masked fool · 2mo
hu tao lied to so many characters about the possible outcome and the only person she was entirely honest with was zhongli. their interaction meant so much, from the camera angles, zhongli staring at the coin she returned, and that poem. such a raw moment, so vulnerable and open. i really want to see more of them i can't help but think of how it was zhongli who nudged the traveler in the right direction and sent him after hu tao. and in the end when you give him the gift envelope zhongli thanks the traveler for bringing hu tao back and says "if anyone is to offer thanks, it should be me" i felt like i got shot 67 times
they have such a wonderful, deep dynamic and i’m tired of seeing people gloss over that in favor of saying “omg dad and her annoying child”!!!! but also i don’t think hu tao lied, as lan yan pointed out she just tends to omit the truth: she knew that the ritual might’ve gone well without her needing to sacrifice herself, and that’s why she told her friends she would’ve come back— it was a possibility… but zhongli is the person closest to her, and the one she trusts the most, i don’t think she could’ve been anything but completely honest with him because he simply gets her too well— both because he’s a thousand years old god with infinite experience and because he’s her confidant. i really liked that scene where he thanked the traveler but ngl the best one was with the other adepti… hearing them speak so well of her, explaining her name… hu as butterfly tao as tao dou….. the realest ones remembering hu tao’s introduction vl where she herself explains her name through puns….. oh my dearest wangsheng duo….
