sid_guardian | Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 9, part 2

Entry tags:

Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 9, part 2

Zhao Yunlan sprawled on a couch, grinning at his phone. The background shows a purple sky with stars. Text reads, "Slo-Mo Rewatch. Guardian - half an episode per week @ sid_guardian.dreamwidth.org"

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 9, from 22:52:

Summary: Everyone arrives at Qingxi village. Outside the guesthouse, Xiao-Guo finds a skull, and Wang Zheng explains her tribe's customs, disguised as rumours she's heard. A villager in a mask and wig tries to scare them away; the village head explains that a guard was murdered two days ago and everyone's wary of outsiders. He takes Zhao Yunlan and Zhu Hong to the crime scene. They see a light and explore further, and Zhao Yunlan reveals he has the Sundial with him when it starts resonating. Zhu Jiu tells the Hanga tribesmen to kill Wang Zheng, blaming her for their being trapped by the Awl, and they attack the guesthouse. Wang Zheng tries to sacrifice herself, but no one will let her. Zhao Yunlan and Zhu Hong arrive, and she has to take the gun from him and fire herself because he's paralysed by flashbacks of his mother's death. At night, Wang Zheng leaves on her own and goes into the mountain. Zhu Jiu is pleased - it's all going according to his plan.

Quote:

Zhao Yunlan to Wang Zheng: "See, what do I keep telling you? Don't keep dieting all the time, being skinny isn't good for you!"

Detail:

This episode gives us an update for who was in which car when! I'll put all of it here for completeness' sake, even though it includes stuff from the first half of the episode:

1st leg (Dragon City to car breakdown):

Zhao Yunlan's jeep: Zhao Yunlan (driving), Da Qing (passenger seat), Wang Zheng and Zhu Hong in the back
Other SID car: Chu Shuzhi (driving), Lin Jing (passenger seat), Guo Changcheng in the back
University group car: not shown, but presumably Xiao-Quan driving since he assumes he'll drive after the breakdown

2nd leg (car breakdown to checkpoint):

Zhao Yunlan's jeep: Lin Jing (driving), Zhu Hong (passenger seat), Wang Zheng and Guo Changcheng in the back
Other SID car: not seen, but must be Chu Shuzhi and Da Qing
University group car: Zhao Yunlan (driving), Shen Wei (passenger seat), Jiajia and Xiao Quan in the back

3rd leg (checkpoint to Qingxi village):

Zhao Yunlan's jeep: Chu Shuzhi, Guo Changcheng, Zhu Hong, Wang Zheng (shown waiting at Qingxi village when the other two cars arrive)
University group car: until the jacket-sharing stop, Lin Jing (driving), Jiajia (passenger seat), Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan in the back. After the stop, not shown. (We do see all of the above plus the village head after they got out, but that's not conclusive.)
Other SID car: not shown, though it arrives behind the university car, and there's a shot with a blurry Da Qing in the background, outside on the passenger side. (If the village head did ride with all the others, the third car was Da Qing and Xiao-Quan only, and maybe Xiao-Quan got to actually drive for this leg! *g*)

Questions: What's your favourite bit in this half-episode? Which SID character gets the best moment? When Shen Wei questions Wang Zheng, how much does he already know about her? Would you like to go on a field trip with Shen Wei, even though he might end up hypnotising you? Do you sympathise with the villagers? Is speechifying Zhu Jiu's greatest talent? If you've read the novel, any thoughts on about how the drama compares?

(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!)

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

My notes:

Another conspicious shot of a crow cawing! And the characters draw additional attention to it by talking about it. Still a while until we learn about Ya Qing, though!

The mechanics of Wang Zheng in the doll body elude me; Jiajia's comments about how light she is allude to her being in a blow-up doll, but she appears as herself outside the car here. (And later again, as she goes into the mountain.) The only time we see her actually inhabiting the doll is outside the SID door, in daylight.

I love the little moment when Zhao Yunlan jerks his head at Lao-Chu, who gives a mini-nod and goes ahead to check things out! And Zhao Yunlan also signals Da Qing, who goes off in a different direction!

Lin Jing is truly an allrounder; today he's moonlighting as an archaeologist and determines the skull Xiao-Guo finds must be at least 100 years old. *g*

(Though Chu Shuzhi also contributes, suggesting a landslide shifted the soil and then the rain exposed the skull.)

