#I just love how down-to-earth Shen Qiao is

[aesthetic-uni]

*slams door open* ALRIGHT I KNOW IM LATE BUT Y’ALL BETTER HAVE DONE YOUR HOMEWORK BY NOW OR ELSE IM TOSSING Y’ALL IN THE ABYSS

This has honestly been in my drafts for weeks and I’ve been fighting to finish it. I gotta get this out now before another hyperfixation takes over (spoiler alert: it already has)

Before I do I would like to call out publicly three star students, because one I appreciate them and two I just really want them to see my shit since I feel appreciated. @carpe-yeet-em @ceci-seesaw and @bogos-bint3d thank y’all for being Star students

Quick warning: This WILL contain spoilers for the series. It’s nothing super major or plot twisty-The series is in its very early stages so it’s nothing that you wouldn’t find out by you know, reading the thing wink wink nudge nudge. However I would suggest reading it first so you at least have an understanding of it

OKAY THOUGHTS

Holy shit this series is so good. I’m not joking I’m looking forward so much for this series and how everything plays out, because I can tell this is going to be a really intriguing story and I’m excited for it. I would say the thing I’m most excited to see is the relationship between Shen Yuhua and Chu Tian. They’re just, they’re so sweet I really can’t wait to see how their relationship grows.

Okay I’m not really good with expressing my thoughts so let’s move on TO THE CRACK THEORY SECTION BABEY YEAAAH

Theory number uno: Tf is Chu Tian doing? I think it’s pretty easy to see, he’s trying to create an army against the Chaoyang palace. He wants revenge against Shen Yuitian and is only playing along with Shen Yuhua for now. But I think he either does really care for her or will grow to really care for her. So he’s trying to destroy the blood pact so he doesn’t have to hurt her to achieve his end means. And I bet Shen Yuhua will eventually learn to go this side

Theory b: Qiao Yu will join the group and become an older sister to Shen Yuhua. There’s really only two ways it could go down with Shen Yuhua and Qiao Yu, either rivals or sisters. I don’t really see rivals working out, cause Yuhua doesn’t really care, but for my own heart I could totally see Qiao Yu being a surrogate older sister to Shen Yuhua, which would be a great but heartbreaking parallel to her actual older sister

Theory 3 (the big one): Okay, let’s talk about the big mystery surrounding one of the characters. Not Chu Tian, not Shen Yuitian, not even Shen Yuhua.

Let’s talk about Swallowtail

First off: BEST BOY WE LOVE HES AMAZING

Now for the actual theory, Swallowtail is undoubtedly the biggest mystery in Doatf, he pretends to be a useless servant to Shen Yuhua but actively sabotages her chances of marriage, but also protects her with his life. Why? Why is he acting as such? In fact, in his introduction it is noted he was in fact a disciple but was demoted. He’s clearly skilled, why would he pretend not to be in order to be demoted?

It’s because I believe he’s working for Chu Tian, and always planned for Shen Yuhua to fall into the abyss.

What evidence do I have to back this up?

…..I did say it was a crack theory

Okay I do have A LITTLE to back it up. But it doesn’t start with Swallowtail, it actually starts with the second biggest mystery of the series, Wen Qinglan, Yuhua’s mother. We know her crimes, murder, but more important conspiracy and adultery with a demon. Why was Wen Qinglan working with a demon? I believe she was working to free Chu Tian from the abyss. Why? Because I said so >:(

Anyway obviously when Wen Qinglan died, the plot must progress and there had to be a new person to get a Shen into the abyss, and would you look at that. There’s a Shen who’s been completely shunned from her family that needs a servant.

This is why he had to sabotage Yuhua’s suitors, he couldn’t have her leaving the palace or else it would risk the whole operation. On top of that, remember how Yuhua’s older sister said that it was Swallowtail who pushed her in. Why on earth would she say that? He’s clearly devoted to her, and despite maybe Yuling pushing the blame on him, why would anyone believe that? He wasn’t even near the scene?

Unless of course, they already know he’s shady as fuck, or have evidence to show he’s shady as fuck.

I cannot stress enough how much crack this crack theory is based on. I am genuinely pulling strings and putting on tinfoil hats here.

