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sid_guardian2019-07-25 10:27 pm
extrapenguin) wrote in sid_guardian2019-07-25 10:27 pm
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Guardian Episode by Episode: 21
Welcome to the rewatchalong! This week we do episode 21 a day early, as I'm traveling tomorrow. The Imgur screencap album has 85 images. Please excuse any oversights; I'm a bit bleh due to the heat.
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, Episode 17, Episode 18, Episode 19, Episode 20
This week, Zhao Yunlan adapts to life blind, while the SID searches for a cure. We start the Miracle Doctor arc.
Introductions
We meet Sha Ya! She is a musician who disses a speaker's acoustics, then zaps the speaker when Lin Jing tries to chat her up over it and makes him pay. She is at the very least amused by Lin Jing's flirting. We then see Ya Qing come up to inform us that yes, Sha Ya is with the baddies.
[insert dramatic music here]
This is also the first time we meet Doctor Cheng, I believe! She is Shen Wei's friend from university. She's a neurologist, except that she does ophthalmology and hypnotherapy. Dragon City Hospital must be very short-staffed. Or she's a genius who specialized in all the things for shits and giggles.
She's also absolutely delighted by Shen Wei finding someone who cares about him that much.
Characterization
Chu Shuzhi is the one to ask what the hell happened to make Zhao Yunlan go blind and prompt Zhu Hong telling that actually, Shen Wei is the Envoy. We don't see his reaction, but the next day he's perfectly willing to restate his undying loyalty to the Envoy (and sigh when Zhao Yunlan tries to do the "but I am your boss actually!" thing).
The regulars find it amusing.
He also got invited to the Guos' for the Reunion Festival, where he played Mah Jong successfully and was super OTT dramatic about his puppet. On the way back, he revealed that he didn't know what a polite remark is.
Please observe how his puppet got its own chair.
Of the SID members, Lin Jing is the only one who didn't have a family/friends to spend it with. He got everyone else's photos, though. And then he met Sha Ya and his heart went doki doki. :P Music seems to be something he likes – his idea of suitable audio entertainment for his blind boss was a sad eulogy with guitar accompaniment.
"I have your sheet music! Please pay attention to me!"
We start Da Qing's amnesia arc! He recalls that 10k years ago, he was part of something big, and wants to remember it. He is also the nonverbal communication stage with Shen Wei with the miracle doctor (how much practice did they have during the war?) and as top of the food chain, "I'm not stealing, I'm openly eating your snacks."
He later gets kicked for his troubles.
Zhu Hong goes home for the holidays only to walk right into a matchmaking session. Oops! She calls it off pretty easily, though. (I was, however, charmed by how the snake boy we see was advertising how good he is at housework! *g*) She reveals to her uncle that the only one in her heart is Zhao Yunlan, and definitely takes the opportunity to cuddle when Shen Wei tosses her at him.
"Uncle, if you're going to organize yet another matchmaking round, could you at least get a new set of groom candidates?"
While everyone else is busy, Sang Zan and Wang Zheng have a romantic interlude. With dancing and an excessive quantity of rose petals.
The Hanga only have one traditional dance. Eventually they might want to branch out.
At the Yashou market, Ya Qing murders Jia-ge for failing to guard the secret passage from Zhu Hong, and was pretty ready to murder Zhu Hong as well. How much can leaders of Yashou tribes get away with with members of other Yashou tribes?
We also have Professor Ouyang turn up again. Hi, Professor Ouyang! He offers Doctor Feng publicity and tries to recruit Shen Wei into the human-buffing research he's conducting. He fails at both.
"Shen Wei! Come join me in my project to slowly fill up a graduated cylinder with colored liquid."
Shen Wei isn't reacting well to Zhao Yunlan's blindness. (He probably blames himself for not arriving sooner.) He's turned into Yunlan's seeing-eye Dixingian and he's so worried about Yunlan that his lecture is an utter mess. He's also very much on edge, and when Zhao Yunlan knocks over some things, he snaps and says, "In the past, you-". I think he was making a reference to Kunlun, there. There's also the freak-out when he finds out Zhao Yunlan has been reading the Ancient Mysteries, which is interesting in light of Shen Wei's secrecy over the past – it seems that in addition to not wanting to tell, he also doesn't want Zhao Yunlan to find out at all.
