#bjyx controversies

[rainbowsky]

Hello, loved watching Weibo 2024 last night, both GG and DD were looking so handsome! 😍😍❤️❤️I see so much talk about DD's seat situation, and how it's related to the 227 incident, I was wondering whether you had any hot takes on it? Thank you, luvv your blog!

Hi sasukeforhokage! Thanks so much for your kind words, I'm glad you're enjoying my blog! 😊

Yes, they both looked amazing! It's always nice to see them out at an event, especially both of them on the same night.

I actually got a few asks about this seating issue. I'm sorry for those I didn't answer, but hopefully everyone will get what they wanted from this response.

Background

For those who weren't aware of what happened, here's a bit of background.

On Weibo Night, when the room had been set up for the celebrity guests, photos of the seating arrangement leaked on social media. It showed that GG and DD were assigned to sit 4 seats away from each other. I posted about that on the night of the event, which you can find here.

As I said in that post, GG and DD's assigned seats at these events are largely irrelevant, because they haven't appeared in the room at the same time for years. They seem to coordinate it so that they take turns being out there and being backstage. Generally they're only out there when they need to be - basically when they're about to get an award, or any of their cast and crew are about to get an award, or if/when they're performing.

This has been the case for a very long time, and there have also been events where neither of them has taken their seat in the main area for the entire night (so no, this wasn't the first time seats weren't taken).

Why would they not want to be out there in the main room? Well, there are plenty of good reasons for this.

It's boring, cold and uncomfortable.

There is too much focus on them when they're in the room, and they wouldn't want to be a distraction from other artists, particularly young artists who rely more on the spotlight to build their career. This is also why we always see GG and DD trying to move to the margins when group photos are being taken, so that up-and-coming artists or industry seniors can get prime placement.

The less they are seen in proximity to other stars, the less chance of a scandal, gossip or fan wars due to their perceived facial expressions, body language and other behavior.

This is especially important when it comes to them being in the same room at the same time. There is far too much emphasis on their reactions/behavior toward each other, which can cause fan wars and public scrutiny on their relationship.

When there's a lot of scrutiny on their relationship, it becomes all anyone talks about on the night - even bystanders - and this takes away focus from other artists. As I said before, they wouldn't want to be a distraction. Not only would it make them uncomfortable to be the central focus, it can backlash against them, because Chinese audiences can be harshly critical of those who take up too much public attention. Fans of other artists would also be given more incentive to attack GG and DD and wage fanwars if their idol was forced into GG and DD's shadow.

When they're in a room like that they are going to have dozens of cameras trained on them, so they have to be in 'celebrity mode' completely, which must be extremely tense and stressful.

Ultimately these appearances are a performance, and there's no incentive to perform for any longer than they absolutely have to.

Etc. etc.

What happened?

At some point in the evening people took notice of the seat numbers that were assigned, and realized that DD's seat was row 2, seat 27.

Anyone who has been following GG and DD for any amount of time will likely be aware of what those numbers mean. 227 was the name given the big scandal that happened back in 2020 (because the main scandal broke on 27 Feb of that year), where fans and antis nearly got GG cancelled over a fan fic that portrayed him as a transgender sex worker in a relationship with an underage DD. There have been countless posts and articles written about 227, so I'm not going to dig into that here.

In some ways 227 also became an attack on DD, because a coordinated group of antis tried to frame him for all of it, claiming he and his team were behind the whole thing and were trying to get GG cancelled. His team has been fighting these claims for years, so any association of DD with that number is extremely harmful, even suspicious. It inevitably brings up questions of whether someone is intentionally trying to harm DD by seating him there.

I'll get to my thoughts on that later.

There was a flurry of activity around his seat at one point in the evening, when staff members (later identified as Sina staff) were seen ripping the number off (or trying to, but proper removal would have required scissors, so they ended up rolling up the number to hide it from view). They also took photos of the rolled up number, presumably to show DD and his team what had been done to remedy the situation.

There was also talk that the seating arrangement was changed so that Li Xian would switch seats with DD, putting DD in seat 228 and Li Xian in seat 227, although the numbers/labels were not changed.

Edit: @maurice-dandi shared this image (thanks) of how the seat labels were arranged at the end. They'd cut away the numbers from some of the seats and swapped his name with Li Xian's, moving DD's assigned seat from 227 to 228.

All of this was talked about in various ways by fans on the night of the event, framed by all sorts of theories about what was happening, and why, and about who was making these decisions and changes, and why. Ultimately we don't know for sure who drove these changes, but at the very least it's safe to say that DD and his team were involved in those conversations.

I also feel it's likely they were the ones initiating all of this by lodging a complaint about the number. The seating arrangement was in really poor taste and potentially very harmful to DD and his reputation had he been seen sitting there. Imagine the hotsearches! "Wang Yibo in seat #227." Ugh.

DD never did take his seat that night. I don't find that remotely surprising. Although to be fair, I wouldn't have been surprised if we never saw him in his seat, regardless of which number he had been assigned. He tends to put in the bare minimum for these events - and I don't blame him. The less consequential an event, the less invested he seems to be in it unless he's promoting a project. This is the kind of very common sense, no BS approach that DD is known for.

Why did it happen?

There are a lot of fans who believe this was an intentional attempt by Sina Weibo to spark drama on the night of the event, and to generate audience engagement on the platform.

The theory isn't without merit. All social media platforms benefit greatly from negative engagement. Studies have shown that negative engagement is by far the most popular and long-lasting. The more that people go to war over topics, the more they post about it, the more frequently they check back in for updates, the more they post and comment, and the longer the whole thing lasts.

If someone posts about a cute baby panda it might make the rounds for a few days, everyone might make one comment on it, give it a share and then move on.

Adversarial issues and arguments, on the other hand, tend to rage out of control for days, weeks - even months. People will typically make many comments as they argue back and forth, and they'll even draw others into it.

So yes - Sina Weibo does have something to gain by sparking a war. And they have been known for shamelessly profiting from scandals in the past. For example, by letting antis pay to rank up hateful hotsearches about an artist, and then making the artist pay to have those same hotsearches taken down. They're by no means a noble organization.

However, I also feel they have something to lose by intentionally pulling a stunt like this.

Weibo Night is just a big PR event, both for Weibo and the stars who attend. None of the awards given out are consequential. They're all just a bunch of fluff and flattery, with no real substance. The entire event is just a huge charade meant to make Weibo look important and relevant, and to give artists a platform to boost their status and promote their latest projects.

While it's true that events like this give artists a good opportunity to be seen and to promote their work, Weibo Night needs the artists a lot more than the artists need Weibo Night. The only legitimacy/relevance this event holds is granted entirely based on which artists choose to attend. If big artists didn't show up, the event would rapidly lose any interest or value for audiences.

Weibo Night needs top stars like GG and DD to attend the event. They're by far two of the biggest draws for audiences, and big artists like them legitimize the event through their attendance.

Artists like GG and DD agree to attend events like this based on a trust that the event will be conducted in a professional way that will not bring harm upon the artists and their reputations.

If artists started to get the sense that Weibo Night will intentionally pull stunts that would be harmful to their careers and their reputations, they would stop attending. While I am not naive to how shameless corporations like this can be, I am also well aware of how risk averse they are, and how driven they are by money.

I just don't feel convinced that there's more to gain for Weibo Night by pulling a stunt like this, than there is to lose by doing so. Therefore I'm not convinced it was intentional on the part of the event organizers.

I also subscribe strongly to the old saying, "Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence." I genuinely believe that people are easily this clueless, and that cluelessness is sufficient to explain what happened that night.

The organizers would have been focused on ensuring GG didn't end up seated in 227. I doubt it would have occurred to them that anyone else would have an issue with that number.

But we will likely never know.

Fans lap up persecution narratives like so much sweet pablum, so this story is never going to die and will likely continue to be spread and framed as an intentional attack on DD, or on both GG and DD, but I'm personally not fully convinced either way.

What about DD's reaction?

Did DD refuse to take his seat because of the number he was assigned? And if so, was that because he was trying to protect GG, or was it because he was trying to protect his own reputation?

Was it a romantic gesture, or was it an act of self-preservation?

These are some of the questions being hotly debated among solos and turtles on various platforms.

My personal opinion is that it was inevitably a bit of both.

There's no planet on which he and his team would want to be associated with that number, given how intensely coordinated anti groups have been trying to frame them as the architects of GG's downfall. They would not want to hand these antis a photo op with DD sitting in that seat. They would not want to appear to be OK with that number. No way.

But there's also no planet on which DD would sit in a seat marked 227. It just would never happen. There's also no planet on which he wouldn't seize an opportunity like this to show his devotion to GG.

Both can be true - and in my view, both are.

And this is totally unwashable. It's blatantly clear that DD is not OK with that number. Anyone can see that, which is why so many new turtles have been hatched over this incident - DD's solos because they've seen his refusal to be connected to an anti-GG number, and GG's solos because of DD's apparent protectiveness toward GG.

And DD's intent was only made clearer when he posted later that evening with the kadian 228.

DD almost never makes personal posts. The fact that he made this particular post on this particular night with this particular kadian is not an accident. He knew what he was doing. He was making reference to that seating issue, showing that he was aware of it and that he did intentionally refuse and reject the number 227.

DD doesn't tolerate BS, nor does he set aside his principles in order to bow down to politeness and expectations.

Of course we can and should also recognize it as a loving thing. Of course. DD is extremely protective of GG. More than of himself. He wants the world to know it. We've seen this time and again - especially after 227.

