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sid_guardian2025-03-30 03:07 am
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2025-03-30 03:07 am
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Guardian Readalong: Vol. 2, Chapters 11 & 12
Whether you've been with us all the way, are just catching up, or are newly joining in - welcome to this week's chapters!
Here are last week's chapters, and you can find all previous discussions on the schedule posts (vol. 1 part 1, vol. 1 part 2, vol. 2), or via the !readalong tag.
This week's chapters:
- Chapter 11: Zhao Yunlan goes to the SID while blind, figuring out how to properly use his Heavenly Eye along the way. He establishes some new rules for the SID and begins to research Kunlun. They hear about the Yao Market, which should have a cure for his eyesight.
- Chapter 12: Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan are domestic and soft, and Daqing takes Shen Wei's measure. Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan visit the Yao Market and get their cure. Shen Wei claims not to know details about ancient times. The Crows arrive.
Excerpts:
1) Shen Wei's merits
Zhao Yunlan turned toward him. The perception granted by his Heavenly Eye just kept getting clearer and brighter, and now, through it, he gazed at Shen Wei.
What he saw was row after row of the bright red text that represented Shen Wei's merits. Those crimson characters flashed into existence repeatedly...yet none of them lasted. They appeared with the swiftness of the tide, only to be washed away by vast waves of darkness, as ephemeral as marks in the sand.
Zhao Yunlan's eyes suddenly stung as an emotion crashed over him, surging up from someplace he couldn't identify. It was as though some memory had been buried deep for hundreds of thousands of years, and a hurricane had just passed through and blown away the deep layers of dust covering it. What was revealed was some naked, inescapable truth that stabbed into the heart, setting off cascading waves of pain.
2) What Zhu Hong sees
When Zhu Hong knocked and came in, what she saw was two people who brought out the best in each other without getting in the other's way. She paused in the doorway, gripped by the feeling that if she entered, her presence would be completely extraneous.
3) Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan talk about Zhu Hong and are very soft (sorry for the length of this excerpt, I couldn't bear to cut anything)
Shen Wei looked up from his ancient text. "Do you think she, ah, has feelings for..."
"Mmn." Zhao Yunlan spread out a new piece of yellow paper, measuring with his fingers as he spoke. "I hadn't noticed it before. But now that I do know, I should do something about it before it's too late."
Shen Wei sighed, and Zhao Yunlan chuckled.
"What are you sighing for? What future is there for a workplace romance? Besides, humans and yao don't belong together. What's the point in getting involved?"
Zhao Yunlan only meant exactly what he said, but Shen Wei read more into it than he'd intended. There was a brief silence before Shen Wei asked, "Then you and I...as a ghost and a human, shouldn't we stay apart?"
"What?" Zhao Yunlan reflexively reached out, getting cinnabar all over his hand. After a frozen second, he exclaimed, "We're not the same at all! I like you so much."
He said it so casually, as if there were nothing sweet and romantic about the words. It might have been the kind of idle chitchat people exchange while enjoying tea and a lovely fragrance together. As snow blanketed the world outside, such simple words seemed ordinary, yet warm with sincerity.
A hand suddenly pressed against the hand Zhao Yunlan was using to hold a talisman in place. The touch interrupted the movement of the brush, and the spiritual energy leaked out of the talisman. Just like that, it went to waste.
At some point, Shen Wei had closed the distance between them; now he placed his hands on the chair's armrests, trapping Zhao Yunlan with his arms. Almost piously, Shen Wei closed his eyes and leaned in close. He held his breath, and there was the faintest quiver to his eyelashes. Ever so carefully, he kissed the tip of Zhao Yunlan's nose. Then, even more slowly, he dared to move his mouth lower. This cautious exploration continued until his lips brushed Zhao Yunlan's.
It was incredibly gentle and warm, even as he parted Zhao Yunlan's lips, feeling their slight dryness and dipping so, so softly between them. There was no sense at all that he sought anything more than this.
