sid_guardian | Guardian Episode by Episode: 17

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Guardian Episode by Episode: 17

Welcome to the rewatchalong! We are now at episode 17. The Imgur screencap album has 66 images. There will be no rewatchalong next week, as I am traveling, and the one after that will be on the Sunday (30th). The Icon Battle round 2 icons are available, in case you missed them.

Previously on:
Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12, Episode 13, Episode 14, Episode 15, Episode 16

This week, we finish the soil composition and Zhao Yunlan runs around Dixing case, and start the Fight Club case.

Introductions

"Why did you bring a baby to Fight Club?"

We see Ye Huo for the first time. He warns Chu Shuzhi that this place is not a nice place, and Guo Changcheng should go home.

Characterization
In the past scene, Zhao Xinci seems to be sorry that he killed Bao Laosan's wife instead of the actual thief Bao Laosan (but he was willing to execute a guy for theft just because he didn't immediately turn himself over). Now, Bao Laosan was killed in the scuffle, but Zhao Xinci wants everyone to think it was intentional – was it Zhang Shi taking control and not shooting, or has Zhao Xinci grown soft but doesn't want it to get out?

Zhao Xinci's shock? regret? at killing the wife instead.

Zhang Shi seems to be able to temporarily manifest outside Zhao Xinci's body – or is he simply causing Zhao Xinci to see things, and an outside observer would see Director Zhao talking to himself?

There's friction over Bao Laosan's death, though – Zhang Shi is understandably pissed at the unnecessary death of one of his people, while Zhao Xinci outright declares that it's his "mission and destiny" to kill Dixingians. He also, once upon a time, chose killing one criminal over saving his wife, while his son was present.

Zhang Shi brought the SID library a book on Kunlun's adventures! Hmm. Wanting for Zhao Yunlan to prepare for his role as Kunlun?

When Bao Laosan dies, we see a reaction shot of Chu Shuzhi (usually in Western media, reaction shots go to women, because it's more acceptable for women to display emotions like shock, so my ears pricked up at this) and he looks just as shocked as if everyone had suddenly started driving on the left with no warning. It seems Zhao Yunlan hasn't killed anyone as part of an investigation. (Even Zhao Yunlan's boasting that Da Qing brought up was that Zhao Yunlan wanted to arrest all the Dixingians, not kill them.)

That is the most expression we've seen him have.

Chu Shuzhi later escorts his duckling in Fight Club and is very protective of the Guo Changcheng literally clinging to his coattails.

Cong Bo dressed up as a waitress to get pics of the underground fighting ring. Alas, we did not get to see pics of the crossdressing.

We also don't get to see anything involving more creative uses of this pole.

We get more friction between Ya Qing and Zhu Jiu. Ya Qing calls out Zhu Jiu on his leaving a fellow Dixingian to the wolves, while Zhu Jiu says he's 100% OK with it all, since only the strong deserve to survive, and anyway Ye Zun let him know the true voice of his heart, ~~which is that he should dye his hair purple~~. Ya Qing says that she is only in this business for the benefits to the Yashou, not out of any love for Ye Zun's WTF Social Darwinist methods.

Ooh, Ding Dun was the Regent's pupil! The Regent freed him, and now the Regent is executing the trio of delinquents. For leading Shen Wei to Zhao Yunlan and thus Ding Dun? For not succeeding in distracting Zhao Yunlan from the mission of finding the Dijun Booklet? He didn't tell the delinquents he was the Regent. (Come to think of it, how did Wu Tian'en manage to lead Zhao Yunlan to Ding Dun? It seems a touch suspicious.)

Shen Wei's Oh No I Have Misplaced My Human search is in parts hilarious and in parts touching. The bar crowd thinks he's a fake Envoy until he turns off all the lights, at which point they do a complete 180° and the bartender is all !!! at the Envoy turning up in his bar.

"Okay, now that you believe I'm me, has anyone seen my human?"

We see Shen Wei go really hard on the delinquent trio – anger and pulling his blade out – and then, after he's reached Zhao Yunlan, he outright kills Ding Dun. (Even if Ding Dun was legally dead already, it's still killing a person.) Is this just him being super worried about Yunlan and willing to kill anyone who tried to kill his human, or is this supposed to be his normal modus operandi as the Envoy/how Dixing is supposed to work?

The delinquents actively fear for their lives. Methinks you're overreacting a bit, Shen Wei.

We don't see what Shen Wei does to save Zhao Yunlan.

"Yunlan, wake up! I urgently require your advice on how to quickly found a hospital!"

The Chancellor commented that Shen Wei looks happier now! Then he immediately gave Shen Wei an ultimatum of teaching vs the SID, and Shen Wei was going to choose the SID (due to putting the aforementioned prevention of war and his duties as the Envoy above things like research?) until Jiajia used nepotism on his behalf and he was allowed to do what he likes. The following scene where Jiajia talks with him was very interesting from a characterization perspective! It's almost as if he didn't realize that people liked Professor Shen and found him an important figure in their lives. It did cause him to do a lot of thinking – he was even lost in his thoughts while Zhao Yunlan explained case-related things to him.

