#celia and benedikt are this is me trying

[lurkingsomewhereinsecretshanghai]

rip roma, juliette, benedikt and celia because you would have loved sobbing to folklore by taylor swift

[no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist]

💔 If you had to remove one major character from the series who would you choose?

(For secret Shanghai obvi)

Oh this is the worst question whhyy. And this is so hard because I think they're all very important to the books as a whole. Ahhh.

Okay I don't think you can take away Juliette. Unless you wanted to completely rewrite TVD to be entirely centric around the other characters. Which I don't think works at all for a number of reasons. So definitely not Juliette. TVD is very much her book.

I don't think you could take away Roma because the Scarlets and White Flowers in the main cast couldn't connect without him and Juliet's relationship. And it's also a Romeo and Juliet retelling. So no.

You could maybe get away with getting rid of Benedikt or Marshall since they're a subplot. But I think a lot would have to change for that. And it would definitely majorly affect the story, especially Roma's motivations in OVE. And the characterization and plotline of whichever one of them you didn't get rid of.

I really don't like the idea of taking Rosalind out of TVD specifically because she and Tyler are both very good foils to Juliette. So no.

In terms of TVD, Celia is probably one of the best answers since she isn't based on a character in Romeo and Juliet. And I think Celia could technically maybe be written out of TVD without super major changes to the plot. But it would take away a lot, and think it's pretty necessary that the pov of a character who joins the communists is incorporated. And she is based on a character from As You Like It.

Alisa could also be written out maybe since she doesn't have a ton of agency in TVD, and Roma's motivations would mostly just have to change at certain points. Which would likely result in changes to Roma's character, but they wouldn't necessarily be super major depending on how it's written. She's also not based on a character from R&J or AYLI, so she might technically be the best option which I dislike.

I don't think think you can have FLF without Orion without major plot changes and likely huge shifts in the characterization and character development of the rest of the cast. So no.

I think Oliver could be written out. Which would suck. It would change the Hong family issues a bit. But it isn't absolutely inconceivable. And it would take away the olivercelia plot which would suck because I love them and also for thematic reasons. But it's not inconceivable. It would probably be a worse ayli adaptation without him though.

Celia could also maybe be written out of flf which would suck because it would take away her and Rosalind's relationship. I think Oliver would have a bigger role then which would be. Interesting. I don't love the idea of taking away Celia in general because her character arc spans all four books though.

I think flf without Silas would be very interesting. It would definitely vastly change the plot of fhh. And the characterization of Phoebe and Orion. But I'm kind of interested in how everything might play out without him. It would definitely be interesting to see how Phoebe's plotline would progress and how they would've gotten Orion back in fhh. I think this could've maybe put more focus on Orion and Oliver's relationship, and Oliver could have potentially given himself up for Orion in FHH. Which is . Interesting.

Getting rid of Phoebe would obviously get rid of the whole Priest plotline which I don't love. It would probably put more focus on Orion and Silas's friendship and the Oliver Orion drama which is interesting. But also I think she is necessary as Rosalind's foil. And she's also just such a uniquely interesting character to me. So no.

And I think flf is possible without Alisa since her plotline (and olivercelia's plotline) is isolated enough from the other plotlines that it could technically be removed without huge amounts of adjustment to the original story. But also her grief for Roma is pretty important thematically I think. So I don't love the idea of getting rid of her, but it's not unthinkable in terms of plot. And she also isn't based on a character from ayli.

So overall in terms of tvd and flf being adaptations, it would technically make the most sense to cut out Alisa. I think it would be possible to cut Celia without cataclysmic alterations to the plot. I think Oliver could technically also be cut, but I also think he's more important than he seems despite his lack of pov so ehhh. So I would pick one the three of them, most likely Alisa or Celia, if my goal is to keep the books as similar to how they are now as possible.

However.

If my goal is to change things in an interesting way I would get rid of Silas. I think he's the only character that you could get rid off whose absence would force a greater presence from some of the other characters. I would be very interested to see how this would affect Phoebe's arc. I think she and/or Oliver could have ended up dying in fhh without him. Or maybe even Orion.

[romajuliettemai]

A few more SSS incorrect quotes

I haven't posted sss stuff in a while and this has been in my drafts for forever so here we go! (Some of these were edited or created by me & take place in a past timeline- also don't ask why some of the spacings are weird idk)

Silas: Do you cook?

Roma: I made a cake once.

Marshall: Yeah, it was good.

Roma: Really?

Marshall: Don’t make me lie twice, Roma.

Orion: Some people are like slinkies.

Rosalind: What?

Orion: Not really good for much but bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

Rosalind:

Rosalind: Please don't push Alisa down the stairs.

Orion, pushing Alisa down the stairs: Too late.

Benedikt: You need to stop swearing so much. Oliver: Shut the fuck up. Benedikt: Yeah, that's not how you do it. Oliver: Alright sorry. It's just that it's hard not to swear. The words just creep up on me when I least expect it. Benedikt: Now now, don't be like that. Just replace the swear words with 'beep' and you'll be fine. Oliver: Shit the beep up. Benedikt: Oliver: SHUT, DAMMIT! I MEANT SHUT!

Orion: I've never encountered a problem that can't be solved by an spontaneous musical number.

Juliette: BEHOLD, the field in which I grow my fucks! Lay thine eyes upon it, and thou shalt see that it is barren!

Alisa: Uh, I think I got your lunch. *Holds up a note that reads: ‘I am very proud of you. Love, Orion’* Rosalind: Oh yeah. I didn’t think this was for me. *Holds up a note that reads: ‘Be good. For the love of God, Please be good.’*

Rosalind: I owe you one.

Orion: It's ok, you can just date me and we'll call it even *winks with two eyes*

Alisa, after getting a library card: Now I know what true power feels like. *proceeds to climb on top of the bookshelves*

Roma: Guys, Orion is missing. Celia: Good.

Alisa: I tried to write ‘I'm a functional adult’ but my phone changed it to ‘fictional adult’ and i feel like that’s more accurate.

Orion: Oliver is at that very special age where a kid only has one thing on their mind. Phoebe: Girls? Oliver: Homicide.

Phoebe: Hey! Wanna hear a joke? Silas: Sure. Phoebe: Your life! Silas: Actually, my life isn’t a joke, jokes have meaning. Phoebe: Silas...no.

Orion: Now, if I may speak for good-looking people everywhere... Oliver, rolling his eyes: Only as their rodeo clown.

Benedikt: Celia, we tried things your way. Celia: No, we didn't. Benedikt: I did it in my head and it didn't work.

Roma, clearly exhausted: Did you have to stab them? Future Katherina: You weren’t there. You didn’t hear what they said to me. Roma: What did they say? Future Katherina: "What are you going to do, stab me?" Juliette, calling from the other room while sharpening her knives on a bowl: That’s fair!

Roma, rubbing his forehead, annoyed: In what world?

Alisa: I desire moisture. Oliver: Please just say "I want water" like a normal person.

Silas: You know I think my life has value. Orion: Who are you and what have you done with Silas?!

Sorry for not having posted anything Secret Shangai in a while- just been super busy. Probably not going to be as active on here just because I literally do not have the ability to be- but I'll hop on every so often and check in! Thank you to everyone doing their best to keep the fandom alive, I'll continue to try to contribute to that! <333

[jessread-s]

Thanks to @bookisherondale for lending me your ARC so that I could read it before pub date!

✩🏹💟Review:

I can confidently say that this is my FAVORITE Chloe Gong book.

“Foul Heart Huntsman” is the sequel to “Foul Lady Fortune” and follows Rosalind, Alisa, Celia, Oliver, Phoebe, and Silas as they try to rescue Orion from his mother after she wipes his memories.

