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clevermanka) wrote2019-07-21 04:30 am
The Rec Center primer for Guardian
The last time Clever Manka had a media obsession like this, it was 1982 and she’d just discovered Duran Duran. She can be found on Tumblr, Dreamwidth, and does a terrible job of pretending to be on Twitter. She also hosts an online house party for former Toasties.
Guardian is 40-episode Chinese web drama based on a BL novel by priest. The book's overt romance was removed and the supernatural aspects were transformed into "science" in order to accommodate Chinese censorship laws (note, the show was pulled almost immediately after airing and edited for re-release). The show creators managed to skate just under the edge of plausible deniability, though, to keep the love story intact (Twitter codename #socialistbrotherhood). The plot is impossible to describe concisely, but contains: aliens, found family, police procedurals, political criticism, shapeshifters, superpowers, and time travel.
I agree with the fans who compare it to the last two seasons of due South (full disclosure, one of my other great fandom loves) because while there are still major events happening plot-wise, the show’s main focus is the relationship between the two main characters. There’s a secondary m/m ship that’s about as obvious as the main one, but with very different dynamics. Female representation isn’t as great as it could be (only two of the nine core actors are women) but all of the women on the show, even the ones who are minor or one-shot characters, have agency—they’re doctors, scientists, leaders—not a sexy lamp in the bunch.
That's not to say everyone with a major role on this show isn't outrageously attractive. Which they are. Especially the two leads, Shen Wei (played by Zhu Yilong) and Zhao Yunlan (played by Bai Yu). The CGI and special effects are sometimes questionable, but the actors supply plenty of eye candy as well as chemistry that’s more convincing than a lot of explicitly-portrayed romances (both actors read the BL novel before filming).
The subtitles on YouTube are fan-generated and can be spotty quality but I prefer them to the subtitles on Viki which convert Chinese names for the three types of people populating the world (Haixing, Dixing, and Yashou) into English words (human, undergrounders, demi-humans). Even better, though, are the revised subtitles by Guardian fandom hero Solo, downloadable here.
Please be aware, this show is an emotional roller-coaster and may result in more Feels than expected. Luckily, there’s a great fandom community on Dreamwidth if you find yourself falling down the rabbit hole.
Canon-compliant fic that’s even moderately spoiler-free is kinda thin on the ground for Guardian, so if you don't want spoilers, please be careful if you go digging for fic before watching the show. There’s a ton of great stuff when you better know the characters or if you don’t mind spoilers. There’s even a directory for works in English that are listed as public on AO3.
“A constellation of two” by naye. 9K words, rated Explicit.
Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Backstory: Zhao Yunlan gets the impression that Shen Wei is holding back something in bed and wants to find out what.
Rec: This is the story that inspired me to write my first fic (I remixed it from Shen Wei’s point of view). Not terribly spoilery, even though it’s set nearly halfway into the series. A lighthearted and hot exploration of boundaries and roleplay in an established relationship.
Content warnings: N/A
“Love Touch” by china_shop. 1557 words, rated Mature.
Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Backstory: Dixingians (the “alien” people who have superpowers) usually have one power. Shen Wei’s power is learning—including learning other powers. Zhao Yunlan appreciates that some of those are applicable during sexy times.
Rec: Superpower-enhanced sex (with feels, because this fandom does very little without feels) in an established relationship.
Content warnings: N/A
“Not All Those Who Wander” by Xparrot. 23K words, rated Teen.
Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Backstory: “The god Kunlun is as old as the mountain range that bears his name, if not older. Or so the villagers say. He was here before any people were, as eternal as the mountains — moreso, in truth. The mountains might change, but Kunlun remains Kunlun.”
Rec: An epic fantasy AU that draws inspiration from the show and book but you don’t need to have seen or read either to appreciate it.
Content warnings: N/A
“If Life Was A Movie We’d Have A Better Soundtrack Than This” by galaxysoup. 46K words, rated Teen.
Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Backstory: A no-powers meet-cute AU.
Rec: Charming and angsty slow burn fic with great character voices that incorporates some canon circumstances without spoiling anything that actually happens in the show.
Content warnings: N/A
“Augustine” by bonibaru. 3:13, not rated (vid).
Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Backstory: “Shen Wei finds something to believe in.”
Rec: My favorite Guardian vid, and an excellent portrayal of their relationship. Some mild spoilers, but nothing major or past mid-series.
Fanartists: Marmaladica on AO3 and Breeze Wong on Tumblr.
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If it helps to compare, here are some previous primer/intro posts that've appeared in the newsletter (The guest post portion is always at the end, so scroll to the bottom).
IDK why those aren't staying under the cut. I really dislike the way DW displays the cut tag in the Rich Text editor view.The only thing worse is the HTML view where it's all just one big giant paragraph with br tags thrown in. *shudder*