Internal soundtrack: the swear equivalent of "fuck fuck fuck fuck" used 10k years ago by the Dixing forces.
He is also willing to kill Ya Qing at the Yashou market for colluding with evil – while Shen Wei is likely at least partly motivated by revenge for Yunlan's eyes, it raises the questions of whether what Ya Qing did counts as a Treaty violation, and whose jurisdiction is she in, anyway?
"A cure for Yunlan's eyes or your life! Wait, let me amend that. A cure for Yunlan's eyes and your life!"
In his less murderpants and worrywart moments, he has admitted that Dr Cheng is his university friend, admitted that he doesn't know much about the past (hinting that he slept through some of it!), and been very very discombobulated by the SID greeting him as the Envoy. He was nice and went to do aftercare of Chu Shuzhi's feelings, too, even if Chu didn't need it in the end.
Have one very shocked xiao-Wei.
Zhao Yunlan is trying to adapt to a life of blindness and put on a brave face, even if he's very frustrated by the situation. He has an alarm(!) to remind him of Shen Wei's schedule, since he's sure Shen Wei would forget everything fussing over him! He also continues his wheedling of Shen Wei and accuses Shen Wei of abandoning him and claims that he only got home because a "kind person" helped him.
His life is hard: his Hallows blind him and his cat steals his snacks. Will no-one show pity for this dashingly handsome young man?
As for his father: The moment Zhao Yunlan realized the person helping him up was dad, he jerked his hand away. He also lied about how he lost his sight. Then they had a conversation where Zhao Xinci warns Yunlan away from Shen Wei (revealing that he knows Shen Wei's double identity) and moved into a veiled argument about being friends with Dixingians. Zhao Yunlan says he wants a friend who, when push comes to shove, can be trusted to have his back, and says Shen Wei is good for him. We can all concur.
The closest thing to a positive father-son interaction these two have had in over a decade.
When Zhang Shi says something positive ("I trust you because you are my son.") about Yunlan, Zhao Yunlan immediately spots it as being unlike his father. After Zhang Shi's speech on the four things one mustn't worry about (permanence, right and wrong, kindness and evil, life and death), he remarks that that's more than his father has said to him in the past 15 years. Is that time the time since his mom died?
"The pod person factory must've had a mix-up; there's no way anyone would think my dad would ever say something that positive about me."
At the Yashou market, when Zhao Yunlan calls Shen Wei "xiao-Wei", I think it was a calculated move to stop Shen Wei in his tracks to save Ya Qing's life and thus curry favor with the Yashou leaders. Whether this was the right call, I don't know, but it does make clear that Zhao Yunlan is playing politics while Shen Wei is fighting a war.
"Now that I have my hand on your shoulder, I know where the rest of you is, which is all I need to know! Please bring your butt closer so I can fondle it in lieu of some Hallows."
Canon notes
Cinematography
I'd like to start by talking a bit about diagonals. Shots consisting of vertical and horizontal lines are stable; tilting it so there are diagonals introduces instability and thus doubt. In Zhao Yunlan's conversation with his father, the moment Zhao Xinci takes over, the next shot is shot from a lowered perspective to turn the copious verticals into diagonals:
The other shots in the scene were all regular non-diagonal ones.
The camera stayed mostly at eye level this episode, save for the pan around Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei when they arrived at the (empty) Yashou market...
I also for some reason find a lot of Zhao Yunlan's body language with the cane uncannily reminiscient of Ye Zun.
...and the ceiling shots of Wang Zheng and Sang Zang dancing:
This episode's close-up of hands was from the dancing, too:
This shot is just here because I like it in how it frames Zhao Yunlan and he's so very sure he's in the center of the portrait.
