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Picspam & poll: Zhao Yunlan & Da Qing (drama)

( More pics! )

Poll #33369 Zhao Yunlan & Da Qing

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

View Respondents

Your favourite Zhao Yunlan & Da Qing moment

View Answers

At the flat, speculating about Shen Wei before the break-in (ep 6)
1 (10.0%)

Breaking into Shen Wei's flat (ep 6)
4 (40.0%)

Da Qing teasingly pretending to call for Hei Pao Shi (ep 6)
4 (40.0%)

Kunlun fastening Da Qing's bells around his neck (ep 36)
5 (50.0%)

Da Qing shifting into cat form so Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei can meet cute (ep 1)
3 (30.0%)

Hanging out at the hospital during the blindness arc, with snacks (ep 21)
6 (60.0%)

Da Qing explaining his Shen Wei suspicions in the Dixing bedroom (ep 23)
0 (0.0%)

Going jogging (ep 5)
0 (0.0%)

Da Qing waking Zhao Yunlan by miaowing (and Zhao Yunlan knocking him onto the floor) (ep 12)
3 (30.0%)

Other
2 (20.0%)

Does Da Qing take showers?

View Answers

Only under duress
2 (20.0%)

He shifts and licks himself
4 (40.0%)

Shifting cleans him
4 (40.0%)

Cats are naturally clean
2 (20.0%)

He hogs the bathroom indulging in long bubble baths, to Zhao Yunlan's endless annoyance (cats only don't like water when it makes their fur wet)
4 (40.0%)

Other
1 (10.0%)

Current Mood: excited

Entry tags:

!event

Guardian Wishlist 2025 is coming!

Next month, Guardian Wishlist 2025 will open for business at

guardian_wishlist!

This gifting fest runs along the lines of

fandomtrees and its ilk, but is specifically for Guardian (show, novel, and RPF) and related fandoms (main actors' other roles). It works like this:

People sign up with a wishlist of prompts and things they'd like to receive. Requests can include any media, including transformative works like fic, art, icons, vids, podfic, and also picspams and meta, translation advice, related music links, ~~lollipops, dried fish snacks, powerful ancient artefacts~~ anything.
Anyone can write, draw, record, or otherwise create gifts for any sign-up. Gifts can be posted directly in comments (which are screened until reveals) or to an AO3 collection. Gift posting continues right up until reveals. There are no minimums for gifts.

It’s been really fantastic the last four years, and we're looking forward to another round to celebrate this year's Reunion Festival (Mid-Autumn Festival) - so start thinking about what kinds of things you want to ask for. (Don't hold back! Your wishlist could prompt someone to finally make the thing they've been meaning to make for ages - or something they hadn't realised they were dying to put together!)

The Mid-Autumn Festival is late this year, so our schedule starts at the end of August. We'll be back closer to the date with updated rules and guidelines (all announcements and such are crossposted here on

sid_guardian), but we wanted to let you know the schedule now:

28 August: sign-ups open
5 September: first wishlists posted
15 September: sign-ups close
16 September: final wishlists posted
6 October (Reunion Festival): gifts revealed

Poll #33367 Guardian fandom gifting fest

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 13

View Respondents

Guardian Wishlist 2025

View Answers

Yay!
6 (46.2%)

I will definitely sign up with a wishlist!
5 (38.5%)

I might sign up with a wishlist
6 (46.2%)

I'll definitely write/draw/record/make some fills!
5 (38.5%)

I might write/draw/record/make some fills
5 (38.5%)

I wish I could make fills, but I probably won't have time
2 (15.4%)

I can post a promo to Tumblr/Twitter/Discord/elsewhere, to spread the word (we'll PM you a reminder)
3 (23.1%)

If you have any questions, suggestions or other feedback, please comment here or PM

trobadora or

china_shop.

Entry tags:

art-icons,
tv-hpi

20 icons of Mehdi Nebbou for celebrity20in20

I haven't participated in this comm in ages, but round 15 at

celebrity20in20 featured my own texture pack, one I always found really hard to use, so I thought it would just be fair if I tried my hand at it now. I usually find 20in20s stressful, and tend to make filler icons just so I can complete the set, but this time it went relatively easily and I am happy with most of these. (The texture pack was still really hard to use. :D)

Teasers:

( 20 icons of Mehdi Nebbou )

The splatter textures to be used are here: https://icon-resources.dreamwidth.org/3602.html

Concrit welcome! Comments adored! Credit appreciated! Take and use as many icons as you like. If you want to know whose textures and brushes I use, apart from the horribly hard to use ones I make myself ;), take a look at my resource post.

