lebrons 1 pookie bear

CHAPTER 82 SPOILERS/SUMMARY

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we continue off of where we left off last chapter with him alone in a dark room and the videogame not starting. xin genuinely crashes out and rips out the cords. and then he starts crying, which again i think this is the first time i think xin's ever actually cried in the series. crying, he asks himself "what did i do?" and then a hand comes from out of the frame, and wipes away his tears. its lian.

she says "thats exactly it aixin, what did you do? thats right. you've never done anything. even then and even now" i js wanna show these panels here cuz ik i say this every update but i think xin is so close to crashing out and ending it all:

https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870933/
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870935/
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870936/

the camera zooms out, and we see that xin wasnt in the dark room after all, but where he and lian would sit to chat. lian continues "im here, xin. are u sure ur okay? u js shed tears out of nowhere." so i think its not any supernatural fuckery going on, xins js crazy and he's reacting to all of his emotions retroactively.

https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870938/#image

xin asks "lian.. how.." lian replies "what are u talking about? we were js having tea" she then tells xin that he should really get a checkup from a head family doctor. xin says that he doesnt need a doctor and that hes fine. lian says that everytime she comes by, xin's symptoms get worse.
she tells him that she'll help him, and that they also go out for walks together because she plays the same game in a dark room every day. WHAT. what the fuck does that mean. (also its worth noting she has a crazy ass look on her face when she says this).

xin asks her "how do you know that? the fact that i play the same game every day" right bc how tf does she know ts.

at this point lian has fully cornered xin in his chair. lian genuinely looks scary, almost gigantic? as shit from this point onwards:
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870940/#image
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870939/#image

he asks "the footsteps. is that you? i know you've been hiding somewhere in this house watching me... and yet pretending otherwise, pretending to care for me. i know you're js toying w me."

he then clocks tf outta her by saying "i know you don't really want my happiness"

she breaks her silence and reaches out to touch xin's face. "aixin... was that all you were complaining about? dont misunderstand me xin. as for me... i am the person who wishes for your joy and happiness more than anyone else in this family" YEAH CUZ NO ONE ELSE CARES ABT HIM THE BAR IS GENUINELY THAT LOW.

then she says "you are a part of me... because it is my lost fragment" ???? girl sure whatever im not even gonna question ur bullshit anymore.

next there is a flashback to when xin was a kid. he's being carried on ai tan's back as they walk thru some head family building (im guessing its the main hq). worth noting, tan is panting and he's using a cane to help him walk. he also seems to be very distressed. xin asks "where are we going now? i can walk on my own aitan." tan doesnt reply.
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870942/#image



they pass by a small figure whos head is covered with a robe, and face is obscured with a scroll(?) idk what to call it, but it has a chinese symbol on it.

https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870943/#image
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870944/#image

the figure takes off the scroll, and reveals it is lian. xin and lian meet eyes for the first time. leaving this panel here cuz its very tea:

https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870945/#image

xin says "brother did you see, there was a kid ive never seen before at the house. they look abt the same height as me. i want to get off..." xin tries to get down but tan stops him, and shouts "no you cant come down." he pauses for a bit then explains that theyre going outside of the main building. he says "a living icon, not the life of a living corpse. to live a human life... this opportunity was created at the cost of my freedom of movement" in other words, this scene is taking place after tan jumped off of the head family tower to escape, but before they started living in the annex.

tan says "however the sacred image is at any moment a being who must shine in the same place. someone has to fulfill their role there. so just wait, ill come back to find you someday" so i think, tans implying that when he left his life as 'a living corpse' in the head family hq, they had to find someone to replace him as an idol who stays there all the time. that someone is child lian. damn thats fucked up. obligatory panel drop cuz ts makes me sad:

https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870946/#image

tan says "the weight of these footsteps leaving the main house is mine alone. my responsibility resulting from my decision. there is no reason or need for aixin to share the burden. so you mustn't get off your brother's back. you must never step on this path on ur own two feet" damn and xin had to end up doing it anyways. ts sad as hell.

https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870947/#image

he continues "as if you didnt see anyting. as if you didnt hear anything. just stay still." END OF CHAPTER.

so the ppl in the raws comments are highkey geniuses so there's some things they pointed out that are rly interesting:

1) "the chinese character attached to lian's head is 'shi' (death) and character on the memorial tablet is zhou ming lian, so zhou ming lian might not really be lian but someone who merely inherited her name."


2) when tan was about to escape with miu in chapter 76, he said he left behind something important behind. now we can see that it was actually LIAN who he left behind. crazy ass twist.

3) " considering that Zhou Aitan says what he left behind (Lian) isnt an object but a being he must take responsibility for, they could also be blood relatives. if u go back to the chapter where miu and tan die, a woman is crying behind the rest of the servants, so there might be a connection"


4) "it seems they barely managed to leave the main building on the condition that the 1st collateral line heir would be seated in the sacred statue instead of the direct line, and that the brothers would temporarily move to a separate building. anyway there was a condition that they had ot return to the main building, so tan put his heart into it until the end, but in the end, the signator (referring to tan) himself died, so that condition couldnt be fulfilled. it seems Lian used the condition of "returning the statue" as a pretext to proceed with the succession ceremony by offering the younger brother xin as a sacrifice. through this resurrection ritual, he could spread the superstitution among the elders that the zhou family would revive, boosting her own trust, and by eliminating the direct heir, she, as a member of the first branch was able to completely wreck havoc on the Zhou family"

by dominating the zhou family as the sole leader she *would* be preserving xin's happiness technically. also its fascinating that the commenter is referring to the new ritual as a resurrection one.