Was he unable to see value to others in his role as Professor Shen?

In this episode: Zhao Yunlan figures out that the dude whose surname means "candle" might perhaps have light-based teleportation powers! He figures this out via doing some research by asking an actual Dixingian civilian. This is something Zhao Xinci never could have done, and as an extension of that, Zhu Jiu is someone Zhao Xinci never could've captured.

"Asking produced surprisingly good results!"

Zhao Yunlan claims he's heartless, ruthless, and an asshole, though that might be just to discourage the "fortune teller". He is definitely given pause by the question of family; he laughs it off, but has to take a moment to generate the quip. Interestingly, he recognizes Ding Dun on sight once Ding Dun takes off the mask.

He also has a prime "Well, that backfired spectacularly!" moment.

In some prime Socialist Brotherhood(TM), Zhao Yunlan brings Shen Wei to his mother's grave back on Haixing. Shen Wei cannot read the mood and states that he's not siding with Zhao Yunlan/the SID due to siding with humans, but only to prevent another war. While they probably do need to talk more about Shen Wei's loyalties and just who he is for Dixing, this is very much not the time and place. Especially when Zhao Yunlan is having some Thoughts about his dad bringing flowers to mom's grave and experiencing emotions related to that.

"Shen Wei, please, you're not helping."

Canon notes

Apparently, using Dixing powers to cause harm + resisting arrest = death penalty.
Zhu Long 烛龙 and Jiu Yin 九阴 are famous Dixingian heroes.
Zhu Jiu didn't yet have powers when he met Ye Zun.
Zhao Yunlan's mother's name is Shen Xi 沈溪, with the same surname as Shen Wei.

Cinematography
Shots from beneath to show impressive power for Bao Laosan.

Shots from above to show that Zhu Jiu is small before the pillar and to show that Zhao Yunlan has a firefighter's pole thing.

Shots from afar!

We get scenes shot through blinds and other intervening devices to demonstrate secrets and discord.

Left: Zhu Jiu and Ya Qing have a disagreement, and also foreshadowing of Ya Qing harboring doubts. Right: Zhao Yunlan decides to take the Kunlun book as evening reading.

Also, this shot of Shen Wei and his blade is a perfect example of the lyrical diagonal in composition. In Western art thought, the gaze is thought to start from top left and go to the bottom right. The lyrical diagonal interrupts that movement abruptly, like crashing into a brick wall. It is meant to give pause.

The other diagonal is called the dramatic diagonal, and while this shot doesn't have that per se, it shows as the line of sight. Think of the dramatic diagonal as pressing the accelerator on the gaze's way from corner to corner, while the lyric diagonal makes it stutter.

Zhao Yunlan looks at books, decides to leave lit review to Shen Wei.

We also get some tilted camera in this episode. The changing of vertical and horizontal to diagonal gives some life to the shot.

It can also be used to make the height gap look less vast.

Zhao Yunlan jacket watch
We start with the same jacket as last episode, but then he gets to sleep and change clothes for lit review (into a leather jacket), and again before sending his field team to Fight Club (into a denim jacket).

Did Shen Wei take off his glasses?
No.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Now, Bao Laosan was killed in the scuffle, but Zhao Xinci wants everyone to think it was intentional – was it Zhang Shi taking control and not shooting, or has Zhao Xinci grown soft but doesn't want it to get out?

I had thought the guy pulled the trigger himself because he was Done. Zhang Shi hadn't occurred to me.

An interesting point about Zhao Xinci (IMO) that he uses a family photograph as his phone lockscreen. I mean, it's not super unusual, lots of people have family photos as lockscreens or phone backgrounds. But with a guy like Zhao Xinci, he would have struck me as a strict "my work phone is my work phone and why would I customize anything for sentimental reasons".

The lock screen is so obvious that I actually wonder what Zhao Yunlan makes of it - he must have seen it at some point, tbh.

Chu Shuzhi later escorts his duckling in Fight Club and is very protective of the Guo Changcheng literally clinging to his coattails.

Guo often triggers my embarrassment squick, but OMG the holding on to the cloak was to die for. Though I also LOL'd at the suggestion, as Chu and Guo walk in there, that Guo might not look like a good guy...

I'd like to point out that when they're in Dixing, Zhao Yunlan asks for an intelligence agency, and gets "dude on the street with a table". Dixing governance is A LITTLE BIT TERRIBLE.

Also, apparently Dixing has The Who t-shirts.

The firestation pole is SUCH a Zhao Yunlan thing. Do we actually know if the SID was always in that building? Because if they moved in there / took over that building while Zhao Yunlan was already Chief, then I think we know for sure who made sure the pole stayed in...

Ya Qing has such a healthy attitude towards Ye Zun, compared to all the other baddies... I mean, she's still on the wrong side and will unfortunately be responsible for a few deaths, but her no-nonsense attitude here is heartwarming.

