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sid_guardian2021-01-23 01:12 am
laireshi) wrote in sid_guardian2021-01-23 01:12 am
Entry tags:
Focus on: Zhao Yunlan rescuing Shen Wei from episode 33
Location of scene: episode 33, 26:30 to 35:10.
(I'm sorry about how long and image-heavy this is!)
Shen Wei is tied to a pillar; the same one that had kept Ye Zun trapped for centuries. He's hurt and weak, leaning forward as much as the chains will allow because he can't stand straight anymore. (It's a good look on him.)
Someone calls his name. He looks up, obviously tired, and sees the Shadow Man. He's the one who attacked Li Qian in episode 1. The Shadow Man gives an explanation of what happened ("That day was an emergency. The Regent opened the jail and organized us prisoners into a siege squad, to besiege Ye Zun at the Sky Pillar. Most of us died. I managed to escape by hiding in the shadows."). I'm not sure which day he actually means?
He then brandishes Shen Wei's own sword. The one he sent together with xiao-Guo to the Palace, until Zhao Yunlan finds him. The idea that Zhao Yunlan was in danger gives Shen Wei strength. He straightens up and yells, asking why the Shadow Man has the sword.
Shen Wei's face when he realises the Shadow Man is holding the sword.
Flashback to when he summoned the sword earlier—notice how much it costs him to use dark energy.
Shen Wei struggles. He assumes the worst happened to Zhao Yunlan. The Shadow Man is really unhelpful in replying. He kinda shrugs. You can see Shen Wei lose all hope. He sags against the chains again, closes his eyes.
He's so ready to die there when he thinks Zhao Yunlan is already gone ;;;
Then Zhao Yunlan enters the scene. He calls, "Started how?". Shen Wei slowly opens his eyes. He can't let himself believe. Zhao Yunlan is there, carrying xiao-Guo on his back. He sets him down ad Shen Wei whispers, "Zhao Yunlan". Zhao Yunlan walks up to him and they smile at each other.
The Shadow Man offers more background information in an interesting outlook on a) how Shen Wei deals with Dixingren criminals ("Black-Cloaked Envoy, though you arrested me that day, you consoled my family afterwards and pleaded for me with the Regent. I may have committed a crime, but I do know gratitude.") and then b) the current situation in Dixing ("Now Ye Zun pretends he's fighting to give Dixing people more resources and light. But in reality, he aims to rule all of Haixing. Without your help, we're all finished."). We already saw the Envoy show mercy; I like that we also have a proof that he's trying to be fair and just with those he brings to the trial, too. It also sets the scene for the final confrontation with Ye Zun.
Zhao Yunlan interrupts. His first priority is getting Shen Wei out of those chains. Shen Wei looks visibly in pain for a moment, proving Zhao Yunlan's priorities are right. Zhao Yunlan takes the sword and starts hacking at the chains—and is pushed away. He frowns, tries again, and the resulting shockwave almost pushes him down the stairs.
Shen Wei calls his name, which Zhao Yunlan ignores, getting ready to strike at the chains again.
"You can't go on. You can't go on! Ye zun bespelled these chains. It seems that even my own blade cannot sever them."
Zhao Yunlan isn't impressed. He tells him he won't stand for this evil. Shen Wei keeps yelling Zhao Yunlan's name, but Zhao Yunlan tries again. This time, he falls down. Shen Wei struggles against the chains to no avail, yelling at Zhao Yunlan to stop.
Zhao Yunlan is only interested in that he made progress with breaking the chains; he doesn't worry about the cost to himself.
Shen Wei says again, "Zhao Yunlan, you can't go on! If you keep doing this, you'll get badly injured."
It's a very nice look at their priorities and hypocrisy when their well-being is at stake: Zhao Yunlan doesn't care if he gets hurt as long as he can help Shen Wei. If their positions were reversed, Shen Wei would act in exactly the same way. Of course, Shen Wei hates that Zhao Yunlan is risking himself for him. Only he is allowed to risk himself for Zhao Yunlan!
"Are you listening?!" Shen Wei screams at him, but Zhao Yunlan isn't. He takes a swing, and the Shadow Man stops him. He takes the sword and hits at the chains until he falls down. The shadows dissolve, showing a regular-looking man. The chains break at last.