some final closing thoughts:

this is probably my fav chapter of season 3 so far. all of the art direction was so good, and the atmosphere was wonderfully creepy throughout as well. we get to see new sides of xin, lian and tan, all characters which ive been very curious about.
we also got to see xin and lian's first meeting which i predicting we were going to see, but their first meeting was way sadder than i expected. im usually pretty good w my predictions, but the thing about her literally turning into the idol after tan left was insane. we also got to find out a shit ton of lore regarding the main family. i think this is also the first glimpse we've actually see INSIDE of the main family headquarters. prior to this we only saw yajin getting his tattoo in a side building.

very very curious what lian's intentions with the ritual truly are. if the commenters are right, and she is the one benefitting from this, is it an act of revenge or love for xin? also what does lian mean by 'you are a part of me, because you are my lost fragment'?

other panels i fw heavy this chapter:

https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870948/
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59870932/

CHAPTER 81 SPOILERS/SUMMARY

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xin, lian and wei are all sitting together. xin looks tired asf and hes slouching. he says "you come often lian". lian says "oh is that so? aren't you happy to see me? i always want to see you."

she touches xin's forehead and says "you seem unwell today. where does it hurt? is it a cold? do you have a fever or tinnitus?" (shes not wrong, mfer looks like a corpse). xin says "i hear that often too..." (a reference to how 2 chapters ago lian asked him the exact same thing, specifically abt tinnitus which is oddly specific? sus..)

she then says she has some good news for xin. she mentions the word "jigyecheongseon" which apparently means "plan to settle the collateral lines." she says that the head family elders' patience has reached its limit. they will do whatever it takes ot hold the world in their hands once again. "so what should you do? how can the Zhou family regain its former glory? i think even they don't know that"

she then continues "that's why the chosen method was 'reproduction.'" what. what the fuck does that mean. (im assuming this is mistranslated and they actually mean 'destruction'?? which is kinda strange because its literally the opposite of reproduction). she continues "after exterminating the second branch 'mei' who only spoke the truth, the declining Zhou family entered its second golden age. our lazy old geezers at home (yes this is the exact phrasing she uses lmfaoo) in the same way as then want to get the same result, without any basis relying on superstitious beliefs."

she takes out the wen family's (yajin and mali's) iron awl. WHICH MEANS I WAS FUCKING RIGHT, THATS WHAT SHES EATING FRUIT W IN CHAPTER 25. she continues "the new target is the 5th branch 'wen.' 'Wen' was originally a peripheral figure who contributed little to the family's affairs, but at some point he stopped appearing even at important events like the gangsinje" what the fuck is gangsinje. mind u while shes saying all of this she's using the iron awl as a fruit skewer again.. also she then says "from the day i got my hands on this 'new fork' (yes shes calling it a fucking fork lmfaooo) the 'fragment' owned by the fifth branch, an iron awl. i don't think i need to explain what it means that the source of power sustaining their family is not in their hands"

THIS PART IS WILD "3 days later, their home... an unidentified fire is going to break out in that old wooden house, the awakened 5th successor and the guardian, attempting to escape with all one's might.. however, before long, realizing that all entrances were blocked, turn into ashes and disappear in despair." SHE PLANNED TO KILL THEM WTFFF NOT JUST THE HEAD ELDERS HER TOO.

xin mutters "yajin, mali." lian says "right you remember, lau's friends outside of school." xin asks "does lau know about this fact?" she says "of course he doesn't know. this is confidential. ah, poor lau. to think he would lose the few friends he had like this." GIRL DONT PMO UR LITERALLY JS GONNA KILL THEM.

she holds up a strawberry to xin's mouth with the iron awl. she then continues "but you know, quite by chance! by accident! I think this fact could leak out, that is xin, if it's your wish and your happiness" sooo maybe she's not necessarily that evil, cuz she's saying that she'll slip this info to lau so he could save them. but also i think this shows 1 other very important thing, lian is willing to betray the head family if its for xin's sake. she continues offering the strawberry to xin, will he take it or not?

cue to xin playing the wolf videogame alone in the dark again. he says "lau.. have they met with the children of the 5th branch yet." he wipes off a strawberry seed on the edge of his mouth, implying that yes, he did take lian's strawberry offering earlier, along with presumably her offer of leaking the info to lau.

he says "...... you know.. whats wrong with my ears? the footsteps don't stop." he then says (and this is funny asf imo) "lian is a good person. always taking care of me, always talking about my happiness" girl sure whatever u want to believe LMFAOOOO.

he continues "however... why do i feel this way? my chest feels tight and i'm speechless. my mouth is parched... my head is getting hot, as if it were on fire. even so for some reason, i can't say anything. will days like this continue? a life like this... if i think about that far from the sound of footsteps disappearing it seems like it's getting louder and louder... if its like this, then its not my ears. how should i put it? what's wrong with my head? maybe we should call a doctor just like lian said.. whats wrong with me?"

suddenly he notices the videogame glitching out and it completely freezes. he reaches out to restart it. he sees the nintendo loading screen again. he says "phew, thank god. you surprised me, this junk game console." just when he thinks its going to be fine suddenly the whole screen just shuts off. END OF CHAPTER.

so this chapter was pretty neat, we get more of xin's mental deterioration + lore info abt whats going on outside + depth to both lian's and xin's characters. we learn that lian is willing to betray the head elders for xin, and that xin still cares abt lau very much. this chapter also explains how lau got there in time to save yajin and mali, which is something i was wondering about when the story first brought it up.

as for my predictions for next chapter, i think xin's mental state will deteriorate even further because now he's going to be without the wolf game. the wolf game is sort of the only thing that keeps him entertained (cuz wolf = lau duh), and idk how to explain it but he kind of talks to the wolf? he uses it to go over his thoughts fully, so now that he's without the game he literally wont be able to find comfort in anything.

fav panels this chapter:
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59446770/#image
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59446771/#image
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59446773/#image
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/59446774/#image