Shen Wei going after the three stooges really hard is quite a sight to behold.

Is this just him being super worried about Yunlan and willing to kill anyone who tried to kill his human, or is this supposed to be his normal modus operandi as the Envoy/how Dixing is supposed to work?

I think this is the first example we see of Shen Wei reacting overly harshly / overreacting to people who threaten Zhao Yunlan, in line with the later accidental killing of Cat Girl. It's probably close enough to what you might expect from the Envoy that in Dixing, nobody finds it weird (the absolutely casual way this is done is a thing that continues to impress and amuse me), but I think it's 100% related to Zhao Yunlan. Shen Wei might have a rep as a Tough Envoy but he doesn't actually like going for people that hard as part of his professional duties. Threatening Zhao Yunlan just turns his safeties off.

We don't see what Shen Wei does to save Zhao Yunlan.

We do, though? He does the black energy thing...

My question: do we know how the bullets work on that dark energy gun?

That shot of Zhao Yunlan looking at the books with the pink post-its is lovely! :D

I confess I had forgotten until my last rewatch that there was a bit where the university wanted to kick him out, but then he was saved by the Tiniest Student in Dragon City. (But good! He should get to have that!!)

The graveyard scene has so much going on between the lines. Zhao Yunlan's face when he realises someone's been at the grave absolutely kills me, and the quiet stuff that's going on on his face is absolutely marvellous. I just went back to rewatch this, and I think you're right that this is a case where Shen Wei can't read the atmosphere (or his mind is really elsewhere) and he keeps going on about Big Politics while Zhao Yunlan is in a very different headspace. There's a great bit at the end where for once, you can actually see Zhao Yunlan put his mask back on towards Shen Wei, and while I don't think it's a big deal in the long run (I am not saying this is a long-term mark on their relationship!), to me it's interesting to see that that relatively late-ish, especially in contrast to earlier scenes where Shen Wei is very attuned to Zhao Yunlan having Feels and very good about them. (Shen Wei is not perfect!)

The other thing that I find very interesting about this sequence is how Shen Wei talks about strategy and long-term goals. Early on in the series, there are a number of doomy gloomy prophecy-style lines that can be taken as Shen Wei assuming there is some sort of unstoppable fate waiting for them, like the tragedies being written from the beginning, etc. But the dialog about the Holy Tools ("all I'm doing is to try to prevent another war") sounds to me like from a markedly different register. That's much more down to earth, strategy-and-tactics talk (and like he'd like to bat around ideas with Zhao Yunlan, except Zhao Yunlan is curiously unresponsive on his important tactical thoughts...) of a general who has done this thing before and is now trying to do something similar under perhaps more difficult because more confusing circumstances.

Also, on the Jo-is-a-terrible-person front: I know kid!Zhao Yunlan just lost his mom and there is nothing funny about that, but can I, as a terrible person who found it funny anyway, point out that kid!Zhao Yunlan... is wearing a leather jacket?

No, I mean that Zhao Xinci would've wanted to pull the trigger, but Zhang Shi prevented him, and then Bao Laosan accidentally moved the trigger finger in the scuffle.

The lock screen is so obvious that I actually wonder what Zhao Yunlan makes of it - he must have seen it at some point, tbh.
One of the points made earlier is that Zhao Yunlan and his dad don't really communicate or stay in touch, so it's within the realm of possibility that Zhao Yunlan hasn't seen it. If he has, I, too, am curious about what he's made of it! And yeah, it's interesting that Zhao Xinci still has that lockscreen picture of his family back before his wife died.

I think this is the first example we see of Shen Wei reacting overly harshly / overreacting to people who threaten Zhao Yunlan, in line with the later accidental killing of Cat Girl. It's probably close enough to what you might expect from the Envoy that in Dixing, nobody finds it weird (the absolutely casual way this is done is a thing that continues to impress and amuse me), but I think it's 100% related to Zhao Yunlan. Shen Wei might have a rep as a Tough Envoy but he doesn't actually like going for people that hard as part of his professional duties. Threatening Zhao Yunlan just turns his safeties off.
Dixing desperately needs administrative reform! Yeah, Shen Wei is overreacting, but it really bothers me that people don't see this as extremely OOC for the Envoy. Shouldn't people be concerned that the Envoy has suddenly started oppressing them with no basis as a tyrannical dictator?

Re: healing, I interpreted it as Shen Wei doing some diagnostics/trying to heal, stopping for some reason while Zhao Yunlan falls unconscious while still unhealed, and then cut to the SID.

My question: do we know how the bullets work on that dark energy gun?
Alas, no. Other than that they only work against Dixingians (and maybe/probably Yashou).