The novel is told from 8 povs and I loved reading from every single one. While this number may seem intimidating at first, it was easy for me to alternate between them because each perspective seamlessly flows into the next, creating a cohesive story without any potholes or gaps. Additionally, I found each character and their respective character arc equally compelling. There’s never a dull moment when it comes to Gong’s storytelling. 

The romance in this book is everything I could have hoped for and then some! In my review of “Foul Lady Fortune,” I mentioned that I wanted to see more of Orion and Rosalind’s chemistry and boy does Gong deliver in this book. Their romantic connection deepens, when Rosalind lays her heart on the line at her most vulnerable to win Orion back. Their relationship development in this book is beautifully paced and is infused with emotion. Watching the two fall in love for the second time in combination with Celia and Oliver as well as Phoebe and Silas professing their own romantic feelings left me an emotional wreck, which just goes to show the hold this book has on me. 

I also loved the cameos made by Roma, Juliette, Benedikt, Marshall, and Lourens in this book. I am absolutely HERE for the Gongverse! I appreciate Gong allowing us to check up on them without having their characters dominate what is ultimately Rosalind and Orion’s story. 

Am I sad that “Foul Heart Huntsman” is the last book in the Secret Shanghai Universe? YES. I am devastated! These characters have been a constant in my life these past three years. At the same time, however, this book gave me closure and relief. I am content with how this series resolves and I am excited to see what Gong has in store for us next. 

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

@chloegong @rivetedbysimonteen

[typingwithmyhandstied]

My FLF Hunger Games AU ideas (this will contain spoilers for the Hunger Games)

I read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes this week, so the Hunger Games is on my mind again. If anyone wants to talk about it btw, feel free to send me asks. I am obsessed (trying to get back on the track of FLF though). Well, anyway, this is gonna be messy and unorganized rambling.

This all started with the idea in my head of having Orion and Rosalind take the place of Peeta and Katniss. The similarities go far. Orion ends up brainwashed, the "fake dating," the fact that they pretend to poision themselves when poision is Rosalind's weapon of choice. I could go on and on.

Then, I thought Rosalind would totally volunteer to take Celia's place in the Hunger Games if she was drawn. So, there would be the whole Katniss volunteering for Prim, but then, I thought I can't just have Orion's name be drawn. He isn't like Peeta who has no one who would take his place. I decided I was too uncertain about whether or not Silsa would try to volunteer instead of Orion, but I was certain that Orion would volunteer to go instead of Silas. This is really just the start of how I realized almost every character could be an equivalent of Prim (Celia, Silas, Phoebe).

I also spent a while debating the merits of two roles I could choose for Oliver. In the end, one became way too complicated to think about. I really wanted to make him Haymitch just for the joke of them both saying "sweetheart," BUT it is too complicated to have him be a past victor. Instead, I decided that the best would be Gale. Obviously, I am not going to make him infatuated with Rosalind like Gale was with Katniss. I am talking more about the overall characterization of Gale and the explosives. Plus, how Gale is with District 13 could be easily transferred to Oliver. Then there is the added bonus that I would have to have Oliver's explosions cause Phoebe's death like Gale's caused Prim's death--

Then comes the part I hate myself for, I would make Alisa take the role of Rue. It just fits too well for her in many ways (not in every way but still). It does make it so Roma and Juliette would probably never meet (I'm not sure what I would do with Benedikt and Marshall either). I also have no clue who I would make the Capitol because I want to say the White Flowers because of Dimitri Vornin, but that would cause too many problems. I don't know. I also don't know who would be District 13.

It says a lot about me that I love thinking about this idea. I will probably come back to this with even more ideas. I don't know what I would do with Silas, Celia, and Oliver in the end. I feel like I will come up with some way they would die (minus Celia maybe). I think it would be good if Oliver died trying to protect Orion because of guilt over causing Phoebe's death. I then feel like it would be kind of cruel to imagine Silas going on after that. I am also imagining the possibilty of Phoebe and Silas having started a relationship in District 13 because it felt too dangerous before that like they wouldn't survive and then Phoebe dying... I am so cruel. Why is it fun to think about my favorite characters suffering?

[jackstheprinceofhearts]

my review of "last violent call" by chloe gong

(side note from the future, i forgot to make part 2 and i will at some point but idk when 🧍‍♀️ i have been distracted lately so idk 😭😭😭 i'm sorryyyy)

spoiler warning for:

these violent delights duology

foul lady fortune

last violent call (obviously)

alright so let's talk about "a foul thing" first!

some things i found to be a bit odd:

why did they keep saying how worried they were about being recognized but kept their appearances pretty much the same (besides Juliette's long hair) Benedikt and marshall's hair is the same from what I remember, and their faces still look the same (they're obviously older) and all of this other stuff but I'll get to more of that when we talk about "this foul murder"

also, why tell pretty much everyone EXCEPT rosalind and alisa who are family?? like yes I get that they are trying to protect them but now rosalind is carrying this guilt for a super long time and that made me pretty sad 😭 I can't imagine the betrayal rosalind is gonna feel when she finds out celia didn't tell her. same with alisa, I bet she'll feel pretty bad that she didn't know.

but that's enough about that, for now, let's get on to stuff I liked :)

JIOGVFDRJIDOFFDVVDSFKJVFDSJMKOVDSFKI I LOVE ROMA SO MUCH HE'S SO SWEET AND KIND AND HIS BANTER WITH JULIETTE WAS SO FUNNY AND SATISFYING AND DIDN'T SEEM FORCED

sorry, i really needed to say that omfg they were so cute in the entire novella. rdbmbbb I just love them they are so precious to me 🙏🏼no ship will ever hit as good as they do (ofc evajacks because come on it's evajacks and they are my otp) I love the way chloe wrote them in this novella as well. they were still the old roma and juliette but you could tell how they'd matured and how everything had affected them in so many ways and just fdfdkvfdk,dvfl, i loved it, man, i live for fluff but MARRIED COUPLE FLUFF??? AFTER BEING ENEMIES??? HELL YEAH it was everything i wanted it to be and more fluff and romance-wise!!!

alright, now we need to talk about roma and juliette's death, and also the connections with foul lady fortune.

so it is said in the first chapter that this takes place in 1931, the same time as the beginning of foul lady fortune, shown here in these two pictures

(top is a foul thing and the bottom is foul lady fortune)

so as you can see they start at the same time. so the start of "a foul thing" takes place while rosalind is on the train in the first chapter after the prologue. i found this to be interesting since i thought "foul lady fortune" was spread out for months but at the end of flf (foul lady fortune) Rosalind receives this letter:

and at the end of afl (a foul thing), we get a page of juliette writing that same letter.

(also side note but i really appreciate this, isn't it so nice how chloe gong managed to tie both books together SO WELL in only 117 pages???)

So because of this, I found the timeline confusing because this takes place in September in afl BUT it seemed like way more than a month in flf?? if anyone has answers on why this is or corrections for the timeline, please comment them cause this confused me quite a bit.

this might've been just me but i also think I missed a lot of important information and how flf connects to the novellas because I am really REALLY bad with names 😥 I am trying my best guys ok 😭

i also liked the introduction of new characters in this and also how much chloe was able to get done within 117 pages like god damn, she got a lot done writing this. new characters and a new plot, answers to roma and juliette's death??? angst??? fluff??? it was all there and did not disappoint.

also, i would like to say that I KNEW it was very likely they couldn't be dead because there was no body, no leftovers, no nothing. like yes i know they were supposed to be exploded or whatever but even in explosions there's gonna be uhh leftover flesh 👁

anyways, let's move on to my favorite quotes and then we can talk about "this foul murder"

alright here are the pictures i have >:)

uh oh, i have come to the startling realization that I can't add any more images 😭 and I need to send some pictures to talk about "this foul murder" and the rest of the quotes... alright I guess I'm gonna have to add a part 2 to this post 😭

let me close this by saying that "a foul thing" was so amazing and up there in my favorite books definitely!!! more authors need to write novellas taking place after the couple is together, it just hits different. but overall for this first part of "last violent call"?? 5/5 stars!!!