Proof that Wang Zheng's energy body doesn't work like normal bodies: she kneels on the muddy ground to pray, but is perfectly clean afterwards. *g*

Xiao-Quan is so relatable, first concluding from Wang Zheng's explanation about the Hanga never marrying outsiders that they must have died out from inbreeding, and then complaining about the lack of indoor plumbing and fighting outside that wouldn't let him go pee outside!

I love the timing of Zhao Yunlan saying dead people can't drive them away, and then immediately the fake ghost telling them to leave. :D

Zhao Yunlan can immediately tell that the village head knows something about all of this, shouting for him! And Shen Wei confronts the village head about not telling the truth. Teaming up! :D

Meanwhile, Zhu Jiu is speechifying at masked Hanga energy ghosts, complaining he couldn't get Sang Zan out of the pillar. (Presumably if he had, he could have got the Awl too?)

The subs miss a lot when the village head explains to Zhao Yunlan and Zhu Hong what's going on! The Viki subs are better than the others, but still not complete:

Solo's subs: "Two days ago, a village guard on night duty was killed here. Then came the earthquake. Our villagers are all honest and kind, so the killer must be a stranger. It's only been two days. I trust you, but other villagers have crazy ideas."
Viki subs: "The day before yesterday, the assigned night duty village guard, Wang Erzhu, was killed here, and then the earthquake happened. Our villagers are all kind and never aggressive. Hence, this must have been done by an outsider. And after a few days, you and your people came. I trust you, but other villagers do not."

Mostly literal translation: "Just the day before yesterday, Wang Erzhu, who was on night watch at the village entrance, was murdered right here, and then the earthquake happened. Our village is full of honest people; we've never been aggressive in our lives. It's outsiders' evil-doing. And it hasn't been two days and there's a whole bunch of you coming. I believe you, but Lao-Li and Lao-Zhao will let their imagination run wild."

Zhu Jiu threatens the Hanga warriors, telling them if they don't do what he wants, he'll keep their families trapped forever.

While Zhu Hong and Zhao Yunlan are searching outside, I think this is the only time the Sundial resonates audibly without also glowing? (Later outside the guesthouse it'll start that way too, but then will glow after all.)

Funny: the guy who played ghost running straight into the real energy ghosts. :D

Wang Zheng is trying so hard to do what she thinks is the right thing and sacrifice herself! But no one will let her. (I love that Shen Wei tells her Zhao Yunlan wouldn't agree!)

Idk what the grenade thing is that Lin Jing throws at the ghosts? Da Qing thinks something about normal weapons not working, but I can't tell what it would do if it were working!

I love the moment when Zhao Yunlan pulls his gun but can't bring himself to fire because he's having flashbacks of his mother's death. Clearly he hasn't been using the gun prior to this - in fact, the suggestion is pretty strong that the last time he saw it fired was in that flashback. And Zhu Hong just ripping it out of his hand and doing the shooting herself is excellent. :D

I'm not sure what Shen Wei actually does to the students behind Wang Zheng's back when he wants to interrogate her. Is he hypnotising them in some way? They don't seem to actually fall asleep, and we only get a brief moment of the effect.

When Shen Wei says the university team is here for research because a mysterious totem was found at the epicentre of the earthquake, is he lying? It doesn't fit, anyway - in episode 8, the morning after the earthquake, he talks about taking over a field trip for Zhang-laoshi, so it's already been planned before the earthquake. Maybe he's just saying that to make Wang Zheng talk?

Another bit where the subtitles aren't quite right:

Solo: "I helped you escape, so you have to follow my orders."
Viki: "I helped you escape, not for you to do whatever you please."
Literal: "Letting you out wasn't so you could do whatever you want."

(Also, Zhu Jiu threatened the Hanga warriors with trapping their families forever; with the youchu, he threatens to never let them out again, suggesting he can trap them again.)

Zhu Jiu clearly knows Wang Zheng will come outside, and follows her into the mountain. And is looking forward to Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei rushing after her, anticipating that this will let him gain the Awl and the Sundial both. He practically lays out his plan here, very convenient. *g*

Wang Zheng has flashbacks to her execution again, and once again I notice that the box that supposedly decides whether she'll be executed has two pieces of the same writing. Perhaps it's just rigged! But also, one of them is written horizontally and the other vertically - so if you wanted to, you could say the horizontal piece is read right to left, which would make a different sequence with potentially a different meaning. /overthinking

The mechanics of Wang Zheng in the doll body elude me; Jiajia's comments about how light she is allude to her being in a blow-up doll, but she appears as herself outside the car here. (And later again, as she goes into the mountain.) The only time we see her actually inhabiting the doll is outside the SID door, in daylight.

