//Uhhh what is the sinday-adjacent headcanon this week?
Yi was the sort of person, before the war, to be very vocal about the reasons he was attracted to someone. If you had a particular feature he fancied, you bet he was talking about it all the time. Good physique? He’d write a poem about it. Got a nice nose? He would try to kiss that nose in front of your friends (as long as word wouldn’t get back to the Wuju School). Got a quick wit? He’d take every opportunity to point out when he’d been outclassed, so long as it didn't hurt his ego too much. Tell him to stop? He’d take that as a challenge to compliment you more.
These days his appreciations of people survive only internally. It’s to the point where he props other people up so much, he talks himself down from being worthy of consideration in the same way. It’s just another unintended trick in his book, to ensure he doesn’t lose anyone he loves again. Can’t lose anyone if you don’t have anyone, and all that. He’s very attentive though, and is constantly thinking about things that make him adore a partner. He’d love to speak freely, but it’s something he has to work on. It doesn’t help that he thinks on his extroverted nature pre-war with a lot of cringing.