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sid_guardian2021-01-08 06:09 pm
sakana17) wrote in sid_guardian2021-01-08 06:09 pm
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Focus on: Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei in Shen Wei's office from episode 7
Location of scene: Episode 7, 39:47-42:12
The SID has just closed the Lai Su case. Earlier in the episode (during the laptop scene), Shen Wei had told Zhao Yunlan he wanted to know the identity of the inhumane killer. Zhao Yunlan is in Shen Wei's office to tell him how the case resolved.
[Note: English dialogue taken from thesolo QC subtitles]
The scene starts with Zhao Yunlan already in Shen Wei's office. He has told him about Lai Su and the case. He's sitting across from Shen Wei at Shen Wei's desk, and he's twiddling an ink brush in his fingers.
During the entire scene, Zhao Yunlan plays with the ink brush, at times holding it by the brush tip, not the handle. I think it's Shen Wei's ink brush--there is an ink brush holder on Shen Wei's desk with some other brushes hanging on it--but because we never see Zhao Yunlan pick it up or put it down, it's possible it might not be. Assuming it is Shen Wei's brush, this is another display of Zhao Yunlan helping himself to Shen Wei's stuff, à la eating his cake (in episode 3) and playing with his letter opener (in episode 6).
Shen Wei is dressed more casually than usual (no sweater, vest, or jacket, and no necktie) in a somewhat sporty shirt with vertical stripes down the arms. He's also not wearing sleeve garters.
Zhao Yunlan is wearing the same clothes he wore earlier while solving the case, so either Shen Wei changed his clothes during the day, or Zhao Yunlan hasn't changed his clothes in over a day.
This scene comes after two previous scenes that are set at night, but the lighting in Shen Wei's office is ambiguous for determining time of day. There's a "night" feel to it to me, because we don't see/hear anyone else in the hallway outside his office.
Shen Wei asks Zhao Yunlan if Zhao Yunlan thinks Lai Su reaped what he sowed. Zhao Yunlan replies that he can't say for sure, but he's fairly certain that Lai Su had Dixing genes he didn't know about. He theorizes that Lai Su's Dixing power was to self-hypnotize, and that Lai Su and the monster he wrote about were one in the same. When Lai Su prematurely wrote about the monster's death, the monster counter-attacked, engulfed him, and killed him.
Shen Wei says that Zhao Yunlan's theory is possible, but because Lai Su is dead, there's no way to verify it.
Zhao Yunlan then makes a little moralizing speech about Lai Su overusing his power so the monster overwhelmed him, and that greed and ambition triggered Lai Su's self-hypnosis. With this speech, Zhao Yunlan seems to be giving a delayed "yes" response to Shen Wei's earlier question about Lai Su reaping what he sowed.
The next thing Zhao Yunlan says is: "Don't authors always say that the moment they raise their pen, the characters already possess their own life and will?"
Note: The line in Chinese is: "作家们不是经常说吗，当他们开始动笔的那一刻起，这个角色就有了自己的生命和自己的意志。" In English, there is an ambiguity with "characters" which I don't think exists in the original. The Chinese used is 角色 (jué sè) = character, role, part. In English, the word "character" is often used for Chinese logograms (hanzi). (I'm not an expert in Mandarin. If I've misinterpreted this, please let me know! ** Thank you for the correction,grayswandir!)
When Zhao Yunlan says the bit about "raise their pen," he gestures with the ink brush as if making a stroke of a hanzi.
Then Zhao Yunlan says: "All life's a play.[*] Hey, who knows, the two of us right now might be characters in someone's book."
[*] Note: The Chinese is: "人生如戏" (rénshēng rú xì), a four-character idiomatic expression. Link to a scholarly paper about this expression (see especially section 4.3).
After this, Shen Wei's expressions change. He's no longer in "case analysis mode." Shen Wei smiles a little.
Zhao Yunlan smiles back.
Shen Wei says: "I never thought that I'd hear you say something like this." He's very serious. Zhao Yunlan looks at him, also serious.
Shen Wei continues: "And I expected even less that one day you would empathize with the plight of the Dixing people." It looks like he's tearing up.
Zhao Yunlan's initial reaction to this is also serious.
They stare at each other for a moment. Then Zhao Yunlan's manner shifts. He makes a little sound, tilts his head, raises a finger, and sort of points in Shen Wei's direction.
He says: "You know what... I didn't think there'd be a day like this myself." Said with a little laugh and smile.
Shen Wei lowers his eyes with a small smile. He makes a soft breathy sound that's between a snort and a laugh.
Then he looks up at Zhao Yunlan again. With teary/watery eyes.
Then looks down, to the side, with more of a smile.
Shen Wei doesn't say anything. He sits back.
Zhao Yunlan, serious again, looks off to one side and says he keeps feeling like "we're[*] facing stormy weather," and looks at Shen Wei.
[*] Note: The original is "龙城的阴雨时刻要到了" which I think means something like "Dragon City is facing stormy weather." I wanted to note this, because the English "we're" could imply he's only talking about himself and Shen Wei, or only talking about the SID, but he means all of Dragon City. (Again, I'm not an expert in Mandarin, so please correct me if I'm misinterpreting!)
