Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 8, part 2

[trobadora]

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 8, from 22:19:

Summary: In Dixing, the Regent sends a smoke message. In Haixing, Shen Wei pours his drunk mentor into car and then finds Zhao Yunlan ill on the kerb. He takes him home in a taxi (where he serves as a pillow), then discovers Zhao Yunlan's disaster apartment (featuring: wine bottles, dirty dishes, THE FRIDGE). During the night, Zhu Jiu finds the pillar with the Mountain-River Awl, but can't approach it. Meanwhile Shen Wei discovers that Zhao Yunlan asked Dixing about him and the Regent is ratting him out. He alters the message. In the morning, Zhao Yunlan wakes up to a tidy flat and Shen Wei sitting next to his bed. He tries to recruit Shen Wei for the SID again, but fails again. Wang Zheng sees a newspaper report about an earthquake in the Hanga mountains, passes out and regains her memory. Da Qing comes to tell Zhao Yunlan and finds Shen Wei there in the early morning. The Sundial begins to glow and resonate with the Awl; Lin Jing traces the source to the mountains.



Quote:

Shen Wei: "I suggest you eat regular meals. I don't want to find you on the road again."

Zhao Yunlan: "If you want to know whether I eat regular meals, why don't you just join ourSID, and you'll know?"

Shen Wei: "So your SID doesn't need a consultant, it needs a nanny?"

Detail:

I always notice that when Shen Wei takes off Zhao Yunlan's boots, he accidentally slips one of Zhao Yunlan's socks off his heel and doesn't pull it back up, argh! :p

Questions:

What's going through Shen Wei's head in the taxi? How is Zhao Yunlan feeling about Shen Wei taking him home? What's your favourite detail in Zhao Yunlan's flat? What's Shen Wei's favourite detail? Why do you think Zhao Yunlan keeps trying to recruit Shen Wei after Shen Wei has refused more than once? Do you think Shen Wei is seriously hoping to warn Zhao Yunlan away from leaving Dragon City? Why is Da Qing surprised to find Shen Wei with Zhao Yunlan in the morning? Why does Wang Zheng try to leave the SID? Any thoughts about how any of this compares to the novel? Or about parallels with other parts of the drama?

(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!)

For the next two weekends, we're taking a break for the holidays - time to catch up on the rewatch, if you've been meaning to! Regular posts will resume on 9 January.

Here is our schedule for the current batch of episodes - please do sign up to host a post if you can!

Comments

[china_shop]

Yayayay, you're here!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 :D :D :D

This half episode is GLORIOUS!! MY BELOVED!! :D :D :D

The foreshadowing that Shen Wei really, really shouldn't drink even a drop of alcohol!

Haha, yes! (And awwwww, lovely ficlet!!! <333 I have a YOHE one where Shen Wei gets drunk from a kiss, lol, but he already knows at that stage.)

Zhao Yunlan waving Shen Wei off while sitting on the ground, this whole thing is so soft and heartbreaking to me, like 'I fucked up, why would he even care', and Shen Wei just LOVES HIM SO MUCH. *wibbles* ♡♡♡♡♡

Yessssss! (I don't know if I read it as "why would he even care" so much as "This on top of the books thing? I cannot face him right now!! *mortification*" And given that, the handwave is actually surprisingly chill. (Compared to, say, Xiao Guo in a similar situation, flailing madly and trying to burrow his way down a drain, lol.)

Me watching the entire taxi scene:

*HEARTS YOU AND THE SCENE AND EVERYTHING*

Zhao Yunlan's confusion when Shen Wei doesn't let him dry swallow the medicine is one of my favorite things that I always need to point out, hee

Yesss, he's so bewildered! I bet Da Qing would have just tossed him the bottle.

and the sock

This, next to the gif of the next morning, makes me want to know if ZYL's socks are on properly when he wakes up. I can't tell from the gif.

The slippers are not mismatched btw, they're intentionally printed like that - the black parts are white and vice versa. :D

Yes, I love that. It's exactly the kind of thing I would buy (minus the branding). (Says she who bought two colours of AllBirds so I could mismatch them. ;-p)

The way Shen Wei swallows when Zhao Yunlan does the hip thrust, afghfjdkskl;jkl :D :D ♡____♡

RIIIIIIIIIIGHT?!?!?! asdlkfja;ldskfjas;dlfkjad

and honestly I've never thought it could be anything other than night - it's so dark behind Zhao Yunlan?

*high fives* (I figured the umbrella was like a makeshift walking pole or something.)

