Kseniya Green

I feel the same. And when I think about what is wrong ... For me personally, it seems to me that the problem is that the director is trying to please everyone at once. To fit into the drama the maximum of everything that evokes the love of the audience. And so far he has managed to maintain a balance quite well. But still, with this approach, something is lost. Playing on several sides at once leads to the fact that none of them is fully developed. And this lack of stretching of all lines personally causes this scraping feeling of dissatisfaction in me.

My thoughts at this moment: the director decided to cover all possible pairings, including selfcest 😂😭😅

In my subjective perception (others may see it differently) the situation with the romance in this drama is very... peculiar. Like a secret message, in which there is an obvious text, and there is something written in secret ink between the lines. And so far the director, with the skill of a circus performer, balances between the "official" hetero romance and a strong queer subtext. Let's see if he can maintain the balance closer to the end, but for now the drama allows you to watch it as a bl story, and consider the relationship of the hetero couple as platonic, if you prefer.

It really does look like there was love between Yuanzhou and Li Lun (like the hairpin moment - as far as I know, in China, only spouses pin each other's hair). But Li Lun's love turned into hate. And Yuanzhou's love turned into pain and guilt. They can't step into that river a second time, and I definitely don't want to imagine them as a couple now.

I want to add to the list of queer coded moments - a sad story between a demon - a water dragon and a human. (And the fact that the demon looks like a mermaid - hello to Andersen's "The Little Mermaid", which he actually wrote about his sad homosexual love)
And how the plot arc with the red moon essentially begins with the image of this demon, lying humiliated on the ground, with his clothes torn off, in front of the man he loved.
And ends with the image of Yichen covering Yuanzhou with his cloak.
This is sooooooo intentional.

Yes. And if you look closely - all the time it is Yichen who is the one trying to make Yuanzhou want to live. Like in the scene with that little sword dance. And especially after the red moon - it is Yichen who says maybe harsh words but essentially meaning "I want you to live for us, not die for us".
Yichen is the only one who has seen Yuanzhou scars - literally and metaphorically - and this is the level of intimacy that immediately takes their relationship to another level compared to the others.
And when Li Lun appears, behaving absolutely like an obsessed ex, when he wants to hurt Yuanzhou - he tries to make him choose between one of his friends and Yichen every time. And his words to Yichen: "You will kill him one day, don't think that you won" sound absolutely like a curse "He may love you, but you will not have a happily ever after anyway"

Overall, I like how ZYZ and ZYC mirror each other in that one represents the tragedy of not having control. And the other represents the tragedy of having that final control. His hand is on the switch, and he don't want to turn that switch for anything in the world, but... He kind of have an obligation, as the only one who has that switch.

We all feel very sorry for ZYZ - and of course he is a very tragic hero, deeply sympathetic.
But I think people don't talk much about what this whole situation is like for ZYC. Maybe because Yichen himself tries not to express his feelings - he is not very good at dealing with emotions in general.
But in reality, he is a very gentle person. And he is already very attached to ZYZ - much more than he lets on, more than he is willing to admit. Revenge has ceased to be his motive long ago.
So attached that he is willing to risk his life for him without a second thought. But what about the lives of other people? Does he have the right to risk them?
He still can't escape the fate of being the only key to defusing this bomb if things go wrong. And this paints for him a fate similar to ZYZ - to become the one who destroys his "best friend". Only unlike ZYZ, Yichen will then be fully aware of his actions, all the way to hell, which makes things much, much worse.

I see it the same way. It's not the attitude of his loved ones, but his own guilt + the feeling of inevitable doom that prevents him from hoping. Yichen wants ZYZ to hope and fight for his life, wants with all his heart. But it's hard for him to express it. Not only because of his losses, but even more because of his role in it. If something goes wrong, it's his duty to defuse this bomb. No one can do it instead of him. So he tries to keep his distance from ZYZ (and fails more and more).

When Li Lun tells Zhuo Yichen "You'll kill him one day. Do you think you've won?"
It's so screaming "You won't have him anyway" from heartbroken ex.

I'm putting it under a spoiler so as not to irritate people with my opinion - everyone has the right to their own perception and the drama is deliberately constructed in such a way that it provides food for many ships.
But for me personally, the relationship between the main characters feels more like a platonic family relationship. The relationship between the ZYC/ZYZ/LL triangle feels the most passionate and poignant. I have a feeling that if not for censorship, their would be the main line. And even the WX/PSJ relationship seems more alive to me than between the main hetero couple.

Ok, this is not a love triangle - it is a love "Rorschach figure". Like in a projective test in psychology - everyone can see the combination of relationships they want. Personally, I am not a fan of such tricks. But I can understand why they do it.

Exactly. When Li Lun asks "Is it really that hard to choose, Zhou Yichen is your enemy" I thought that in this kind of drama, there are three types of enemies.
The normal enemy.
The "my deep passion for you has turned into poison" enemy.
And the "we all pretended that my gay panic is anger, but I would definitely die for you at any moment" enemy. Li Lun and Zhou Yichen occupy the second and third types respectively.

She has such a problem. But she will probably overcome it as the drama progresses.

In my perception, WX is more about the old rules, as written in books. ZYC is more about will and choosing the right thing at the moment. And that this choice and feeling of the right thing here and now can contradict the old laws.
WX talks about control over demons.
ZYC is more likely someone who wants to give others freedom of choice. Not the freedom of chaos. But the freedom that comes with personal responsibility.

Yes. And people who complained that the story is repeating have not delved into the meaning of the drama. This feeling of a tragedy repeating itself from century to century, from millennium to millennium, is created intentionally. This is a vicious circle of hopeless fate, which - I hope - the heroes will try to break during the second half of the drama.
They all have a fate that seems to be predetermined in their very origin. Both ZYZ and WX seem to have already resigned themselves to this fate (her words about who is destined to fall)
But ZYC is the first who has already decided to fight fate in the depths of his soul.

Future episodes will show whether I am right, but for now I have a feeling that the meaning of this character is that initially her role as a goddess represents the side of order and rules in the world (it is no coincidence that she talks about control over demons).
That is, we have the side of elemental freedom and the power of the unconscious, represented by demons.
There is the side of rational rules, represented by the gods.
And there is the theme of will and choice, associated primarily with the human world.

Subjectively, for me, the main heroes have the vibe of old spouses who both realized that they are not hetero and found new love, but maintained warm family relationships with each other 😁

On the topic of some comments that the drama is not interesting enough - the thing is that this drama is more of a philosophical parable than a classic fantasy story. A story-reflection - about dreams and reality, conscious and unconscious, freedom and compulsion.
And the main suspense is not in "who is the main villain", but in what choice the heroes will make in the end. And will they be able to break the repeating circle of tragedy that we have already been shown through the stories of other heroes.

I really like the theme of consciousness, free will on the one hand - and unconsciousness, surrender to circumstances on the other hand in the drama, I really hope that the second half and the finale will not disappoint in this regard.
All the stories we went through describe this theme from different sides - escape from reality into the world of fantasy, dreams, becoming a puppet to realize your desire, isolation or suicide as an escape from reality that you can not cope with. All these stories end tragically.
And the story of the main characters seems to be moving along the same scenario, but ... By the end of episode 17, we kind of go through this scenario to the end, and I see no point in repeating it. It seems to me that the heroes will be able to change their fate.