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

[no_detective]

OH HI.

User names: no_detective pretty much everywhere (no_detective, no_detective, no_detective, no_detective on spotify)

Pronouns: she/her

Language(s): english, serbian

How did you first get into Guardian fandom? bonibaru's vid heartlines got me hooked; at the time, i didn't realize it would be the fandom that brings me back into fannishness - and MORE - but wow, it's been a wild year+ ♥

What is one thing you love about the show? ONE thing?!?!? okay, okay. 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.

What is your favourite terrible special effect? technically not a special effect, but i will never not be deeply amazed at the painting of ma gui in the minister's office. i don't have a screenshot handy but you know the one: stunning likeness of a dude who lived 10K years ago, with white background. incredible, y'all.

What is (one of) your favourite relationship(s) on the show (either romantic or friendship) and what do you like about that relationship? i'm INTENSELY into the weilan otp, but i also really love what the show has done with zhu hong's crush on zhao yunlan. she wasn't a one-note jealous woman whose unrequited feelings could turn her into a villain, her feelings were not treated as a joke or dismissed, her crush is not the primary thing about her character, and she and zyl are truly friends in addition to being fellow fighters against evil.

Do you have a favourite character? zyl reeled me in first - i have such a soft spot in my heart for slouchy, slutty, in-position-of-authority-but-mostly-thinking-about-assuming-other-positions type of character... and then shen wei happened to me like a force of (super)nature and - YEAH. can't pick one because each of them is so deeply and profoundly defined by the other; i can only really think of them as a paired unit, so to speak. :D

Do you have a favourite villain? hmmmm... i enjoy ya qing's opportunism, but frankly none of the villains really intrigue me on this show; they tend to be sort of underwritten (like ye zun) or, well, overacted (like quite a few others). does it count as a "favorite" that the regent is the character i most fervently wished would die a horrible, painful death? eh, probably not.

Talk to us about one (or more!) of your favourite Guardian-related canons: i've seen a few; zhu yilong's phantacity appearance and detective l are the ones i found to be the most relevant to my interests. but i'm always super appreciative of any media in which they get to don robes and fight with swords and have gorgeous long hair...

Do you like RPF? um, YES.


Do you have a favourite ad campaign (such as Bai Yu's rentboy photoshoot or Zhu Yilong's ReFa ads)? i mean those two are pretty astonishing! i also adore zyl's schwarzkopf ad bc long hair and that jacket... yeah.

What other fandoms are you in or have you been in? first fandom was buffy; first slash fandom was smallville; went through MANY since. currently also enjoying history3: trapped, which hits a LOT of my favorite tropes, and the king's avatar (tho i haven't had time to look for its fandom yet)

What are some of your general fanwork likes: enemies to lovers; identity porn; h/c - tho i'm not huge on angst so i need TONS of comfort; happy sex... and because the show's canon ends in knives, i find that i'm also really into AUs (even moreso than usual) for guardian. in rpf, i'm a fan of opposites attract, of individuals discovering that being with the other person makes them better, and - for actors specifically - of performance and performativity and character creation/character bleed. i love competence and teamwork and found families and laughter and working to make the world a better place. i also love genre and mixing up tropes and fannish ideas that bloom into different expression (fic, vids, art, manips, icons, music mixes - bring it!)

Where can we best find you to squee more about this thing or other things? i'm on dreamwidth maybe once a week, desperately trying to catch up; more likely to make a daily appearance on twitter.

Anything else you want to say? weilan is the most intense otp i've EVER been into, and i'd like a lifetime supply of happy endings* for them, please!

*yes, that was a double entendre, i am a dirty old woman

[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.)

[sakana17]

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.

This was my experience, too. I had a few theories that kept changing as the series progressed but time travel was NOT one of them and WOW!

I just started a rewatch of History3: Trapped. Really enjoying it!

[yantantether]

Your illustration of the RPF question is um, WOW. Zhu Yilong's hand very confidently in that position is something I've thought about, but it requires some more thought and appreciation...

[naye]

HI! <333

i will never not be deeply amazed at the painting of ma gui in the minister's office.
I swear I need xparrot to pat me gently while I sob about this every other month. There's not even a painting filter on it! They just photoshopped out the background! I'm - I. WHY. I could do better on my phone in literally three minutes.

can't pick one because each of them is so deeply and profoundly defined by the other; i can only really think of them as a paired unit, so to speak. :D
Ahhh I love this! It's such a great way of putting it. And yes, very much same. <3

weilan is the most intense otp i've EVER been into, and i'd like a lifetime supply of happy endings* for them, please!
OMG YES. I love you.

[clevermanka]

in-position-of-authority-but-mostly-thinking-about-assuming-other-positions

[rheasilvia]

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.

Me neither!!! I still remember my moment of realization - I actually OMG-ed out loud. I had two distinct sets of very intense emotions about this, and basically still do... but overall, it means they both fall in love with the other one when he is already completely head over heels, and that is just. So lovely to me.

i will never not be deeply amazed at the painting of ma gui in the minister's office.

LOL, yes! That made me laugh so hard. :-) I actually have a theory on this, namely that Zhang Shi made sure his teacher's likeness was faithfully carried through the ages. (He might have had, uhm. A slight crush? *g*)

Ooh, I didn't know you were in Smallville, too! I loved that show for the first seasons.

weilan is the most intense otp i've EVER been into, and i'd like a lifetime supply of happy endings* for them, please!
+10000

[no_detective]

I actually have a theory on this, namely that Zhang Shi made sure his teacher's likeness was faithfully carried through the ages. (He might have had, uhm. A slight crush? *g*) - OMG THAT IS ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT.

[solo]

i will never not be deeply amazed at the painting of ma gui in the minister's office. i don't have a screenshot handy but you know the one: stunning likeness of a dude who lived 10K years ago, with white background.

LOL that is a very good point. I'm quite unobservant so that never really quite clicked. Unless the bad special effects are in my face and MOVING, I just don't notice...

i can only really think of them as a paired unit, so to speak. :D

I'm exactly the same. Not that they don't each matter to me individually, but the important thing is how they are together.