Zhao Yunlan jacket watch
This is at least one day after episode 20 (more likely several, given the notes that Zhao Yunlan's apparently been to several doctors' already, and this is the morning) and happens over two days.
Shen Wei shoe watch
They're under Zhao Yunlan's bed!
At the very least, they look like shoes Shen Wei has worn, but not anything I recall on Zhao Yunlan.
Did Shen Wei take off his glasses?
No.
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, Episode 17, Episode 18, Episode 19, Episode 20
This week, Zhao Yunlan adapts to life blind, while the SID searches for a cure. We start the Miracle Doctor arc.
Introductions
We meet Sha Ya! She is a musician who disses a speaker's acoustics, then zaps the speaker when Lin Jing tries to chat her up over it and makes him pay. She is at the very least amused by Lin Jing's flirting. We then see Ya Qing come up to inform us that yes, Sha Ya is with the baddies.
[insert dramatic music here]
This is also the first time we meet Doctor Cheng, I believe! She is Shen Wei's friend from university. She's a neurologist, except that she does ophthalmology and hypnotherapy. Dragon City Hospital must be very short-staffed. Or she's a genius who specialized in all the things for shits and giggles.
She's also absolutely delighted by Shen Wei finding someone who cares about him that much.
Characterization
Chu Shuzhi is the one to ask what the hell happened to make Zhao Yunlan go blind and prompt Zhu Hong telling that actually, Shen Wei is the Envoy. We don't see his reaction, but the next day he's perfectly willing to restate his undying loyalty to the Envoy (and sigh when Zhao Yunlan tries to do the "but I am your boss actually!" thing).
The regulars find it amusing.
He also got invited to the Guos' for the Reunion Festival, where he played Mah Jong successfully and was super OTT dramatic about his puppet. On the way back, he revealed that he didn't know what a polite remark is.
Please observe how his puppet got its own chair.
Of the SID members, Lin Jing is the only one who didn't have a family/friends to spend it with. He got everyone else's photos, though. And then he met Sha Ya and his heart went doki doki. :P Music seems to be something he likes – his idea of suitable audio entertainment for his blind boss was a sad eulogy with guitar accompaniment.
"I have your sheet music! Please pay attention to me!"
We start Da Qing's amnesia arc! He recalls that 10k years ago, he was part of something big, and wants to remember it. He is also the nonverbal communication stage with Shen Wei with the miracle doctor (how much practice did they have during the war?) and as top of the food chain, "I'm not stealing, I'm openly eating your snacks."
He later gets kicked for his troubles.
Zhu Hong goes home for the holidays only to walk right into a matchmaking session. Oops! She calls it off pretty easily, though. (I was, however, charmed by how the snake boy we see was advertising how good he is at housework! *g*) She reveals to her uncle that the only one in her heart is Zhao Yunlan, and definitely takes the opportunity to cuddle when Shen Wei tosses her at him.
"Uncle, if you're going to organize yet another matchmaking round, could you at least get a new set of groom candidates?"
While everyone else is busy, Sang Zan and Wang Zheng have a romantic interlude. With dancing and an excessive quantity of rose petals.
The Hanga only have one traditional dance. Eventually they might want to branch out.
At the Yashou market, Ya Qing murders Jia-ge for failing to guard the secret passage from Zhu Hong, and was pretty ready to murder Zhu Hong as well. How much can leaders of Yashou tribes get away with with members of other Yashou tribes?
We also have Professor Ouyang turn up again. Hi, Professor Ouyang! He offers Doctor Feng publicity and tries to recruit Shen Wei into the human-buffing research he's conducting. He fails at both.
"Shen Wei! Come join me in my project to slowly fill up a graduated cylinder with colored liquid."
