Hello. Just came across your blog and I just wanted to say that I love your stuff. I'm such a big He Cheng fan but never thought of that couple with brother Qui. Thanks for your cool comics and have a nice day :)
Hey there,
first of all - thank you very much! (and apologies for answering - as always- quite late. It had been some exhausting weeks - but also, I like to take my time and be in the right mood to give a thoughtful and not hurried answer😉.) I saw your comments on my comic-strips and your enthusiasm and joy was really visible through them - thanks for showing your appreciation!❤ ❤
As for the “never thought of the couple he cheng/qiu”, I get that quite some times and was thinking abt taking the opportunity and hijacking your innocent message for a little essay on why I think they’re such a fun and potential pair to work with. I’m so sorry😂.
I think, I don’t need to explain why the relationship (of which nature it may be) between those two characters is interesting and worth exploring to me, as a creator/story teller. My comics speak for themselves, I hope. Other than that, @casually-inlove made a good post/answer to an ask about where qiu/cheng comes from here, pointing out some quirks of their relationship in the canon story.
With the since then released chapters of 19 days and more appearances of those two, there’s more to add to the list and I would like to add some artistic points also: qiu/cheng as a story-telling device in 19 days (qc as a warning symbol/ mirror of a “(mafia) future” of both tianshan and zhanyi), the possibility of the golden-retriever being a symbol for attachment and affection in 19 days (whether this means in QC’s case the dog HC secretly kept and gives into Q’s care frequently symbolizes his attachment to his little brother that he seemingly “buried” but still has and talks to Q about or whether it symbolizes his attachment to Q (HC tends to seek him out when he is depressed/distressed), it would signify either way a bond that goes beyond a simple co-worker relationship, be it friendship or sth more – it doesn’t really matter, it would imply a lot of trust and/or appreciation between them.)
What I wanna say is, there are so many open questions abt them that are quite intriguing and give room for getting creative and interpreting (for example, their motivation to put up with their job – Qiu seems to hate every bit of it, still he complies, also doing “special tasks” that have nothing to do with orders received from the big boss (Mr. Jian) - or what profits their shady biz in general: taking care of the dog, beating up bullies of HC’s little bro and his friends, cleaning up the (He?) mansion’s yard after 4 teenage brats had a food fight… now it seems like Q is a subordinate/right-hand-man to HC who is working under the big boss Jian himself, but when we actually see them communicate with words, Q speaks his mind quite frankly to HC (even telling him he quits - then doing the task anyway - or telling him he hates his task) but at the same time they provide a good relationship base/fundament – it doesn’t even have to be a romantic interpretation, a lot of my comics actually apply to friendship (which makes a good portion of a healthy romantic relationship also, if we’re being honest) but honestly if Q and HC just had a superior-subordinate relationship, HC would use Q far beyond his area of accountability anyway (stepping those boundaries of healthy work-relationship might be normal in the criminal business context using (“moral”/emotional) blackmail but it sure as hell would be even as interesting to explore !
So, in conclusion, their relationship is as shady and subtle (but with a nice canon base to built on) as the business they are supposedly working in, and I love the storytelling possibilities and potential they offer, them being side-characters with a lesser appearance rate makes it also easier to keep up with development and holding a slower pace when creating fancomics but also give more room for speculation and due to the fact that side-characters need to present themselves in lesser “screen-time” their actions and characterisations are mostly on point and cut to the essential- with a lot happening in between the panels (While the development of the main cast in 19 days is super interesting too, for me as a creator, I don’t feel as much spurred to get into “action” myself but to lean back and enjoy their story as a reader – guess if it wasn’t for HC and Q you wouldn’t have me active(ly providing) in the fandom). They’re a bit like the parents of some manga/manhwa protagonist, always hustling around in the background and sure having a backstory, but it’s never seen and explored, it just gets assumed they fell in love, made kids and are trying to manage their lifes, job and family somehow. Well, for me it just happened to click and I got hit by inspiration (Plus, they have quite some relatable traits and the mafia environment is dramatically interesting to me). End of messy essay that I failed to keep short but is still very selective👌😅