Shen Wei struggles to get to him; he falls to his knees and can't get up without Zhao Yunlan's help. Zhao Yunlan supports him as he tries to walk to the Shadow Man and talk to him in his last moments. Shen Wei's weakened, holds himself up with a grip on the wall behind him.
"Black-Cloaked Envoy, don't disappoint your people in Dixing," the man says as he dies. Shen Wei makes a move as if he wants to try and heal him, but he collapses instead, clutching at his side in pain, Zhao Yunlan moves closer to help him again. He holds him up. Shen Wei looks at the pillar, looking (prettily dishevelled) shocked and determined.
Zhao Yunlan reassures him, "He definitely didn't die in vain."
Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan share a long look. Zhao Yunlan grasps Shen Wei's arm in support.
The scene changes: they're now back in Haixing. Zhao Yunlan carries xiao-Guo into the SID. Da Qing and Zhu Hong look visibly worried, but it's lao-Chu who runs to get xiao-Guo and bridal carries him to the lab. Zhao Yunlan leaves Zhu Hong in charge: "Shen Wei is injured. I'm taking him home."
Shen Wei, oh-so-predictably, reacts like this:
Zhao Yunlan strongly disagrees.
Zhao Yunlan grabs him by his arm, glares at him in concern, pulls Shen Wei's arm around his own shoulders and embraces him to help him walk. Zhu Hong looks sadly after them before walking off to do something in the SID.
Outside, Zhao Yunlan is no longer half-embracing Shen Wei, instead holding him by one arm. Shen Wei keeps insisting that he can walk by himself. Zhao Yunlan is having none of it. (His full line goes like this: "Walk by yourself? Just look at you, you're like a pregnant woman. Well, hurry and get in the car. The sooner we're settled, the sooner I'll relax.") There's a lot of filming them from further away, framing the scene through blurred objects.
Shen Wei (still pale! Still white-lipped!), stops and gestures at a bench, asking Zhao Yunlan to sit there with him.
It might be just an excuse to take a break because he is, in fact, too hurt to walk (Zhao Yunlan looks around and seems to go "what sunlight" inwardly—we can't see the sky in that scene, but the colours don't look as if it was a sunny day), but I think there's a bit of truth to it, too. Shen Wei is used to living on the surface; it must've been hard for him to be trapped in darkness. (The way the rest of his people are. He must realise that, too?) They sit down. Shen Wei takes a breath before looking at Zhao Yunlan and asking for an update. Zhao Yunlan is somehow reluctant to answer.
Shen Wei asks, "How's the situation?" and Zhao Yunlan only says, "Still going smoothly." Shen Wei is unimpressed with that answer. He insists, mentioning that the SID is the news now. Zhao Yunlan confirms and offers nothing more. Shen Wei asks about the Master of Nightmares and if he got into lao-Chu and Zhu Hong's dreams.
Zhao Yunlan gives him another one-syllable answer. Shen Wei looks proud of them, though: "They were able to overcome their bitterness, and break out of the dream. This shows they are stronger than before." I like how it shows that he cares about the SID team! Zhao Yunlan still only answers in one word.
Shen Wei looks at him, worried, and sees right through him. Zhao Yunlan's answer is "just once". Shen Wei starts to tell him off, mentioning the SID's changed situation now. He probably wants to tell Zhao Yunlan not to risk himself, but Zhao Yunlan interrupts him. He says he knows and he would listen to Shen Wei, but later.
He plays up his tiredness, mentioning how all he wants to do is go to bed and rest, aiming to make Shen Wei finally go home so that he can rest after being trapped in Dixing. (Of course telling Shen Wei that he needs to rest would not work. It reminds me on that scene in the earlier episodes where Zhao Yunlan pretends to have a headache in order to make Shen Wei volunteer himself to get scanned by Lin Jing. But then he was manipulating Shen Wei to confirm something for himself; this time he's doing it for Shen Wei's own well-being.) Shen Wei seems to know what he's doing and laughs a bit, fond, but doesn't seem to feel up to walking quite yet. He says he'd like to stay a moment longer.
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Zhao Yunlan is not amused by that. "Me, go ahead and rest?"
