Hiiiiii! Thanks so much for making time to comment during such a bonkers week! *sends fortitude and chocolate*
Yeah, it's all a delaying tactic on her part, as we find out later, but I feel like it's set up very well to make it potentially believable here
Yes, very true. And she's not actively hostile to the SID, really. Prepared to use them, but not just out of spite, if that distinction makes sense?
extrapenguin calculated a probable population size from there once, in the comments of this post.
Oh cool, thanks!
And he's very earnest when he tells her she ultimately didn't hurt him - which, uh, she very much did, what with all the electrocuting him last episode!
LOL! Physical assaults don't count at all, apparently; only his heart!
Their conversation, with Sha Ya mentioning people going upstairs in secret, suggests that people not only go but also return, to tell tales, and commonly enough that it's something people know about.
True! Though not necessarily everyone. It could be like the existence of Dixingren in Haixing -- there are rumours, but lots of people haven't heard them, and some of those who have don't believe them?
I do wonder why neither the Regent nor the Envoy ever seem to have managed to put a stop to the illegal travel - my theory is that the Regent is complicit in it somehow.
Or they don't realise at that point that Ye Zun is involved, and both of them are determinedly ignoring him (for very different reasons)? But also, smuggling, I'm sure. (I need to re-read that fic of yours! :-)
Yeah, and Hua Yuzhu at least recognises at the end that she was wrong for not talking about it, but I can't figure out what her thinking was. I mean, possibly Hua Yuzhu doesn't even know that Sha Ya is planning to go after the wrong culprit? But still, it makes very little sense to me, I don't understand her at all.
I get the impression (for all my saying the show isn't interested in jealousy) that as much as she loves Sha Ya, she's also, despite herself, jealous that Gu Ban chose her. And I think that jealousy kind of poisons her a little and makes her unable to acknowledge either truth: that he didn't love her <em>or</em> what happened to him. Like she's sub/semi-consciously punishing Sha Ya for winning their "competition"? But we don't really get her POV, so it's hard to tell for sure.
I do find it interesting that Sha Ya was originally the one who wanted to stay in Haixing, and now she's accusing Hua Yuzhu of betraying their friendship because she's desperate to stay.
Yeah, I think Gu Ban's murder absolutely destroyed Sha Ya's hopeful Haixing dream, and now she wants no part of it, and thinks Hua Yuzhu shouldn't either (which doesn't really explain why she's still there however many years later, unless maybe she did go back to Dixing, and Ye Zun recruited her there when he needed her for Merit Brush-related vengeance...?). Whereas Hua Yuzhu is all "BUT PLANTS!!!!"
Btw, visually, I love the image of Sha Ya shouting at Hua Yuzhu through the glass door, visualising the barrier between them.
Oh, great point!
I wonder why they're meeting in the street like this - is this accidental or planned?
I think it must have been planned. Not sure about Shen Wei, though. Checking in with the Dixing archive about Hua Yuzhu? (Or has the archive been rendered completely useless with the loss of the Dijun's Register?)
I wonder how she'd originally meant to get out of the SID after being arrested ... She couldn't have counted on Lin Jing getting her out, surely?
Zap everyone! Or maybe Ya Qing was going to rescue her during prisoner transfer.
He says he's taking her to the forest, which isn't quite the same as releasing her?
Well, once they've left the SID, if she decides to ditch him, there isn't much he could do about it, though. She can zip into the sky!
And once again Ye Zun is all, "oh, no one's talked to me in so long"
LOL, he's like Eeyore. “I make it 17 days, come Friday, since anybody spoke to me.” :D
Also, even though people going upstairs is apparently pretty well known, it seems like there are no rumours going around about the talking pillar, at least not at this point, which is fascinating!
Oh, maybe he's able to use his mind-control to conceal himself in people's memories? That could be why the Regent and Shen Wei don't know and haven't put a stop to it?
The dialogue in the bridge scene sounds very like this is their first (and possibly only) trip to Haixing, though, despite Gu Ban not being in it.
Agreed!
Perhaps Sha Ya edited him out for Lin Jing's benefit, or perhaps he was right there, just off screen, watching them?
Yes, either of those. Or he's gone off to find food or check for danger or something? Or Ye Zun deliberately sent them to different places in Haixing (like when ZYL and DQ end up in the Dixing bar without SW), and they haven't met up again yet -- though they don't seem worried about him or conscious of him at all, so I'm going with "edited memory." After all, raising the subject of Gu Ban could lead to awkward questions about what happened to him, and who did it, and VENGEANCE, and so on.
I suppose part of it is that both Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu are attractive women, whereas fake Zhang Danni was badly scarred ...
Maybe, though Zhang Danni's boyfriend was also living rough. Maybe it's that Hua Yuzhu has more marketable skills?
This bit was interesting to me, because it's Hua Yuzhu who starts struggling with a guy with a chainsaw, and when he knocks her down, Sha Ya attacks him - almost like she's defending Hua Yuzhu, despite attacking her earlier. Complicated feelings!
