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sid_guardian2024-02-25 06:34 pm
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2024-02-25 06:34 pm
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Character movement chart - episodes 34-36
From the SID being shut down (episode 34) to Zhao Yunlan's livestream (episode 36):
(click for larger)
coloured boxes: canon events/locations (seen or mentioned)
grey boxes: missing events/locations in between
solid arrow: characters go directly from A to B
dotted arrow: unclear (possible missing events/locations)
Why does this chart exist? Because I was writing a fic set in episode 35, immediately after Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan return from the YOHE wormhole (A Thread as Red as Blood). I wanted it to slot neatly into canon, so I rewatched the scenes around it - but of course the SID team and their safety would be on Zhao Yunlan's mind, and the immediately surrounding scenes were no help. I wanted to figure out where they all were, and what Da Qing might have told Zhao Yunlan ... and then I got a bit carried away ... *g*
Episode 34:
Episode 35:
Episode 36:
Questions:
(click for larger)
coloured boxes: canon events/locations (seen or mentioned)
grey boxes: missing events/locations in between
solid arrow: characters go directly from A to B
dotted arrow: unclear (possible missing events/locations)
Why does this chart exist? Because I was writing a fic set in episode 35, immediately after Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan return from the YOHE wormhole (A Thread as Red as Blood). I wanted it to slot neatly into canon, so I rewatched the scenes around it - but of course the SID team and their safety would be on Zhao Yunlan's mind, and the immediately surrounding scenes were no help. I wanted to figure out where they all were, and what Da Qing might have told Zhao Yunlan ... and then I got a bit carried away ... *g*
Episode 34:
- The team scatters because the SID has been shut down.
- Zhu Hong, Cong Bo, Wang Zheng, Sang Zan and Guo Changcheng are at the SID to start with; Vice Minister Guo comes to take Xiao-Guo away and warn the SID.
- Zhao Yunlan, Chu Shuzhi and Da Qing are outside Zhao Yunlan's building when Cong Bo calls Zhao Yunlan to tell him what happened, and that he and Zhu Hong are at his place. We're not told why they're at Zhao Yunlan's place - their plan was to go to the Inspectorate - but now Zhao Yunlan decides to go back to the SID for the Hallows. No info on where Da Qing and Chu Shuzhi intend to go.
- Shen Wei is supposed to be recuperating from his captivity in Dixing, but we don't see him at home.
- Lin Jing, of course, is already at the Inspectorate, undercover.
- We won't hear from Zhu Hong, Chu Shuzhi, Cong Bo, Guo Changcheng and Lin Jing again until after Zhao Yunlan is back from YOHE, two days later.
- Zhao Yunlan narrowly narrowly evades arrest on his way to the SID, then makes his way there after all, where he meets Ye Zun and ultimately gets sucked into the wormhole and to YOHE.
- Wang Zheng and Sang Zan meet their end trying to protect Zhao Yunlan from Ye Zun.
- Shen Wei is out and about on foot and also narrowly evades arrest, then meets Da Qing in the street. They make their way to the SID, arriving just as the wormhole takes Zhao Yunlan. Shen Wei jumps in after him; Da Qing is left behind.
Episode 35:
- Da Qing is at the SID when Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan return from the wormhole; they were gone for two days. He's been in touch with others, since he's informed about what's been going on, and reports on Ye Zun declaring war while pretending to be the Envoy.
- Vice Minister Guo takes his nephew to the Inspectorate for the first time just now - he must have taken Xiao-Guo home and made him lie low for a few days. Xiao-Guo reunites with Lin Jing.
- Next we see Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei after the return-from-the-wormhole scene, they're walking in the street, and we learn they must have separated briefly, since Shen Wei explains he told Da Qing to find the rest of the SID team. They're heading to Cong Bo's from there. (It's not explicitly stated, but it's implicit in what Zhao Yunlan says about the problem being humans: he already has a plan.)
- One note about a confusing line of dialogue in this scene. Shen Wei says: 我在地星来去匆匆，现在摄政官和新地君也投靠了夜尊。
Original subs: I have no allies in Dixing, and the lord and justiciar is on Ye Zun's side now.
Solo's subs: I made a quick round-trip to Dixing. The new Lord and the Regent also support Ye Zun now.
Viki subs: I have no allies in the Underworld. The Regent and Underworld Monarch are on Ye Zun's side now.
I don't think he's actually saying he went to Dixing just now, and not just because it wouldn't make much sense at this point in time, and he already knows from his previous trip to Dixing that the palace has been taken by Ye Zun. 来去匆匆 does mean "come and go in a hurry", but the discrepancy between the different translations for that phrase is huge, and also, 在地星 is "in Dixing", not "to Dixing". (Also, the second part of the sentence isn't just about whose side the Regent and the Dijun are on - 投靠 means "to rely on help from somebody, to seek refuge with somebody".)
