Ackery

Keep your murderous tendencies for later. I feel it will get worse and I will join you.

"No matter what happens, I do not lose myself." -> Exactly and that is the main difference between him and LL. Both went through different things, obviously with different intensity, but LL lost himself on the way and put his protection above most things.

"This graceful firmness of not-yet-fully-demon ZYC in black clothing still retaining his humanity hits hard, because this is what LL used to be." -> I didn't really make that connection, but I can see what you mean especially thinking about their interaction. TJR looks so good in that clothing though. Same with the blue one before and it fits perfectly with his new self.

"I actually see it as a good sign that LL rejects the umbrella to remember he never needed one to begin with. It can be interpreted in multiple ways..." -> The comment I mentioned previously also has to do with that scene. It was very nicely shot and like you said it can be interpreted with many different ways and many of them can be true at the same time.

"And yet, the gulf between them is not about how long one has lived, but how one chooses to live."
What ZYC said to LL was a hurtful, but truthful reminder. ZYC, for me, is a painful realization of what LL could be, but chose not to and it truly is hard to take.
LL has his reasons for turning to what he is today and it is understandable why he did, but in reality he was never "forced". He chose that path, like ZYC chose his own and I believe that LL had justified his choice in his mind, but now, seeing ZYC, he realized that he could have chosen a completely different route despite what he went through and that hurts the most.

ZYC was superior to LL in that scene and it was evident from the way GJM shot the scene. At first we had Li Lun above ZYC both literally and metaphorically. He seemed to be having the upper hand. He talked to him like he is in the right while ZYC listens. Later, when ZYC "attacked" and LL fell into the water the perspective completely changed. Now, ZYC was the one "above" LL shot wise and from the interaction that followed, it was evident that ZYC was superior mentality wise too and LL did realize that something that made the umbrella scene that happened next even more impactful.

"Demons seem to become very vulnerable when they trust (could be due to emotional naivety and innocence akin to a child), and hence a betrayal hits them more deeply, but it doesn't mean they have the emotional ability and maturity to process the emotional wounds of what they have experienced. Zhu Yin was very knowledgeable and old but in the end, that one betrayal from the scholar who became the Prime Minister made him believe humans will never accept demons." -> I think it does have to do mostly with emotional naivety and general naivety about humans and the way they work and betray.
Both humans and demons are prejudiced when it comes to one another. Humans believe all demons are bad and demons believe that no human will ever understand them. That's why, like mentioned before, LL was satisfied with WX's answer about humans having multiple faces, cause from his perspective demons don't. If they are evil, they are just that. If they are kind, they are kind. They don't create lies about them being kind. But humans can act kind and considerate while stabbing you in the back.

And that is the reason why ZYC is such a powerful character. Cause now he has been in both shoes.

He was a human, considered a hero by everyone. Knowing ZYZ, the man that slaughtered his family, he hated him at first. When he got to know him and understand how and why all that happened, he still had an underlying hate -that he felt the need to keep- not because he truly hated ZYZ, but because he lost important people because of an uncontrollable force.

Now, with him turning into a demon, he can fully understand ZYZ and what it truly means to be a demon. What it means for everyone to hate and resent you, even if you didn't do anything wrong; just because of who you are. And that is a tragic realization that you can only truly comprehend if you experience it and ZYC does.

That is why that specific scene with the flashback in the pavilion was great along with the close ups to his face and the shot of everyone pointing and shouting at him. ZYC is what the series truly wants to point out. That no matter what you are and no matter what you experience; no matter the hardships you have been through, in the end what you become is your choice. You chose the path for your own self. In reality, and the team of the series proves that, every person and every demon is different and that is the beauty of life, immortal or not.

LL water scene bts for whoever is interested:
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNecnnB72/

" Also, I appreciate that LL finally realises how pitiful and small his mindset has become, because ZYC is able to get through to LL directly and frankly. " -> This.

I agree, I think ZYC pointing it out to LL was much more impactful anyways, cause sometimes hearing the truth from an outsider is more world-shaking, especially taking into consideration that LL could easily disregard it if he heard the same things from ZYZ -that yes, I don't think he would be able to give such a speech anyways-.

The thing is that ZYC has similar traits to LL and similar experiences -of course taking into consideration that one has lived for hundreds of years and the other only 24- yet he is a very different person and that hit LL very hard. It was a bitter, yet truthful realization.

