winter_blossom: (Gem earring)
22. Favourite badass moment

Not really a "moment," per se, but the last stand against Ye Zun was one of the truly spectacular scenes in the drama, for me. Shen Wei, Zhao Yunlan, the rest of the SID... It was both stunning and poignant to see everyone coming together to perform what, in essence, would be their final act as a team in perfect sync in order to conquer that final, greatest threat.

Consider: Zhao Yunlan going absolutely all out with everything he had on hand to take Ye Zun down, the SID members fearlessly standing up to the Big Bad himself despite knowing they could never hold a candle to him, Guo Changcheng and Da Qing passing Yunlan the Mount-River Awl at exactly the right moment, Lin Jing making the - doubtless nerve-wracking - choice to stab Shen Wei, Shen Wei using the minuscule amount of power he had left to save Lin Jing, An Bai and the Regent before unleashing his final gambit... All culminating in that priceless look of furious shock on Ye Zun's face when he realised he'd lost after all.

If that isn't badass (in ALL CAPS), I can't imagine what is!
winter_blossom: (Meganekko)
21. Favourite character moment

I'll admit, I have no idea what the OP was actually expecting here. But my own take on it is that I'm supposed to pick a situation where the main characters acted in ways that speak firmly to the strength of their personalities and the nature of their convictions.

Considering this interpretation, what better choice than the latter half of episode 20, featuring Zhao Yunlan's first confrontation (in the present time, at least) with Ye Zun? It was one of the most impactful and memorable parts of the drama for me, because it spoke volumes about our heroes, the Big Bad, the Hallows and Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei's relationship. To wit:
  • Zhao Yunlan shows us how far he's willing to go in order to fulfil his role as Haixing's Guardian.
  • Ye Zun proves that he's a melodramatic genocidal megalomaniac who wouldn't think twice before sacrificing even his closest allies.
  • Shen Wei proves that he will protect Zhao Yunlan come hell, high water or evil little brothers, and that he will always stand against Ye Zun, family bonds and childhood nostalgia be damned.
  • Zhao Yunlan proves that he trusts Shen Wei to be there whenever he truly needs him, and also to be the ultimate victor in a showdown against Ye Zun.
  • The Hallows prove that they're perfectly willing to help the Guardian perform his duties, for the appropriate price. Plus, that they're becoming progressively more overbearing in their attempts to manoeuvre Zhao Yunlan into helping them achieve their ultimate purpose.
  • A beautiful girl is clutching at Zhao Yunlan and desperately calling his name. Shen Wei is hovering nearby, silent. Even semi-conscious, Yunlan immediately turns in Shen Wei's direction, calls out his name and reaches out to him. Shen Wei, who rarely smiles genuinely and who is surely sick with worry right now over any number of things, nevertheless finds it impossible to stop the brightest, most beautiful grin from breaking out over his face when he thinks Yunlan is going to be okay. If that doesn't illustrate their relationship perfectly, I don't know what does!
Thinking back on it now, I almost wish I'd picked this episode for Day 1... But not really, because it got to feature plenty here.
winter_blossom: (SnK - Armin)
20. Favourite headcanons

Can't believe I missed three days in a row! But then again, I'm pretty sure my sister's the only one still reading these, so: Sorry, sweetie! Here you go. Better late than never, right?

This should probably have been worded in the singular, but I have several pet theories (which are vaguely interconnected). I know most of this isn't what the show writers intended, since "they tried to turn a supernatural fantasy universe into a sci-fi one and only partially succeeded" is the actual explanation for almost every illogical aspect of the drama, but, well, I do love coming up with elaborate explanations, so...

Obscenely long post, ahoy! )
winter_blossom: (Fluorescence)
19. If /when do you think Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei get together?

I don't think they ever did, at least not physically. Don't get me wrong, I've read and loved many variants of "getting together" and "established relationship" fics for them, but my personal view is a bit different.

Read more... )
winter_blossom: (Sinister white)
18. Least favourite character

Skipping the original Day 18 question - Least favourite villain - and shifting the next couple of questions up because I want to add one of my own later.

Da Ji. What even was the point of her existence? She was supremely irritating and her weird rushed romance with Da Qing was awkward beyond belief. Surely there was a better way to work his amnesia plot into the story and let him regain his memories? Her arc was a strong contender for Least Favourite Case, but the Nightmare Master won out because I didn't actually skim anything in her episodes - though that was only thanks to Da Qing!

