Guardian... to rec or not to rec...
I know I still owe you a review post for "Love, Simon", but I just have to make this one first.
The Guardian fandom is taking off right now: fic is being written, tumblr posts are being made... and now's the time to get into it.
Like everyone else, I'm torn between the weird Chinese production and the epic romance that is not allowed to be on screen but still shines through.
Remember the Taiwanese BL show I recced last month? Guardian is nominally the same genre (Asian BL), but they are very different. It is an official mainland China production, meaning it has more than one clothing sponsor, and it has good actors and it has special effects (of questionable quality, but hey). The huge disadvantage is that it does not have actual on-screen m/m romance, since that is not allowed in mainland China. Another thing that is not allowed is any kind of religious or fantasy setting in modern times.
Of course, the m/m romance novel the show is based on has both.
The fun thing about this show is that the producers knew that, and still tried to turn it into a tv show. Meaning: for the supernatural aspects, they invented a flimsy scientifical explanation, but everything still looks like magic. One character in particular keeps wondering why his science gadgets never seem to work but he's sure there's a scientific explanation for everything. :D For the romance, they cranked the subtext up to 11. The actors and everyone involved in the production did everything they could that they'd get past the censors. The result is absolutely hilarious on purpose. I don't think I've seen anything like it yet, and it's been a fun ride so far. (I've only seen 13 of the 40 episodes.)
The basic plot is this: Shen Wei is a supernatural being who poses as an innocent university professor. He has kept watch over his reincarnating lover for the last 10.000 years. (Imagine the pent-up emotions!) Zhao Yunlan is said reincarnated lover, who is very attracted to Shen Wei but doesn't know why. He works for a supernatural police agency solving supernatural crimes and Shen Wei is always "inexplicably" connected to all the cases.
The great thing about it is: Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan are a canon couple in the novel. So even if there is no actual kissing, what they did put on screen is a canon romance full of longing glances and true century-spanning love - without ever mentioning it.
Okay, enough talk: here, have some caps (from the first 12 eps only):
Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei
Zhao Yunlan keeps looking for excuses to get close to Shen Wei...
... or to touch him
Shen Wei takes care of Zhao Yunlan, even if it's just to put lotion on a little scratch ;)
Apropos touching: Zhao Yunlan has a tendency...
...to fall asleep on Shen Wei's shoulder
Shen Wei takes care of Zhao Yunlan when he is ill, and takes the opportunity to clean his apartment
He stays until morning so he can feed Zhao Yunlan porridge and tea when he wakes up
Shen Wei takes care of Zhao Yunlan by giving him water on their road trip
Zhao Yunlan takes care of Shen Wei by giving him his jacket
(which is especially hilarious, because in the novel they were in a snow storm. On the show... they're somewhere lush and green.)
This is how they look at each other when they haven't seen each other for a few hours
Shen Wei even looks cute and innocent when slaying monsters with his scythe
(still wearing Zhao Yunlan's jacket, btw)
You can watch it on youtube with English subtitles (of extremely fluctuating quality) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdRj_d7_skE&list=PLvpAVnYN4lb2Gfz6Feq3KA1r5trkUxMU-
The novel is currently in the process of being translated and you can read it here:
https://www.wattpad.com/story/153357561-guardian-english-version-bl-novel
I have already started iconing it, and you can expect there to be lots of Guardian icons. I am most taken with Zhu Yilong, who plays Shen Wei, so most of the icons are going to be of him.
As to fanfic, I have read two amazing stories this week alone, both D/s and explicit and (as far as I can tell) within novel canon:
Guardian, Shěn Wēi/Zhào Yúnlán
Sarva by
rageprufrock
At work, in public, Shen Wei is meticulously, seamlessly polite. In bed, he's something else.
this secret language that we speak by
lazulisong
"If you don't want to do this any more," says Shen Wei, "you get off the couch, and we'll do whatever you want. Do you understand?"
