Im Going To Gif My Favorite Moments From Episodes 3 And 4 After I Recover From The Questionable Mix Of

I’m going to gif my favorite moments from episodes 3 and 4 after I recover from the questionable mix of sake, butterscotch schnapps, jasmine tea, and vanilla creamer that I concocted in celebration for the show (well, initially it was only supposed to be the sake, but I’m not a fan of white wine and it turns out that sake tastes like white wine but refreshing and crisp) but this moment of the preview for episode 6 was too iconic not to gif

Zhuo Qing’s voice is so relaxing

How do you think Jin Yan and Jin Wei first met? What do you think their opinions were on each other then?

Ooh, good question! I’m hoping that Dashing Youth will give some answers on that front, though there’s no guarantee, as I haven’t seen Jin Yan on the cast list yet. Granted, there’s a canonical reason he may be absent or only play a minor role: in the past, he was always spending time with his shifu, Zhuo Xin, while the other eunuchs followed Zhuo Qing. This led to Jin Yan being relatively isolated from them.

There are enough hints to Jin Yan’s past in the novel that I can paint a small picture of what it might have been like. In particular, there are two major pieces of information:

-in his youth, Jin Yan needed to run to survive

-without his shifu, he would have died long ago

That information, along with Jin Yan’s personality, gives me reason to believe that he used to be a thief. The dexterity of his fingers in the live-action certainly adds to that idea. Continuing in the realm of headcanon territory, I think Jin Yan became a eunuch after trying to steal from Zhuo Qing and getting saved by Zhuo Xin. The gold ornament hanging from Zhuo Qing’s belt looks incredibly stealable:

As for Jin Wei, Zhuo Qing saved his life when he was young, so his greatest loyalty is to him. He’s serious, devoted, and stubborn. He’s incredibly different from Jin Yan, and likely wouldn’t get along well with him initially. However, restraint is a major aspect of Jin Wei’s character in the novel and donghua, so he likely bottles up most of the negative emotions he may feel towards him. Meanwhile, just as Jin Yan bickers with Jin Xian, I could definitely imagine him getting immense joy out of annoying Jin Wei as well. There could definitely be a lot of tension between them, later complicated when they share the same goal (I won’t spoil anything, but Jin Wei’s major act of loyalty to Zhuo Qing seems a bit more premeditated in the novel).

A collection of Yan Bietian posters! 😼

(no relation to Wrathful Sword Deity Yan Zhantian, different Yan)

I liked his character in the donghua, and he’s quite fun to watch in the live-action. Very interesting design, and of course I’m loving the facial expressions. I sort of shipped him with the fellow with the white eyebrow in the donghua, but I understand cutting him to give Yan Bietian and his sister more focus.

Aaaaaah! Xiao Zhongjing and Zhuo Qing’s first scene was everything I wanted! Excuse me while I watch it fifty times 😸

I still can’t believe their first scene was at Xiao Zhongjing’s desk, like my first fanart and fic of them (though the teal color I thought his desk would be based on that one poster turned out to be a dark blue). This situation almost reminds me of how before reading the novel, all the fics I’d drafted with Zhuo Xin included him playing Go, and then his introduction in the novel also has him playing Go.

OOC Wuchang Gui bonus

Tumblr, this one is for you.

Wake up, time to go to work

Hoe Movements

Thank you to @feng-huli making that Wuchang Gui 12 minute supercut because it made actually finding screentime of his outfit much easier.