I think she's in the doll the whole time, and it's holding her together -- it's just that her appearance exceeds the space the doll takes up. /headcanon

I love the little moment when Zhao Yunlan jerks his head at Lao-Chu, who gives a mini-nod and goes ahead to check things out! And Zhao Yunlan also signals Da Qing, who goes off in a different direction!

Yess!!

Proof that Wang Zheng's energy body doesn't work like normal bodies: she kneels on the muddy ground to pray, but is perfectly clean afterwards. *g*

LOL!!

I love the moment when Zhao Yunlan pulls his gun but can't bring himself to fire because he's having flashbacks of his mother's death. Clearly he hasn't been using the gun prior to this - in fact, the suggestion is pretty strong that the last time he saw it fired was in that flashback. And Zhu Hong just ripping it out of his hand and doing the shooting herself is excellent. :D

Yes! I love all of that, too. <3 <3 <3

Thanks for all the subtitle comparisons/explanations! <3 <3 <3

I think she's in the doll the whole time, and it's holding her together -- it's just that her appearance exceeds the space the doll takes up. /headcanon

Yeah, that would make sense! And I guess being outside in daylight weakens her enough that she has to hide inside the doll's appearance?

Yes, or she just becomes sufficiently translucent that all people can see is the doll body?

I never thought of it that way!

I am abbsolutely sure the execution is rigged; if we can see the texts, so can the person who chooses which to pull out.

True. The only reason I'm not sure about the box is because they were definitely going to execute her no matter what, so looking into the box is just for show anyway.

I think it's a corruption of a ritual. Like, they're going through the motions of justice?

Yeah, that makes sense!

Great post! <3 <3 <3 I love that you chose the mountain village for your screencap. :D

I always forget how much happens in this half-episode. Intuitively, I feel like the journey takes up about 2/3rds or 3/4 of the ep, and the arrival/settling in is just a coda, but there's a lot going on here. A few things I noticed:

On top of the Head Villager giving Jiajia and Lin Jing a fright on the way there, there are three more "ghost" attacks in this half episode: 1) the fake ghosts, 2) the real ghost army, and 3) unbeknownst to anyone, Wang Zheng drugging everyone. The third -- the inside job/sneak attack -- is the only one that gets past the SID's defences.
I always love Zhu Hong casting shade at Shen Wei for being bad luck for them. Confusing correlation and causality. ;-p
Shen Wei playing the earnest young professor role. It must be such a weight off his mind to know that Chu Shuzhi is there to competently keep everyone safe.
Da Qing giving ZYL grief for being considerate of Shen Wei et al, hee! :D And lol at ZYL saying how the academics would get sick from sleeping outside when it's ZYL who's been sneezing his way up the mountain. ;-p
Guo Changcheng's reaction to the skull seems disproportionate in context, but actually is pretty normal? Everyone else is way too chill about the human remains just, like, strewn about. ;-p
I love the expression "just put your heart in your stomach." It's so different from English expressions like "his stomach dropped". :D
During the fake ghost attack, poor Shen Wei can't do anything! I do love Zhao Yunlan unhesitatingly running out and grabbing the guy. He is fearless! (Until he takes out his gun later, anyway.)
So Zhu Jiu got the ghost army out, leaving Sang Zan in the pillar with the soldiers' relatives (as hostages). I wonder what it's like for Sang Zan to have half the village suddenly gone.
The village head takes them to the murder scene, and ZYL and Zhu Hong both immediately crouch down and examine the soil, lol. And then ZYL reveals he's brought the Sundial. ("If the Dixingren get it first, the consequences are unimaginable." Is he still not distinguishing between hostile Dixingren and regular everyday ones?) And Zhu Hong is so enjoying being in ZYL's confidence, working with him. (I wonder why he took her? Leaving CSZ and Da Qing to protect the others?)
Guo Changcheng's fear stick fails him, with the ghost army.
Zhu Jiu tells the ghost army, "There's no hatred without cause," and I make a buzzer noise. (I mean, in this case, sure. But in general?)
Lin Jing's hero moment! Insisting Wang Zheng stay safe and going outside to face the ghost army with his smoke grenade or whatever it is. <3 And awwww, ZYL's flashbacks!! These are made even more powerful by the contrast with his bravery earlier.
Last week, I thought Zhu Jiu had just found the Youchu, but here he's saying, "I helped you escape." Does he just mean from the caves?
At night, when Wang Zheng goes into the mountains, there's a rooster crow. I guess that means it's actually very early morning?
I have two fics set during this half ep, and one is one of my favourites: an atmospheric little pre-Weilan interlude after everyone's gone to bed. The other is about ZYL leaving a note in the pocket of his jacket. :D

