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sid_guardian2025-12-07 11:40 pm
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2025-12-07 11:40 pm
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Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 7, part 2
Hi, welcome to this week's instalment of the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch! Watch half an episode a week, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!
Here is last week's half-episode. On to the second half!
Episode 7, from 24:30
Summary: The SID finds Lai Su's house and confronts him. He reveals that someone promised him fame and fortune if he published webnovels, and he kept at it despite knowing about the murders. Lin Jing is disappointed and furious at his idol. Lai Su writes a final chapter to end his webnovel career, and ends up dying his character's death. Zhu Jiu tries to break into the SID and discovers the black energy shield. And Zhao Yunlan visits Shen Wei to talk about the case. Shen Wei is very touched that he sympathises with a Dixingren.
Quote:
Lin Jing: "If you can't take responsibility for every word you write, you don't deserve to be called an author. You don't even deserve to be called a person!"
Detail:
Lin Jing describes the final chapter of the webnovel with the monster's death as follows: "He was engulfed by guilt for his many crimes. In the end, his own reflection in a lake scared him to death."
Since we actually see the text of the chapter on screen, I thought it'd be fun to plug the screencaps into Google Translate - here's the result:
mobile version | desktop version
Questions:
Do you have a favourite line in in this half of the episode? What do you think about Lin Jing's angry words to Lai Su? How great is Lai Su's house? Any parallels between this case and the drama's overall plot? Any parallels with the novel you can think of? Why is Zhu Jiu only now discovering the SID's shield? What's your favourite part of the final scene between Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan?
(These are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in!)
And here is our schedule for the current batch of episodes - please do sign up to host a post if you can!
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Ooh, considering that Lin Jing originally tells what sounds like a stereotypical ghost story (even though it says "monster"), and then the case doesn't have all that much to do with that, you may be onto something!
"So you read it as him being twitchy because he's afraid he'll give himself away? Awwww. *pets him* Shen Wei totally wouldn't mind! ♥"
Hee, yep, or more like at first he's twitchy because he already said something that he didn't mean to say, and then he bolts before he accidentally says even more things. :D And basically the moment he steps back he realizes that Shen Wei didn't mind at all, he was only amused, so it was a very good night after all. ♡♡♡
"No worries! We read the scene differently, but I'm not bothered by discussing it, so long as you aren't. *hugs*"
*HUGS!* Sometimes I am, but it's not at all because we read it differently (different perspectives are one of my favorite things to discover! ♡), just because sometimes I start thinking that maybe I love them 'wrong'/maybe the dynamic I fell in love with is not what they are. But that's not how headcanons work - if this is what I love about them, then it is all very real. :D So no worries at all either. ♡♡♡
"To me it only adds something bleak if it goes too far in that direction, but a little bit of it enhances the sweetness, like a pinch of salt in the pudding. *g* Also, I really like ZYL having a character arc where he's growing into being Kunlun, and struggling with it a bit; that's part of the fun of the time loop to me, and this ties into it."
Aw! ♡♡♡ To stay with the same metaphor, to me it's like adding something I don't like to my favorite food just because it would be too self-indulgent to fully love it, it needs to be made at least a little less enojable on purpose. So I don't do that. :D (Ftr, I totally agree that Zhao Yunlan is not Kunlun yet, and that there's a great character journey ahead of him! ♡ I just like it a lot better when it's not a problem for Shen Wei, and when he's more than enough for Shen Wei from the first moment they meet again, exactly the way he is. :) ETA: I think it's really important to me how unconditional everything is between them - Zhao Yunlan doesn't need to earn Shen Wei's love by 'growing up' just like young Shen Wei didn’t need to earn his love. They both know different versions of each other, but the versions are not better or worse. ♡)
And hey, this just made me discover a (probably obvious) novel parallel, despite all the differences between the backstories - early canon Zhao Yunlan is (metaphorically vs. literally) not fully Kunlun yet. :D
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I also didn't put this together until you said it!!!!! Yes! There's this whole epic story going on that ZYL is a part of without realising, but SW knows, so of course he's having ALLLLL the feelings about that too! ♥ ♥ ♥"
Eeeee, yay! ♡♡♡ And it's Zhao Yunlan who brings it up, and he's totally okay with this idea and even finds it fascinating - this must be reassuring to Shen Wei, in addition to all the other feels. :D ♡♡♡
"The police knew about the murders, and fans were speculating about a connection, but depending on how public those fan spaces were, the police might not have been aware at all of those rumours until they went more public. (That's how I interpreted it - that it was fandom-internal stuff until the most recent murder, when the rumours broke containment.)"