[therubyreader]

My Review of Last Violent Call by Chloe Gong

See a full list of my book reviews here

Review word count: 1,202

Spoiler warning for the entire Secret Shanghai Series (These Violent Delights, Our Violent Ends, and Foul Lady Fortune) below. If you haven't read all of those books please don't read this review.

I know I said I was going to get this review out last week but I’m going to be honest with you all and tell you I was in a writing slump. I knew what I wanted to say but I couldn’t find the motivation to sit down and just type out my review. But I’m here now, maybe I’m writing this instead of paying attention to a work meeting, maybe I’m not, who knows?

Usually I’m a library girlie (virtual library beloved) but this book I actually preordered on Apple books because I’m impatient and needed it in my hands as soon as the clock struck midnight. And because of that same impatience I finished the book in a day. I was so excited to see how both Roma and Juliette and also Benedikt and Marshall were doing four years after the end of Our Violent Ends. It made me happy to see both couples were alive and thriving and also living happily as married couples. I really liked the fact that these stories were both directly tied to the plot of the next book which is something that doesn’t usually happen in stories like this, partially because they are usually released after the series is over but also it gives the fans a bit of closure. What Chloe Gong has done is taken that concept and managed to weave these stories back into the main plot. I think this is a great use of this type of epilogue, not only do we get two cute and happy stories but it also bridges the gap between Our Violent Ends and Foul Lady Fortune and unlike other types of epilogues which are completely optional to read this one is essential to the plot of Foul Heart Huntsman. I do think because of the nature of the book being considered as Foul Lady Fortune 1.5 there are going to be people who don’t read the book when reading through the series for the first time which is unfortunate because there is a huge plot point there of Roma and Juliette being alive (and also other stuff that directly impacts the plot of FLF and FHH but mostly Romajuliette are alive) and what they and Benmars have been doing in direct relation to the events of FLL. 

Speaking of, making it so that the Roma and Juliette casually come across a couple that are able to directly help out her cousin is something that would happen to them in universe even if it is just a blatant way to connect both of their stories. It also gives us a bit more of a look into what is happening behind the scenes of the main plot and once again making Laurens, everyone’s favorite scientist, the direct cause of everyone’s problems. It does feel a little bit of a full circle moment that the gang getting back together in this book to try and help Rosalind, and also the whole of China, is based on them wanting to keep their families together when in the first series they were all fighting against each other for their own interests. They are now all one big happy family and though I don’t remember any of the White Flowers (except Dmitri but whatever) explicitly being close with Rosalind or Celia the union between Roma and Juliette has essentially brought them together and now they are loyal to each other in a way that warms my heart. 

Taking a sharp turn into my next point which is the fact that Roma and Juliette are alive! There was tons of speculation that they were alive after the end of Our Violent Ends especially because their bodies were never recovered and Juliette has an affinity for faking deaths but we finally get confirmation of the fact that they’re alive and how. We do get a bit of a hint alluding to them being alive in the form of Alisa mentioning that her bills are always paid in FLL but she brushes it off as someone who was once loyal to her father helping her out. It is pretty sad that the only people who didn’t know that Roma and Juliette were alive are Alisa and Rosalind, the two people who are hurting the most because of their ���death”. We see in the entirety of FLL that Rosalind blames herself for Juliette’s death and still carries that grief with her and I’m very excited to see how she reacts to finding out her cousin is alive. I think there will be some sense of betrayal since quite literally everyone besides Rosalind and Alisa knows that Roma and Juliette are alive, I mean I would be upset, but I’m more excited to see their reunion.

Moving back onto the plot of the book, I absolutely loved seeing how domestic both couples are once they are finally free of the gang life. Though as Benedikt pointed out, the fact that Roma and Juliette are still involved in an illegal business is something that is very reminiscent of them being the heirs of the two biggest gangs in Shanghai. I think it's adorable that Benedikt and Marshall run an art school out of their apartment and that’s how they make their living and I honestly wish we had more of that in the book just for my own personal enjoyment. Just imagining how both of them would interact with the children warms my heart and if any of you have written a headcanon about it please let me know because I would love to read it. I honestly loved their dynamic because we didn’t really get to see them be a couple in the original series since they spent most of it in denial, it was amazing to finally see them be together as husbands! Though I know because of the time period the story is written in there are complications with writing an openly gay couple and also managing to remain historically accurate since homosexuality was publicly frowned upon, and very illegal until embarrassingly recently and even now queer people face tons of discrimination. I do think Chloe Gong found a way to make the couple accurate to the time period and themselves, they are able to be in love and also remain safe which is something a lot of queer people of the time period didn’t have the luxury of. 

After reading this book I am even more excited to read Foul Heart Huntsman and see all of the lovely cast of characters have a reunion to save the world and each other. Though I am upset because this is supposed to be the last book in the series, it is a very bitter sweet moment and luckily we were promised a happy ending so I am looking forward to it. I also hope that we get another book like Last Violent Call after the end of the series so we can see how everyone is doing and get a cute story with them after the events of the series. I will remain hyped until September when I will inevitably read Foul Heart Huntsman in a day because I have no self control. 

[thetypedwriter]

Our Violent Ends Book Review

Our Violent Ends Book Review by Chloe Gong 

Well, this book is certainly aptly named. Our Violent Ends is the sequel to the popular and innovative These Violent Delights, a 1920s rendition of Romeo and Juliet set in Shanghai. 

Our Violent Ends marks the conclusion of the successful duology, an end I actually didn’t see coming as the YA genre is so bereft of duologies that genuinely the only one I can think of off the top of my head, is Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows. 

I actually don’t think I’ve read a duology since then, so that makes my opinion of Gong’s novels go up slightly. Just a bit. 

Our Violent Ends picks up quite quickly after These Violent Delights concludes and gets the ball rolling right away. Where I found the first book innovative, inclusive, historical, and interesting, the second book I actually found to be a little…lackluster. At least at the beginning. 

Maybe this is just me, but I found the start of Our Violent Ends to be really boring. This was mainly due to it feeling very repetitive. Roma and Juliette are pretending to hate each other when they actually love each other, the White Flower gang and the Scarlet gang are in a blood feud, and there are mythical monsters come to life and dangerously roaming the streets amongst a pandemonium of political and social upheaval with the Communists, the Nationalists, and the foreign imperialists. 

This has the exact same origins as These Violent Delights. 

I found it extremely unvaried from the first book. Almost the exact same circumstances are happening all over again. Roma and Juliette have to team up to try and take down the monsters, but don’t have any information or any leads, Benedikt and Marshall have feelings but don’t want to admit it, Rosalind is unimportant, Kathleen feels out of place unless she’s at a Communist meeting, and Alisa is plot fodder. 

Frankly, the book isn’t interesting until maybe the last third because that’s when something new starts occurring. 

Additionally, the whole Marshall-Seo-Being-Dead-is-a-secret-shhhhh is preposterous to me. I didn’t see any reason for him to be locked up for so long or to keep it from Roma and Benedikt in any kind of way that made logical sense. 

I understand it’s to build tension in the book, but I found the reasons for his captivity and secrecy flimsy at best which is aggravating, especially as when his secret does come out, it doesn’t even really seem to matter in the first place. 

The last third of the book is good. In J.K. Rowling-esque plot twist style, revelation after revelation occur chapter after chapter, while at the same time massacres, revolutions, and protests are happening in succession. The last couple of chapters are action-packed, fast, and punch hard. 