Shen Wei isn't reacting well to Zhao Yunlan's blindness. (He probably blames himself for not arriving sooner.) He's turned into Yunlan's seeing-eye Dixingian and he's so worried about Yunlan that his lecture is an utter mess. He's also very much on edge, and when Zhao Yunlan knocks over some things, he snaps and says, "In the past, you-". I think he was making a reference to Kunlun, there. There's also the freak-out when he finds out Zhao Yunlan has been reading the Ancient Mysteries, which is interesting in light of Shen Wei's secrecy over the past – it seems that in addition to not wanting to tell, he also doesn't want Zhao Yunlan to find out at all.
Internal soundtrack: the swear equivalent of "fuck fuck fuck fuck" used 10k years ago by the Dixing forces.
He is also willing to kill Ya Qing at the Yashou market for colluding with evil – while Shen Wei is likely at least partly motivated by revenge for Yunlan's eyes, it raises the questions of whether what Ya Qing did counts as a Treaty violation, and whose jurisdiction is she in, anyway?
"A cure for Yunlan's eyes or your life! Wait, let me amend that. A cure for Yunlan's eyes and your life!"
In his less murderpants and worrywart moments, he has admitted that Dr Cheng is his university friend, admitted that he doesn't know much about the past (hinting that he slept through some of it!), and been very very discombobulated by the SID greeting him as the Envoy. He was nice and went to do aftercare of Chu Shuzhi's feelings, too, even if Chu didn't need it in the end.
Have one very shocked xiao-Wei.
Zhao Yunlan is trying to adapt to a life of blindness and put on a brave face, even if he's very frustrated by the situation. He has an alarm(!) to remind him of Shen Wei's schedule, since he's sure Shen Wei would forget everything fussing over him! He also continues his wheedling of Shen Wei and accuses Shen Wei of abandoning him and claims that he only got home because a "kind person" helped him.
His life is hard: his Hallows blind him and his cat steals his snacks. Will no-one show pity for this dashingly handsome young man?
As for his father: The moment Zhao Yunlan realized the person helping him up was dad, he jerked his hand away. He also lied about how he lost his sight. Then they had a conversation where Zhao Xinci warns Yunlan away from Shen Wei (revealing that he knows Shen Wei's double identity) and moved into a veiled argument about being friends with Dixingians. Zhao Yunlan says he wants a friend who, when push comes to shove, can be trusted to have his back, and says Shen Wei is good for him. We can all concur.
The closest thing to a positive father-son interaction these two have had in over a decade.
When Zhang Shi says something positive ("I trust you because you are my son.") about Yunlan, Zhao Yunlan immediately spots it as being unlike his father. After Zhang Shi's speech on the four things one mustn't worry about (permanence, right and wrong, kindness and evil, life and death), he remarks that that's more than his father has said to him in the past 15 years. Is that time the time since his mom died?
"The pod person factory must've had a mix-up; there's no way anyone would think my dad would ever say something that positive about me."
At the Yashou market, when Zhao Yunlan calls Shen Wei "xiao-Wei", I think it was a calculated move to stop Shen Wei in his tracks to save Ya Qing's life and thus curry favor with the Yashou leaders. Whether this was the right call, I don't know, but it does make clear that Zhao Yunlan is playing politics while Shen Wei is fighting a war.
"Now that I have my hand on your shoulder, I know where the rest of you is, which is all I need to know! Please bring your butt closer so I can fondle it in lieu of some Hallows."
Canon notes
- As per Da Qing, the story told in Ancient Mysteries did really happen, but the details may have been altered by time
- In the Northwest sky, Kunlun wrote: "Stone that crumbles before it grows old, water that freezes before it gets cold, wood that rots before it's born, gold that melts before it's warm; that is what the Hallows are made of" – original Kunlun, or Zhao Yunlan during his month-ish in the past?
- "The sky will not collapse, the earth shall not crumble, and the Hallows won't come forth" refers to Hallows only coming out in times of trouble
- Snakes don't live long, sez Uncle
- Market introductory speech: "All beings begin imperfect. Out iwth the old, in with the new. At the end of the year, the tribes pray to the gods and the ancestors. There's a cloud between the mountains of the great wilderness called the pillars supporting heaven. The dragon god of water touches it and the seasons change."
