winter_blossom

30. Prompt for a fanwork

I know there's not much point in my doing this, since I don't really have anyone to prompt, and - more importantly - no time/energy to offer anything in return. But I figured it'd be as good a chance as any to put one of my favourite fanfic/AU scenarios out there. (By the bye: I've never visited the Plot Bunny Farm, so any overlap is purely coincidental)

( Read more... )

28. Rec a fanart

Oh, come on, only one!? But it's true that if I start, I may never stop, so I'll go with this one. Chibi renditions of iconic scenes from the drama, very SFW and incredibly cute.

I can't find the original art no matter how much I try - Chinese websites are difficult to navigate, anyway - so the link above leads to a post on Tumblr, with the artist credited.

26. Rec a fanfic

There's no way I can pick just one, so here are my AO3 bookmarks for Guardian. I'm diligent about adding tags and bookmark notes, so this can easily stand as a rec list.

24. Favourite team moment

I've been missing way too many days lately, so today it's two for the price of one!

The Reunion Festival Dinner is a shoe-in for favourite team moment. The whole gang's together (even Lao Li!), they're all triumphant re: their recent heroics and enjoying themselves with good food, Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei are doing one of their best "Dad and Dad's husband" impressions, and their silly banter - followed soon after by one of those awesome couple moments where they're basically alone in a crowd - is sheer joy to witness.

I think Guo Changcheng said it best: "So nice... This must be what family feels like!"

It was a very short-lived peace and happiness, sure, but all the more poignant for that same reason.

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!