The Husky & His White Cat Shizun
Jul. 13th, 2025 06:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaVolume 3
+ Chu Wanning carrying a dying Mo Ran back to Sisheng Peak and then first climbing and then crawling up 3000 steps while dying himself, and with no spiritual power, in order to save Mo Ran is so much. There was a trail of blood showing the path he took! I love it.
+ Taxian-Jun's repeated "the one I hate most" descriptions of Chu Wanning feel very much like "the one I love most". It's so obvious that he was completely in love with Chu Wanning even if he also hated him. But even he can't be so oblivious to his own feelings that he would confuse things so much right? All I can think is that if Shi Mei did have him under a love spell when he died (and Mo Ran blamed Chu Wanning) that somehow mixed up Mo Ran's emotions to such an extreme that he couldn't recognise his love for Chu Wanning for what it was?
+ Mo Ran finds himself utterly perplexed by Taxian-Jun falling for Song Qiutong and Rong Jiu and he really doesn't understand what he was thinking back then. He doesn't add Shi Mei to the list but I continue to think he belongs there. Though Mo Ran's infatuation with Shi Mei is understandable (his percieved kindness towards Mo Ran especially in contrast to Chu Wanning, the potential love spell though there's no further implication of that this book).
Things that had me side-eying Shi Mei:
1) The wontons! What a reveal that was. And Shi Mei didn't only pass off Chu Wanning's wonton's off as his own once but multiple times. Sure, it was Chu Wanning's desire but Shi Mei sure capitalized on it. Also: ouch! This adds a new dimension to the post-Shi Mei death confrontation over Chu Wanning making wontons.
2) There is a moment where Shi Mei is asking Mo Ran about his feelings and is all blushing but as soon as someone else enters his blush fades and he takes on an 'unassuming appearance' and the book takes care to note that Mo Ran doesn't notice.
3) Rong Jiu (and to a lesser extent Song Quitong) really acted as a mirror to Shi Mei this book and I couldn't help but compare. The way that they use their percieved softness and helplessness to control the people around them felt rather similar to the softness/kindness of Shi Mei. I don't actually see this necessarily as a bad thing and I am very sympathetic towards the former two. The were given a shit situation in life and are working with what they have but I'm not sure where Shi Mei falls in this. I definitely feel like he's manipulating Mo Ran by acting kind/sweet to him but to what purpose idk.
+ Honestly even after betraying Mo Ran and Chu Wanning, and even with the glee with which he did it, I still feel so sorry for Rong Jiu. When he and Mo Ran met up again and talked, and Mo Ran apologised I hoped that they could maybe understand each other a little and make peace. I was pleased that he changed his mind and decided to try for reincarnation. So his final fate was just really sad. Sure, he caused it by betraying Mo Ran but I get why he did it.
+ "Reincarnation won't change the nature of a soul. (You and I belong to different walks of life)" Harsh! Once again I'm left going 'UNFAIR!' So what because Rong Jiu was forced to become a prostitue in life and didn't manage to free himself from it before death he's now doomed no matter his future reincarnation to never be any better? How is forced prostitution and how that shaped his personality and behaviour the "nature of his soul"??? Boo.
+ What the hell is wrong with this afterlife??! Everyone who dies regardless of their life or how they died goes into 'hell' which seems whatever (not great but not terrible) EXCEPT that the ghost kings can kidnap random people to make their sex slaves and give to their soldiers to use, and the poor people have no recourse against it? And it can lead to their soul fragmenting or even dispersing and thus taking them out of the cycle of reincarnation?! And there is consequences for this? WTF?
+ Not a fan of 'pansy' being a description Chu Wanning uses for Rong Jiu.
+ Xue Meng's complete break down post-Chu Wanning's death was a lot of reaction to losing his Shizun. Now I can't help but wonder if he also has feelings for Chu Wanning.
+ Chu Wanning carrying a dying Mo Ran back to Sisheng Peak and then first climbing and then crawling up 3000 steps while dying himself, and with no spiritual power, in order to save Mo Ran is so much. There was a trail of blood showing the path he took! I love it.
+ Taxian-Jun's repeated "the one I hate most" descriptions of Chu Wanning feel very much like "the one I love most". It's so obvious that he was completely in love with Chu Wanning even if he also hated him. But even he can't be so oblivious to his own feelings that he would confuse things so much right? All I can think is that if Shi Mei did have him under a love spell when he died (and Mo Ran blamed Chu Wanning) that somehow mixed up Mo Ran's emotions to such an extreme that he couldn't recognise his love for Chu Wanning for what it was?
+ Mo Ran finds himself utterly perplexed by Taxian-Jun falling for Song Qiutong and Rong Jiu and he really doesn't understand what he was thinking back then. He doesn't add Shi Mei to the list but I continue to think he belongs there. Though Mo Ran's infatuation with Shi Mei is understandable (his percieved kindness towards Mo Ran especially in contrast to Chu Wanning, the potential love spell though there's no further implication of that this book).
Things that had me side-eying Shi Mei:
1) The wontons! What a reveal that was. And Shi Mei didn't only pass off Chu Wanning's wonton's off as his own once but multiple times. Sure, it was Chu Wanning's desire but Shi Mei sure capitalized on it. Also: ouch! This adds a new dimension to the post-Shi Mei death confrontation over Chu Wanning making wontons.
2) There is a moment where Shi Mei is asking Mo Ran about his feelings and is all blushing but as soon as someone else enters his blush fades and he takes on an 'unassuming appearance' and the book takes care to note that Mo Ran doesn't notice.
3) Rong Jiu (and to a lesser extent Song Quitong) really acted as a mirror to Shi Mei this book and I couldn't help but compare. The way that they use their percieved softness and helplessness to control the people around them felt rather similar to the softness/kindness of Shi Mei. I don't actually see this necessarily as a bad thing and I am very sympathetic towards the former two. The were given a shit situation in life and are working with what they have but I'm not sure where Shi Mei falls in this. I definitely feel like he's manipulating Mo Ran by acting kind/sweet to him but to what purpose idk.
+ Honestly even after betraying Mo Ran and Chu Wanning, and even with the glee with which he did it, I still feel so sorry for Rong Jiu. When he and Mo Ran met up again and talked, and Mo Ran apologised I hoped that they could maybe understand each other a little and make peace. I was pleased that he changed his mind and decided to try for reincarnation. So his final fate was just really sad. Sure, he caused it by betraying Mo Ran but I get why he did it.
+ "Reincarnation won't change the nature of a soul. (You and I belong to different walks of life)" Harsh! Once again I'm left going 'UNFAIR!' So what because Rong Jiu was forced to become a prostitue in life and didn't manage to free himself from it before death he's now doomed no matter his future reincarnation to never be any better? How is forced prostitution and how that shaped his personality and behaviour the "nature of his soul"??? Boo.
+ What the hell is wrong with this afterlife??! Everyone who dies regardless of their life or how they died goes into 'hell' which seems whatever (not great but not terrible) EXCEPT that the ghost kings can kidnap random people to make their sex slaves and give to their soldiers to use, and the poor people have no recourse against it? And it can lead to their soul fragmenting or even dispersing and thus taking them out of the cycle of reincarnation?! And there is consequences for this? WTF?
+ Not a fan of 'pansy' being a description Chu Wanning uses for Rong Jiu.
+ Xue Meng's complete break down post-Chu Wanning's death was a lot of reaction to losing his Shizun. Now I can't help but wonder if he also has feelings for Chu Wanning.
