marycrawford | Recent Entries

( covid rant, I'm fine, just fed up )

wenella_subs posted some images from Guardian that I've never seen before - early costume options for Shen Wei, mostly. And they're so fascinatingly wrong. Those thick-framed glasses!

Shen Wei is also fascinatingly wrong - he doesn't look like himself, yet. His smile is somewhere halfway between Shen Wei and Ye Zun. If I wanted to be Watsonian about this photo, I would say that it was Shen Wei trying for a full 'nerdy academic' look. Just to be safe, because they were taking his photograph for his University ID, and he had no idea if the image was going to leak dark energy around the edges or anything.

And then this wrong!Shen Wei wore this cardigan and I have to laugh. It's too drapey and doesn't fit him right, the color is blah, and just as Lao Xie imagined in my story for

sakana17, it is all kinds of wrong on him. It's not quite maroon, but it's so close!

“Hmmm,” said Lao Xie. He was walking around Shen Wei now, slowly and carefully, tottering artistically now and then before going back to his murder stalk. “What color? What fabric?” His hand shot out, to pinch at a fold of Shen Wei’s suit jacket. Shen Wei had carefully chosen his most conservative three-piece suit for this appointment, in an attempt to pacify his tailor for not coming to see him in several months. An attempt that had backfired as soon as he uttered the dreadful word ‘leisurewear.’

“Navy,” Shen Wei reported. “With a white bar on the arm. And—cashmere.” He admitted, “I bought it in heather grey, as well.” The cardigans were soft and silky to the touch. Not like armor. Much more inviting. More—approachable.

Lao Xie paused for a long moment, then sniffed. “At least you have not lost your reason entirely. I was expecting you to say maroon, or salmon pink, or something even more offensive, like acrylics. What else did you buy?”

(from Tailor-made)

The cardigans Shen Wei actually wore on the show look infinitely better on him, like this one. (Image is from

sakana17 's Guardian costume gallery, a fabulous resource.)

And also this one, in heather grey, perfect for flirting sweetly with your boyfriend:

Shen Wei's nice pullover

(It's not actually a cardigan, it's a sweater or a pullover, but I like imagining Shen Wei's confusion about those terms, not least because US clothing terms are often a mystery to me as well.)

And just in case you like digging into this silly stuff as much as I do - in our world, these pullovers are by Thom Browne, a US brand recognizable by the four bar pattern on the arm, and they cost ridiculous money. Here's the 4-bar cashmere pullover for only $1590 (choke).

So I have to wonder - did these brands sponsor this show? Because Shen Wei does wear a lot of Thom Browne. Or is the rumor that the actors wore some of their own clothing on the show to save money true?

I came across this list of scenes that were cut from Lost Tomb Reboot, from Espresso SeokJin on Youtube. I pasted the contents below, because it's a Youtube Community link and doesn't work on mobile:

( spoilers for both seasons )

sundial_exchange really delivered a ton of goodies this year, for Guardian and Lost Tomb Reboot and smaller fandoms, and I haven't gone through half the things I bookmarked yet.

I received:

Squared Black Pots and Their Kettles by BadPennyGirl
Shen Wei wakes with the worst headache in the world. But there are bigger problems in the dark where he's trapped with Zhao Yunlan on top of him.

A gorgeous, INTENSE h/c story full of my favorite tropes: cave-ins! "Leave me and go"! Self-sacrifice! Hiding a wound! It's got it all, and some delightful post-canon worldbuilding into the bargain.
This is the author's first story in Guardian fandom and she made her way to the deadline through some major mishaps, so please check it out!

Gorgeous artwork by

naye for my story Under a Cloudless Sky. Such a thrill to get a treat like this, with a great choice of headshots for Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei, full of suffering and tension (sigh, that's the good stuff).

I wrote:

A Tolerance for Pain (Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, rated T, angst, h/c and Presumed Dead, 18k words) - my main gift for

xparrot
Shen Wei faced the storm and let it break around him. In the center of catastrophe, he closed his eyes. He could hear no heartbeats, could feel no life around him other than his own.