He was so helplessly in love, yearning for the sweetness of a kiss, for the simple touch of skin on skin.
This man before him was like some sort of deadly poison. Shen Wei had struggled with all his might and still failed to resist. He had only fallen ever deeper.
4) Daqing questions Shen Wei
Daqing cleaned his claws. He and Shen Wei studied each other for a while, and then he asked, "Are you human?"
Shen Wei didn't know how to respond to that.
Daqing hurried to explain. "No, don't misunderstand. That's not an insult. I mean it literally-literally, you understand? As in, are you human or something else...? Something not human, you know?"
The question hit Shen Wei right where it hurt. After a bit more silence, he shook his head.
To his surprise, Daqing let out a sigh of relief. Talking more to himself than Shen Wei, he said, "It's good that you're not human. Not human... Hmm... That little brat has such a punchable face, but he's not a bad person. He really likes you, so don't betray his trust."
Shen Wei said simply, "How could I? As long as he still wants me, I will not betray him in life or death."
5) Shen Wei keeps secrets
Baffled, Zhao Yunlan persisted, "But isn't Gonggong the God of Water? Who's this 'Mountain God of the Great Wild'? God of which mountain? I've never heard of Buzhou also having a Mountain God."
This time Shen Wei took even longer to reply, and his answer was vague. "Maybe it does have one? I don't know the details of things that happened back in those times."
Something in his voice told Zhao Yunlan to stop pressing. He fell silent, idly scratching his fingernail across his palm and occasionally tapping along to the beat of the song.
Questions:
I have so many feelings about the merits just washing away from Shen Wei - how about you? What do you think about Zhao Yunlan essentially locking down the SID without explanation - and what does his team think about it? Did Zhao Yunlan really not notice Zhu Hong's feelings before? How do you like the Yao Market? (Does it remind you of scenes from historical dramas, too?) And we've got a few things in these chapters with parallels in the drama - any thoughts about those?
(As usual, these are just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like!)
Our schedule (which is also where you can sign up to host a post - please do if you can!)
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My notes:
The bandage around the eyes is such a different vibe from just dark glasses, wow. Does it even achieve anything? I'm glad they didn't go with that in the drama, anyway.
The fuzzy edges of people’s silhouettes started to sharpen. He began to see the three treasures gathered on the top of each person’s head.
Haha, I'm totally failing to keep up with the worldbuilding. What are the three treasures? It can't be the soul fires, because there's only two of those, and they're on the shoulders, right?
Aww, the taxi driver (and lol, of course ZYL had to test him). <3
That sense ZYL has of something awakening within him is so eerie. How unsettling must that be?!
“Couldn’t you wait for me before wandering off? I came back from buying breakfast, and you were gone. You scared me half to death. If you do that again… If you do that again, I’ll…”
[...]
“I knew you’d come after me right away,” Zhao Yunlan said smoothly.
Poor Shen Wei! (I keep having that "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" song from The Sound of Music going around my head, except it's not Maria. ;-p) (Presumably, this is the "ZYL walks into traffic" moment. <3 <3 <3)
Also, ooh, this makes me wonder if ZYL wandered off to the SID alone in the show, that first morning, and Shen Wei caught up in time for them to arrive at the SID together. (But why would ZYL, when he only wants to be at SW's side?? I don't think it makes as much sense in the drama context.)
Daqing had run off somewhere to be melodramatic.
Omg, whose POV is this? That's so dismissive! *pets DQ*
Ha, I love Zhu Hong throwing the bandages at ZYL and yelling at him. <3 But I'm confused about her asking SW, "Aren't you very powerful?" Does she know his identity? (What am I forgetting? Why am I so bad at keeping track? /o\)
I liked the ZYL & Sang Zan scene, aw. ZYL isn't perfect, but at least he respects SZ's capability.
The title on the book’s cover was plainly visible to the Heavenly Eye. The book flipped itself open before he even had a chance to touch it.
o.O There are magic books?? (Has anyone written a Discworld crossover, I wonder...)