Anyway, this is just my take on the whole thing. Others will have their own. None of us knows anything for sure. Let's be realistic - none of this is going to be openly disclosed or explained by anyone involved.

Edit: Regarding the speech

I forgot to address his acceptance speech when he received his award. This is another issue that is being discussed among fans. A lot of fans are saying that his speech was short and brusque because he was angry about the seating issue.

This is not a credible theory as far as I'm concerned, for a few reasons.

He is a professional, and when he is on stage he will behave professionally. He will not project his emotional state in a situation like that, in front of an audience of industry professionals. It's just not going to happen. He has his head screwed firmly on his shoulders, he's not going to do something to damage his reputation or disrupt the night by throwing a little microtantrum onstage.

He is not so emotionally volatile that an incident like this would make him visibly angry. He tends to have a flat affect (he doesn't tend to show a lot of emotion, good or bad), so I don't think anything can be read into his demeanor on that night.

He is a man of few words, and his acceptance speeches are always very short. This is nothing new.

I suspect that he was likely aware that this seating issue was an unintentional oversight, not an intentional insult against him. As such, he would be annoyed, but it's unlikely he would have been truly angry.

Related posts/posts of interest:

My initial post about this topic

GG 2/27 Statement

Why did DD never make a statement about 227?

Tencent 2020 rehearsal time slot candy

A recent post where I talked a bit about 227

[rainbowsky]

People who take themselves too seriously create the most hilarious and entertaining ironies. 😅

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, MAKE A LEMONADE 🍋🍋🍋

this post is connected to the whole cotti drama that i talked about here & here. the brand has since then posted their statement and apologized, and make no mistake, this has nothing to do with cpf and even if they are szd. it’s all about pr damage control and wanting to gain back the loyalty of wyb’s core fans. i wanna say (sadly) this is not something new in c-ent. so/o fandoms do this all the time, they want the “best” for their idol so they throw tantrums and stage boycotts. what a lovely group of people, nope. brands (should) know this. that popular idols bring in their fandom/money, but one misstep can be a huge problem. for example with cotti, they had a collab with dove last year (august 2023) , xz was already endorsing them at the time but wyb wasn’t. so it’s not like this was done out of nowhere. they just did a repeat collab. but we all know the difference now.

i made a boxiao endorsement cpns post before and consider this as a continuation. cause funnily enough, some so/os started digging up previous “incidents”. thank you for giving us more examples i guess…. 😂😂😂

lemme make a lemonade out of this then!

i will start with this reaction from a passerby because of the hs tag that went on earlier:

There is Cotti downstairs in the company, ever since WYB’s endorsement, there are so many people who buy itevery time. My children also like Dove chocolate.

I saw the hot search today and I was very curious, so I checked 1005. Why can't it be stuck? Isn’t business cooperation normal? Why do fans keep making trouble?

I'm just very curious, so I searched about the product again. WYB and XZ are tied. That’s it! I didn’t know they were in love before!

LOL OMG HAHAHAHAHAAH IM CRYING 🤣🤣🤣 Please!!! If some people just kept quiet then it would be fine. CPFs are such a small group of people that were only commenting on the collab and buying products. So i don’t know what’s the problem. I understand how some fans are sensitive with how WYB is perceived in relation to XZ. and that they don’t want him to appear like he needs XZ to succeed. but aren’t these toxic fans the very people who should know that it isn’t true? both boys are where they are now because of their own merit.

It’s hilarious cause the normal passerby just found out that WYB and XZ are “in love” lol all because of people over reacting.

These are legit brands doing this. CPNs are for CPFs. you know what, sometimes, so/os are so much better at picking up cues like this 😂😂😂😂

THIS SISTER GAVE EXAMPLES OF WHEN WYB ENDORSED BRANDS USED 10:05. cause apparently, XZ owns this number and time.

Redmi (p2) posting at 10:05 for the new year greeting and K70, Lowen (p3) doing the same and setting 10:05 as the time for sales to be opened. I already talked about shu uemura in my old post so better refer to that instead. Chanel (p7) selling perfume and how you can customize it, the example on their website is 肖战. i didn’t even know that happened. lol. i’m such a bad cpf. 😅😅😅

let me expound on p6 cause the photo is too small.

it says WYB got stuck at 10:05 card point 9 times.

so the examples are ariel (bilang), redmi, stride, ping an and then yibo himself. i think the example could the legendary colgate post ( if you know, you know. it’s a big fandom cpn ). and last is richora using 10:05 on their watch. so suspicious lol. must all be connected to XZ! i don’t get it! who is the cpf now??? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

here are some more! this time, XZ brands/magazines trying to associate themselves with WYB by using the time 18 ( yibo ) or 08:05 p3 is crest. p4 is kxz and p5 is zhenguoli.

next is this one they dug out for GUCCI. it’s a customized tag. dude. why? do people really think this is a backhanded way from GUCCI trying to tie XZ and WYB? lol. This is obviously a CPF who bought from them and wanted that to be on there because they are a customer! Should GUCCI screen that? make sure every single customer doesn’t associate XZ with others? Make it make sense 🤪🤪🤪

li-ning using a design of someone skateboarding. lol. the brand has had their own street wear and skateboard line for some time now. and then breo japan tagging wyb on their twitter. which is i guess, more of a mistake on whoever their social media person is. they wanted more likes and saw xz and wyb are usually tied together so they added wyb.

lastly, the game xz was promoting before using 85. and then pokemon x dove collab. which is again — makes me go what??? pokemon is such a huge brand that companies love to collab with. as a cpf, i have boundaries when it comes to cpn, i even have disclaimers but i guess solo fans don’t. everything must be related! 👀

i guess there are more examples but these are the ones i have been seeing from so/o fans as proof. of what exactly? i don’t know 🤷🏻‍♀️ coincidences for a lot of these and not an attempt to associate with someone. i can understand why some brands will do it back in 2019, during cql promos, because it was expected and they were actively promoting a show together.

so what are cpfs doing now? well. supporting cotti ( sample video here ) coffee as fans should and enjoying the unintentional candies the solo fans have prepared for us 😌😌😌

[jowi8597]

Bjyx mental gymnastics regarding led banners on SDC6

With great surprise and even amusement I observe the mental gymnastics of some bjyx accounts trying to convince their followers that bjyx banners were not targeted during SDC6 and blur the whole situation by saying "but mtjj..". This is ridiculous and even a little pathetic 😂

They're showing this compilation of three clips, specifically juxtaposed, conveniently ignoring other evidence. Quick analysis of this video below.

First clip - none of the mtjj ever said that this particular banner was taken by security; you can easily check that we published this video on our accounts with the explanation that it was mtjj who took the banner (whether it was right - you can argue here; personally, I think that property is property and we shouldn't administer justice ourselves in this way, that's what security was for; but of course I understand this mtjj's anger)

Second clip - here it is not entirely clear what exactly happened; some say that security asked for the yellow banner to be folded, and the person who was holding the green banner tried to cover the yellow banner from the security to prevent it (you can even see her hitting the man in the face with the banner) - probably both girls are friends. It would make absolutely no sense if mtjj was covering bjyx's banner at that very moment, right in front of security's face. Think rational.

Third clip - the green banner is actually too high and may interfere with the broadcast, security reacted correctly (there is no controversy here, because it is clear that it is not about what the banner shows, but its size and location in relation to the camera). 

So, were bjyx banners really targeted by security on SDC6? See my next post.

[tasteofyizhan]

« people in China aren’t aware » LMAO so we, as non Chinese are aware of what’s happening in their country but them, not at all? Okay so different anon there I don’t know what the muslim anon said to you but I’m not even Muslim and I’m honestly shock about how this fandom turned out to be. I don’t necessarily talk about idols here, just how people reacted to the whole thing in general. It isn’t even an issue, it’s literally about f*cking human rights and we’re talking about human lives. The proofs and people are there. Stop being ignorant. You guys just choose to close your eyes. Someone needs to criticize this government. They do not regulate their industries. Cereal laced with rat poison, buildings that collapse, enslaving the Uyghurs.

Anon, I can’t tell whether you’re a troll or not, and I normally don’t post asks like this, but this is clearly a controversial issue that has bothered a lot of people, so I’m going to use this to set out my opinion once and for all. I won’t be addressing it any further after this.

1) Why aren’t Chinese citizens speaking out against this?

I’m not sure where you got this quote “people in China aren’t aware”, but I’m guessing it came from this previous post. I’m going to urge you to read @potteresque-ire‘s incredibly informative post here on the amount of propaganda that Chinese citizens are bombarded with on a daily basis. The media is controlled by the CCP, the Internet is controlled and monitored by the CCP, and the citizens are taught CCP’s revisionist history and CCP propaganda from birth. Heck, even their social media is controlled by the CCP. When you are exposed to this amount of propaganda your whole life, who do you think Chinese citizens will believe when their country tells them that other countries are making up lies about human rights abuses occurring in China in order to tarnish China’s name because the world is afraid of China’s economic might? You don’t even have to look far - just go on W*ibo and read a sampling of the posts there supporting Xinjiang cotton, and that should tell you a lot. Now, @potteresque-ire has also helpfully compiled how these “re-education camps” are framed in the Western media and in the Chinese media here. I’m going to ask you to watch those videos, and then ask you to exercise your critical thinking skills and reflect on what an average Chinese citizen might be exposed to on a daily basis, and how that shapes their belief. 

Now, even if the Chinese citizens do believe that human rights violations occurred in Xinjiang, can they express this opinion? Well, not if they don’t want to run afoul of the morality guidelines for citizens. From the article I linked:

The guidelines, focusing heavily on promoting patriotism, also called for the formulation of “national etiquette” for things such as singing the national anthem, raising the national flag, or ceremonies for when one joins the ruling Chinese communist party (CCP).