Zhao Yunlan. Where are you?

I worked on this story for ages, and then in the last week before the deadline I managed two short stories as treats:

like thunder under earth (Gen, 1726 words, Chu Shuzhi & Shen Wei)
Chu Shuzhi is wounded and his Lordship can’t help him, but that’s all right. He doesn’t deserve the help, anyway.

Tailor-made (Rated G, 1905 words, Shen Wei and his tailor)
"You mean to tell me—you sit here drinking my tea and you mean to tell me that you have been visiting shops that sell leisure apparel?" Lao Xie could not have sounded more horrified if Shen Wei had confessed to being a crime boss.

We're in a cold spell this week, colder than it's been in years and years. Normally it would be a source of anxiety for me if I had to go anywhere (because I only use public transport, and almost no trains are running) but in this alternate covid universe where I haven't been on a train since March, it's weirdly fun. We had one thick layer of snow at the beginning of the week, and lots of frost but no snow since then, so it hasn't melted and still looks beautiful in untouched areas. When it's sunny, it's incredibly bright thanks to the snow.

I went out to paint a frozen pond with a small watercolor set for an hour, which was just doable in terms of keeping cold fingers moving, but then I had weird clumps on my brush and realized that my paint was freezing. That was a new one for me. From what I've read, you can use vodka to counteract this problem, but I think I'll just wait until spring, instead.

( It's big, red, and bulbous )

So we've all seen those Refa roller ads where Zhu Yilong lovingly holds them up against his face (aka: the game of Dildo Sex Chicken, courtesy of

yantantether ) but this...really is just a coffee ad? Where Z1L gives coffee machines to all his friends?

HOWEVER. :hands:

The makers of the ad had to know what they were doing here. Right??

I enjoyed the fandomtrees experience a lot: it felt very low-key and enjoyable, and I managed to write two short stories in a weekend, which is a record for me. Deadlines are magic.

Threat Level: Bears (3492 words) by marycrawford

Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei (Guardian)
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Rescue, Established Relationship, Post-Canon, Bears
Summary:

It was ironic, Shen Wei thought. After all the nonsensical information he had made Zhao Yunlan sit through, he had still not expected to be attacked by bears.

the food of sweet and bitter fancy (2278 words) by marycrawford

Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan, Original Male Character(s)
Additional Tags: Uneasy Allies, Cooking, Pining, Ye Olde Haixing Era, POV Outsider
Summary:

It was all wrong. Why didn’t anyone else seem to see that it was all wrong?

They were all falling over themselves to welcome General Kunlun, to show him the camp, to vie for his attention, and there were rumors that the Black-Cloaked Envoy had smiled at him.

I posted about

fandomtrees gifts earlier, but that was before the AO3 collection was unlocked, so I only got to rave about half and there were more stories and a VID!

Please enjoy:

three amazing cookie recipes from different countries
a gorgeous artwork of a heartfelt Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan embrace from grayswandir
a terrific "Leave Me And Go" Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan story by onemuseleft (I don't know if that's the official name for the trope, btw, but it's the moment where one character is in dire straits and begs the other character to leave them for their own safety.... WELP. You can imagine how Weilan deals with that. I love that trope and would read any amount of stories featuring it, and this is a delicious angsty take.
A WU XIE VID by trickytricky (Lost Tomb Reboot)! A perfect recruiter vid, spoiler-free, featuring everything I love best about LTR, which is basically Wu Xie being badass, sexy, innocent, flirty, snarky, and also more or less naked now and then (which is to say, we can see his bare arms and collarbone, but for Z1L that is a LOT.) It's a total mood lifter and I recommend it highly.
an intriguing take on a Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan moment from early Guardian canon in this story by trobadora which does that satisfying thing where I go "huh, that never really made sense to me but NOW it does"!
a short intense Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan h/c story by laireshi full of ALL the good tropes, including cave-ins, my favorite XD

fandomtrees gifts are going live, and I am wondering if the mod has to unscreen each comment by hand? (I really hope not, that sounds like a huge pain for them, but I've been away from DW so long that I have no clue how anything works anymore.)