And lol at ZYL's invitation to the Yao Market arriving by sparrow. I am not sure I'd trust sparrows to run a delivery service (unless the sparrow is Yao, of course).
Awwwww, I adore the domestic-fluff peacefulness of the scene in ZYL's office. ZYL relaxing and calming his mind, aww! And this bit:
Zhao Yunlan normally lacked the patience for this kind of work, so it always fell to Chu Shuzhi. But right now—perhaps it was due to his blindness, perhaps he was affected by Shen Wei’s presence, but currently—he sat quietly and calmly in a rare moment of stillness.
Shen Wei is his Ritalin! *hearts and hearts*
I find the whole thing with ZYL selling talismans on the side so charming. It's like, he says he does it for the money, but I bet it's also to make sure there's a ready supply of needed talismans in the market, and it's such a low-key, chill, undramatic thing for him to do. <3 <3 <3
Once more (cf the drama), Shen Wei initiates the "ZH likes you" conversation. *pets him* I feel like his motives here are a bit more insecure? Or oblique, anyway. In the drama, it feels to me like he's sorry for ZH and thinks ZYL should set her straight for her sake, so she can move on. (Maybe an impulse honed from SW having students crushing on him?)
ZYL managing to be straightforward and sincere -- FTW!! :D :D :D And then the incredibly sweet nose-kissing and other kissing, awwwww! <3 <3 <3
Shen Wei nodded. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of him.”
That was a relief for Daqing, who still believed that humans required some sense of shame to keep them from just endlessly sinking lower. If there was a point past which they wouldn’t sink, they could be depended upon.
LOLOL. Daqing has so little time for humans. :D :D :D
At first Shen Wei smiled to hear it, but then an involuntary darkness shadowed his eyes. It suddenly struck him more clearly than ever that Zhao Yunlan was a flesh-and-blood human—someone with parents. Unlike Shen Wei, he had countless connections to the Mortal Realm.
This makes me wonder how he feels in the drama about ZYL's issues with Zhao Xinci. They must emphasise ZYL's youth / mortality / modernity -- this is not the Kunlun he thought Kunlun was! <3
And Daqing comes across so much older in the novel than the drama, where he's a perpetual youth. (I do love him demanding fish, lol! <3)
urban centers might be a melting pot of people of all kinds, but it wasn’t actually suitable for cultivation
That makes so much sense. (And "the local Yao Market was on the quieter side" made me laugh, because of the drama.)
Zhao Yunlan winked. “Oh, dear gege, I want you so badly I can’t stand it. Won’t you please give me what I want?”
Angry with embarrassment, Shen Wei shook off Zhao Yunlan’s hand.
Omg, was the whole personality switch case in the drama just so they could include (an approximation of) these lines?? Ahhhh! :D :D :D
I enjoyed all the Yao Market description and worldbuilding, especially that everyone has to display part of their original form. Cool!
The fact that ZYL has to listen carefully to identify Fourth Uncle makes me wonder what he sees with his heavenly eye when he looks at Yao. Do they look like ordinary humans? (I don't think he's using his heavenly eye at this stage -- but why not?)
Like I said above, I love everything they did with Ying Chun in the drama -- ageing her up, making her tribe leader, making her both Shen Wei's ally and concerned with neutrality. And implying a history with Ya Qing. <3 That said, having her call ZYL "Guardian-gege" is almost worth the price of novel admission, lol. :D
And then the Crows, dun dun DUN!
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It confuses me so much why he even got it from the hospital, and then why he wore it at all when he knows it's supernatural. But I guess it's just the dramatic/pitiful thing he's doing, just like with the glasses. xD
"Haha, I'm totally failing to keep up with the worldbuilding. What are the three treasures? It can't be the soul fires, because there's only two of those, and they're on the shoulders, right?"
One is on the head too ("Everyone has one True Flame of Samadhi on each shoulder and one on their head", from the first volume), but now I'm also very confused what else is on the head that makes it three treasures.
