that have been released online, but Xiao Zhan is a designer, and would know all about IDing shades of color using hexadecimal codes, so that is exactly the kind of big brain thing I can buy him doing.

And hexadecimal 911005 is indeed a deep red.

Then nili火火 (a big turtle on Weibo) posted that the second red filter was 970805 (Yibo's birthdate in hexadecimal code). It hadn't really registered to me that there were two filters, and that there are two different shades of red shown.

I cannot confirm that the second filter is hexadecimal 970805, but that code is indeed also a deep red, so it is very possible.

I know I'm a clown, but when those albums are released physically, it should be more possible to analyze the colors used to confirm if this is right... but with the limitations of printing (and of what can be shown on screens), and the fact that there are shadows on the filters in the photo, this may be something that cannot be fully confirmed.

BUT it's true that Xiao Zhan (I am assuming these are his hands) is holding two red filters that have different shades. The album is called 我们 or "us" (or "we"), so you can easily think of those two filters held together as representing two people.

Is this what he means to show? That "we" means him and Yibo?

Much has also been made of the way the red ribbon spelling out "WM" (for "wo men," the pinyin for 我们) is arranged. Xiao Zhan has a history of using design to spell out hidden text.

Look at that heart doing triple duty as a heart, the "O" in LOVE, and the "B" in BO.

There's also the time he painted his ideal life, and the shadows in the water clearly show a 王 and an 一 (yi)... with an indistinct smudge after that (because honestly, painting out 博 would be too much).

Anyway! I resisted seeing "WYB" in the way the ribbon is laid out, because that would be too too much, right? But now that it's possible that Xiao Zhan literally identified them as the "US" on his album cover using hexadecimal, WHY NOT?

There are no accidents in how Xiao Zhan designs things (like that weird curlique twist in the ribbon between W and M), and if that includes details like hexadecimal codes for colors, then it also includes where he places his fingers (here, his index finger closes the bottom loop of the "b"):

Don't mind me, I'm just clowning, as usual. 🤡

Ten songs to come, and a MV... will we survive?

[overthinkingyizhan]

Hi, firstly love your fanfictions and your blog here. One of the best parts about this fandom is that people write really good fanfiction ! I've been a part of this fandom for around 1 year and whilst going through the archives I found that something big has always happened on 520/521 however nothing much happened this year(or atleast I'm not aware of it). I was going through a few blogs here and someone wrote that there was a reason for this and if you follow c-ent, you would know. I don't really follow the entertainment industry very religiously ; I don't know about this. So I wanted to ask if you knew something about this ?

Thank you for spreading so much yizhan love! Have a nice day❤️💚

Awww, thank you for the kind words! It means so much to hear that the stuff I yeet out there is appreciated, especially because this fandom is so much quieter than it was when I first fell into it 4.5 years ago.

I'm delighted to know there are always new turtles being born, even though the boys haven't had any public interactions in forever. They really are such wonderful, beautiful, and talented guys, and so I'm glad you've found them!

I dearly miss them, and wish I could see them clowning around together again, because didn't they look they had so much FUN around each other??

But I also don't worry too much about it these days because I believe in them 100% and support them... so I didn't really notice that there wasn't some big gesture for 520/521 this year... unless you count Yibo showing up in this outfit the week before 5/20:

I mean, that's pretty loud if you ask me!

I'm not sure there was anything new about c-ent this year that would have kept them more quiet. There's been growing pressure for men to be "masculine," sure, but that's been going on for awhile, IMHO. Maybe I missed something else, but I also don't like to speculate too much about political stuff or get wrapped up in conspiracy theories.

This year, Yibo has been in the international spotlight for his role in representing China as an Olympic ambassador and torchbearer, so that's a big reason for him to be more lowkey.

Generally, they've been a lot more "stealth" in their work too, probably because they've both had bad experiences with overeager fans interrupting their work and causing trouble for their projects. It's shocking that we haven't seen even a single leaked photo from LOCH and I think a lot of people were surprised to hear that Yibo's Mermaid project had wrapped, but I am personally glad that their teams and their crews have been so successful in protecting them.

And there's also a part of me that thinks about how, when you've been with someone for years (if you've read my fics, you'll know I like to imagine they've been together since 2017), you don't need to show off publicly as much as when things are new. What they have is for them to enjoy, not for us.

