#lbfad spoilers

[terapsina]

Can I take a moment to talk about how I enjoy the fact that Dongfang Qingcang was NOT ever actually evil?

He was without feelings. He was ruthless. Thirty thousand years ago he tried to attack Shuiyuntian and there would undoubtedly have been innocent victims but he did not do so because he was being a conqueror. He did so because his people were clearly quite desperate (and yes, as revenge against the Fairy Realm for their treatment of the Moon Tribe).

The story describes him as this great evil but it feels more like the victors of the war rewriting history the way they liked, rather than actual description of Dongfang Qingcang as we get to know him. Even in the beginning when his feelings are only barely beginning to wake he's not so much cruel or malicious as angry after all.

Infuriated by being tied to Xiao Lanhua. But he doesn't really do anything truly horrific to her does he? He's kinda mean when she's irritating him - especially when she keeps unknowingly describing him as a green skinned monster with bad breath (which: ICONIC); incredibly grumpy; throws around a few empty threats; gets kinda hilariously excited about the opportunity to kill people and beings FOR her.

But he doesn't kidnap her until it's to save her life. He tries talking/tricking Xiao Lanhua into fixing the previous God of War's destiny book but doesn't hold swords to the throats of the people she cares about to make her do it.

And then he multiple times tries to make Xiao Lanhua feel better whenever she's upset (very resentfully in the beginning to be fair and with the frequent addition of murder eyes as he does it but not in a... calculated way. There's no real manipulation or seduction going on, he's even right when he tells her he never lied to her when she learns exactly who he is).

I just... I like that the story ISN'T 'evil man falls in love and this fixes him'. He wasn't evil. And falling in love didn't fix him. Falling in love was more a consequence of his Heart Tree being given a spark of life, which gave him the ABILITY to fall in love, and not at all the kind of toxic power play that shows often try to make romantic and which just end up making me vaguely ill.

He's not an evil overlord out for his own selfish goals who then starts caring about one person and one person alone. He cares about his entire realm, he cares about the souls of those 100'000 trapped soldiers. He always did, even if up to that point he was loyalty without affection. He's dangerous. Both the leader of and the weapon for his people. But he grows into more than that through the story as he learns selflessness and forgiveness and compassion.

Ultimately I guess I like that though he might have changed because of Xiao Lanhua, he didn't do it for her. At least not the way this trope is usually used in many of my NOTPs.

[evakant]

Do you remember what you said? You said as long as it's the wine I give you, no matter what's inside, you will drink it.

[eldritch-bisexual]

Continuing with live commentary nobody asked for:

Changheng seeing Qingcang lovingly carry a battered, 100% conked out Lanhua and concluding that he must be KIDNAPPING her is just. Kinda wild. Look at her. Look at him looking at her. Does this look like a kidnapping to you my good sir???

I am also very curious to know what's on his mind after he learns the details of what happened. What do you think, baby boy? Kidnapping? Rescue? Elopement?

[afinedilemma]

Okay, so SPOILERS but is anyone else as confused as I am? I'm relying on translations and whatnot so there might be something I missed BUT what happened with Dongfang Qingcang leading up to the big battle??? Like he was playing the 'i don't love you anymore' game to get her to take off the bracelet and all that, but then she tries to do things herself... Like is he just letting her? Does he think his brother is talking about something else? Did he not realize Ronghao was involved at this point and was a serious threat? Like WHAT WAS MY BOY THINKING??? Was he just lost in the sauce and her being on the brink of death snapped him out of it? Bahhhh it's been killing me and I've even rewatched

[wearebabygroot]

I'm on episode 31 of Love Between Fairy and Devil and holy frick, I genuinely thought 12 Monkeys was bad. Y'all promised this ends happy. I think I just cried out all the tears in my skull.

...

Okay, checking back in before posting this. I finished episode 32. Somehow I feel even worse than last episode.

[seagreenstardust]

I am physically vibrating out of existence because “it’s my job to save the world”/“and it’s my job to save you” is exactly the vibe and so inherently romantic and I am not physically capable of existing in a world where XLH and DFQC said these words to each other

[thegreymoon]

Love Between Fairy and Devil

LMAO, he’s back even sooner than I expected 🤣🤣

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OMG, he’s not hiding anymore!!

This drama really moves fast! 

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Good bracelet! Blast them all into oblivion!

Why doesn’t she have a true form, though? Shouldn’t gods have one too?

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Very considerate of you, Your Majesty!

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Always here for a magical sword fight 🔥🔥

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NOOOOO, DON’T TAKE THE BRACELET OFF!!

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Smh.

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Yes, Your Majesty, rain some hellfire down upon them!

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Damn, this drama really doesn’t mess around with the visuals!