This is such a beautiful declaration of care and commitment. Of course Shen Wei's suggestion was ridiculous. Zhao Yunlan is no more going to leave him alone when he's hurt than Shen Wei would in a reversed situation.
He clearly would prefer to take Shen Wei home, but doesn't actually push him, giving him more time to get his strength back before standing up.
They look at each other again and laugh. The scene ends with them sitting peacefully on a bench.
I love this scene because it's the closest to h/c for Shen Wei we got! He was hurt plenty, but we rarely got comfort to match the hurt, and here we have Zhao Yunlan rescuing and taking care of Shen Wei, and ahhh, it was so good! He knows Shen Wei so well and he's as stubborn as he is. (I am still sad we didn't get to see him tuck Shen Wei into bed though ;) )
(I'm trying very hard not to ask "how did Zhao Yunlan take care of Shen Wei later!", but uh, that's what I'm thinking.)
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.
(I'm sorry about how long and image-heavy this is!)
Shen Wei is tied to a pillar; the same one that had kept Ye Zun trapped for centuries. He's hurt and weak, leaning forward as much as the chains will allow because he can't stand straight anymore. (It's a good look on him.)
Someone calls his name. He looks up, obviously tired, and sees the Shadow Man. He's the one who attacked Li Qian in episode 1. The Shadow Man gives an explanation of what happened ("That day was an emergency. The Regent opened the jail and organized us prisoners into a siege squad, to besiege Ye Zun at the Sky Pillar. Most of us died. I managed to escape by hiding in the shadows."). I'm not sure which day he actually means?
He then brandishes Shen Wei's own sword. The one he sent together with xiao-Guo to the Palace, until Zhao Yunlan finds him. The idea that Zhao Yunlan was in danger gives Shen Wei strength. He straightens up and yells, asking why the Shadow Man has the sword.
Shen Wei's face when he realises the Shadow Man is holding the sword.
Flashback to when he summoned the sword earlier—notice how much it costs him to use dark energy.
Shen Wei struggles. He assumes the worst happened to Zhao Yunlan. The Shadow Man is really unhelpful in replying. He kinda shrugs. You can see Shen Wei lose all hope. He sags against the chains again, closes his eyes.
He's so ready to die there when he thinks Zhao Yunlan is already gone ;;;
Then Zhao Yunlan enters the scene. He calls, "Started how?". Shen Wei slowly opens his eyes. He can't let himself believe. Zhao Yunlan is there, carrying xiao-Guo on his back. He sets him down ad Shen Wei whispers, "Zhao Yunlan". Zhao Yunlan walks up to him and they smile at each other.
The Shadow Man offers more background information in an interesting outlook on a) how Shen Wei deals with Dixingren criminals ("Black-Cloaked Envoy, though you arrested me that day, you consoled my family afterwards and pleaded for me with the Regent. I may have committed a crime, but I do know gratitude.") and then b) the current situation in Dixing ("Now Ye Zun pretends he's fighting to give Dixing people more resources and light. But in reality, he aims to rule all of Haixing. Without your help, we're all finished."). We already saw the Envoy show mercy; I like that we also have a proof that he's trying to be fair and just with those he brings to the trial, too. It also sets the scene for the final confrontation with Ye Zun.
Zhao Yunlan interrupts. His first priority is getting Shen Wei out of those chains. Shen Wei looks visibly in pain for a moment, proving Zhao Yunlan's priorities are right. Zhao Yunlan takes the sword and starts hacking at the chains—and is pushed away. He frowns, tries again, and the resulting shockwave almost pushes him down the stairs.
Shen Wei calls his name, which Zhao Yunlan ignores, getting ready to strike at the chains again.
"You can't go on. You can't go on! Ye zun bespelled these chains. It seems that even my own blade cannot sever them."
Zhao Yunlan isn't impressed. He tells him he won't stand for this evil. Shen Wei keeps yelling Zhao Yunlan's name, but Zhao Yunlan tries again. This time, he falls down. Shen Wei struggles against the chains to no avail, yelling at Zhao Yunlan to stop.
Zhao Yunlan is only interested in that he made progress with breaking the chains; he doesn't worry about the cost to himself.