Da Ji was the only non-villain in the show whose death (the eventual, real one, not the one Shen Wei was responsible for, because, ouch!) didn't make me the slightest bit sad; I was almost relieved, to be honest. I feel a bit apologetic towards Da Qing for saying these things, but, well...
winter_blossom: (Mystical Messenger - redhead megane)
17. Favourite Dixing power and/or power you want to have

An easy one at last, since it can only be Shen Wei's power(s)!

They really didn't do enough with his ability, imo. When I think about all the potential there, I really wish Guardian had been a few seasons long, with a larger variety of cases so we could have seen some of his more obscure/less combat-oriented powers. Or even just more variations on the combat abilities.
winter_blossom: (Flower tea)
16. Favourite conversation between Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei

After a long internal struggle (because, come on, 90% of their conversations could easily qualify), I decided on The Conversation in The Void at The End, because it had the strongest emotional impact on me (to the point where I know all the lines by heart even now, months after I last watched that scene) and was also the conversation in which they were both, finally, 100% on the same page, zero secrets between them. Plus, that last promise was the bandage I needed to bind the pieces of my shattered heart together after the finale...

Other favourites:

1. Their discussion of the Mirror Girl case, which was the first time it truly struck them both how well they worked together.

2. The conversation after The Mugging, both in the alley and at Shen Wei's place. Always nice to see the rare moments where Zhao Yunlan fails at his "smooth suave playboy" act.

3. Their adorable banter/bickering in the Fight Club case, both in the office and outside the kidnappers' building.

4. Teen!Shen Wei's talk with Zhao Yunlan in the YOHE arc - But only under the assumption that the former and latter halves actually took place on different days, preferably with several weeks in-between. (To pimp out my favourite YOHE fic, see [personal profile] xparrot 's Now Lie In It for the exact the scenario I have in mind)

Call me weird, but I never liked The Kitchen Scene much. Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu's acting was spectacular, but the actual conversation was way too tense and uncomfortable for me. And for all that Zhao Yunlan saw there, he didn't seem to learn anything from it and still kept going off to Dixing, touching the Hallows, taking stupid risks...overall acting the same as usual after the initial argument was resolved. That conversation got my hopes up without leading to any improvements on the emotion/relationship front, which really bothered me. I did appreciate the excellent foreshadowing it provided on the plot front, though.
winter_blossom: (Meganekko)
15. Villain you'd like redeemed Scene/arc you wish had been expanded on

Why, yes, I did pick this question specifically to give myself a chance to rant about the YOHE arc! Because that's the one point where I honestly thought the plot went off the rails in a way that cannot be salvaged unless we studiously ignore all evidence to the contrary and just take it on the most meagre of throwaway comments/hints that Zhao Yunlan spent at least a month in the past. Whatever you want to read his relationship with past Shen Wei as, it still would not make sense for anyone - not even adorably naive teen!Shen Wei and considerably-less-jaded kitten!Da Qing - to imprint on him to that extent without at least a few weeks spent, say, fighting and strategising and camping and sharing meals together.

And then there was how quickly and ludicrously the battle with Ye Zun over the Hallows was resolved. I have no words, really.

Which is why the YOHE arc is the one part of the show where I'll take fanon over canon any day.
winter_blossom: (Sinister white)
14. Favourite villain

I rarely have special feelings - positive or negative - towards villains. If they're really annoying and seem to exist just to be pests rather than to pose a genuine threat, I might hate them, but as long as a villain fulfils their role by being resourceful enough to pose a good challenge for the heroes, I'm satisfied. By that logic, the Big Bad would always have to be my favourite. While that isn't the case with everything I've read or watched, Guardian has the classic type of Big Bad in Ye Zun, so I do still pick him.

However! I feel compelled to specify that I only like him as a villain. I have no intention of defending his actions and no particular wish for him to be given a second chance** I really don't buy into the "villain redemption" trend that's all the rage in fandom nowadays, because redeeming a villain strikes me as robbing them of the opportunity to do what they do best, what we admire them for excelling at: being the villain. I like Ye Zun because he's a powerful, determined and intelligent opponent who, despite being defeated in the end, actually managed to take both heroes down with him. That's a pretty amazing accomplishment in my book. If he were persuaded away from evil somehow, it would not only deny him the chance to shine his brightest, but also deprive the story of its best antagonist.

