#lhl episode 38

[lyselkatzfandomluvs]

Mysterious Lotus Casebook 蓮花樓

Okay but HuaHua and a-Fei actually spent TWO NIGHTS AND A WHOLE DAY in that wedding chamber.

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Jiâo-jie tells HuaHua the wedding is in 3 days.

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Later in the episode, in the scene with a-Fei, she says the wedding is for the day after tomorrow.

HuaHua witnesses that, so it has taken him a day or so to get out of his cell and find Jiâo-jie's quarters.

~~~

When they leave the chamber, Jiâo-jie is in her wedding gown so it's supposedly the Big Day.

Do with this what you will. 🤭

[rinbylin]

top 5 dihua moments

HELLO ohhh goddd if i really really really have to pick... I'LL TRY (in tears)

in chronological order of the episodes:

(1) “你这个人最大的弱点就是喜欢当英雄。一个剑客不该有弱点。” your greatest weakness is that you like being a hero. a swordsman should be without weaknesses. (ep 1)

i'm as in love with the entire donghai scene as much as the next person but this dialogue is particularly special to me. so it was the first one i pinned down for this list. no hesitation. :)

it's a cornerstone of dihua's relationship; the thesis of lxy/llh's and their joint narrative. it prompts the deconstruction of the staple wuxia ideas of 侠 xia and heroism - which is what i really love lhl for. and dfs being the one to deliver this incredibly crucial and significant line is 10/10. he knew lxy even better than lxy did. he is the bearer and catalyst of lhl's story, lxy/llh's story.

"your greatest weakness is that you like being a hero. a swordsman should be without weaknesses." so what does it even mean to be a hero. is it more important to be a hero than being human. and i will become human. i am human and always have been. and i have weaknesses - i cannot win against fate, i am dying. but what ever is even wrong with being weak? being human is to have weaknesses. so i guess it's no wonder for the narrative to come in a full circle with dfs coming in possession of a weakness and be trapped in it. no longer the killer of di fortress. he's just a human being.

and llh bringing this up again in ep 11 feels to me that he had been carrying these words with him over the past 10 years. bicha and the battle have transformed him physically. but i like to think that dfs's words had an important role to play in an even deeper level of change.

all it took was this one scene to sell to me that this would probably be the kind of narrative i love.

(2) reunion in the woods (ep 8)

it's just so fucking good like literally every dihua scene. who doesn't love a good post-divorce first meeting scene. there's just a lot to chew on. most of all, llh just had to keep reminding dfs how well he knew dfs. we know the moon has always been this bright, alright. AND they were threatening each other. very sexy of them.

(3) whatever the heck was going between them in cailianzhuang arc (ep 11)

truly nothing brings out old married couple + parents vibes better than an inquisitive boy accusing you two of being up to something secretive behind his back. both their guilty expressions. :3 also dfs being the first person huahua goes to when he doesn't want to be alone. huahua being exceptionally chatty around dfs and dfs has no problem entertaining him. :3 they're totally on the same wavelength without having to say anything to each other and this arc brings it out so well.

(4) 腊月���十七 donghai anniversary wedding night (ep 38)

this is the last one i came up for the list after fighting a whole war in my mind over which 5 of the 100000 beloved scenes to pick. hate being predictable but. you just HAVE to give it to it. how do you NOT pick this for a top 5. all the 10 million other top 5 dihua scenes just had to make space for the anniversary scene. :'(

if i had to be even more specific, i think the scene of them in bed most likely takes the cake for me. llh literally saved dfs's life and helped him to become the stronger person he has always wanted to be. and perhaps no other moment exhibits the complementary yin and yang nature of their powers/energies in a more illustrative and palpable way. undershirts in bed just hits different from being fully clothed and one person literally having to keep the other person alive by touch...and this time it's llh for dfs despite the whole time it's dfs who was dedicated to keep llh alive. they have no lack of scenes that exhibit how in sync they are intellectually, and this is peak physical intimacy and tenderness, added with a brush with death/mortality yeah...

(5) llh/lxy's farewell to dfs (ep 40)

playing cheat here by combining two different moments :) but they are essentially connected. llh/lxy had to leave. and since it really had to be that way, i'm glad dfs was on his mind until the very end. what more can one ask for. there is really nothing more dear and tender in the world to be thought of

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tl;dr: /blows kisses to every dihua moment

[potahun]

Favourite BGM tracks in LHL

because i love this OST to death. it's a gift among cdrama osts. all links go to YT

Category: "Character" Themes

世上再無李相夷 | Never A Li Xiangyi Again In The World

少俠方多病 | Young Hero Fang Duobing

笛盟主 | Director Di

(i use the term "character theme" loosely, since, interestingly, "Director Di" often plays during Jiao Liqiao scenes -- uwu make of it what you will -- and there are other tracks with character names in them)

Category: Epic/Battle Themes

鏖戰 | Fierce Battle (plays, among others, during part of the donghai battle, as well as in ep18 during dfs vs sigu sect masters)

破阵 | Break The Formation (unofficial Li Xiangyi theme imo because it plays a lot when he has to act as LXY. notably plays during that scene in ep27 ;_;)

相夷太劍 | XiangYi Swordplay (notably, plays for a large part of the donghai duel)

白刃 | White Blade Edge (when a certain character stirs trouble)

Category: Spy Galore

婆娑步 | Swirling Steps (plays a lot during detectiv-ing moments, and is also the episode cutter theme)

Category: Nostalgic and Sentimental

紅綢慢 | Slow Red Silk (notably, plays during the ep 19 conversation between qiao wanmian and li lianhua in the sigu sect courtyard. this track kills me TT)

人世太匆忙变奏 | The World Is Too Hasty Instrumental Vers. (plays, notably, when he xiaohui tells the story of he xiaolan)

守護 | To Protect (notably, plays when fdb mourns what he had with li lianhua on the roof, in ep 28)

山外变奏 | Beyond The Mountains - Instrumental Vers (notably, plays during ep 19 "i didn't underestimate you" fanghua scene, ep 38 wedding wine scene, and ep 15 fanghua rooftop drinking scene)

诉说 | Recountings (plays when fdb watches the moon, alone this time)

一壶莲花醉变奏 | Drunk On A Pot of Lotus Wine - Instrumental Vers.

Category: Mysterious and/or Ominous

玉城诡案 | Thrilling Case of Jade City (i love the mix of gothic with traditional chinese instruments/gufeng)

扑朔迷离 | Bewildering (notably, plays in ep 1 during the night opening of the coffin uwu. slaps best with earphones)

魔音缭绕 | Lingering Mystical Sounds (di feisheng waking up after 10 years, among others)

Category: Jiang Hu Spirit

山外游志 | Beyond The Mountains, Travel Notes Vers. (notably, plays during the sigu sect revival scene aka "i was in line waiting for wontons")

念破人世太匆忙 | The Word Is Too Hasty (Electric Guitar Vers)

Category: Shenanigans

房車日常 | Daily Life In The Caravan (Ep1 Li Lianhua's first scene anyone?)

中二症 | Chuunibyou (plays often in daily caravan scenes)

蒙面 | Masked (notably, dfs eats very fast, ep 8)

Just making this compilation had me amazed again at the huge breadth in variety of this OST, and how each track stands alone as a beautiful track regardless of the show, but, placed within it, also makes the story so much more alive <33333