Such etiquette should “enhance people’s attitude toward the party and country and organise a collective sense of identity and belonging”, according to the document, released by the party’s central committee and the state council.

2) Why aren’t GG/DD speaking out against this?

Leaving aside whether GGDD believe that there are human rights violations occurring Xinjiang, something that I see happening is international fans expressing outrage at their response. I am going to point you to a previous post on to explain why they made the statements they made. Heck, you know what, I’m just going to paste what I wrote in that previous post here: 

The reality is that as performers, GG DD are also very limited by what they are allowed to support/say. This isn’t something that fans are making up to defend them - in March, the CCP passed new guidelines in wake of the ZS scandal that explicitly states that any performer who breaches these guidelines can face a lifetime ban. One of these guidelines is for performers to “ardently love the motherland, support the Party’s line, principle and policies… and consciously accept [government] and societal supervision.”

From the Variety article that I linked:

First and foremost, artists will be punished for violating China’s constitution, “endangering national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” endangering national security, or “harming national honor and interests.” The second ban is on “inciting ethnic hatred.. or undermining ethnic unity.” The cocktail of above terms are charges frequently levelled at those speaking up about human rights violations, particularly related to the fraught regions of Xinjiang or Tibet.

Realistically, there is nothing that they can say. As soon as they speak out against the CCP, as soon as they fail to express support for the CCP’s policies or for the CCP’s narrative, they’re finished. They will never work again. I am not exaggerating about this last point. Again, from the Variety article:

Beyond issuing performance bans, the committee will try to “implement cross-industry joint punishment,” working with players in other fields to bar violators from financial or cultural success via other channels like endorsement deals. Violators may also have their awards and other honors revoked, and will be subject to a measure of critical “re-education.”

This is the reality that they live in. They live and work in a country that is deeply manipulative and oppressive, and which has almost complete control over how they were brought up, how they were educated, and which currently holds the reins over their livelihood and their future. 

Am I disappointed at their respective statements? Yes I am, but given the reality of life under an oppressive regime, I am not the least bit surprised, and more importantly, nor do I fault them.

[theji]

Master List

Decided to do up a master list of my more significant posts, largely for my own benefit, as it's getting tougher to search for past content. I figured I should do this before the post count gets too large.

This is a casual blog dedicated to Yizhan. I support both Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo - together and as individuals. I discuss their performances, share interesting developments within the fandom and occasionally lend my insights on certain topics. Oh, and any content featuring GGDD with animals warrants an immediate reblog.

Feel free to send me a message if you like what you see, have any song that you hope I can comment on or just wish to make a friend. Enjoy!

Last updated: 22 Mar 2022

Personal

Fun, often insignificant stuff about me

How I fell into the fandom

Yizhan Quiz

Rant on antis

Favourites tag

Lock screen/last song tag

28 Days BJYX Challenge (in-progress)

Boxiao recognition challenge

My Piccrew

Things Yizhan made me do

Mid Autumn and Mooncakes: Part 1 | Part 2

My Artwork

2021 Spotify year-in review

2021 Tumblr year-in review

Yizhan poem

First fictional crush

Why I love Yizhan

GGDD Performances

My BJYXSZD reasons

Here, I share their performances and occasionally provide more in-depth insights and lyrics analysis.

Happenings

Here, I share interesting events and developments within the fandom.

Reviews

Here, I showcase and review the merchandise I got from GGDD's endorsements. I mostly purchase consumables like F&B items.

Commentary

Here, I offer my two-cents on GGDD and fandom-related topics.

Good Reads

Insightful, educational reads from BXG bloggers

2*7 Timeline

Fan fiction and controversy in China

Ace Troops drama and fandom etiquette

Implications of the 2021 “Clear and Bright” campaign

A conversation between BXG and solos (video)

GGDD fans' charity work

DD's lack of response during 227

GGDD's confession (or not)

Historical background behind Faith Makes Great

Did DLS make DD cry?

ZZH's incident

On protecting the boys

[peekbackstage]

What are your views about some brands banning turtles from fanmeetings. Doesn’t it also defeat the argument that ggdd allow bjyx to continue for commercial reasons?

I have written pretty extensively before in terms of how artists are often evaluated by talent buyers - which use pretty similar criteria as brands when it comes to artist valuation. 

When it comes to marketing, there are a few key performance indicators (KPIs) that pretty much all brands care about in some way globally. These KPIs largely shape the brand’s marketing campaigns, and also allow brands to set clear, measurable goals and milestones. 

When a brand chooses to partner with a celebrity, they must consider a few KPIs:

Reach - The celebrity’s total market reach, which includes social media metrics and media impressions. This allows the brand to approximate the market capitalization an artist may have.

Engagement - How much overall engagement (both online and offline) that a celebrity can generate. On social media, this would include likes, sharing posts, talking about/posting about a celebrity, producing fan works, watching videos, etc. Offline, this would include watching TV shows the artist is on, attending events, buying products to support the artist (music, merchandise, film, etc.)

Sales Growth - Normally, this would be called “conversions,” but I’m just going to make it easy to understand and call this “sales growth.” This would be the amount of product sales a celebrity generates.

Social Media Growth - A celebrity’s involvement with a brand can give all their social media channels a significant boost from the celebrity’s fans following the brand’s social media platforms. This is a measurable KPI that brands track.

Sentiment - What is the market sentiment of a celebrity? This is essentially a celebrity’s reputation score, which more or less can be approximated through a combination of media coverage and social media mentions.

Rankings - There are a number of research companies that regularly put out rankings for celebrities that include the celebrity’s popularity, star power index, social media power, brand power, etc. The combined average of all of these rankings can help a celebrity determine how much overall power an artist may have. Rankings that focus specifically on a celebrity’s brand power or selling power would be more heavily weighted if the primary focus of a brand campaign is to generate more sales.

There are other KPIs such as cost of customer acquisition, customer retention/loyalty, average lifetime spend per customer, etc. that would be important to a brand, but the aforementioned KPIs above are among the most important factors when brands consider working with celebrities.

However, KPIs alone are not enough for a brand to determine whether or not a celebrity would make a good brand ambassador. In addition to all the aforementioned KPIs, a brand must also consider the following:

Image - The celebrity’s overall image. Is this celebrity a bit of a “bad boy” or are they boy-next-door?

Compatibility - How well the celebrity represents/matches with the brand’s values and identity. (This is also known as “image congruity.”)

Credibility - How much credibility the public might place in the celebrity representing the brand. A celebrity who clearly would know nothing about a certain product might not be the best person to represent a brand or their interests.

Affect transfer - Describes the process by which a celebrity’s fan base might transfer their feeling about a celebrity to the brand. If fans have a positive relationship with the celebrity, then this relationship will transfer. If there is negativity, however, that may also unfortunately transfer.

Controversy - Whether or not there is any controversy associated with the celebrity.

I actually went ahead and conducted research to ensure that my comments are actually accurate for the Chinese market. The primary source materials that inform the rest of this post are “Assessing Celebrity Endorsement Effects in China: A Consumer-Celebrity Relational Approach,” (Hung, Tse, Chan 2011) and “Insiders’ Views: The Current Practice of Using Celebrities in Marketing Communications in Greater China” (Leung, Cheng, Tse 2018). 

According to Hung et al, there are three types of relationships fans have with celebrities. Since no one is here for a super academic report, I’ll just summarize these relationships as: 1.) regular fans (“entertainment motivated”); 2.) super fans (“intense attachment”); and 3.) sasaeng (“pathological”). 

Due to the fact that the type of relationship a fan has with the celebrity has a direct correlation with the relationship that the consumer has with the brand, brands must carefully consider each type of relationship when they choose to work with a celebrity. 

Even if a celebrity has incredible KPIs, if the celebrity has a segment of fans that the brand perceives to be “unfavorable” to their marketing goals or their brand image, then the brand may wish to prioritize one market segment over another. 

In the case of a brand banning a CP from fan meetings, it is possible that a brand may take the following into consideration: 

It is a known fact that solos and CP fans do not get along. 

It is a known fact that XZ solos and WYB solos do not get along.

It is a known fact that not only do these three groups not get along, they have full-blown fan wars which can often spiral out of control online. 

CP fans account for 5% of the artist’s overall fanbase. Therefore, it is a fact that the remaining 95% are solo fans. 

Because the brand can’t predict what will happen at a fan meeting, they have no way of knowing whether or not any sort of controversial issue may arise from having an artist’s solo fans, who are known to be “at war” with the artist’s CP fans in the same room. As a result, they may perceive that CP fans are a risk factor they simply do not want to engage, which may be why a brand might dissuade CP fans from attending a fan meeting. 

Moreover, a brand might not want to associate with CP fans because they may feel that CP fans are not representative of the kind of consumer they want to target. Specifically, they may believe that CP fans represent values that are not in line with the brand’s values. (In other words, the brand is homophobic and they do not want anyone who supports a same-sex CP to talk about their brand, as that would associate the brand with a same-sex CP.) 

Additionally, the brand may be wary of CP fans due to the fact that solos are known to be anti-CP in both camps, and antis are known to have pathologically obsessive, destructive tendencies. Trying to distance themselves from CP may essentially be a way for the brand to distance themselves from antis. 