Mine are unscreened now, and I got some amazing cookie recipes from different countries, a gorgeous Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan embrace from

grayswandir, and a fantastic "Leave Me And Go" story by

nightwalker, go check them out!! And there are some other tantalizing treats that I can't access on AO3 yet.

This is the BEST mood. ❤

I love the game Hades so very much and I am so INCREDIBLY bad at it. I was looking around for tips and found people on Reddit listing how many runs it took them to complete their first 'escape' - the game's deal is that you must escape the Underground of Greek myth and make it to the surface - and there were people who claimed totals in the single digits. WHAT. I was on run 55 at the time.

I bought an Xbox controller, because maybe that would help.

I put the game on easy mode (which the makers very sweetly call 'God Mode') and maxed it out to 80% less damage. I still sucked.

But today, I finally made it out of Hell and into spring, and met Persephone.

I hope it's a good omen.

Hi there! I'm

marycrawford on AO3, and I asked for Guardian (drama) fic or art, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, because I am stuck on them.

I love these guys so much, and I would love fanfic or art for them. I love how the entire show is such a glorious dive into hurt/comfort and angst and self-sacrifice, and all the tropes that come with that, because that's where my fannish id lives. If that's not your thing - I am also a big fan of domestic sweetness, because if ever anyone needed a day off it’s these two.

I dearly love their mutual caretaking, competence, devotion, and loyalty, and in general I love all the angst and knives, preferably with a happy ending.

Smut is entirely optional - the romance is essential. I live for the emotional intensity of Shen Wei's fathomless devotion and Zhao Yunlan's crackling need. For me the best "I love you" doesn't need to be spoken: it's Shen Wei's careful hand warming the congee, or Zhao Yunlan raising his gun and trusting Shen Wei to understand his intent.

Favorite fic tropes: “leave me and go”, a hidden wound, presumed dead, powers spiraling out of control, cave-ins.

Art: I am smitten with Shen Wei and I admit it. The cheekbones, the eyelashes, the arm garters, the swordfighting, the infinitely subtle expressions that speak of enormous emotions...sigh. I love almost all of his outfits, with a special mention for that damn chain in episode 8. And I love how Zhao Yunlan is his visual counterpoint, stylish and seductive in torn jeans and boots and motorcycle jackets, all pushy exuberance where Shen Wei is all restraint. I'm also a big fan of Da Qing being part of their lives in cat form and just making himself welcome wherever.

I like the idea of art showing us the things that the show couldn't for censorship reasons - kisses, embraces, the sweetness of waking up together or the anguish of being torn apart.

Maru (the Cat who Sits in Boxes) and Hana now have a kitten to deal with.

I'm still watching Lost Tomb Reboot, going very very slowly, mostly because of my fractured attention span but also, I admit it, because I keep pausing to stare at Sir's Face. The best thing about this show is just how much they labor to give Zhu Yilong room to work his microexpression magic and nuanced character acting in the midst of all the action-adventure (he got threatened by clams in the most recent episode, and it was amazing), and to light him beautifully while he does it. They read the label when they bought him, and I really hope other shows will do the same.

I signed up for fandomtrees, which is a really nice little fannish gift challenge that would be especially suitable for anyone who isn't feeling up to the big ones this year, like yuletide. You simply ask for a gift in a fandom of your choice - art, fic, anything. Officially you must request three fandoms, but they can also be non-fannish things like recipes, song recommendations or whatever, so it's suitable for monofannish people like me. And all you need to do to give someone a gift is post a comment under their letter, no need to sign up or anything. It's a 100 word minimum for fic, so it's super low-key, and I will be stalking people's letters to see what tasty things I can offer.

My fandomtrees letter is here, and there are already four Guardian requests!

And the Sundial Exchange signups have started, too, yay! I haven't signed up yet but I plan to, and I'm really looking forward to it. This is for Guardian and Guardian-related fandoms, and there was some spectacular art and fic for it last year.

sakana17 has an inspirational picspam of Bai Yu and Zhu Yilong lounging against walls, floors, windows, etc.