It redeemed the book slightly for me, but the bulk of the book still stained my memory with its repetitive nature and unimportant scenes. In the first book, I genuinely liked all of the side characters. In this installment, I still liked them, but I found their motivations lacking and their stories not as interesting. 

In terms of the true ending of the novel, read on at your own risk as I will be spoiling details. 

The fact that Marshall’s father is General Shu is amazing, the fact that Kathleen becomes Celia is good, Rosalind joining the Nationalists doesn’t make any kind of sense to me, but it is dramatic, so okay, Marshall and Benedikt escaping the city is good, Dimitri being in charge of the monsters is exciting, and Juliette and Roma dying is excellent. 

Too often in YA, authors are afraid to kill off main characters. The fact that both Juliette and Roma die is actually a satisfying ending in terms of paying homage to the original Shakespeare play, the book itself with all of Roma’s talk of finding Juliette’s soul even in death, and their sacrifice to protect the city they both love and hate. 

It sounds callous to say, but I kind of loathe that the last page hints that Alisa sees them on a boat and that their bodies are never found, indicating that Roma and Juliette survive and are off just…living their life and kissing on a fishing boat?

 I get that it’s supposed to be ambiguous and hopeful, but I actually would have preferred a more clear cut understanding that they both agreed to die and they did it together. 

Also, the fact that Alisa ends the book, arguably the most useless and unimportant character, is slightly annoying to me, although the fact that she’s now a Communist spy with Celia is an interesting twist. 

I’ve mainly been very critical of this book and while I still enjoyed it and while the ending exploded with a bang, the whole first two-thirds are bulky and uninteresting to me.

 I still enjoy the characters and the historical background, but I wanted something a little more different and challenging than a rinse-and-repeat of the first book but instead of one monster, now there’s five. Wow. So crazy. 

Frankly, the monsters are so insignificant in this book I’m not even sure why they’re still around. 

Lastly, I’m genuinely surprised by the violence and brutality of this book. For YA I was actually a little shocked by how graphic some of the scenes were depicted. It’s even more ruthless when you consider that a lot of the scenes Gong writes about are actual historical events that took place, like the White Terror. 

I personally didn’t mind all the violence, but I can see how it could be upsetting to some people who weren’t expecting it. 

Overall, this was an enjoyable duology. I do think Gong could have done something a little more different and intriguing for the first portion of the book, but the ending is satisfying and the series as a whole is a wild adventure riding both the coattails of history and William Shakespeare. 

Recommendation: Yeah, read it. I guess. For completion’s sake, definitely read it. The book has merit and the ending is one doozy after another which makes it entertaining and levels the series off on a good note. If you can get past the clunky beginning, the pay-off at the end will be worth it and the dramatic showdown of the star-crossed lovers will stick close to your heart for a long time to come.

 Or, at least until Gong’s next novel. Taylor Swift’s Love Story will never sound the same again. 

Score: 6/10

[cto10121]

Our Violent Ends (2021)—Review Part 3 + Conclusion

In which I finally get the Shanghainese politics straight, Kathleen becomes Celia out of nowhere, the Capulets Capulet too late, Roma and Juliette finally R&J nicely, Marshall/Benedikt are still not fully shippable, and Gong has the ovaries for a spectacular, apropos…perhaps not entirely earned ending. Spoilers, of course

“We listened to the modern age and never thought to control what you do,” Lord Cai said then, finally choosing to speak. His words were a low rumble that gave everything in the room a telltale tremor. “I see that it was our mistake.” (452)

A mistake their (frankly dumber) Shakespearean counterparts at least never made. I know why Gong decided against the whole sheltered!Juliet context of the original—namely because Strong Female Protagonists(tm) aka Macho Girl Jerks are now requisite in YA regardless if they are truly needed—but you lose a lot of what made the tragedy of the original work if Juliet is allowed to do whatever tf she wants and the parents get a case of Disappearing YA Parents syndrome. You also lose a good chance to criticize the male chauvinism and machismo that fuels and that is the basis for the violence.

Juliette choked out a laugh. “Do you think any of this would have turned out better if you had kept me trapped in the house? Do you think I would have never learned defiance if you had kept me in Shanghai all these years, educated only by Chinese scholars and their ancient teachings?” […] “I would have ended up the same. We are all held up on the city’s strings, and perhaps you should first ask why we have a blood feud before asking why I defied it!” (452)

Aaaaaaaand Juliette’s being educated in the States in the context of a critique on Western imperialism of a Chinese city still continues to bother me. I mean, Juliette can make it, sure. Perhaps she’s in a better position to make it, what with her knowing two cultures. But this Juliette carping on the white guys coming in and trying to buy the city while acting like the typical American brat just undermines the critique to me. Juliette herself never is self-aware about the advantages or the disadvantages of her own multiculturalism.

“Ask her. Ask Juliette what she did to Tyler.”

Utter silence descended on the room…Suddenly his refusal to bring her in on Scarlet planning made sense. Shutting her out of the Nationalist meetings made sense. How long had her father known? How long had he known she was a traitor and kept her here anyway, let her pretend that everything was normal? (455)

Beats me, too. How did they pass off Juliette’s murder of Tyler? Either I must have missed the conversation or Gong just decided to gloss over the cover up.

“Why must we remain enemies with the Montagovs when nobody remembers why?”

And yet wasn’t that the root of all hatred? Wasn’t that what made it so vicious?

There was never a reason. Never a good one. Never a fair one. (457).

Gong gets that right, at least.

The footsteps faded entirely. Only then did Juliette crumple into a ball, squeezing herself as small as she could upon the carpet, and let herself cry, let herself rage and scream into her hands. For the city, for the dead, for the blood that ran in rivers on the streets. For this cursed family, for her cousins.

For Roma. (457-458)

Per Roma, salve Roma, ciao Roma…*puts on sunglasses* Arrivederci Roma?

Let her drop an explosive to her bedroom floor, and it would send down a direct blast, strike all the people in the living room. Juliette felt a rush of loathing take root in her. She condemned the city for its hate. She condemned her parents, her gangs…But she was equally terrible. (460).

The first step is always acceptance. Seriously, though, WTF? She’d be condemning herself to death as well! And without Roma! Why must Juliette be the one to continuously lose braincells in these damn YA adaptations?

“I ruined us all for a love not true,” Rosalind whispered. “At the very least, I can still save you.” (472)

And now out of nowhere Rosalind regrets her liaison with Dimitri, the one who spread the monster virus (?). When did this even happen?

Juliette had wanted to be selfish, had wanted to run. But this was their love—violent and bloody. This city was their love. They couldn’t deny their upbringing as the heirs of Shanghai, as two pieces of a throne. What was left of their love if they rejected that? How could they live with themselves, look at each other, knowing they had been presented a choice and gone against who they were at their core? (484).

Dude. No. Run! Definitely run! This Shanghai makes RésJ!Verona look like a kindergarten sandbox fight! You two are sophisticated hot wealthy multilingual scions, and half of you already knows about life elsewhere! Come up with some contrivance in which you have to stay in the city, sure, but don’t give me this “Gosh darn it, I love this hellhole” crap. The original R&J may have decided to separate, but then Shakespeare!Verona was nowhere near as crappy. And when push came to shove re: Paris, Juliet accepted the necessity of fleeing with Romeo.

With her other hand, Juliette flipped open the lighter. She met Roma’s eyes, asked him in silence one last time if they were truly to do this. He showed no fear. He was gazing at her as one would gaze out into the sea, like she was this vast, momentous wonder that he was glad simply to bear witness upon. (486).

Don’t mind me, just basking in this novel’s (1) braincell about Roma’s love for Juliette. Ahhh, so good.

Behind them, with gasoline drenched into every square inch of the pavement, the explosion rang so loud and hot that all of Shanghai rocked with the blow. (487).

