Hi everyone!

Thanks for enjoying my episode 1 & 2 notes on Little Women. Today, I thought I’d share my episode notes for episodes 1-4 of Love Between Fairy and Devil, because I’m enjoying it way more than I’d expected to, and I was wondering if you’d like to join me? 🤗

These are my episode 1-2 and 3-4 notes, exactly as they appear on Patreon, ie, without screenshots (I’m saving those for the actual review).

I hope you all enjoy, and I hope you’ll consider joining us over on Patreon, for the rest of the discussions! ❤️

Episode notes:

E1-2. I have two reasons for wanting to check out this show.

First of all, lots of folks have been giving this one a good amount of positive buzz. Not that it sounds like this is the most amazing thing evar, but it sounds like folks are having fun with it, and that’s always a good thing.

Secondly, although I mostly haven’t had much success with enjoying the xianxia genre, after my initial very successful foray with Ten Miles Of Peach Blossoms, I did very recently enjoy kdrama Alchemy Of Souls, which clearly takes inspiration from the genre.

That made me curious to actually try another xianxia show, just to see how it all sits; like, maybe my drama tastes have evolved some more?

Two episodes in, this does look like it could be quite fun, given the right lens.

Mainly, I think that lens ought to be a fairly loose one, when it comes to things like narrative coherence, and making sense of this very sprawling, very magicky story world.

I don’t feel too fussed about following the intricacies of the story, and I do still get the sense that given some time, the pieces will come together quite naturally, just like it did with Alchemy Of Souls.

The CGI and costuming is a mixed bag, for me.

Overall, I’d say that it’s not the best I’ve seen, nor is it the worst I’ve seen. The fact that everyone looks like they’re wearing some form of plastic barnacles doesn’t bother me so much, and I find myself pretty content to just roll with it.

I’ve seen worse, basically, like how half the guys in Novoland: The Castle In The Sky, looked like they were wearing identical recycled high school prom dresses made of pale blue chiffon.

I’m told that that show’s worth a watch, but I just.. couldn’t get past the you-gotta-see-it-to-believe-it prom dresses, and the blue contact lenses that everyone wore. 😅

As for the CGI, it feels like they’re splitting stuff into two categories; the scenes which don’t require better CGI, and the ones that do.

By and large, the CGI looks pretty cheap and casual, particularly in the busier, more action-oriented scenes, like someone did a rushed job of it, because they weren’t being paid enough to do better, and they decided that nobody cared about the outcome anyway. 😅

BUT. There are certain scenes where it looks like more time, effort and money was put in, in order to amp up the polish.

And, those scenes have been selected to mostly have to do with the OTP, like some of the scenes of our OTP in Haotian Tower, which I thought looked significantly nicer than some other scenes.

That’s a pretty smart use of limited budget, and I’m happy with where they’re choosing to splurge. At least they’re splurging sometimes?

(Edit: I’ve adjusted my stance on the CGI – Show really is a lot prettier than I first gave it credit for, though the busier action scenes still do tend to look cheaper, to my eyes. 🤓)

On that note, some scenes that aren’t to do with the OTP are also quite eye-catching, I thought, like the one where Changheng enters the painting to have a drink with Rong Hao (who I’m quite chuffed to be able to place as Xu Hai Qiao, who’s Ouyang Xu in A Dream Of Splendor, heh).

The way the scene is literally treated like a moving painting, is pretty cool, I thought.

I also thought that the scene of Dongfang Qingcang regaining his original form was nicely done, and that the dragon form of Dongfang Qingcang’s lieutenant was pretty cool.

Mainly, though, my interest in this show is turning out to be our leads.

Our Orchid is cute and likable at the same time, which is hard to achieve, and her ability to do cutesy while remaining endearing reminds me of Park Bo Young, which I think is a huge compliment, because most other actresses fail at this, and hard.

Yu Shu Xin manages to be our rather feather-headed Orchid, without coming across as try-hard, or pathetic, or annoying, which is a definite win, in my books.

On top of that, I was pleasantly surprised that when we get to the body switch, she channels Dongfang Qingcang’s cold calm nicely as well.

Who woulda thunk it, given how flaily and cutesy our Orchid is, all the way up to that point? That was a nice surprise.