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The way he repels all that force so effortlessly!

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Aaaaand, they are engaged!! This is an engagement bracelet and I’m taking no criticism on this point! 

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I love it when he does this!! 🔥🔥

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Magnificent.

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Aww, yisssssss! He’s raining hellfire upon them!!

Down with their stupid hall!!

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I mean!!!

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And just like that, she reins him in!

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You are just begging for a beating, aren’t you.

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Scenes I’ll be rewatching into infinity 👇👇

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Aww, Orchid, let him kill something! As a treat!

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The way he obliterated him in front of his crush 🤣🤣

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K.O.

Flawless victory!

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I have to report that her whiny ways become significantly less annoying and more hilarious the further this show gets along 🤣🤣

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They are comedy gold 🤣🤣

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I love this dragon!! 🐉

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His power!! 😭😭

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So pretty 🖤

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LMAOOOOO, she thinks he wants to eat her 😂😂

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Cackling 🤣🤣

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Good to know that he does bathe, even if he makes an entire production out of it 🤣🤣

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LMAOOOOO, he said “Please disrespect me!”

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Meh. Daddy clearly deserved it.

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Oooh, somebody is jealous 😏😏

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Oh, pain 😢

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Ahahahahaha, they are going to switch bodies again!!

[ba0shanblack]

"My affection for you was

gratitude and appreciation.

Its not the affection that-

...can make my heart sour and painful.

It's not the affection that can still survive

and blossom

even though it's crushed."

.

.

.

[aylinaliens]

the audacity of giving us this cute little scene with their cute little smiles and the cute little cloud whales only to slap the lyrics 🎶i will never betray you even if i betray the world🎶

[throwing-roses-into-the-abyss]

changheng: you're the goddess xishan, your parents and your entire tribe were murdered by the moon tribe, and you should hate them

orchid: hmmmm but have you considered I don't know these people and don't care

[terapsina]

Okay, so a lot of people have taken up this quote to comment on Love Between Fairy and Devil and I have THOUGHTS:

(spoilers for the entire show)

A hero would sacrifice you to save the world but a villain would sacrifice the world to save you.

Changheng is that first one. He puts his duty above his heart which is admirable if more than a bit sad (but he also puts his piety to his clearly corrupt brother above his heart, which is not, and he learns this lesson too late).

Ronghao is that second one and this makes him truly a monster. It is not beautiful, it's ugly and awful and no matter how satisfying it sounds to imagine that a villain would burn down the world for you, the reality of it is horrific.

(in fact, we even KNOW that because our universal reaction to the 'I will destroy your home and kill everyone you know for you' rather made us all slap our own foreheads at the sheer stupidity)

But Dongfang Qingcang and Xiao Lanhua? They're the third kind. The ones who would sacrifices themselves so that the one they love would not need to be the one who falls in their duty to save the world.

(at least by the end, in the beginning... there was the before mentioned stupidity)

First she does it for him (as well as for both her own people and his). Because if she had not he would have died.

In fact this is exactly what she tries to do again once she comes back.

And then he does it for her because he does not want her to sacrifice herself for him and the world a second time. And so he takes her place.

Really it's Xiao Lanhua who says it best herself.

I love all the people. I also love one person.

They do not place the world above their love for each other, but they also by the end have come to respect each other's sense of duty and loyalty and so she cannot hate him for his need to defend the Moon Tribe (or to seek vengeance even). And he does not try to whisk her away once he realizes that she plans to give her life to stop the Evil God Tai Sui.

They would not burn down the world for each other. But they would burn down themselves for each other without thought.

[evakant]

LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL  —   episode thirty-one

[tockamybeloved]

Five things that first drew you to Ronghao.

Thank you for the ask! (sends detailed note later) AND thank you for narrowing it down to 'first drew'. I found myself writing a tangent late last night. I hope this answers your question.

(Long answer)

1) Episode 2

A single figure appears in a painting, colors washed and muted by a broad stroke of sepia. But that was me looking at it from a Western view. I had to switch off my mind to those associations. It is not the color sepia- it is yellow. Yellow, the balanced color, the one that tells the viewer you are entering a place of freedom and earth and royalty. We are being told this man is peaceful, calm. He travels a river whose waters are ruled by the melancholy notes he plays. (Is he the only one to use music this way? Question for another post.)

The painting is a real space. Chang Heng appears standing behind him on the punt. 

The music stops. The man who is alone no longer turns to greet his visitor - and smiles. After being teasingly accused of arrogance, he smiles! 

Life for Rong Hao, Fairy Lord, is reflected in the colors around him: His face outlines beauty; the clarity in his eyes a longing for peace implied in the calm landscape. 