"But I'm confused about her asking SW, "Aren't you very powerful?" Does she know his identity? (What am I forgetting? Why am I so bad at keeping track? /o\)"
She knows that he defeated the vengeful ghost when they couldn't do it alone. And Zhao Yunlan told her that Shen Wei is someone special, he just couldn't tell her anything more.
"I liked the ZYL & Sang Zan scene, aw. ZYL isn't perfect, but at least he respects SZ's capability."
Definitely one of my favorite scenes, they work together so much better than I would expect!
"o.O There are magic books?? (Has anyone written a Discworld crossover, I wonder...)"
:D :D According to ao3 - nope.
"And lol at ZYL's invitation to the Yao Market arriving by sparrow. I am not sure I'd trust sparrows to run a delivery service (unless the sparrow is Yao, of course)."
I'm assuming a sparrow yao, yes. :D
"Awwwww, I adore the domestic-fluff peacefulness of the scene in ZYL's office. ZYL relaxing and calming his mind, aww!"
"And then the incredibly sweet nose-kissing and other kissing, awwwww! <3 <3 <3"
It's the SWEETEST, SOFTEST, CUTEST thing, and I'm apparently going to say that 50 times because I can't get over it. ♡♡♡
"Once more (cf the drama), Shen Wei initiates the "ZH likes you" conversation. *pets him* I feel like his motives here are a bit more insecure? Or oblique, anyway. In the drama, it feels to me like he's sorry for ZH and thinks ZYL should set her straight for her sake, so she can move on. (Maybe an impulse honed from SW having students crushing on him?)"
I think novel Shen Wei just is more sensitive/insecure. (And omg he must have had like a hundred students crushing on him by now, I never thought of that. xD)
"Omg, was the whole personality switch case in the drama just so they could include (an approximation of) these lines?? Ahhhh! :D :D :D"
Heee! :D I didn't think of that! :D :D Probably, yep, and also so that they could include the version of CSZ that is all shameless and ridiculous and blowing kisses. :D
"The fact that ZYL has to listen carefully to identify Fourth Uncle makes me wonder what he sees with his heavenly eye when he looks at Yao. Do they look like ordinary humans? (I don't think he's using his heavenly eye at this stage -- but why not?)"
Ooooh, good question! Since humans look different from ghosts, and then Shen Wei looks different still, there may be something unique about the yao too?
"Like I said above, I love everything they did with Ying Chun in the drama -- ageing her up, making her tribe leader, making her both Shen Wei's ally and concerned with neutrality. And implying a history with Ya Qing. <3 That said, having her call ZYL "Guardian-gege" is almost worth the price of novel admission, lol. :D"
ITA! Her aesthetic is just so cool in the novel that I can see why they just grabbed her as the Flower Tribe character. :D
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Yeah, same! It wouldn't leave me alone, so I just looked at the Chinese, and it's 三花 three flowers there. Some googling gets me this Daoist concept.
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It feels like a "people with disabilities have to be visibly marked as ill" kind of thing, which makes me very DNW.
She knows that he defeated the vengeful ghost when they couldn't do it alone. And Zhao Yunlan told her that Shen Wei is someone special, he just couldn't tell her anything more.
Ohhh, right, right. Thank you! <3
> > "o.O There are magic books?? (Has anyone written a Discworld crossover, I wonder...)"
>
> :D :D According to ao3 - nope.
Aww! (And haha, now I'm going, ZYL can see books' spirits with his heavenly eye... I wonder if any of books have ever cultivated themselves to spiritual enlightenment or whatever. Imagine if the SID employed a living book!! :DDDDDDD)
I'm assuming a sparrow yao, yes. :D
Okay, that is so cute to me. For some reason, I'm imagining all their human forms as very childlike. :DDD
(And omg he must have had like a hundred students crushing on him by now, I never thought of that. xD)
Haha, exactly. A perfect opportunity for him to hone his evasiveness and not-actually-a-lie excuse-making. :D
Probably, yep, and also so that they could include the version of CSZ that is all shameless and ridiculous and blowing kisses. :D
\o/!!
