Scene discussion: The Nosebleed Scene

[sakana17]

(I wasn't sure what to call this scene -- there's so much in it! -- but I always think of it as "the nosebleed scene from episode 19" :D)

Location: episode 19, 11:00-13:47

Context: Guo Changcheng, Chu Shuzhi, and Yehuo have been kidnapped by Zhu Jiu. Zhao Yunlan, alone in the SID laboratory, looks at the glowing Mountain-River Awl and remembers Shen Wei telling him not to touch the Holy Tools [from episode 15]. But, hoping that the Awl will tell him where Zhu Jiu is, Zhao Yunlan picks it up and is immediately affected. He collapses to the laboratory floor and has a vision of finding Yehuo, Guo Changcheng, and Chu Shuzhi, who tries to strangle him.

Scene description: Zhao Yunlan wakes up from the vision, grimacing and rolling his head and shoulders. He's sitting on the laboratory's examining table. The camera angle shifts to over Shen Wei's shoulder and then we see Shen Wei's face. Shen Wei is very, very Not Pleased.



Zhao Yunlan sees Shen Wei's extreme Not Pleased-ness, grins, and tries to glib his way out of it. "I guess I keep keeling over recently. That's really not a good thing." (我发现我呀，最近特别容易晕菜。这可真不是什么好事儿啊。) As if keeling over randomly is nothing to worry about? Oh, Zhao Yunlan.





He rubs his neck and Shen Wei looks at him.



Shen Wei's expression changes to alarm/concern.



Zhao Yunlan reacts to Shen Wei's look.



He rubs against his nose. Shen Wei angrily moves forward. Zhao Yunlan looks down at his hand. There is blood smeared on his face.



Shen Wei grabs Zhao Yunlan's lapels. Zhao Yunlan is surprised.



Shen Wei aggressively stares at him.



Zhao Yunlan rubs his face again, and there's more blood on his fingers. He gives Shen Wei puppy-dog eyes.



Shen Wei releases his lapels so forcefully Zhao Yunlan rocks backward.



Shen Wei steps back, turns away, and angrily slams his hand against the metal pipe railing (the ladder that goes to the floor above).





Zhao Yunlan reacts like he's not sure what Shen Wei is so upset about.



And continues rubbing blood from his nose. Shen Wei clutches the metal pipe and breathes heavily.



He turns around to look at Zhao Yunlan.



Who is not reacting with the same level of seriousness.



Shen Wei pulls a handkerchief out of his coat pocket and goes over to wipe Zhao Yunlan's nose for him, not gently.





Zhao Yunlan grabs the handkerchief from him. They exchange looks of mutual frustration at each other.





Shen Wei: "You touched them again, didn't you?" (你是不是又动圣器了？) Zhao Yunlan acts as if Shen Wei is overreacting.



Zhao Yunlan, in "it's no big deal" mode, says he thought he would get lucky and the Tools would help them deal with Zhu Jiu. But he didn't expect they'd be so useless. (我这不是抱着侥幸的态度想看看圣器能不能帮助咱们对付烛九。没想到没什么屁用。)



Shen Wei turns his head, steps back, and looks at Zhao Yunlan.



He asks what Zhao Yunlan feels now. (你现在什么感觉？) Zhao Yunlan says he doesn't feel anything, but he thinks he had a dream about Lao Chu, Xiao Guo, and Yehuo. (没什么感觉啊。噢，刚才好像做了一个梦。) There's a brief clip of the vision he had earlier.



Zhao Yunlan: "They all seemed to be dead." (梦见老楚、小郭还有野火好像都死了。) At first, Shen Wei reacts as if this is worthless information (or, at least, was not worth the risk Zhao Yunlan took). But then he grows serious.



Shen Wei: "Dead? This may not be just a dream." (死了？你这也许不只是一个梦。) Zhao Yunlan also looks serious.





Shen Wei paces back a few steps, rubbing the back of his neck. Zhao Yunlan stands up from the examination table.