Congratulations, dear US friends! Ugh, big relief, and thanks to everyone who worked to get the vote out.

Apparently I have a paid account now? Dear Dreamwidth, could you not have TOLD me? Thank you very much, dear benefactor! <3

Zhu Yilong in leather pants to brighten all our days - I can't wait for the official photos for this shoot.

This small gif (warning: loud music) of Zhu Yilong eating an apple two ways is haunting me. Way 1: innocently stuffing his face like a chipmunk. Way 2: laying waste to your life and soul.

For anyone who has trouble sleeping tonight for...reasons...and who is interested in watching Zhu Yilong wear a fluffy oversized flower sweater and eat foods, may I recommend his livestream for Thermos?

Yes, it's a giant hour long ad, and no subs are available yet, but mostly what happens is that Z1L gets to eat different foods, decorate a cake, eat the cake, be interviewed, and be super cute with his little sweater paws. I took some screenshots but I don't have the mental energy to get those to Dreamwidth.

Nothing bad happens, it's gently boring and very soothing, and after watching Zhu Yilong in Lost Tomb Reboot where his cheekbones could cut glass, it's just satisfying to watch him be cozy and eat things?

Oh, here we go, fandom saint Wenella has a lot of screenshots and quotes from the interview. Apparently his next show will be a contemporary drama.

This is an Entirely Gratuitous Post of Zhu Yilong looking lovely and defiant and sleeveless - I couldn't find any caps for this specific moment in Lost Tomb ep 26 so I made some. No spoilers at all, just hotness.

( Wu Xie has no fucks to give, and also no sleeves )

LOOK LOOK

naye made more caps and they are spectacular!

And how do the cap and goggles look so good on him?

I know there are rumors of Lost Tomb Reboot season 2, but I'm still slowly going through the first season, and pausing every now and then just to stare at Zhu Yilong because. HIS FACE. And the things he does with it.

I may never leave episode 26, because it feels like it has everything except the full Iron Triangle experience, and I admit I am fastforwarding through the second annoying subplot (slow your roll, Pangzi, pls), but Wu Xie, GOOD GRIEF.

( some slightly spoilery quotes from last night's viewing )

So...does anyone already have nice sharp caps of this scene with Z1L in his cap and goggles and posing on the floor and generally being a cocky, smirky badass? I presume yes, because fandom is amazing like that, pls hook me up?

We had a heatwave here, in a country that isn't equipped for it. Last year it lasted half a week of 35+C temps during the day, and I took refuge in a library that had A/C and sweated it out at home for the last day, when even crossing the street felt impossible. This year it lasted a FULL WEEK and I am starting to think that we may need to invest in home A/C; even one week a year of this is devastating and it takes me at least another week to recover.

Last year, during the heatwave, I was watching Guardian for the first time and it was a sheer delight, if you can call a show a delight when it's filled with angst and h/c and self-sacrifice (yes, yes I can, because those are some of my favorite things).

During this year's heatwave I was mostly watching Lost Tomb Reboot Sir: Your Face (I'm at the start of ep 22; Wu Xie just knocked over a huge vase he was forbidden to touch, because he is Like That) as well as rewatching some Guardian eps. I still have two Guardian stories in progress that I want to finish writing, as well as some that are in the planning stage; I have so many stories by others that I want to leave feedback on that it's making me feel overwhelmed; at this point, I haven't written a word of either feedback or fic in weeks, and the rock to push uphill feels bigger than it did before.

But it's a new day, it's actually cool outside, and I could at least open the Scrivener file...?

It's honestly starting to feel like the makers of Lost Tomb had a bucket of tropes (or a h/c bingo square?) and they were determined to use Every Last One. You won't hear any complaints from me about this.

Two screencaps:

( Zhu Yilong's FACE, with spoilers, yes his face is a spoiler now )

Here's a cool interview with the director of Lost Tomb Reboot, kindly translated by wenella (Spoilers for early eps, especially ep 5 and 6!) and illustrated with gorgeous pictures.