GONG FUCKING DID IT, Y’All. SHE WENT THERE. WHAT OVARIES OF STEEL. 100,000 POINTS TO FUCKING GRYFFINDOR.

That said. In a way, isn’t it a little unearned? This R&J has been growling fuck-you enemies for half the book and dewy-eyed let’s-pinkie-swear-and-get-“married” for the last quarter. If R&J had spent more time struggling to be together and less time on misunderstandings that get resolved quickly anyway, it may have been worth it. Also, if Gong had not decided to gumbo-soup the novel with, what, 2 other star-crossed couples, wishy-washy politics, and magic realist BS.

There will be hatred. There will be war. The country will fight itself to pieces. It will starve its people, ravage its land, poison its breath. Shanghai will fall and break and cry. But alongside everything, there has to be love—eternal, undying, enduring. Burn through vengeance and terror and warfare. Burn through everything that fuels the human heart and sears it red, burn through everything that covers the outside with hard muscle and tough sinew. Cut down deep and grab what beats beneath, and it is love that will survive after everything else has perished. (494).

Well-worded (except for the “and cry” bit. “Weep” would have been a more dignified word choice) and almost apropos if she hadn’t killed of her R&J. Love did not survive in that sense.

But with that, our tale ends! Arrivederci Roma…and Juliette.

BONUS: Gong included a little story on Marshall/Benedikt for the B&N edition. I decided to go ahead and review that too.

“I saw Roma leave only earlier,” Marshall said. “Right out into the rain without a care in the world.”

“Roma is a lost cause when it comes to making sensible decisions,” Benedikt countered. (504).

Oh, no, you don’t, Benedikt “Screw my reasonable pacifist Shakespearean counterpart, I go pew pew too” Montagov! Roma does have some one-braincell moments, mostly when he thinks Juliette killed Marshall and when she pretended to be dead, but oddly enough, they actually feel OOC for him…which actually would make him in-character with Shakespeare!Romeo? Ugh, it’s weird.

“If anyone asks”—Marshall’s eyes flickered to meet his—“I did it. I beat them up.”

“What? It’s fine—”

“No, it’s not. You are a Montagov. Keep your unruffled reputation. Let me be the fighting fists, let me be the one that does your dirty work.” (521)

Aaaaaaaaand once again the Benvolio analogue is the one portrayed as secretly trigger-happy violent while the Mercutio analogue gets all the sweet, easygoing charm. Kill this with fire.

Conclusion

Review also available here, if cleaned up.

Like most sequels, this is pretty much a copy of the first book. You get an initially enemies-to-lovers R&J with UST who have to work together against a bigger threat and then they stay overnight at a brothel (they don’t do anything this time, though), political factions and alliances shift and change and fuck the city up, and magic realist monsters pop up to wreak havoc. The only difference is that this time the minor characters are less two-dimensional ciphers, Marshall/Benedikt is developed better (but still mega forced), and I can finally tell the difference between Rosalind and Kathleen/Celia a tiny bit more than the first book. R&J’s dynamic is also better portrayed once they get out of their YA UST rut. I finally understand in this book that the Scarlets are meant to be aligned with the Nationalists and the White Flowers with the Communists.

That said, as a retelling it can’t help but feel unsatisfying. Juliette has typical YA Strong Female Protagonist Syndrome out the wazoo and while Roma finally gets his Shakespearean backbone in the sequel, he is still more auxiliary than equal partner to Juliette. The Shanghaiese politics continue to be wishy-washy and riddling, and the magic realist monster thing? Should never have happened. As Gong’s hypothetical editor, I would have put that first on the list to go. Another would have been a choice between the gang warfare angle or Nationalist/Communist/Western imperialist power struggle angle as the feud. But both is way too much.

As it is, Gong’s novel becomes a gumbo soup of too many ideas, too many plots, period. Two star-crossed lovers would have been quite enough, with Marshall/Benedikt forming the B plot, but there really should only have been one. Marshall/Benedikt are different enough from their Shakespearean counterparts to make a romance plausible, thank goodness, but their riddling, hazy characterization makes it really hard to be invested in. R&J suffer from contradictory characterization and start-and-stop development as well, with a couple of nicely written insightful lines.

Above all, though, this series is mired by the truly relentless and unearned thematic link between love and violence Gong establishes early on. R&J’s love really has nothing to do with the feud, but here Gong blends the lines like a sexually frustrated Catholic Tomist. One of my pet peeves is linking (consensual, requited) eros and violence, and I am not impressed. At least Hungarian RetJ had Rómeó and Júlia in their happy little world that did not really touch on the feud. At least WSS’s Tony and Maria were distant from that mess, with only ex-gangster Tony getting roped in. Here R&J are very much active participants in the very thing that makes them impossible to get together. Hence the vacillating they-are-my-enemy-no-they are-my-love wangst. For almost 500 pages. -.- No. Just no.

(Also. The whole everyone-knows-about-R&J thing is really done better in the French musical. Here it just sucks out all the tension and secrecy and mystery out of the relationship, as well as leaving major plot holes. How the hell can the Cais and Montagovs not know about R&J already what with Juliette failing to kill Roma and killing Tyler instead? It’s a Presgurvic-only thing, I guess.)

In sum, I suppose this is what you get when you try to fit an R&J-shaped story in a YA enemies-to-lovers peg. A mess, but an entertaining one. I’ll just stick to my Shakespearean nyases.

[no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist]

Underrated scenes from each ss book

These aren't all scenes and I think the flf section just turned into a highlight reel of things i love about flf but here.

TVD

The scene where Roma picks up tiny Alisa because she was climbing inside of his walls and she's like hey don't rip my shirt it's new :( when her shirt his very obviously extremely old.

Not a scene but just the fact that the White Flower's used to have a golden retriever named Tsarina.

Idk if it's underrated exactly but that scene where Rosalind waits for Juliette in her room for three hours to tell her about the monster attack hits me like a truck every time I remember it.

"What is a Montague? It sounds Italian."

The scene where Benedikt holds Tyler at gunpoint after he threatens Marshall because he knows Marshall wouldn't have had the impulse control to not shoot

Roma beating the shit out of Dimitri

Celia coming up with her fake backstory for a Communist meeting and saying, "My mother is dead. My father is dead to me."

Juliette calling Roma a "wet blanket"

Juliette taking responsibility for Celia when she accidentally knocked Amethyst out

OVE

Juliette Cai says healthcare for all

Alisa being mad at Roma because he hasn't taught her how to catch a knife

Marshall styling Juliette's hair

Juliette making fun of newsboy cap guy

The Marshall flashback to when he met Benedikt

Roma and Juliette getting tailed by the the French White Flower guy who ends up being one of the monsters and Roma saying idk maybe he thinks I'm hotter than you when Juliette asks him why the guy looks like he wants to kill Roma

Benedikt knocking Roma out before trying to kill Juliette because holy shit

When Alisa realizes that Roma agreed to a duel to get her back

When Rosalind had Roma at gunpoint

"I would rather the two of you not burn the world down each time you choose each other."

The paragraphs where Celia starts really being Celia are just so,,,

Somehow I forgot that Alisa was already officially a Communist spy in the OVE epilogue?

fhh spoilers

FLF

Celia forcing Rosalind out of bed to go to Lourens when she wanted to die

Orion calling Dao Feng "Old Man"

Rosalind immediately making tranquilizers right when Orion moves in because she doesn't want to put up with his shit

Silas writing and publishing a fucking op-ed at 14 immediately after getting home from London (iconic)

The implication that Silas has tried to confess to Phoebe before which I call bullshit on.

Not a scene but when Orion shows back up in the morning before their first day at Seagreen, I am convinced that the red stuff on his neck was blood not lipstick.

I NEED TO KNOW IF JIEMIN'S CROSS WAS A SIGN OF ALLEGIANCE TO PRIEST?????