Most importantly, a brand may find the very idea of a CP to be controversial, or they may perceive the other celebrity in the CP to be “controversial.” According to Leung et al, “a controversial celebrity might bring extra media publicity, yet consumers might ultimately focus their attention on the celebrity instead of the brand being promoted.” Anson Shum, who once ran marketing and communications for Bluebell Group in Greater China, also states in the article, “If I invited [a controversial celebrity] to come to the event … [their] presence might attract many paparazzi, but would the attention be diverted to the brand or focused only on [them]? That’s why I rarely invite controversial celebrities.” 

We might also recall that in China, fans and brands alike may consider CP fans to support an artist only because of the CP - and not for their solo endeavors. As such, a brand may believe that CP fans do not have the same consumer value when it comes to customer retention as solo fans may have, especially if the brand wants to have a long-lasting relationship with an artist, such as Wang Leehom and Wahaha Mineral Water, which lasted twenty years. 

If the brand’s primary goal for the fan meet is to develop customer retention, which would essentially increase the lifetime value of a customer, then they may (falsely) believe that catering at all to CP fans would not be good for their brand’s goals - especially if there is limited space at the fan meet. They would therefore instead want to maximize all seats for their true target audience, which are not CP fans, but solo fans. 

Obviously, I think that a brand choosing to deter CP fans from a fan meeting is stupid as hell, because that deterrence would result in a negative association with the brand, and they more or less shot themselves in the foot. For all that brand knew, the CP fans they excluded from the event could have been whales (i.e. big spenders) who could have given a massive boost to their bottom line. Alienating an entire market segment is literally one of the dumbest things any brand could ever do.

However, at the same time, if the brand is opting to alienate that group on account of their homophobic values, then the brand really doesn’t deserve the consumer’s money to begin with. 

In any case, I hope this helped to answer your question. 

Works Cited

Hung, Kineta; Chan, Kimmy; and Tse, Caleb. (2011). “Assessing Celebrity Endorsement Effects in China: A Consumer-Celebrity Relational Approach.” Journal of Advertising Research. 51. 608. 10.2501/JAR-51-4-608-623.

Leung, Vivienne; Cheng, Kimmy; and Tse Tommy. (2018) “Insiders’ Views: The Current Practice of Using Celebrities in Marketing Communications in Greater China.” Intercultural Communication Studies XXVII: 1  96-113. 

[thegreymoon]

LMAO, Twitter is a cesspool! 😂😂 

I have just been exposed to the most ridiculous fandom drama to end all ridiculous fandom drama! It seems like some YiZhan “fans” are mad at Luo Yunxi and Chen Feiyu for... idk? Interacting with each other (???) at the Tencent awards ceremony? According to them, by doing so, they are imitating BJYX, because, apparently, Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo invented promotion of the shows they are starring in and.. I guess, amicable conversation? 🤔 Also, they are allegedly “suppressing” BJYX by being all smiley and friendly with each other and getting a lot of attention for it. They are “stealing their thing”, you see, because, as we all know, Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo have copyrighted being cute and friendly with one’s costar while promoting a major project that they both have so much riding on. 

So, a couple of thoughts about this nonsense.

1. First of all, why is this even a fanwar?? None of these people are in any way related to each other except for working in the same industry and apparently having the audacity to star in a show of the same genre?? Both can exist at the same time, ffs!! Also, the more the merrier! Please give me all the danmei adaptations!! 

2. Second, toxic clowns like these are the reason why their faves can no longer be seen so much as saying a word to each other out in the open. The only reason Luo Yunxi and Chen Feiyu still get to smile at each other and openly enjoy each other’s company while Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan look stressed and miserable during their rare joint appearances is because they still haven’t had crazies like these almost succeed in ruining their career. Chen Feiyu comes from acting royalty, though, so I am hoping this will shield him from at least some of the nonsense coming his way, but Luo Yunxi already has assholes on his tail because he dared to star in shows with whoever toxic shippers were shipping with other people at the time. (Okay, I don’t have the full story on this because reading the whole thread and its related links got super exhausting very quickly, so forgive me if I got something wrong, but a couple of weeks back I ran across this ridiculous drama on Twitter (again) with people hating on him because he starred in Love is Sweet with Bai Lu, and get this, they are mad because she is no longer doing shows with another actor who got sidelined because he was accused of and admitted to domestic violence.) 

3. Third, the way Luo Yunxi and Chen Feiyu interacted couldn’t be more innocuous. It’s just what you would expect from two people who worked closely together for several months and also happen to like each other’s company. With that said, of course Tencent put them together on the red carpet and during their performance so that they can be cute as a pair! They have a show that they have sunk major money in to promote! Of course Tencent wants the hype! How is this even controversial and idek, somehow dishonest?? Also, Luo Yunxi and Chen Feiyu are dead ringers for the characters they are portraying, so please let the book fans enjoy seeing them together in peace! Nobody really thinks they are together, ffs! 

Anyway, was this post strictly necessary? Of course not, I’m just baffled and annoyed. I was so sad for Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan and how awkward they had to be with each other the entire night. Ship them or not, it’s just insane to me that these two young people launched an international hit show together and now can’t be seen talking to each other because their fandom got so toxic and awful. In addition to that, I am low-key worried and scared for Luo Yunxi and Chen Feiyu because even without this RP shipping nonsense, they have this massive target on their backs because of the nature of 2ha. And lastly, I simply hate antis of all kinds. You don’t like someone or something? Nobody is forcing you to watch, you absolute asshat! Click out and go watch something else, ffs, but don’t go around spearheading hate campaigns against real people and shitting on everyone else’s fun! This kind of garbage supports no one and only does damage to everyone involved. 

[ohnobjyx]

Would it be that impossible for dd and gg to come out as a couple (provided they respected censorship and didn't talk about it with the media)? I read the other day that homosexuality is not illegal in China, just talking about it and showing in the media, so could not someone as brave and crazy as dd attempt to come out outside of the media? after all they are the first 3 shipped real couples in china, they do have support. Coming out willingly would also save them from being eventually outed..

Hi, anon! (*this blogger cracks her neck and gets ready*) Let’s get into it!

Disclaimer: fake fake fake. Why would you think that we believe in bjyx?

Preface: this post might not be exactly a controversial opinion, since I think many will have the same one. However, it’s alright to disagree: we all have our own perception of the matter, which is coloured by our own experiences (let’s just say that an absolute objective view is difficult). I present here with the most objective post (at least in terms of data and facts) I could write.

Oh, and you all might have noticed, but being concise is not my forte. I tend to digress.

First of all, I assume that the concept of “coming out outside of the media” means that they could have told just close friends and family, without announcing it to the media.

But how would we know that they have done it? (and I don’t mean we should know for sure, ofc). For all we know, they may have already done this, and, from my pov, they probably have. Without entering in “fake” rumours:

TTXS bros know something (repeating myself for the nth time). From the way DZW jumps in whenever it remotely looks like dd is slipping up, how WH poses his questions, how QF teases him. It all seems references to a real, tangible thing, instead of baseless friendly teasing. It’s also very interesting that they have stopped their matchmaking mission and have instead started to defend why dd is “single”.

Their parents are their cover. Even if dd parents didn’t watch TTXS, wouldn’t someone else watch it and ask them about it? Wouldn’t they wonder about the supposed clothes that dd sends home, the medicine, the market stroll? Maybe I’m just projecting, but I wouldn’t use my parents as a shield if they weren’t aware of the situation behind it, because I’d be subjected to their questioning later. That’s why, unless I wanted to tell them or I had already told them, I wouldn’t use my parents as an excuse. So, once is alright, but dd has done it several times, and that, for me, means that his parents know.

That’s what I would consider “coming outside the media”. Of course, this doesn’t involve us fans, and it’s their decision, of which we probably will never hear about (or, at least, not soon, and that’s fine!). 

In my opinion, it’s also the best course of action, especially with all the rumours that are always circulating about them. It wouldn’t be a “brave and crazy” course of action, but rather the most sensible and rational, since it’s the best way to avoid misunderstandings with your friends and family. It’s also considerate for his friends at work, just so they know what to expect when they are on stage and it allows them to understand dd’s reactions.

(Again, we are talking about dd because that’s who anon asked about. I think gg’s circle is less close to him, so it may not be the case with him, but I don’t know enough to say what would happen).

Just let’s suppose his TTXS bros didn’t know anything and just kept trying to act as matchmakers for dd. That’s the kind of situation that’s bound to be uncomfortable for everyone because dd isn’t the kind of person who’d lie (and he doesn’t fast enough to improptu questions). 

The second thing I wanted to talk about is their fans’ support. I want to talk about numbers.

I’m going to explain why I only take the c-fans data as reference. We int fans don’t really count, because we don’t affect their careers directly, as c-fans do. Of course, our support is very useful in showing how many people are rooting for them, like what happened when Roseonly’s livestream with gg was live. And I like to think that they would feel better knowing that there are a lot of people in Chn and overseas that support them and whatever there is between them.

So int-fans do contribute to give more views and likes to their Roseonly livestream (if they can access it, which isn’t always the case), but they won’t buy the roses and impact with real money, so to say.

We don’t really participate in their endorsements, many won’t stay long enough to watch more dramas from them (and I do understand that the lack of eng subs is the main problem), and many don’t/can’t/don’t know how to push them up in the charts. We’ve talked before about how the c-ent industry doesn’t really need the int audience to make a lot of money, and to be highly profitable, and it still applies in a smaller case, like a single idol. 

That’s why I think that in matters of real, tangible fan support, c-fans still make a bigger percentage (around 80-90%) of their support.

So, as of now, there are 3 supertopics in w/ibo that features gg/dd (let’s leave the difference in supertopics for another day, but I don’t support the discussion about people’s sex life, thanks for your understanding):

BJYX. The largest supertopic (top 1) with a wide margin from the others. It has 2.570.000 fans.

