Discussion: how did you first hear about Guardian, and what made you decide to watch?

[china_shop]

A friend posted a poll yesterday about what prompts people to try new (fannish) media, and I realised that I don't really know what it was that made my Guardian friends take a chance on Guardian -- ambient squee? a friend's rec? fanworks? something else? Let's talk about it!

Here's my story:

It was 2018, and I'd been in my previous primary fandom, White Collar, for nine years; I was running out of juice there and vaguely looking around for something new. I'd also been watching Kdramas since 2013, so I was comfortable with subtitles, but I hadn't branched out into other Asian dramas. Then someone on my Dreamwidth friends list fell hard for Guardian (the drama, I think). At first, I didn't pay much attention, but they were so enthusiastic, and after a while, I thought it sounded like it might be up my alley? At that stage, I didn't really know anything about it: I wasn't even sure if it was live action, and I didn't have much of a handle on the genre either.

( Continued below the cut. )

Questions
Can you remember where and how you first heard about Guardian? Why did it catch your eye?
Did you start with the drama or the novel? Which is your main focus now (or do you love them both)?
When did you start, and how long did it take you to watch/read all the way through, the first time?
What particularly grabbed you?
Did you make any reaction posts as you watched or read? If so, feel free to quote or link them here.

Note: Discussion contains spoilers for the whole show.

ART: be not afraid

[kalgalen]

Hi here is my second Guardian fanart so far~ I saw a bird's wing and suddenly wanted to draw Shen Wei with wings. And he looks so pretty with long hair so i had to make that choice too uwu (oh yeah and zhao yunlan's here to ig LOL) (might make riso prints of this hmm....)