On a related note, I am also very pleasantly surprised by how well I’m enjoying Dylan Wang as Dongfang Qingcang.

When he’s channeling Orchid, he manages to be all flaily and pouty, without landing as annoying, which can be pretty hard to do, I think.

In fact, I got a few good chuckles out of moments where Orchid’s in Dongfang Qingcang’s body, like when she goes, “I don’t know how to use your body!” I thought that was quite funny.

I also thought it was pretty amusing, the way Orchid struggles to learn how to use Dongfang Qingcang’s powers, with varying levels of success.

And then, when Dongfang Qingcang’s back in his own body, I’m very pleased with the imposing, cold badass sort of vibe that Dylan Wang manages to channel.

In terms of Dongfang Qingcang and Orchid interacting, I am amused at how they basically take out their frustration on their host bodies, like how Dongfang Qingcang cuts off Orchid’s hair, and Orchid pulls at Dongfang Qingcang’s hair in retaliation, ha.

That was quite ridiculous, and I found myself chuckling along quite happily.

What I did find rather surprising, is the way Dongfang Qingcang actually restores Orchid’s hair, to get her to stop crying.

It’s not so much in the fact that he restores her hair, and more in the way the tone of his voice is quite gentle, at some points, as he tells her to stop crying.

That’s very surprising, for a character like Dongfang Qingcang, who’s supposed to be the devil in our story.

It’s tropey but still funny, that the way these two swap bodies, is through kissing.

I get the feeling that there will be more kissing – and swapping – coming our way. 😁

How interesting, though, that they still seem very much linked, even after swapping back into their own bodies.

When Orchid’s being physically threatened at Liufang Pavilion, Dongfang Qingcang feels it on his own body, just like he’d felt it, when he’d been in Orchid’s body, and she’d been pulling on his hair while in his body.

This gives me confidence that Dongfang Qingcang will end up coming to Orchid’s rescue – if only to prevent himself from experiencing vicarious pain through her.

To which I say, sure thing, Show, bring it onnn. 😁

E3-4. Ahh, this was a pretty fun set of episodes. If Show keeps this up, this could work out to be a very entertaining watch indeed. 😁

I was right in guessing that Dongfang Qingcang swoops in to save Orchid from certain death, but it works out to be so much more than I’d anticipated, heh.

First of all, I guess I shouldn’t underestimate the extend and intensity of Dongfang Qingcang’s dark power.

When he arrives on the scene, he literally decimates the men who are deployed to fight against him, with a flick of his hand.

And with another wave of said hand, almost the entire group is similarly decimated (melted by his dark fire?), and turn into dust in the wind.

Not only that, it seems like his dark power causes all the villagers to run amok, as if they’ve been turned into zombies of some sort. It’s rather unsettling, really, because I can’t even be sure if he did that on purpose, of if that was just some sort of side effect of his power.

Eliminating others is basically nothing to him; it’s second nature, and it feels as if his opponents in this case, are like puny ants, while he’s like some kind of giant with limitless power to stomp on them.

The fact that he actually would love to get rid of Orchid too, but can’t, is the main dilemma he faces, this set of episodes, and it’s rather discombobulating, all around.

For a start, there’s a layer of protectiveness in how he saves her. He snatches her from the jaws of death, and then hides her in the palm of his hand, so that no one can touch her.

And then he takes her to a safe place, where he gets up close to her, and fingering her face, considers her intently, and then gives her this spiel:

“Not only will I not kill you, I also won’t allow anyone to hurt you. If anyone dares to touch you, I’ll cut their skin off and make a human lantern out of it.

From now on, you’re mine. Your life belongs to me. Your breathing belongs to me. Your heartbeat belongs to me. Every drop of blood in your body belongs to me.

Without my permission, don’t leave my sight.”

He means this almost menacingly, of course, but in effect, it does land as rather protective, especially when paired with his intent, unwavering gaze.

So of course Orchid, cheerful dim little flower sprite that she is, reaches for the conclusion that he’s in love with her, tee hee.