Ohh, hey, your answer to the "What's Shen Wei thinking in the taxi?" question made me think he must, at least partly, be just incredibly glad to have found ZYL? Because, like, ZYL would still be curled up in a gutter, vulnerable and helpless, otherwise. SW must be thanking all the stars that he is *there* to look after him (while still being all big-picture feels, of course).

Also Shen Wei really, really wants to kiss the top of Zhao Yunlan's head. :D ♡___♡

Awwwwwwwwww! FACTS!

Asdfghfjdskljkl;; ZHAO YUNLAN. Zhao Yunlan's clothes. Zhao Yunlan's bed. :D

Hee! YES!

A whole lot of scenes in this episode are from the novel, but Shen Wei telling Zhao Yunlan to stay put and Zhao Yunlan going even faster is from a whole other part of the novel, not from the Hanga arc but from when they're already together. :D

Ohhh, that's right! Yes! <3 And omg, the foot-massage/shoe removal parallel a;lksdjf;adkslfj;askldfjas;dklfjasdlfkjadf

Also, I think the Dixing palace does have a lot of the vibe of the Netherworld. :D And the little ghostly Reaper that gets sent out. :D

Yes, so true!!

[trobadora]

I bet Da Qing would have just tossed him the bottle.

Ha, yes!

This, next to the gif of the next morning, makes me want to know if ZYL's socks are on properly when he wakes up. I can't tell from the gif.

They are! I paid attention! *g*

he must, at least partly, be just incredibly glad to have found ZYL? Because, like, ZYL would still be curled up in a gutter, vulnerable and helpless, otherwise. SW must be thanking all the stars that he is *there* to look after him

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[china_shop]

They are! I paid attention! *g*

Bless you! (So that's practically proof of further foot fondling. *g* Or of ZYL waking up enough in the night to realise his feet are uncomfortable, but eh.)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

[facethestrange]

"So that's practically proof of further foot fondling. *g* Or of ZYL waking up enough in the night to realise his feet are uncomfortable, but eh."

Yesss, definitely more foot fondling. :D :D Like, true, maybe Zhao Yunlan fixed it himself, but to me it's either that Shen Wei left it like this on purpose in his exasperation and then immediately softened and fixed it (I went back to find old comments about which novel quote gave me this exact vibe, and it was apparently this: "Angry with embarrassment, Shen Wei shook off Zhao Yunlan’s hand. But then, seeing Zhao Yunlan’s hand grasping aimlessly in the air, he gave in after a moment’s hesitation and subtly took hold of it again." xD :D), or SW simply didn't notice, and then ZYL kicked off the blanket at some point and SW fixed the sock. ♡♡♡

[trobadora]

Shen Wei left it like this on purpose in his exasperation and then immdiately softened and fixed it

AHHHHHHHHH after the novel excerpt you just quoted, it HAS to be that, OMG!!!!!

[facethestrange]

!! :D Right?? :D :D I originally took this idea from somewhere in this comm, and then the novel quote made it really plausible to me. :D

[china_shop]

or SW simply didn't notice, and then ZYL kicked off the blanket at some point and SW fixed the sock. ♡♡♡

asdklfas;dlkfjas;dlfkjas;dlfkjasdf Now I'm imagining SW periodically pausing in his cleaning to rearrange the covers over ZYL and stare at him some more. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

[facethestrange]

Yesssss. ♡♡♡♡♡ I'm 100% sure that he did that, he had the whole night. :D ♡♡♡

[china_shop]

:D :D :D

(Now I'm wondering how many times he's warmed the porridge before ZYL woke up, and how much the book is just a cover for ~staring~. ;D)

[facethestrange]

Ahhhhh. ♡♡♡♡♡ I feel like this book is interesting enough, hee, but Zhao Yunlan is inherently more interesting, so sometimes he probably paused and just stared openly. :D :D Damn, one day when I can write fics again, I'm totally writing one about warming up porridge and fixing up the sock. ♡♡♡ Which I'm sure exists, but that has never stopped me. :D :D

[trobadora]

Cheering you on for the fic-writing! I hope you get there again soon! *hugs*

[facethestrange]

Awwww, thank you so much!! ♡♡♡ *HUGS*

[china_shop]

so sometimes he probably paused and just stared openly. :D :D

Ohh, because he can! Just like the interrogation in ep 4 gave ZYL opportunity and license to stare openly at Shen Wei. ;D (I only noticed this because I wrote a fic about that recently.)