I did love his and Shen Wei's reunion beyond the grave, though, for the closure it gave to that particular plot thread and the implication that when they all meet again next time like was promised at the end (yes, that will always be THE post-finale headcanon for me), he'll not be axe-crazy for once and let my poor children live in peace!

** I have no objection to AU's where he's had the chance to grow up with Shen Wei or somehow resolve their differences and curb his murderous tendencies, but after reading several such fics where he has more chemistry with Zhao Yunlan than Shen Wei does, I'm now weary of even those. Normally I'd attribute this to my not being a multishipper, but in all honesty: even if I were a multishipper the last person on Haixing or Dixing or any other universe I'd ship Zhao Yunlan with would be Ye Zun ^_^
winter_blossom: (Adorable cat 1)
13. Favourite Yashou tribe

Cat, obviously! I choose to believe that there are actually other Cat Yashou out there, and Da Qing and Da Ji just don't know/remember. Cats are strictly solitary creatures, after all; it's hard to believe that they'd want to be tied down by tribe politics, so they probably keep to themselves, maybe flitting from "owner" to "owner" in cat form, maybe living as normal humans, who knows? It's too sad to think that Da Qing might be the last. He'd definitely still be the King of Cats, though - if nothing else through sheer seniority!
winter_blossom: (Gem earring)
12. Favourite platonic relationship

Since I skipped the original #11 and replaced it with #12, I'll go with a question of my own here.

The answer is, obviously, Da Qing and Zhao Yunlan. Comfortable, funny and heartwarming despite being full of cheek and sass: in short, the best kind of friendship!

On Shen Wei's side, I found his relationships with Chu Shuzhi (special mention to the moment between them after Shen Wei's identity was revealed to the SID), Li Qian and Dr. Cheng to be really nice, in three completely different ways. Also, proof that he isn't the social misfit he's interpreted as so often!
winter_blossom: (SnK - Armin)
11. Favourite crackship Favourite rarepair

Moving #12 up so that I can keep all the ship questions together; I'm skipping the crack pairing question.

I quite like the idea of Lin Jing/Sha Ya, but is it even a rarepair if I've only ever seen it mentioned as a one-off line in a story which was centred on two other couples? Never mind, I'm going with that! I have quite a soft spot for Lin Jing, Sha Ya is badass and has the best hair, and that ring was such a beautiful gift. It was downright vindictive how the writers brought about the "reunion" Lin Jing promised Sha Ya. I was honestly furious about that, because it was such a pointless death.

ETA: There is now one (1) fic featuring this ship on AO3! *Throws confetti* The Influence of Mountains is part 6 of[personal profile] branchandroot's amazing fusion 'verse, Changes, which sets about righting several wrongs in drama canon by cleverly incorporating selected elements from the novel, and has recently addressed the Sha Ya issue as well!
winter_blossom: (Fluorescence)
10. Favourite secondary ship

Sang Zan/Wang Zheng. What can I say? Their past might have been rocky, but their romance in the present time is the sweetest. Another reason I won't be jumping on the "everybody loves Ye Zun" bandwagon anytime soon: he personally caused the deaths of both my favourite couples! (And one half of my favourite rarepair, too, but more on that tomorrow)

Oddly, if you'd asked me this question earlier on in the series, I might have said Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng, but as time went on the humour and "extreme opposites attract" dynamic of their relationship faded into the background, so its main draw for me was lost. Plus, the very overt subtext in the Nightmare Master arc (that they tried to pass off as "brotherly love"!) was a bit irritating, in my opinion. In the one-year-later sequences, I was happy that they seemed to be getting along so well, but I no longer really ship it or read fanfic for it, since it's now the only fully canon couple left standing, making shipping technically unnecessary.
winter_blossom: (Default)
9. Favourite primary ship

It seems almost unnecessary to answer this, but: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan. First time in years I've been this obsessed with a couple, as I'm not a shipper and am rarely even interested in fully canon pairings. Sometimes I wonder whether I would have bought that Guardian is bromance if I hadn't known going in that the source novel was romance, but probably not. Even if I ignore Zhao Yunlan's flirting as, well, just that, Shen Wei doesn't behave like a best friend (even the most devoted type who wouldn't mind laying down their life for the protagonist), he behaves like a man in love. And this from someone whose favourite subgenre is bromance and who'll take the chance to devour anything where it's the central relationship dynamic!
winter_blossom: (Flower shounen)
8. Favourite guest characters

