Sundial Exchange Love and Friendship meme!

[sundial_exchange_mod]

Happy March or Happy Leap Day, depending on where you are in the world!

We’re still glowing from the lovely energy that the exchange created, thank you all so much for making it such a wonderful experience for everyone! It exceeded our wildest expectations in both number of fanworks and type of fanworks, and we are so honoured to have been able to create a space to make that possible 🥰🎉✨

At asya_ana’s suggestion we are hosting a Love and Friendship meme for Guardian and Guardian-related canons. You can use the form in the textbox below if you like or go wild!

<strong>User names:</strong> <strong>Pronouns:</strong> <strong>Language(s):</strong> <strong>How did you first get into Guardian fandom?</strong> <strong>What is one thing you love about the show?</strong> <strong>What is your favourite terrible special effect?</strong> <strong>What is (one of) your favourite relationship(s) on the show (either romantic or friendship) and what do you like about that relationship?</strong> <strong>Do you have a favourite character?</strong> <strong>Do you have a favourite villain?</strong> <strong>Talk to us about one (or more!) of your favourite Guardian-related canons:</strong> <strong>Do you like RPF?</strong> <strong>Do you have a favourite ad campaign (such as Bai Yu's rentboy photoshoot or Zhu Yilong's ReFa ads)?</strong> <strong>What other fandoms are you in or have you been in?</strong> <strong>What are some of your general fanwork likes:</strong> <strong>Where can we best find you to squee more about this thing or other things?</strong> <strong>Anything else you want to say?</strong>

There is also an ongoing Guardian fandom friending meme over at sid_guardian, for more of your meme needs✨

Comments

[asya_ana]

Oh yes, competence couple. I love that so much about them, and I love when they get that look on their faces. I love how hot they find the competence in the other. So happy you're here! <3

[asya_ana]

Yay! I've had friends who struggle with the quality of the subtitles, too, and I wish there was some moment where I can tell them, "just wait until episode x!" But people seem to have fallen in love with it in such different places. I'm glad you hung in there! It's a delight to chat with you :)

[asya_ana]

Welcome to the show! You still have quite a ride before you, and I'm very jealous and also enthusiastic! I totally love the found family aspect of the SID and the competence. You're totally in the right place. Enjoy!

[asya_ana]

OMG dude... I think I repressed Ye Zun's stomach because it T O T A L L Y did not occur to me to answer with that one, but you're so right, it is the BEST. Actually it might be a fine wine getting better with time, I find myself quite savoring it. Don't forget the guitar and other things that ended up there. Must have been so much fun to make. The humor of it makes me feel less distressed about the fact that my baby Shen Wei has an icepick in his chest. If that was more real I might hurl myself off a cliff, and that would not be good.

[umadoshi]

Re-watching the first episodes, I don't understand why, but... yeah.

When I rewatch the early episodes, I do see why I didn't fall for the show right away personally, but that doesn't mean I don't love those episodes now! There's so much strong thematic stuff going on, and everything is so weighty and precious with context.

[umadoshi]

I knowwww~! *happy wriggles*

They're just. So great.

[umadoshi]

BUT HERE WE ARE!

It's still VERY WEIRD to/for me. And yet!

*admires your icon*

[umadoshi]

people seem to have fallen in love with it in such different places.

It's seriously all over the map! Which probably says cool things about the show. *^^*

It's a delight to chat with you :)

Same to you! *hugs*

[umadoshi]

We talked a bit about it at the panel at Escapade

Ohhh, that must've been wonderful. *^^*

*misses cons*

[umadoshi]

I think Lin Xia wound up being my favorite character in FLL, honestly. And I would not have expected that based on the first few episodes.

[umadoshi]

I'm really *interested* in Zhao Yunlan's relationship with his father and the effect that has had on him (and how he's managed to become a very different person from his father despite that influence).

Ooh, yes. Their relationship is so beautifully complex.

[umadoshi]

you can see the Guardian and Detective L city sets.

! I knew it was a place one could visit, but I didn't realize the Detective L sets were there too. ^_^

[umadoshi]

Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan because it's extremely domestic yet full of tension in every way.

Mmm, yes. *^^*

[umadoshi]

I fully blame umadoshi.

*cheerfully accepts blame*

[umadoshi]

actually I used Baopals, which is an English language version

I feel like this could be dangerous knowledge. O_O

[wrote_and_writ]

Probably. I mean, by the looks of things on the website, there are the 1930’s Shanghai sets, which are probably used for more than DL, but I live in hope!

[umadoshi]

I cannot cope with the stomach. CanNOT. (Sadly, I can't even make myself find the levity in it when I'm watching, although I can at other times.) And having now showed the drama to both scruloose and wildpear, I know that I get...I don't know a concise word, but I start cringing really preemptively with boggled horror that the show ACTUALLY DID THAT.

*cries*

(In all seriousness, I feel like we need people with the relevant skills to be wildly in love with this show and do a whole fanedit with GOOD special effects.)

How did I blank on Bai Yu's mechanic photo shoot when I was trying to pick???

It's been a gift.

SAME. *^^*

[wrote_and_writ]

Extremely, when I’m in China and shipping is cheap and I can get my stuff in 2 days. Like I forgot ZYL was also a spokesperson for L’Oreal, so I ordered hair color, and when I opened the box, there was a card with his face on it, and I almost died!

[wrote_and_writ]

That’s encouraging! I will keep going with it, then.

[umadoshi]

I just wish we had gotten 10 episodes set in YOHE too.

