tysm for taking the time to write this out. i lowkey forgot half of the stuff that happened i believe xin will survive. say it with me now IN XIN WE THRUST!!
I think its what you said, that the head family is letting Wei and Lian in to do the tattoo, but they're secretly doing this to help Xin. How that would help him??? Idk but That would explain why the head family isn't stopping them for breaking in but also preserves the Lian is a good guy theory because I think that's what the authors trying to imply. She's such an enigma honestly I'm really curious about her backstory
Thank you so much, pookie (づ￣ ³￣)づ
so far the timeline of events we know for certain happens as follows:
in ancient times, the first generation of the zhous:
- priest is on the run & is trying to summon the heavenly dragon
- he meets the wolf who has been hearing auditory hallucinations, and the wolf becomes its guardian
- priest succeeds in summoning the dragon
- zhou family gains influence and riches, chase priest out of affairs
- priest has a kid, later vanishes into the wind
- zhou family makes the tradition of keeping the heir as a trapped figurehead & symbol
- 2nd collateral line continues to speak out, get killed off by head family, thus starting another golden age for the zhous
mysteries:
1) did the dragon and talking wolf actually exist? was the zhou family making shit up? was the wolf actually a human?
2) did the priest actually just vanish? did he die or run away? why leave his kid behind if thats the case? what happened to the wolf? did he die too? which lucky mfer got to sleep with the priest?
3) did the 2nd family actually die or are they in hiding?
after xin & lau's birth:
- lau's deadbeat dad kills his mom, miu leaves for a 5-7 years, lau is left alone, miu reappears & takes lau in
- tan escapes the head family's tower by jumping off -> head family builds the annex and lets xin and tan stay there
- tan has something in the head family's tower that is the reason they're allowed to stay in the annex now
- 5th family (yajin’s) iron awl goes missing, (with lian now)
mysteries:
1) what is that something that tan must do, did he have dirt on the head family that let him leave? was it possibly to do with the og legend or the 2nd family?
2) did the 1st line steal the iron awl or did it just find its way into their hands?
3) are xin's parents dead or just with the head family somewhere?
4) why did lau's dad kill his mom? does it have something to do with the head family or the 2nd family?
childhood arc circa summer 2021 (based off of the amongus reference):
-xin & lau meet as kids in the annex, along with their siblings, become friends, xins creepy asf
- tan tries to convince miu to stay in the annex as well, she refuses
- xin and lau escape for 1 day & go to the town surrounding the rising dragon tower
- on the way back, see this phone booth in the middle of nowhere (will be important later maybe?)
- lau & xin separated, lau hears xin calling for him, reunite
- their siblings die trying to escape so xin can get psychiatric help
- xin lies to lau that their siblings' bodies were deer instead
- lau chokes xin at tan's funeral, their relationship is now severed
- xin & lau become heir and guardian
mysteries:
1) will that phone booth be used? who tf put it there?
2) what exactly do the head elders look like? just how brainwashed are their servants?
3) are guardians & heirs determined by fate? was it always fate that tan & miu would die so xin & lau could become guardians? did the previous generations of guardians & heirs ever experience these hallucinations too?
events btwn then & highschool:
- xin & lau take part in the ritual where they live alone for 1 year
- xin gets a fever for some reason (?) similar to what he's feeling in the present
- lau lives alone and begins playing guitar
- yajin lives on his own, conditioned to want his guardian
- mali experiences the aud. halluc. too, begins living w yajin
mysteries:
1) is xin's fever related to what he has in the present?
2) did xin & lau ever meet between then & highschool?
highschool:
- xin & lau reunite in rich ppl highschool
- xin still creepy asf just more subtly now
- besties w wei and lian
- underage drinking yippeee, Xin in his alcoholic era
- chen & alex meet for the first time
- chen's parents were also killed by accident
- fu rin (in middle school atm) is living on her own, waiting for her heir to call her
- her heir bets on her in illegal boxing matches for entertainment, seems aware that fu rin has been conditioned to desire her
- fu rin knocks someone out, head family becomes aware of what the 4th heir is doing
- 4th heir is killed in a car accident (likely orchestrated by head family)
- remaining members of family find suna in the slums, make her the heir
- lau becomes aware of his feelings for xin, but also begins to feel insecure over being able to make him happy
- lau lashes out at xin freq, blames xin for being stuck living a life he doesn't want "unless one of us dies, i'll never be free"
- xin recommends lau to the school band & they recruit lau, lau unaware that xin was the one who asked
- at the concert, lau feels happy for once, says he wants to go back home cuz xin is waiting for him, only to realize xin was the one who set all of this up
- chokes xin, goes back to apologize with konpeito
- xin decides to return to the annex early, before graduation, lian: "this is all ur fault!"