But I’m having fun so I don’t care >:)

I do want to say just as a statement-I don’t think Shen Yuhua is some chosen hero. The abyss story is so clearly made up, and I do really think she doesn’t have strong magic. But just because she’s not strong or special in one area, doesn’t mean she can’t become something wonderful. And I just can’t wait to see what she becomes in this comic. I’m so excited for the rest

Alright the rest of my thoughts are completely scattered that’s all ya getting PEACE

[hunxi-after-hours]

Hey, it's your numbered anon from last week. :) I think what tumblr ate was that i am stanning Yun Fuyi (although alas, no further appearances for my girl) and that whoever did the character designs for SQ and YWS Understood the Assignment. Further thoughts **OK, it took me a bit to adjust to the animation style, but I'm there now. The atmospheric sky effects are great. And the fight choreography! V. cool. I am a simple human, I love getting my solid fight scene every episode. (1/2)

** Every time I see SQ, tired, leaning against a wall in the opening credits i picture your "things i want: snuggles / things i receive: struggles" text meme. Highly accurate! ** I really love SQ's total self-assurance. like, it takes confidence to be him and be willing to say "we're just nobodies, please let us leave." He does not care what anyone else thinks and I love that for him (clearly I read Jane Eyre at too formative of an age). Or to Xiao Se: "Xuandu Shan. Shen Qiao." Perfect! (2/2)

hello, and welcome back anon!!! looks like the tumblr ask feature really just hates to see a girlboss winning, as Yun Fuyi is indeed one such girlboss. there might be a bit of her in season 2, but Meng Xishi was really out here creating iconic characters that only appear once and never again... Yuan Zixiao nation rise UP

and right!!! the animation style takes a hot second to get used to but once you've recalibrated your brain then it's like... drop-dead gorgeous? I'm a broken record on this but the LIGHTING, the TEXTURES, the sheer gauzy fabric of Shen Qiao's overlayer and the golden thread in Yan Wushi's robes... all of these animated characters out here having more wrinkles and pores than live-action?? legitimately insane

if I don't get my fight choreo fix at least once per episode then what is the POINT of you. why make an animated donghua if you aren't going to take advantage of the utter lack of physics to do outlandishly cool stunts with no regard for safety or plausibility. smh honestly

SHEN QIAO my love, he somehow manages to be one of the funniest characters just by deadpanning his way through most of his scenes, and because everyone is too busy being a dramatic theater kid a lot of his sick burns just coast under the radar

anyway if you don't come out of QQ/SHJX on the #naps4aqiao agenda then we clearly have not consumed the same narrative

[potahun]

Favorite “Wo Men De Ge” Performances, all groups and match-ups included.

No ranking. Just faves.

“Yan Hua Yi Leng | Fireworks Cool Easily”, by Liu Yuning x Xiao Gui (Wang Linkai) 

“The rain drizzles softly. In my hometown, the trees and grass grow deep” -- completely overlooked this performance at first. it starts off kind of plain and then gets weirdly intense in the last 1min and now it won’t get out of my head. hmm 

“Tian Xia You Qing Ren | Lovers In The World”, by Qin Shen Shen (Li Keqin x Zhou Shen) 

“Love is one cycle after another, one reincarnation after another, no matter whether in the southeast or the northwest; love is part after part, thread after thread of rights and wrongs, rendering lovers forever unable to say ‘see you again’.”  

legit shouldn’t even have tried to translate this literally but you know what this shit is about. You’ve seen it. It fucks things up.

“Carmen”, by Mei Nan Zi (Fei Yuqing x Li Keqin x Zhou Shen x Xu Weizhou) 

“Men are but a pastime, nothing impressive.” ----- Four “handsome men” sing about love and men being pastimes and dance dorkily to music with a cabaret feel. what’s not to love?? also 2 of them didn’t get the memo that it’s not a performance in duos and cant stop showing off their duo’s chemistry. just kidding. unless

“Xin Yuan Yang Hu Die Meng + Shi Ren De Lü Tu | New Butterfly Dream + A Poet’s Journey“, by Yun Dan Feng Qing (Fei Yuqing x Ayanga)

“Should we understand at once, or should we pretend not to? Knowing a lot or knowing little, what is difficult is to know when to be satisfied.”

I had to listen to this again to remember why I liked it and mmm. fuck. mhm. yeah. good. Also, I cannot translate this. Sorry. I tried. 

“Meng Xing Shi Fen | Dream to Awakening”, by Ren Xianqi x Xiao Gui (Wang Linkai) 

“You’ve known from the start that sadness would be hard to avoid; why fall so deeply? Because love is always hard to give up, hard to part with... Why still care about that little bit of warmth? You have to know that sadness is always hard to avoid, in that moment from dream to awakening. There are some things you don’t have to ask now, and people you never have to wait for.” 

Aside from it being super funny in context, this performance is also close to my heart because it’s one of my all. time. favorite. songs. 