He also can't easily come in terms with the fact that it was partly his fault that he ended up the way he did and he is trying to make others understand him or turn into someone like him. What he doesn't comprehend is that people are shaped differently and uniquely because of way too many different things. A betrayal no matter how grave doesn't turn everyone to a villain and kindness doesn't turn everyone to a good person.

The iqiyi link: https://www.iq.com/play/fangs-of-fortune-25rgdtncpm4?lang=en_us

If it doesn't show, I only found part of the preview on x: https://x.com/lovelyjkks/status/1855948796573724829

I think it will happen sooner or later -probably in like the last few eps-.

Lol, I don't remember what the contract said entirely, but that could seriously have some pretty bad consequences for him 😂

I am not that into the main romance, I don't feel it honestly, but even if I did, I think that from what we have seen so far it will certainly be tissues that we will need. Ngl, I prefer a tragic ending, cause I do believe it would fit the series much more than an unrealistic or forced happy ending.

No matter the case, it better be well written 😂

There is for ep. 26!

That is a very interesting pov. When he put him into sleep, I did believe he did it to avoid losing time by fighting him, but why didn't he just kill him afterwards? Or do you mean "death" when you are referring to the fact " he could never wake up"?

Episode 25 is epic imo and it was also terrific visually and acting wise. That scene with LL and ZYC was phenomenal and I think you will enjoy it, since it portrays the feelings and the true selves of these two characters perfectly.
I have made a post about it above regarding some scenes and I would love it if you could read it when you watch it and tell me your thoughts.
https://kisskh.at/755301-the-story-of-mystics#comment-19426784

This episode was fantastic in my opinion from beginning to end and everyone did a magnificent job acting and character-wise.

However, I want to mention specific thoughts I had during the episode, that basically made it so much more impactful and interesting to watch for me.


💥@homaKP mentioned yesterday in her post that " Those who understand you, feel the pain (and efforts behind it)" and I think that this was evident in today's episode.
ZYC turning into a demon was a huge hit for his character. Let's not forget that for quite a few years he was hunting demons and the purpose of his life was to kill the one that slaughtered his family. And now, he became the thing he hated the most.
But, because of the experiences he gained and because of ZYZ, it is evident that his opinion about yao/demons has changed dramatically, something that he also mentions to LL when he tells him that people do not hate all demons, but the evil and bloodthirsty ones. ZYC is mature enough to understand that the people hate him, because they don't understand. At the same time, ZYZ is now fully protective of ZYC because he knows what he is going through. He knows what it's like to be unable to control yourself and cause harm, which made both the "I will save you" and the "turning into demon mode scene in front of everyone" scenes much more impactful.


That aside, I want to applaud GJM for three specific scenes that were directed to perfection.
💥 The scene in the pavilion
Emotional tension and sadness aside, there was one particular frame where the crowd pushes ZYC into the water and we see a wide shot of him sitting "in" the water and of the people pointing and shouting at him! It was a phenomenally shot scene, despite the fact that it barely lasted. It showed that ZYC understood why everyone was acting the way they did and he was mostly blaming himself. With the flashback that followed, the series pointed out how easy it is for people to change their opinion for someone they once considered a hero (something that also portrays today's society). I loved how it was evident that he didn't held resentment for the people treating him like that.


💥Li Lun x ZYC scene
I will not go ahead and analyze it, cause it is a pretty well written scene with some amazing quotes and it shows in a fantastic way that LL and ZYC are different, despite them having some similar experiences. What I will mention though is how it was shot.
At first, ZYC is on the ground, injured internally and emotionally from everything that went down beforehand. LL appears and stands above him. From those shots it looks like LL has the upper hand. He is "above" ZYC both literally and metaphorically. BUT then ZYC pushes LL into the water and the perspective changes entirely. Now, LL is beneath ZYC shot-wise. And by the exchange that happens next, it is obvious that ZYC is "above" LL mentality wise too. When he told him that he will never be able to understand him, but he understood ZYZ, the hit LL received from those words was very big.


💥Ao Yin shielding LL with the umbrella
Umbrellas are quite important in the drama so far. Specifically, LL gifted ZYZ an umbrella. If you can remember, when he did it, there was that scene where ZYZ looked up to see why he wasn't being drenched from the rain anymore and it was because LL was holding the umbrella above him. Like @Xiang83 mentioned in our conversation, that scene was also symbolic. LL is a tree "demon". Him shielding ZYZ with the umbrella relates to his "tree form". In other words, LL covered ZYZ with the umbrella the same way trees cover people from the rain.

