Such is the Joy of Our Reunion Thoughts
As part of prepping for First of a Thousand Autumns (banger event name btw) I read Yu's event. Normally, I would have found some narrative throughline that enamored me enough to write about the event as a whole and how everything relates to that idea. This time, Iām just writing what I liked and disliked in no particular order.
I love Yu, my son. Yu is kinda hilarious in how out of all the ancient proxies who have had a really heavy hand in Yanese history, itās the youngest who plays the role of āwise sageā most accurately to me. Those who actively contribute to their communities like Chong Yue and Shu are much more approachable and the bum siblings just never show themselves to mortals beyond whatās necessary. Yu on the other hand, intentionally hides himself away from the spotlight. People must seek him out and even then, the majority of people he interacts with are regular folks who he feeds. This relates to his philosophy of how cooking is for all and humans should be responsible for themselves.
This is especially evident with how he treats the title āFirst Under Heaven.ā Chong Yue is glad to bestow that title once someone proves their worthiness but Yu sees the title for the vapid ego boost it is. When Mo Bufu seeks him out, he knows itās less pure than just meeting the man that set Mo Bufu on his culinary journey all those years ago. Mo Bufu wanted to keep his sense of superiority intact and so wanted to interact with the true First Under Heaven to get the approval to call himself that. Unlike martial arts where you are supposed to challenge others as a sign of conquest, cooking has no strict lines of superiority outside of not poisoning people. Weāve seen weirdos eat plain rice wit gusto and Blazeās memories are precious not because they followed the recipe of tangerine cakes properly but because of the personal story they hold for her.
In this way, Yu guides people on the path of wisdom without explicitly working towards it. Good food, good ideas, no demands beyond the questions that make you stop and savor whatās in front of you. Itās so interesting without making him too aloof or separated from normal people. It also speaks to the humanizing aspect of the Sui siblingsā respective passions. Cooking is interesting in how it takes a bestial desire: sustenance, and entwines it with so many aspects of human living: community, helping, the uniqueness of individual lives, etc. etc.
The most interesting idea Yu brings is how he speaks to Bestial Sui in the tomb at the very end. Itās very common for proxies to distinguish themselves from It but this feels like the first time the story has distinguished Sui from the siblings. In a way never before seen, Sui is humanized as another existence on this land and you can see how Its own experiences are not merely historical record. It advises Yu against becoming human because its low opinion of humanity is not merely because of arrogance but also because when the choice came, they chose betrayal and supremacy over fate. It comes back in the present as Yu uses his powers specifically to calm Bestial Sui. Did it work because Yu made a dish for It the way he would any other? Iād like to think so.
Blaze and Leiziās stories are fine. Leizi faces a very common problem of finding something suspicious and getting roadblocked by her superiors. She takes the classic Chāen Hui-chieh approved move of just resigning so that she canāt be court-martialed for what happens next. Itās a classic story of seeking justice despite bureaucratic obstacles which is fine.
Blaze and Xingzhu were very cute together. Two siblings finding each other by chance but connecting all the same. Each of them inspiring the other to keep going in the face of these conspiracies. Theyāre cute and the emotional core they bring to the story feels strong. If only the conspiracy they were entangled in didnāt feel soā¦
The biggest meh for me is how thereās so much intrigue for such a nothingburger issue. At some point, you realize all the named characters are of one mind that the Grand Preceptor was judged unfairly, even the people weāve been led to suspect like Mr. Ning. Nobodyās on the side of keeping the secret except for people trained to be hard-asses like the Junior DrillMaster and the Imperial Guard. Every person who feels relevant to the story eventually shows themselves to be āon the side of justiceā and whatnot. In terms of the goals of convicting the Grand Preceptor, all the goals have been achieved already and Gu Quan is just a good man, no specific goals against Yan, no shameful actions against either of his daughters, nothing. There wasnāt even anything that suspect about the various facts weāve been given. Part of what makes things confusing is how the night Gu Quan fled to Victoria with his wife, child, and Blaze was more impactful for the story than the OTHER trip he made to Victoria when he had a foot in the grave. Blaze comes in thinking his death was suspect when it was actually her life that was the āissueā and so motivations and expectations fall on different story beats and Iām left wondering how much of this was necessary lol.
Added on to this, the True Lung is really weak imo. Blaze just comes in and reprimands him for the injustice and tries to 20 questions him into admitting fault or something. But it falls flat when, again, NOBODY THINKS THE LIE SHOULD BE MAINTAINED. So it feels less like a thesis of our ājustā position against the āunjustā position of the status quo and more getting some lazy burdenbeast to move already. As emperor, he already had the power to pardon the people he pardoned. He just realized Blaze wonāt ask for favors directly so he has to make the decisions. Bro is whiny and stagnant and feels like heās just keeping the role of emperor because he has to without committing in a way that would make his backstory feel solid (if that makes any sense). He feels stuck in the past and if the event committed to the theme of reunion, Wei Yenwu wouldāve been the one to speak to him. They wouldāve opened their hearts to each other before Wei gets pardoned. Hell, Wang shouldāve given SOMEONE an explanation of what he intends if we were going to just let him into Suiās Tomb all of a sudden. The pardons for Wang and Wei just feel tacked on when Blazeās story only really set up for the clearing of the Grand Preceptorās name. Even then we donāt even know what happened on the night of the previous True Lungās death so weāre not even 100% sure the Grand Preceptor didnāt do anything untoward lol.
Minor nitpick: the way people talk about the Grand Preceptor made me think they were talking about Jie for the longest time lol.
Finally, Wang doesnāt deserve Yu. That dismissive piece of shit just kept ignoring food and letting his little brother cry with absolutely no input to their conversation. It honestly pissed me off how he acted when Yu came to him. Of course, Yu was just different in how he viewed Wang. Others saw the weiqi failure or the convict but Yu just saw his brother, preparing to go on a suicide mission that already claimed his sister. Itās especially painful on account of Yu, Wang, and Jie being their own little trio of siblings similar to Shu and Ji or Nian and Dusk. Yu speaks of regret, mortality, and all other flavors under the sun and Wang just vagueposts and leaves. He even gets to aurafarm with a battalion of Imperial Guards to lead him to the Tomb of Sui as if he hasnāt been washed for the past century.
Good luck to him I suppose. But as for me, I will be looking on his career with relative skepticism as he once again proves to be the least engaging of the Sui Siblings.
Overall, it was alright. I feel like the pieces were in place for something as overall cohesive and well-made as Shu's event but this is very obviously the lead up to Wang's event so lol no.
I'll leave with a reminder to HG:
pixelskylines
gamechangershow
ellievsbear
