"Or more like a weird official haunted house. I can well imagine there are rumours, but I don't know that that necessarily equals prestigious? (Or maybe it does!)"
Hah, I think even irl people are sort of automatically in awe of secret government agencies and the people who work there? (When they're not terrified of them or wanting to fight them, that is, but that's also awe in a way.) No one from the outside has to know that it's actually just a handful of weirdos snacking on fish all day. ;D
"Re antibiotics, I remember reading somewhere that antibiotics are more widely and casually used in some parts of Asia, as a kind of cure-all. (Googling turned up this.)"
Ah, that makes sense, thanks! And it makes me feel better because it means it's clearly just the fever/headache/exhaustion that he gets from being too close to Shen Wei.
"Oh, okay, so SW hasn't been stalking ZYL in this life, because he doesn't have a detector... he just knows where he works, and occasionally liaises with him, and they have a good working relationship... I mean, it wouldn't have been that hard to just stalk him. ;-p"
I'm pretty sure he stalked him in this life too (he knew his address for one, and I swear there was this scene where he just popped into his bedroom to look at him for a moment but I can't find it right now? though that was obviously after they met). :D I think the function of the detector that was messed with was only so that SW couldn't avoid getting too close to ZYL, not that he couldn't find him at all. (The quote is "At the time, I didn’t realize you were there." To be precise, he’d been unaware because the shit-stirring Chaos King of the Gui had purposefully interfered with his ability to sense Zhao Yunlan’s location.)
"Maybe that's why the Emissary has his mist veil: so a) his expression won't give him away, and b) ZYL won't fall for his beauty and start wooing him. :D (I mean, he started immediately after meeting Professor Shen, and I don't know that the Emissary's ~everything~ would slow him down that much if he wasn't completely blindsided by it like he was in canon.)"
That makes far too much sense - I know he's probably had his mist veil for a long, long time and it's not related, but I'm still 100% sold on this headcanon. :D And now I want to see two things - This canon-divergent AU where Zhao Yunlan can't resist hitting on the Emissary when he can see his face. :D :D And also canon exploration of all of Shen Wei's feelings about their actual first meeting and all the further professional meetings! (The drama solves it by 'ZYL has simply never met the Envoy until now' and that's very reasonable of them. :D And obviously the entire story is different, with the reasons to avoid ZYL just not being there at all.)
"I was thinking just from the novel: Shen Wei, Ghost Face, Shennong's Bowl, the Magistrate, Chu Shuzhi... just off the top of my head."
Lol, INDEED. *applauds Sang Zan for being incredibly chill and mentally stable by comparison, all things considered*
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Hah, I think even irl people are sort of automatically in awe of secret government agencies and the people who work there? (When they're not terrified of them or wanting to fight them, that is, but that's also awe in a way.) No one from the outside has to know that it's actually just a handful of weirdos snacking on fish all day. ;D
"Re antibiotics, I remember reading somewhere that antibiotics are more widely and casually used in some parts of Asia, as a kind of cure-all. (Googling turned up this.)"
Ah, that makes sense, thanks! And it makes me feel better because it means it's clearly just the fever/headache/exhaustion that he gets from being too close to Shen Wei.
"Oh, okay, so SW hasn't been stalking ZYL in this life, because he doesn't have a detector... he just knows where he works, and occasionally liaises with him, and they have a good working relationship... I mean, it wouldn't have been that hard to just stalk him. ;-p"
I'm pretty sure he stalked him in this life too (he knew his address for one, and I swear there was this scene where he just popped into his bedroom to look at him for a moment but I can't find it right now? though that was obviously after they met). :D I think the function of the detector that was messed with was only so that SW couldn't avoid getting too close to ZYL, not that he couldn't find him at all. (The quote is "At the time, I didn’t realize you were there." To be precise, he’d been unaware because the shit-stirring Chaos King of the Gui had purposefully interfered with his ability to sense Zhao Yunlan’s location.)
"Maybe that's why the Emissary has his mist veil: so a) his expression won't give him away, and b) ZYL won't fall for his beauty and start wooing him. :D (I mean, he started immediately after meeting Professor Shen, and I don't know that the Emissary's ~everything~ would slow him down that much if he wasn't completely blindsided by it like he was in canon.)"
That makes far too much sense - I know he's probably had his mist veil for a long, long time and it's not related, but I'm still 100% sold on this headcanon. :D And now I want to see two things - This canon-divergent AU where Zhao Yunlan can't resist hitting on the Emissary when he can see his face. :D :D And also canon exploration of all of Shen Wei's feelings about their actual first meeting and all the further professional meetings! (The drama solves it by 'ZYL has simply never met the Envoy until now' and that's very reasonable of them. :D And obviously the entire story is different, with the reasons to avoid ZYL just not being there at all.)
"I was thinking just from the novel: Shen Wei, Ghost Face, Shennong's Bowl, the Magistrate, Chu Shuzhi... just off the top of my head."
Lol, INDEED. *applauds Sang Zan for being incredibly chill and mentally stable by comparison, all things considered*