Shen Wei says again, "Zhao Yunlan, you can't go on! If you keep doing this, you'll get badly injured."
It's a very nice look at their priorities and hypocrisy when their well-being is at stake: Zhao Yunlan doesn't care if he gets hurt as long as he can help Shen Wei. If their positions were reversed, Shen Wei would act in exactly the same way. Of course, Shen Wei hates that Zhao Yunlan is risking himself for him. Only he is allowed to risk himself for Zhao Yunlan!
"Are you listening?!" Shen Wei screams at him, but Zhao Yunlan isn't. He takes a swing, and the Shadow Man stops him. He takes the sword and hits at the chains until he falls down. The shadows dissolve, showing a regular-looking man. The chains break at last.
Shen Wei struggles to get to him; he falls to his knees and can't get up without Zhao Yunlan's help. Zhao Yunlan supports him as he tries to walk to the Shadow Man and talk to him in his last moments. Shen Wei's weakened, holds himself up with a grip on the wall behind him.
"Black-Cloaked Envoy, don't disappoint your people in Dixing," the man says as he dies. Shen Wei makes a move as if he wants to try and heal him, but he collapses instead, clutching at his side in pain, Zhao Yunlan moves closer to help him again. He holds him up. Shen Wei looks at the pillar, looking (prettily dishevelled) shocked and determined.
Zhao Yunlan reassures him, "He definitely didn't die in vain."
Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan share a long look. Zhao Yunlan grasps Shen Wei's arm in support.
The scene changes: they're now back in Haixing. Zhao Yunlan carries xiao-Guo into the SID. Da Qing and Zhu Hong look visibly worried, but it's lao-Chu who runs to get xiao-Guo and bridal carries him to the lab. Zhao Yunlan leaves Zhu Hong in charge: "Shen Wei is injured. I'm taking him home."
Shen Wei, oh-so-predictably, reacts like this:
Zhao Yunlan strongly disagrees.
Zhao Yunlan grabs him by his arm, glares at him in concern, pulls Shen Wei's arm around his own shoulders and embraces him to help him walk. Zhu Hong looks sadly after them before walking off to do something in the SID.
Outside, Zhao Yunlan is no longer half-embracing Shen Wei, instead holding him by one arm. Shen Wei keeps insisting that he can walk by himself. Zhao Yunlan is having none of it. (His full line goes like this: "Walk by yourself? Just look at you, you're like a pregnant woman. Well, hurry and get in the car. The sooner we're settled, the sooner I'll relax.") There's a lot of filming them from further away, framing the scene through blurred objects.
Shen Wei (still pale! Still white-lipped!), stops and gestures at a bench, asking Zhao Yunlan to sit there with him.
It might be just an excuse to take a break because he is, in fact, too hurt to walk (Zhao Yunlan looks around and seems to go "what sunlight" inwardly—we can't see the sky in that scene, but the colours don't look as if it was a sunny day), but I think there's a bit of truth to it, too. Shen Wei is used to living on the surface; it must've been hard for him to be trapped in darkness. (The way the rest of his people are. He must realise that, too?) They sit down. Shen Wei takes a breath before looking at Zhao Yunlan and asking for an update. Zhao Yunlan is somehow reluctant to answer.
Shen Wei asks, "How's the situation?" and Zhao Yunlan only says, "Still going smoothly." Shen Wei is unimpressed with that answer. He insists, mentioning that the SID is the news now. Zhao Yunlan confirms and offers nothing more. Shen Wei asks about the Master of Nightmares and if he got into lao-Chu and Zhu Hong's dreams.
Zhao Yunlan gives him another one-syllable answer. Shen Wei looks proud of them, though: "They were able to overcome their bitterness, and break out of the dream. This shows they are stronger than before." I like how it shows that he cares about the SID team! Zhao Yunlan still only answers in one word.
Shen Wei looks at him, worried, and sees right through him. Zhao Yunlan's answer is "just once". Shen Wei starts to tell him off, mentioning the SID's changed situation now. He probably wants to tell Zhao Yunlan not to risk himself, but Zhao Yunlan interrupts him. He says he knows and he would listen to Shen Wei, but later.