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Now my headcanon is that he takes every opportunity to pretend that he's in a historical drama, and then he ditches it because it's not as fun as it sounds. xD But also I think that the "so people will take pity on me" reason is just there because he's Zhao Yunlan and milking it, not necessarily because it should be universal. :)
"And haha, now I'm going, ZYL can see books' spirits with his heavenly eye... I wonder if any of books have ever cultivated themselves to spiritual enlightenment or whatever. Imagine if the SID employed a living book!! :DDDDDDD"
Ooooh, I'm sure some books have done that. :D I'm assuming the SID doesn't have one because someone would know about it, but they should! A book friend/coworker in the library, aw. :D :D
"Okay, that is so cute to me. For some reason, I'm imagining all their human forms as very childlike. :DDD"
Heeee, yes!! :D I love how the yao 'human' forms are not really human at all, and they're not even hybrids either in the usual way I would imagine human/animal hybrids. So I can definitely see the sparrow yao as some kind of small, bouncy, squeaky people indeed. :D
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Ha, yes, I saw you and Dora talking about that. I love the connection with drama!ZYL's dorkiness when he first puts on his Kunlun clothes. *loves him ridiculously much*
But also I think that the "so people will take pity on me" reason is just there because he's Zhao Yunlan and milking it, not necessarily because it should be universal. :)
Haha, true.
A book friend/coworker in the library, aw. :D :D
Hee, yes! (Or maybe the book cultivated so it could leave the library. Maybe it just wants to work n a gardening shop or something, for a change. ;-D)
So I can definitely see the sparrow yao as some kind of small, bouncy, squeaky people indeed. :D
This is so Miyazaki, I love it! :DDD
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I watched the scene like 10 times since that conversation, heee. :D ♡♡♡ *LOVES HIM TO PIECES*
"(Or maybe the book cultivated so it could leave the library. Maybe it just wants to work n a gardening shop or something, for a change. ;-D)"
This is THE CUTEST idea omggg awwwww!! And Xiao Guo finds out and helps the book friend get their dream job. :D :D :D
"This is so Miyazaki, I love it! :DDD"
Yesss, and I really like how Miyazaki keeps coming up in relation to the novel aesthetic - ITA, it's such a similar vibe! :D ♡
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Ooh, that's a brilliant idea, that absolutely needs to have happened! :D
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Yeah, agreed, I'm glad the drama didn't! And even in the novel it sits weirdly, IMO - it's a bit of a fantasy-blindness aesthetic; there's always blind people with bandaged eyes in wuxia and xianxia, but this isn't that.
What are the three treasures? It can't be the soul fires, because there's only two of those, and they're on the shoulders, right?
I thought it might mean the soul fires anyway, even though only one of them is on the head and the others are on the shoulders, because otherwise I have no clue.
Also, ooh, this makes me wonder if ZYL wandered off to the SID alone in the show, that first morning, and Shen Wei caught up in time for them to arrive at the SID together. (But why would ZYL, when he only wants to be at SW's side?? I don't think it makes as much sense in the drama context.)
Well, drama!ZYL does leave the hospital rather than waiting for SW there - his father picks him up, but he gave the impression he wasn't going to wait anyway. So the wanting-to-be-at-SW's-side can be overridden by wanting-to-prove-he's-not-helpless. *g* So you could make it work for the drama, IMO!
Shen Wei is his Ritalin! *hearts and hearts*
LOLOLOL!
Once more (cf the drama), Shen Wei initiates the "ZH likes you" conversation. *pets him* I feel like his motives here are a bit more insecure? Or oblique, anyway. In the drama, it feels to me like he's sorry for ZH and thinks ZYL should set her straight for her sake, so she can move on. (Maybe an impulse honed from SW having students crushing on him?)
Yeah, novel!SW is insecure in a way drama!SW isn't, because drama!SW doesn't have the self-hate, which makes a huge difference. (I am not fond of the self-hate. But in the universe novel!SW lives in, it's no surprise.) I do wonder how novel!SW dealt with students crushing on him ...