So perhaps what he's saying is, "In Dixing I'm always coming and going in a hurry, so now the Regent and the new Dijun have also taken refuge in Ye Zun" - implying that he has no allies there because he never stays long? But parsing this properly is beyond my rudimentary Chinese.
Episode 36:
- When we see everyone listen to Zhao Yunlan's livestream, it's the first time we see Zhu Zong and Chu Shuzhi since the SID was shut down. Zhu Hong is seen walking in the street with Da Qing; Chu Shuzhi is at the locust tree site where the passage to Dixing opens, encountering Ye Huo.
- Also during the livestream, Inspectorate officials come to the SID and take the Hallows, making it clear they were left there when Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei and Da Qing left.
- Finally, we're given one last bit of the puzzle in a flashback: when the remaining SID team (sans Lin Jing, Wang Zheng and Sang Zan) reunite in the street and defeat the Nightmare Master, Da Qing explains what happend after Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei entered the wormhole. He tried to take the Hallows away, but they wouldn't let him touch them (presumably because they were keeping the wormhole open), and then Inspectorate people arrived, finding their dead colleagues, so he had to go. Which I assume means he briefly left, then returned to the SID to wait for Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan.
- When the team return to the SID, they find Lao-Li dying. I didn't account for him on the chart because he's entirely absent for the stretch of time covered, but I assume he remained at the SID for most of that time.
Questions:
- Does any part of this chart surprise you? Which missing bit would you most like to know more about? Do you know any fic set during the missing time/in between these scenes?
- What do you think Chu Shuzhi was doing during those two or three days we don't hear from him? Especially given the leaks calling him a murderer, and the Inspectorate being after him.
- Where did Da Qing go after parting with Zhao Yunlan and Chu Shuzhi? Did he deliberately set out to meet up with Shen Wei, or did they run into each other accidentally? Was Shen Wei still at home when Zhao Yunlan, Da Qing and Chu Shuzhi were there? Or did he leave before them, and Da Qing set out to find him? FWIW, I think Zhao Yunlan would be more worried if Shen Wei were already absent. But I can never decide whether Da Qing sounds suprised to see Shen Wei in the street.
- How long do you think Zhu Hong lasted staying at Cong Bo's? How did she end up meeting Da Qing?
- Did Da Qing tell the others Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei vanished into a wormhole? How did he hear about Ye Zun declaring war? (For that matter, how was that declaration communicated to Haixing?)
- Why did Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei and Da Qing leave the Hallows at the SID when they left after the return from the wormhole?
- After the return from the wormhole, when did Shen Wei get the opportunity to talk to Da Qing without Zhao Yunlan? Was it just Zhao Yunlan going to the loo, or is there more missing? *g*
- Have I missed anything? Let me know! ♥
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I agree that 我在地星来去匆匆 makes much more sense if Shen Wei means he never stays long in Dixing and therefore doesn’t have a good foothold there. If only we could get a native speaker’s take on this…
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Glad it makes sense to you! I really wish I had a native speaker friend I could ask such things, yeah ...
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I just have to say that you realize there's a lot of movement in the episodes, but seeing it displayed like this you really get a feel for how much the team moved around!! I LOVE IT!
I also love that you did this to help you in writing a fic. Sometimes you totally need this to be like: Wait where is everyone!?!
Love this!
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I hope the end-of-month crunch isn't too bad this time! Looking forward to talking afterwards. :)
And yeah, sometimes you just need to figure something out - and then you get sidetracked into details that don't even matter for the fic, LOL, but still! I had fun with this, and maybe it can be useful to someone else as well.
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Shen Wei says: 我在地星来去匆匆
Oh wow, yeah, those are very different translations. XD I think you make a good point about 在地星 -- that does seem like it's more "in Dixing I'm always coming and going (so I don't know anybody)" rather than him saying he just now made a quick trip to Dixing. Frustrating not to be able to find more about "来去匆匆" though! There's a Baidu page for it, but it's fairly sparse. The "source" given is "也许他们在那条街就曾见过面，但来去匆匆，或淡然一瞥或偶一回眸," which suggests the idea of people having briefly seen each other but not knowing each other (they "passed on the street once"), and the example sentence is "我们只不过是世上来去匆匆的过客罢了" (something like "we're just passing visitors in this mortal world," so, could imply a "brief trip" but also seems to suggest not having time to become familiar with the place one is visiting?)