Previous icon posts:

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Book #03 Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire

Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire
Toby Daye #10

The king convenes a conclave to decide whether to allow the use of [the important thing Toby discovered last time]. Of course some people use the gathering to further their own political agenda - by murdering people.

Another wonderful installment of the Toby Daye series. I got through it very fast - it was a fun and easy read. Which doesn't mean fluffy. :D As usual for that series, there's lots of death and attempted assassinations (including Toby's and her loved ones'). I simply love Toby's snarking pov, and it makes reading those books a joy every time.

some thoughts WITH SPOILERS

* The stakes kinda can't go any higher for Toby, since she's virtually immortal already and her accelerated healing means she comes back even from being dead now. (She already did in the last book, so that's nothing new. :)) So the threats now expand to her loved ones. In this case, Tybalt and Quentin.

* I love Tybalt with Toby. Period.

* I loved how she pretty much resigned herself to Tybalt being dead and/or asleep for 100 years. Even if the book didn't go there, having her agonize over it was painful enough, thank you. Entertaining the thought for a few minutes was stressful enough for me.

* I also liked all the thoughts Toby has on growing up - not her own, Quentin's mostly. That gave the book some nice weight, in the sense that it brought out the amount of time that has passed in-verse, and that Toby develops and grows along with 'the kids'.

* Apropos kids, I really liked how she described the pyjama party. She's more of a mom now than she used to be (although Toby has always been a mom, but it wasn't as clear in the earlier books).

* Considering the book took place during a political meeting, the politicking was kept to a minimum and didn't get on my nerves. It always helps that Toby doesn't like it either. :D

* Plot-wise, I thought it was suspenseful and even though one would think that there's not much new to tell after this many installments, I didn't feel it was too repetitive.

4 stars - Another fun time with Toby being undiplomatic and almost dying a few times. :D

1 - 5 stars - Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky The Final Architecture #1 [DW link]
2 - 2 stars - Miss Merkel: Mord auf dem Friedhof by David Safier Miss Merkel #2 [DW link]
3 - 4 stars - Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire Toby Daye #10 [DW link]

(I'm terribly behind on those reviews... not on the books, luckily, but I have to write up a few more soon.)

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My latest Guardian fanworks

2 Weilan drawings, 2 Weilan fics, 1 Zhubai fic. :)

I'm Fine, Xiao Wei by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Ye Olde Haixing Era, Catching Hurt Character as They Collapse, Character doesn't realize how badly they're hurt until they collapse, Character who is clearly not fine insists they are fine, Hurt/Comfort, Fanart, Drawing
Summary: Zhao Yunlan gets injured in battle and tries to walk it off until he can't anymore. (He still doesn't think there is a problem, though.)

Renewed Interest by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian - priest, 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Accidental arousal while cuddling for comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Awkward Boners, Cuddling & Snuggling, Spooning, Blushing, Fanart, Drawing
Summary: Zhao Yunlan may be exhausted, but he's not this exhausted.

Diplomatic Emergency (1091 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan, Guo Changcheng
Additional Tags: Fuck Or Die, Extremely Consensual Fuck or Die, Established Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Implied Sexual Content, Fade to Black, POV Alternating, POV Outsider, Humor, Hand-Wavy Dixing Powers (Guardian), hand-wavy post-canon, a lot of hand-waving in general, Guardian Bingo
Summary: "I'm fine, you don't need to worry," Zhao Yunlan replies. "It feels a bit like my skull is exploding, but I'm fine. Oh, and everything is a very curious shade of orange, but I'm sure I can sleep it off."

"Orange? What did you drink last night?"

Tomorrow (376 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Ye Olde Haixing Era, Alcohol, Attempted Seduction, Hand Kisses, Drunk Shen Wei (Guardian), Tenderness
Summary: Oh, Xiao Wei, I don't think you should drink this.

That's not something anyone can say to the Black-Cloaked Envoy in the company of his subordinates. So Zhao Yunlan doesn't.