He plays up his tiredness, mentioning how all he wants to do is go to bed and rest, aiming to make Shen Wei finally go home so that he can rest after being trapped in Dixing. (Of course telling Shen Wei that he needs to rest would not work. It reminds me on that scene in the earlier episodes where Zhao Yunlan pretends to have a headache in order to make Shen Wei volunteer himself to get scanned by Lin Jing. But then he was manipulating Shen Wei to confirm something for himself; this time he's doing it for Shen Wei's own well-being.) Shen Wei seems to know what he's doing and laughs a bit, fond, but doesn't seem to feel up to walking quite yet. He says he'd like to stay a moment longer.
Zhao Yunlan is not amused by that. "Me, go ahead and rest?"
This is such a beautiful declaration of care and commitment. Of course Shen Wei's suggestion was ridiculous. Zhao Yunlan is no more going to leave him alone when he's hurt than Shen Wei would in a reversed situation.
He clearly would prefer to take Shen Wei home, but doesn't actually push him, giving him more time to get his strength back before standing up.
They look at each other again and laugh. The scene ends with them sitting peacefully on a bench.
I love this scene because it's the closest to h/c for Shen Wei we got! He was hurt plenty, but we rarely got comfort to match the hurt, and here we have Zhao Yunlan rescuing and taking care of Shen Wei, and ahhh, it was so good! He knows Shen Wei so well and he's as stubborn as he is. (I am still sad we didn't get to see him tuck Shen Wei into bed though ;) )
- Shen Wei said the chains were bespelled. What does that mean? How could they hold Shen Wei? The next time we see him after the rescue is in ep 34, and he's still pretty hurt there...
- Was Shen Wei ready to execute his failsafe plan here before Zhao Yunlan came?
- When the Shadow Man says the Regent organised the prisoners to fight Ye Zun, is it the truth? Why is the Regent fighting him at this point? It doesn't seem like he'd profit from it.
- What's the general Dixing sentiment about the Envoy? The Shadow Man still respected him. Normal Dixingren didn't see Shen Wei get imprisoned there, but what would be their reaction?
(I'm trying very hard not to ask "how did Zhao Yunlan take care of Shen Wei later!", but uh, that's what I'm thinking.)
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.
no subject
(It's a good look on him.)
It really, really is. (I love this fandom.)
Shen Wei said the chains were bespelled. What does that mean? How could they hold Shen Wei? The next time we see him after the rescue is in ep 34, and he's still pretty hurt there...
The chains are pretty loose, too. And they're the chains that were already wrapped around Ye Zun's pillar, so Ye Zun is using the chains that are keeping him trapped to hold Shen Wei. What's the actual mechanism though, I think that's left to the imagination. The chains need to have both magical glue properties and super durability. Also, they probably don't work by suppressing dark energy since Shen Wei can use his powers while chained, and any trouble he has with that can be attributed to his earlier weakness. But it's all vague enough that any explanation could work. They're magical chains.
Was Shen Wei ready to execute his failsafe plan here before Zhao Yunlan came?
It sure does look like it! ;_; The part where he thinks Zhao Yunlan is dead gets me every time. Shen Wei is weak, he's chained to a pillar, but this is when he loses all hope. The shift is visible and his resignation and hopelessness are heartbreaking.
When the Shadow Man says the Regent organised the prisoners to fight Ye Zun, is it the truth? Why is the Regent fighting him at this point? It doesn't seem like he'd profit from it.
It does seem too proactive for the Regent, but, like
What's the general Dixing sentiment about the Envoy? The Shadow Man still respected him. Normal Dixingren didn't see Shen Wei get imprisoned there, but what would be their reaction?
I think there's a range of opinion regarding the Black-Cloaked Envoy in Dixing. But regardless of people's opinion, even if they don't respect him, even if they don't have any positive feelings towards him, I can only imagine they would be scared to see him hurt and trapped. I wonder how many regular Dixingren would recognise Shen Wei as the Envoy like this though.
no subject
Yeah, this sounds right to me.
I wonder how many regular Dixingren would recognise Shen Wei as the Envoy like this though.
Yeah, he's been running around Dixing in plain clothes lately, but he never seems to have done that before, so not very many people would have seen him!