Oh, I just found this in my enormous sea of tabs, and I remembered that I was trying to imagine what the Ghibli-like creatures would be in Guardian. (You know, like the soot creatures in Spirited Away, and the forest spirits in Mononoke.) And I just thought: maybe the talismans could be that, if they were animate? :D

(And obviously Zhao Yunlan looks like his drama self, that's the only correct way. :D)

100% <3