This makes me wonder how he feels in the drama about ZYL's issues with Zhao Xinci. They must emphasise ZYL's youth / mortality / modernity -- this is not the Kunlun he thought Kunlun was! <3
That's a very good point, yes! I'd never thought about it from quite that angle before.
Omg, was the whole personality switch case in the drama just so they could include (an approximation of) these lines?? Ahhhh! :D :D :D
LOL! They definitely did what they could to get something like that into the drama!
The fact that ZYL has to listen carefully to identify Fourth Uncle makes me wonder what he sees with his heavenly eye when he looks at Yao. Do they look like ordinary humans? (I don't think he's using his heavenly eye at this stage -- but why not?)
Huh, I thought he was using it. But it's often hard to tell in the novel(deliberately, of course) what is from which POV.
That said, having her call ZYL "Guardian-gege" is almost worth the price of novel admission, lol. :D
Haha, right? :D
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Hahah, now that you said it, maybe that's exactly what he was going for, on purpose. xD Because of the line that says that the ghost army only looked so majestic because ZYL imagined it this way, otherwise it would just look like youchu. So maybe he just likes dramatic fantasy aesthetic and was excited to try it out here too. xD And then he takes the bandage off and goes with sunglasses anyway, so I guess it was more inconvenience than it's worth, lol.
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And then he takes the bandage off and goes with sunglasses anyway, so I guess it was more inconvenience than it's worth, lol.
LOLOLOL! :D
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Hahaha, omg. Too many comics as a kid. :D :D :D
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Ahh, okay. That makes sense -- less enlightened times. ;-p
Well, drama!ZYL does leave the hospital rather than waiting for SW there - his father picks him up, but he gave the impression he wasn't going to wait anyway. So the wanting-to-be-at-SW's-side can be overridden by wanting-to-prove-he's-not-helpless. *g* So you could make it work for the drama, IMO!
But that's after Shen Wei has already left him there. He might well be going to find Shen Wei, before he runs into his dad. I don't know if I can see him leaving if Shen Wei is right there or imminently returning... but maybe! Depends how much he's into the wrist-grabbing kind of thing, vs proving his independence. (Though I guess the latter is one way to provoke the former... hm, perverse incentives. :D :D :D)
I do wonder how novel!SW dealt with students crushing on him ...
I imagine he maintained such a cool air of distance and otherworldliness that he didn't need to deal with it. He probably interacted with them as little as possible, don't you think?
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LOL AW, provoking Shen Wei into aggressively taking care of him, yep, sounds like Zhao Yunlan. :D :D
"I imagine he maintained such a cool air of distance and otherworldliness that he didn't need to deal with it. He probably interacted with them as little as possible, don't you think?"
On the field trip they seem pretty close? But tbh I may be stealing vibes from the drama. :D I also think he wouldn't necessarily want to come across as distant and otherworldly in his human life. Which doesn't mean that he doesn't (it's not like he can control how other people see him), but he may also come across as just shy. Which is a crush magnet if I've ever seen one. xD
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How is he supposed to resist when it pays off so beautifully?? ;-D
On the field trip they seem pretty close?
Oh, that's true. Hm. Maybe he gives off very strong ace vibes to his students, so they pine away quietly without bothering him? (I can see him appearing ace when ZYL isn't around, you know?)
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He kinda actively tries to appear more ace when ZYL is around, hahah. :D :D
But, as
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I LOVE THAT AND I WANT IT IN A FIC, OMG. :D :D :D
I imagine he maintained such a cool air of distance and otherworldliness that he didn't need to deal with it. He probably interacted with them as little as possible, don't you think?
Even if he did, I don't think that's ever stopped anyone from crushing on a teacher before. *g*
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:D :D :D :D :D
Even if he did, I don't think that's ever stopped anyone from crushing on a teacher before. *g*
Haha, true.