The graveyard scene has so much going on between the lines. Zhao Yunlan's face when he realises someone's been at the grave absolutely kills me, and the quiet stuff that's going on on his face is absolutely marvellous. I just went back to rewatch this, and I think you're right that this is a case where Shen Wei can't read the atmosphere (or his mind is really elsewhere) and he keeps going on about Big Politics while Zhao Yunlan is in a very different headspace. There's a great bit at the end where for once, you can actually see Zhao Yunlan put his mask back on towards Shen Wei, and while I don't think it's a big deal in the long run (I am not saying this is a long-term mark on their relationship!), to me it's interesting to see that that relatively late-ish, especially in contrast to earlier scenes where Shen Wei is very attuned to Zhao Yunlan having Feels and very good about them. (Shen Wei is not perfect!)
Yes! Zhao Yunlan is not in a mental space where he can have a politics discussion, but Shen Wei is completely oblivious to this. Maybe he just ... doesn't get that a mother's grave might be A Big Deal? Especially if Zhao Yunlan is having some complicated feelings due to his mom being killed by a Dixingian and here he is, falling in love with a Dixingian and aiding them and his favorite Dixingian just says that lol nope, he's not allying himself with humans, not really.

Good point about Shen Wei's rhetoric changing between his drama llama monologue and his "Hi, we are a team, let's discuss strategy!" face.

Also, on the Jo-is-a-terrible-person front: I know kid!Zhao Yunlan just lost his mom and there is nothing funny about that, but can I, as a terrible person who found it funny anyway, point out that kid!Zhao Yunlan... is wearing a leather jacket?
AHAHAHA uhh I suppose he started early?

Shouldn't people be concerned that the Envoy has suddenly started oppressing them with no basis as a tyrannical dictator?
I feel like the reputation of the Envoy suffered a bit during Shen Wei's dirt nap and he maybe became the boogeyman used to frighten children into behaving. So people respect him, but also fear and dread him. Finding out (or thinking they found out) that he's actually no better than their corrupt leaders doesn't sound like that much of a stretch.

Shen Wei is completely oblivious to this. Maybe he just ... doesn't get that a mother's grave might be A Big Deal?
Not unlikely--I don't suppose he was able to spend much time at his own mother's grave. While I think he understands familial love as it relates to filial piety, he's obviously Not Great at family dynamics in general.

I feel like the reputation of the Envoy suffered a bit during Shen Wei's dirt nap and he maybe became the boogeyman used to frighten children into behaving.

I agree with this. I think the Regent would have found it useful to prop the Envoy up as the boogeyman to get his way with things. (And then found it a tad inconvenient when the actual Envoy showed up :p) I think Shen Wei is also aware of his reputation among the Dixing people? Which is sad, no wonder he's surprised that the students like him so much.

I think Shen Wei is also aware of his reputation among the Dixing people?

I find the argument with the Regent plausible, but I also want to point out that Shen Wei cultivates a tougher image and his reputation is probably not all Regent-based. His acts of clemency are usually in secret and just known to the person he's being kind to.

Granted, a lot of this is towards the Haixing authorities, but I would infer that he is in general cultivating a tougher image than people would have if they had all the info on his softie heart.

Also, I think there is some evidence that especially right after the dirt nap, as a 'younger' Envoy, he was still more prone to fumbling around and erring on the side of Looking Tough - his handling of Zhu Jiu is really not that great, and Butler Wu, who last interacted with him many years ago, but was working for him (i.e. Butler Wu's impression of Shen Wei wouldn't be filtered through the Regent), was respectful-but-also-fearful of him when they met again in the present.

I find the argument with the Regent plausible, but I also want to point out that Shen Wei cultivates a tougher image and his reputation is probably not all Regent-based. His acts of clemency are usually in secret and just known to the person he's being kind to.
+1 this. I do think that the Regent is affecting the kind of tough-guy image the Envoy has – Shen Wei would likely rather have an image that's more about dispensing justice and doing the right thing even when it's hard, but the Regent/others are distorting that into "look how authoritarianly tyrannical the Envoy is, also he's the only thing keeping us belowground".

Also, I think there is some evidence that especially right after the dirt nap, as a 'younger' Envoy, he was still more prone to fumbling around and erring on the side of Looking Tough - his handling of Zhu Jiu is really not that great, and Butler Wu, who last interacted with him many years ago, but was working for him (i.e. Butler Wu's impression of Shen Wei wouldn't be filtered through the Regent), was respectful-but-also-fearful of him when they met again in the present.
This as well! In the past, he hid his youth and inexperience behind a mask, and then now he wakes up 10k years later only to discover that while he's just as young and inexperienced as he was, he's turned from respected general to mythical legend war hero, and oh, he has no fucking clue about the present age. No wonder he was lost, and trying to play tougher than necessary to have people not realize that the hallowed Black-Cloaked Envoy was actually a confused youth.

I agree with you both actually! This edges into headcanon territory, but I think the Regent cultivated the Envoy's reputation and then when Shen Wei woke up, he convinced Shen Wei that the people's fear of the Envoy is crucial to preserving the peace. I don't think it would be hard to convince Shen Wei who has woken up in a world completely different from the one he knows, and who already had quite the rep before the dirt nap.

If I had a dime for every time I said or typed "Poor Shen Wei!" but yeah, poor Shen Wei!

One kind of should get an autofill for that, really...