Damn, one day when I can write fics again, I'm totally writing one about warming up porridge and fixing up the sock. ♡♡♡

Awwww, yessss! I hope (in a non-pressure-y way) that day is soon. <3 <3 <3

[facethestrange]

"Ohh, because he can! Just like the interrogation in ep 4 gave ZYL opportunity and license to stare openly at Shen Wei. ;D (I only noticed this because I wrote a fic about that recently.)"

Yessss. :D I always think about that during the interrogation, he's having such a good time looking at Shen Wei. :D :D

"Awwww, yessss! I hope (in a non-pressure-y way) that day is soon. <3 <3 <3"

AWW, thank you so much! ♡♡♡♡♡ (Ngl, I miss the kind of pressure that was 'I'm writing so many things and I have 12k words to edit in 3 days', lmao - it was never a bad thing even when it made me miss out on other interactions. :P Alas, what I get now is 'nope, you don't get to have nice things anymore' and fight-or-flight from just thinking about ao3 existing, lol. I'll get there again - I'm already very slowly getting there with this comm and reading fics. :D Btw in under 11 months, late January-early December, I posted 75k+ words - I don't do any year recap memes and I just want to say it somewhere, especially since it's at least 2-3 times more than I've posted during my entire life otherwise. xD :D)

[trobadora]

Glad you're making progress a bit! *HUGS*

Btw in under 11 months, late January-early December, I posted 75k+ words

Wow, that is amazing, congrats!!!!!!

[facethestrange]

"They are! I paid attention! *g*"

Lolol! *high five* :D :D I always pay attention to this too. :D ♡__♡

[trobadora]

*high five*

[facethestrange]

"Yayayay, you're here!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 :D :D :D"

!!! AWWW! I ammmm. ♡♡♡♡♡

"And awwwww, lovely ficlet!!! <333 I have a YOHE one where Shen Wei gets drunk from a kiss, lol, but he already knows at that stage."

AW, thank youuu, and omg *WANT*?? ♡____♡ WHAT AN INSPIRED IDEA. Like, me reading fics is clearly not a thing rn, but still *WANT* xD :D

"Compared to, say, Xiao Guo in a similar situation, flailing madly and trying to burrow his way down a drain, lol."

Lmao! :D :D

"I bet Da Qing would have just tossed him the bottle."

Lol, so true! And he probably does that on the regular, considering how familiar he is with Zhao Yunlan's gastritis.

"This, next to the gif of the next morning, makes me want to know if ZYL's socks are on properly when he wakes up. I can't tell from the gif."

Heee, the first time I noticed the sock I instantly asked this question too (and yep, they are). :D :D

"Yes, I love that. It's exactly the kind of thing I would buy (minus the branding). (Says she who bought two colours of AllBirds so I could mismatch them. ;-p)"

AW, that's so cool! :D :D

"*high fives* (I figured the umbrella was like a makeshift walking pole or something.)"

Oh, now I realized that if Zhao Yunlan doesn't even know what Wang Zheng is (but Da Qing does - how/why? I mean, he's really old so that's probably how), then the umbrella was clearly not for her.

"Ohh, hey, your answer to the "What's Shen Wei thinking in the taxi?" question made me think he must, at least partly, be just incredibly glad to have found ZYL? Because, like, ZYL would still be curled up in a gutter, vulnerable and helpless, otherwise. SW must be thanking all the stars that he is *there* to look after him (while still being all big-picture feels, of course)."

Omgggggggg. ♡♡♡♡♡ *MELTS COMPLETELY* These are my favorite type of feels, and I just love this SO MUCH, what a wonderful thought, YES. ♡♡♡♡♡

[china_shop]

AW, thank youuu, and omg *WANT*?? ♡____♡ WHAT AN INSPIRED IDEA. Like, me reading fics is clearly not a thing rn, but still *WANT* xD :D

<3 <3 <3 (It's here, just ftr, but possibly a little bit angstier than it sounds. *pets them*)

And he probably does that on the regular, considering how familiar he is with Zhao Yunlan's gastritis.

Yes, exactly. Probably ZYL has growled at him a billion times not to fuss, and DQ has taken that on board.

