Both of them have their valid points. Honglian went through so much, being forced into prostitution (beaten and raped), and having his family slaughtered by Song Qing’s father, leading him to become who he is now, thinking and feeling as he does now. What a horrible thing to have to live through. Song Qing is innocent from what his father did and just genuinely misses his old friend and beloved, but he’s not seeing things from Honglian’s point of view
you’re right Honglian, that’s exactly what it looks like he’s doing right now. being a two-time hypocrite. if you let it continue, his entire conversation with you in the future is gonna be about yall past – that one time yall spent together and what you used to be like back then blah blah blah, completely ignoring the present you
So mainly I’ve been bopping around enjoying the fantastic art rather than the story, which I l just…don’t like (I keep on trying with these historical ones because I adore the aesthetics but it turns out I unfortunately also cannot with literally all the tropes, waaah and boo) HOWEVER! While I can’t QUITE pin down exactly what the author is trying to communicate with the story of these two thematically, I do find it compelling, and they’re definitely the one bit I’ll actually pause for and bother to read when I happen to stumble on them LOL – I shall keep checking in and see if I can come up with a little thesis by the time this bad boy wraps!
I do really like that *from what I’ve seen*, despite the MASSIVE trauma, they’ve allowed Honglian to keep his dignity as a sex worker. Doesn’t matter what it is he does for a living, he’s still a full human worthy of respect. So far, that’s my working theory for the point the author is going for with this subplot LOL
It’s funny to me that when I do find one of these works I’m willing to stick around for at least part of, it almost ALWAYS seem to be for the side couple and only the side couple. My working theory on THAT so far is that since that side couple is not the focus of the story, authors tend to use them as an opportunity to take more creative risks, since they’ve got a more tried and true style of romance as the primary focus of the work. Not that a tried and true romance is a bad thing! I think it’s perfectly reasonable to try to grab as many people as possible with your primary story, and for a reader to go into one of these works specifically to have a certain itch scratched. I think maaaaaaybe I just prefer the narrative crunch of something a little more off the beaten path, and that’s why side stories exist alongside the main ones!
Anonymously Anonymous
Both of them have their valid points. Honglian went through so much, being forced into prostitution (beaten and raped), and having his family slaughtered by Song Qing’s father, leading him to become who he is now, thinking and feeling as he does now. What a horrible thing to have to live through. Song Qing is innocent from what his father did and just genuinely misses his old friend and beloved, but he’s not seeing things from Honglian’s point of view
21st Century Girl
you’re right Honglian, that’s exactly what it looks like he’s doing right now. being a two-time hypocrite. if you let it continue, his entire conversation with you in the future is gonna be about yall past – that one time yall spent together and what you used to be like back then blah blah blah, completely ignoring the present you
MissEve
So mainly I’ve been bopping around enjoying the fantastic art rather than the story, which I l just…don’t like (I keep on trying with these historical ones because I adore the aesthetics but it turns out I unfortunately also cannot with literally all the tropes, waaah and boo) HOWEVER! While I can’t QUITE pin down exactly what the author is trying to communicate with the story of these two thematically, I do find it compelling, and they’re definitely the one bit I’ll actually pause for and bother to read when I happen to stumble on them LOL – I shall keep checking in and see if I can come up with a little thesis by the time this bad boy wraps!
I do really like that *from what I’ve seen*, despite the MASSIVE trauma, they’ve allowed Honglian to keep his dignity as a sex worker. Doesn’t matter what it is he does for a living, he’s still a full human worthy of respect. So far, that’s my working theory for the point the author is going for with this subplot LOL
It’s funny to me that when I do find one of these works I’m willing to stick around for at least part of, it almost ALWAYS seem to be for the side couple and only the side couple. My working theory on THAT so far is that since that side couple is not the focus of the story, authors tend to use them as an opportunity to take more creative risks, since they’ve got a more tried and true style of romance as the primary focus of the work. Not that a tried and true romance is a bad thing! I think it’s perfectly reasonable to try to grab as many people as possible with your primary story, and for a reader to go into one of these works specifically to have a certain itch scratched. I think maaaaaaybe I just prefer the narrative crunch of something a little more off the beaten path, and that’s why side stories exist alongside the main ones!
Manga Reader54
He’s just trying to run away. General Song if you truly want him, pick him up, throw him over your shoulder and take him inside 🙂
kitty Biersack
oh no! poor groom 🙁 thanks for the update !