So maybe we miss seeing something big every 520/521, but I prefer to believe it's because they're too busy with each other to care about feeding us. 🥰

Anyway, thanks for the question and welcome to the fandom!

[overthinkingyizhan]

Xiao Zhan plays the long game with his giant brain (and Happy Birthday, Yibo!)

I know it's been forever since I've posted anything here, so sorry that this is going be a kind of chaotic dump of things I want to remember about Yibo's 27th birthday.

So back on July 9, the news came out that Yibo would be one of the torchbearers for the Olympics. That day, XZS posted 18 (Yibo) photos at 13:00 (Yizhan).

By the way, in this array of 18 photos, Xiao Zhan appears 20 times, and 20 and 18 make "love you Yibo."

Remember this photo, posted the night of the boys' Dragon Boat Festival date? Look at the time stamp. 20:18... "love you Yibo."

ANYWAY.

In addition to being the day that Yibo was announced for this amazing national honor, July 9 is... wait for it... 27 days before August 5... when Yibo would turn 27 years old.

That's... interesting.

At the time, it was such a perfect coincidence that I really wanted to discount it... like, isn't it enough that Xiao Zhan posted 18 photos at Yizhan o'clock to go "yay" when Yibo was announced as a torchbearer?

APPARENTLY NOT.

Let's take a look at the July 9 post. In that post, there are four photos of Xiao Zhan at a campsite. At the time, showing Xiao Zhan enjoying the outdoors seemed like an homage to Yibo's WildAid documentary work.

But then what's with Xiao Zhan using a magnifying glass at the campsite? There are three photos of him doing that, so it must be signficant, right?

Flash forward to today, Yibo's birthday. YBO posted a video of a drawing of Yibo relaxing at a campsite. Huh. I guess camping szd, right?

Even more interesting is that the drawing is blurry (like, idk, maybe showing the POV of some really nearsighted person... I WONDER WHO THAT WOULD BE), and so the video shows the black panther paw holding a MAGNIFYING GLASS so that the nearsighted person can see the details of the drawing better.

We already have the cpn of who designed the black panther avatar for Yibo/YBO, but wow, having both Xiao Zhan and the black panther holding the magnifying glass really drives home for me that there's a connection between them. Xiao Zhan designed that black panther for Yibo and no one can convince me otherwise!

Oh, and YBO posted the camping video at 11:55, and I think it's clear by now that when the boys post at xx:55, there's candy in there somewhere!

And Yibo's own birthday post! It looks so much like Xiao Zhan's birthday post from last year, when he turned 32. Uncanny, really.

BTW, Yibo's post time of 12:30 can be read as yi(bo) ai zhan 😄.

It's cute that all Yibo had to say on his birthday post is that he's 27 (with the 😎 emoji) since he's now the age that Xiao Zhan was when they were doing their Chen Qing Ling promotions and Yibo was telling Xiao Zhan he wasn't old. 🥹

I can't believe six years have passed!

This cartoon says it all:

cr. 旁观者七七八, 徐玄序

And the annual birthday letter to YBO! What else can be said about it? There's nothing anyone can say to convince me it's not Xiao Zhan writing these letters... they're so beautifully and poetically written, with so many hints that are so them, like summers and people being in different times. It's so clear that he really sees Yibo and cherishes him. I love that for them both, and this is why I am still here, over four years later.

Happiest of birthdays, Yibo... and good job, Xiao Zhan (it'll be your turn to be celebrated next!)

[overthinkingyizhan]

Patterns speak loudly

YBO posted A LOT over the past few weeks, as you would expect when Yibo has a new project airing. I haven't had enough free time to sit down and enjoy watching War of Faith, and I didn't even have much time to follow the postings, even though I noticed that there were a lot of 18:30 (Yibo Zhan) post times.

Honestly, I kind of discounted those 18:30 post times a bit because 6:30 pm seemed like a rational time to post about War of Faith if it's airing each night at 7:30 pm.

Today, though, War of Faith finished airing, so I thought I'd look back at the postings and see if any patterns emerged. I wasn't disappointed!

On March 31, YBO posted at 18:30... and while that might just be a "hey, War of Faith is airing in an hour" kind of post, XZS also posted at 18:30. March 31 is ZhanYi day... and maybe that's a stretch, but oh look, XZS posted 9 photos and YBO posted 4 photos, and together that's... 13 photos. Same post time, on the 31st, with 13 photos... that's a lot of coincidences!