Shen Wei is looking down. In reaction, he has a slight brow crease and looks at Zhao Yunlan. They look at each other, serious, and the scene ends. It's also the end of the episode.
I chose this scene is because I think it's an interesting stepping stone in the development of Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan's relationship.
Episode 7 begins with Zhao Yunlan saving Shen Wei from the muggers in the alley. Then there's the liniment scene, where Zhao Yunlan asks Shen Wei to become SID's consultant, and Shen Wei turns him down. Next is the laptop scene, where Zhao Yunlan wants Shen Wei to give him information about Dixingren to help the case. Their scenes in this episode prior to this one contain Zhao Yunlan pursuing & trying to get information from Shen Wei.
This scene doesn't. Even when Zhao Yunlan theorizes about Lai Su having Dixing genes, he doesn't ask it in a way that pushes Shen Wei for an answer. And when Shen Wei says they can't know now, Zhao Yunlan accepts this.
Zhao Yunlan not only says some moralizing things about Lai Su (revealing his own opinions) but he gets a little philosophical. And Shen Wei is very moved by this and tells him so. They are really interacting like equals, like friends, in this scene.
Questions:
1. Why does Shen Wei ask Zhao Yunlan if Lai Su reaped what he sowed? What kind of answer, if any, does he expect (or want) from Zhao Yunlan?
2. There are some obvious meta meanings to Zhao Yunlan's "the two of us right now might be characters in someone's book." What's Zhao Yunlan's meaning? And why is Shen Wei so moved by it?
3. When Shen Wei opens up and tells him he never expected Zhao Yunlan to say these things, what does Zhao Yunlan's reaction (with the laugh) mean? What does Shen Wei think after that reaction?
4. Does Zhao Yunlan know (as opposed to suspect) by now that Shen Wei is Dixingren? If so, what does this mean for Shen Wei? If he's still trying to hide that he's Dixingren, isn't he giving it away with what he says about Zhao Yunlan empathizing with the plight of Dixingren (and how he says it)? Or is giving it away Shen Wei's intention?
So, come and have your say! Share links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, new or old! Self-recs are wholeheartedly encouraged. Basically, this is the place for anything you want to say or link to about this scene.
The SID has just closed the Lai Su case. Earlier in the episode (during the laptop scene), Shen Wei had told Zhao Yunlan he wanted to know the identity of the inhumane killer. Zhao Yunlan is in Shen Wei's office to tell him how the case resolved.
[Note: English dialogue taken from the
solo QC subtitles]The scene starts with Zhao Yunlan already in Shen Wei's office. He has told him about Lai Su and the case. He's sitting across from Shen Wei at Shen Wei's desk, and he's twiddling an ink brush in his fingers.
During the entire scene, Zhao Yunlan plays with the ink brush, at times holding it by the brush tip, not the handle. I think it's Shen Wei's ink brush--there is an ink brush holder on Shen Wei's desk with some other brushes hanging on it--but because we never see Zhao Yunlan pick it up or put it down, it's possible it might not be. Assuming it is Shen Wei's brush, this is another display of Zhao Yunlan helping himself to Shen Wei's stuff, à la eating his cake (in episode 3) and playing with his letter opener (in episode 6).
Shen Wei is dressed more casually than usual (no sweater, vest, or jacket, and no necktie) in a somewhat sporty shirt with vertical stripes down the arms. He's also not wearing sleeve garters.
Zhao Yunlan is wearing the same clothes he wore earlier while solving the case, so either Shen Wei changed his clothes during the day, or Zhao Yunlan hasn't changed his clothes in over a day.
This scene comes after two previous scenes that are set at night, but the lighting in Shen Wei's office is ambiguous for determining time of day. There's a "night" feel to it to me, because we don't see/hear anyone else in the hallway outside his office.
Shen Wei asks Zhao Yunlan if Zhao Yunlan thinks Lai Su reaped what he sowed. Zhao Yunlan replies that he can't say for sure, but he's fairly certain that Lai Su had Dixing genes he didn't know about. He theorizes that Lai Su's Dixing power was to self-hypnotize, and that Lai Su and the monster he wrote about were one in the same. When Lai Su prematurely wrote about the monster's death, the monster counter-attacked, engulfed him, and killed him.
Shen Wei says that Zhao Yunlan's theory is possible, but because Lai Su is dead, there's no way to verify it.
Zhao Yunlan then makes a little moralizing speech about Lai Su overusing his power so the monster overwhelmed him, and that greed and ambition triggered Lai Su's self-hypnosis. With this speech, Zhao Yunlan seems to be giving a delayed "yes" response to Shen Wei's earlier question about Lai Su reaping what he sowed.
The next thing Zhao Yunlan says is: "Don't authors always say that the moment they raise their pen, the characters already possess their own life and will?"