ZSWW. It’s the number 5 in the CP supertopics, with 910.000 fans.

LXFY. The number 23 in the CP supertopics with 590.000 fans.

All of them added make 4.070.000 fans. But we have to take into account the overlapping in these three supertopics: many people (like me) are following the three supertopics at the same time. That’s why, in a not scientific way, I’m guessing that those 4.070.000 come to around 4.000.000 once you take out the people that are following the three at the same time.

Even 4 million people is still a huge number of people: that’s more people than the population of the capital of my country, and one tenth of the total census here.

Yet, in China, it means 4 out of every 1400, which translates into 0′003%. It’s also from a very specific demographic (mainly female and young). Of course, it doesn’t mean that they won’t get support from other people if it ever got out, but they can’t know what would happen then for sure.

It means that, in actual 3D world, there are a lot of people who don’t know about their CP. I read the other day some tumblr blogger saying that “we bxg are in our own little bubble, not that many people know about their cp” (was that you, @jcisthebestfightme?) which I agree a lot with. I mean, my w/ibo account and tumblr is filled with bjyx/yizhan, so much that it’s easy to forget that I arranged it to be like this, but that the majority of the people don’t receive so much info about them, nor they analyze their every move like we do.

The only thing they can know for sure is what general population thinks about same sex relationships.

In a recent poll I saw, with thousands of answers about what netizens thought of the legalization of same sex marriage in Taiwan, the supporting votes didn’t get to 50%. In Taiwan, public opinion was like this around the time same sex marriage was legalized:

An opinion poll conducted in November 2016 by the Kuomintang found that 52% of the Taiwanese population supported same-sex marriage, while 43% were opposed. Another poll commissioned that same month found similar numbers: 55% in support, and 45% in opposition. Support was higher among 20–29-year-olds (80%), but decreased significantly with age. (Wikipedia)

(I just want to say, I can’t wait for the younger generations to take over).

More data: the public stance in China could be described as: “no approval, no disapproval, no promotion”, and the public opinion is becoming more and more tolerant, but there’s still a deep-set homophobia, as in only 5% of the lgbt people comes out completely (around 20% comes out to their family), and around 80% of gay men are married to women due to social and family pressure (ofc, these data is from a few years ago, and new polls and surveys are needed, but don’t expect them to carry out a wide-range survey about this nor I think the situation has changed drastically).

In my opinion, society is slowly taking more steps towards tolerance first and acceptance second. One of their best achievement was the lgbt community and many netizens’ refusal to allow w/ibo to instate a ban on content related to homosexuality, which led to w/ibo actually reversing its decision and stop banning that content in less than 3 days.

However, the fact that a lot of people express their support doesn’t take away the truth of a lot of people openly opposing it (let’s remember that there weren’t so many antis to start with in 2/27, but its effects were undeniably large and unjust).

(If any of you read more data about lgbt rights in China, please remember that Hong Kong receives a lot more Western influence, and that public opinion in HK does not represent the actual situation in mainland Chn. Ofc, because they’re more open to lgbt, there are also more data and polls carried out in HK, so a lot of info is HK based).

Leaving this kind of data aside, let’s take another matter of numbers. While they have in total 4 million fans in the supertopics, dd has as of now 35,400,000 fans following him on w/ibo and gg has 26,690,000 fans.

One thing I’m sure they are aware of is the discussion that arises from time to time between the solo fans and the bxg. Another thing they must be aware of, specially dd, is that their fanbase has a lot of females who are their fans, not just because of their talent, but also because they’re single and therefore they can fantasize about being with them.

All in all, even though a lot of people support them, there would be also quite a number of “disappointed” people, with the danger of them becoming antis.

So while I do think they appreciate it, and leave clues specifically for us, and dd goes as far as interacting with bxg, I also feel that gg and dd might not see widespread support, enough so they’d feel comfortable coming out completely with the current public stance on homosexual relationships in Chn.

(And again, from my pov, they aren’t in the closet with their family and friends).

And last, but not least, does “coming out respecting the censorship and not talking about it with the media” mean that it would be known by the general public, or, at least, their fans (in a very hypothetic case, since I don’t know how this could be achieved)? Because then, even if they didn’t talk about it with the media, it would be as good as coming out publicly.

In an idol’s life there’s no “private” and “public”. There’s only “public” and “secret” (and by secret I mean things they “hide” in public/don’t talk about, even though people next to them might know about it). The line between public and private is very very blurred in the c-ent industry.

I always remember the case of an actor who had an affair. Because of his affair (he was married and had a son), he lost endorsements, he was taken out of tv programs and literally erased from filmed episodes. The things he did in private affected very directly his job (I don’t approve of the affair, but the consequences it had surprised me a lot). 

So, while I do think that gg and dd are getting bolder with time, when they were both very startled by the “you’d lose your job if you were in a relationship” phrase, the fear was real and palpable. However, I’m aware that that was their stance a year ago, and that a lot of things have changed (heck, we’ve gone through a pandemic, something I couldn’t have imagined a year ago), so I’m going to observe how they act from now.

That’s why, “coming out willingly would also save them from being eventually outed..” is true, but it’s also true that it would push them into a storm I’m not sure they’d come out completely unscathed. And it may be selfish, but I don’t want them to be the ones who test the public’s tolerance to gay idols.

I think I’m missing my point, so I’ll spell it out: if they want to come out, I’ll support them with everything I have, as I think many fans will do. If they ever prove us wrong dating another person, be it male or female, I’ll support them as a fan too. But I would like any action they take to be decided by them, instead of pressed by fans who just want a confirmation at any cost.

I’ve seen people saying that if they were really together, they should be “honest” with themselves and the audience and come out publicly. In my opinion, it’s easy to judge when you’re not the one who might lose something if you take a step in the wrong direction, and it’s not your income and your job in the line.

I’m sure (reminding you all that I believe that bjyxszd) that they’d come out completely if possible. I’m also sure that they have consulted with managers and public relations experts (and their team would have talked with them about it even if gg and dd didn’t bring it up). Therefore, I strongly believe they are doing what they think is better at the time being. 

To sum up: I’ll support whatever they do, but I don’t want others to push them to do things they don’t want/aren’t prepared to do. They are already between a rock and a hard place, so whatever they do with their relationship is absolutely their call.

So, anon, I hope I have answered you, but I leave here a short summary for you in the case the info was too scattered for you:

Would it be that impossible for dd and gg to come out as a couple (provided they respected censorship and didn't talk about it with the media)? I read the other day that homosexuality is not illegal in China, just talking about it and showing in the media, so could not someone as brave and crazy as dd attempt to come out outside of the media?

They might have come out to friends and family, and, based on dd’s interactions with the people around him and the words he has said, I do believe he has. Because gg is also an honest, sensible person, I think he might have done the same.

after all they are the first 3 shipped real couples in china, they do have support 

Chn is a big country. That means that in terms of public support, sometimes numbers that would be astronomically high in other countries, is not so much in Chn. Translating numbers into percentage, a 1% means 14 million people.

So it’s true that they have a lot of people supporting them, of course. 2 million people is a lot of people, especially considering that many don’t know about them. But when you have to take into account the general public (because it’d be a scandal), since their fans aren’t the only ones interacting with them, it’s still a low number.

Coming out willingly would also save them from being eventually outed.. 

That’s true in the case of family and friends. But if you’re talking about being outed in the media, that’s not possible. Known by the fans = Public.

And remember that in this case, the media wouldn’t talk about them, since talking about homosexuality in the media is prohibited. The problem would come from within the industry and the antis.

[jcisthebestfightme]

BJYX Song #14: The Things You Don’t Know

BJYX Song List

Disclaimer: Fake story brewed in fake tea house.

Can finally write a long post again after I got a new keyboard! This is a song I struggled with whether to write about. So on 8/4/20, the day before dd’s birthday, on QQ music, under gg’s name, a song was posted as #95 on the list (see this post for significance of 95, although it’s unclear if gg will know the significance of 95). The song was a clip from a vlog he did in his X-Nine days on 4/24/16. The full length of the vlog is 4:38 but the QQ version only has the song itself. The QQ version was cut to be exactly 1:28 (for us delulu kadian fans, that’s 1=want 2= love 8=bo). If you listen to this trimmed version (will post Youtube at the bottom), there is at least 1 second after the song has already ended where there is a silence and then a laugh. This make me think that it is possible the song length may be significant because it would’ve made more sentence to trim the song to 1:26 or even 1:27 cuz it’s weird to leave a bit of a laugh. But coincidence, of course!

What was controversial about the song is that it was deleted after being posted for a few hours. Some fans were worried that it may not have been posted by gg himself and that someone else posted it to try to link gg to dd for dd’s birthday (possibly with malicious intent.) Indeed, this version of the song was copied and reposted by third party (fans probably) onto Youku. However, 1 very dedicated bxg messaged QQ music’s customer service directly and asked if a song by an artist would show up under their name if they sang it but was uploaded by a third party and QQ claimed that no, only song uploaded by the artist directly will be under that artist’s name. This post with the conversation with customer service has since been deleted (there was a lot of silencing people around dd’s birthday because people worried about attracting too much attention) but I promise I’ve seen it and the girl seem really genuine in her inquiry. So I personally do believe that either gg or his team uploaded this song and that it wasn’t a third party. Because of the silencing around this post though, I was worried about writing about it but then I thought, well the original clip from 2016 is definitely something gg wanted to share publicly so it’s definitely a song he want to share with us. 

