Thoughts On Moonlight Mystique

Fangs of Fortune and Li Lun

GJM is really great in terms of visuals: young and beautiful actors and actresses, their acting, decorations, frame building, coloring, costumes – I’ve never seen such a beautiful thing in whole my drama-viewing career! But GJM is like Chinese J.J. Abrams: everything in his work should impress viewer with visuals and plot twists, even if it harms the plot and the link between viewers and characters, and I can’t say that it’s something good (although FoF was VERY good looking). If I need to explain to someone what to expect from FoF in one GIF, it would be this one 😅:

"WTF is going on?" you may ask. "I don't know either" I will answer.

And these are closing credits. They were different almost each next ep, strange, but somewhat comforting. At least actors had fun filming it. Yan An is so nice here. I need to feel related to the characters and to understand the rules of the fictional world to dive fully into the story, but I gave up on my pathetic attempts to understand how this world works very quickly, because the whole story was the one huge Deus Ex Machina. I swear, I have never seen such a series in my life, in which you can meet deus ex machina not just a couple of times per story, but the couple of times per EPISODE. EACH EPISODE. The logic of main heroes’ actions also remained a mystery for me (maybe their mindset was too divine for me, I’m an earthly person after all), so I couldn’t feel related to any of the mains, and their problems were absolutely uninteresting for me.

But suddenly I felt related to Li Lun. He was the only one in this story who didn’t have a plot twist up his sleeve, and his actions were pretty understandable (unlike ones of the mains).

BTS. Yan An and Hou Minghao are having fun. There are two ways to tell the story: either you create characters and let them tell the story by themselves, or you create a story and bend your characters to fit it in. Unfortunately, FoF is the second variant: I understood what type of a story GJM wanted to tell through Li Lun’s character, but he chose two tropes (getting over an obsession and prejudice overcoming) and didn’t work out any of them in a valid way. However, I’m a professional in loving characters whose stories weren’t constructed in a satisfying way and am fond of LL anyway (I cut something like 80 GIFs, so I will post 3-part-recap with my thoughts on LL soon).

BTS. Yan An with Hou Minghao, Tian Jiarui and Lin Ziye. Btw, I ‘ve never heard of Yan An before this drama, but he acted so good in FoF, I would like to see more of his actor works.

Yan An is shivering from cold. How this man was supposed to play a villain? Look at him, he is a cinnamon roll! However, he did it well 💙

Swooning over a secondary character (again), Pt. 3/3

Dandelions as a symbol of a longing for salvation (and of their love as well, which is SYMBOLIC).

He is about to run away with his sister (who is happened to be lovesick and heart-broken, too) but then he learns it was his lover who ordered assassin to shot him and decides to talk to her one more time before leaving. He is foolishly brave, as usually. Maybe he is very understanding, too, and this wicked attempt to make him stay said to him how desperate the princess needed him, or something, idk, it's never been said in the story.

They meet in private again and she says she wants to run away, too. He is reluctant and it makes her upset.

But finally feelings take over rationality and he promises to take her away with him. But this secret tryst was watched by Kim Cha-eon's spies, so now he is sure his daughter is pregnant with Moo-yeon's child. And also he knows Moo-yeon lied to him about killing of the Crown Prince. This all doesn't bode well for Moo-yeon.

Kim Cha-eon takes Moo-yeon hostage and threats his daughter to kill him off if she doesn`t obediently play her role of a Crown Princess, pregnant with Crown Prince's child. He is also not happy with her humble choice of a baby's father.

Meanwhile, during the investigation of his own murder attempt, the amnesiac Crown Prince makes a big mess in Kim Cha-eon's mansion and finds something very interesting in vice-prime minister's barn...

So here we have a sweet family reunion. A wanna-be-murderer of the Crown Prince turns out to be a big brother of a woman he loves.

After blaming Moo-yeon for leading such a miserable and disgraceful life and serving for a murderer of their father (even if it all was for her sake), Yoon Yi-seo tells him to hand himself over to the Crown Prince and to confess his crimes (which is a death sentence for him for sure) and Moo-yeon does it.

Moo-yeon tells the Crown Prince that Kim Cha-eon tried to kill him because Kim So-hye is pregnant with Moo-yeon's baby and the Crown Prince says no his beloved's brother nor his unfaithful wife will be forgiven.