1. Li Qian - Instant favourite! Her arc was incredibly touching despite being so short (the only scene in the whole series that made me cry was the one where they showed us what really happened the day her grandmother passed away), and I love that she got to reappear and play an important role later on. The writers seem to be pretty fond of her, too, since they even showed us how well she was doing for herself after the finale. I was cheering internally when I saw that - heck, yes, sweet-but-badass girls!

2. Dr Cheng - She's all-round very likeable, plus it's impressive how well she fares considering she's a normal person thrown into very not-normal circumstances. Bonus points for being a real friend to Shen Wei. I was pretty amused by Cong Bo apparently falling for her at first sight and pursuing her at the end. I know a lot of people found that weird and would prefer to ignore it, but I say: why not? At least one of the straight couples should get to make it, too! (We got Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng covering the other end, so ^_^)

3. The bartender from Dixing - Love how he pulled through for the final gambit!

4. Ye Huo/Fire - His arc was so-so, but I thought he was a pretty cool (ha!) guy overall.

5. Guo Ying - He struck me as a genuinely good person who loves Guo Changcheng like a son and is pretty reliable in times of conflict. Definitely more suited to the position of Minister of Supervision than Gao!

6. An Bai - A seemingly worthless brat who's still able to show integrity when push comes to shove; I've always had a soft spot for that type.
winter_blossom: (Mystical Messenger - redhead megane)
7. Favourite SID member

Sooo... I'm definitely cheating here: Zhao Yunlan. He might be the boss but he's still a member of the SID, right?

Fine, okay, this is just feeble justification, but I'm definitely not making a list of favourites without including him!

I love everyone in the SID, of course, but if forced to pick an order it'd probably be:

1. Da Qing
2. Lin Jing (Weird choice? Definitely. But I love nerds, seeing as I'm one myself, so...)
3. Wang Zheng, Chu Shuzhi, Guo Changcheng (mostly in later episodes when he really started to show his mettle; I'll admit he exasperated me at first)
4. Zhu Hong, Sang Zan
winter_blossom: (T&B - Barnaby)
6. Favourite character

This probably doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who's interacted with me for even 5 minutes, but: Shen Wei. Don't get me wrong, Zhao Yunlan is amazing, but his type of character (brilliant, manipulative, rude and stubborn-to-a-fault but a true hero at heart) I tend to love with my head more than with my heart. My heart, on the other hand, belonged to Shen Wei ever since the first episode. And since I'm quite fond of lists, here are some of the reasons I'm so partial to him:

A bit of fangirling ahead, so under a cut it goes! )
winter_blossom: (Adorable cat 1)
5. Least favourite Holy Tools arc

Another tough pick, since I really enjoyed all the Hallows arcs, but I guess Merit Brush? The way they tracked down Wang Xiangyang was cool (Shen Wei's arcane payphone knowledge was, for lack of a better phrase, adorably smart), but the plot as a whole gave off a messy, disorganised feeling which dragged it down a bit compared to the other, more tightly-plotted Hallows arcs.
winter_blossom: (Flower tea)
4. Least favourite case

This is an easy one: the Nightmare Master case. I pretty much skimmed through (and even outright skipped bits of) those episodes, and have yet to get around to actually watching them properly. Very poor narrative choice to explore two (not just one, but two!) side character arcs in the middle of such an important turning point in the main story. Plus, I'll never get over my resentment about how it ate up important screentime which could have been used to properly develop the YOHE arc.

(Yes, The Bench Scene was at the end of this, and while that's a strong contender for Day 23 - favourite soft moment - I don't consider it a part of the case so it's all okay)
winter_blossom: (Gem earring)
3. Favourite Holy Tools arc

The Guardian Lantern arc. I'm not really a fan of tragedies, and would have been equally content with a happily-ever-after, but every single scene in that final arc was either edge-of-your-seat-biting-your-nails-to-the-quick exciting or heartbreakingly beautiful, and Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan's shared heroic sacrifice for the safety of both of their worlds was unbearably touching. (More on this when we get to Day 25)
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