Some people said that gg deleted the song in a few hours because he didn’t upload it. But alternatively, I think he may have wanted to share this song with us to tell the world he wanted to wish dd “happy birthday” but can’t due to circumstances. It must be very painful not to be able to even publicly say happy birthday to the person you love most, especially with all the negative rumor being spread about them being enemies. So this was his only way of somehow conveying that he wish dd well on his birthday. And him deleting the post before 8/5 was also something I think is very in character of him. If he had left it on dd’s birthday, people beyond fans (gossip sites, news, etc.) might pick it up and associate it with dd’s birthday and say that “gg is trying to use dd’s birthday to draw attention to himself blah blah blah.” This is also what makes me believe that maybe gg was the one who post it and not a third party with malicious intent because a third party will probably just post directly on 8/5. 

On to the background of the song, the song is “The Things You Don’t Know (你不知道的事)” by Leehom Wang. Dd has mentioned more than once that he likes to listen to Leehom when he was a kid and that he really like this artist. The title is also interesting. It’s almost like gg telling us “I may not be able to wish dd a happy birthday publicly but there are many things you guys don’t know.” This song actually came from a movie Love in Disguise where Leehom plays a guy that is a famous celebrity and the female lead is a student of a music academy. The guy had a secret crush on the girl and this song is to describe his longing for her. (I didn’t actually watch this movie so correct me if I’m wrong.)

This is the version exactly that was posted on QQ music: (Someone took it and posted it on Youtube)

The lyrics may sound originally like a breakup song but here’s why I don’t think ggdd broke up around his birthday and this is why gg posted this song:

1) That idea is ridiculous if you look at how happy dd is and plus all the commotion around his new necklace.

2) gg sang this song in 2016 when he didn’t know dd so it’s not like this song was dedicated to him 100%

3) the context of the song is from a very cute and sweet romantic movie

4) dd said before he liked bitter love songs and I think both ggdd kinda like not super cheerful love songs because honestly, some of these bitter ones have more depth to them and also it makes their relationship seem more realistic and grounded

So please don’t get upset if it sounds like a breakup song.

蝴蝶擦几次眼睛 (How many times does the butterfly blink its eyes)

才学会飞行 (Before it learn to fly)

This part is talking about having many failures before you can succeed. In a relationship, this is probably like having other past relationships but when you meet the right person, everything is completely different. In the context of ggdd, they both have past relationship but what I see in them is almost like a “first love” in a sense that it’s the first time they’ve ever love anyone that way. 

夜空洒满了星星 (The night sky is full of stars)

但几颗会落地 (But a couple will fall to the ground)

我飞行 但你坠落之际 (I’m soaring but you’re falling)

想靠近 还听见呼吸 (Want to be close, can even hear your breathing)

对不起 我却没捉紧你 (I’m sorry, I didn’t catch you)

The “star” motif resurfaces! It’s even more significant now with the star on the new necklace. This part of the song is probably describing the famous star in the movie who is soaring high in fame but can’t help the female student. For ggdd in the current situation, it’s not really the case that gg is famous and dd is a non-celebrity. Instead, I just think it’s trying to convey the pain of I want to protect you but I don’t think I have the ability right now to do it well.

你不知道我为什么离开你 (You don’t know why I left you)

我坚持不能说放任你哭泣  (I insist on not leaving you to cry)

你的泪滴像倾盆大雨 (Your tears are like pouring rain)

碎落满地 在心里清晰 (Shattered all over the flow, clear in my heart)

Like I mentioned, I don’t think gg is talking about actually leaving dd. I think this can relate to not being able to wish him “happy birthday” in public. He may feel guilt and sadness from it because he knows how much dd would love to beam to the public about their relationship. So this may convey feeling like he have to let dd down this time because he had no choice. This part of the song also alludes to the fact that while the singer can’t do everything for the other person, he still loves this person very deeply and it pains him to see them upset.

你不知道我为什么狠下心 (You don’t know why I cruelly made this decision)

盘旋在你看不见那高空里 (Hovering over you in a far away sky)

多的是 你不知道的事 (There’s more, the things you don’t know)

This part talks about the singer deciding to just watch over the person he loves from far away in order to protect them. And that they want to tell them that in his hear, he loves them very very much and there’s a lot of things, thing beyond words that he cannot convey. I think this part really fits gg’d personality. First, for the birthday, gg had to stay far away and watch dd be showered by all his friends. Second, I think that gg’s love is really the type to be full of care, so much that it can’t even be contained and it’s in so many small detailed that you can’t explain it. He’s just there, protecting him. 

Conveying love and feelings is definitely something I think gg does. We’ve seen him change lyrics, kadian post time with the times in a song (which he did for dd’s birthday in 2019, see my post on Nan Hai for more), and talk about his feelings when choosing songs so I don’t think it’s a super stretch to say this may be gg’s way of wishing dd a happy 23rd birthday. This is my personal bias but conveying feelings through song lyrics is something I do a lot so I can totally empathize and visually gg doing this. I’m the type that will post bits of song title publicly to convey my feelings to someone, hoping that person will get it. I’m the type when messaging that person give them a line or two from the song and hope they pick up the hidden meaning. Why do I do this? Because I can really relate to that line of the song and I want to share it. Also, I want to be semi-mysterious and have you decipher why I think this part of the song reminds me of you. 

So while this is all just my own interpretation and analysis, giving dd a song by one of his favorite artist with the kadian 1:28 for his birthday isn’t completely impossible.

[candicewright]

Hello Candice, it might not be the right time and place to vent my opinion in, since it mainly includes twt and ytb and might cause some controversy, but you are very reasonable person and won’t slam me so I’ll just do it. I am both XZ and WYB fan. I am not an yizhan shipper yet the majority of accounts I follow are bjyx related. Why? I cannot stand most of the solo stans. The last straw for me was today’s announcement of USXiaoZhanFans🇺🇸 twitter account and all the comments below. If you want to spend the rest of the evening peacefully, do not look it up. So there is this thing... Whether you are just XZ’s fan or WYB’s fan you will occasionally come across a content that involves both of them. And that is alright, isn’t it? Since CQL has been such a huge success, and let’s be honest ~ XZ hit a jackpot with his popularity especially thanks to his outstanding acting in the said drama, it should be all well. Yet, especially XFX, are trying to either wash XZ’s part in filming CQL or wash WYB’s existence in general. They would mention almost everyone XZ has ever associated with except for WYB, claiming there are just protecting him. But are they really? Isn’t it partly their fault XZ and WYB can’t publicly interact anymore? If XZ sees his fans disliking WYB’s presence around him, what will he logically do then? And I am not even talking about those XFX slamming WYB. Before anyone can come at me for complaining just about XFX, I would like to say I did a big research on things, watched tones of toxic solo videos and content, stuff involving the 227 incident, not because I like to torture myself, but because I wanted to make my own opinion. The funny part is that I have seen just minority of MTJJ talking badly about XZ but I have seen tons of XFX slamming WYB, acusing him of not supporting XZ or even participating in the 227 incident. Of course, this might be different on various platforms, especially on weibo, but I just find this very interesting. I immediatelly dismiss all the people blaiming WYB for taking part in the 227 incident. There is no point in interacting with them because what would he achieve by that? I’m not blind, I know WYB has valued his friendship with XZ over everything else. If you don’t see it from their interviews, and choose to ignore it from the bts clips (because if they didn’t like each other they wouldn’t have interacted at all; it’s not like they were forced to do so) then you are just a big idiot. As for people slamming WYB for not supporting XZ after the hate.. Well, is that even a question? First of all, I doubt that XZ, as WYB’s senior, would like him to suffer as well. Second of all, wouldn’t it make it even worse? Third of all, silence is better than bullshit. I believe that they supported each other privately. I’ve been a long time k-pop fan so this silent treatment is nothing new for me (as some of the k-pop idols get slammed for even more ridiculous things). XFX blaiming WYB for not being dragged down by the incident as well (yeah, you see this right) are just on another level. Did he really not suffer? Didn’t he loose his good friend...? “Why the antis attacked just XZ, not WYB?” Maybe because WYB has already gone throught this and got stronger and wouldn’t keep up with their bullshit at all? It was only logical thing to tear XZ down as his popularity was insanely increasing and in the antis eyes he was the weaker prey. (Don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying XZ is a weak person, I am just stating the fact that WYB has already gone throught this and is more experienced.) .... I could go on and on but I choose not to do it. The main point of submiting this wasn’t just to “vent my anger,” but mainly to thank you guys. As I said before even though I don’t ship them I have never seen more love and understanding than here. I can clearly see you care for both of them, without being biased, and that’s what I want, what I was looking for. And how do I deal with stuff I don’t like to see or don’t feel comfortable with on bjyx blogs? I simply skip it, ignore it. 😊 It’s not that hard😊🖤 TY

Hey! It's absolutely okay to vent here. In fact, I encourage it💜 I completely understand your frustration. If I was in your shoes, I feel like I too would follow bjyx blogs because I've seen way too many toxic solos trying to bring each other's idol down. There are some really sweet solo fans though! I could name many here on tumblr and they are a delight to talk to.

I didn't have to look up that drama because it popped up on my Twitter tl. I'm glad they made that statement and the QRTs and replies are just a free block list. But yes, it's disheartening to see so much hate in fandoms that would be so much better together.

I agree that wyb had nothing to do with 2//27 and it always makes me sad to see people saying that they wish he had done more because he probably wishes so himself. But yes, It would have just made things worse if he had, and I think it's obvious that he gave xz his support privately.

