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sid_guardian2025-05-19 02:54 am
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2025-05-19 02:54 am
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Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Chapters 3 & 4
Welcome aboard for this week's chapters of our Guardian readalong!
Here are last week's chapters (the beginning of vol. 3). You can find all previous discussions on the schedule post (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4), or via the !readalong tag.
This week's chapters:
- Chapter 3: Zhao Yunlan escapes his father's scolding, keeps falling asleep, and is fed medicine by Shen Wei. Zhu Hong gets a visit from her uncle, who wants her to leave Dragon City. Zhao Yunlan surprises Shen Wei in the kitchen cutting his own chest with a knife, and learns what medicine Shen Wei has been feeding him.
- Chapter 4: Zhao Yunlan sleeps at the SID, and the team gossips about it. Shen Wei brings clothes while he's asleep. Zhu Hong refuses to leave Zhao Yunlan's side, gives him a gift from her uncle, and offers to sever ties with her tribe if he wants her to stay.
Excerpts:
1) Shen Wei feeds Zhao Yunlan medicine
The noise in his ears only intensified, growing from a mere clamor to a cacophony. Zhao Yunlan knew he was dreaming, but the knowledge didn't free him. He remained ensnared in the dream, as if he'd fallen into a bog that was swallowing him up. The more he struggled, the less he could breathe.
Then a bowl that smelled of something raw was pressed to his lips. Ignoring his struggles, the person holding it pried his mouth open and forced him to take the medicine. Zhao Yunlan resisted instinctively, trying to push the stuff back out of his mouth with his tongue. The person seemed to sigh. Then hands cradled his head, and soft lips pressed against his. A familiar scent momentarily quieted Zhao Yunlan's thoughts of protest, and the other person seized their chance to make him swallow the medicine.
Zhao Yunlan's eyes flew open as he started coughing and found himself already home in bed. Dazed, he watched as Shen Wei set down the bowl and brought him a cup of tea that was at the perfect temperature. Shen Wei ducked his head and touched their foreheads together. "Here," he said. "Drink this and rinse your mouth."
Zhao Yunlan accepted the tea. His heavy lashes were lowered, and a trace of cold sweat from his nightmare still beaded his forehead. In a single gulp, he drank the tea to the last drop before asking hoarsely, "Did I catch a cold? Why am I getting sick so easily lately?"
There was a curious pause before Shen Wei replied, "It's nothing. Your time within the Great Divine Tree took too much of your energy."
"Oh." After a long look, Zhao Yunlan continued, deliberately drawing out each word, "I thought maybe..." Shen Wei's spine stiffened, only for him to hear the dumbass conclude, with a bit of a lilting whine, "I was carrying your child."
2) Kitchen scene: Shen Wei is caught
The other side of the bed was empty and already cold to the touch. It was impossible to say how long Shen Wei had been gone.
Startled, Zhao Yunlan sat up and saw light coming from the kitchen. He groped around the floor for his slippers, but when he couldn't find whatever corner they'd been kicked into, he headed for the kitchen barefoot.
Shen Wei was facing away, doing something with his hands as Zhao Yunlan entered. A little clay pot bubbled on the stove. The faint smell of a medicinal decoction wafted from the pot, as if Shen Wei was preparing some grand dish that needed to be stewed overnight.
Zhao Yunlan rubbed his eyes and walked over, rolling up his sleeves. "What are you making? I'll help-" His voice startled Shen Wei, who dropped what he'd been holding.
What clattered to the floor was a knife, dripping enough blood that the clean white cabinets were spattered when it landed. Zhao Yunlan broke off mid-sentence, pupils constricting. In an instant, all trace of sleepiness was gone. Shen Wei had been...had been cutting into his own chest .
3) Kitchen scene: Shen Wei explains
"Long ago...your left soul fire went missing, and your heart's blood became the Soul-Guarding Lamp's wick," Shen Wei responded, very low. "Your spirit was already weak. Your three souls were unstable. And for all that you forcibly elevated me to godhood, the fact remains that I was born from the Place of Great Disrespect. The gui are filthy and inauspicious. If you spend enough time in my presence, I'll start wearing you down. As I do, you'll become deficient in both qi and blood. Ultimately, I'll burn you out until there's nothing left."