The way she grabs onto his spiked fingers and gingerly shakes his hand as she thanks for his good intentions, is really quite funny to me, particularly because he’s glowering with deathly intent, and here she is, daintily thanking him and turning down his supposed affections. 😁

Basically, a lot of these episodes’ humor comes from the fact that Dongfang Qingcang is this powerful, regal, dark presence, and Orchid misses that completely, and treats him like some stray dog, almost, who’s wandered into her orbit.

On that note, I just wanted to say that the subs say more than once, that Orchid thinks Dongfang Qingcang is full of himself.

Essentially, Dongfang Qingcang is using a royal term to refer to himself, “本座” (běn zuò) which literally means “this throne.”

What Orchid muses over quite dismissively, is the fact that he uses the term to refer to himself, but it’s hard to translate, which is probably why the subbers decided to have her say that he’s full of himself.

I find it nicely entertaining, that this spell that binds Dongfang Qingcang to Orchid, has no effect on her whatsoever, but has Dongfang Qingcang feeling all her physical pain, as well as feeling all her feelings.

So when she bumps her head, he feels it (haha!), and when she cries, he can’t help but shed tears too, even if though he does so extremely grumpily (tee hee hee! 😁). I was inordinately tickled by this, can’t lie.

And so, because Dongfang Qingcang can’t break the spell, and he feels all of Orchid’s pain, he literally can’t leave her to her own devices, in case that puts him in danger.

I love how that means that he sneaks into the heavenly realm to sort things out with her, and  ends up camping out at Arbiter Hall with her, after discovering that destiny book of the Chidi Woman, the person who’d sealed his troops in battle.

Besides the fact that Dongfang Qingcang finds that he feels everything that Orchid feels, it’s also very amusing to me, that he can’t actually disobey her, when she tells him to do something.

That scene, where he ends up counting the flowers in her greenhouse, against his will, is so funny, hahaha! The way he literally can’t stop himself, and has to shout for Shangque between counting the flowers, is so hilarious. 😂😂

Tee hee hee. I can see why he wouldn’t want Orchid to know that she has this kind of power over him.

On the other hand, it’s really quite sweet, that Orchid gets all touched at the fact that he appears to take her words so seriously, when usually no one ever listens to her. Aw. How accidentally sweet. 😁

It’s rather tropey that Orchid blithely talks about how horrible and ugly and unhygienic Dongfang Qingcang is, and he gets all angry and upset, but it’s quite amusing nonetheless.

I do find it endearing that she mishears his name, and thus comes up with a nickname for him, where he’s now Daqiang to her. Cute.

I’m actually quite surprised that Changheng actually seems to have feelings for Orchid, since, in that scene where she approaches him with flowers, he appears not to know her.

I do wonder why he’d pretend not to recognize her, when he’s going to such lengths to look out for her, and create that elixir pill for her, which uses up a lot of his heavenly energy?

What is he, shy..? 😅

Also, he’s stiff to the point of being obtuse, isn’t he, with the way he completely misses the heavy hints that Orchid’s friend drops for him, to please search for her at Arbiter Hall (because Dongfang Qingcang’s basically holding her hostage).

That doesn’t impress me very much, honestly. He’s not going to be very helpful, if he can’t even take a hint?

As we end off the episode, it’s quite poignant that Orchid works so hard to try to fix that Destiny Book, that she ends up in a dead faint – and Dongfang Qingcang actually feels that faint coming on, because of the spell.

Although he does it reluctantly, with a hangdog expression on his face, the fact that he literally goes out to collect the morning dew for her, because he reads in the scroll that Xilan holy grass, Orchid’s original form, needs to be watered with morning dew, is really very sweet.

I am very much digging this reluctant connection between our OTP, and am eager to see where we go next. 🤩

*This show is being covered on the Ultimate Early Access (US$25) Tier on Patreon*

To view episode 1-2 and 3-4 notes in Patreon, along with everyone’s comments, you can go here!

You can find my Patreon page here, where episodes 1 through 20 notes are already available. Just look for the tag “Love Btwn Fairy And Devil” or click here.

Episodes 21-22 & 23-24 notes will be out on Friday, 14 October 2022! I hope you’ll consider joining us!

It’ll be a way to have fun, and support me at the same time? ❤️

PS: For more information on what the Patreon experience is like, you might like to check out my Patreon update post for October, which you can find here!