"Who's stealing Silas from you? You're the notorious boyfriend stealer not me." because what exactly are we implying help-

Rosalind remembering hearing Silas's parents brag about him

Phoebe "spying" on Seagreen while she has Silas wait in the car

Lao Lao instantly adopting Orion

I think a lot of the olivercelia stuff in flf is a bit underrated because a lot of us were too busy being haters for a while but the necklace knife scene!

"My little ego can always stand being snapped at by you, sweetheart."

Oliver being really really freaked out in the warehouse hit different now that we have more context ughhhh

Orion thinking that his dad might have done something to his mom. What the fuck. And also being in that house with them alone for years jesus christ

Alisa covering her walls in drawings from Benedikt

Rosalind killing Zilin

Silas taking on Orion's assignments when his headaches were really bad

The fact that Lord and Lady Hong probably knew that Oliver was onto something when Orion told Lord Hong about Oliver breaking in

The cards that Zilin had in his pocket were a spade and a diamond (spade = aroace and diamond = demi)

Rosalind and Orion's argument after the Peach Lily Palace incident

Celia being like stfu Oliver (i like telling him what to do. teehee. aNYWAY)

Ik the nation over everything quote gets talked about a lot but I think people seem to forget how pissed Celia was after he said that. Because "You're so damn selfish. Have you ever stopped to consider that I value your life just as much? If you want to protect me, don't you think that I want to protect you, too?" And then the way that Oliver is absolutely baffled by this. Ack.

Rosalind flinching when Orion pretended to kiss her forehead towards the start of flf vs her casually noting it when he actually kissed her temple midway through flf

Alisa casually having Russian classic literature at her desk despite the fact that she probably stopped receiving formal school at about 13. Slay queen.

The domestic spat. I don't think we've talked about it in a bit I'm so disappointed in us.

Alisa seeing Rosalind and Dimitri together and never saying anything about it

Silas immediately hanging up when Lord Hong picked up when he was trying to call Phoebe

Also who were Gray and Archer??? I thought they were going to be important but oh well

"She doesn't bite." "Yes, I do." like geez ok Rosalind thank you for sharing

"Phoebe walked a small circle around the hospital corridor. Silas, his eyes tracking her absently, stood with his chin propped in one palm." Yeah ok.

Then the scene after Orion sees Rosalind's scars where they're both lying on her bed together and talk for a little bit. I don't know if it's underrated exactly, but I have a very clear image of it in my mind and it is very parallely and nice I like this scene

Alisa drinking orange juice out of a coffee mug. Why? Because.

Tiny detail but Orion telling Phoebe to stop answering the phone in English because he's afraid of gossip

Phoebe immediately going DO I GET TO SEDUCE PRETTY WOMAN???? when Orion tells her he needs her help and him being absolutely exhausted by her

"You warn me for control." "I don't need your warning." I want to kiss Rosalind on the mouth.

Ok sorry but I do not interpret the scene where Orion steals the Frenchwoman's necklace as him flirting with her I think he just put on a really exaggerated twink voice because it's funnier that way

Silas knocking out a guard by holding a cloth with sedatives to his face when he and Phoebe broke Alisa out of jail.

Also just Silas trying to signal to Alisa that he's totally definitely a double agent in the process of betraying everyone because Alisa knows that he's aligned with the Communists somehow while Phoebe is Priest is so insane.

Silas fixing Phoebe's hair then Phoebe noticing that he shifted maybe half and inch away from her going hmm no that's not allowed and shifting closer to him. Especially since there's not very much emotion in her internal monologue in flf since you're not really getting her pov you're just getting a front.

"Are you keeping any other secrets from me, Janie Mead?" "One. But I don't want to tell you yet."

Orion faking a nosebleed

"His proximity was supposed to be some sort of tactic to make her flustered, she guessed, but she was only concentrating on the fact that Orion had missed a sport right by his jaw." Rosalind you absolute genius (I am so obsessed with her)

Phoebe entering Silas's house then immediately going hihihihihihi pay attention to meeeeeeeeeee without telling him that she was planning on coming over

Probably not underrated but. "Phoebe's scowl was immediate, taken aback as to who was in his bedroom, but she realized seconds later that the voice was too grainy and distant to be a visitor." Just something about Phoebe not recognizing it as her own voice and being jealous of a part of herself that she doesn't really recognize as herself is just. so. ahhhh.

aDmIrAtIoN

Not underrated but. The scene where Rosalind is like. Orion put his head on my lap to annoy me. His hair looks dumb. I am going to yoink it. To bother him. Then just. Starts playing with his hair.

A random guy selling flowers seeing a boy and a girl in a car together and thinking ah yes. customers. then fearing for his life and running away after watching phoebe yoink Silas out of his car

Phoebe conning Silas into thinking she wanted him to drive her around so she could observe architecture. Damn he is easy to trick

"'Can't I convince you to partake in a different outing instead?' Silas pleaded. 'I'll buy you cake. Or pastries? You like pastries.' 'No! We have to do this.' Phoebe separated her clasped hands, clutching at her skirts instead. 'Do you want to watch me beg?' 'pHOEBE-' 'So help me, I'll get on my knees right in the middle of the street, and then you will have to answer for my virtue-' 'Fine, fine,' Silas hurried to say, unable to withstand her theatrics. There were two red blots deepening on his cheeks." .......................ok.

Alisa purposely freaking Silas out by telling him that he has to handle the explosives. Then they end up being firecrackers she bought from a middle schooler.

Phoebe making the 🥺🥺🥺 face and Silas covering her eyes

Alisa faking a middle aged man voice

Rosalind looking at Orion and being like hmm he's really pretty it kind of looks like he's wearing mascara. Anyway.

To be continued because I'm hitting the word limit oops

[romajuliettemai]

More Secret Shanghai Incorrect Quotes! (Some of these take place in a past timeline and were edited by me- word wise or name wise)

Alisa: I can’t believe my birth certificate says F... Alisa: ...How did I fail being born?

Rosalind: Stop setting things on fire because you're curious about what will happen. What will happen is fire. 

Juliette: But what if something else happens just this one time.

Alisa, watching Oliver and Orion fight: Are you sure they should be fighting? What if they get hurt? Juliette, not bothered by the chaos: It’s fine. They’re too evenly matched to hurt each other. Alisa: Then... who’s the strongest out of you three? Oliver: Juliette. Orion: Juliette. Juliette: Me.

Roma: Pick a card, any card. Alisa: Fine. Roma: Wait, that's my credit card! Alisa: You said any card.

Alisa: The clock is ticking! We don't have time for this asinine tomfoolery! 

Orion: This unmitigated poppycock? 

Marshall: Extravagant hogwash! 

Katherina: Okay, stop.

Celia: How did you used to sleep at night knowing people didn’t like you? Oliver: With the fan on.

Katherina, acting tough: You guys don't want to mess with me. Oliver: Yeah, Katherina will straight up cry in public. Don't try her. Katherina: Exactly, I will straight up- Katherina: Katherina, tearing up: Oliver, why would you say that?!

Roma: Did you miss me while I was gone? Benedikt: You were gone?

Orion: I'm not that stupid! Roma: Orion, you literally ate the wax from a babybel. Orion: ROSALIND TOLD ME IT WAS EDIBLE!

Alisa, to Oliver: If you can ever manage to get over yourself, I would highly recommend being me.

Juliette: Sorry I’m late, I was doing things. Roma: Hi, I’m ‘things’.

Rosalind : Why would I flip my shit about that? Alisa: Because you flip your shit about everything. Rosalind : Well, will you look at this. Here is my shit, and yet it remains unflipped. Just sitting there on the skillet, getting burned on one side. It’s a miracle.

Oliver: Do you always have to attack me with your words? Rosalind: Would you prefer me to use a brick?

