#GUARDIAN SPOILERS

[lungache]

The Guardian novel and the drama are VERY different but one thing I think they nail is how Shen Wei is, at his core, defined by his longing. This man has LONGED.

Longed to be free from what he was, to forge himself into something new. Longed for Kunlun, only to lose him. For his god's regard, his touch, his love, his LIFE. Longed for time with Shen San. Longed to be near to every reincarnation. Longed for personhood and connection. Longed to be something Kunlun might be proud of.

Longed for his brother, his didi, who was lost to him. Longed for meaningful connection with the people around him, but only found fear and detached respect. Longed for peace. Longed for Kunlun. Longed for reprieve from his crushing duty.

Every Shen Wei longed for Zhao Yunlan. Longed to never leave his side, to hold on and never let go. Longed to be honest with him. Longed to be remembered. Longed for the love and life Yunlan wanted to give him. Longed to spend the rest of time with him.

(But, in the end, he knew it was not meant to be. That he would never have what he truly wanted. So, he longed for peace and reprieve in death, foolishly thinking he was safe in the knowledge that his love would live on without him.)

[avaantares]

Presented without comment

[hideyseek]

AHAHAHAHAHA. SURPRISE INSPECTION. BOSS IS OUT. GET YOUR INTERN TO PRETEND TO BE YOUR DEPARTMENT HEAD. NOTHING CAN GO WRONG WITH THIS

[candidsoup]

Guardian is so fun, I’ve seen 2 episodes and can’t wait to watch more. I heard mixed things about it and I know the ending is sad or whatever but right now the batshit sci-fi lore (much of which seems to have been contrived for the show) is honestly sooo fun. Everyone & everything is ridiculous. And I fear my boy Zhao Yunlan may suffer from severe face blindness (me too but….)

[roserocksrapidly]

kunlun tries to LEAVE wei? kunlun tries to DIE and ABANDON wei? oh! oh! reincarnation cycle for kunlun! reincarnation for Five Thousand Years!!!!

[romanaisalive]

So I designed my Guardian after a PC I used to play / write AU fic with nowadays. Her defining characteristics are being Old and having Too Much Faith / Obsessive Devotion towards her partners up to and including murder, self-sacrifice and everything in between.

WHEN I TELL YOU SEEING THIS CHARACTER KNEELING AND OFFERING A SWORD TO ME TO KILL THEM WITH HAS ME SHOOKETH

[endof-vanity]

sorry to zhao yunlan but if my husband offered my blood from his beating heart i would just say 'thank you' :/

[greighish]

Shen Wei... Shen Wei... ... Kill me! Kill me!

10,000 years could pass and I will still have not recovered from this scene. I mean, he's saying I don't want to live in a world where he isn't... I want to go wherever he's gone to, so kill me.

This only works in fiction, for me, but, damn if it doesn't work.

Forty episodes of Guardian complete. It continued to be engaging until the very end, which is not an easy feat. That said, I am not sure I understand the ending. I get it, but I think they left some important things on the cutting room floor.

I never did get around to liking Guo Changcheng. But can I say that the scene with him having tea with the women doesn't make sense and it feels like the adaptation team felt the need to include a specific scene from the novel but they needed to pass censorship and that's what they came up with. I could be very wrong as I haven't read the novel, but Chu Shuzhi waiting impatiently to drag his friend/teammate away from a matchmaking scene doesn't make nearly as much sense as him waiting to drag his boyfriend away from the scene. And even before that, why was he there in the first place? No matter their relationship, why is he just (not) chillin' in the background?

Zhu Hong annoyed me for a bit wondering why Zhao Yunlan didn't return her feelings. And this is possibly a cultural divide, but as far as I could see, she never explicitly made her feelings known--until the dream. And even knowing how perceptive her chief was, I think it's unfair to leave it to the other person to interpret your actions to your liking. If you want someone to pick up what you're putting down, you're better off just handing it to them. That aside, I liked her. Other than what I see as a lack of communication, I never questioned her actions; everything she did as a character made sense for her, even when she when she was lamenting about Zhao Yunlan, though not quite fair, it made sense from her perspective. Moreover, her future path is the only one I understand.

I don't have a precise understanding of what anyone else on the team is doing with their life post-split. And if it was trying to be one of those "leave it to the audience to decide" endings, it failed spectacularly by being simultaneously too vague and too specific.

Shen Wei and Ye Zun... I have complicated feelings about what I don't know. Family bonds are weird, so I can't say that their fate doesn't make sense, but I also don't think whatever it is is gonna be healthy.