I've also heard this term in song lyrics, though unfortunately the meaning isn't much clearer in the song I know it from -- the lyric says "这段爱情来去匆匆," which seems like "fleeting" might fit, but I don't know that it's helpful for interpreting Shen Wei's comment. There's another song with the two halves of the term reversed, 匆匆来去... The line is "匆匆来去的城市," which I take as something like "a city where people are always coming and going in a rush." In the song, the term occurs in parallel (seemingly as a sort of reframing of) "聚少离多的爱情," "a love with more parting than meeting," so, talking about superficial relationships where people rarely see each or barely know each other.)
Anyway, it does seem like 来去匆匆 can be used for describing "passing acquaintance" type situations, and given the mix of translations, I agree that "made a round trip" seems less likely than a more general statement about his having no strong connections there...
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The "source" given is "也许他们在那条街就曾见过面，但来去匆匆，或淡然一瞥或偶一回眸," which suggests the idea of people having briefly seen each other but not knowing each other (they "passed on the street once"), and the example sentence is "我们只不过是世上来去匆匆的过客罢了" (something like "we're just passing visitors in this mortal world," so, could imply a "brief trip" but also seems to suggest not having time to become familiar with the place one is visiting?)
Yeah, my impression is that it's more about the fleetingness than the literal going back and forth, which seems like it would be a strange choice if he meant "I just quickly popped over to check", but there's not a lot to go on with sources in English, and as you say, even the Baidu page is pretty sparse. I really appreciate you sharing the song lyrics, which IMO they definitely support a more figurative meaning - but then of course with fixed expressions you never know!
Anyway, it does seem like 来去匆匆 can be used for describing "passing acquaintance" type situations, and given the mix of translations, I agree that "made a round trip" seems less likely than a more general statement about his having no strong connections there...
I'm really glad my interpretation makes sense to you! Your Chinese is LOTS better than mine after all. *g*
Also, yay, I'm glad you enjoyed the chart! It was a lot of fun to assemble, and figure out where people must have been, and who we really don't know anything about. (Surely there must be Chu Shuzhi fic set during that gap ...? But I don't remember ever coming across any.)
I do remember wondering when exactly Shen Wei was alone with Da Qing between the wormhole scene and him walking with Zhao Yunlan outside
Hee! Yeah, it's really surprising, isn't it? I did end up going with the "trip to the loo" explanation in my fic, which was the only half-way reasonable idea I could come up with. *g*
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Yeah, exactly. I'm glad you mentioned it, because I only have Solo's subs and assumed he really did go back to Dixing, even though the timing seemed strange (when exactly did he make this round trip??). Neat that you had different translations available and noticed they didn't match up!
Your Chinese is LOTS better than mine after all. *g*
LOL, not in Mandarin! XD I just got excited because I remembered the song lyrics.
Surely there must be Chu Shuzhi fic set during that gap ...?
I was thinking the same thing, yeah. Like, I have no idea what to guess he was doing during that time, but it seems like potentially an interesting moment for someone to explore...
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I always think your Cantonese gives you a big advantage, but that may just be my impression. *g*
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re: YZ declaring war, I like to think he somehow projected it across all networks via ~dixing science electromagnetic waves~ and afterwards a ton of haixing people were like "after mass shared hallucination event on tuesday..."
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I like to think he somehow projected it across all networks via ~dixing science electromagnetic waves~
Oooh, another livestream! I wouldn't put it past Ye Zun. :D
(I was wondering whether he'd streamed to the Inspectorate - I hadn't considered the general public seeing it too!)
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I had so much fun putting this together. :D
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I wish we knew what days of the week it was. If Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei were gone for a weekend, that would at least explain Changcheng not showing up at the Department of Supervision until afterwards.
He's been in touch with others, since he's informed about what's been going on
I'm not sure that's certain? He knows about Ye Zun's declaration of war, but there are various ways he could have found out -- someone made a failed attack on the SID, the palace sent a smoke messenger or formal letter via dark-energy post to the SID...
and we learn they must have separated briefly, since Shen Wei explains he told Da Qing to find the rest of the SID team.
... unless that's an "as you know, Bob" piece of dialogue, said to reassure, and Zhao Yunlan was there for the instruction. But it could just as easily have been a brief separation. Maybe Zhao Yunlan went to check on Lao Li.
and then Inspectorate people arrived, finding their dead colleagues, so he had to go. Which I assume means he briefly left, then returned to the SID to wait for Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan.
Or did he just transform into a cat and hide? I'm not sure he'd leave the SID at that point? (It's so weird that he tried to move the Hallows then, because surely that would risk closing the wormhole??)
Was Shen Wei still at home when Zhao Yunlan, Da Qing and Chu Shuzhi were there?