One of the points made earlier is that Zhao Yunlan and his dad don't really communicate or stay in touch, so it's within the realm of possibility that Zhao Yunlan hasn't seen it.

I think they don't stay in touch in a family way, but I also didn't get the vibe when they did meet as part of the job that they hadn't seen each other in like ten years or anything. It is of course possible that if that happened rarely enoug, he might not have seen it!

Yeah, Shen Wei is overreacting, but it really bothers me that people don't see this as extremely OOC for the Envoy. Shouldn't people be concerned that the Envoy has suddenly started oppressing them with no basis as a tyrannical dictator?

He killed a guy who had just stabbed somebody. That's not great law enforcement by my standards, but Ding Dun is a criminal who just assaulted and tried to kill the Lord Guardian and burned the Dijun register, and wasn't exactly standing down when Shen Wei arrived. There was an ongoing melée. That's not 'no basis as a tyrannical dictator' - he didn't randomly kill a Dixing pedestrian for standing in the wrong spot because he was bored or something.

Especially if Zhao Yunlan is having some complicated feelings due to his mom being killed by a Dixingian and here he is, falling in love with a Dixingian and aiding them and his favorite Dixingian just says that lol nope, he's not allying himself with humans, not really.

I honestly never got much of a vibe that Zhao Yunlan is hung up on the "a DIXINGIAN killed his mother" part; for me that's always overshadowed by "my dad let it happen for the Greater Good and Professional Standards". But it's an interesting angle, I'll keep it in mind and check that scene again.

Re: potential obliviousness, I could see that - I speculated more on that in a comment lower in the thread.

I think they don't stay in touch in a family way, but I also didn't get the vibe when they did meet as part of the job that they hadn't seen each other in like ten years or anything. It is of course possible that if that happened rarely enough, he might not have seen it!
Yeah, I imagine that they'd have seen each other mainly in official contexts that would include minimal phone checking, so less opportunities to see it. Zhao Yunlan's reaction to it would definitely be interesting, in any case, and now I want the fic in which he sees it.

He killed a guy who had just stabbed somebody. That's not great law enforcement by my standards, but Ding Dun is a criminal who just assaulted and tried to kill the Lord Guardian and burned the Dijun register, and wasn't exactly standing down when Shen Wei arrived. There was an ongoing melée. That's not 'no basis as a tyrannical dictator' - he didn't randomly kill a Dixing pedestrian for standing in the wrong spot because he was bored or something.
The "tyrannical dictator" thing is mainly about him implicitly threatening the delinquents with violence. Ding Dun is more ... the Dixing judiciary is fucked up. (Then again, given how Ding Dun already escaped once with inside help, Shen Wei might not have a choice, unless he's willing to completely violate the treaty and ask Zhao Yunlan to set up a Dixingian-proof jail aboveground.)

I honestly never got much of a vibe that Zhao Yunlan is hung up on the "a DIXINGIAN killed his mother" part; for me that's always overshadowed by "my dad let it happen for the Greater Good and Professional Standards". But it's an interesting angle, I'll keep it in mind and check that scene again.
I doubt it's at the top of his mind, but I suspect it's there somewhere, albeit tangled up in the "my dad is an asshole towards people who are basically human and have been condemned to the darkness" feelings. More of a small extra button that Shen Wei's lack of tact could press.

I honestly never got much of a vibe that Zhao Yunlan is hung up on the "a DIXINGIAN killed his mother" part; for me that's always overshadowed by "my dad let it happen for the Greater Good and Professional Standards".

I think there may also be a part where he irrationally resents Dixingren because they're more important to his father than he and his mother are?

I think there may also be a part where he irrationally resents Dixingren because they're more important to his father than he and his mother are?

This, I could see!

In general, my take on Zhao Yunlan and his feelings on Dixingren (pre-episode 6~8ish) is a more general casual antipathy and inherited prejudice because he mostly encounters them when they are being criminals, and not a genuinely personal grudge. ExtraPenguin's point did bring me up short, because it would certainly not be narratively unusual to have a guy have a grudge over his mother being murdered by a representative of a group, so I'd wondered if I'd missed something. But I never did get that vibe off the mother subplot, and I don't get the vibe that he is very conflicted over his best friend / best brother / boyfriend being Dixingren either.

But if you wrap it up with all his complicated baggage with his dad, that has a certain ring to it for me...

Yeah, I'm completely with you on that - even though it's such a common trope, ZYL really doesn't seem to have a "you killed my mother!" grudge against Dixingren. I'm glad they didn't go that way, and instead used it for complicated father/son issues.

ExtraPenguin's point did bring me up short, because it would certainly not be narratively unusual to have a guy have a grudge over his mother being murdered by a representative of a group, so I'd wondered if I'd missed something. But I never did get that vibe off the mother subplot, and I don't get the vibe that he is very conflicted over his best friend / best brother / boyfriend being Dixingren either.
To clarify, i don't actually think that "oh noes I am betraying my mom by dating a Dixingian" is anywhere near Zhao Yunlan's thought process, but I do think he was going through his mom's death in the episode. Having it be related to the daddy issues would work, as would Zhao Yunlan thinking that if only daddy dearest had shown the smallest bit of clemency towards Dixingians, maybe mom wouldn't have died, or something else that sort of included Dixingians in the picture of stuff Zhao Yunlan has to deal with re: his family would work.