- The leadership election is in 3 months. Today is over 6 (but under 7?) months since Zhu Jiu became a menace, so the show takes place over ~10 months.
- The sacred wood has withered for 10 000 years.
- Reunion Festival seems to both have everyone go home to their families but also have classes on at University the day after. WTF?
- Zhao Yunlan has a cane now! It is the same cane that Ye Zun will use.
Cinematography
I'd like to start by talking a bit about diagonals. Shots consisting of vertical and horizontal lines are stable; tilting it so there are diagonals introduces instability and thus doubt. In Zhao Yunlan's conversation with his father, the moment Zhao Xinci takes over, the next shot is shot from a lowered perspective to turn the copious verticals into diagonals:
The other shots in the scene were all regular non-diagonal ones.
The camera stayed mostly at eye level this episode, save for the pan around Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei when they arrived at the (empty) Yashou market...
I also for some reason find a lot of Zhao Yunlan's body language with the cane uncannily reminiscient of Ye Zun.
...and the ceiling shots of Wang Zheng and Sang Zang dancing:
This episode's close-up of hands was from the dancing, too:
This shot is just here because I like it in how it frames Zhao Yunlan and he's so very sure he's in the center of the portrait.
Zhao Yunlan jacket watch
This is at least one day after episode 20 (more likely several, given the notes that Zhao Yunlan's apparently been to several doctors' already, and this is the morning) and happens over two days.
Shen Wei shoe watch
They're under Zhao Yunlan's bed!
At the very least, they look like shoes Shen Wei has worn, but not anything I recall on Zhao Yunlan.
Did Shen Wei take off his glasses?
No.
no subject
As someone who normally has zero patience for this sort of stuff, I was actually surprisingly okay with this ship once everything was done! The start is urgh, granted, but Lin Jing being okay with Sha Ya straight-up trying to murder him (and being a total fanboy over her music) did a lot to win me over.
I think either the Hallows descriptions have been mythologized over the 10k years, or Zhao Yunlan engaged in some profound trolling in the past. Once I'm a bit more awake I'll try to figure out whether each description matches a Hallow.
LOL, yes.
Obviously Ye Zun stole the cane from gege's boyfriend because he was jealous of gege's boyfriend coming first in gege's heart! Perfectly logical.
no subject
I would have liked at least two more episodes in the past, and the Merit Brush arc has plenty of fat to trim.
As someone who normally has zero patience for this sort of stuff, I was actually surprisingly okay with this ship once everything was done! The start is urgh, granted, but Lin Jing being okay with Sha Ya straight-up trying to murder him (and being a total fanboy over her music) did a lot to win me over.
See, I was more okay with it early on, when I was still mostly reading the subtitles and glancing up once in a while. Around rewatch #3 I started really paying attention to the rest of the screen, and ... yeah, not thrilled with Lin Jing. Although you're right, he does have a few good points.
I think either the Hallows descriptions have been mythologized over the 10k years, or Zhao Yunlan engaged in some profound trolling in the past.
Definitely the trolling, but why not both?
Once I'm a bit more awake I'll try to figure out whether each description matches a Hallow.
My best guess:
* Stone that crumbles before it grows old ~ the Mountain-Piercer Awl
* Water that freezes before it gets cold ~ the Merit Brush
* Wood that rots before it's born ~ the Resurrection Dial
* Gold that melts before it's warm ~ the Lantern
But if it's also what the Hallows are *made* of, they're missing one element of five: fire. And it sounds like the other four are corrupted somehow. Hmm.
Obviously Ye Zun stole the cane from gege's boyfriend because he was jealous of gege's boyfriend coming first in gege's heart! Perfectly logical.
That is a lovely Watsonian explanation, thank you! I'm still confused why Zhao Yunlan had such an odd cane in the first place, but then I look at his apartment and -- yeah. Yeah.
no subject
Yeah, it'd have been nice to show Zhao Yunlan's alcohol for the Yahsou twig scenes the first time round (and then with flashbacks in the relevant episode), plus more scenes with bb Shen Wei all starry-eyed at Kunlun. And even episode 21 could've been trimmed a bit - did Wang Zheng and Sang Zan's dancing have to be that long?