I love the detail about Z1L drawing on a scar to get into the role every day, even when he was wearing something that wouldn't show it. (I have to admit, I have not actually noticed the scar at all yet?)

This behind the scenes shot was distributed very early on, and is still one of my favorites ever. The composition, the chiaroscuro, everything about it is just <3.

I am still enjoying the Iron Triangle's shenanigans a lot, but it's okay if I just

( avoid something spoilery )

Lost Tomb is really fun - I see ppl are racing through it but I am plodding behind, and I just watched ep 5 and just enough of ep 6 to see the cliffhanger resolved. Sometimes it feels a lot like watching someone play Skyrim for the first time, very badly:

( some spoilers )

ETA some spoiler-free screencaps from ep 6 just For Reasons:

( the camera loves Wu Xie )

I watched the first four eps of Lost Tomb on ipad, #3 and #4 today after going to the dentist (on a tram full of people, at least in facemasks, but still lots of no fun).

It was an excellent reward, and I had to keep pausing to make screencaps, so I will share below.

These are 100% spoiler free because all they feature is Zhu Yilong's face and his ENORMOUS DEER EYES,not to mention those cheekbones that are worryingly sharp,

( someone please feed him )

It looks like you can watch Zhu Yilong's new tombraider adventure show free, with English subs, legally, here:

https://www.iq.com/play/2ffkws2vkdd

It's only the HD version you pay for, but up to 720 is free? And we don't even need to beg fans to make us subs?

I'm amazed. Also amazed at the terrible English title, "Reunion: The Sound of the Providence" -- yeah no. It's called Lost Tomb, end of.

gonna watch at least one ep before I go to bed...

Two happymaking things:

1) the new trailer for Zhu Yilong in Lost Tomb, where he wields a sword, spits blood, gets drenched and looks unreasonably gorgeous as always, PLUS is not dressed in Louis Vuitton:

Watch on YouTube

(many thanks to wenella for the subs!)

2) the staggeringly gorgeous Guardian fanart by LovelyPlant, of which my favorite is Professor Shen wielding his blade, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, but please also check out her lambent Ye Zun and this Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan dual portrait that should be a giant billboard somewhere.

I picked up a pinch hit for

frith_in_thorns for the Hurt/Comfort Exchange, so needless to say, I wrote her some Shen Wei hurt/comfort. XD

dorinda,

naye and

xparrot provided exceptional help in the way of handholding and cheering-on as well as beta, and I'm very grateful.

Under a Cloudless Sky (19202 words) by marycrawford
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shěn Wēi/Zhào Yúnlán
Additional Tags: Altered Mental States, Fever, Magical Exhaustion, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon
Summary:

They were having lunch in the garden, it was a lovely day, and Shen Wei was certainly not going mad.

Whoa! All four Murderbot books by Martha Wells are being given away as freebies.

NB: this giveaway is US and Canada only, because legal reason blahcakes. But if you are in those places, grab these books! And if you're not in those places, just buy them. These are fantastic, short tight SF reads, and I love them and am looking forward to the novel with happy anticipation.

Murderbot is a quiet sarcastic artificial person who just happens to have guns built into their arms, is brutally efficient at their job, only likes drama when it's on TV, and certainly doesn't care for any of the people they protect, whatever some of them may say.

(Murderbot is also people, but doesn't get treated that way, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.)

marthawells posted: Murderbot Ebook Giveaway

On Twitter, wenella posted about a pdf with a ton of Zhu Yilong magazine interviews translated in English:

You can get to the files using the link and password code she provided, and I can see them (a .pdf and a .doc) and read them in my browser, but I'd really like to download them so I can use a PDF reader, use better text options etc. The website is in Chinese (Baidu) and when I try to download, I get some kind of popup and I can't proceed. Wenella says she will help anyone who has trouble, but I don't have a Twitter account, so I can't ask.

EDIT: I'm good, thanks to a PDF download link from a friend, feel free to send me a private message if you need one too?