(but Da Qing does - how/why? I mean, he's really old so that's probably how)

Yeah, I assume that's like him thinking of Youchu in the web novelist case. He's been around. *g*

*MELTS COMPLETELY* These are my favorite type of feels, and I just love this SO MUCH, what a wonderful thought, YES. ♡♡♡♡♡

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

[facethestrange]

"<3 <3 <3 (It's here, just ftr, but possibly a little bit angstier than it sounds. *pets them*)"

Asdfghfjdksl;sdfjkl thank you for sharing, it was all kinds of wonderful!! ♡___♡ (And not even that angsty, and angsty YOHE is my jam anyway. :D ♡♡♡) (Like, it may not be what I usually write, but I've done post-battle angst before, in addition to some other bittersweetness. It's pretty much total opposite, lol, being established relationship and M/E-rated, but still. xD /zero obligation to click anything as always)

"Probably ZYL has growled at him a billion times not to fuss, and DQ has taken that on board."

True! I feel like Da Qing is not prone to fussing to begin with, lol, and any attempt to fuss would indeed be stopped by Zhao Yunlan a long time ago, and then he suddenly faces Shen Wei's aggressive caretaking that is unstoppable. xD :D

"Yeah, I assume that's like him thinking of Youchu in the web novelist case. He's been around. *g*"

Ooh, yep! Da Qing's life is so fascinating to me, and I love these hints that he's SEEN THINGS. :D

[china_shop]

but I've done post-battle angst before, in addition to some other bittersweetness.

Ahhhh, that was wonderful! Thank you for linking!!! <3 <3 <3 (And haha, this is starting to feel like a card game or a bingo: more YOHE h/c (ZYL gets wounded in battle). Usual disclaimers, etc. <3)

and then he suddenly faces Shen Wei's aggressive caretaking that is unstoppable. xD :D

LOL, exactly!! And it comes with a kind of disapproval that doesn't even feel bad (unlike ZXC's "you're such a disappointment" schtick)!! What is this magic?? <3 <3 <3

[facethestrange]

"Ahhhh, that was wonderful! Thank you for linking!!! <3 <3 <3 (And haha, this is starting to feel like a card game or a bingo: more YOHE h/c (ZYL gets wounded in battle). Usual disclaimers, etc. <3)"

♡♡♡♡♡!! And thank youuuu, this one was so perfect too, I'm so happily feasting on all the YOHE. :D :D (My addition to the game is art of wounded Zhao Yunlan and worried Shen Wei, which I know you have seen, but in case someone is following the YOHE recs thread I hope they're having a good time, hahah. :D :D ♡)

"And it comes with a kind of disapproval that doesn't even feel bad (unlike ZXC's "you're such a disappointment" schtick)!! What is this magic?? <3 <3 <3"

Omg awwwww! ♡♡♡♡♡ Because Shen Wei never disapproves of Zhao Yunlan himself, he only disapproves of ZYL being in a bad situation, and this time and a lot of the time it happens to be his own doing. And that's so clear that ZYL can see that even when he's not quite conscious. :D

[china_shop]

My addition to the game is art of wounded Zhao Yunlan and worried Shen Wei, which I know you have seen, but in case someone is following the YOHE recs thread I hope they're having a good time, hahah. :D :D ♡

LOLOL! I'm very happy to get to admire it again, so thanks for linking!! <3 <3 <3 (I'm out of YOHE h/c, but I have ZYL and SW visiting SW's men in the YOHE infirmary - does that count? At 4300 words, it might be stretching the bounds of this game, though. ;D)

Because Shen Wei never disapproves of Zhao Yunlan himself, he only disapproves of ZYL being in a bad situation

Yes, exactly!! And the disapproval is practical and for ZYL's own sake, not about status or whatever the hell is going on with ZXC. <3 <3 <3

And that's so clear that ZYL can see that even when he's not quite conscious. :D

100%! Otherwise he wouldn't be half so playful and flirty the next morning. <3 <3 <3

[facethestrange]

"I'm out of YOHE h/c, but I have ZYL and SW visiting SW's men in the YOHE infirmary - does that count? At 4300 words, it might be stretching the bounds of this game, though. ;D"

:D :D :D Thank youuuu, it does sound wonderful and that's the only thing that matters! ;D ♡♡♡

"And the disapproval is practical and for ZYL's own sake, not about status or whatever the hell is going on with ZXC. <3 <3 <3"

Yesss! It's not 'you're not good enough', it's the opposite - 'you're too good for THIS'. ♡♡♡

"Otherwise he wouldn't be half so playful and flirty the next morning. <3 <3 <3"

Hee, indeed! :D

[china_shop]

Yesss! It's not 'you're not good enough', it's the opposite - 'you're too good for THIS'. ♡♡♡

YES! Exactly this!! :D :D :D :D :D