"Escort the Crown Princess out of palace. She went out in the deaf of night to meet her paramour and was killed there. "

The Crown Prince didn't forgive them but let them run away together just as they wished to. I don't care there are 1,5 more eps, this drama ended up for me here, they ran away and lived maybe not super-happily, but free together and raised their child in love. The end.

"Once it heavily rained for a long time. The whole soil was drowned and even dandelions were about to die. A small dandelion prayed to the skies. It pleaded for salvation. Then suddenly the wind blew. The dandelion's seeds took flight and landed on a sunny hill. Shortly after they sprouted and bloomed. If we ride the wind, we will be able to bloom somewhere else, too."

Here is Part 1 Here is Part 2

Dark (2017-2020, Netflix)

Just rewatched Dark and I`m in love and in pain, pain, PAIN...

Beware of being heavily spoiled ahead.

The first painful question: would you save your father from sufferings, if it would mean for you to be erased from existence for good? (From this question on started my love for this show).

The second question: is it really wrong, to love someone you shouldn`t love? Will it cause the end of the world?

The desperate abduction. Oh, it was so beautiful!

The third question: will you really be happy with the truth about a time loop that you helped to build with your own hands, when you are able to see the whole picture?

At the end I felt sorry even for him. The fourth question: how does it feel, to try so hard to change your doom and save your loved ones, only to find out that you are the source of their most unbearable pain?

"You are a too good man. Always was. This world didn't deserve you." It's a story about an infinite pain of each and every character: Katharina, Ulrich, Claudia and H.G. Tannhaus, who loved their relatives too much; Hannah, who loved herself too much; Jonas, Mikkel, Martha, Hanno, Charlotte, Elisabeth, Peter, Egon and Helge, who fell victims of the time-travel paradox. It's funny that an insane love for a child launched this glitch in a matrix, a twisted love for a child kept it running and another insane love for a child put it all to the end. A circle closed. Poetic.

The fifth question: would you fix the error in a matrix by self-sacrifice, if it would delete you and half of your nearest and dearest from existence but ends the never-ending circle of pain for others?

"We match perfectly. Never believe in anything else."

"The light glitched, there was a loud crack and then everything went dark. And somehow the world came to an end. There was dark and the light never came again. I had such a peculiar feeling like it was for the best. Like it was finally over. Like one was finally free from everything. Nothing to wish. Nothing to be obliged to do. An eternal dark. No yesterday. No now. No tomorrow. Nothing."

Finally, I should say that I'm very grateful to Germans for this series. I watched it in original in order to train my German AND because it was a very-very interesting show. Even when I watched it for the second time. One time is surely not enough for understanding of the plot, trust me.

How to fight your doom (Pt. 6)

Episodes 27-36 From now on the fearsome and almighty Demon Lord turns to be extremely gentle and soft and it causes in some viewers cognitive dissonance. But is his defence I could say that he is in love for the first time in his life, his love is finally requited so his teenage delight is understandable. Besides, he is like that only when he is tête à tête with the Girl.

The great awkwardness of the moment when you are jealous and at the same time fragile in terms of your love. I like Girl's face expression here. The most part of Silent Moon Palace story arch Girl tries to be worthy of Demon tribe as if she already decided to turn to their side (which is strange) and still tries to persuade Devil not to kill demon and fairy people on the battlefield (which is a really good idea). She even agrees to be tortured if it can ease demons' hatred. At the same time Devil takes his punishment as an atonement for losing opportunity to return his people from stone captivity.

So, Devil and Girl try to find a compromise, that can solve the Romeo and Juliet problem, but at the end of a day there are only two opportunities – to be apart or to solve the main conflict. The story, though, chooses for them both variants at once, which is the sacrifice. If you can't bear your beloved as well as your folk suffering, you can protect them all at cost of your well-being, your life and your pain.

Devil sacrifices himself: if Girl would not love him anymore, she would be safe (because the bracelet could be removed) and his people would be saved as well (demons could use Chidi`s soul from the bracelet to break the spell over 100 000 soldiers). Girl would be sad, yes, but it would be more painful for him as he destroyed his love with his own hands. But this plan doesn`t work so he decides to sacrifice himself in more physical way and to hand himself in the claws of ancient Melkor in order to save his people without killing his beloved.