It's Zhu Yilong's birthday (not that he HAS a birthday, honestly, I am convinced he has a portrait of himself in the attic, because he certainly isn't aging any).

In his honor, I want to post my first piece of Guardian fanart! This is pen and watercolor, and I used a screencap for reference.

Calling Zhao Yunlan "you idiot" is basically Shen Wei's love language, isn't it? <3

Shen Wei at Zhao Yunlan's bedside, looking fed up

Shen Wei at Zhao Yunlan's bedside, looking fed up

Oh dear me Zhu Yilong MUST YOU come for me like this?

I mean I had plans for today.

Bonus: this fan edit showing just what to do with those ReFa rollers.

So @glymr declared @Pornday, which I hadn't heard of before, but it's basically a fantastic way to give yourself a very, very tight deadline to write something rated Explicit.

I had about 600 words lying around based on this prompt, that I wanted to get back to, and then thanks to the deadline, I did - I wrote 3000 words in a day and it was a long day but I have to admit I really enjoyed it. Plus @torch cheered me on and helped me get over the hurdle of the ending. (Why are endings always so difficult?)

Long Distance Call (3612 words) by marycrawford
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shěn Wēi/Zhào Yúnlán
Additional Tags: Phone Sex, Porn Video, Porn with Feelings
Summary:

Zhao Yunlan discovers Shen Wei’s other research. Shen Wei discovers phone sex.

I have a friend staying with me this week, which is great fun but means not a lot of time for posting, so this is a little late. I wrote a Guardian story for

kalakirya for the Sundial Exchange, and it's basically the kind of story I would have wanted to read after watching the last four episodes of the show.

(Can someone explain to me why there is no official "Idyll" tag on the AO3 yet? How is that not a super common trope? I'm baffled.)

Only the plum trees (7374 words) by marycrawford
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shěn Wēi/Zhào Yúnlán
Characters: Shěn Wēi, Zhào Yúnlán
Additional Tags: idyll, Getting Together, First Time, Romance, Post-Canon, Fix-It, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Shen Wei deserves nice things
Summary:

Ai-ya, trying to get Shen Wei to take time for himself was like dragging a stone statue up a mountainside. Backwards, blindfolded, through the brambles, and barefoot.

So I got very lucky for this first Sundial Exchange -

frith_in_thorns wrote me a Guardian story! And she obviously read the heavily encoded secret signal of my heart, because she wrote me a "WHAT IF SNOW?" story, AGAIN. She is amazing like that. And as I may have mentioned before, that slogan just covers everything I want out of fanfic, because it's hurt/comfort stripped down to its bare bones. What if snow? What if hurt? What if frozen? What IF?

But I should clarify that this is not any kind of remake - this is a new and original story, with a clever take on Shen Wei's powers that I just love, and with a gorgeous, intense setting that I would love to see on film. And Shen Wei is hurt, and Zhao Yunlan is there for him, and oh, happy sigh...

Ice and Shard (5367 words) by frith_in_thorns
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shěn Wēi/Zhào Yúnlán
Characters: Shěn Wēi, Zhào Yúnlán
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Snow and Ice, Dixing powers do what I want them to, Fever, Delirium, handwavy post-canon
Summary:

Zhao Yunlan didn't know what made him realise that something was wrong. But something definitely was.

Okay, I am not the best person to rec this vid, because I can't read Chinese and so I can't name the person who made it, or the title, or what shows the footage is even from.

However: this is a constructed reality vid that is just gorgeously well done, where Bai Yu is a cop and Zhu Yilong is some kind of criminal mastermind, and it is HOT TO DEATH.

There is some dialogue subtitled in English, setting up the story very sparely, and there is a single sequence I recognize from Guardian (Shen Wei healing the scrapes on his shoulder) which just fits in seamlessly here, even though I know we didn't see Shen Wei taking a shower afterwards (and really, why not??).

The sequence starting at 00:30 where Zhu Yilong is in disguise as a waiter, recognizes Bai Yu as a cop, there is a fight, and then ZYL abseils off the building is amazing. I would watch this movie, just saying.