Zhao Yunlan to Wang Zheng: "See, what do I keep telling you? Don't keep dieting all the time, being skinny isn't good for you!"

Hee! I love Zhu Hong's smirk at that. She loves being in on the joke.

What's your favourite bit in this half-episode?

Shen Wei being trapped in his mild-mannered professor persona. :-)

Which SID character gets the best moment?

Chu Shuzhi, all competence, all the time. And Zhu Hong being a leather-pants-wearing action hero.

When Shen Wei questions Wang Zheng, how much does he already know about her?

I don't know. I hadn't thought about it...

Would you like to go on a field trip with Shen Wei, even though he might end up hypnotising you?

LOL! No, I'll stay home in my own bed, thanks.

Do you sympathise with the villagers?

I can see where they're coming from, but I mean, the first rule of hospitality is don't try to terrorise your guests. They should have used their words. ;-p

Is speechifying Zhu Jiu's greatest talent?

No, it's second to accessorising. ;D

On top of the Head Villager giving Jiajia and Lin Jing a fright on the way there, there are three more "ghost" attacks

Oh yeah, that's true! Lots of "ghosts" here. And excellent point about the inside job being the only one that works on them.

And lol at ZYL saying how the academics would get sick from sleeping outside when it's ZYL who's been sneezing his way up the mountain. ;-p

RIGHT??????

I love the expression "just put your heart in your stomach." It's so different from English expressions like "his stomach dropped". :D

I didn't notice that, it's not in Solo's subs, but you're right, it's very charming!

Is he still not distinguishing between hostile Dixingren and regular everyday ones?

Yeah, definitely sounds that way! He's not entirely ditched old habits yet.

And Zhu Hong is so enjoying being in ZYL's confidence, working with him. (I wonder why he took her? Leaving CSZ and Da Qing to protect the others?)

Yeah, she loves it! And I agree that that's his reasoning, presumably.

Last week, I thought Zhu Jiu had just found the Youchu, but here he's saying, "I helped you escape." Does he just mean from the caves?

Yes, he discovered they were in the caves, and then he let them out. - They must have been trapped in the caves, or otherwise there would have been youchu about all this time, and the villagers would have blamed the murder of the guard on the "monsters" known to be around. Instead it seems to have been a very peaceful place until Zhu Jiu found them!

At night, when Wang Zheng goes into the mountains, there's a rooster crow. I guess that means it's actually very early morning?

Yeah, I noticed that too! I guess it must be early, or this is a cock with insomnia. *g*

LOL! No, I'll stay home in my own bed, thanks.

Haha, same here, tbh.

No, it's second to accessorising. ;D

LOLOLOL!

> > And lol at ZYL saying how the academics would get sick from sleeping outside when it's ZYL who's been sneezing his way up the mountain. ;-p
>
> RIGHT??????

And I don't even think it's lack of self-awareness, exactly. I think he just doesn't take his own physical state into account in any of his calculations. /o\

> > And Zhu Hong is so enjoying being in ZYL's confidence, working with him. (I wonder why he took her? Leaving CSZ and Da Qing to protect the others?)
>
> Yeah, she loves it! And I agree that that's his reasoning, presumably.

Plus I guess at this stage they don't know there's any real danger.

> They must have been trapped in the caves, or otherwise there would have been youchu about all this time, and the villagers would have blamed the murder of the guard on the "monsters" known to be around. Instead it seems to have been a very peaceful place until Zhu Jiu found them!

Oh, yes, good point! (I hope the village goes back to being peaceful after all this! ;-p)

And I don't even think it's lack of self-awareness, exactly. I think he just doesn't take his own physical state into account in any of his calculations. /o\

Yeah, that sounds about right.