Dressed in white I immediately thought “death”. But it is also a symbol of renewal and innocence. 

This is a world away from everything. He desires to be separate from the noise and crowd. A purposeful introvert. 

Both the inhabitant and the artist of the painting, here he is his own master. Confident, secluded, and peaceful.

2) Observant. And clever. Discovery of the orchid on the handkerchief, done by exposing a secret without permission, seemed not to be malicious. 

I thought, here is a man who cares enough for his friend that he notices the love-sick face and because he also knows Chang Heng will not speak what is on his heart forces him to open up. Who but a true friend sees their vulnerable heart? Who but a long time and honest friend wants to help carry the worries and sorrows of another? 

3) The Green Flame Wine. In an instant my impression of Rong Hao as a one note (!) character is pushed away. A clear - unknown to us - deep bond exists. And yet Rong Hao never puts his lips to the bottle. I asked myself why. The act is subtle and I wonder why Rong Hao doesn’t trust the current god of War fully. 

There is pain or betrayal lurking beneath the perfect lines. Who caused the rift?

4) Episode 6 (Episode 3 for a moment. Anytime I’m presented with a masked character I’m going to use all my skills to try and predict who it is. I second guessed myself on this one, but I shouldn’t have. The form of his lips gave it away.)

At the Soul Transformation Grounds we see the masked persona: Rong Hao, Lord of Haishi. Dressed in black he wears on his shoulder splashes of all the colors. I am dissecting the why of all! Why all the colors? The answer is exactly in those colors but I was now also invested in this second world he exists in. It’s destruction, chaos, everything opposed to the painting. 

He is stern, direct. An opposed feeling of safety rises because of his power to influence. 

5) How quickly he figured out who Orchid is! Clever again. A constant gatherer of information he intelligently uses that information to further and succeed in his plan. 

Who is the true self? The man with the peaceful heart, or the one who coldly commands?

I am going to mention a sixth because in this moment I knew I could not break free. It is a brief dialog and might easily be brushed aside as inconsequential but like the entire show every detail is important.   

6) Episode 7

Rong Hao does something very father-like: He guides her vision away from the others and leans down eye to eye distracting her from watching the gathering of the evil qi. The movement is reminiscent of redirecting a child when there is an intensely emotional situation and the adult needs them to remain calm. 

But it’s not a single act. There are multiple things happening here. 

He is meeting her on his own terms without suspicion to gain knowledge. 

To Chang Heng, it appears that maybe Rong Hao will embarrass him in front of all, maybe giving away his secret feelings. Rong Hao doesn’t though, and gives a knowing smile furthering Chang Heng’s trust in him. 

The others see his questioning as curiosity or as I said, an elder or father being concerned for a child. 

It’s devious, self-serving, and makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. As he speaks of his master, a distant gaze as he dwells on moments of happiness playing before his vision. There is a heart. 

Will he choose destruction, or peace?

Now for the irrational part told in pictures because I have lost the ability to speak sense.

This Smirk. Playful and familiar. Instantly I smile in return because I understand the thoughts behind such a look. He’s absolutely out of reach and untouchable which makes me want to do exactly that. Terrible.

2. So thoughtful. Much intelligence. Teach me this game?

3. The mask. Look at the distorted hand cradling his chin. I want to be that hand. The MOUTH. He speaks and all I can do is stare. I am a mess. THE HEAD TILT. YES YES! Analyze the fuck out of me with your eyes!

4. Poor immortal looks like he’s been stabbed in the heart. Who dares betray him? What foolish thing has been done to thwart his perfect plan?!

5. Now I am being stabbed in the heart. I CARE!! Aaaghghaghh

Yes, I know. He’s the villain - the one who will destroy everything to make his happiness be reality. In the end, he destroys even himself. Love over duty; love distorted as time passes. The way to keep his love alive is tainted with selfishness and becomes poison.

BUT THAT LOOK.

[afinedilemma]

I'm not sure if I missed something the first time around... Maybe it's better explained without translation or in the source material, but the memory that we're shown when Rong Hao meets the Evil God shows him arguing with Orchid's parents about how he massacred the Xilan tribe to get the goddess. Later on, however, the show talks about Dongfang Qingcang having killed her tribe... Is this just because of proxy? Ex. Had he not waged war, the goddess of war wouldn't have sacrificed herself, and therefore Rong Hao wouldn't have done what he did? A little unfair... Maybe it's a plot hole or maybe I missed something... Halp?

[primasylph]

If this world is LBFAD, I'm Die Yi.

[forestleafff]

nothing to see here, just me sobbing while listening to Joji's "Glimpse of Us" and flora cash's "You're Somebody Else" and seeing DFQC's POV when he still thinks XLH post-resurrection truly lost her memories