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

[wrote_and_writ]

User names: wrote_and_writ
Pronouns: She/her
Language(s): English, enough French to get by when I travel and to talk to dogs
How did you first get into Guardian fandom? I moved to China in 2018 and got TV channels with my internet. There aren’t many English-language options (duh), so I was channel-surfing (it’s kind of set up like Netflix where you choose shows) and saw Guardian. I remembered seeing some gif sets on Tumblr, so I started watching it with no subtitles and wow did I fall hard. I immediately went looking on Tumblr and AO3, and here I am! I still haven’t watched the whole thing with subtitles, although I’m working through now that it’s on Amazon Prime.
What is one thing you love about the show? Shen Wei and Zhu Yilong’s ability to convey emotions with the tiniest expressions. It doesn’t hurt that he and Bai Yu are easy on the eyes.
What is your favourite terrible special effect?The makeup tbh, like Wildfire’s scars. The whole show kind of reminds me of a low-budget Torchwood.
What is (one of) your favourite relationship(s) on the show (either romantic or friendship) and what do you like about that relationship? Aside from the obvious Weilan, I love Guo Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi. I am so weak for the storm cloud/sunshine dynamic. And I like how GCC earns CS’s respect as he does work hard to be more brave and skilled.
Do you have a favourite character? Zhao Yunlan all the way. Even though it would be disastrous, I wish I had a bit of his brashness.
Do you have a favourite villain? I really like Ya Qing. I like motivations that are a little more complicated than REVENGE!
Talk to us about one (or more!) of your favourite Guardian-related canons: Mmm, I like the found family dynamic of the SID. I like that it’s not just a job but a group of people who care about each other, about doing the right thing, helping out, breaking unjust rules, all of it. I would absolutely work there, risk of death and all.
Do you like RPF? I don’t. It makes me incredibly self-conscious for whatever reason. It’s also why I’m a champion lurker.
Do you have a favourite ad campaign (such as Bai Yu's rentboy photoshoot or Zhu Yilong's ReFa ads)? Look. Look. Those ReFa ads will be the absolute death of me, but I’m fine with it. And living in China, I like that I can see Zhu Yilong on bottles of drinkable yogurt at my local grocery store, staring at me from a Coco Cola bus stop ad, enticing me into KFC. I own three Thermos products because I am susceptible to advertising, and took an hour-long metro ride to go to the L’Occitane store, although to be fair, I’ve used those products since 2002. It had just been awhile since I splashed out and bought some. I want to see more Bai Yu, though. He was in a Nivea (I think) ad that hung up in the local WalMart for months before I realized it was HIM, and then it was gone when I went to take a picture.
What other fandoms are you in or have you been in? I started in earnest in The Raven Cycle books fandom, have dabbled in Harry Potter and MCU, but for the last year or two, it’s been Guardian, The Untamed, and some assorted Thai dramas. Oh! And Detective L! Holy cow, that show has checked every one of my boxes! Qin Xiaoman is GOALS.
What are some of your general fanwork likes: I prefer fics because I like to read. I LOVE those who make gif sets, though, because they are what get me interested in a media in the first place. I like crafts inspired by fandoms, art, but fics are my main way of interacting.
Where can we best find you to squee more about this thing or other things? Sorry I don’t know how to do links, but I’m wrote_and_writ on AO3, trixietricoter on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. Shout at me any time!
Anything else you want to say? Like I said, I’m a professional lurker, so please come say hi to me! I very much want to be friends, but I’m shy to the point where people think I’m aloof irl.

[yue_ix]

Guo Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi. I am so weak for the storm cloud/sunshine dynamic.
What an beautiful and perfect way of describing them!

The concept of seeing ads in our daily life with our fannish people of interests is so alien to me, it certainly must be quite something! XD sorry you missed the chance to photograph the Bai Yu one.

And awww, yes, the Found Family aspect of the show is quite wholesome and kickass, isn’t it? Thank you for mentioning it, it’s giving me good feelings all over again.