I'm ridiculously busy irl right now (in a good way - moving and the trillion things that need to be done to get there; novelverse Zhao Yunlan tackling all of that stuff while regaining his memories and saving the world is so inspiring to me rn xD). I'm not giving up my bare-minimum Guardian time for that tho. :D

The opening shot is so pretty, awesome screencap choice! :D And thank you for the full write-up of who was in which car, it's super helpful and I could never follow it well! This comm is a treasure honestly. ♡♡♡

- Lin Jing just can't resist telling his creepy stories, this time with the crows. xD On this rewatch I keep noticing that Lin Jing got to tell a lot of the supernatural/ghost lore that is novel-like, and then 'he's a scientist who doesn't believe it', so it's ultimately easily dismissed, but it did make it to the adaptation. :D And then the actual people who attack them and want Wang Zheng to come out are not the skulls - I'm assuming they're a reference to the Ghost Army that novel Zhao Yunlan has summoned at a totally different point. :D (There is a bunch of ghosts in the Awl in the novel too, but they don't attack anyone in this way iirc.)

- Lol damn, Zhu Hong will go as far as defending Xiao Guo when it means that she can get at Shen Wei. xD

- This is one of my favorite Shen Wei's smiles. :D ♡♡♡

- The skulls that were trying to bite everyone in the novel!! :D I forgot all about the skull in the drama, and now I excited that they sort of got to keep that too. xD

- Da Qing calling Zhao Yunlan out for worrying more about Shen Wei than about his own team, lol.

- Xiao-Guo's little smile when Zhao Yunlan says that people like them are not afraid of dead people. :D

- Somehow I have never noticed how much of Da Qing's leg is visible in these pants, lmao, does he scratch his own clothes too? xD xD

- Shen Wei knows that Zhao Yunlan would never sacrifice one of his people. ♡♡♡

- Xiao-Quan talking to himself grumpily about the quality of their trip is adorable. :D :D

"If the village head did ride with all the others, the third car was Da Qing and Xiao-Quan only, and maybe Xiao-Quan got to actually drive for this leg! *g*"

Lol, good for him! :D I don't see Da Qing driving. xD

"What's your favourite bit in this half-episode?"

Right now it's all the callbacks to the novel that I didn't notice before, especially the skull, but that's mostly because I only just noticed them. :D In general I think it's "Zhao Yunlan would not agree to that" - Shen Wei KNOWS him, without any doubt. ♡♡♡

"Which SID character gets the best moment?"

Zhu Hong with Zhao Yunlan's gun, and also laughing at his diet quip. :D

"When Shen Wei questions Wang Zheng, how much does he already know about her?"

I've never thought about that! I feel like he probably doesn't know much more than he says in this case? But who knows, it's Shen Wei. xD

"Would you like to go on a field trip with Shen Wei, even though he might end up hypnotising you?"

Yesssss. :D No one got harmed by being hypnotized, lol, and I just love their entire trip, I'd love to join. :D (I even love their novel trip where it's cold af, but I'd prefer this one because at least the weather is nice. :D)

"Do you sympathise with the villagers?"

I understand them, but that's a bit of a rash decision. :P

"Is speechifying Zhu Jiu's greatest talent?"

Lol! I'm mostly impressed by how much he talks to himself where no one else can even hear him. xD

"If you've read the novel, any thoughts on about how the drama compares?"

I have flailed about pretty much everything already, and I'm loving all of it. :D One of my favorite things is that the drama made the trip milder in some aspects (weather, bitey skulls) and then threw in the Ghost Army from a whole other part of the novel, so in the end it's not too mild after all. :D

Yay, so good to see you here! <3 <3 <3

Lin Jing just can't resist telling his creepy stories, this time with the crows. xD

Ha, great point. I love the character continuity from the web novelist case. :D

And then the actual people who attack them and want Wang Zheng to come out are not the skulls - I'm assuming they're a reference to the Ghost Army that novel Zhao Yunlan has summoned at a totally different point. :D

Oh yes! Turned against them instead of used by them. Awesome!