(Special mention for Zhu Yilong's little side-smile at 1:36, which is just perfectly placed in the middle of Shit Blowing Up that he certainly didn't have anything to do with. Yum.)

Watch on YouTube

Yuletide reveals are live (so many Guardian stories!) and I'm happy to reveal that I wrote two Yuletide treats, one for

bonibaru:

Get You A Man Who Can Do Both (10976 words)
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shěn Wēi/Zhào Yúnlán, Dà Qìng & Zhào Yúnlán
Characters: Dà Qìng, Zhào Yúnlán, Shěn Wēi
Additional Tags: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Cat Tribe Best Tribe, Yashou customs, no spoilers past episode 13, Unreliable Narrator (LIES - Cat Narrator is Best Narrator), Secret Identity, Misunderstandings, Canon Related, Yuletide Treat

The first time Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei met was while they were both petting Da Qing, so it was only reasonable that Da Qing got invested into their relationship right from the start. Also, Shen Wei’s first words to Zhao Yunlan were “This is a very intelligent cat,” which was the best and most appropriate come-hither line anyone ever used on anyone about anything, end of discussion. Da Qing just prayed that Zhao Yunlan wouldn’t fuck this up.

and one for

qikiqtarjuaq:

Three Moments in Dixing (1529 words)
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shěn Wēi/Zhào Yúnlán
Characters: Shěn Wēi, Zhào Yúnlán
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Canon Related, set during ep 33, Yuletide Treat

Shen Wei has been chained forever. There is no past, no future: not here in Dixing, where clocks have never been invented and the night has never surrendered to the day.

I had a lot of fun working on these. The first is pure cat-snark where Da Qing becomes convinced that Zhao Yunlan is making terrible dating decisions (I really can't say I blame him), and the second is a little ball of angsty hurt/comfort that lets me wallow in episode 33 some more, because I love it so.

Also, it didn't occur to me until I was nearly done with the second story, but one of my

sundial_exchange prompts talks about the same moment I used here, the "Why is that blade in your hands?" one. It's unlikely, but if someone happens to be planning a story around that moment for me: I want to read it, I want all of the stories around chained up Shen Wei, it is A+++ prime angst and you will not disappoint me if you choose to use it, I guarantee.

Many thanks to

dorinda for cheerleading and beta, and to my cat beta for invaluable insight into Da Qing. XD

‘This area is mostly stories about concubines and favourites who win their favour from the Emperor by whatever means necessary,’ Nie Huisang said matter-of-factly, and waved his fan at a wide area of the shelves in his bedroom antechamber. ‘Over here, we have villainous women who have to take men for their companions so they can keep their matriarchal tribe going, and this bit,’ he waved the fan again, ‘is the stuff about sworn brothers who are trapped on the road together when it snows and have to shelter in very small caves. You might want to start here?’

from Adult Learning by halotolerant, or Five Times Lan Wangji learnt something about sex

So I said I wasn't going to read Untamed fic - I blame @bonibaru and her ways - and this bit of meta humor made me laugh so much. Yes, indeed, Lan Zhan might start his education there, and I have lingered by those shelves myself an AWFUL long time.

I just posted my signup letter for the @sundial_exchange and I honestly think I could have replaced all my words with WHAT IF SNOW? because really, that covers everything.

sid_guardian posted: Announcement: Sundial Exchange for Chinese New Year

This is a brand new exchange for Guardian and Guardian-related canons, in which any kind of fanworks (fic, art, vids, mixes etc) are welcomed. Show and novel canons, as well as any canon in which one of the Guardian actors has appeared, are all eligible, as is RPF.

Sign-ups are OPEN from now until December 13th -- head over to the FAQ and Schedule post for more details.

Lots of people are posting things for Weilan week, which is a lot of fun and I wish I could participate, but I'm off to Vienna until Friday.

