day 8/30 of analyzing sangyang until season 3 comes out
today i'm analyzing the character of fu rin.
i love fu rin, personally in my list of fav charas she's number 3 or 4 (right after xin and lau respectively, although lian could place at number 3 depending on her actions next season). Fu rin is probably one of the most empathetic and sympathetic characters in the entire series. an absolute sweetheart. Although she is morally grey like almost all of the other charas (see her beating that one bodyguard with a brick), she is still incredibly kind, just ultimately traumatized because of the Zhou family.
additonally, she also serves as a core example of how fundamentally broken the relationship between guardian and heir are, and just how deep the zhou family's brainwashing regarding that relationship goes. in present day, fu rin is extremely understanding and amenable. as lau's cousin, she is probably one of the only people he actually trusts. also i'm pretty sure the author also uses fu rin as a vessel for lore dump and to move the story forward lmao. she's someone lau can collect his thoughts with and offer him advice. she always tries to see the best in everyone and try her best to help, to the point where one could easily mistake her as just someone dumb and submissive, (as suna does). but make no mistake, fu rin is aware of her own complicity, yet she decides that is what makes her happy, even if she is aware she has been manipulated into believing this.
fu rin's backstory is probably one of the most sinister within the series, as through the zhou family's rituals she has been manipulated into being dependent on her heir for happiness. her entire life, she has idolized the bond between a guardian and heir due to miu's influence. furthermore, when she is 13 she partakes in the head family's ritual.
the ritual for guardian's is as follows: during their childhood, the guardian must brave the world alone until they eventually meet with their heir and complete the hallowed pact. imo, this is such a clear and deliberate method of isolation, and its meant to fortify the strength of the relationship between guardian and heir, by making the guardian entirely dependent on their heir for happiness early on in their life. (i also think this is why the guardian-heir relationship between xin and lau is impossible, due to them not being groomed for those roles, but i will discuss this on a later post). they also set up all these additional rules to make guardians more subservient, always using signing out whenever heading out of the apartment, eating healthy and exercising, and most importantly, never talking to anyone else, pushing fu rin to a state of loneliness where she develops insomnia. also the moment with the car door, where fu rin has to choose between her heir and her friends. knowing that the head family has cameras everywhere, i honestly believe they deliberately did this to test fu rin's loyalty. although fu rin believes that there was no one watching her, i really truly believe the head family was always watching. idk its just a bit too convenient that *just* when fu rin's about to make new friends, the head family's servants swoop in to intercept her.
i don't even want to talk about the bullshit her heir put her thru, its genuinely that upsetting to me. her heir is easily one of the worse people in the entire series. "my love starved fu rin, have you ever thought, even once, about whether you were born this way, or whether you gradually became this kind of person?" im gonna punch this bitch. also rather than just the fighting, i think the bigger issue for fu rin was the punishment she received from her heir whenever she didn't guess if her heir bet on her winning or losing correctly. for example, fu rin vulnerably confesses to her that she can only sleep when she's with her heir, and then then the heir punishes her by not sleeping in the same bed as her. also the way she manipulates her into desperately fighting to win her approval, by saying "oh isn't our relationship supposed to be special? why cant u read my mind? i guess i expected too much of you :(" ik she's rotting in hell. also the symbolism of fu rin fighting herself in the ring, mwah chef's kiss.
despite all of this, fu rin believes that she still had agency in all of this. "a victim? how clueless they are about the kind of person i am... 'cause truthfully i didn't refuse to participate, when she asked me to fight. to the contrary, i decided to enjoy the cards i had been dealt. since i had already decided to participate, i just fought and hoped for the best. i thought, if i did that, she'd continue to like me and stay by my side" BESTIE THAT MAKES U A VICTIM OF EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION. its ironic, the head family's rituals are what developed fu rin into the sort of person she is today, in fact they are the ones who pressured her into that stupid ass pact anyways, and yet then they get to retract it at their will by killing off the entire mo family.
but that still doesn't make fu rin happy. i believe that old version of her who wished for friends was in a sense "killed" when she symbolically fought herself in the ring. and only when it was already too late, did the head family step in. as suna says, fu rin lacks the confidence to go through the world alone due to the head family's mind fuckery, and that's what makes her one of the most tragic characters in the series. i'm glad the last we see of her, her and suna seem to be starting to actually communicate. but i still feel like the way their conflict resolved was too quick. hopefully they'll be happy together in the future.
also p.s. am i the only one who sees fu rin as sapphic? might be reading too much into it, but her heir saying "oh well i dont need to care abt my ex bf's now cuz i have my beloved fu rin" and then fu rin blushing... kinda fruity idk.