Girl sacrifices herself as well. She kills herself in order to save Devil`s life but it also miraculously solves the main conflict: resurrected demons and fairies all bow to her divine power and start truce.

«I promise you to stay with you forever». So they are truly heroes in this story. In the hero`s journey a true hero is a person, who is ready after all hardships and inner development to sacrifice everything, even his own life, for the greater good/well-being of all people/his country etc. In Chinese culture The Folk is much more important than one person, so self-sacrifice is the right way to portray the real hero in there.

Btw, patricide is an unforgivable sin in Chinese (as well as European) culture, but authors of this story craftily turned it into «father`s suicide for the greater good and out of parental love», so it was the hint that Devil will be alive in the end of the story).

I don't think Devil did to Girl so many bad deeds during the story that he needed to punish himself for that at the end(and to allow Siming to beat him up). Maybe it is something that is left from the novel, in which Devil was not so fluffy and nice. His misbehave at the beginning of the story couldn't shake Girl's good attitude towards him so it barely pained her. Kidnapping her can't handle as his bad deed – he saved her and she really couldn't go back without dying under the hand of Heavenly Emperor. A wish of destroying Fairy Realm was not a crime against Girl specifically and at the end Girl understood his reasons (although she didn't want it to happen). Her suffering in Fuju Cave was willingly. The only moment when he really hurted her was the moment he lied to her before war, but it wasn`t cause of her death. If he said to her the truth, she would sacrifice herself as well in order to save him. So I think that this huge bunch of sufferings and punishments for Devil is the part of his redemption. If you are a villain (even if you are soft and fluffy and empathic in your soul) you should die or atone.

I like that story coils itself like Ouroboros, biting its tail: at the beginning of the story Devil unwillingly made nice things to Girl and she liked it – at the end of it he pretty willingly makes the same nice things to her with no effect; before, he was disgusted thinking he can be Girl's servant and by the end he WANTS to serve for her but she doesn't need him anymore. It shows that nothing can be started over again. Love gives you only one chance to build it in a right way.

Then he is ready to let her go and confesses his love for the last time: «Everyone feared, hated, relied on or respected me and only you loved me with no reason and accepted me with all my thorns and dickery but I haven`t got an opportunity anymore to say to you that I`m no more that thorny jerk». And (the power of accidents!) it is the reason why resurrected Goddess gives him a hint that he was heard.

It`s funny but only because resurrected Girl is THE girl he wanted to get back he finally looks into her Book of Fate and decides to change her fate.

Farewell kiss feels bittersweet. Devil never prefers duty over love throughout the story. He chooses to punish himself and to kill himself instead. He makes impossible for Girl, goes against Heavenly rules and gets his punishment for that, which is death. And a really hard choice, hero's choice is up to Girl. She needs to shatter the primordial spirit of her beloved one in order to save the world (a shattered spirit can't reincarnate and can't be put together again, as it was in case of Chidi's and her Student's, who are gone for good). And she does it.

It`s funny: fairies say that Goddess` sealed abilities can be revealed only with marriage with GoW but we can see them in their full power when she protects her loved one Devil (in the Mortal Realm and in the Final Battle too).

Devil`s demon army coming to help in the name of Three Realms and his ability to get the Glazed Fire although he is a demon wraps the conflict between demons and fairies up for good. Even Heavenly Emperor admits that he was wrong thinking that demons (read: inferior, wicked and cruel beings) are not capable of doing something like that.

Our heroes are indeed cheaters (THE POWER OF ACCIDENT!): it turnes out that at their first meeting their souls were intertwined and Girl's primordial spirit filled everything inside of Devil. And it was the reason why he has an opportunity to resurrect her. And, honestly speaking, at these circumstances, did he ever have a chance NOT to fall in love with her? If it isn't a fate, what is it then?

And the main cheat is his comeback at the very end of a story (I read it on tumblr in someone else's meta, but I think it is pretty logical to be true): she places her curse on his body once more (the previous curse disapreared when she died), tying him to her and ORDERS him not to go when he starts dissipate. So his Blood of Heart, a piece of primordial spirit, can't disobey and puts itself into her arm.