Yep, true, that's how I see it too. (And now I'm wondering why none of the fans have reported anything. :P)
"And if they did know, he still couldn't have been sure they knew, so he still should have talked to them anyway - he could have pointed them to his communications with Zhu Jiu, at least, which they couldn't have been aware of."
Ohhh! Bringing up Zhu Jiu could be really fraught, and now I can even see it as one of the reasons why Lai Su didn't do anything - someone offering him fame sounds either like some supernatural deal with the devil (so it's kind of embarrassing that he believed it? or maybe he wouldn't expect anyone to believe him, despite the messages as evidence) or like Zhu Jiu literally is the murderer (and ITA that Lai Su didn't/wouldn't want to believe that, so he wouldn't want to frame his benefactor).
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Oh, I hadn't thought of the contrast between Lin Jing's ghost story and the case! That's such a good point. :D
And basically the moment he steps back he realizes that Shen Wei didn't mind at all, he was only amused, so it was a very good night after all. ♡♡♡
I do agree with you on that, he definitely realises that things actually went fine despite him giving himself away! And Shen Wei isn't bothered any more than Zhao Yunlan is bothered by Shen Wei moving in across the hall. :D
just because sometimes I start thinking that maybe I love them 'wrong'/maybe the dynamic I fell in love with is not what they are
*hugs* You definitely don't love them wrong! We're coming at them from slightly different angles, but it's THEM. ♥ ♥ ♥
To stay with the same metaphor, to me it's like adding something I don't like to my favorite food just because it would be too self-indulgent to fully love it, it needs to be made at least a little less enojable on purpose. So I don't do that.
That makes sense! I definitely wouldn't do that either. I don't add salt to pudding to make it less good, I add it to make it even better. *g* But I wouldn't want it to be actually salty either, so how much is the right amount (from zero to idk) is very much a matter of individual taste.
I think it's really important to me how unconditional everything is between them - Zhao Yunlan doesn't need to earn Shen Wei's love by 'growing up' just like young Shen Wei didn’t need to earn his love. They both know different versions of each other, but the versions are not better or worse. ♡
Thanks for explaining, I completely understand what you mean! And I absolutely agree that ZYL doesn't need to earn SW's love. SW already does love him; that's unconditional. ♥
(I do think SW wants ZYL to be open with him and not try to con him with books, though. *g*)
And hey, this just made me discover a (probably obvious) novel parallel, despite all the differences between the backstories - early canon Zhao Yunlan is (metaphorically vs. literally) not fully Kunlun yet. :D
OHHH!!!! You're totally right, wow, that's such a cool thing the drama does - (re-)becoming a literal god being turned into a character arc. I love it! Thank you so much for pointing that out! :D
this must be reassuring to Shen Wei, in addition to all the other feels. :D ♡♡♡
YES! ZYL is definitely not bothered by the idea. :D
someone offering him fame sounds either like some supernatural deal with the devil (so it's kind of embarrassing that he believed it? or maybe he wouldn't expect anyone to believe him, despite the messages as evidence) or like Zhu Jiu literally is the murderer (and ITA that Lai Su didn't/wouldn't want to believe that, so he wouldn't want to frame his benefactor)
These are all excellent points, yes! It's great that we're talking in such detail about this because Lai Su's frame of mind is becoming clearer to me as we discuss it, and I understand him much better. :D
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So, just checking, do you think the book-giving itself is the con, or just the elaborate backstory that goes with it? (I don't think of the gift as a con at all, although I refer to it that way. But you already know that. :-)
You're totally right, wow, that's such a cool thing the drama does - (re-)becoming a literal god being turned into a character arc.