Bailiff: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Oliver: No.

Orion: I intend to stay pissed at you forever. Orion: Even if I seem helpful. Oliver: Then you're in luck. Oliver: Because you don't.

Oliver: You know, you were right. Orion: About what specifically? Because I’m right about a lot of things.

Alisa: What scares you guys the most? Rosalind : Fear is just a construct. Oliver: The unstoppable marching of time that is slowly guiding us all towards an inevitable death. Orion: Orion: Roma.

[romajuliettemai]

Is there any chance you'll share what you've written as possible ways things in FHH could play out? I'm curious to see if that's something you'd do. No pressure if it's not.

I'll post it now! It's not really perfect at all (considering I wrote this late at night a few months ago from like 11PM - 2AM so it was pretty sleep deprived effort.) It's also not super complete- more of an outline. I'd like to suggest it might take more of a pov from Juliette, since she's the pov we follow in a the first duology, and I sync into it easier and automatically. The ending is kind of unfinished- I just stopped after a confession- and it's a lot of chaos, but enjoy!

START

“Okay, how about we sit down and talk like civilized people- without shouting.” 

Juliette stated, leading a shaking Rosalind over to the couch with Alisa close on her heels, plopping down casually beside her. 

Celia, meanwhile, directed Oliver over the couch opposite the one Alisa and Rosalind were sitting on, propping both of them down gently.  

Roma entered the kitchen briefly and then came back to the living room with a tray of bread and tea to put on the table. He then moved back and opted to stay by the doorframe leading to the kitchen. 

Juliette was glad to join him in both his confusion and area. 

Marshall meanwhile leaned against a wall with Benedikt by his side. 

“So…would anyone like to start of with a question?” 

She prompted, hoping someone would begin. 

A beat of silence passed before a soft voice filled the void. 

“I guess I can.” 

Celia decided. 

“Alisa,” 

She started, facing the blonde girl, who had helped herself to a piece of bread. 

She seemed to be the only one who was calm in this situation, easily lounging on the coach and casually nibbling on the bread bit by bit. 

She was casual even while all eyes were on her. 

“My question is why you ran away and off the grid after you came to where Oliver and I were staying.” 

Celia’s words were careful, speaking as though she were trying not to incite anything to break Alisa’s coolness, though she knew that Alisa was just naturally like that and never really had a temper. 

Alisa simply shrugged, turning the small bread chunk in her hand over in her fingers and examining it carefully. 

“Well, I was told only to trust the vial with you- the vial with the last dose of whatever that chemical thing was that’s controlling Orion,” 

Rosalind tensed just at the thought of Orion. 

“The rest were destroyed. So, I brought it to you, but he was there. Hence, me not trusting him to know that I gave it to you and leaving.” 

She then popped the small bread chunk into her mouth and chewed. 

“But why? If you can trust me, you can trust Oliver.” 

Celia told her gently. 

Alisa swallowed and dusted her hands off, letting silence ring for a few beats. 

“Just because you can trust him doesn’t mean I can. I don’t know him. Well…I know some things about him, being that I am a communist agent too. The whole formidable cold act he puts on which is a complete sham-“ 

Oliver looked like he was going to argue, but Celia slapped his wrist to stop him, not taking her eyes off Alisa. 

Roma meanwhile was holding back a snort  

“-yeah I know about all of that,” 

Alisa continued. 

“But I also know that he knew about Warehouse 34 and chose not to act on it.” 

The part of the room that didn’t know about this all inhaled a quick, sharp breath. 

Rosalind startled, shocked by this, but quickly became consumed with anger. 

Her shaking was no longer in shock over her cousin’s resurrection, but now over the fact that he knew. 

“I suppose it’s unfair to say that he should have known, but nonetheless, he should have acted. He might not have known his brother was involved, but he knew his mom was up to something shady. He could have done something. And besides, I was not going to hand this vial off like it was simply nothing. The communists want it, the nationalists want it. I am not handing this to either one to create another divide in the city, because we all know divides and what they do.” 

At that, there seemed to be a sort of temporary mollification between everyone, with either thinking about the blood feud or, in Oliver’s case, that family divide between allegiances. 

Juliette reached for her husband’s hand, grateful to have something to prove that the future they now lead was real. Roma took her hand in his easily and gratefully too, like his thoughts were on the same topic. 

But Alisa was not done talking. 

“Two sides want it, and two sides will war and fight. There will be bloodshed over something that should be used to correct this problem for the good of humanity, not the good of politics. So many people have sacrificed things to find the good in the city,” 

She gestured to Roma and Juliette. 

“And I was not going to let that sacrifice go to waste. On top of all of that, what strikes me as horrible, is just the fact that Oliver knew of his mother’s work, and yet he chose to let her play it out. Whether that was just to not involve himself in that matter, that was his choice. But it was not a good one in the end. When you knew there was some shady business going on, why didn’t you investigate that? When all signs were pointing there, why didn’t you investigate it? He’s your brother.” 

Alisa knew it was unfair anger, but she was still upset, nonetheless. Her voice had even risen a little, which was the casual girl they all knew. 

Roma startled a bit, and he noticed Benedikt and Marshall recoil a bit too. 

Rosalind’s anger returned in a heavy wave, having been temporarily mollified with regret that flooded through her veins endlessly. 

It came back so thick that all she could see was red. 

Her pulse pounded in her ears and her forehead began to heat. 

She gritted her teeth, trying to rein herself in, but something about the topic of Orion being gone always made her angry. 

She bit down on her tongue so hard that skin broke almost instantaneously, the metallic taste of blood flooding into her mouth, but not quite cooling in the way one would hope. 

Instead, it fueled her white-hot fury more. 

Unable to control herself, she lunged at Oliver. 

“You bastard!” 

She spat, bringing her hands up. 

“Woah! What-“ 

He shouted. 

She wasn’t quite sure what her intent was, but before she could even do anything, Celia caught her arms in mid motion before they could potentially land a punch or wrap around his neck, which served him right at the moment. 

“Rosalind,” 

Her tone was full of warning, sharp and stern. 

But Rosalind didn’t reel back. 

Juliette did jump a little though, since she had never heard her dear cousin saying or being anything related to stern or sharp. 

Rosalind didn’t fight the grip, letting Celia hold her before she could do anything more that she would regret. 

“You absolute bastard.” 

She said again, her tone full of outrage, disgust, and horror. 

But mostly outrage. 

Oliver, meanwhile, looked bewildered that he was being attacked, like he believed that he could possibly have done nothing wrong. 

But in a sense, he had done something wrong. 

Yes, maybe he hadn’t known what exactly his mother was doing, but he knew it was shady. He could have investigated. He knew it led to that god-awful warehouse, and he chose to ignore it. 

He should have done something, and that would have been the bare minimum. Despite if it was his brother or not, he should have something. It could have been anyone, and he should have done something. But he didn’t care until it affected him. He didn’t care about the city, he only cared about himself and his political party. Did he not hear the bustling of the city? Past all of the political nonsense, did he not hear the love, the cheers, the somber, the ecstatic, the community? During day, did he not hear the laughter of the children as they played outside? At night, did he not hear the chatter over dinner tables filled with love? Rosalind loved this city so damn much, and it was clear that he did not. 

Rosalind was disgusted. 

“You knew and you didn’t do anything?” 

Her tone was of pure resentment. 

“Yes, okay! I’ll admit I made a mistake!” 

Oliver put his hands up in the air in defeat. 

Rosalind was overwhelmed with so many emotions. 

Her ears were ringing. 

“Oh a mistake.” 

A bitter laugh slipped out. 

The words had incited such a deep reaction in her. 

A mistake. Rosalind had made her fair share of mistakes, and she sure as hell wasn’t ready to make more. 

