   nievelion
2009-08-07 . chapter 28So much to think about, even without that doozie of a cliffhanger. (Apparently I'm not the only one around here who doesn't pull their punches.)
First off, I'd like to call attention to how you started Chapter 27. The insight you show in differentiating between the world of the Jade Palace and the world of the village...it's common sense, and it's something I think all of us touch on at one point or another in our stories, usually to show the contrast or to emphasize how those who live in the palace (especially Shifu, Tigress, or Tai Lung) are isolated and don't really understand or connect with the rest of the world. But you did a particularly good job in concisely but poetically describing this concept. I was impressed!
Moving on...you never specify the species of the drunk, but for some reason his name thinks he might be a bull. (A darker side of Zhuang?) Of course he could have been a pig, but he seemed like a very large species to me... I was happy to see still more of Mr. Ping, you really use him a lot more than most fic writers do, and you do so very well. He's seeming less of a ditz and more of a real, well-rounded character.
As for Hao...since this leads into today's chapter as well...I had a feeling that's who the doctor customer was even before he started telling his own life story--the fact we'd just learned Hao was a doctor in 26 kind of gave it away for me. But that's a good thing, it made it all fit together and make sense. And wow...I cannot believe how diametrically my emotions have changed. When you first told the story of what happened to Jiang, I was furious at his father and all set to eviscerate him, the same as Tigress. Even once it was revealed he'd been a drunk and not fully in control of his actions, I was still as disapproving and angry as Chen. But once we learned his whole backstory, how and why he became as he did, I felt sorry for Hao, as I said in my last review.
And now...seeing how many strides he's made, how he turned his life around and became the good man he used to be again, all because of the shock of losing Jiang too...I can only say two things: I am proud of Hao, and I am extremely impressed at your talent in being able to make me feel that way. You've truly shown that, while not all abusers have extenuating circumstances, can change their ways, or deserve forgiveness, people can change and learn from their mistakes. I am positive that Hao won't ever do anything like that again...though admittedly, I am a bit worried that he could relapse. The fact he has a personality prone to such things when drunk, and that it was so easy for him to become a drunk to numb the pain, because he loved his wife so deeply he was empty and lost without her...well, it makes me fear that however good a man he is at heart, as long as he has this weakness in him, this tendency to fall into despair and want to drown his sorrows whenever things go badly for him, he might not ever really be cured.
That said, I think he genuinely has the will to try...which is why I can understand the anticlimactic nature of Tigress and Lin's confrontation with him. While nothing can excuse what Hao did, his story does at least explain it. The fact it started from love (loving Lin too much) and neglect rather than malice does mitigate it slightly. And once he told them the truth, and made it clear he refuses to ever hurt Jiang again, there really wasn't anything more Tigress or Lin could say. Besides, I doubt the confrontation is over completely...Lin at least may still have things to say to her husband, and it's clear Jiang won't be over his trauma any time soon.
Still, hearing Hao say he knows he can never regain his honor, or be forgiven, and that he'll accept never getting to see his wife and son again as long as he knows they're happy...that's really powerful stuff. It suggests he has indeed changed for the better--if he can contemplate life without them and not immediately descend back into boozing, then he just might have saved himself after all. And he does, after all, have that concoction for if he ever slips up again. I do hope he and Jiang can make up, with Hao reminding him of the loving father he used to be and telling him the "bad stuff" is far away...
Ironic, then, that Hao was the one to care for Tigress after what happened to her. Of course he *is* a doctor, but...it is a small way, indeed, for him to make recompense. I worry that once she recovers from her grief, Tigress will find a way to blame this on him--either saying it's his fault she lost the baby in the first place (because he's who she was worked up over), or that he didn't do enough to help her afterward. At least she still has Chen...which, unless I miss my guess, she may decide to stick with after all. Not that she'd be willing to try again for a baby, not right away anyway...but at least she can have his support as a friend, if not a romance. And assuming Hao, Lin, and Jiang all become a family again and stay in the Valley, she can still be Sissy all she likes.
But damn. I didn't cry over this, partly because I'm a guy I suppose and partly because I expected it to happen. Not that I found it predictable or thought you to be that evil, but I had listed to myself all the things which could go wrong (like, Hao being drunk again and losing his temper, which could have resulted in the deaths of Lin, Chen, or Jiang). And one of those was a miscarriage. Even so...I am still in shock, and very much aching to comfort Tigress. *offers her hugs*
There are so many ways you can go from here, and I'm not sure which one you'll pick. So I'll just keep watching and waiting, instead of trying to predict and ending up wrong. |
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