Lol damn, Zhu Hong will go as far as defending Xiao Guo when it means that she can get at Shen Wei. xD

Hee! <3

Such a good Shen Wei smile! It looks so warm and amused and intimate. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Xiao-Guo's little smile when Zhao Yunlan says that people like them are not afraid of dead people. :D

I had to go and check. Ha, such a nervous, unconvincing smile. ;D

Somehow I have never noticed how much of Da Qing's leg is visible in these pants, lmao, does he scratch his own clothes too? xD xD

LOLOLOL!! There's artfully distressed, and then there's literal rags. I wonder if Shen Wei's dark energy is itching to mend those overalls. ;D

Shen Wei knows that Zhao Yunlan would never sacrifice one of his people. ♡♡♡

Yesss! <3 <3 <3

Xiao-Quan talking to himself grumpily about the quality of their trip is adorable. :D :D

Haha, yes! And against the odds, he survives the whole trip. ;D

But who knows, it's Shen Wei. xD

Hee, right? And he has Flower Tribe informants!

One of my favorite things is that the drama made the trip milder in some aspects (weather, bitey skulls) and then threw in the Ghost Army from a whole other part of the novel, so in the end it's not too mild after all. :D

Yes, that's a great point. *hearts their mix-and-match approach* :D :D :D

And very best of luck to you with the move and all the trillion things!! If Zhao Yunlan can do it, so can you!! *hugs and cheers you on*

So good to see you tooooo! :D *CLINGS* ♡♡♡

"Such a good Shen Wei smile! It looks so warm and amused and intimate. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3"

Awww, right?? :D ♡___♡ He's so concerned in this scene, and then the moment Zhao Yunlan talks to him he goes full-on sunshine. :D Which is partially a facade obviously (he's still concerned, and he's far too good at smiling as a facade, lol), but partially it's a reflex for him I think - Zhao Yunlan's presence makes him all soft and relaxed at least for a moment. :D

"I had to go and check. Ha, such a nervous, unconvincing smile. ;D"

Lolol, yes, he's like 'ooooh, am I one of the people who isn't afraid of dead people? sounds fake but thank you, it would be nice'. xD

"LOLOLOL!! There's artfully distressed, and then there's literal rags. I wonder if Shen Wei's dark energy is itching to mend those overalls. ;D"

Bwahhhh, Shen Wei totally wants to mend them on Da Qing, while also wishing that DQ would scratch up Zhao Yunlan's pants instead. ;D Like damn, this would look straight-up indecent on Zhao Yunlan, SO MUCH KNEE. xD :D

"And against the odds, he survives the whole trip. ;D"

Lol, right?? :D Going to pee outside while grumbling about the dangers is practically a guarantee that one of the dangers is gonna get you, lol, but he's fine, yay. :D Thanks to Zhu Jiu's speechifying talent. xD

"And he has Flower Tribe informants!"

Yep! I love how in this case he seems to have got some of the information as the Envoy, and some of it as the professor doing research. :D

"And very best of luck to you with the move and all the trillion things!! If Zhao Yunlan can do it, so can you!! *hugs and cheers you on*"

Awwwwww, thank youuuuu, much appreciated!! ♡♡♡♡♡

and he's far too good at smiling as a facade, lol

True -- but I think his smiles are usually real, for all that, you know? There's just often other stuff going on under the surface as well.

he's like 'ooooh, am I one of the people who isn't afraid of dead people? sounds fake but thank you, it would be nice'. xD

Hee! He does happily hang out in graveyards, but I guess dead people are a different proposition when they're walking around!! ;D

while also wishing that DQ would scratch up Zhao Yunlan's pants instead. ;D Like damn, this would look straight-up indecent on Zhao Yunlan, SO MUCH KNEE. xD :D

LOL!! 100%. ~~*submits as an art prompt*~~ ;-D

I love how in this case he seems to have got some of the information as the Envoy, and some of it as the professor doing research. :D

Yes! That's so cool -- both of his roles contributing. :D

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

"True -- but I think his smiles are usually real, for all that, you know? There's just often other stuff going on under the surface as well."

100% how I see it too, yes. ♡♡♡

"Hee! He does happily hang out in graveyards, but I guess dead people are a different proposition when they're walking around!! ;D"

Lol yep, their main trait should be NOT walking around. xD

"*submits as an art prompt* ;-D"

!!! *writes it down* :D :D

(I've had

trobadora's fic Magnetic written down as potential drawing inspiration for a while, and this concept would go SO WELL with these jeans asdfdghfjdkskl;; Though it would be the opposite of sneaky, so perhaps not entirely appropriate for the situation. xD :D)

I've had [personal profile] trobadora's fic Magnetic written down as potential drawing inspiration for a while

♥ ♥ ♥

With these jeans, Shen Wei could easily slip not just his fingers, but his whole hand inside! :D

:D ♡♡♡ It's SUCH a delightful idea and visuals! :D

"With these jeans, Shen Wei could easily slip not just his fingers, but his whole hand inside! :D"

*takes my mind out of the gutter* An even bigger gutter, that is. xD I wrote a fic that is far too relevant just a few days ago, can't blame me for having thoughts. xD ANYWAYYY.