Shen Wei dropped his gaze, hiding his ink-black eyes under lashes like crow feathers. Barely audible now, he said, "All those thousands of years ago, Shennong said that, as a King of the Gui, my life was fated to both begin and end badly. If you insist on protecting me and keeping me at your side, I'll inevitably kill you."
"So the 'medicine' I've been drinking has your blood in it... The purest blood from the tip of your heart." Zhao Yunlan's lips trembled. "That's your way of replenishing my 'lamp oil'?"
Shen Wei looked at him with a faint, soft smile. "Every part of me is dark, down to my very soul. Only the very tip of my heart is clean, and that's where I've kept you-where the blood runs red. I'll gladly use it to protect you."
4) Zhao Yunlan's dream
If it was at all possible, Zhao Yunlan wanted to regain Kunlun-jun's powers and true memories. Failing that, he at least wanted to know what was up with all these lies among truths, shrouded in layers of mystery, and learn what had motivated it all. He couldn't act rashly without seeing the full picture.
Shen Wei... The name alone overwhelmed Zhao Yunlan with worry. It was as though a flame was burning in his heart, steadily eating away at his energy, but he had to hold it in-and not only that, he had to seem outwardly peaceful while he was at it, as if he had everything under control.
He'd noticed at times that if he was just sitting there and no one else was around, his brow would furrow subconsciously. The same scene kept unfolding in his mind, no matter where he was or what he was doing: in some cold, dreary place, without a single beam of light or sign of life, Shen Wei was half swallowed by an endless darkness. Helpless to do anything but look up, Shen Wei desperately strained to glimpse the emerald seas and azure skies, but they were beyond him. His vision couldn't pierce the unending, absolute blackness. Sooner or later, inevitably succumbing to disappointment and despair, Shen Wei was slowly sucked away into the darkness...
Zhao Yunlan jolted awake as someone abruptly nudged him. He found his heart racing and his forehead beaded with sweat.
5) Zhu Hong's confession
Zhu Hong found her real feelings tumbling out of her mouth. "Director Zhao, just give me the word. One word and I'll sever all ties with my tribe and follow you to the end, through hell or high water."
It was as if she'd handed her whole life over on a silver platter, leaving her scared of Zhao Yunlan's response, but also anticipating it. However, a declaration of love was never guaranteed reciprocation. In the end, Zhao Yunlan still wouldn't meet her eyes.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "You and I have known each other for years, and we don't have any grudges against each other. Why can't I wish you well? As long as you're doing well, that's what matters to me."
The light in Zhu Hong's eyes flickered out.
Questions:
Do you like the worldbuilding around borrowing years? What do you think about the kitchen scene, and how it was adapted in the drama? Which is more intense? Which do you like better? Is Fourth Uncle right to make Zhu Hong leave? Do you think Zhao Yunlan actually wants Zhu Hong to stay, even if he won't say it? Does it help with understanding what's going on that Zhao Yunlan is actively trying to puzzle out what's true and what's a lie?
(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 current schedule (which is also where you can sign up to host a post - please do if you can!)
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I think he definitely can, but also having the knowledge that he's lashing out because he's uncomfortable would already be incredibly self-aware of him. :P I think he was literally just ranting about everything Zhao Yunlan is and does, including liking men in general and Shen Wei in particular.
"At least with ZXC in the drama, although I disagree wildly with all his parenting decisions, I can see where he's coming from. It's a kind of "spare the rod, spoil the child" mentality, and a disagreement about the best way to protect Haixing. With novel!dad Zhao, I have no idea what he hopes to achieve except venting. *wishes Shen Wei would smite him*"
This may be one of the reasons why ZXC doesn't bother me even 5% as much as this asshole, yeah.
"*uses icon of sprawling*"
Omgggg, I'm making icons of my art, and the one with this scene was the first time I made, and only then I realized that I can't actually use it here. ;D (Because the comm is not age-restricted and an icon can't be avoided.) (You can go to my icons and see it tho. xD) But because of that I just went and got myself a different, sfw icon of this episode. :D
"This whole "elaborate subterfuge so I can feed you something you would never consent to if you knew" thing is hitting my DNWs pretty hard, ngl."
He is on the brink of death at this point, but I can totally see how there are definitely better ways to go about it, especially with all the time in-between when he's not on the brink of death.
"See my other comment elsewhere. It's pretty easy to do here. (Or you can just give someone a key and tell them to leave it in the letterbox or something. It's not like ZYL doesn't trust SW about stuff like that.)"
I think if they were sharing keys in any way it would have to be spelled out on-screen, otherwise everyone's first conclusion would be 'SW has the key because he lives there'. xD But yes, your comment made a lot of sense and I never thought of this possibility - to me these locks only exist in hotels. :D
"He thinks they both believe he belongs there. :-((((("
Oh damn, that's even sadder than just withdrawing and spiraling and going back to his old habits because they had a fight, and that was already plenty sad. D:
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That is so cool that you're making icons from your art! I love that. (I don't think you need to worry about using it here, though, nothing's actually visible.)
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In public, in front of Shen Wei himself. Wow, that just so rude! /o\ I find this so hard to imagine from someone whose goals in life are all ambitious and money and (I presume) respect. /o\ (Obv this is my super sheltered life experience speaking.)
But because of that I just went and got myself a different, sfw icon of this episode. :D
It's so lovely!! ♥___♥ (And co-signing Trobadora's approval of the art icon, too. <3)
He is on the brink of death at this point, but I can totally see how there are definitely better ways to go about it, especially with all the time in-between when he's not on the brink of death.
Yeah. And my expecting Shen Wei to communicate or think in a healthy fashion is probably unfair of me, given his everything. ;-p \*pets him\
otherwise everyone's first conclusion would be 'SW has the key because he lives there'.
Maybe, though in places where you can lock the front door without a key, it's pretty common for a friend or neighbour to have a spare, just in case you lock yourself out, lol.
Just so we're on the same page, this is what my front door lock looks like
This is a normal kind of lock in New Zealand, but there are other common styles here too. This kind is actually slightly inconvenient because there's no way to leave it closed without locking it (so I keep leaving the key in the outside so friends can let themselves in). Other options are to have this kind of snib-lock paired with a regular doorhandle, so you can set it to snibbed or unsnibbed (and pull it closed after you to lock), or a deadbolt, which I think is what you're talking about, where you can only set it to locked or unlocked with a key? /disclaimer: I Am Not A Locksmith ;-)
Oh damn, that's even sadder than just withdrawing and spiraling and going back to his old habits because they had a fight, and that was already plenty sad. D:
Yeah. D:
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Heee, thanks for the Word of Mod x 2. :D :D
"Maybe, though in places where you can lock the front door without a key, it's pretty common for a friend or neighbour to have a spare, just in case you lock yourself out, lol."
Ahhh, that makes sense - locking yourself out is such a tv-only thing to me too, wdym your magic door can just do things on its own without a key. ;D :D That's all so fascinating about the locks! The things you can learn from a fandom discussion, lol. :D Deadbolt is definitely what I meant, I never knew it had a name, thanks! :) I guess it also comes with an inconvenience - you need to check every night that you locked the door, but that's the kind of obvious habit I never need to think about. I think I've only ever slept with unlocked door twice. :P
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(Worst is if the door falls shut on you with the key in the lock from the inside, because then it can't be opened from the outside even with a key, and you do need a locksmith. Ask me how I know ... *g*)
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(I used to think the thing where people on TV could just walk inside strangers' houses or flats without a key was a TV convention for convenience because it should be physically impossible! Eventually I did learned otherwise, but it still takes me a moment to remember. *g*)
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locking yourself out is such a tv-only thing to me too, wdym your magic door can just do things on its own without a key. ;D
Hee! Next time I do it, I'll try to think of my door as magic, and not just uncooperative. ;D