An interesting thought: as I remember, the heart-hidden hairpin was used by the Moon Tribe Founder so her Fairy-ex-BF couldn't see her heart. Does it mean that the same curse connected them too? Could it be that Xishan curse had always something to do with love relationships? And then, if your Girlfriend IS the powerful Goddess, who can resurrect hundred of thousands people at once, it is only matter of time when she resurrects you.

It is a beautiful story which represents ideal «enemies to lovers» relationships development (but in a fairytale way, because, as you could see, THE POWER OF ACCIDENT reigns here). It has got everything that you need to believe in their relationships: unusual methods to get close, painful unresolved romantic tension, ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE salvation of this romantic tension, sufferings and parting that only build their final union more joyful for viewers. I`m under impression. Wow!

Episodes 1-7 Episode 8 Episodes 9-13 Episodes 13-19 Episodes 20-26

How to fight your doom (Pt.2)

Episode 8 I think this and the next one episode are most important for development of Devil’s and Girl’s relationships. The story is filled with fateful accidents as well as interesting parallels and some of them we can see in this episode too. It’s funny that at the beginning of the story Girl IS in love with God of War and he IS in love with her. You may think: if their feelings are mutual, what can go wrong? But God of War is too afraid to go against his brother (although he is more powerful than all of the fairies together, as we can see in ep. 26) and too fixated on his duty to get this mutual love. He lies to his brother that he doesn’t like and even despises Girl. And Devil shows this scene to her. I love that it happens by accident: Devil sincerely doesn’t know about GoW’s affection, so he doesn’t have any intention to disrupt their relationships, he just forces her to face the truth (and he also believes it’s true), but it will matter to romantic feelings of hers for GoW later. At the same time it parallels with the future situation when Devil himself tells the same lie to her face and it breaks hers as well as his life. A lie destroys any relationships.

Devil starts to feel something other than Girl’s emotions and I love how he tries to find some rational explanations why it happens. If Devil’s heart hurts when he sees Girl as GoW’s bride, it’s because of Girl’s physical state. Not because Devil cares. No way! If he is angry when Girl praises GoW, it’s because of wicked effects of the curse. Not because Devil is jealous, no. And Dragon boy watches it all with the poker face: «Master, when are you going to force her to fix Destiny Book? Not today? She needs to sleep? Hmmm… OK».

Then there comes this ICONIC scene:

Girl tries to refrain from tears and Devil says that she shouldn’t pretend to be strong in front of him because he knows how she feels. He knows it, obviously, thanks to the curse, but Girl doesn’t know about it, so she thinks he is very empathic. Knowing how another feels is very intimate thing, only our nearest and dearest ones can say how do we feel just by looking at us and only in front of them we can be ourselves and don’t have to hide our weaknesses and pain. Devil doesn’t get even medium level of emotional intelligence by now but he is a VERY good learner, so he does some very empathetic and important for their relationships things: when she asks him, if he looks down on her like others do, he squats. He SQUATS to be on the SAME LEVEL with her! He is ben zuo, the higher God of Demons, he doesn’t need to do it at all, but he does.

And then he wipes her tears. This movement is raw and quite not gentle but, as we will see later, he even doesn’t know how to smile and how to show his affection to his relatives. Tears wiping is a big deal for him. And again: he doesn’t have to but he does.

And after that we can see EVEN MORE ICONIC SCENE:

Girl knows that he is a criminal who has broken free from the Fairy Prison and is a demon from the enemy tribe. But she has no prejudice against «enemy» tribe. Devil has done to her mostly good deeds (let’s put aside that attempt to strangle her at their «first date»). She is very compassionate and doesn’t want him to die because of other’s prejudice, so she grabs him and hides him beneath the Arbiter Hall, in the sea.

Devil is almighty and doesn’t need to be saved, so maybe in this moment he thinks that she tries to save her precious GoW from his Hellfire. When she is out of breath and slowly falls to the bottom of the sea, we can see another parallel, which shows us Devil’s changes.