Yessss omg, it's like half of his leg out in the open for groping, who could ever resist that. :D :D But maybe not when they're surrounded by the rest of the SID, which means that Shen Wei could resist that, with great difficulty. xD Or maybe he'd just find an excuse for both of them to leave. :D

it's like half of his leg out in the open for groping, who could ever resist that

:D :D :D

Agreed that he'd have to find an excuse to get ZYL alone, so yeah, maybe not at the SID. *g* But I'm just imagining the visual, and I love it. :D

Also, yay for your relevant fic! ♥ ♥ ♥

*high fives*

Lol yep, their main trait should be NOT walking around. xD

Ohhh! This made me think about Changcheng's first encounter with Wang Zheng. It's not that she's "dead" that frightened him, but the fact she's walking around like that makes her seem like a hungry ghost, maybe?

\o/ \o/ \o/ :D :D :D (Ahh, what great fic inspiration!! :D)

I think his smiles are usually real, for all that, you know? There's just often other stuff going on under the surface as well.

Yes, this! :D :D :D

*submits as an art prompt* ;

That would be so much fun! :D

*high fives*

Which is partially a facade obviously (he's still concerned, and he's far too good at smiling as a facade, lol), but partially it's a reflex for him I think - Zhao Yunlan's presence makes him all soft and relaxed at least for a moment. :D

Yeah, I agree with what china says below - there's more beneath it, so it is a facade hiding something else, but also the smile is absolutely genuine too, and that's what makes it so delightful to me. SHEN WEI. :D :D :D ♥ ♥ ♥

I love how in this case he seems to have got some of the information as the Envoy, and some of it as the professor doing research. :D

That is such a great point, yes! :D :D :D

Yessss. ♡♡♡ *allll the smiling Shen Wei feels* :D ♡♡♡

And against the odds, he survives the whole trip. ;D

This is a really good point! That scene is so leaning into that trope, you basically expect something to happen to him, but it doesn't. And I love that!

It says a lot about the tone of the show, I think. It's rare for people we've got to know even a little bit to die, and when it happens (eg, Lin Yusen), it's a big deal. (Versus the style of show where known characters are killed off all over the place -- and I'm not even thinking GoT.) ♥

100% agreed, this is not that kind of show, and I love that. :D

I'm not giving up my bare-minimum Guardian time for that tho. :D

Yay, great that you found the time! :D

The opening shot is so pretty, awesome screencap choice! :D

Right? I always think the village looks so lovely, I'd like to visit that place myself. They're lucky they're so out of the way, or they'd be overrun with tourists!

And thank you for the full write-up of who was in which car, it's super helpful and I could never follow it well!

I have watched this episode so many times, and there are still things I only noticed this time, like that Da Qing and Xiao-Quan may have had a car to themselves for a while. :D

On this rewatch I keep noticing that Lin Jing got to tell a lot of the supernatural/ghost lore that is novel-like, and then 'he's a scientist who doesn't believe it', so it's ultimately easily dismissed, but it did make it to the adaptation. :D

Yes! I love that. All the ghost stuff! :D And as a characterisation note for Lin Jing, it's really fun, too!

And then the actual people who attack them and want Wang Zheng to come out are not the skulls - I'm assuming they're a reference to the Ghost Army that novel Zhao Yunlan has summoned at a totally different point. :D (There is a bunch of ghosts in the Awl in the novel too, but they don't attack anyone in this way iirc.)

Yes, all great points! Thanks for bringing in all the novel elements, you remember them so much better!

This is one of my favorite Shen Wei's smiles. :D ♡♡♡

It's so lovely, yes! :D :D :D

The skulls that were trying to bite everyone in the novel!! :D I forgot all about the skull in the drama, and now I excited that they sort of got to keep that too. xD

Ha, I had forgotten the bitey skulls from the novel! You're right, that's totally where this comes from!