Lie to Me (292 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018) RPF, Chinese Actor RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong
Characters: Bai Yu (Actor), Zhu Yilong
Additional Tags: Not A Happy Ending, but they love each other a lot, not a happy ending for Weilan either, is this character bleed? it's not NOT character bleed
Summary: "They really wanted it to be true."

Bai Yu knows exactly what Long-ge is talking about — Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan. And, more importantly, not Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan.

Entry tags:

Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Chapters 19 & 20

Hi, and welcome to this week's installment of the Guardian novel readalong!

Here are last week's chapters, and you can find all previous discussions in the schedule posts (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4), or via the !readalong tag.

This week's chapters:

Chapter 19: At the Great Seal, Lin Jing discusses their predicament with Shen Wei and meditates effectively. At the police station in the mountains, Daqing and Chu Shuzhi meet up with Guo Changcheng. Daqing shifts into human form and tells Changcheng that the souls of the dead are still at the resort; Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi decide to go to find them.
Chapter 20: Zhao Yunlan goes to the court of the Ten Yanluo Kings with Zhu Hong and sasses the Kings. A reaper reports that the Great Seal has broken, and an earthquake shakes the court. Zhao Yunlan demands to see the Reincarnation Cycle. The Qin'guang King shows him the Soul-Guarding Lamp. At the Seal, Shen Wei comes out to Lin Jing as the Emissary, and Lin Jing pulls out the icicle. Shen Wei heals and reveals that he's been manipulating Ghost Face. Meanwhile, Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng search the resort for souls. (Guo Changcheng records a dead courier's last message.) They're joined by a rogue cultivator who tries to make conversation but has a disturbing shadow. A huge youchu bursts out of the ground.

The corresponding chapters in the Chinese version on JJWXC and the fan translation are chapters 100, 101 and a little less than half of 102 (up to "Meanwhile, in the county less than fifty kilometers away, people were still completely clueless.").

Excerpts:

( 1) Lin Jing and Shen Wei strategise )

( 2) Chu Shuzhi explains that the Ghost Face problem is above their paygrade )

( 3) Daqing finds his human body hideous and explains some gui lore )

( 4) Zhao Yunlan is unimpressed with the Ten Kings' Hell Expo and has no more fucks to give )

( 5) Shen Wei is blasé about his chest icicle )

( 6) Chu Shuzhi is softening towards Guo Changcheng, despite himself )

Questions:

How many points does Lin Jing get for a) attempting to communicate with a youchu, b) keeping calm and meditating on, and c) not falling out of the tree when Shen Wei revealed his Emissary identity? Where did the youchu learn human speech? How wounded would Shen Wei have to be to admit that he wasn't fine? Does the SID really only employ people who can hyperfocus, or is hyperfocus a side-effect of the Soul-Guarding Order? What do you think of the descriptions of the different hells? How adorable are Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng? How well are you following what's going on with the Seal and Shen Wei's machinations? And do you have any thoughts about how moments in these chapters affected or were remixed in the drama adaptation?

(As usual, these are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the readalong!)

Our schedule for this round -- please sign up to host a post if you can!

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Post-canon flashfic: Winging It (gen)

I wrote this for the Science challenge on

fan_flashworks:

Title: Winging It (600 words) [General Audiences]
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Characters: Ya Qing, Lin Jing, Zhao Yunlan, Zhu Hong, Original Yashou character, Da Qing
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Yashou Renewal, Education, A New Era for the SID, Kidfic, Drabble Sequence, Community: fan_flashworks
Summary:

The Crows need a science tutor.

Entry tags:

Poll: Guo Changcheng's major (drama)

Poll #33343 Changcheng's qualifications

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 16

View Respondents

What did Guo Changcheng study at university?

View Answers

Anthropology
0 (0.0%)

Chinese Language Teaching and Applied Chinese Language Studies
4 (25.0%)

Computer Science
0 (0.0%)

Corporate Governance and Sustainability
3 (18.8%)

Creative Writing
3 (18.8%)

Criminology
2 (12.5%)

Economics
4 (25.0%)

Environmental Studies
1 (6.2%)

Financial Accounting and Management
2 (12.5%)

History or Art History
3 (18.8%)

Law
0 (0.0%)

Media Studies
0 (0.0%)

Philosophy
1 (6.2%)

Psychology
1 (6.2%)

Visual Communication Design
1 (6.2%)

other
1 (6.2%)

he couldn't settle on a major and kept switching
5 (31.2%)