I am glad that you can find a comfortable place here! We really do love them both and you can always ignore our screaming and CPN if you need to lol😂 I wish you all the best, anon💜

[yahargul]

Someone on Twitter says that Yibo has bought his own about ox necklace? Did you see?

oh that one post from the bazaar staff member?? lmfao i don’t think they really wanna start pulling staff reports out as fact when it comes to bjyx stuff cause that’s not a game they’re gonna win

i’ve mentioned this before but no one actually knows the truth and a photoshoot staff member is not yb’s pr team. they can only relay what he said, and there’s no way in hell he’s gonna tell a random staff member if he got the necklace from a s.o. it might be true, it might not be true, but it should be taken with a grain of salt just as much as any other theory about it. so far there’s really only three ways to think about it; 

a) yb was being completely honest with the staff member and he did buy it himself, just wears it all the time cause he likes it

b) yb can’t risk the scandal of dating rumors and said he bought it himself to appease the staff member, but it is a gift from someone close to him so he wears it all the time despite the rumors 

c) xz, who is a gucci brand ambassador, superstitious, and was in the same city where this limited gucci necklace was being sold bought it for him as a symbol of good luck 

personally i think b is the closest thing we’ll get to the truth - maybe it’s just me but i’m flaky when it comes to jewelry i bought myself (like i’ll switch up different necklaces/bracelets i like), but i will wear gifted accessories fairly consistently. i can’t speak for yb obviously but given that he’s been stubbornly wearing it for a straight up year despite the controversy around it seems to indicate it’s special in some way. 

[rainbowsky]

Sorry I've taken so long to address this, I've had a very busy day and didn't have time to finish this post (which I started yesterday).

I'm talking, of course, about the incredibly controversial situation surrounding DD right now. I've gotten some messages about it so I figured I'd give my thoughts in a bigger post so that I don't have to keep repeating myself.

(CW: racism, spoilers FPU)

I know that by now most people are aware of the situation, but I'm going to start from square one for those who are just catching up on the topic.

There is a scene in Formed Police Unit where Chinese UN peacekeeping troops need to rescue a group of citizens who are surrounded by terrorists. In order to accomplish this they disguise themselves as people from the community. This being Africa, the troops were disguised using blackface.

Yes, I am saying that DD and his castmates appear in the film in blackface.

I am not going to post a picture of that here. It's just something I can't post on my blog. I understand that many of you will want to see for yourself so I'll link a clip of the scene, which was posted on Weibo. Please be aware before clicking - this is full-on blackface. Always take care of yourselves, and if you think it might be upsetting to you don't click. You don't need to see it to be a 'good fan'.

Background

For those who may not know, this movie was filmed years ago, in 2021. During those years I have seen many anti attacks against DD, claiming that he is racist and has worn blackface. Here's the photo that was circulating back then.

At the time I thought the makeup that he was wearing was likely anti-reflective black paint or camouflage paint such as is used by snipers (which he played in the film). I assumed that he was wearing his own hoodie over part of a military costume, because he was wearing a cammo shirt and what might have been combat trousers.

I was certainly not expecting full-on blackface from this movie.

There's no getting around it - this is extremely difficult to look at.

Blackface is widely viewed as offensive and racist. It shouldn't be hard to understand why. Putting on another person's ethnicity like a costume is deeply insensitive, particularly when you consider that BIPOC (black, indigenous, and other people of color) are so frequently targeted, exploited and marginalized. For those in positions of privilege and power to put on the appearance of the people who they oppress and exploit... it's just shocking and awful.

Blackface is most frequently talked about in an American context, but it's actually a problem globally - including in China. More on all that here.

The film

I have not actually seen the film, so I don't know much about the context beyond what is being discussed in the fandom. As I said earlier, in the film a group of UN police officers need to infiltrate an area in the community, and they take on disguises in order to do so.

In promotional media this film is being presented as based on true stories from real missions*. It seems the situation in question really happened on a Chinese peacekeeping mission, and the UN troops disguised themselves as black citizens in order to infiltrate and extract the endangered captives.

*I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt on this because it doesn't change how I feel it should have been handled.

This is important context that is being conveniently left out of much of the backlash about this situation. People are outright claiming that DD plays a black person in the movie - that he wore blackface to perform a role that a black actor could have played. This simply isn't true, and people making these claims are antis and liars. There's simply no excuse for not knowing the full context.

Having said that, I don't really think it matters how it ended up in the film. I do not think there is such a thing as a palatable or appropriate use of blackface. In this day and age it is nearly universally understood to be racist, and it's extremely controversial.

I can understand if they were trying to be accurate to the mission that they were portraying, but surely there are other ways they could have accomplished this scene (perhaps with the clothing but not the blackface). 'Historical accuracy' isn't as important as cultural sensitivity, not by any stretch of the imagination. In the interest of respecting audiences they could have adapted the scene to make the use of blackface unnecessary.

I really see no excuse for anything like this in 2024.

Audience reactions

Chinese sensibilities around these topics are very different from what we are used to in the West.

According to fan repos audiences initially didn't recognize any of the actors, and once it became apparent that they were in disguise, laughter erupted around the room. In fact, most fans are laughing a lot at the photos and video even on social media (although some Chinese netizens have been upset by it and have voiced complaints to various stakeholders).

It is also being widely discussed on Chinese social media as an exciting scene of heroism in the film.

I feel the need to point out that the laughter and mockery is a huge part of the harm, here. As if it's not bad enough that these actors are performing in blackface and presenting a perversion of black ethnicity, it also becomes an opportunity for audiences to mock and disrespect black people. It's become an opportunity for social media to be filled with racist jokes and mockery.

Roadshow statements

There have been some clips circulating of PR and roadshow moments with black cast members and some black audience members who have spoken up in support of the film and to thank the cast and crew for telling the story. Here's one example.

International fans have been dismissing those statements as ignorant or coerced, which I think is offensive and deeply fucked up. There's no planet on which I'm going to - with a totally straight face - say that a black person's response to the movie is not legitimate just because it doesn't comport with my own view.

This is a complex issue and there are inevitably going to be a lot of different perspectives. I hope people won't exacerbate the problem by supplanting black voices on this issue with their own, no matter what's being said. If there's any manipulation going on, let's assume it was in their choosing supportive black figures to speak for the film rather than claim that the black spokespeople are insincere.

China has a lot of issues with racism, there's no doubt about it. It's a huge part of why so many people try to whiten their skin, or why they mock each other when their skin gets tanned/darker. There is a lot of sinister, fucked up stuff going on in China around race - both in the country and in their dealings with other countries.

But we can't claim to speak for black people in China, particularly when they are speaking for themselves! I would hope this is extremely obvious!

Where's DD in all this?

It's understandable that bystanders will react to what they're seeing and might immediately deem it unacceptable - and DD along with it. Their reactions are valid, but as fans I hope that we can look at him with a bit more empathy. I hope that we can take a moment to try to see things from his perspective.

DD has been interested in and an avid fan of black culture since he was a small child. We've all seen how much he immerses himself in hip hop, street dance and the accompanying music and fashion. And yes, he's been accused of cultural appropriation in the past for wearing locs and durags.

However, I think fans need a bit of perspective here to get a sense of where DD might be coming from. Here's a guy who loves black culture, who has close friends who are black, who regularly works with black artists and who supports black artists, in a culture where racism against black people is prevalent and often extreme.

I think DD would probably be amazed to hear the accusations of racism against him. He likely has very few people in his orbit who are anywhere near as supportive of or as closely connected to black people as he is. He likely stands out in his circle as being particularly into black culture and connected with black artists, and probably regularly faces ignorant questions or digs from people around him about his close association with black artists and culture.

Not just because of racism alone, but also due to the racist parallels the government tends to draw between black culture, street dance, hip hop, etc. and criminality/moral degradation*. It's likely that ignorant people in his orbit have expressed concern or wariness toward him because of these associations.

*That is, until breakdancing became an Olympic sport, then they were suddenly onboard with some of it.

I'm not saying that he doesn't have a lot of learning to do (and if this situation becomes what I think it might become, he'll have a big opportunity to do so), I'm just saying that his ignorance isn't mean-spirited. He's coming at this from a totally different angle than any of us are, and he is immersed in a totally different cultural perspective than our own. In his world, his interest likely makes him a bit of an anomaly.

So those painting him as a horrible racist... it's just not how I see it.

The element of choice

I've heard many people say that DD 'didn't have any choice' about this role, that turning it down would not have been an option or that he would be under some kind of threat if he didn't take this role. I don't agree with that characterization of things. I don't think it's quite as 'gun to the head' as a lot of fans paint it.

I think it's more likely that he simply didn't realize that the role would involve blackface when he accepted it, or that he thought that blackface in this context - to infiltrate a terrorist cell and save civilians - would be fine. We don't need to depict China as forcibly compelling actors to take unwanted roles if we want to make sense of this. There are simpler, more logical explanations.

DD wouldn't have been the one deciding how to depict the scene - he didn't have that power in 2021 - but I also doubt he would have had a major problem with it given everything we know.

We must overcome our Western tendency to see things only from our own perspective. This has a totally different cultural context in China, and the voices we listen to about it should not be issuing exclusively from white faces that are not at ground zero of this situation.

Final thoughts

This film has had me worried from day one. I think most people have been expecting it to be full of offensive portrayals and propagandistic fuckery. There are so many ways in which a Chinese film about the UN is potentially a sticky, tricky mess. This blackface thing is likely just one problem on a towering pile of problems.

However, I'm not going to sugarcoat this - this has the potential to be a real shitshow for DD, and I am concerned. Especially if this film gets an international release.