Somehow I have never noticed how much of Da Qing's leg is visible in these pants, lmao, does he scratch his own clothes too? xD xD

Yeah, same, I didn't even notice until you pointed it out! AWWWWW. :D

I don't see Da Qing driving. xD

Yeah, even if he can drive, he never would unless there literally wasn't anyone else he could delegate it to. *g*

Shen Wei KNOWS him, without any doubt. ♡♡♡

He really does! :D

Zhu Hong with Zhao Yunlan's gun, and also laughing at his diet quip. :D

Agreed, the moment with the gun is excellent! I really love that for her.

No one got harmed by being hypnotized, lol, and I just love their entire trip, I'd love to join. :D (I even love their novel trip where it's cold af, but I'd prefer this one because at least the weather is nice. :D)

Hee! I definitely wouldn't want to go on the novel trip, but it's much more pleasant in the drama, agreed. Good point that things mostly seem to go fine for the students, despite a few scares.

I'm mostly impressed by how much he talks to himself where no one else can even hear him. xD

He does love the sound of his own voice. *g*

One of my favorite things is that the drama made the trip milder in some aspects (weather, bitey skulls) and then threw in the Ghost Army from a whole other part of the novel, so in the end it's not too mild after all. :D

Oh yeah, that's a good point! And it would have been very hard to film the novel version's weather, so it makes complete sense that they did away with that and replaced it with something else. :D

"Yay, great that you found the time! :D"

*tacklehugs* :D :D ♡♡♡ Funnily enough today is not even less busy than usual (which it totally could be because it's weekend, but apparently not xD), but I'm intentionally proritizing my fannish time before my brain fries. :P Maybe I'll even start on the next episode in the evening. :D

"Right? I always think the village looks so lovely, I'd like to visit that place myself. They're lucky they're so out of the way, or they'd be overrun with tourists!"

You mentioned tourists and now I'm wondering if it was meant to be a reference to the other location from the novel where everyone got burned to ashes? At least that's pretty much how I pictured it, in the mountain valley. (The Hanga place where they got attacked by skulls is just one cottage, not a village.) There are so many novel things in this episode, and not only the obvious 1:1 ones, I'm having a lot of fun looking for them. :D :D

"I have watched this episode so many times, and there are still things I only noticed this time, like that Da Qing and Xiao-Quan may have had a car to themselves for a while. :D"

All these random pairs/groups that weren't shown on screen have SO much missing scene potential! :D

"And it would have been very hard to film the novel version's weather, so it makes complete sense that they did away with that and replaced it with something else. :D"

I love that despite replacing the weather (ITA that it's one of the novel environments that would be ridiculously hard to film in live action, even with a much higher budget!) they decided to keep the jacket sharing - you don't need a whole-ass snowstorm for that, you just need a flimsy excuse that it's a bit colder in the mountains. :D :D

but I'm intentionally proritizing my fannish time before my brain fries. :P

Yes! Take your fannish time where you can! ♥

You mentioned tourists and now I'm wondering if it was meant to be a reference to the other location from the novel where everyone got burned to ashes?

Oh, you're right, that would make some sense!

you don't need a whole-ass snowstorm for that, you just need a flimsy excuse that it's a bit colder in the mountains. :D :D

100% agreed, hee! :D

I love that despite replacing the weather (ITA that it's one of the novel environments that would be ridiculously hard to film in live action, even with a much higher budget!) they decided to keep the jacket sharing - you don't need a whole-ass snowstorm for that, you just need a flimsy excuse that it's a bit colder in the mountains. :D :D

Yessssssss! A million gift-baskets for the writers!! :D :D :D

there are still things I only noticed this time, like that Da Qing and Xiao-Quan may have had a car to themselves for a while. :D

I never thought about that before either. I wonder if Da Qing tried to gossip about Shen Wei, and whether Xiao-Quan joined in or rebuffed him, or just talked about how awesome he is. *g*

Agreed, the moment with the gun is excellent! I really love that for her.

Suddenly, this is making me wonder whether Zhu Hong (and any of the other SID) have had firearms training. Or whether the Snakes have a few guns, and Fourth Uncle taught her when she was growing up, or...?

I wonder if Da Qing tried to gossip about Shen Wei, and whether Xiao-Quan joined in or rebuffed him, or just talked about how awesome he is. *g*

Damn, now I want that! :D

And very good question about the firearms training, I'd never considered that before ...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 9, part 2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject