#what happened to benzuo will kill you

[glorious-sunset]

LBFAD Reflections – Index

Like many LBFAD (Love between Fairy and Devil) viewers, I was amazed by the complexity of the plot, just begging for a rewatch! As I began slowly rewatching it, many new things became clear, such as, what were characters actually thinking, now that we knew their backstory? Often their thoughts didn’t match their words. What was happening between scenes, since the fast pace meant that a lot was happening off-screen? Some of the smallest actions and plot developments now had so much deep meaning! And many parallels became clear between events of different episodes and different character arcs.

Rewatching LBFAD, I had so many mental notes in my head on all of these, that I thought I should put them into words. Indulging my love of writing, I wrote my reflections and insights on each episode into a story format and found my favourite set of screenshots from each episode to complement them. I also described my insights on the series overall in separate articles. These may be interesting to others wanting to reminisce on the multidimensional characters and engaging plotlines of this most inspiring series!

This post is a table of contents to each of my LBFAD articles and episode reflections. None of them are spoiler-free. My reflections on ep. 3 onwards are story-like, while eps 1 and 2 are more scene-setting. The links to each post are on their titles.

Location Names in LBFAD – Meaning and Significance

For English viewers, some of the location names in LBFAD are given in Mandarin. However, the meanings of these names have deep significance that are lost in translation! Here are my translations and interpretations of these meanings.

Character Names in LBFAD – Meaning and Significance

What’s in a name? For the characters of LBFAD, a whole lot of hidden meanings! These are not apparent to English viewers. Here are my translations and interpretations of these meanings.

How Immortals age in cdramas - clues from LBFAD

How does ageing work for these lucky immortals in terms of human appearance? LBFAD gives us a few clues about this mysterious process!

LBFAD Artwork Hidden Meanings - Opening Artwork | Closing Artwork Part 1 | Part 2

The created artworks used for LBFAD are unique and have many hidden layers of meaning! Here are my interpretations of these stunning works of art.

Episode 1

Changheng’s destiny leaf has unexpectedly changed – but the destinies of high gods are supposed to be very stable! His destiny changed because of DFQC's actions. In the last episode of the series DFQC changes XLH’s destiny as well. This is great foreshadowing! And it highlights DFQC’s unique tendency to break nature’s laws time and time again!

Episode 2

“Don’t forget, your body is in benzuo’s (this seat of power’s) hands now”.

XLH, mocking his self-address, angrily retorts that “ben gu niang (this girl) is going to make you bald now!” The moment she angrily starts tugging at her hair is when he first notices the effect of the one-heart curse she cast on him, which causes him phantom physical pain even when body-swapped!

Episode 3

How could such a weak and pathetic creature, who can’t even protect herself, have cursed him, the most powerful being in the three realms?! No wonder he would “very very very very much like to kill” her. The fact that he can’t is tremendously frustrating and he is boiling inside.

Episode 4

XLH has now upgraded her nickname for him from the insulting “little celestial criminal” to “Big Qiang” (Da Qiang), the transition from little to big reflecting the growth of her regard for him. She affectionately calls him Da Qiang from now on. His nickname for her, “Xiao Hua Yao”, little flower demon, is his appraising way of calling her a wicked little flower, or a flower with thorns.

Episode 5

DFQC has many enemies who scheme behind his back and want to kill him, is aware of Shiyuntian’s unflattering propaganda around him, and never gave these insults a second thought. But when XLH says that “even the air becomes clearer” without him around, it is like a sharp stab to his gut. When even the thoughts of the mightiest kings don’t bother him, why should the words of an inconsequential little flower?!

Episode 6

Yunzhong carefully eavesdrops on their every exchange. He is not unsympathetic to Changheng’s plight. As a member of the ruling family, Yunzhong himself had to sacrifice the love of his life to fulfil his responsibilities. That is why he allowed CH to keep the handkerchief of his love as a memento, on the strict understanding that his duties must always come first.

Episode 7

As they sit down to tea together in their usual idyllic alcove, XLH reminisces about the joyful memories they have created together over the past ten days or so. Just yesterday, during one of their regular teatime chats, she had happily recounted to him how she had seen snow fall in Haishi for the first time recently. To her delight, he had created snow around Arbiter Hall for her, and a little campfire to warm themselves by as they watched the falling snowdrifts together.

Episode 8

DFQC roughly brushes a tear from XLH’s cheek and we see that the greenhouse flowers are in bloom! They are linked to XLH’s mood, so despite Changheng smashing her dreams, DFQC’s efforts to comfort her have had a far greater impact, and she is now happy.

LBFAD is the most inspiring series I have ever watched and here is why…

…Aesthetically, I found the beautiful 4K production quality as enjoyable as high-budget productions such as Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. …Every single character of note in the series goes through profound character growth, the only exception being the abstract ultimate villain Taisui….

All of my LBFAD articles can also be viewed with the tag #lbfad reflections (hyperlinked).

More LBFAD articles and episode reviews to follow!

[shangyangjunzhu]

when both you and your crush have to deal with love rivals gods of war...

- episode 22, love between fairy and devil 苍兰诀