The main reason is to see the Duerer exhibit - these are the drawings and watercolor paintings that rarely get shown at all, and I can't wait, the man was a wizard - but I also hope to visit Schonbrunn (not the whole castle, but the Palm House and Desert House sound like they would be fun to visit at this cold wet time of year) and just wander around the city and eat a lot of pastry. (We're not going to the opera, the only affordable tickets were standing-only and I am not that much of a masochist...)

I've never been to Vienna before, do any of you have any tips?

This gorgeous h/c story landed in my inbox directly after I rewatched episode 38 (;__;) and the timing could not have been more perfect, I'm all verklempt:

Like a snowglobe (1131 words) by frith_in_thorns

Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shěn Wēi/Zhào Yúnlán
Characters: Shěn Wēi, Zhào Yúnlán
Additional Tags: Snow and Ice, Dixing Powers, Hypothermia

Summary: Shen Wei's polished shoe skidded and nearly turned on a patch of ice. Neither of them were at all dressed for the weather, which had transformed from cool spring to deep arctic winter less than an hour ago.

naye posted: AO3 Update relevant to C-drama fandom

Finally, no more "English as default" for new fanworks! I was one of the people who wrote in to the AO3 Support to request this, and I'm very happy with this update.

There's a new recs comm for Guardian fanworks, which is great, and which asks people who post recs to actually talk a bit about WHY they want to recommend something, and that is my jam. I love reading recs even for stories and vids I already am familiar with, just to see what others think about them.

merit_brush_recs

Welcome to Merit Brush Recs! We are a recommendations posting community for fanworks of all kinds (fic, vids, art, etc.) for 镇魂 | Guardian (both the novel and drama), related RPF, and other projects starring the lead actors, Bai Yu and Zhu Yilong. This includes commercials in which they play characters clearly separate from their own public personas.

For my first rec, I posted Fanvid: Honey Meta Edit by @lola

This is a gorgeous vid using Zhu Yilong's commercial and behind the scenes footage, set to lovely ethereal sensual music that fits him to a T, and including that amazing Time Engraver commercial. The mood is a little subdued and pastel/black&white until 0:36 where the beat kicks in, the color explodes gloriously, and the lyric is "I got your honey, baby" - well YES. Yes, I do believe you do.

Okay, so I tripped and accidentally fell into 50 episodes of The Untamed on Youtube, and reader, I watched ALL of them. Quoting some of my reactions from fannish chat:

wei ying is reminding me more and more of Miles Vorkosigan
locked up in a cave with a mob who wants to kill him
and now they’re sheepishly asking him what to do next
it’s fabulous

wei ying is pontificating in front of the previously murderous mob
and one of them is saying “stop this nonsense, just kill me now”
he is SO miles

still getting such vorkosigan vibes from our hero:
“you set him up!”
“if I set him up he wouldn’t just have a wounded arm..”

“stop bluffing to intimidate us!” yells the guy holding a sword at his jugular
<3

I do love Wei Ying a LOT, and Lan Zhan slowly started growing on me, also the very VERY fraught and blink-you'll-miss-it secondary pairing I'm not sure is book canon (but probably is? Lan Zhan's adorable shipper big brother and the little :koff: innocent in the big hat?)

I don't think I want to write fanfic for it or stare endlessly at pics of the main actor(s) the way I do with Guardian, but I would still like to watch it again now that I know What Will Happen and also possibly have some slightly better chance of telling everyone apart. Though I will also probably skip a lot of the really harrowing moments, because, just fyi if you're considering watching it, this show is like GoT in brutality and that's not even counting the zombies.

So, before I rewatch, is there a name guide or person guide or something to The Untamed, for hapless non-Chinese-speaking fans, that a kind soul could link me to, that shows me how everyone is related to everyone else and what all their names are? Or something like that twitter thread from Pru, that explains a lot of naming nuance as well as cracking me up?

I feel like I only JUST got the hang of how it works in modern shows like Guardian, what the -lao and -ge suffixes can mean, etc, but this is something else again: everyone has like five names and then they CHANGE them or get adopted by a different clan and IDEFK. Help?

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