Guardian drama resources: a poll

[trobadora]

You know how it goes: you're thinking about Guardian (as you do), or you're writing a Guardian fic, or someone asks a Guardian-related question, and there's this thing niggling at the back of your head that you can't quite pin down. Every time that happens to me, I'm so glad for this fandom's many resources - most of my fandoms can only dream of such a bounty! And there are probably many not everyone knows about. So I thought that would be worth a post/poll of its own.

Poll #26816 Guardian reference poll!

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 16

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Trying to track down a specific scene, I generally start with ...

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galaxysoup's episode guide
9 (56.2%)

the scene discussions here on sid_guardian
1 (6.2%)

the episode discussions here on sid_guardian
2 (12.5%)

another reference (please share!)
7 (43.8%)

what do you mean, reference? I just search the Chinese transcript or the English subtitles for a key phrase
4 (25.0%)

I always remember perfectly what happens in which episode (please tell me your secret!)
1 (6.2%)

Once I start playing an episode to check something, I immediately get distracted by ...

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staring at Shen Wei's face
13 (86.7%)

staring at Zhao Yunlan's face
5 (33.3%)

staring at Zhu Hong's outfits
2 (13.3%)

staring at the beautiful cinematography
2 (13.3%)

staring at someone/something else (tell us who/what!)
2 (13.3%)

For secondary or minor characters, I refer to ...

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extrapenguin's dramatis personae/cast list
8 (57.1%)

the character discussion posts here at sid_guardian
2 (14.3%)

the episodes themselves
6 (42.9%)

other (please share)
3 (21.4%)

When rewatching an episode for a specific character, I inevitably end up ...

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making fifty billion unrelated screencaps
6 (42.9%)

watching five episodes in a row
7 (50.0%)

or ten
1 (7.1%)

or the whole drama, actually
3 (21.4%)

or something else equally unproductive (tell us what!)
3 (21.4%)

The map/floor plan I look up the most is ...

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cyberbrain's floor plan of Zhao Yunlan's flat (with reference to Shen Wei's)
8 (72.7%)

yue_ix's SID map
3 (27.3%)

Chu Shuzhi's map of the Hanga mountains
0 (0.0%)

another map/floor plan (please share!)
0 (0.0%)

who needs maps? I can navigate both Haixing and Dixing by memory alone!
3 (27.3%)

Most underappreciated Guardian resource:

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sakana17's clothes visual reference
3 (23.1%)

forestofglory's list of food and drink in Guardian
6 (46.2%)

yaaurens's Shen Wei and Chu Shuzhi Touchy Touchy lists
7 (53.8%)

other, see comment
2 (15.4%)

Finally, what's the resource you most wish existed?

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Comments

[presumenothing]

…alright, so hilariously enough, while looking this up I found a bunch of small differences between the three occurrences I could think of (episode 17 as above, then twice spoken in episode 21 via Zhu Hong's recording) XD more on that below.

CN transcript – based on ep 17 book:

上古秘闻录
乙酉年玖月
俞蒙 书

俗说天地开辟，人丁流离。有名黑袍者举于当世，振臂而呼，四海景从，除乱以安天下，天命人归，万民悦服，天禄永终。

四柱镇四方，西北天倾，昆仑封字，曰：未老已衰之石，未冷已冻之水，未生已死之身，未灼已化之魂。此皆不可成之事，封之以不可抵之地，以为四圣，天不落，地不陷，则四圣不出，天下遂安。

EN translation – very roughly, because neither Ye Olde Ancient Language nor mythological references are my strong points:

Record of Ancient Secrets
Year Yiyou, Ninth Month
Written by Yu Meng

It is said that when the world first began, mankind wandered lost. A black-robed figure rose up in this time, with a sweeping call to arms, and the whole world followed inseparably, quelling chaos to bring peace to the lands, as wished by heaven and people alike; the masses rejoiced in adoration, fortune lasting for the ages.

Four pillars guarded the four directions; towards the northwest the sky tilted, and Kunlun sealed the words, speaking thus: The stone frail without aging, the water frozen without cold, the body dead without living, the soul gone without burning. All things beyond possibility, sealing the land beyond reach, as the four hallows; should the sky not fall, and the land not sink, then nor shall the four hallows appear, and thus the world comes to peace.

Notes:

• The book is printed in traditional characters, appropriately enough.
• Also, I don't remember if this is ever stated in the show, but it's made clear in the novel that the four parts of Kunlun's line each refer to one Hallow in order.
• vs the novel: Only the second paragraph is from the novel (the preceding parts in the novel are about Nuwa instead). Hilariously, a typo in ch 70 (为冷 instead of 未冷) got carried over verbatim to the book LOL
• vs Zhu Hong's recording in ep 21: In line with the other show changes, the body and soul lines are replaced – it's "the tree rotted without living, the gold/metal gone without burning" (未生已朽之木，未灼已化之金) instead. Also, the "sealing the land beyond reach" line is removed from the version heard in the hospital, but later in ZYL's flat you can still hear the first word of it right before SW stops the recording.

......................I should probably migrate this a new post, shouldn't I

[trobadora]

OH, thank you, this is brilliant - the translation and the comparison both! And that is indeed hilarious about the typo. :D

(I will admit I don't quite understand how some of the original parts refers to the Hallows, but that may have to do with differences between novel and drama? I can see the Sundial and the Lantern; the other two baffle me. With the version in Zhu Hong's recording, it's not exactly any clearer, LOL.)

[miss_ingno]

"the water frozen without cold, the body dead without living" are tripping me up to. I suppose water could refer to the awl because Mountain River Awl <.< But then, it separates ghosts from bodies so 'dead without living' could make sense for it, too. I really can't figure out what the Merit Brush might be in these at all though... OTL

[trobadora]

I'm glad I'm not the only one!

[miss_ingno]

🙏 thank you for all your work translating these bits

The typo is hilarious xD at least it proves how closely they worked with the source material? :')

Idk why I always assumed the Kunlun book was written by Kunlun but... clearly not <.< *sneaks off to fix it in fics*

Is Yu Meng a random name, or was there an ancient person whose writings survived with that name?

[presumenothing]

Is Yu Meng a random name, or was there an ancient person whose writings survived with that name?

A cursory search didn't turn up anything of note, so I'm inclined to say the former? Probably.

[miss_ingno]

Thanks for looking!