Yeah, to counter clarify, I didn't mean to put words in your mouth. *g* I was genuinely thinking about your point re the mom.

(Also Zhao Yunlan needs more hugs.)

Glad that's clear! It is an intriguing thing to think about, sine it's something that is going completely differently to what one might expect.

Zhao Yunlan definitely needs a hug! (Everyone does, on Guardian.) Perhaps Shen Wei could start hugging practice with Zhao Yunlan as his target?

Perhaps Shen Wei could start hugging practice with Zhao Yunlan as his target?

Target and teacher at the same time? Srsly, that boy would not know how to do hugs... (That shoulder thump or whatever that is when ZYL is freaking out about his dad being abducted towards the end of the Merit Brush arc is LOL and <3)

They should maybe take a class together!

Target and teacher at the same time?
Yes! Who else can teach Shen Wei exactly how to cuddle Yunlan to Yunlan's specifications? Shen Wei can start with a literature review and then be stolen onto the bed to put theory to practice. I think he might spontaneously combust with embarrassment if he had to sign up for a class.

An interesting point about Zhao Xinci (IMO) that he uses a family photograph as his phone lockscreen. I mean, it's not super unusual, lots of people have family photos as lockscreens or phone backgrounds. But with a guy like Zhao Xinci, he would have struck me as a strict "my work phone is my work phone and why would I customize anything for sentimental reasons".

Zhao Xinci strikes me as a very image-conscious person, so I thought it was a way of presenting himself as a family man. Even Minister Gao, who is friendly with Zhao Xinci, has no idea ZYL and ZXC are estranged.

(And I'd think ZYL would probably take it like that - his father using his and his mother's picture to benefit his own image, without really caring about the actual people involved.)

Oh, man. I know I have a bleak read on the Zhao Yunlan/Bad Daddy relationship, but ow, that is hardcore.

I mean, it's probably not just manipulative? From ZXC's POV, I think he does care about his wife and his son, but he has no idea how to actually relate to his son, and it's probably easier for him now to think of him as a kid before Shen Xi died, rather than the person he is now ...

he looks just as shocked as if everyone had suddenly started driving on the left with no warning.

LOL what an apt comparison. :D

Zhao Yunlan looks quite nimble on that pole, really.

The bar scene! I adore it! Shen Wei asks his question. Everbody gets nasty evil meh. He waits it out, transforms. Everyone goes all sucky-uppy. And he asks his question again, like the rest just doesn't concern him at all. BAMF.
(also when the bar guy realizes he's for real and points at him in his excitement it takes One Look. :D )

I'm very impressed with the special effects chalk picture on the pavement around 9:00.

Is this just him being super worried about Yunlan and willing to kill anyone who tried to kill his human, or is this supposed to be his normal modus operandi as the Envoy/how Dixing is supposed to work?

I think it's reflex, he does it to cat girl too (though he's very sorry afterwards). Given how he's warning people off Zhao Yunlan, I can totally buy this.

When Zhu Jiu talks about the inner voice of his heart, doesn't he look disturbingly orgasmic?

And poor Zhao Yunlan, going wild-eyed at the thought his dad might be around at the cemetery. ;_;

When the Regent wants to electrocute the trio, I'm always like 'YOU HAVE NO RESOURCES! WHAT'S WRONG WITH STRANGLING?' Maybe that's just me.

And for intriguing, Zhao Yunlan actually calls Sang Zan 'senpai' (c. 33) or whatever the Chinese pronunciation of that is. I guess Sang Zan is a lot more senior but I didn't expect Zhao Yunlan to think like that in terms of having been stuck in pillars for a hundred years.

Edited 2019-06-14 18:26 (UTC)

The bar scene! I adore it! Shen Wei asks his question. Everbody gets nasty evil meh. He waits it out, transforms. Everyone goes all sucky-uppy. And he asks his question again, like the rest just doesn't concern him at all. BAMF.
(also when the bar guy realizes he's for real and points at him in his excitement it takes One Look. :D )

Shen Wei is trying to do some serious Envoying and find his lost human! Why is the local populace not cooperating with his extremely serious mission???

When Zhu Jiu talks about the inner voice of his heart, doesn't he look disturbingly orgasmic?
...well, the pillar does look a bit phallic. Perhaps Zhu Jiu simply has a colossal size kink? :P

I guess the Regent simply wants to make the death as pettily painful as possible, since Dixingians tend to be drama llamas.

And for intriguing, Zhao Yunlan actually calls Sang Zan 'senpai' (c. 33) or whatever the Chinese pronunciation of that is. I guess Sang Zan is a lot more senior but I didn't expect Zhao Yunlan to think like that in terms of having been stuck in pillars for a hundred years.
Apparently in Chinese, 先輩 just means "elder"/"former generations", so I guess it has different implications.

