sundial_exchange | Sundial Exchange Love and Friendship meme!

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!

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

There is also an ongoing Guardian fandom friending meme over at

sid_guardian, for more of your meme needs✨

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

User names: asya_ana

Pronouns: she/her

Language(s): English, studying Chinese

How did you first get into Guardian fandom? The evil rheasilvia posted a really compelling Guardian primer at a time when I was apparently vulnerable. Within the first 15 minutes of episode one, I was toast.

What is one thing you love about the show? It's very earnest and it tries hard to do a good job. I find the visibility of this comforting. I also love how openly the entire show as well as Bai Yu and Zhu Yilong embrace the intense commitment between Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei. (I know you asked for one thing, but... ) Plus I'm a sucker for both the fun romance tropes the show trades in (e.g., cooking dinner for each other) with the meatier, angstier themes of a love so enduring it transcends time.

What is your favourite terrible special effect? There are many to choose from, and they're all wonderful, but I continue to be impressed by the pretty sequence where the sky darkens when the BCE makes his first appearance, and all the smokey fanfare when he arrives during the early episodes. Zhu Yilong looks so badass in that cloak against those stormy clouds and/or emerging from smoke!

What is (one of) your favourite relationship(s) on the show (either romantic or friendship) and what do you like about that relationship? Look, I'm here for Weilan. I love them to pieces with a fiery passion. But since that is obvious, I really adore the cozy found family of the SID, and 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).

Do you have a favourite character? I feel very warm and fuzzy about most of the main characters, and I couldn't choose between Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan if I tried. They're both wonderful characters in their own ways and perfect for each other. The characterizations are one of the best things about this canon.

Do you have a favourite villain? I like complex, shades-of-grey villains, and I thought the show made some noble attempts at that. I would have loved them to more fully explore the greyness of Ye Zun especially. I think they carried off the moral greyness of the Regent most successfully. I find it difficult to put a finger on what's going on with him. I can't entirely condemn or excuse him, and I like that.

Talk to us about one (or more!) of your favourite Guardian-related canons: I'm not very good at watching TV, so I've never seen another of their shows outside of an episode here and there. I do, however, immensely enjoy the gifs. :D

Do you like RPF? YEp

Do you have a favourite ad campaign (such as Bai Yu's rentboy photoshoot or Zhu Yilong's ReFa ads)? For sure it's Bai Yu's rentboy photoshoot. It took me a really long time to assimilate those images. I'm probably ok now, but it was a near thing.

What other fandoms are you in or have you been in? At the moment I'm also fairly taken with Nirvana in Fire and Sha Po Lang, although nothing is as intense as Guardian for me. I'll probably always think about Merlin as being my forever fandom home, and I was also active to some degree in XMFC and Teen Wolf. I was very fannish (but not active) in a few others, including Inception and Eagle.

What are some of your general fanwork likes: In fic, I like to be swept away by the writer, so I forget myself or that I'm even reading something. How the writer achieves this is a very mysterious thing to me. The specifics of plots, tropes, etc. don't matter as much because I've found this can be achieved with almost anything, although I'm here for romance so I do like the romance to be central.

Where can we best find you to squee more about this thing or other things? Dreamwidth!

Anything else you want to say? Yay!

Within the first 15 minutes of episode one, I was toast.
I *love* that it got you so fast <3

I'm such a disaster. *ugly crying*

Right there with you! For me it was the handshake, and then the "I've searched for you for ten thousand years" completely sealed the deal! I think, if one isn't completely sucked in by those moments, one probably won't ever love Guardian to the degree us rabid fans do.

Yes, it was knowing Shen Wei had pined for so long that really ATE ME. It ate me whole. *crying*

I think they carried off the moral greyness of the Regent most successfully. I find it difficult to put a finger on what's going on with him. I can't entirely condemn or excuse him, and I like that.

You know, you're so right about that, that I realised I don't even think of the Regent as a "villain." He's just a politician, and a pretty successful one at that, considering he alone remained comfortably in his position of power at the end of everything... Darn, I should just have picked him for my own answer!

He's so good. And I think the actor carried him off wonderfully. There's something disturbing and uncanny about him that's so hard to put one's finger on. :D

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).
Yessss. I find this fascinating but difficult - I've begun to poke a little at it in fic, and I love reading others' takes on it.

Also you know. ♥♥♥

Same. It adds much depth to ZYL and brings to light his moral beauty. It's hard but I love the nuances of ZYL that we see as a result.

And <3 <3 <3

Ahhh "moral beauty" Asya this is such a gorgeous way of putting it!

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.

I can't say it's my favorite, but it does illuminate ZYL in such complicated ways. :D

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)

It is a really interesting relationship backstory and explains *so much* about Zhao Yunlan.

For sure it's Bai Yu's rentboy photoshoot. It took me a really long time to assimilate those images.

LOL! XD

In my defense, they were a lot! :D

Within the first 15 minutes of episode one, I was toast.

Haha that was pretty much me. In fact, I think some of the shots in the opening credits were what hooked me. :D

I think they carried off the moral greyness of the Regent most successfully. I find it difficult to put a finger on what's going on with him.

My interpretation, FWIW: he tries to stay on the good side of both sides, and operates in the margins of plausible deniability. Survival is what counts. He'll take risks if he can see a way of mitigating them with denial, but he won't go beyond that.

If it wasn't for the way he also clearly seems to be undermining the BCE, I'd call him your average human, really. Because of the undermining - for power, I presume - I'd call him your average corrupt human. Your average politician, that's what he is. (With apologies to the not inconsiderable number of not-corrupt politicians I personally know. Still, you're in a minority.)

Sundial Exchange Love and Friendship meme!

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