Relax. It's not really a shipping post, but I do need to get my feelings out for this ship.
I am cackling and giddy about BJYX/YiZhan/BoZhan/WangXiao/etc. taking social media by storm this weekend. I noticed that the Xiao Zhan/Wang Yibo shipping has steadily been rising after The Untamed ended. (I'm not sure why, is this like the next level for us now that there are no more WangXian content?) I think the fanmeet in Thailand is even the last straw for some people, because my Twitter feed is filled with so many memes that are basically variations of: "I, an intellectual, make it a policy to not ship RPF for many reasons (Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo appear together) YIZHAN OMFGAHHSJDKW"
Now, I have spent some years on this Earth, I have had my share of disappointments, and hell, I even work in statistics. I understand therefore that shipping is most likely just shipping. The real thing is unlikely, especially given the country they live in.
At the very least though, what I do believe is that Wang Yibo genuinely likes Xiao Zhan, admires him and looks up to him, not necessarily in a romantic sense but definitely in a "holy shit this person is amazing I really really like him maybe we can be friends" sense. Anyone who has ever been through high school (or idk childhood) must have felt or been on the receiving end or at the very least been witness to (can the Jiang Cheng's of the world say "hey" or roll their eyes altogether now lmao) something like it. Anyone who has ever had an amazing elder sibling or some similar figure must have felt it, too.
It's a pretty amazing feeling, and I am actually happy for Wang Yibo for having a figure like this in his young life right now. It especially tickles my heart given the fact that Wang Yibo, between the two of them, is actually the more seasoned celebrity. Wang Yibo is an actor, an idol (even one recognized enough to be a talent mentor), a model, a variety show host—he's been everywhere, and he is growing better at the things he knows and learning more that he does not know at an alarming rate. This kid is an absolute monster. It's like he was born to be a celebrity, and it is no surprise he debuted early. I just love how someone like this does still fanboy like every one of us, finds someone he looks up to and tails them and is an absolute dork around them, just like everyone else. I love the idea of him having fun and sending dorky texts to the gege he is very, very biased about, who then teases him about it because Wang Yibo is apparently the kind of thick-faced celebrity who uses his own memes in chats. I just love this, okay? You can take my "shiny idol finds pockets of ordinary life things with someone they like" trope from my cold, dead fingers.
And Xiao Zhan, who seems so genuinely nice that he makes everybody around him fall in love with him, who has seen the world, been "ordinary", been part of the workforce, has basically been an everyman just walking the streets and making a living, who now recognizes his own limits and works hard to bridge those gaps—him rising to fame like this just warms my heart. Xiao Zhan is the kind of guy who makes you root for him because he is oddly so approachable and relatable. Despite him being likeable though, I know he still has a lot of critics, even though his fans know he works so hard. For him to have someone like Wang Yibo liking and supporting him, validating him as a celebrity despite being a relative late-comer, is somehow so important and comforting to me and gives me the strength to want to stab those critics omg how about you say something useful and let a new generation learn and be good artists eh???
I wish there would be more opportunities for them to be friends and work together. Seeing them supporting and respecting each other is water, sunshine, fertilizer to my crops, I just can't with them, wtf am I going to do with this ginormous farm that is my love and well-wishes for them I don't really even know anymore
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