Also interesting is that that was the last time XZS posted anything... until today, the last air date for War of Faith. A whole week of no posting is kind of a lot, and it's an interesting coincidence that the week started with what looks like a coordinated posting and ended only after YBO and Yibo posted about War of Faith ending.

Yibo posted at 10:38, and the 38 should be obvious (ZhanBo) so the whole timestamp could be 要你战博, or "want you Zhan, Bo"... and then YBO reposted a minute later at 10:39, which could be 要你战久, or "want you Zhan for a long time." [Oh wait, everyone else in the cast posted about the end of War of Faith close to 10 am, some even at 10:05, but Yibo waited until 10:38 hahhaha]

Then XZS posted at 19:30, or 依旧站, or "still Zhan"... which recalls Xiao Zhan's old catchphrase ("I'm still Xiao Zhan"), but also reads like: "yeah the Zhan that Yibo and YBO are referencing in their timestamps? That's me."

And XZS posted old content, nothing important (other than to show off their gorgeous boss in his long-maned phase), as if to say, "hey, we could have posted this at any other time, but we are choosing to do it on the day that Little Boss's big drama is ending because we're proud of him, and also so you notice we've been quiet for a week."

I mean, take or leave the kadian, as you like, but to me, it's so meaningful when they do this, stepping back from posting to let the other one shine. In fact, ever since Xiao Zhan made a sus post about eaves on the eve of War of Faith debuting on March 21, he and XZS have only posted when they had to, because of two fanmeets that Xiao Zhan was doing, and both times, they posted at 18:30. Yes, the fanmeets started at 19:30, but okay, that's a Yizhan Coincidence™️.

Oh, and on 3/25, XZS also posted some stored content... 18 photos with 25 images at 19:00. Let me clown a moment and say that's 19 18 25 or "Yibo loves me still."

Wait, why did XZS post stored content on the 25th at all? Oh I see... 30 minutes before XZS posted, YBO posted 3 (Zhan) photos at 18:30... ugh, you two, get a room.

So what was YBO doing with the War of Faith promotional postings? A LOT OF KADIAN. It's honestly too much for me to get into here because there were so many posts! And I only went back to look at the last week.

It's a lot! Twice they posted at 13:00!

I'm kind of glad I fell behind in looking at the posts and post times until War of Faith finished airing, because all the Yizhan Coincidences™️ jump out more clearly in retrospect.

But don't take me seriously, I'm just a clown for them. Enjoy the candy responsibly.

[overthinkingyizhan]

Eaves on the Eve

So today, on the eve of the premiere of Yibo's new banking drama, Xiao Zhan posts... photos of eaves.

If you don't like the English language pun, apparently there's Chinese language wordplay going on too... eaves can be called 屋檐边 (edge of roof) or wū yán biān... or WYB.

I mean, Xiao Zhan has been fond of posting photos of eaves for years:

XZS too.

Maybe he just enjoys taking and sharing photos of architectural features. These rooflines are lovely! Especially in Hengdian!

It's just funny that he's posting eaves, or wuyanbian today, the day before Yibo's new drama drops.

Also... Xiao Zhan posted the photos at 17:15, or "together, you and me" (and XZS reposted at 17:21, or "together, love you"):

Don't mind me, perhaps it's just another Yizhan Coincidence™️.

[overthinkingyizhan]

He's so proud

Hey remember when Xiao Zhan went to Milan for Fashion Week, not even a month ago? When he showed up looking like this?

(Sorry not sorry for the emotional damage, I missed posting on Tumblr for a few months, and I need this photo on my blog...)

Anyway, XZS produced an amazing vlog afterwards, as they do, and in the middle of it, there's a sequence of screens quoting a line from the movie, Mary Poppins:

The quote is: "Winds in the east, mist comin' in, like something is brewing and about to begin. Can't put my finger on what lies in store, but I feel what's to happen all happened before."

The line is spoken by Dick Van Dyke's character Bert, a chimney sweep who's friends with the title character Mary Poppins (played by Julie Andrews). He says this shortly before Mary Poppins makes her dramatic entrance, with a windstorm that blows away all the rival nannies, clearing the way for her to glide in with her iconic umbrella and take the job as nanny to the Banks children.

Oh... so many umbrella shots from Milan...

OK, so why is this Mary Poppins quote in the XZS vlog?