Ohh, that's a great point (by both of you)! :D :D :D :D :D
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It's the lying about the origins - that's what makes it a con! Shen Wei would happily accept a gift if it didn't come with fake grandfathers. *g*
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:D :D I didn't even realize until this rewatch just how much the drama WENT THERE with the mutual stalking! Like, it's different than in the novel for many reasons (there is no shrine, Shen Wei wasn't watching Zhao Yunlan before they met, he didn't even meet him as the Envoy), but somehow it's nearly the same level of intensity. :D Especially since Shen Wei moves in literally across the hall and not just into the neighborhood, like, this part is MORE intense than the novel. :D
"(I do think SW wants ZYL to be open with him and not try to con him with books, though. *g*)
Hee. :D To me Shen Wei is at most fondly exasperated by the books (like an amused WTF-are-you-even-doing, vs. the serious WTF when he's exasperated by Zhao Yunlan not eating), and the flailing dorkiness caused by a confusing new crush is part of Zhao Yunlan’s charm, not an actual flaw or a slight. :) Like, he'll be open when he's more comfortable and safe with his own feelings, but it's already obvious what the feelings are. :D
That said, I do like it that in the novel there is no con, just an honest (if still a bit ridiculous and over the top) gift. But at the same time I really appreciate that drama Shen Wei is not harmful to Zhao Yunlan's health, and that obviously leads to not avoiding Zhao Yunlan, which means that a con is necessary so that Shen Wei has a reason to reject the books. And I do like it in itself too - Zhao Yunlan totally could have just said "I got you a gift", and the in-world reasons why he doesn't aren't super solid (especially since he apparently can't decide if he wants to frame it as worthless or priceless xD), but his flailing is so haplessly ADORABLE, and that's part of the reason why I think Shen Wei thinks so too. xD
"It's great that we're talking in such detail about this because Lai Su's frame of mind is becoming clearer to me as we discuss it, and I understand him much better. :D"
Yessss, same! :D I've always felt bad for him because he's such a ball of anxiety and insecurity who needed external support from a totally-not-sinister random person to even come out of his shell at all, but I didn't exactly understand much about him until now either. (And now I feel like there's some potential parallel/contrast with Xiao Guo, with both of them 'finding their people' and trying hard to be braver, but Xiao Guo always makes sure to do the right thing, and Lai Su put his head in the sand when something bad was happening because facing that would make everything even more scary.)
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I love it so much!!!! :D :D :D
Literally moving in right across the hall is just perfection, whoever came up with this idea deserves ALLLLLL the praise.
To me Shen Wei is at most fondly exasperated by the books
Hee! I mean, he is fondly exasperated, but he's also absolutely not letting ZYL get away with this. (And I really love that. :D)
I really appreciate that drama Shen Wei is not harmful to Zhao Yunlan's health, and that obviously leads to not avoiding Zhao Yunlan, which means that a con is necessary so that Shen Wei has a reason to reject the books.
Yes! That's such a great adaptational choice - SW has no worldbuilding reasons to avoid or reject ZYL, so here's a reason that comes entirely from a mundane human blunder! Oh, ZYL. *pets him*
And now I feel like there's some potential parallel/contrast with Xiao Guo, with both of them 'finding their people' and trying hard to be braver, but Xiao Guo always makes sure to do the right thing, and Lai Su put his head in the sand when something bad was happening because facing that would make everything even more scary.
OHHHH that is a great catch, that parallel makes so much sense! Makes me wish there were some actual interaction between Lai Su and Xiao-Guo ...
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Yessss! :D And it's not even for the ease of filming or anything - even ignoring the fact that the other apartment doesn't exist, it's easy to make close locations look like they're further apart. So it's literally just to show how much Shen Wei also has no chill, and to have them meet each other as frequently as possible. :D :D
"I mean, he is fondly exasperated, but he's also absolutely not letting ZYL get away with this. (And I really love that. :D)"
Yesss! :D I feel like pretty much everyone would go 'wtf are you doing, these were mine' in this situation, but for some people it would just be a knee-jerk reaction (like, even Xiao-Guo would go 'heyyyy...??' and then probably try to backpedal immediately xD), and Shen Wei is indeed very deliberate about it, hee. :D
"Makes me wish there were some actual interaction between Lai Su and Xiao-Guo ..."
AW, yes, now I want him to be one of the people that Xiao-Guo gets to help. Or at least protect him from Lin Jing's anger, but unfortunately he's not brave enough to do that yet.
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Yes! And then they decided that living literally next door to each other still wasn't close enough, so SW had to basically move in with ZYL twice (once when ZYL goes blind, and once when SW's flat is damaged by Sha Ya). Just amazing all around. :D :D :D
Yesss! :D I feel like pretty much everyone would go 'wtf are you doing, these were mine' in this situation, but for some people it would just be a knee-jerk reaction (like, even Xiao-Guo would go 'heyyyy...??' and then probably try to backpedal immediately xD), and Shen Wei is indeed very deliberate about it, hee. :D
Yeah, and some people would get seriously angry about it, but SW definitely doesn't do that either. :D
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Yesssss. :D :D :D These characters totally don't ~live together~, they just have very good reasons to literally physically live together, they can't help it. xD :D :D
"Yeah, and some people would get seriously angry about it, but SW definitely doesn't do that either. :D"
Hee, that's a given, he only ever gets angry at Zhao Yunlan when he's trying to get himself killed, and even that is super brief. :D
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Hee! :D :D :D
he only ever gets angry at Zhao Yunlan when he's trying to get himself killed
Or corrupted by black energy. *g* Yeah, his anger at ZYL is basically all "I wish I could shake some self-preservation into you".
(And obviously that's a sentiment ZYL shares! But it manifests differently in him.)
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I think so, too, mostly. It's like that little headshake of disbelief when Zhao Yunlan says the liniment-putting-on doesn't hurt, sort of a "ZYL, why are you like this?!? *hearts*"
That said, I do like it that in the novel there is no con, just an honest (if still a bit ridiculous and over the top) gift.
Ye-es, but he does kind of trick SW into taking the books, doesn't he? Shoves them into his arms, spins a line, and drives off before Shen Wei can object? *noogies him*
And I do like it in itself too - Zhao Yunlan totally could have just said "I got you a gift", and the in-world reasons why he doesn't aren't super solid (especially since he apparently can't decide if he wants to frame it as worthless or priceless xD)
I always think it's both. Ot1h, ZYL is saying, "I didn't *buy* you a present. I just had these lying around. Nothing to see here!" but otoh, he claims they're family heirlooms!! Which makes them *more* personal and precious (or would, if it were true).
I absolutely love how dorky he is about it all. It's my favourite thing!! He has ~~ALL THESE FEELINGS~~ and no coherent, graceful way to let them out, lol.
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Awwww, yes! ♡♡♡ 'There's something wrong with you. /affectionate' :D :D (And then Shen Wei in YOHE says that he's fine and Zhao Yunlan has the same reaction, lmao.)
"Ye-es, but he does kind of trick SW into taking the books, doesn't he? Shoves them into his arms, spins a line, and drives off before Shen Wei can object? *noogies him*"
Lol, you're so right, I re-read it now, and in the first scene he not only does that but also does lie about the origin of the books (though not quite as dramatically as the grandfather story - he says that his friend is emigrating and can't take them, and that's only after SW says that they're too expensive), so he's definitely a total mess in the novel too! xD :D For some reason I mostly remembered the second scene where Shen Wei comes to the restaurant for their date just to reject him and give back the books, and Zhao Yunlan tells Shen Wei that he can do anything he wants with the books, and fully accepts the rejection. (And then spirals into days of drinking and not eating.)
Now I'm loving that the drama took the lie and made it more dramatic and much more of a point (it was so much not a point that I entirely forgot about it! xD), and had Shen Wei immediately figure it out (making it Shen Wei's books was a genius move in itself! :D), and made it the reason for the rejection!
"I always think it's both. Ot1h, ZYL is saying, "I didn't *buy* you a present. I just had these lying around. Nothing to see here!" but otoh, he claims they're family heirlooms!! Which makes them *more* personal and precious (or would, if it were true)."
Heeee yes, it's definitely both, but they're mutually exclusive, so it only adds to how much of a chaotic gremlin he is. :D :D (And now that I re-read that scene, this comes from the novel too - ZYL totally didn't buy SW an expensive gift, his friend just wants these precious books to be appreciated and wouldn't give them to just anyone. :D Logic, what logic. xD :D)
"I absolutely love how dorky he is about it all. It's my favourite thing!! He has ~~ALL THESE FEELINGS~~ and no coherent, graceful way to let them out, lol."
