What HuaLian mean to each other...
A handwritten note from TGCF AD's production
Currently TL-ing the BTS of the AD production, and I came across this tidbit that I want to share. I'm pretty sure Zhang Kai (张凯) wrote this; she is also the voice-acting director for the production. And the other crew members mention this in the video, but Zhang Kai has a penchant for using vocabulary that just strikes a chord. I think here she was writing a note for the production team, and it just beautifully dives into how Xie Lian acts around others VS how he acts around Hua Cheng.
I'll include the original CN that she wrote and the image I pulled it from below as well :)
谢怜在对花城和对别人对话时，需要有明显的氛围差异。
谢怜虽然温柔善良，但人被伤害就会痛苦，这种痛苦不会因为他的温柔善良而減少，反而有可能因此而呈现更大的伤害。
为了抑制这种伤害对自己的心性造成的影响，类似脱敏疗法，他提高了自已承受伤害能力的阈值，使自己对各种形式的伤害，包括对自己本身的侮辱失去敏感度。所以我们现在能看到的是一个不太在乎旁人议论言语和身体疼病的谢怜，这其实是他的自我保护机制。
但在花城面前，这个自我保护机制自己失灵了。谢怜重新变回了一个敏感度非常高的“人”。原文说“不知道为什么，他在花城面前好像藏不住痛”。如果面前的人换一个，相信他还是能以一种近于麻木的态度处理生理上的疼病，但因为面前的人是花城，他被打回了原形。
花城面前的谢怜，是一个更加鲜活的谢怜，会窘迫脸红，会语无伦次，感觉自己修练800年的脸皮也不够用，需要有一点微妙的“破防”感。但对风信慕情就很游刃有余，甚至对南风扶摇，多少有点暗暗逗弄的意思。
总之，花怜对彼此都是最特别的存在！
There needs to be an obvious atmospheric difference when Xie Lian talks to Hua Cheng versus with other people.
Xie Lian may be gentle and kind, but anyone would feel pain when one is hurt, and this kind of pain wouldn't just lessen because of his natural gentleness and kindness. In fact, it might, in turn, create an even bigger wound.
To control the effect that this hurt has on his own psyche, like a sort of desensitising treatment, he raises his threshold on his ability to withstand pain. He causes all kinds of damage to himself, including forgoing the sensitivity to his own humiliation. Thus, the Xie Lian we can see now is someone who does not care much for others' opinions or his own bodily harm. This is actually his self-made defence mechanism.
However, in front of Hua Cheng, this defence mechanism becomes defective. Xie Lian reverts back into a very sensitive "human being." The original texts said, "For some reason, he's unable to hide his pain in front of Hua Cheng." If the person before him was switched, you can trust that he could still adopt a sort of near-numb attitude to deal with physical pain. But because the person before him is Hua Cheng, he has returned to his original self.
The Xie Lian in front of Hua Cheng is a more vivid Xie Lian. He will flush with embarrassment, speak incoherently, and feel that even after 800 years of cultivation, his skin is still not thick enough to be useful. There needs to be a subtle feeling of "breaking down his defences."
Yet, he handles everything with skill and ease when it comes to Feng Xin and Mu Qing. Even with Nan Feng and Fu Yao, there's an element of underlying teasing.
In conclusion, HuaLian are each other's most precious existence!