I guess I just have stricter standards for douchebroery - Lin Jing has his good points and isn't condesplaining guitar playing to her, which is more than what can be said for some dudes I've had the misfortune of interacting with.
I'd have assigned them differently! The Lantern is what melts, the Sundial is what crumbles before it's old (because it gave up its life), and the freezing water is the Awl and the rotting wood is the Brush due to vague handwaving. Though now I want a fifth forbidden Hallow that they need to track down without alerting Ye Zun about its existence!
Zhao Yunlan asked Shen Wei to buy the most OTT dramatic cane, because even if he can't see it, he will be blind with *style*.
no subject
Rice wine takes at least 21 days to brew (eyes cabinet); so there was plenty of time to have hijinks back in the past. Maybe even a short case?
And even episode 21 could've been trimmed a bit - did Wang Zheng and Sang Zan's dancing have to be that long?
I write all the Wang Zheng/Sang Zan sappiness off as 'token het to placate the censors'.
I guess I just have stricter standards for douchebroery - Lin Jing has his good points and isn't condesplaining guitar playing to her, which is more than what can be said for some dudes I've had the misfortune of interacting with.
Fair! I used to have a higher tolerance for his sort of nonsense, I think. Now I just go nope.
I'd have assigned them differently! The Lantern is what melts, the Sundial is what crumbles before it's old (because it gave up its life), and the freezing water is the Awl and the rotting wood is the Brush due to vague handwaving.
Hmm, I think I do like the Brush being wood. (I was thinking water = ink, and the Awl makes pillars = earth. At least we agree on the Lantern?)
Though now I want a fifth forbidden Hallow that they need to track down without alerting Ye Zun about its existence!
That would be a lot of fun!
Zhao Yunlan asked Shen Wei to buy the most OTT dramatic cane, because even if he can't see it, he will be blind with *style*.
... now I wonder if Zhu Hong picked it up while she was out grabbing Shen Wei sweatpants.
no subject
I mean, they had to get the Hallows back! Let them do some investigating! (And let Ye Zun do some actual villainy, so it's not "For the crime of killing your abuser, we sentence you to spend the lifetime of the planet in sensory deprivation" from the Hallows.)
That is probably a valid take. I, personally, hate it because Wang Zheng stopped doing interesting team stuff and instead just ... only interacted with Sang Zan. Where did my team stuff go?!
Wait, sweatpants? When did she grab him sweatpants?
no subject
Yes! A bucket full of yes to all of this. The whole 'Ye Zun gets ten thousand years in a pillar for eating the dude who enslaved him' thing bugs me too.
Where did my team stuff go?!
Well, that's why we have fanfic...
Wait, sweatpants? When did she grab him sweatpants?
Episode 22, as per our previous discussion about Shen Wei's
engineer-typicalquestionable taste in casual clothes. (It would have had to be a previous shopping trip, though, as the timing doesn't work out. Oh no, now I want to write the fic about ZH - or LJ, or DQ - going shopping repeatedly because ZYL and SW keep needing stuff.)no subject
no subject
I guess I know what I'm doing this afternoon now...
no subject
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Could that be the wick?
I'm still confused why Zhao Yunlan had such an odd cane in the first place, but then I look at his apartment and -- yeah.
Or he only got it after/because he was blind and some cat yashou with questionable taste picked it for him.
no subject
Sure, why not?
Or he only got it after/because he was blind and some cat yashou with questionable taste picked it for him.
Fair! It does seem like the sort of thing Da Qing would pick up while he was out making a snack run and happened to walk by the local cosplay shop.
no subject
This is me. I see the points raised, I see the pushiness, it's not a good look on a dude. But somehow for me it comes together, she has more baggage than she ever tells him, he adores her, he brings Zhu Hong on a date... (And I'm personally also very awwww about the sky thing.)
no subject