A million times this.

[umadoshi]

i wasn't spoiled for the time loop so i assumed the flashbacks were an earlier incarnation (or something along those lines that would pass censorship), and - I WAS NOT PREPARED. it whammied me so, so hard. i may never recover.

YES. I don't know anymore WHAT I thought the flashbacks were, because I did at least vaguely know it wasn't allowed to be actual reincarnation, but somehow I never really sat down and tried to figure it out and then the time loop merrily punched me in the heart.

i also really love what the show has done with zhu hong's crush on zhao yunlan.

So much this! I could've done without the unrequited love being a thing at all, I think, but given that it's a thing that happened, I love how it was handled. (And I do appreciate the strategic value of using it to highlight and underline that Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei are IN LOVE [and EVERYONE KNOWS IT].)

i'd like a lifetime supply of happy endings* for them, please!

(Well played.)

[thevetia]

User names:Thevetia
Pronouns:she/her
Language(s):English. A little German. A teensy bit of Japanese.
How did you first get into Guardian fandom?It's all sakana17's fault! For which I am endlessly grateful. We were on a holiday together, she had a USB drive with all the episodes, there was a TV in the hotel room, and she had been mentioning it was a good show. I wanted to see what it was about. My memory is that I demanded we keep watching because I needed to know what was going to happen next, and who was that gorgeous guy with the glasses? Apparently my enthusiasm was not expressed very well and I didn't take instantly to Zhao Yunlan. (And I've been paying for that ever since. I was wrong! He's adorable and utterly awesome!) But the show started hitting every fannish button I have within the first few episodes.
What is one thing you love about the show?Its sense of morality. (Well, I love WeiLan above all, but that's kind of obvious.) The show points out that acts can have their gray interpretations, that evil can be acknowledged and even atoned for, and that even the most awful of villains is ultimately just a failed human being.
What is your favourite terrible special effect?I can't have a favorite terrible effect. I love a lot of the effects: the ball of dark energy in Shen Wei's hand that looks like a tiny universe; the amethyst portal, the stop-time effect. When the effects are bad I just do the work and handwave them.
What is (one of) your favourite relationship(s) on the show (either romantic or friendship) and what do you like about that relationship?Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan. Of course. They hit such a button of mine: they love each other, they would die for each other, but they would both choose the greater good over their love. They are such heroes!
Do you have a favourite character?It was Shen Wei at first, but Zhao Yunlan is so awesome, and now I can't really choose between them.
Do you have a favourite villain?Has to be Ye Zun. Nobody else is even close. Zhu Yilong clearly has a twin brother who is also an actor and he's fantastic! So evil! So sympathetic and understandable in his evilness! I wonder what else that actor has done?
Talk to us about one (or more!) of your favourite Guardian-related canons: I'm trying to collect the full set! So far I've seen half of Granting You a Dreamlike Life, and Luo Fusheng is absolutely the best! Kitten deserves everything wonderful! Also, by contrast, I've seen about a third of Border Town Prodigal, and oh, Fu Hongxue, baby, you need help! But so pretty... For Bai Yu, there's Detective L, which is a fun and engaging show and he's so handsome in it; and I've just finished watching Fairyland Lovers, which is a Zhu Yilong level of acting tour-de-force for Bai Yu.
Do you like RPF? Once upon a time I thought it was faintly icky; now I'm all into it. I can't explain it, but ZhuBai opens such a world of interesting ideas to pursue.
Do you have a favourite ad campaign (such as Bai Yu's rentboy photoshoot or Zhu Yilong's ReFa ads)? The ReFa ads don't leave much to the imagination, do they? So I can't use them to work up an unusual idea for fic. Time Engraver is wonderful. And I have a soft spot for ZYL's Thermos ads.
What other fandoms are you in or have you been in? I've been in fandom since before dinosaurs roamed the internet so I've been in a few, though I'm quite the mono-fannish serial monogamist. Lately it's just Guardian 24/7. In the more recent past it's been Person of Interest, Aubrey/Maturin (Master and Commander books), and Stargate SG-1.
What are some of your general fanwork likes:Historical or derivative AUs, old-school tropes, angst, smut, I appreciate a lot of stuff. I like more things than I dislike.
Where can we best find you to squee more about this thing or other things?I'm on Dreamwidth (and twitter and Discord) as Thevetia, though I don't post much. I'm trying to change that!
Anything else you want to say?I haven't had such fun in a fandom for a long, long time. Guardian makes me so happy!

[yue_ix]

Oooooooooooooooooh.SATOSHI/KRAD YESSSS. IDK for Krad either, and that was stumping me, but maybe it doesn't need to matter as much? Perhaps Da Qing, who's an extremely petty thief and just steals so much dried fish, or that haixingren spirit that's in Zhao Xinci. Shen Wei would try so hard not to let ZYL know of his secret self, and Ye Zun would flirt-hurt Zhao Yunlan so well. Also: W I N G S.

Yes, you do! (I have so much old art to put up too. Sigh.)

Yes to everything. Their very quick domestic situation also fits well with my culture's wlw stereotypes of "moving in together within 2 weeks of dating" and the dynamics really work well. Ahh, so much goodness to explore. *3*

[yue_ix]

...... woe is this fandom for not having an active kink meme because the DARK, dark place my mind just went.

[yue_ix]

It's fascinating and gives such fertile grounds to play with, fanworks-wise. We can take it in any direction or flip it and it's lovely every which way. :D