Yessss OMG this, he's just so incredibly bad at feelings and has absolutely no idea what to do with them, but he's sure FEELING THEM, very strongly. :D :D ♡♡♡
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Ahh, the drama gastritis is totally because of the failed book con. (I mean, I already thought that, but this seems conclusive. :D)
making it Shen Wei's books was a genius move in itself! :D
LOL, yes!! It's such a hilarious disaster!! Poor ZYL. *noogies him forever* (And now I wonder if being struck speechless three times was a deliberate rule-of-three things, too. :D)
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It is very conclusive, yes. :D Many random things got changed from the novel version of these episodes, but 'Zhao Yunlan can't cope specifically because Shen Wei has rejected him' is in the right order and everything, even if it's not spelled out.
"(And now I wonder if being struck speechless three times was a deliberate rule-of-three things, too. :D)"
Oooh! :D It doesn't happen anymore after that? xD
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Oooh! :D It doesn't happen anymore after that? xD
Not that I remember, but I'll be keeping an eye out. :D
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The fun part is that this is only in the official translation of the novel/whatever Chinese version it's based on; the fan translation/JJWXC version is quite different! I just wrote it up here, and it's really amazing how different they are and how much closer to the drama the official translation is!
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Oh, it totally is! But I'm never sure if it actually came from the novel, or if it's the other way round. Do you remember? This is one of the places where the original web version of the novel (the JJWXC version) and the version the official translation is based on (some print edition, presumably) diverge considerably. And I always wonder if the drama writers worked with both version and incorporated whatever they liked better from each, or if that print version didn't come until later and priest was inspired by the drama when making some of the edits.
For reference, here are the differences between the version. ZYL buys the books and does the hit-and-run gift-giving in both versions, making a date with SW without giving SW the opportunity to either agree or refuse. Then things diverge:
JJWXC version/fan translation:
- Before the planned date can happen, ZYL goes drinking and gets hung over for no particular reason (it seems to be just something he does on weekends)
- He's hungry and goes out for food, and runs into SW getting mugged. ZYL "saves" SW.
- After, they go out for food together, and ZYL gets a gastritis attack. SW takes him home.
Official translation:- They actually have their restaurant date; SW turns ZYL down.
- ZYL sulks, drinks, doesn't eat, and gets gastritis.
- Going out for meds and food, ZYL runs into SW getting mugged. ZYL "saves" SW, and they part.
- Immediately after, SW runs into ZYL again, who's having a severer gastritis attack. He takes ZYL home.
The version in the official translation is quite a bit stronger, much more grounded in characterisation - and much closer to the drama!no subject
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I was so curious about the differences when you first said that, but I didn't end up trying to dig though the discussion posts (this was before I started participating in the readalong) - I appreciate the summary so much! ♡♡♡ And wow, that's fascinating, and it makes so much more sense after the changes (Zhao Yunlan's self-destructiveness is really important in this scene imo; drinking like this for no reason, after he just scored his dream date, doesn't really follow? and Shen Wei not rejecting him at all is pretty off too in the novel context), and it is so much closer to the drama, and now I'm even more curious which one came first. :D
Since the drama doesn't spell out the reason why Zhao Yunlan is acting like that, I'd say maybe they worked with both texts? But then again it doesn't need to be spelled out to be an inspiration to make ZYL beat himself up in the novel, so in the end idk, but it's all super cool either way! :D
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Ooh yes! Great catch! I really love everything the drama did with it, it's so good. :D
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10000%! <3
I think it's really important to me how unconditional everything is between them - Zhao Yunlan doesn't need to earn Shen Wei's love by 'growing up' just like young Shen Wei didn’t need to earn his love. They both know different versions of each other, but the versions are not better or worse. ♡
This makes a lot of sense and is super helpful for me to think about. Thank you for saying it!! <3 <3 <3
And hey, this just made me discover a (probably obvious) novel parallel, despite all the differences between the backstories - early canon Zhao Yunlan is (metaphorically vs. literally) not fully Kunlun yet. :D
Ahhhhhhalkdsfjas;lkdfjas;dlkfjas;dlfkjasd;lfkjsdaf :D :D :D
this must be reassuring to Shen Wei, in addition to all the other feels. :D ♡♡♡
Hee! I'm not sure SW really needs reassurance. But yes! :D
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"Hee! I'm not sure SW really needs reassurance. But yes! :D"
In case he was ever concerned that Zhao Yunlan would find the concept of 'epic story he didn’t signed up for' creepy/iffy, now he doesn't need to be. :D (But he probably wasn't because he had already met him in the story. :D)
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