“Na Pian Hai + Ting Hai | That Sea + Listen to the Sea”, by Qin Shen Shen (Li Keqin x Zhou Shen)

“Let us forget that sea, let us start over again in the next life. Let us, time after time, life after life, never separate again”  

This one gets the prize of the most seamless mixing of two songs into one.

“Xin Tai Ruan | Too Soft-Hearted”, by Jie Tou Pai Dang (Ren Xianqi x Liu Yuning)

“Falling in love is always easy, but getting along is too difficult. If it’s not yours, don’t force it anymore” -- hnnnnnnggg in the category “songs with amazing lyrics that are always relevant at some point and timelessly too good”.

“Xin Ru Dao Ge | Like A Knife To The Heart”, by Qin Shen Shen (Li Keqin x Zhou Shen)

“I’ve really loved for you, you’ve really left with him. All I could give, I gave it. I can take everything, except letting you know... that I feel like my heart has been pierced with a knife” 

-- HAHA this is the worst translation I’m sry. Anyways, the musical arrangement is hard because there are no beats for almost the whole song and when you’re harmonising without some beats or rhythm it’s hell and yet. yet. this is the harmonising kings duo, baby. oh yeah.

“Ai Jiang Shan Geng Ai Mei Ren | Loving the Beauty More Than Power”, by Jie Tou Pai Dang (Ren Xianqi x Liu Yuning)

“Red flowers go with green leaves, of course. But who will stay beside me in this lifetime? Elusively, we come and go. The feelings from the past resurface; the lotus breaks but its threads last. I sigh quietly. The world’s happenings bears many changes”

-- this song is literally impossible to translate properly, sorry, but it is one of my all-time favorites. Despite the simplicity of the stage and the changes in the song’s arrangement, as far as I'm concerned, these two truly captured its spirit of the song *chef’s kiss

“Ling Yi Zhong Xiang Chou | Another Kind of Homesickness”, by Fei Yuqing x Li Keqin x Zhou Shen

“Those clouds and trees; do not block the road to that hometown” - or as I like to call it: the harmonising trinity of death. 

that gesture FYQ does at the end, when he drops his hand? my soul went down with it

“Qiu Niao | Prisoner Bird”, by Yun Dan Feng Qing (Fei Yuqing x Ayanga)

“I am but a shadow that you can do without as you please, coldly watching the way you look when you lie” - I didn’t initially count this in my faves. But the more I listen to it, the more I love it and now I LOVE it. 

“Piao Yang Guo Hai Lai Kan Ni | Crossing the Sea to See You”, by Zhou Hua Jian x Ayanga

“For you I spent half a year of savings, crossing the sea to see you”. hnnnnnngggggg best. version. of. this. song. I've heard.

“Ni De Rou Qing Wo Yong Yuan Bu Dong | I Will Never Understand Your Tenderness”, by Luo Qi x Liu Yuning

“I do not want to make love too blurry. If you love, then love clearly.” -- hhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggg.

“Wo Ai Ta | I Love Him”, by Zhou Shen x Xu Weizhou

“We once leaned on each others’ shoulders. Now, we’re each drifting away in the sea of people”. -- 1) Very good. 2) Screamo? 3) Some kind of Nightwish-like opera singing that sounds very good.

“Qi Shi Bu Xiang Zou | In Truth, I Don’t Want To Leave”, by Yi Jian Qing Xin (Zhou Hua Jian x Jiang Yi Qiao)

- “The truth is, I don’t want to leave, the truth is, I want to stay. Stay and accompany you every spring, summer, autumn and winter...” -- this song can never go bad. Zhou Shen clapping with that slightly emotional look on his face, like he’s this close to crying? That’s me.

“Qian Li Zhi Wai | Beyond A Thousand Miles”, by Yun Dan Feng Qing (Fei Yuqing x Ayanga)

I send you beyond a thousand miles away, you’re soundless in black and white...” 

This is not even part of the competition, but...you know. 

“Tian Ya | The End of the Earth”, by Jie Tou Pai Dang (Ren Xianqi x Liu Yuning)

....I’m not going to translate it. I’m not even sure I fully get it. But boy, it’s so good. 

One of the reasons I watched the whole show, actually. damn. dammmn. 

“Ye Lang Disco”, by Qin Shen Shen (Li Keqin x Zhou Shen)

“On your left, draw a dragon with me, on your right, draw a rainbow.” ASKALKSLKDJSLKDA. Joy. In its purest, silliest form. 

^bonus unsolicited qin shen shen pic, which illustrates how I feel about some of these performances. yup.