A major theme in Mary Poppins is banking. The family that Mary Poppins works for is the Banks family. And the father, George Banks, is a banker. He tries to teach the kids the value of money, and there's a whole song about it that ends with the president of the bank stealing the Banks kids' tuppence (an old British coin worth two pence).

ANYWAY. Throughout the XZS vlog, Xiao Zhan is twirling a coin-shaped disc, flipping it, playing with it. It rolls around repeatedly in the video and refuses to be ignored.

XZS wanted us all to see the coin, and now we know why. Yibo has a new drama coming out, and it's about banking.

In the promos for Yibo's new drama, he's playing with a coin, and boy that's a coincidence, isn't it?

Today, Yibo himself posted a poster about the drama, and he's flipping a coin. Just as Xiao Zhan did in his vlog.

And the Mary Poppins quote about the wind coming? "Winds in the east, mist comin' in, like something is brewing and about to begin. Can't put my finger on what lies in store, but I feel what's to happen all happened before."

There have been a couple of Chinese titles for Yibo's new drama. In earlier promos it was called 长风破浪 (Brave the Wind and Waves) and now it's apparently 追风者 (Storm Chaser).

Either way, the title includes the character 风, which means "wind," and the titles evoke a kind of stormy feeling.

XZS was telling us the wind and mist was coming, a storm brewing, and now we've got Yibo's drama (with a stormy title) premiering in just days.

And yeah, "I feel what's to happen all happened before," because Xiao Zhan has absolutely done this before, getting excited about a new Yibo work premiering... remember when he did the movie ticket thing?

Xiao Zhan's brain is so big, and he's such a supportive partner to Yibo, I love to see it. I also can't wait to see Yibo's new drama, it looks so good!

[overthinkingyizhan]

The "fans" don't speak for them

Hey, it's been awhile (life, you know), but I'm back to wail about the whole "controversy" about the recent Cotti Coffee x Dove Chocolate collaboration. Why is this a controversy? Don't coffee and chocolate go together beautifully? They absolutely do, but for some solo fans, it all left a bitter taste in their mouths.

To be fair, the brands themselves did some fun things to hint at a crossover more sweet than just chocolate-y coffee.

First, Dove Chocolate, which Xiao Zhan endorses, posted at 20:28 (love you, love Bo), and boy, that's a bright green. And uh... a 9.5% discount is such a random number... why not 10%? Is it because 95 is a turtle number (9/5 is BXG Day in the fandom, the midpoint between the boys' birthdays) ?

A couple of days later, Cotti Coffee posted about the collaboration at 10:05, which is a timestamp that represents Xiao Zhan because it's his birthday. Companies that Xiao Zhan endorses frequently post at 10:05 for him... except it's not Xiao Zhan who endorses Cotti Coffee, it's Yibo.

Oh yeah, the Cotti Coffee post had red accents to match Dove's green accents:

Anyway, predictably, the solos in both camps went wild (I guess they accept that kadian is real too haha), and so the two posts were deleted. And in case anyone wondered why, Cotti Coffee posted an apology to the fans who had been complaining, as if this collaboration had been disrespectful to the spokesmen:

It's clear from the apology that this was a result of fan complaints *suggestions*, and not because the spokesmen themselves objected, and if there was any doubt of that, the spokesmen themselves made their positions clear the next day.

First, Yibo himself (not YBO) reposted an Olympic-related post at 14:38 (forever ZhanBo), which is also 2:38 (love ZhanBo):

The post was edited 12 minutes later at 14:50 and I can't tell what changed. Sometimes when there's an edit to a post, the edit time holds a secret message. So maybe it's a secret message for Xiao Zhan, but I'm not sure (14:50 could be "forever me and you" or 2:50 could be "love me and you").

ANYWAY.

Later that same day, XZS posted too, at 22:05, which is 10:05 pm. Sure, maybe XZS was trying to reiterate that 10:05 meant him, but honestly, this was the third post in a row that XZS had posted at 10:05 (am or pm), so that was obvious, no? Also I was very distracted by the photos that XZS had posted, old content from the GQ photoshoot:

But then I took another look at the post and noticed this:

That's a pretty clear Y, isn't it?

It's not the first time we've seen XZS post a Y formation, either.

I've seen it at least twice before, both to show support for Yibo. The first time on the day that "Like the Sunshine" dropped, and then on the eve of the "Hidden Blade" premiere.