She was a stupid, stupid girl, who had done stupid things. But she wasn’t ready to keep that up. Her body was stuck in time physically, but her actions shouldn’t be. 

Meanwhile, Juliette could sense Rosalind’s train of thoughts, and with a quick exchange of glances with Celia, she could tell her cousin could as well. 

“Yes, a mistake! I didn’t know at the time, okay? I didn’t know it had to do with Orion, and if I knew, I would have chased after whatever she was doing to the dregs. I just didn’t want to involve myself with her work and get caught in something unnecessary! So why do you care so much? It was an accident!” 

Oliver shouted, clearly still trying to figure out why the blame was on him. 

Rosalind narrowed her eyes. 

Her cheeks had heated with anger. 

Benedikt and Marshall exchanged glances and then looked over at Alisa, who was still casually lounging on the couch. She looked as though she was rather enjoying herself, like this was something amusing. 

To be fair, this probably was for her. A small smile was playing on her lips. 

“Why do I care so much? Do you want to know why?” 

Rosalind’s teeth were gritted hard, and she was snarling. 

“Because you don’t know what it’s like to make a stupid mistake and then regret it for the rest of your years. Regret it because you couldn’t change the past. You don’t know what it's like to wish to be dead, and actually feel death, before being resurrected and wondering why you were fortunate enough to stay alive. You don’t know what it’s like to be forever trapped in time with your regrets, guilt, and mistakes, even when everyone and everything else is telling you to move on. You don’t know what it’s like to look into the mirror and find someone so horrible staring back at you, but you can’t ever change that, because you’re stuck that way. You don’t know what it’s like to be awake at night, thinking about what you could have done to change the past all because you messed it up for everyone, and then could not redeem it. To be up at night and questioning constant what-ifs. You don’t know what it’s like to constantly beat yourself up over everything and give yourself an extra hard time, keeping your guard up at all times, because otherwise you might find yourself being vulnerable, desperate, and silly again.  You don’t know what any of that is like, do you? Because you just make careless mistakes and don’t worry to be careful. You just act when you want and when it’s best for you and your party. Well, I’m sure as hell not willing to make another ‘mistake’, because I’ve had my fair share and have seen what they do. Just because you decided to make a mistake doesn’t mean the rest of us were willing to, but you’ve already made it for all of us, haven’t you?” 

Rosalind heaved for breath. Through both her anger and her long ranting speech she had never managed to quite inhale properly. Tears had silently rolled down her cheeks, and she knew she had said too much, but she hadn’t been quite able to stop herself once the words spilled out. 

The whole room had fallen silent in shock over her confession. 

Juliette’s eyes had widened. 

She had never really given much thought as to how her cousin had felt in the passing times. 

She had never ruminated hard enough on what her poor cousin had been experiencing, how she had beaten herself up. 

Roma clutched her hand tighter, and Juliette was ever thankful to have someone to lean on. 

But it just reminded her that her cousin did not. 

The shocked silence drew on, and Celia’s eyes widened, unaware of how much her sister had actually beat herself up over her mistakes. 

The silence drew on, and Celia carefully lead Rosalind back over to the couch and sat her down. 

Rosalind was now more shocked with herself than mad, and she seemed mollified enough to just sit down. 

She had thick skin, but this had broken her briefly. 

No one said anything for a few seconds, letting the quiet stretch on, as no one was brave enough to break it. 

Luckily, no one had to. 

Because a knock came on the door, followed by a female voice saying, 

“Hello. I’m assuming you might need us?” 

Juliette felt extremely confused and dazed. 

Who was that? 

She turned to Roma, and he shrugged, though she figured just as much that he wouldn’t know. 

She started to draw a knife, before Oliver spoke, his voice hoarse. 

“Wait a second. That’s my sister.” 

Celia, now on the couch, perched up right. 

“Phoebe? What’s she possibly doing here?” 

He shook his head and shrugged. 

“I’m not sure, is it alright if I let her in?” 

The second part was addressed at Juliette. 

She hesitantly nodded, and Oliver stood and made his way over to the door. 

He opened it wide. 

“Feiyi, what are you doing here?” 

He asked upon greeting her, and then opened the door wider and gestured for her to come in. 

She entered grinning, followed by a boy. 

“Oh, hello Silas.” 

Oliver nodded politely to the boy in glasses. 

Silas offered a small and hesitant smile and nodded back politely. 

Everyone in the room seemed to be confused by their presence. 

Pheobe and Silas entered the room, not opting to sit since the couches were rather crowded, but instead standing up so they were facing Roma and Juliette. 

“Sorry to be a bother, I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything. I take it you are Mr. and Mrs. Mai? So lovely to meet you. I’m Pheobe, and this is Silas.” 

She chirped kindly, introducing herself. 

Roma and Juliette exchanged brief glances before giving the two a polite nod back. 

Juliette was rather hesitant about the girl. 

The boy was familiar, and she recognized him a beat later as Mr. Wu’s son from the old Scarlet Gang inner circle. 

The girl, however, didn’t dress like an agent at all. She was all frills and accessories, impractical. 

But something about her seemed off. 

Oliver closed the door, and took back to the couch. 

“So, you didn’t answer my question, Feiyi. What are you doing here?” 

“I actually did,” 

Phoebe stated, looking over to her brother and smoothing her hair. 

“And you know why I’m here, Oliver.” 

Her voice had become a little less chirpy now. 

“You can’t.” 

Oliver replied instantly, and the entire room was confused besides those two. 

Can’t what?  

“Yes, I can. You said dire situations called for this dire matter, and I would presume this situation to be rather dire, considering it has to do with our brother. You know the rules, Oliver. Family first. You may be my handler, but you do not control me.” 

Her voice hadn’t become impolite, but it wasn’t chirpy anymore. It seemed that all of that brightness she displayed wasn’t present anymore, like it was giving way for a much realer side underneath. A small, humble smile played on her lips. 

Her words hadn’t incited something in Celia, causing her to gasp suddenly. 

Rosalind was just confused over what Phoebe was talking about, and no one else seemed to have any clue.  

Alisa seemed just as clueless. 

But Celia seemed to know. 

“Oh my god…he’s your handler?” 

She asked, specifying to be sure she hadn’t misheard. 

Something in Rosalind’s mind, hidden beneath fog, was resurfacing. Something about this was familiar. 

Meanwhile, a little smile appeared on Phoebe’s lips as she nodded slightly, and Oliver sighed, defeated. 

Everything was puzzling together in Celia’s mind. 

“But…he handles Priest…oh my god…” 

Celia was shocked, and the realization seemed to have hit Alisa and Rosalind at the same time it hit Celia. 

“You’re Priest.” 

Alisa said with a bewildered tone, her eyes slightly widened. 

But she wasn’t the most shocked person in the room. 

“What? No- that’s not possible- what?- how?” 

Silas spluttered, struggling for words. 

He sat down on the floor, his eyes pulled wide and his lips parted. 

The smile finally emerged on Phoebe’s lips, but not a dazzling smile like she would usually produce for performance. 

It was a small and secretive smile. 

“Surprise?” 

She asked to the whole room. 

“You? How is that possible?” 

Alisa asked, still bewildered. 

Phoebe just shrugged. 

“No one expects a pretty face to be anything significant, not to mention an assassin.” 

Priest, the top communist assassin, had been right in front of Rosalind the entire time. 

Everything made sense now.  

The warehouse when Priest had shot all of the chemically influenced guards.  

“How did you even learn to shoot?” 

Rosalind asked her. 

“I was taught by the same person who we are currently against. My mother. She taught me when I was little and studying abroad. We started with darts, and I practiced every day, eventually switching over to a real gun. I never thought I might have to use a skill taught to me by someone against them.” 

Phoebe admitted. 

FIN

I know that's chaotic and not that great- but that was my general idea!