winter_blossom

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!

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! )

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...

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 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.

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 ^_^

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!

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.

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.

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! )

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)