Parler en Français à des chiens est une excellente façon et raison d’apprendre et d’utiliser une langue. <3

[wrote_and_writ]

It is definitely startling to be going to work, minding my business and BAM! ZYL face two feet tall, smiling at me.
Hah, when I remembered the imperative form of “to sit” and the doggo we met in Avignon sat? Bliss! :)

[kimboo_york]

low-budget Torchwood

OMG THAT IS SO ACCURATE!!!!

[wrote_and_writ]

RIGHT!? That’s how I end up describing it to my fam.

[clevermanka]

wrote_and_writ on AO3, trixietricoter on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram
Just now realized how helpful this thread's gonna be for putting together different user names with the same person!

ETA: and realizing some people I know from AO3 comments are here on DW!

[wrote_and_writ]

Yeah, I debated making my usernames the same, but I don’t necessarily want some irl people to see some of the platforms. Mostly like my nosy aunts lol.

[naye]

I own three Thermos products because I am susceptible to advertising
OMG. Because I am susceptible to advertising I AM JEALOUS. XD

You can do usernames by putting an @ in front of them! (@ + naye = naye). For different platform do @ + username + .platform, so @ + unnaye.twitter = unnaye. This works with plenty of platforms including AO3 and Tumblr)

[wrote_and_writ]

Ahh thank you! That is going to be squirreled away in the ol’ noodle.
Umm, I also have a stash of the lollipops back in my apartment, the ones with the shiny wrappers that SW saved in his pendant. Some enterprising soul on Taobao put together gift boxes with the lollipops (I ordered toffee flavor), BY/ZYL post cards, and an unused wrapper for souvenir purposes. I bought a box for myself and for my bestie, and the FACE she made when I gave it to her at Christmas — it was the best.

[glymr]

Holy shit, I would kill for that. What brand are the lollipops? I've been trying to figure it out ever since I watched the show!

Also!

although I’m working through now that it’s on Amazon Prime.

PSSST...http://tinyurl.com/Guardianfansubs Seriously, if you can D/L them, do yourself a favor, they are SO MUCH BETTER than the ones on Prime. The 'hardsubbed' ones have the subs already burned in, the 'softsubbed' ones have the subs as a separate file.

[wrote_and_writ]

I don’t know the brand alas. I copied the Chinese characters from the AO3 fandom tag and plopped that in the Taobao search — actually I used Baopals, which is an English language version, and scrolled thru the Guardian merch. I also bought some keychains. There is ... a lot of stuff, but if you have time, you should totally scroll through all the stuff.
Oooh I will also check out that link!

[umadoshi]

actually I used Baopals, which is an English language version

I feel like this could be dangerous knowledge. O_O

[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!

[glymr]

*tries out Baopals*

That's...a LOT of pillows with ZYL's face on them.


Well, I found sellers selling the candy wrappers, if not the actual lollipops. Unfortunately (or fortunately for my poor wallet) most sellers don't ship to the US. XD;

[wrote_and_writ]

Yeah. I, un, have one pillow with like a chibi anime Shen Wei. My work bestie got it for me for Christmas because I am an embarrassment 😬

[naye]

OMG what a treasure! <333

[sakana17]

Add me to the list of people coveting your Guardian & related merchandise. ^__^ Every time I pass a KFC here I think if there was a giant Zhu Yilong poster in the window, I'd stop there. So maybe it's a good thing he's not.

Seconding glymr's rec for the fansubs instead of the Amazon Prime ones. The Amazon ones are so weird... ("Seastar" for Haixing, etc.)

♥ Detective L ♥ I loved that show!

[wrote_and_writ]

Okay, I wondered wtf was up with Seastar! I just assumed it was the name of the building lol.
If/when I get back to China, maybe I can get like a bunch of keychains and the lollipops and then send out care packages. ^_^

[solo]

You're so right about the makeup - Wildfire's scars really show them owning their low budget existence. :)

Am currently also really into The Untamed. Friends?

[wrote_and_writ]

Hello Friend!
I think they skimped on the makeup budget because Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu don’t need it, and blew most of the rest on Zhu Hong’s excellent lipstick and eyeliner.