#this show is genuinely 50% romcom shenanigans and 50% satisfying character development I may never stop talking about it

[bellanut]

I’m deep in my LBFAD rewatch, and im finally at Lucheng which I am OBSESSED with. There’s this quiet softness to Daqiang and Orchid here that is mesmerizing. Theres a disconnect that they’re both navigating so cautiously. Because of how much they now care about each other they have something to lose. They aren’t saying everything out loud anymore. They’re holding back. And they both feel that shift and aren’t sure what to do about it. And there’s this, like, identity defining conflict between them thats obviously causing a communication breakdown. Orchid is very much trying to figure out who she’s going to be on her own with her own ethics and allegiances while also loving and wanting to protect this man she’s at odds with. And he’s just, like, delightfully stubborn and confused and frustrated by these FEELINGS he’s having and the impact she has on him now. He can no longer act completely of his own accord because she now takes up space in his heart and in his mind and in his life. He isn’t alone anymore, and he’s not used to that. Literally, please, the way he keeps saying things like “well since there’s apparently no love between us anymore”, this man is so funny, he keeps throwing that in her face with these pleading eyes hoping she’ll take it back because when exactly did he give her the power to pull the rug out from under him like that?? And this is honestly one of my favourite moments in the whole show:

Do you think Ive been abnormal lately? I’ve been distracted. I can’t concentrate. Especially when it comes to Orchid. Sometimes, I should be angry, but I can’t get angry. I even hope she will make me angry. But she… she always used to talk my ear off. But now, she doesn’t want to spend a single second with me. It has become quiet.

*clutches chest* PLEASE. Im going to watch this section as slowly as I can and savour every moment because I know by the end of it they will be fully burn-every-ember-of-the-sun devoted to each other and it’ll be time to destroy entire universes for each other 🙃🫠