Now, in the end of the episode, Ao Yin covers LL with the umbrella she holds. LL looks up -like in the scene with ZYZ-, but in the end he ends up walking in the rain without an umbrella and without a care in the world. That scene felt super impactful, cause it could be interpreted in so many different ways (most of which I have probably not even thought yet). LL avoiding the umbrella, because of the emotional connection with ZYZ and their past or we could say that that scene portrayed his conflicting emotions after the conversation he had with ZYC and his need to get away from mortal creations.

It's because of the contract they made in the first eps that he can't. Whenever he gets close to her in a romantic and not "colleague" way, his heart receives a painful hit. That is why he pulled back.

"ZYZ's knowledge of what happened to Yinglong and Bing Yi is based on traditional oral lore, but it might not be correct" -> I agree and I think it was also evident from what ZYZ said when he was narrating the story vs what ZYC heard and saw in his "dream".

"Where ZYZ couldn't escape the cage in ep 18, LL could escape in ep 24. Is LL actually weaker than ZYZ?" (* I know you mentioned some of these, but I am reading your comment, while also answering and I hadn't got to that point yet, so I'm going to keep my thoughts in this answer) -> That is a valid statement. First thing that came to mind when I watched that scene was that LL was able to escape because of his true form -and therefore his ability to turn into leaves- comparing to ZYZ that is mostly escaping difficult situations using his "spells". But now that you mention it, I remembered that ZYZ also had some type of "teleportation" powers like LL, that were evident when he suddenly appeared in front of Bai Jiu after BJ visited his home -and after his betrayal-. So, I am wondering if LL is stronger or if ZYZ simply doesn't have such ability cause of his true form. (Plus, I do feel like ZYZ just refuses to use his entire power sometimes, because he is aware it can be very harmful and "malicious").

"being in a human body with Divine power might enable LL to not be fully restricted" -> This is a pretty good theory

"If he had attacked her head-on instead of standing there like a lovestruck male torn between staying or fleeing, she wouldn't have even been able to start playing her tune and would die." -> I had a similar thought in other scenes where ZYZ was filled with malicious energy with the most recent being in ep. 23 when WX got close to ZYC to explain what had happened with LL and they had their conversation while ZYZ could have easily attacked and killed both of them. I am actually wondering if in his "malicious energy state" he has some type of control and conscience -even though they have hinted otherwise-.
A similar situation that made me wonder was when he made ZYC "sleep" when he was trying to attack him -during the blood moon ep.- and instead of killing him in his dream state he went ahead, pat his head and moved forward.

"Ep 25 preview is also heartbreaking for ZYC but is going to result in quite a lot of fanfiction, because I'm sure some parts of cnet will find it impossible to resist pairing LL and ZYC." -> I don't know about Cnets, but I have seen some edits on tiktok already lol
Plus, LL seems to like stepping on ZYC with his foot 😂

I've been meaning to watch that drama for ages, but still haven't 😭

Same!

Thank you for sharing! I will pass for the time being, cause I don't want spoilers (so also thanks for the warning).

Me searching about sea scorpions cause YL mentioned them -> worst idea of the month 😀

I agree with every single point.

This episode felt like a breath of fresh air and I also really liked seeing more of Bing Yi. His characters and Ying Leis are super interesting!

And yeap, I also really like ZYC so there is that.

I honestly needed more of that backstory and I feel that we may do find out more about them in the nest eps. I am wondering if ZYZ's knowledge about their story is actually fully true or if there are things he even don't know.

I'm sorry, but that scene where LL was trapped unexpectedly in that cage and then was like "really?" and turned into leaves and left was hilarious 😂

Thank you <3

Kudos to the people that made the costumes, cause they are magnificent. I love how they are ideal for every character taking into consideration their origins and personalities.

ZYZ's really evokes the "all powerful, lived for thousands of years" aura. Especially that outfit on the first episodes -I think from ep. 2- with the white fur and the red undertones was so freaking smart taking into consideration that according to mythology Zhu Yan had "a white head and red feet". Same with Wen Xiao being dressed mainly in brighter and lighter tones, cause she was given the Baize token cause of her purity and kindness. ZYC being able to manipulate water and blue being a part of his attire seems to be connected with the fact that Bing Yi -his apparent ancestor- according to Chinese mythology was a river god and probably have something to do with his real self, especially since the "scales" in his clothes are being underlined a lot.

Chinese mythology is pretty fascinating. Pity that I cannot find the book this series has taken inspiration from in english.