The 先輩 in this part seems to me to be slightly sarcastic? It's kinda like a "oh give me a break" kind of tone.

Oh, useful to know! Thanks!

Zhang Shi seems to be able to temporarily manifest outside Zhao Xinci's body – or is he simply causing Zhao Xinci to see things, and an outside observer would see Director Zhao talking to himself?
I always read that as an observer would've just seen Zhao Xinci talking to himself.

I can't believe I haven't seen any fic that incorporates that pole or the swing in Zhao Yunlan's apartment. COME ON PEOPLE.

That fantastic screenshot with the blade is now in my art image folder, thank you.

The cinematography in this show really is amazing.

P.S. I am trying to eat my lunch while reading this but it's not going well because it's very difficult to laugh through salad. Your captions are hilarious, srsly.

I can't believe I haven't seen any fic that incorporates that pole or the swing in Zhao Yunlan's apartment. COME ON PEOPLE.
I think it's because the swing is clearly a kiddie swing and also very much hidden by all the other crap, instead of a sex swing he can use for sexy purposes. (But mostly just that no-one noticed it.)

You can be the Woman Laughing Alone With Salad of many an advertisement! :D

Oh god you're right I am totally Woman Laughing Alone With Salad. Fuck yes, I have finally, actually, morphed into a living meme. #bestlife

I don't think Zhang Shi is actually manifesting in the mirror; I don't think an outside observer would notice anything. I think it's just using the mirror as a convenient way to show the conversation rather than having Zhao Xinci hear a voice in his head.

No, there are no mirrors in the scene – it's when Zhao Xinci is squatting at his wife's grave and Zhang Shi is seen standing next to him for their conversation. A hallucination into Zhao Xinci's mind and the camera POV would make sense.

Oh, right. Whoops. :) The mirror stuff must happen later. Yeah, I still think it's just the camera giving him something to react to rather then him actually being there.

Zhao Yunlan has definitely drunkenly pole-danced on that pole in the office before. And it is sweet how oblivious Shen Wei is to how much the students adore him!

IDK, the pole looks a bit thick to be good for poledancing, where one has to grip it with one's hands?

And it is sweet how oblivious Shen Wei is to how much the students adore him!
I know! He thought this was just an inconsequential hobby, but now impressionable youths like him! He is Shocked.

Haha, I figured he wouldn't do any fancy tricks. You know how amateur stripteases are mostly people twirling around the pole... (Is your Shen Wei icon reacting to the Zhao Yunlan striptease discussion? :D)

Jiajia is such an adorable character too. Boo on Ye Zun for killing her in the deleted scene.

Ah, so dancing around it as if it were a juhannussalko (maypole?)! Shen Wei would have to do the excuse-me-I-must-adjust-my-glasses facepalm. :P

Shen Wei is expressing modesty of opinion.

Jiajia is such an adorable character too. Boo on Ye Zun for killing her in the deleted scene.
I know! ~~Obviously they deleted the scene because even Ye Zun would never.~~

Boo on Ye Zun for killing her in the deleted scene.

What was the context for this?

Just Ye Zun being his evil self, it seems. He dressed up as Shen Wei, and started being all creepy at Jiajia, then killed her for the fun of it.

The bit at Zhao Yunlan's mother's grave baffled me so much! Shen Wei is normally quite respectful, and talking about political shit over the top of someone's grief/honoring their parent, especially when it's Zhao Yunlan, felt amazingly tone-deaf for how Shen Wei normally acts. I think it may be partly how much he's worrying about things on like. Three or four different fronts, now. But it was a weird scene.

I love ZYL's fireman's pole, it's so delightfully random and he just has fun with it. XD

I know! Perhaps Shen Wei simply lost his parents young enough and is from such a completely different cultural background that he doesn't get that this is a big deal? "Ah yes, I remember that adult quasi-friend who died when I was in my early teens, it must be a similar situation to that." Plus the slight distraction of worrying about Dixing meaning he doesn't notice when Yunlan doesn't respond accurately.

I love ZYL's fireman's pole, it's so delightfully random and he just has fun with it. XD
I know! It's probably one of the big motivators for him to visit the library. *g*

Perhaps Shen Wei simply lost his parents young enough and is from such a completely different cultural background that he doesn't get that this is a big deal?

I think he is to some degree distracted and preoccupied, but I've speculated regarding Bad Daddy too that Shen Wei just might be coming at this parent thing from a quite different POV, and always means well re Zhao Yunlan's feels but doesn't intuitively get all the nuances.

(It's interesting too in light of him chiding Zhao Yunlan for being 'flippant' about his dead mother in episode... 5ish, when they're walking in the park.)

That graveyard scene was AWKWARD *g* oh Shen Wei. I guess his "How to be a Normal Haixingian" manual didn't cover the topic of dealing with grief, given this and the bit with Zu Ma's death.