So complicated!! But it makes sense to me that Sha Ya would attack her friend out of too many feelings, but still want to defend her from strangers, especially human strangers who are desecrating Gu Ban's resting place.
They look like Zhao Yunlan's boots to me
It's confusing because it crosses the line -- the boots are heading left to right, but when it cuts to ZYL, he's facing more leftwards.
Lin Jing isn't the only one who keeps being lied to! satsuma suggested that part of Zhao Yunlan's reaction here is because he himself is still resigning himself to Shen Wei going behind his back meeting Zhao Xinci.
Ye-es. I'm not sure Shen Wei keeping secrets qualifies as lying, personally, but I guess it's in the same ballpark. And it would certainly make sense if some of ZYL's exasperation was aimed at himself, especially wrt Lin Jing.
And as an aside, I always figured Zhao Xinci actually got knocked out, and Zhang Shi came out while he was unconscious.
Makes sense! I wonder if Sha Ya actually manages to knock him out after that, or if he plays possum to stop her from dangerously over-zapping ZXC's body...
And if [Guo Ying] does know, given his later attempt to stop Minister Gao from going too far, I wonder if he might feel Zhao Yunlan was doing the right thing, even if he was going against Minister Gao's orders ...
Maybe. There are some fascinating aspects wrt obedience, duty, loyalty, morality and conscience going on in these episodes... Like, if Guo Ying were an exemplary Vice Minister, wouldn't he uphold the DoS's stance? But the show clearly approves of him standing against Minister Gao later on.
I thought the bit about CCTV was just an aside. and that they were trying to crack the code in the letter? That's what the gist of their conversation seemed to be.
I think Cong Bo starts off looking at CCTV, trying to figure out how they got away, until Lin Jing says Ya Qing can fly. Then Cong Bo gives up on that, and they move onto code breaking.
And he's so out of sorts - yeah, he shouldn't have been left alone. Thats not just on Shen Wei; if he had stuff to do elsewhere, someone else should at least have kept an eye on Zhao Yunlan. They must all have seen how badly he was dealing. Where is Da Qing?!
I mean, yes, but I also think atm Shen Wei is effectively 2IC, and he should have assigned someone to babysit if he was going to absent himself. ;-p (I'm half kidding. But I mean, Hallows-groping isn't unprecedented in these situations, and Shen Wei knows that (and the cost of it) better than anyone!)
But more importantly, I want to know why Zhao Yunlan is at the SID, when everyone else is apparently elsewhere! If they're all investigating/searching, which might make some sense, why is Zhao Yunlan of all people the one staying behind?
Excellent question! Maybe they told him to rest, and he couldn't? Idk. It really works for his frame of mind, though. I think he feels very alone. *pets*
no subject
Yeah, it's all a delaying tactic on her part, as we find out later, but I feel like it's set up very well to make it potentially believable here
Yes, very true. And she's not actively hostile to the SID, really. Prepared to use them, but not just out of spite, if that distinction makes sense?
Oh cool, thanks!
And he's very earnest when he tells her she ultimately didn't hurt him - which, uh, she very much did, what with all the electrocuting him last episode!
LOL! Physical assaults don't count at all, apparently; only his heart!
Their conversation, with Sha Ya mentioning people going upstairs in secret, suggests that people not only go but also return, to tell tales, and commonly enough that it's something people know about.
True! Though not necessarily everyone. It could be like the existence of Dixingren in Haixing -- there are rumours, but lots of people haven't heard them, and some of those who have don't believe them?
I do wonder why neither the Regent nor the Envoy ever seem to have managed to put a stop to the illegal travel - my theory is that the Regent is complicit in it somehow.
Or they don't realise at that point that Ye Zun is involved, and both of them are determinedly ignoring him (for very different reasons)? But also, smuggling, I'm sure. (I need to re-read that fic of yours! :-)
Yeah, and Hua Yuzhu at least recognises at the end that she was wrong for not talking about it, but I can't figure out what her thinking was. I mean, possibly Hua Yuzhu doesn't even know that Sha Ya is planning to go after the wrong culprit? But still, it makes very little sense to me, I don't understand her at all.
I get the impression (for all my saying the show isn't interested in jealousy) that as much as she loves Sha Ya, she's also, despite herself, jealous that Gu Ban chose her. And I think that jealousy kind of poisons her a little and makes her unable to acknowledge either truth: that he didn't love her <em>or</em> what happened to him. Like she's sub/semi-consciously punishing Sha Ya for winning their "competition"? But we don't really get her POV, so it's hard to tell for sure.
I do find it interesting that Sha Ya was originally the one who wanted to stay in Haixing, and now she's accusing Hua Yuzhu of betraying their friendship because she's desperate to stay.
Yeah, I think Gu Ban's murder absolutely destroyed Sha Ya's hopeful Haixing dream, and now she wants no part of it, and thinks Hua Yuzhu shouldn't either (which doesn't really explain why she's still there however many years later, unless maybe she did go back to Dixing, and Ye Zun recruited her there when he needed her for Merit Brush-related vengeance...?). Whereas Hua Yuzhu is all "BUT PLANTS!!!!"