Coincidence? Yeah, just another Yizhan Coincidence™️ 😂

Maybe the solo "fans" should just keep their mouths shut next time and not to try "protect" them. Yizhan can take care of themselves. If they didn't want their brands to kadian like this, they have lawyers and have shown they are not afraid to use them.

It sure seems they are fine with it, so enjoy the candy!

[overthinkingyizhan]

Maybe I'm not such a clown

I know I've missed posting a lot of candy lately, where they've posted 13 photos, worn matchy-matchy stuff and posted them at suspicious times... I'll try to wrangle some of it sometime, but today I couldn't miss pointing out this one, posted on Xiao Hong Shu, or the Little Red Book, another social media platform that YBO recently started posting to.

YBO posted three photos to promote Yibo's upcoming EP, with yellow as the dominant color. Why yellow? Isn't green his color? What's yellow? Oh, the color of their CP fandom... hmmm!

But my favorite part of this post is the caption: "Actually found 8 Wang Yibos in 3 pictures!"

Wait, what?

I often feel a little insane, swiping through their photo arrays and then reporting stuff like, "there's 33 images in 28 photos, and Xiao Zhan appears in 18 of them! BJYXSZD!!" But here's YBO doing exactly the same thing!

They posted Zhan photos and put Bo Yibos in them and told us they did it.

It's like when the studios post at obvious kadian times, like 18:00 for Yibo or 19:33 for Xiao Zhan. They're showing that they know what kadian is, and if they use timestamps that mean something for their own bosses, it means something for their other boss too.

So maybe I'm not that delulu and a lot of these coded messages are for real after all.

*laughs in BJYXSZD*

Wishing you all a happy holiday!

[overthinkingyizhan]

Filthy Friday

I really have nothing to say about the teaser from Bazaar for Yibo's upcoming cover... it's... just SO MUCH.

Between this and the vlog that XZS dropped yesterday (was it just yesterday?) I can only conclude that they want to kill us all. Or maybe we're just collateral damage in their quest to one-up each other on the thirst trapping?

It was nice knowing you all.

[overthinkingyizhan]

Chanel Boy Goes to GQ NIght

I'm so in love with Yibo's look for GQ Night! Seeing him in sunny yellow just brightens my day. Chanel hit the jackpot with him... no other man could look this good in their fashions, I'm sure of it. And he obviously loves the vibe, all the bling. The tiny bag, especially, just kills me, but he's totally into them:

And the hat! It made me think of Luffy from One Piece, and we all know how much Yizhan loves One Piece.

So much nostalgia in this look and his entrance on a boat.

His second look reminded everyone of his duality, and I love that so much about him! And so does Xiao Zhan, honestly.

So anyway! There were a flurry of photos posted today by YBO, plus one posted by Yibo himself, a shot of him lounging in bed, of all places!

At this point, his outfit hadn't been revealed, so all that the fashion accounts could identify was the CCTV5 on the TV screen and the Leica he used to take the photo. Yes, that Leica (and obviously YBO had to have told them what camera took that photo, which makes me side-eye Pants-gate all over again).

Altogether, YBO and Yibo posted 47 photos... a number that comes up in their posts quite a lot, and which could refer to the number of strokes in their names (王 has 4 strokes in it and 肖 has 7 strokes in it).

Among those photos were these 6 live photos, posted by YBO at 18:55. Oh, there's that 55 again, that seems to signal some kind of special message. What's the message?

Well, this post is marked "Edited," and if you check the post history, you'll see that it was edited at 20:14. I couldn't figure out what was edited, but 20:14 can be read as "love you for a lifetime"... so is that the message that is being signaled by that xx:55 timestamp? Because WHY ELSE would YBO wait an hour and 19 minutes to make some non-obvious (or non-existent) edit to this post?

Maybe because YBO posted new photos at 20:11... and then edited that post too, at 20:13? Two edits at 20:13 and 20:14? 13 can mean "Yizhan" and also "lifetime" but also 1314 means "forever" in kadian... is this all just a coincidence?

In the middle of this frenetic day, XZS chose to drop a vlog of Xiao Zhan in Singapore (at 22:05, or 10:05 pm), including very unsubtle thirsty shots of Xiao Zhan working out):

Please have mercy, boys.

At the end of the work day, YBO posted one last set of photos at this very loud kadian: 23-12-8 00:38... why do these numbers keep coming up in their timestamps? Never mind, I don't need to ask.

Anyway, good night boys! Rest well, and thanks for all the lovely photos and videos!