Lin Jing and Da Qing in Zhao Yunlan's apartment?

Guo Changcheng being the only remaining team member walking through HQ and that mini-me Chu Shuzhi?

But the one I'm most confused about is... the real Chief Zhao?

I feel like I might rupture my cerebral cortex if I don't stop there. I want to scream, but I'm also pretty certain that if I just wait for the novel, my questions will be answered. But is it fair to ask a viewer to fill in the blanks from the original work? Be it a loose or faithful adaptation, it should be able to stand on it's own. And for the most part it did; however, it failed to at the most crucial moments.

That said, on the whole I enjoyed the story and while I won't watch it again, I am looking forward to reading the novel(s). I could take or leave most of the performances, but Zhu Yilong, Bai Yu, and Jiang Mingyang really did it for me.

Finally, I have to say something that is really unbelievable coming from me because I usually do not comprehend people's faces as being attractive or otherwise, and the times when I do acknowledge it, it's usually fleeting; however Zhu Yilong is unbelievably beautiful. I cannot stop thinking about his face and his subtle and brief expressions. I just don't understand what's happening with the symmetry and general arrangement of his features, but I am honestly and utterly captivated. This might be a problem.

[lynne-monstr]

I finished watching Guardian…

…

I have a headache because of crying. I hate it. Playing Romeo and Juliet. These idiots. I hate them. Dying because the other is dead. They're so stupid. I hate them so much. Stupid Shen Wei and stupid Zhao Yunlan.

…

Basically I think I'll be in my bed for the week and crying myself to sleep.

…

Absolutely 10/10 would recommend. Stupid idiots.

oh anon, you did it!! congrats! (now you can go read all the fix-it fic if that's your thing) they so dumb and in love. that's how they started and it's how they went out.

fun fact, I actually have NOT watched the final episodes (and I don't plan to). I got spoiled for the ending early on and the way my brain works means I can only handle sad endings if I don't know they're coming. so once I knew how it ended my chances of ever actually watching the end became an instant 0%. but I've seen enough gifs and fic that I know the ending so its not a spoiler or anything.

congrats on finishing! I really enjoyed getting your updates! 🖤

[garden-of-mythology-and-fate-go]

GHOST FACE WAS THE OTHER GHOST KING AND SHEN WEI’S BROTHER???

WHAT???

I did not see that coming.

I did not even realize that was an option.

Priest, you’ve done it again.

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

THIS IS SHADOW, EVERYONE!!!!

He is not to be messed with. And yet even after being attacked with dozens of missiles and effectively getting rid of all of them, he lands on the craft of his attacker, who is frantically trying and failing to eject before he crashes.

Shadow smashes the glass and raises a fist as if to punch him, and the G.U.N. soldier flinches. And instead, Shadow hits the button to eject the soldier.

This is Shadow. He is brutal and he is formidable but he is not cruel.

I love him!!! 🖤❤️

[immortal-gege]

Zhao Yunlan waking up to see Shen Wei watching him tenderly and his assumption is “he’s been watching me all night which is kind of weird so he must not be human and we must have known each other in another lifetime” feels like a bit of a reach to me but okay I’ll roll with it

[hideyseek]

obSESSED with shen wei's mannerisms. tie your life to zhao yunlan's. he catches you at midnight doing magic, he yells at you saying you're not immortal so how can he so casually owe you my life. you fucking GROWL back, i'm giving your life back (with the implication of reciprocity/that you'd gotten your life from him in the first place).

and then in a fit of awkwardness you look everywhere but at zhao yunlan and say, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING NIGHT, a meaningless plesantry that amounts to "sleep well". IM FASCINATED BY YOUR POLITENESS SHEN WEI

(shen wei actually says 早点休息 which directly translates to something like "go rest sooner/earlier" which is ... not something we say in english. and also makes this EVEN MORE NUTS of a phrase to end this situation is because IT'S MIDNIGHT. UR GUY IS NOT GONNA. GO TO BED SOONER. IT'S! MIDNIGHT!!!!)

[tarakanpaintedpurple]

The Witness is reeeeally lucky there was no wind inside the Traveller

[ayo-edebiri]

I know you play like you're the meanest and the hardest but actually you're the most scared of all. I know you steal batteries you don't need, and you push away anyone who's willing to put up with you because just a little bit of love reminds you how big and empty that hole inside you actually is.

[deeneedsaname]

No cause this means that when Gamora heard Groot and understood him, SHE WAS A MEMBER OF THE FAMILY AGAIN