day 8/30 of analyzing sangyang until season 3 comes out
today i'm analyzing the character of fu rin.
i love fu rin, personally in my list of fav charas she's number 3 or 4 (right after xin and lau respectively, although lian could place at number 3 depending on her actions next season). Fu rin is probably one of the most empathetic and sympathetic characters in the entire series. an absolute sweetheart. Although she is morally grey like almost all of the other charas (see her beating that one bodyguard with a brick), she is still incredibly kind, just ultimately traumatized because of the Zhou family.
additonally, she also serves as a core example of how fundamentally broken the relationship between guardian and heir are, and just how deep the zhou family's brainwashing regarding that relationship goes. in present day, fu rin is extremely understanding and amenable. as lau's cousin, she is probably one of the only people he actually trusts. also i'm pretty sure the author also uses fu rin as a vessel for lore dump and to move the story forward lmao. she's someone lau can collect his thoughts with and offer him advice. she always tries to see the best in everyone and try her best to help, to the point where one could easily mistake her as just someone dumb and submissive, (as suna does). but make no mistake, fu rin is aware of her own complicity, yet she decides that is what makes her happy, even if she is aware she has been manipulated into believing this.
fu rin's backstory is probably one of the most sinister within the series, as through the zhou family's rituals she has been manipulated into being dependent on her heir for happiness. her entire life, she has idolized the bond between a guardian and heir due to miu's influence. furthermore, when she is 13 she partakes in the head family's ritual.
the ritual for guardian's is as follows: during their childhood, the guardian must brave the world alone until they eventually meet with their heir and complete the hallowed pact. imo, this is such a clear and deliberate method of isolation, and its meant to fortify the strength of the relationship between guardian and heir, by making the guardian entirely dependent on their heir for happiness early on in their life. (i also think this is why the guardian-heir relationship between xin and lau is impossible, due to them not being groomed for those roles, but i will discuss this on a later post). they also set up all these additional rules to make guardians more subservient, always using signing out whenever heading out of the apartment, eating healthy and exercising, and most importantly, never talking to anyone else, pushing fu rin to a state of loneliness where she develops insomnia. also the moment with the car door, where fu rin has to choose between her heir and her friends. knowing that the head family has cameras everywhere, i honestly believe they deliberately did this to test fu rin's loyalty. although fu rin believes that there was no one watching her, i really truly believe the head family was always watching. idk its just a bit too convenient that *just* when fu rin's about to make new friends, the head family's servants swoop in to intercept her.
i don't even want to talk about the bullshit her heir put her thru, its genuinely that upsetting to me. her heir is easily one of the worse people in the entire series. "my love starved fu rin, have you ever thought, even once, about whether you were born this way, or whether you gradually became this kind of person?" im gonna punch this bitch. also rather than just the fighting, i think the bigger issue for fu rin was the punishment she received from her heir whenever she didn't guess if her heir bet on her winning or losing correctly. for example, fu rin vulnerably confesses to her that she can only sleep when she's with her heir, and then then the heir punishes her by not sleeping in the same bed as her. also the way she manipulates her into desperately fighting to win her approval, by saying "oh isn't our relationship supposed to be special? why cant u read my mind? i guess i expected too much of you :(" ik she's rotting in hell. also the symbolism of fu rin fighting herself in the ring, mwah chef's kiss.
despite all of this, fu rin believes that she still had agency in all of this. "a victim? how clueless they are about the kind of person i am... 'cause truthfully i didn't refuse to participate, when she asked me to fight. to the contrary, i decided to enjoy the cards i had been dealt. since i had already decided to participate, i just fought and hoped for the best. i thought, if i did that, she'd continue to like me and stay by my side" BESTIE THAT MAKES U A VICTIM OF EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION. its ironic, the head family's rituals are what developed fu rin into the sort of person she is today, in fact they are the ones who pressured her into that stupid ass pact anyways, and yet then they get to retract it at their will by killing off the entire mo family.
but that still doesn't make fu rin happy. i believe that old version of her who wished for friends was in a sense "killed" when she symbolically fought herself in the ring. and only when it was already too late, did the head family step in. as suna says, fu rin lacks the confidence to go through the world alone due to the head family's mind fuckery, and that's what makes her one of the most tragic characters in the series. i'm glad the last we see of her, her and suna seem to be starting to actually communicate. but i still feel like the way their conflict resolved was too quick. hopefully they'll be happy together in the future.
also p.s. am i the only one who sees fu rin as sapphic? might be reading too much into it, but her heir saying "oh well i dont need to care abt my ex bf's now cuz i have my beloved fu rin" and then fu rin blushing... kinda fruity idk.