Devil high above looks like in his battle against Fairy Realm 30 thousand years ago: we can see only his silhouette, he is very afar and out of reach, indifferent to lives and deaths of those who beneath him. I find this scene a little bit funny because we all know: he can’t be indifferent to Girl’s life anyway, he is cursed and if she suffocated so did he. So Mighty Demon God sighs and comes down to breathe life into Girl.

What I love in this story the most – we can think about «point of no return» when their affection starts, but, exactly like it goes in the real life, we can`t find the certain moment. Forging affection is a process, not a flash that pierced one’s heart right away. So, even forced to save her life, he is truly embarrassed when they are at the Arbiter Hall again, he touches his lips trying to understand his current emotions and the Spring starts in his Sea of Heart with the first tiny green leaf of feelings. He is quite affected. But his affection is fragile and ghostly by now.

And then this BEAUTIFUL scene comes:

"Little flower demon?!"

He wakes up. Somewhere. He was unconscious. He was knocked out by little, harmless and suspiciously nervous Girl. And he wakes up. He wasn’t poisoned to death. He wasn’t imprisoned. Everyone in this world wants him dead, he was short-sighted and could be already dead but he is still here. And Girl says that she knows he is enemy of her tribe, she knows how risky it is to send him away now, but she CARES about his safety, well-being, warmth and food and wants him to go back to the Demon Realm so no one could kill him.

Later, when he comes back, he learns that this 10% of soul recuperation couldn`t be proceeded not because of Girl`s unrequited love for GoW but because she really was worried about him.

This realization is very important for him as we can see later in this story. In his life Devil always was an enemy to be hated or a weapon to be relied on. But even almighty evil lords are just human beings deep in their hearts. If you are strong it doesn’t mean you don’t need to be cared, supported and loved. So this situation pushes him to rethink his life and his father’s teachings about affections. And in this scene he also learns how to show his attachment: later in Human Realm he will give to Girl food on the go as she in this boat scene does.

Btw there are plenty of stories when people fall in love with nice attitude towards them (and GoW is one of them), and I find it much healthier than to fall in love at first sight or with someone’s appearance. So, although Devil’s Tree of Seven Emotions will bloom far later, I think in this episode him falling in love with Girl starts to be inevitable.

Episodes 1-7 Episodes 9-13 Episodes 13-19 Episodes 20-26 Episodes 27-34

to defeat monsters: become the greater monster | m.a.w

Blossom 九重紫 (2024) Dir. Zeng Qing Jie – Ep. 1

How to fight your doom (Pt. 3)

Episodes 9-13 From now on, Devil is interested in Girl not only because of the curse. Нe likes that Girl likes him and, as a result, he likes Girl back. And it changes his behavior, making his attitude more obvious. He could protect her just as before, by forcing her to stay always within his eyesight, but instead of it he secretly gives her an amulet so he could protect her from afar (because she didn`t want him to be here). This amulet is made of Blood of Devil`s Heart, that is very xianxia thing too (In c-dramas I have watched this is the most powerful magic of immortal beings, which is used to save and to protect the most important people. Extracting it out of one`s heart is very painful and destroys part of one`s cultivation. Maybe it doesn`t work this way in this story, but I like to think of it so). And then he says that he doesn`t want to disappoint her, so he would wait until the most important for her meeting is over to ask her again to fix the Destiny Book.

So, they like each other and they are equal for now: some ordinary fairy and some ordinary demon. But as we know, she thinks he is an ordinary demon only by accident (the power of accident in this story is HUGE): she sneezed while he was introducing himself so she didn`t hear his true name. And sooner or later she should face the truth and cope it somehow.

Btw, it`s funny, that in this story Heavenly Emperor says many times, that God of War is the only equal to Devil, but we repeatedly can see that he is not. Even with the help of his hypocritical friend he can`t beat Devil. The situation in Emperor`s Hall brings Devil`s and Girl`s relationships on the next level by revealing their misalliance: he is not just ordinary demon.

"So, you are Dongfang Qingcang".

She cries because this level of caring she saw only from her long gone Mistress. And he fights all the Fairy Realm forces including Heavenly Emperor himself to take her back! First of all, of course, he protects his life, but he doesn`t destroy Emperor`s Hall ONLY because Girl asks him not to do so. He does as she said because her opinion is important to him. He hopes to win her heart.