I think so. I think that's why they went to the flat. And then maybe Da Qing was scouting around and happened to see Shen Wei (because Da Qing was lurking around the route to the SID, maybe spying on the DoS people so he could report back to Zhao Yunlan)?
(For that matter, how was that declaration communicated to Haixing?)
Oh, was it? Does Minister Gao know? In that case, Da Qing could easily have overheard DoS people talking about it while he was in cat form.
Why did Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei and Da Qing leave the Hallows at the SID when they left after the return from the wormhole?
If the security barrier's back up, it's still possibly the safest place for them, and maybe they thought that if Da Qing couldn't move them, no one (including DoS staff) could?
I don't want to speculate too much more yet because of my WIP, but this is all great food for thought, and again, I really love your diagram. ♥ \o/
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So glad it's useful1 And I'm looking forward to your WIP, whenever you get to it again. :D
I wish we knew what days of the week it was. If Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei were gone for a weekend, that would at least explain Changcheng not showing up at the Department of Supervision until afterwards.
Yeah, that's a good point! A weekend would explain a lot. New headcanon!
Me: He's been in touch with others, since he's informed about what's been going on
You: I'm not sure that's certain? He knows about Ye Zun's declaration of war, but there are various ways he could have found out -- someone made a failed attack on the SID, the palace sent a smoke messenger or formal letter via dark-energy post to the SID...
True, he doesn't have to have been in touch with the Inspectorate or the rest of the SID team, but he's heard from someone, in some way, that the Black-Cloaked Envoy burned the treaty and declared war.
... unless that's an "as you know, Bob" piece of dialogue, said to reassure, and Zhao Yunlan was there for the instruction. But it could just as easily have been a brief separation. Maybe Zhao Yunlan went to check on Lao Li.
It doesn't strike me as a reassurance; it really looks in the scene as if it's new information for Zhao Yunlan. But checking on Lao-Li or going to the loo or any other such mundane thing would absolutely suffice to explain it. *g*
Or did he just transform into a cat and hide? I'm not sure he'd leave the SID at that point?
He does say in episode 35 that he hid as a cat! It in episode 36 he says "I meant to take the Hallows with me," which makes it sound as if he had to leave without them, but now that I'm looking at the Chinese, it may just be the translation? Idk.
(It's so weird that he tried to move the Hallows then, because surely that would risk closing the wormhole??)
The wormhole isn't visible until it opens again, so my take is that he thought it was closed and would open again later, rather than being actively held open for the duration.
I think that's why they went to the flat. And then maybe Da Qing was scouting around and happened to see Shen Wei (because Da Qing was lurking around the route to the SID, maybe spying on the DoS people so he could report back to Zhao Yunlan)?
That would make sense!
Me: (For that matter, how was that declaration communicated to Haixing?)
You: Oh, was it? Does Minister Gao know? In that case, Da Qing could easily have overheard DoS people talking about it while he was in cat form.
I mean, it happened in Dixing, and Da Qing is in Haixing, so the info must have travelled in some way. I could totally see Ye Zun officially transmitting it to the Inspectorate and/or the SID - he likes grandstanding - but I could also see it being spread unofficially by Ye Zun's goons. So many options!
If the security barrier's back up, it's still possibly the safest place for them, and maybe they thought that if Da Qing couldn't move them, no one (including DoS staff) could?
Yeah, the shield is what I settled on as a reason too. But when they leave they don't know that Da Qing couldn't move them - he only explains that to them during the flashback in episode 36, so that's not a factor.
I don't want to speculate too much more yet because of my WIP, but this is all great food for thought, and again, I really love your diagram. ♥ \o/
♥ ♥ ♥
I'm glad it's food for thought, and I'm looking forward to what you'll make of it!
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If it was "I meant to take the Hallows away with me", his plan could have been to protect the Hallows by moving them -- and then when he couldn't, maybe he fixed the security shield instead?
The wormhole isn't visible until it opens again, so my take is that he thought it was closed and would open again later, rather than being actively held open for the duration.
Oh, good point! *makes a note*
I could totally see Ye Zun officially transmitting it to the Inspectorate and/or the SID - he likes grandstanding - but I could also see it being spread unofficially by Ye Zun's goons. So many options!
I feel like if he'd officially told the DoS, we should be able to tell from their behaviour/dialogue. Like, there's a difference between "Ye Zun is a threat" and "Dixing has declared war", you know? I'll have to check the next Minister Gao scene sometime.
But when they leave they don't know that Da Qing couldn't move them - he only explains that to them during the flashback in episode 36, so that's not a factor.
Good point. Man, all these flashbacks! So hard to keep track of.