Feb 15
the problem with trying to rotate shiwan is that the more I consider it the more I come to the conclusion that if shiwan was real it wouldn't be. not just because chu wanning goes for a different kind of red flag than that but also because I don't think shi mei would even want it to? shi mei wants chu wanning in a way that pretty explicitly does not mean wanting to actually have him— the sense I get is that he wants chu wanning because he's upright, moral, and completely unattainable, which makes it safe to want him. you get to imagine loving someone and having it be okay; you don't have to worry about what might come of it if he ever returned your feelings, because the answer is nothing. he won't.