This scene is beautiful too: he doesn`t kill God of War because of Girl`s plea but also he tries to show her that people like GoW never choose her over their duty. Unlike Devil himself (and Devil will choose her over his duties plenty many of times). She is in love with GoW and Devil wants to win her heart over him, so he tries to show her what he can do for her everything that her dream beloved can`t. It`s the right way to impress the girl.

"Do you want to save her or your Shuiyuntian?"

But now their relationships change a lot. She knew him before like a caring criminal who is in love with her. And now she knows that he is also the most fearsome monster in the world, covered with blood of fairies as well as his own father`s, a man, who was hated by everyone in the Fairy Realm so much, that his death date has been celebrated each year for 30 000 years. She is afraid of him. She thought she knew him, but she understands now that she doesn`t know him at all.

And the great tragedy of this moment is that he can`t understand it. For him everything is left the same. He treats her as well as before and thinks that she likes him as before.

He shows her his power out of petty jealousy (Devil is obvious more powerful than GoW and any fairy in Fairy Realm, in the Demon Realm everyone respects power, so why is Girl not impressed and still dreams of GoW?). But he still wants to win her heart so he makes very romantic thing and rides with her a dragon (it`s Chinese romantic trope and I like it a lot).

This is my favorite visual moment in this drama: a young and beautiful goth prince holds his beloved girl while her emotions swing from horror to excitement.

When they are in his realm, he wants her to treat him like before and proceeds to do things to please her. He even proclaims his feelings (not «I love you», but very straightforward anyways): I`ll do everything for you and indulge everything to you. But she irrationally wants to go back, wants to see God of War and that pisses Devil off. He is used to take whatever he wants, to conquer everything he needs (and he says it directly when they talk about home), but human`s heart can`t be conquered. Angry Devil tells Girl he was pretending all the time and even orders Dragon boy to find a sword pieces to kill Girl safely off. It`s very understandable but it ruins their previous relationships to the ground: before Girl thought that he treated her well AND a monster, but now only monster in her eyes left.

But he is really fluffy and nice guy in his soul and the only way to show it to Girl is to force her to know more about him and his usual life. So here we have another body swap.

"I think Shangque is very loyal to you and would never betray you. You don`t know human heart so you don`t know about it".

Forced to spend her time with the monster and to be in his shoes for a couple of days, Girl learns a lot: spooky demons are not so spooky as fairies have said – they are just another immortal race; it`s hard to be the demon lord – everyone is afraid of you or hates you, you can`t trust anyone, even your relatives; Devil is really a jerk, although is more like human being jerk, not this faceless monster from the fairy legends.

He feels that she treats him in different way and even questions himself if it is because he is the legendary demon lord, but in his mind there can only be two options in girl`s heart: either she likes him (and not GoW at the same time)  or she doesn`t like him.

He knows he is already dead because she obviously likes GoW and wants to go with him.

So when Girl saves his life instead of going back with GoW he thinks she chooses him over GoW, so this is partly the reason why he kisses her for the second time (but mostly because he wants to mock GoW with her choice), but she rejects him again and leaves him not understanding anything.

Then he realizes that he really doesn`t understand human heart: he thinks about her words and actions (she likes GoW and wants to be with him in the Fairy Realm, she plead for GoW`s life so many times when Devil fought him, so why would she save Devil?) and even asks Dragon boy what`s going on (He has HUGE potential to know humans hearts in all of their subtlety and it was a real crime to take this potential away from him in his past). But the most important thing in Dragon boy`s life is loyalty, so he thinks it was it (and from now on he starts to like Girl). Was it something more than Girl`s merciful nature in that moment? I don`t think so. But it tells Devil that he is on the right path. So he proceeds to make nice things to her. He is very solid in his feelings towards her.

I like this moment not only because of his will to make her happy (because he knows she likes flower showers) but also because she looks for him too when it happens. As if she thinks that he did not tell her the truth when he said that there is no love between them.

Episodes 1-7 Episode 8 Episodes 13-19 Episodes 20-26 Episodes 27-34

"Song Mo." "Since you knew my name, you would know how many corrupt officials and pirates I've interrogated. You could fake it to a certain extent because you know a little about those in the palace. But when it comes to finer details, your uneasiness gives you away."