#gotta get off my ass and write that hanzhou meta

[fanghuas]

hi!!! I've been following u for a while and ik u're super into hanwenzhou and tbh i never really got it. but now I'm genuinely curious like what is the appeal? i hope this is okay to ask and doesn't come off as negative or smthg i just genuinely wanna know!!! also i love ur blog btw!! <333

Ahh thank you, you're sweet! <3 Doesn't come off as negative, don't worry, at this point I kinda feel like I ought to issue an apology to the non-hanwenzhou crowd for spamming their dash with it every day. I'm into it a normal amount, as you may have noticed 🤭

I don't really think I can give an answer that doesn't venture into headcanon territory, or isn't influenced by all the fic I've read, because Han Ying has a pretty limited role in the show (but a main role in my HEART :D), so bear that in mind.

Part of the appeal for me is definitely whatever unspoken history he has with Zhou Zishu. Of course you don't have to read it as romantic, but I think if you want to explore his character at all you do have to venture into why he's like that about Zhou Zishu. Like, when we see him alone or interacting with other characters, he's cold, competent, arrogant -- I didn't at all imagine that he was going to be one of the "good guys" (in many many air quotes because...it's WOH) when we saw him threatening Gao Chong for the Glazed Armor, you know? I actually think it's a shame we don't get to see more of that, both to get a better gauge of who he is outside of Zhou Zishu, and because it would highlight how different he is with him.

When it comes to the hanzhou aspect of the relationship...I've been meaning to write an actual fancy-worded meta about it for months but I keel getting distracted by feels. Idk, something about the lethal devotion, the unresolved pining, the history that leaves so much to the imagination. I also feel like their every interaction is so inexplicably tender? Interestingly, I think their first in-show meeting in episode 8, which got a lot of people, myself included, to thinking there's some feelings at least on Han Ying's side, is also the most guarded -- compare to the...I'm sorry but it's almost a morning after scene, in ep 10, or all of ep 29. I think in ep 8 they're both playing up their respective positions and the dynamic those assume. Look at the two bow lifts! Yes, both of them make me melt, but I think the second is even more vulnerable? And Zhou Zishu, after JUST having realized he messed up by giving Wen Kexing the Glazed Armor and kickstarting the whole Four Sages of Anji mess, just gives another piece to Han Ying like it's nothing. I know I'm reaching, but if it is within reach, why should I not? Headcanons are free real estate. This is turning into a rant, but to wrap up: I just can't help looking at them and think there was something there -- most probably, unrealized or unspoken, but it was there.

As for Han Ying and Wen Kexing, which I think might be more of an...eh?? How? To people who aren't already into it (and that's fair!), I'm really interested in how drastically Wen Kexing's attitude towards Han Ying changes within literally all of two meetings? By Han Ying's death, Wen Kexing obviously cares, even if it's just because he realizes that Zhou Zishu cares, and I think it's kind of a turning point for him and how he thinks about the collateral damage of his plans? I love exploring what their dynamic could have been! I think they could have found a lot of common points, even besides (puts on shipper goggles, yeah, sorry) an undying love for Zhou Zishu. They're both mostly solitary people, with strong loyalties, a generous helping of ruthlessness and a casual disregard for their own lives, and this is still simplifying it. Both of them want to belong without really hoping for it. I genuinely think they could be good for each other. Hell, I'd be happy to read 100x fics where they're just really good pals, I just think they deserve more people in their lives who will care about them. But also...kidnapping your lover's not-quite-ex and holding him by the throat is sexy?

How it all comes together: they are all, and I cannot emphasize this enough, fucked up people, and I love them for it. In many interlaping ways, but also in vastly different ways, and I think they would balance each other out. I love wenzhou's zhiji relationship, but I also like that they don't (immediately) have that with Han Ying: I think they could understand and complement each other very well, but they have to work hard at it.

If this giant block of text didn't put you off, tell me your thoughts, I'm curious! And in case you're curious enough to feel like taking a foray into fic...there's some gems out there that I cannot stop screaming about, so hmu :D

#ask #anon #gotta get off my ass and write that hanzhou meta #actually metas plural because I need to do a separate one for the two bows rip me #I'm sorry nonny this is probably...a little too much explanation