zhuge liang & zhou yu's deepest wishes
thinking about what one person said was common about CLAMP characters, and it's that they all have "a wish" and I think that's a really interesting way to think about character drive/motivations.
"what is their deepest, innermost wish?"
I think zhou yu's wish is to be recognized and "redeemed" because he has had an exceedingly horrifying past that he thinks is Whatever (but also it's clearly Not whatever) and his history of being ||bought and sold like cargo|| makes him extremely stressed and pressured to Prove his worth and ability and what he wants secretly the most is to be convinced every time he fights bitches screams and argues that his place in the pack is secure, even without "exceeding excellence"
he wants someone to do this to him
(wolves do this as a form of hierarchical reassurance of position to soothe)
zhuge liang's wish is to be recognized by zhou yu specifically as special. she wants to be a Special Existence, priceless, unique, and irreplaceable to zhou yu, and this can extend to being possessive and wanting zhou yu all to himself, to look at and think of nothing but her, but at a normal tempo she just wants to be a unique and irreplaceable existence to zhou yu in any capacity