Zhao Yunlan is so hot he thinks he's going to light the couch on fire. He swallows and nods.
x-posted from dw (comments:
)
The Guardian fandom is taking off right now: fic is being written, tumblr posts are being made... and now's the time to get into it.
Like everyone else, I'm torn between the weird Chinese production and the epic romance that is not allowed to be on screen but still shines through.
Remember the Taiwanese BL show I recced last month? Guardian is nominally the same genre (Asian BL), but they are very different. It is an official mainland China production, meaning it has more than one clothing sponsor, and it has good actors and it has special effects (of questionable quality, but hey). The huge disadvantage is that it does not have actual on-screen m/m romance, since that is not allowed in mainland China. Another thing that is not allowed is any kind of religious or fantasy setting in modern times.
Of course, the m/m romance novel the show is based on has both.
The fun thing about this show is that the producers knew that, and still tried to turn it into a tv show. Meaning: for the supernatural aspects, they invented a flimsy scientifical explanation, but everything still looks like magic. One character in particular keeps wondering why his science gadgets never seem to work but he's sure there's a scientific explanation for everything. :D For the romance, they cranked the subtext up to 11. The actors and everyone involved in the production did everything they could that they'd get past the censors. The result is absolutely hilarious on purpose. I don't think I've seen anything like it yet, and it's been a fun ride so far. (I've only seen 13 of the 40 episodes.)
The basic plot is this: Shen Wei is a supernatural being who poses as an innocent university professor. He has kept watch over his reincarnating lover for the last 10.000 years. (Imagine the pent-up emotions!) Zhao Yunlan is said reincarnated lover, who is very attracted to Shen Wei but doesn't know why. He works for a supernatural police agency solving supernatural crimes and Shen Wei is always "inexplicably" connected to all the cases.
The great thing about it is: Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan are a canon couple in the novel. So even if there is no actual kissing, what they did put on screen is a canon romance full of longing glances and true century-spanning love - without ever mentioning it.
Okay, enough talk: here, have some caps (from the first 12 eps only):
Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei
Zhao Yunlan keeps looking for excuses to get close to Shen Wei...
... or to touch him
Shen Wei takes care of Zhao Yunlan, even if it's just to put lotion on a little scratch ;)
Apropos touching: Zhao Yunlan has a tendency...
...to fall asleep on Shen Wei's shoulder
Shen Wei takes care of Zhao Yunlan when he is ill, and takes the opportunity to clean his apartment
He stays until morning so he can feed Zhao Yunlan porridge and tea when he wakes up
Shen Wei takes care of Zhao Yunlan by giving him water on their road trip
Zhao Yunlan takes care of Shen Wei by giving him his jacket
(which is especially hilarious, because in the novel they were in a snow storm. On the show... they're somewhere lush and green.)
This is how they look at each other when they haven't seen each other for a few hours
Shen Wei even looks cute and innocent when slaying monsters with his scythe
(still wearing Zhao Yunlan's jacket, btw)
You can watch it on youtube with English subtitles (of extremely fluctuating quality) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdRj_d7_skE&list=PLvpAVnYN4lb2Gfz6Feq3KA1r5trkUxMU-
The novel is currently in the process of being translated and you can read it here:
https://www.wattpad.com/story/153357561-guardian-english-version-bl-novel
I have already started iconing it, and you can expect there to be lots of Guardian icons. I am most taken with Zhu Yilong, who plays Shen Wei, so most of the icons are going to be of him.
As to fanfic, I have read two amazing stories this week alone, both D/s and explicit and (as far as I can tell) within novel canon:
Guardian, Shěn Wēi/Zhào Yúnlán
Sarva by
rageprufrock
At work, in public, Shen Wei is meticulously, seamlessly polite. In bed, he's something else.
this secret language that we speak by
lazulisong
"If you don't want to do this any more," says Shen Wei, "you get off the couch, and we'll do whatever you want. Do you understand?"
Zhao Yunlan is so hot he thinks he's going to light the couch on fire. He swallows and nods.
x-posted from dw (comments:
)