Btw, visually, I love the image of Sha Ya shouting at Hua Yuzhu through the glass door, visualising the barrier between them.
Oh, great point!
I wonder why they're meeting in the street like this - is this accidental or planned?
I think it must have been planned. Not sure about Shen Wei, though. Checking in with the Dixing archive about Hua Yuzhu? (Or has the archive been rendered completely useless with the loss of the Dijun's Register?)
I wonder how she'd originally meant to get out of the SID after being arrested ... She couldn't have counted on Lin Jing getting her out, surely?
Zap everyone! Or maybe Ya Qing was going to rescue her during prisoner transfer.
He says he's taking her to the forest, which isn't quite the same as releasing her?
Well, once they've left the SID, if she decides to ditch him, there isn't much he could do about it, though. She can zip into the sky!
And once again Ye Zun is all, "oh, no one's talked to me in so long"
LOL, he's like Eeyore. “I make it 17 days, come Friday, since anybody spoke to me.” :D
Also, even though people going upstairs is apparently pretty well known, it seems like there are no rumours going around about the talking pillar, at least not at this point, which is fascinating!
Oh, maybe he's able to use his mind-control to conceal himself in people's memories? That could be why the Regent and Shen Wei don't know and haven't put a stop to it?
The dialogue in the bridge scene sounds very like this is their first (and possibly only) trip to Haixing, though, despite Gu Ban not being in it.
Agreed!
Perhaps Sha Ya edited him out for Lin Jing's benefit, or perhaps he was right there, just off screen, watching them?
Yes, either of those. Or he's gone off to find food or check for danger or something? Or Ye Zun deliberately sent them to different places in Haixing (like when ZYL and DQ end up in the Dixing bar without SW), and they haven't met up again yet -- though they don't seem worried about him or conscious of him at all, so I'm going with "edited memory." After all, raising the subject of Gu Ban could lead to awkward questions about what happened to him, and who did it, and VENGEANCE, and so on.
I suppose part of it is that both Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu are attractive women, whereas fake Zhang Danni was badly scarred ...
Maybe, though Zhang Danni's boyfriend was also living rough. Maybe it's that Hua Yuzhu has more marketable skills?
This bit was interesting to me, because it's Hua Yuzhu who starts struggling with a guy with a chainsaw, and when he knocks her down, Sha Ya attacks him - almost like she's defending Hua Yuzhu, despite attacking her earlier. Complicated feelings!
So complicated!! But it makes sense to me that Sha Ya would attack her friend out of too many feelings, but still want to defend her from strangers, especially human strangers who are desecrating Gu Ban's resting place.
They look like Zhao Yunlan's boots to me
It's confusing because it crosses the line -- the boots are heading left to right, but when it cuts to ZYL, he's facing more leftwards.
Lin Jing isn't the only one who keeps being lied to!
Ye-es. I'm not sure Shen Wei keeping secrets qualifies as lying, personally, but I guess it's in the same ballpark. And it would certainly make sense if some of ZYL's exasperation was aimed at himself, especially wrt Lin Jing.
And as an aside, I always figured Zhao Xinci actually got knocked out, and Zhang Shi came out while he was unconscious.
Makes sense! I wonder if Sha Ya actually manages to knock him out after that, or if he plays possum to stop her from dangerously over-zapping ZXC's body...
And if [Guo Ying] does know, given his later attempt to stop Minister Gao from going too far, I wonder if he might feel Zhao Yunlan was doing the right thing, even if he was going against Minister Gao's orders ...
Maybe. There are some fascinating aspects wrt obedience, duty, loyalty, morality and conscience going on in these episodes... Like, if Guo Ying were an exemplary Vice Minister, wouldn't he uphold the DoS's stance? But the show clearly approves of him standing against Minister Gao later on.
I thought the bit about CCTV was just an aside. and that they were trying to crack the code in the letter? That's what the gist of their conversation seemed to be.
I think Cong Bo starts off looking at CCTV, trying to figure out how they got away, until Lin Jing says Ya Qing can fly. Then Cong Bo gives up on that, and they move onto code breaking.
And he's so out of sorts - yeah, he shouldn't have been left alone. Thats not just on Shen Wei; if he had stuff to do elsewhere, someone else should at least have kept an eye on Zhao Yunlan. They must all have seen how badly he was dealing. Where is Da Qing?!
I mean, yes, but I also think atm Shen Wei is effectively 2IC, and he should have assigned someone to babysit if he was going to absent himself. ;-p (I'm half kidding. But I mean, Hallows-groping isn't unprecedented in these situations, and Shen Wei knows that (and the cost of it) better than anyone!)
But more importantly, I want to know why Zhao Yunlan is at the SID, when everyone else is apparently elsewhere! If they're all investigating/searching, which might make some sense, why is Zhao Yunlan of all people the one staying behind?
Excellent question! Maybe they told him to rest, and he couldn't? Idk. It really works for his frame of mind, though. I think he feels very alone. *pets*