- xin severs all contact for 5 years
mysteries:
1) did xin willingly go back to the annex or did the head family force him to? (likely of his own will) was xin having him join a band a way to make him feel less lonely when xin will be gone?
2) were chen's parents killed by the head family?
between highschool & start of story:
- lian revitalizes chen's company with funds, "has him by the balls"
- alex tries to sneak into zhou fam hq, gets put into coma, "nothing wrong with his body but he won't wake up"
- chen pleads with xin but is "sneered at" & turned away
- actively starts hating xin, lian has him join in on tattoo plan
- fu rin & suna grow closer, start their idol careers
- yajin & mali's house burned down by head family, lau rescues them, now "dead", at least 1st collateral line is aware of their existence
- xin grows his hair out (this is very important trust)
mysteries:
1) did lian save chen's business to use him later on for the whole tattoo thing?
2) what exactly happened to alex?
3) did xin really sneer at chen and turn him away? its definitely implied they did meet at one point, but was xin actually that cruel or is it just because he is a figurehead with no power that he couldn't do anything? was this deliberate in order to make chen resent him so he could start the whole tattoo plan?
4) how did lau know that yajin's & mali's house was going to burned down? how did the 1st family become aware of their existence? why doesn't the head family try to eliminate them again in the likely chance they know they're still alive?
5) for how long has lian been planning the tattoo debacle? did xin instruct her to do it?
5 years later, fall (present):
- lian has chen get everyone together
- chen gets suna to snoop out yajin & mali
- wei chokes mali & forces him to start designing tattoo, (new city bakery)
- wei begins tattooing xin
- xin asks lau to come for his birthday and to investigate the tattoo
- lau investigates
- told not to tell lian, tells her anyways, explains relationship btwn collateral lines & head family
- suna says she gave dye away for yearly ritual
- mali has been going out on walks freqently, yajin waits for him
- chen is relying on 1st family (lian's) funds to keep his business intact, Alex is nowhere to be seen
- xin is getting worse as the tattoo grows, fever, hallucinations, drowsiness
- they nearly kiss (this is very important trust)
- lau doesnt trust xin again (why didnt he tell him about the relationship btwn family lines?”)
- stays with xin one night, has a panic attack due to past trauma and runs away (s1 finale)
- suna sees tattoo, realizes that it’s being used for something dangerous, asks for dye back
- chen doesn’t give af, traps suna in his skyscraper
- fu rin and Lau come to rescue her
- Lau goes back to yajin, finds him with the tattoo designs, chokes him out
- Mali comes and punches the shit out of him, yajin says that he couldn’t tell Lau because he hadn’t even asked Mali yet
- Mali says he was threatened by a guardian (later says w glasses)
- Lau thinks it’s Alex, rushes to Chen, Alex in coma
- Chen explains backstory and why he hates Xin
- “I have no clue how someone like you could help Xin overcome his grief”, deduces its lian
- Lau rushes back to the annex, tries to get xin outta there
- xin says he knew who was tattooing him from the start, says he hates seeing Lau making a fool out of himself, & burns their contract
- wei knocks lau out, begins tattooing Xin again
- Lau is somewhere in the old city (?)
- Lian does her evil monologue shit
mysteries:
1) do wei & lian know that the tattoo is killing xin? does xin know?
2) why on earth did xin call upon lau in the first place? why would making lau investigate help xin at all? how would it help his plan?
3) why does lian want lau to figure it out? is it because xin wants her to give him hints?
4) is xin's tattoo related to the yearly ritual at all? how would xin's tattoo exactly help take down the head family? (if thats his plan)
5) who is lian aligned with? she claims its for xin, so is she doing it on his command? is it for the head family? or is this her act of rebellion for the sake of the collateral lines & xin?
6) what are wei's thoughts on all of this? he doesn't seem to like lian nearly as much as he lets on.
7) if its meant to take down the head family, why would the head family do NOTHING at all to stop this? why let lian & wei "taint" their symbol? if they are the ones ordering the tattoo to be completed, maybe lian is lying to them and is actually secretly doing her best to save xin?
8) whats the agenda behind the tattoo's design? clearly its meant to show that the head family's sin of killing the 2nd line is what is causing their failure in the present. but who exactly is saying that? and are they in favor of the head family being destroyed?
9) will xin even be able to survive ts? ╥﹏╥