We need to brace ourselves, because I don't think this is going to just disappear. DD has endorsements with international brands, and this could definitely cause backlash for those brands unless the issue is addressed and the scenes removed. There's no planet on which brands like Chanel and Lacoste can afford to have one of their spokespeople plastered everywhere in blackface.

If this film gets an international release and those scenes are left intact, it's possible he will lose some brands.

Let's hope it doesn't come to that, but let's face it - things like this have consequences, and that's why it's so important for producers and artists to be sensitive about what they're portraying.

While I think there's some endorsement risk here for DD, and the potential loss of some international fans, I want to be clear about one thing: I don't think this will threaten his career overall. In China this just isn't an issue in the way it is internationally.

I do hope the film team addresses this issue in some way, ideally by removing the scenes. They just finished doing a massive edit to remove ZZH from the film, surely they can handle something like this. But let's not hold our breath...

Everyone has the right to make up their minds about DD. As I've often said, being a turtle isn't for the faint of heart. That's not just because turtles are frequent targets for bullies, or because we have to constantly live with uncertainty and doubt.

Being an international turtle also isn't for the faint of heart because there are a lot of cultural and political minefields to navigate, and many ideological differences to adapt to. There's a huge learning curve and a lot of unknowns, and turtles who want to survive have to make peace with the fact that we and the boys are from different worlds in many ways. We may never know where they really stand on issues that are important to us.

However, in this case I feel confident that I know where DD's heart is on this issue. He simply doesn't hold hatred, disrespect or disdain for black people. Quite the contrary.

I think we'd all just feel a lot better if he had a good grasp on how to be a better ally.

And while we're waiting for that, I think we should put our money where our mouths are and learn more about these issues ourselves, both in China and locally at home. We want DD to be a better person; let's be better people too.

Edit: more on this here.

[rainbowsky]

They did trace it, that's the whole issue. 😅

This is a perfect example of why I keep saying that brand candies are highly unlikely to be intentional on the part of the brand in almost all cases. Bottled Joy is an obvious exception to this, but I think that almost all other cases likely come from turtles working at the brand, or turtles providing material for the brand in a freelance capacity.

This is also perfect example of why

candy is for turtle eyes only.

Whenever candy goes beyond our own circle this kind of thing always happens, and it backfires against turtles because you end up with lines like, "to better maintain the image of our spokesperson" that then become material for antis to supposedly prove that turtles are degenerates and that the CP is fake and harmful.

There have been so many times when we were enjoying something and then it got turned around against us like this. This is why I'm always telling people never to tag candy or CPN with their individual names. It always leads to fan fights and bullshit from solos.

And that is the only reason they ever turn sour. They turn sour because solos are sour and are incapable of staying in their lane and minding their own business.

It's so pathetic of them to make any kind of a stink about this. Especially XFX. They're always willing to make a lot of trouble for GG's brands. Such a hateful bunch of little 🤬 who never have his real interests at heart.

Look at what they've done to this brand. They've put them in damage control mode and put them on hotsearch in a negative way all because they can't let anything go. They have no self-awareness whatsoever about how much hassle they cause GG and his brands. They're deluded enough to think that they are rescuing him or something, when really they are just behaving like GG antis.

Fuck them all.

In my opinion our takeaway from this should be to redouble our efforts to keep our CPN in the circle and away from the eyes of solos whenever possible.

As international turtles there's not a lot we can do about this, but the number one thing we can do is avoid tagging CPN and candy with their individual names on any platform, and never tag with the brand name on Twitter or Instagram.

There are really no brands present on Tumblr so brand names are probably pretty safe here. However, there are solos everywhere and there are a lot here on Tumblr as well so it isn't safe to tag candy or CPN with their individual names on any platform.

whew. this really now reminds of that incident with mendale before. what was supposed to be just some clowning among us ( here and here for more backstory ) turns into something bigger. while i do understand that these brands ( genki forest ) have an obligation to their ambassadors and to be fair, they really should have done a better silhouette. you have the photo, why can’t they just trace it? lol. ( some are saying this line draft was from xz’s team but idk sounds fake ) we do not know what happened behind the scenes that led to this oversight. anyway, they posted and apology and it’s on hot search:

Dear friends, Genki Forest is very grateful to everyone for your consistent support for the brand. The spokesperson, Mr. Xiao Zhan, is the most important and precious member of Genki Forest. We have been committed to working with our spokesperson to provide consumers with the most energetic product experience.

We are very sorry for the omissions in daily operations and management, which have caused misunderstandings and troubles to everyone and our spokesperson. We deeply apologize for this. In the future, we will conduct more stringent management and review of every copy and picture we produce to better maintain the image of our spokesperson, and will seriously deal with the relevant outsourcing teams and staff involved in this incident.

i’ve been in this fandom for quite some time and experienced similar incidents but it still surprises me. how a simple clowning from supposedly delusional cp fans can gain this much traction. and it doesn’t help that the two sides, deny it as much as they want, are monitoring what we post and if they see something that sends alarm bells they will pick it up. and then you also have yxh/melon accounts who are just lurking around and waiting.

our candies are always sweet but there is always that side of it that can turn sour. 🙃🙃🙃

[yuzhousky]

Maybe that's why I am a bigger fan of WYB, as I like it when celebs are more straightforward. His interviews are hilarious. In the Chinese fandom, I noticed that Yuzhou fans do not seem to quite like BYJX fans. I can't seem to figure out why - the internet jargon was too strong - do you know why and have you experienced any pushback from Yuzhou fans who realised you are also a BJYX fan?

I think one of the reasons has to do with the controversy over Xiao Zhan fanbase which was said to be the culprit of shutting down AO3 in China. That's when many fandoms of couples turned their back on him and his fanbase. You can go search it on Google and read some related articles. His fandom is very strong yet aggressive at the same time, so many people do not like it.

In fact, I did experience some pushback from Chinese YZ fans when they realized that I was also a fan of BJYX, but not all YZ fans dislike BJYX so I think it's not a big matter to me. I have my own way to love idols and so do they, we just respect each other and do not mention much about BJYX.

[peekbackstage]

Missing asks?

Something really weird happened overnight. Over 10 asks that were sitting in my inbox, which I was planning to answer, suddenly disappeared - including one ask from a mutual! 

Some of these were multi-part asks, and some were a little more controversial, so I was waiting to find a time to properly answer them.

I do have screen shots of some of the ones that disappeared (as I was saving them for my records) but these are the topics of some of the asks that are no longer in my ask box:

Sex and the entertainment industry

Question of whether BJYX is allowed to continue on for economic reasons

Anon who is not optimistic about XZ’s career due to lack of new endorsements

Request to rate XZ’s singing and stage presence from industry perspective

Brands banning turtles from fan meets (@jiyamjain-blog)

I am so confused where all of these asks disappeared to. There are actually additional asks that disappeared with the ones above as well, that I didn’t save as screen shots, so they are just gone completely. (This can’t be because I blocked that one Anon, because all of the asks are written differently/do not have the same massive grammatical issues as that other Anon; plus one of the asks is literally from a mutual so what the heck, Tumblr?)

Anyway, if you sent me an ask some time ago, but it hasn’t been answered, it could be that your ask disappeared - so you may have to resubmit. Sorry about this, guys. I have no idea how this happened? I’m so confused?

[itsh-bsl]

Nothing of what you said is the shippers' fault. We don't know if they're not allowed to interact anymore cause covid happened, then the controversy, and now they're busy with their new projects. The controversy was because antis blew it out of proportion; the person that wrote the fic (that SOLO STANS exposed) immediately apologized.

What happened at Weibo Night was because many important people were there, and they had to be descreet no matter what kind of relationship they have.

They could totally sing wuji together again, but what would be the purpose? The Untamed is over. If their schedule permits them to go with TUBS and sing it, they can.

It's true that some people go overboard, but analysing stuff is just for fun. Shippers always tag it properly as bjyx fantasy, not real. They mostly never tag the actors and use code names instead. Why would you go and ruin the mood? This is something that makes people incredibly happy. Not everyone "fetishizes" these kind of relationships, nor are they monsters who can't separate the actors from their characters.

I understand if you don't like rps, but don't go around telling people what they should or shouldn't do. Move on with your life and block/mute what you don't like. It's as easy as that.

Peace.

rps is bad

i’m not calling anyone specific out with this, but shipping people in real life who aren’t actually publicly together is not a good thing. i cannot support people who ship yizhan.

i’m not anti-lgbt+. it’s just not my place to speculate or analyze whether two people are together. even on the off chance that yibo and xiao zhan are together, if it’s not something they’re public about, then it’s not any of our places to speculate or analyze. other people’s sexualities are not up to our speculation, regardless of if they’re lgbt+ or not.

people’s private relationships are just that. private. they don’t have to let anyone know about their relationships, including their fans. celebrities have a right to privacy just like any of us do, and people shouldn’t be combing through their every interaction, analyzing if they’re together or not. doing that is incredibly invasive. celebrities are human beings too, and it’s so disrespectful to disregard their privacy like that.

plus, this shit has real world consequences. the chinese government is not open to homosexual relationships, and such prominent actors as yibo and xiao zhan would be punished if anything were to come up, true or not. we already saw this happen with ao3 being banned in china. yibo and xiao zhan already aren’t allowed to perform wuji together, or work together because of stuff like this.

yes there’s a difference between casually speculating about this privately and fetishizing mlm relationships. however, it’s a very fine line. even speculation can be harmful if the wrong people see it. i’ve seen edits of them getting married and even video edits where they’re kissing. that is not okay. 

tl;dr: please be respectful of the people whose work you enjoy. don’t invade people’s privacy for the sake of a mlm ship.