Note: The line in Chinese is: "作家们不是经常说吗，当他们开始动笔的那一刻起，这个角色就有了自己的生命和自己的意志。" In English, there is an ambiguity with "characters" which I don't think exists in the original. The Chinese used is 角色 (jué sè) = character, role, part. In English, the word "character" is often used for Chinese logograms (hanzi). (I'm not an expert in Mandarin. If I've misinterpreted this, please let me know! ** Thank you for the correction,
grayswandir!)When Zhao Yunlan says the bit about "raise their pen," he gestures with the ink brush as if making a stroke of a hanzi.
Then Zhao Yunlan says: "All life's a play.[*] Hey, who knows, the two of us right now might be characters in someone's book."
[*] Note: The Chinese is: "人生如戏" (rénshēng rú xì), a four-character idiomatic expression. Link to a scholarly paper about this expression (see especially section 4.3).
After this, Shen Wei's expressions change. He's no longer in "case analysis mode." Shen Wei smiles a little.
Zhao Yunlan smiles back.
Shen Wei says: "I never thought that I'd hear you say something like this." He's very serious. Zhao Yunlan looks at him, also serious.
Shen Wei continues: "And I expected even less that one day you would empathize with the plight of the Dixing people." It looks like he's tearing up.
Zhao Yunlan's initial reaction to this is also serious.
They stare at each other for a moment. Then Zhao Yunlan's manner shifts. He makes a little sound, tilts his head, raises a finger, and sort of points in Shen Wei's direction.
He says: "You know what... I didn't think there'd be a day like this myself." Said with a little laugh and smile.
Shen Wei lowers his eyes with a small smile. He makes a soft breathy sound that's between a snort and a laugh.
Then he looks up at Zhao Yunlan again. With teary/watery eyes.
Then looks down, to the side, with more of a smile.
Shen Wei doesn't say anything. He sits back.
Zhao Yunlan, serious again, looks off to one side and says he keeps feeling like "we're[*] facing stormy weather," and looks at Shen Wei.
[*] Note: The original is "龙城的阴雨时刻要到了" which I think means something like "Dragon City is facing stormy weather." I wanted to note this, because the English "we're" could imply he's only talking about himself and Shen Wei, or only talking about the SID, but he means all of Dragon City. (Again, I'm not an expert in Mandarin, so please correct me if I'm misinterpreting!)
Shen Wei is looking down. In reaction, he has a slight brow crease and looks at Zhao Yunlan. They look at each other, serious, and the scene ends. It's also the end of the episode.
I chose this scene is because I think it's an interesting stepping stone in the development of Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan's relationship.
Episode 7 begins with Zhao Yunlan saving Shen Wei from the muggers in the alley. Then there's the liniment scene, where Zhao Yunlan asks Shen Wei to become SID's consultant, and Shen Wei turns him down. Next is the laptop scene, where Zhao Yunlan wants Shen Wei to give him information about Dixingren to help the case. Their scenes in this episode prior to this one contain Zhao Yunlan pursuing & trying to get information from Shen Wei.
This scene doesn't. Even when Zhao Yunlan theorizes about Lai Su having Dixing genes, he doesn't ask it in a way that pushes Shen Wei for an answer. And when Shen Wei says they can't know now, Zhao Yunlan accepts this.
Zhao Yunlan not only says some moralizing things about Lai Su (revealing his own opinions) but he gets a little philosophical. And Shen Wei is very moved by this and tells him so. They are really interacting like equals, like friends, in this scene.
Questions:
1. Why does Shen Wei ask Zhao Yunlan if Lai Su reaped what he sowed? What kind of answer, if any, does he expect (or want) from Zhao Yunlan?
2. There are some obvious meta meanings to Zhao Yunlan's "the two of us right now might be characters in someone's book." What's Zhao Yunlan's meaning? And why is Shen Wei so moved by it?
3. When Shen Wei opens up and tells him he never expected Zhao Yunlan to say these things, what does Zhao Yunlan's reaction (with the laugh) mean? What does Shen Wei think after that reaction?
4. Does Zhao Yunlan know (as opposed to suspect) by now that Shen Wei is Dixingren? If so, what does this mean for Shen Wei? If he's still trying to hide that he's Dixingren, isn't he giving it away with what he says about Zhao Yunlan empathizing with the plight of Dixingren (and how he says it)? Or is giving it away Shen Wei's intention?
So, come and have your say! Share links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, new or old! Self-recs are wholeheartedly encouraged. Basically, this is the place for anything you want to say or link to about this scene.
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Ah, that's a good point. Somehow I just took it for granted that saying he "had Dixing genes" was distinct from saying he was fully Dixingren, since I don't think anyone else ever uses this phrasing to describe anyone from Dixing, but now that you mention it, the fact that he himself didn't know about it could be the explanation for the different phrasing.
I just checked the Chinese to see if it would offer any clues, but in this case the English translation is pretty much exactly literal: 来苏肯定拥有地星人的基因而他自己不知道, "Lai Su must have possessed Dixing genes and himself did not know it." Which as far as I can tell is just as ambiguous in Chinese as in English as to whether it suggests the possibility of being part-Dixingren-part-human or not. So. Hmm. Given that apparently a lot of Dixingren develop their powers late or even never, there certainly could be Dixingren who were born and raised on the surface who live their entire lives without ever even finding out they're not human. Which is also interesting. So I guess, food for thought either way!
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