Best forgiveness/redemption moment

View Answers

Wang Xiangyang relinquishing the Merit Brush on his deathbed
0 (0.0%)

Ya Qing switching sides and then kneeling to Zhu Hong
5 (31.2%)

Ye Zun's posthumous reconciliation with Shen Wei
6 (37.5%)

Zhao Xinci fighting alongside the Yashou elders
2 (12.5%)

Cong Bo agreeing to work for the SID
2 (12.5%)

Ye Huo acknowledging the Envoy's authority
3 (18.8%)

Lin Jing becoming a double agent
3 (18.8%)

Da Ji fighting to protect Dragon City
1 (6.2%)

Wang Yike crying after accidentally ageing her girlfriend
3 (18.8%)

Dr Feng Qubing giving his life force to reverse the harm he did
7 (43.8%)

other
0 (0.0%)

Entry tags:

Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Chapters 17 & 18

Hi, and welcome to this week's installment of the Guardian novel readalong! ♡

Here are last week's chapters, and you can find all previous discussions in the schedule posts (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5), or via the !readalong tag.

This week's chapters:

Chapter 17: Guo Changcheng can't get ahold of the rest of the team, and drives alone to the nearest town. An angry crowd is begging the police to find their loved ones who went missing at Spring Harbor Resort. Guo Changcheng manages the crowd and promises them that the SID is already on the case. Zhao Yunlan's sacrifices some of the true Soul-Guarding Order to save Shen Wei. Shen Wei defeats the Chaos shadow that chased them, but Ghost Face stabs him in the heart with an icicle and takes him away, demanding that Zhao Yunlan brings him the Soul-Guarding Lamp in exchange.

Chapter 18: Zhao Yunlan asks the Magistrate to take him to the Reincarnation Cycle in order to awaken Kunlun's spirit. Lin Jing regains the use of his senses and finds himself imprisoned at the Seal, surrounded by youchu. Ghost Face brings Shen Wei there too, and shackles him to the Merit Tree. Shen Wei is in pain, but he mocks Ghost Face and reveals that he's always had the power over the Mountain-River Awl, and that he has tracked Ghost Face and manipulated his actions. Ghost Face attacks him with the icicle again and Shen Wei passes out.

The corresponding chapters in the Chinese version on JJWXC/the fan translation are 98-99.

Excerpts:

( 1) Xiao Guo manages the crowd )

( 2) Zhao Yunlan's burns the Soul-Guarding Order )

( 3) Ghost Face kidnaps Shen Wei )

( 4) Lin Jing talks to the youchu )

( 5) Shen Wei mocks Ghost Face )

Questions:

Are you as surprised by Xiao Guo's bravery and competence as he is? What do you think about Zhao Yunlan's decision to sacrifice the Soul-Guarding Order? What's your favorite comic relief moment? Favorite angsty moment? Any thoughts about the many parallels between these chapters and their drama adaptation?

You can answer as many or as few questions as you like, or just comment without answering any of them at all! And if you see this post and you're not actually reading the novel, I would love to know what you think about any of this with limited context. :D

And here is the schedule, where you can sign up to host a post!

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Two Weilan fics: Sunshine and Honey (M-rated) and Pages for You (T-rated)

I wrote a treat for

idproquo and another

fan_flashworks flashfic. :-)

Title: Sunshine and Honey (4126 words) [Mature]
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Ye Olde Haixing Era, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Outdoor Sex, Feeding, Finger Sucking, Oral Fixation, First Kiss (for one of them), First time (for one of them), Treat
Summary:

They were halfway to the Allied Forces’ southern boundary when the sun came out. Shen Wei pulled back his hood and looked around, conscious of the breeze on his bare face. The heavy clouds were finally breaking up.

Meanwhile, Kunlun had dropped his bag and flopped onto his back on the grassy slope. “Let’s rest here a while.”

Title: Pages for You (1762 words) [Teen and Up]
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Established Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Fade to Black, Community: fan_flashworks
Summary:

Over the course of the evening, an impulse had taken root, and now Shen Wei submitted to it. He switched on his desk lamp, laid out several large sheets of paper and quietly ground some ink. If Zhao Yunlan wanted to read of their time together through the eyes of a Dixingren soldier, who better than Shen Wei to write an account—to show Zhao Yunlan exactly how much his arrival had meant to the war effort and to Shen Wei himself.