In recent joint work on equilibrium states on semigroup C*-algebras with Afsar, Brownlowe, and Larsen, we discovered that the structure of equilibrium states admits an elegant description in terms of substructures of the original semigroup. More precisely, we consider two almost contrary subsemigroups and related features to obtain a unifying picture for a number of predating case studies. Somewhat surprisingly, all the examples from the case studies satisfy a list of four abstract properties (and are then called admissible). The nature and presence of these properties is yet to be fully understood. In this talk, I will focus on a class of examples arising as Zappa-Szép products of right LCM semigroups which showcases some interesting features. No prerequisites in operator algebras are required to follow this talk.