# Zhēnxī
Zhēnxī is not especially casual about closeness. They can have plenty of friends and still say the deep bonds are only with a few; what they want from those few is trust and respect. Ask what "home" means and the answer is not an address. It is comfort, safety, care, love, the feeling people close to you can make around you.
This makes the Rummy material hit differently. The Wall already shows the two of them saying "I love you" while one of them is being publicly prosecuted. QOTD later removes any need to guess what category the affection lives in: Zhēnxī defines compliments as scarce, defines the exception as a really close friend, and then immediately points at Rummy.
The funny part is that none of this makes Zhēnxī solemn. Their stated preferred delivery system is apparently polite insult.
RUMMY CLEARS THE COMPLIMENT PAYWALL
July 25, 2022. The room asks how people give compliments.
Zhēnxī begins with an almost anti-compliment policy:
"I... Rather insult people politely."
Then the restriction gets stricter. They are not somebody who easily gives compliments unless you're a really close friend.
And then, mid-sentence, the exception gets summoned by name:
"AHEM @phenomenallamb14960 You're amazing, though. Love you"
Rummy replies directly, at a volume appropriate for somebody who has just been publicly handed VIP access to the compliment department:
"ZHEEENNN I LOVEE YOU TOOOO"
The wording does the relationship work all by itself. Zhēnxī is not saying "Rummy is nice" after the fact. They explain that praise is gated, describe the gate as really close friend, and then drag Rummy through it on purpose. Rummy's answer is not coy either. The affection comes back immediately and in all caps.
That makes the older Wall exchange warmer in retrospect. In June, Rummy can participate in Zhēnxī's prosecution and then reply to the resulting "NOOOOOO" with "I love YoU". Zhēnxī answers "I love you too". Nobody needs to stop the bit to reassure the other person that the relationship is intact. The reassurance is sitting inside the bit already.
A few weeks after the compliment exchange, Zhēnxī answers another prompt with "Having friends irl." Rummy replies "I’m your frieeennnddd" and adds "I’ll be one irl too". Zhēnxī comes back with "SKDJA YES THANK YOU".
That is an offer, an imagining, a very loud little claim on the friendship. It is not a recovered plane ticket. The point is simpler: when Zhēnxī talks about wanting closeness beyond the screen, Rummy answers by putting herself forward instead of making Zhēnxī ask twice.
SIX SECONDS TO UNDERSTAND THE WALL PROBLEM
On May 21, 2021, Ren tags Zhēnxī in a Wall sequence.
Six seconds later:
"NOOOOOOOOOOO"
Then:
"NOT THE WALL OF SHAME FAME"
Sou later calls it "shamed within 6 minutes of entry" and Ren asks "New record?".
Whatever "entry" meant in that exact joke, Zhēnxī does not need the Wall explained. Ren points. Zhēnxī understands the danger instantly. The room turns the reaction into part of the filing.
The panic is loud. The exit never happens.
THEN THEY PICK UP THE WEAPON
By July 2022, Zhēnxī is posting a screenshot to the Wall themself.
Ten seconds later they tag Ren:
"so uh-"
Ren replies to the attachment with a skull, then "STAWP", then recognizes the old incident strongly enough to complain that it happened months earlier.
Zhēnxī laughs.
Then comes the verdict:
"Deserving"
Gabu joins with a hydration roast. Ren protests. Zhēnxī immediately backs Gabu: "Yes, you tell her-".
That is the better version of a confidence arc. Zhēnxī never becomes too dignified to scream when the Wall points back. They simply get comfortable enough to use the machinery too. The person who once greeted Screenshot Court with NOT THE WALL OF SHAME FAME is now hauling Ren into it and approving supplemental charges.
Petty Crimes
- Prefers to "insult people politely". Compliments apparently require clearance.
- Went from "NOT THE WALL OF SHAME FAME" to "Deserving" without surrendering the right to scream when the Wall points back.
- Can be publicly prosecuted by Rummy, return "I love you too", and keep the bit moving. Affection and embarrassment are evidently allowed in the same department.
- Learned the most dangerous lesson available in UL: the Wall is not merely a place you get sent. It is also something you can do to your friends.