Does that pole go right into Zhao Yunlan's office?? I... have so many questions but that is A GREAT SCREENCAP and that's definitely how ZYL stays in shape.

That bit about the phone lockscreen reminds me; the picture on ZYL's lockscreen that was in the previous episode (I'm borrowing the image from your screencap folder) - that's a Chinese lantern fruit and among the names it has are 挂金灯 and金灯, the same 灯 as the Guardian Lamp! Also, in Japanese popular culture, it is the lamp that is used to guide the spirits of the dead (but afaik, this isn't in Chinese popular culture).

I guess his "How to be a Normal Haixingian" manual didn't cover the topic of dealing with grief, given this and the bit with Zu Ma's death.
YUUP. He also might not have that good a handle on grief even with Dixingians, given that he's lost a whole lot more people and things in his life than the average present-day person. "What do you mean, losing your friend has you in tears? I used to lose friends by the dozen in my youth, which is why I am attachmentphobic now. What is this overreaction???" (Poor thing. Pat his head and hug him!)

Does that pole go right into Zhao Yunlan's office?? I... have so many questions but that is A GREAT SCREENCAP and that's definitely how ZYL stays in shape
It's a fireman's pole from library to office, yes! I imagine Zhao Yunlan has lots of fun sliding down it, and has spent many an evening illicitly running up the stairs to the library and sliding down then repeating. (It is too thick to use for pole dancing.)

that's a Chinese lantern fruit and among the names it has are 挂金灯 and金灯, the same 灯 as the Guardian Lamp!
AHHH just like all the lanterns in Zhao Yunlan's apartment. ~~How long has Zhang Shi been grooming him to become the genie in the Guardian Lamp?~~ So much visual foreshadowing. *g*

I actually think Shen Wei would know how to deal with grief when it's his own, I see him as feeling very deeply for the people under his command and the war would mean that he has lots of experience with grief. But when it comes to dealing with other people's grief, he is BAD at it. Which, I completely understand! But the graveyard scene is still... awkward to say the least haha.

I thought GCC was set up to be the wick, turns out the foreshadowing was even heavier for ZYL...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excellent catch about the lantern fruit! So much foreshadowing, OMG.

I love the pole, and that's a wonderful screencap. :D

Zhang Shi seems to be able to temporarily manifest outside Zhao Xinci's body – or is he simply causing Zhao Xinci to see things, and an outside observer would see Director Zhao talking to himself?

I thought it was just a visual representation of an internal conversation, as it would have been very confusing otherwise, given that they have the same voice.

Ya Qing says that she is only in this business for the benefits to the Yashou, not out of any love for Ye Zun's WTF Social Darwinist methods.

I really find Ya Qing fascinating, and I love that she's calling Zhu Jiu on his crap.

He figures this out via doing some research by asking an actual Dixingian civilian. This is something Zhao Xinci never could have done, and as an extension of that, Zhu Jiu is someone Zhao Xinci never could've captured.

Excellent observation! OMG, Zhao Xinci vs. Zhu Jiu would have been a disaster ...

Shen Wei cannot read the mood and states that he's not siding with Zhao Yunlan/the SID due to siding with humans, but only to prevent another war.

I was wondering if it was a deliberate attempt to change the subject and distract Zhao Yunlan, which didn't work here.

OMG, Zhao Xinci vs. Zhu Jiu would have been a disaster ...
It would! And because I am a sadistic fuck, I now want an AU where it's Zhao Xinci trying to deal with Zhu Jiu, while Zhao Yunlan made his escape from daddy's sphere of influence to ... idk, elsewhere. And then Zhao Yunlan takes down Zhu Jiu by teaming up with the hot prof who can't figure out how to use a computer and bringing up suggestions of things that might be worth trying for improving the lot of Dixingians to eliminate Zhu Jiu's recruit base.

I was wondering if it was a deliberate attempt to change the subject and distract Zhao Yunlan, which didn't work here.
Hm, maybe, but he's usually better attuned to Zhao Yunlan's moods, and if he were at 100% and trying to distract Zhao Yunlan, he'd have changed his subject change. (Unless you find Shen Wei the type to dig himself in deeper even if his idea doesn't work, which I don't think he quite is.)

It would! And because I am a sadistic fuck, I now want an AU where it's Zhao Xinci trying to deal with Zhu Jiu, while Zhao Yunlan made his escape from daddy's sphere of influence to ... idk, elsewhere.

Zhao Yunlan decided to be a journalist and uncover corruption in Dragon City, and has been working on mysterious murders where he suspects ~~his father~~ the police aren't telling the whole truth, and there is this hot professor...

Zhao Yunlan decided to be in a rock band ~~to really annoy the fuck out of his father~~ to give people hope, and then his guitarist is mysteriously murdered and ~~his father~~ the police are being very shady about it, and there is this hot professor...

I would read both of those. (As well as Zhao Yunlan, private investigator, because he was too good at detective-ing to *not* do that stuff, but also wanted to piss off his dad a lot.) Whom do I need to bribe?

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Guardian Episode by Episode: 17

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