Shen Wei: "Last time, I consulted a lot of books in the Dijun Palace archives. They were all about normal humans infected with dark energy. One example reported that, after infection, the victim suffered from temporal dysfunction. Sometimes he could hear or see scenes outside the timeline. It could be the past, or it could be the future. So the dream you had is probably a kind of prediction." (上一次在地君殿的档案室里我查阅了很多典籍，都是关于普通人感染了黑能量之后的反应。其中有一份案例说明，受害者感染了黑能量之后产生了时间性紊乱的症状，他偶尔听见或者看见时间线以外的场景，也许是过去，也许是…未来。所以你刚才做的梦很可能是一种预知。)



Zhao Yunlan looks alarmed.



I love the physicality and body language in this scene. For such an impactful scene, there's not that much dialogue in it, but we see their reactions and interactions so clearly. It says a lot about their relationship, bringing in the recurring themes: Shen Wei's concern for Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei warning Zhao Yunlan away from the Tools, Zhao Yunlan ignoring the warning, Zhao Yunlan trying to joke his way out of trouble. But once the possibility that the dream is a prediction and members of the SID team could be dead, Zhao Yunlan takes it seriously. He doesn't seem bothered about effects to himself, but he cares if something's happened to his team.

I love Shen Wei's aggressive caretaking with the handkerchief: you can't be trusted to take care of yourself so I have to do it, and right now I'm furious about it. And Zhao Yunlan is startled by Shen Wei's ferocity, but still seems to think Shen Wei is overreacting. (Zhao Yunlan, why are you like this?)

Questions: What happened after Zhao Yunlan collapsed and before this scene begins? We can assume Shen Wei found him, and what must've going on in Shen Wei's mind at that point! Thoughts/theories? Fic ideas/recs?

Has Zhao Yunlan seen Shen Wei this upset/angry at him before? If he hasn't, what is Zhao Yunlan feeling now? (And if he has, did the puppy-dog eyes work on Shen Wei before...)

Is Shen Wei telling the truth about consulting books in the palace archives? What and why was he researching? I want the backstory about the normal human infected by dark energy who suffered from temporal dysfunction!

Any headcanons, theories, ideas, thoughts, reactions, squee, fanwork recs, etc. about this scene are welcome!

Comments

[china_shop]

I think all of what you say about Zhao Yunlan wanting to protect his independence does play into his reactions, but it's not a conscious decision here.

Yeah, agreed. I think it shapes his defence mechanisms/defusing strategies (and how much of that dates back to growing up with ZXC? /wildly off-topic now /o\).

It's still early days for them, in a lot of ways - a lot of boundaries between them only get done away with during the blindness arc, right?

Yes! The blindness arc and the bomb-defusing scene. <3 <3 <3

[trobadora]

and how much of that dates back to growing up with ZXC?

I think a lot of his issues around authority and autonomy and nonconformity go back to ZXC! And it's not at all off-topic, since it relates to his behaviour in this scene.

[china_shop]

Actually, that's a good point about this scene: because ZXC's go-to would be scathing criticism, right? But Shen Wei's seething silence is "[this space intentionally left blank]" where criticism would otherwise go. He doesn't catalogue ZYL's flaws or say "You always..." or anything like that, the way ZXC would. In fact, the first verbal "criticism" in the scene is ZYL's incoherent protest at Shen Wei's rough treatment with the handkerchief.

When Shen Wei does finally speak, he just confirms the facts and asks how ZYL feels. I think the absence of character critique must really stand out as different from ZYL's experience with ZXC (subconsciously, if not consciously).

[trobadora]

That's a good point! When it eventually comes, "you touched the Hallows again" is of course criticism, but there's so much silent seething frustration before that, and Zhao Yunlan doesn't know how to handle that. And even the implied "you didn't listen to me and did something reckless" hass a completely different vibe than the same thing would have from Zhao Xinci!

(Later, during the blindness arc, Shen Wei doesn't wait to speak any more - "are you suicidal" and all - but I feel like by then, Zhao Yunlan knows what's beneath it. He still deflects, but it doesn't have any of the "trying to get a handle on what's going on" feel from this scene.)