Guardian icons!

[extrapenguin]

Guardian icon post, with Shen Weis, Zhao Yunlans, and Ye Zuns! Taken from episodes 12, 22, 39, and 40. I experimented with different sorts of cropping for this one; some icons are available in multiple compositions. Including the variants, there are 24 Shen Weis, 20 Ye Zuns, and 8 Zhao Yunlans. Two have been featured before.

Shen Wei

1-5
6-9
10-12
13-16
17-20
21-24

Ye Zun

1-3
4-6
7-9
10-12
13-16
17-20

Zhao Yunlan

1-4
5-8


One thing I'd like to see is meta on icon composition, and how different cropping can produce an entirely different feel to the resultant scene, so, if you want to talk about that, please do! I don't think I have any post starter comments for that discussion, though, beyond the examples in iconization. And thank you for bearing with my formatting editing; have a yoga instructor Ye Zun as compensation.

Comments

[extrapenguin]

Do what I did and buy paid time – one gets 100 icons! Or just buy a one-time icon increase, so one has 30 icons in perpetuity. Or become a Guardian-icons-only account and delete all non-Guardian icons? IDK.

Cute baby Shen Wei is the cutest! It seems I'll have to screencap and iconize him more, should I ever make a second icons post.

[asya_ana]

Yeah, I might have to. I have been on DW for 7 years and never once had this problem, and moreover I could never understand HOW people had this problem. lol Joke's on me.

They both look SO different (and so beautiful) with those wigs. It totally transforms their faces and I am 100% on board.

[extrapenguin]

Haha I bought paid time for another reason (polls! supporting DW!) and didn't understand how people could have the problem, but, well. Then I got into a live action canon. Oops. (I think I still have 15 icons only, but, might have to add to that. Perhaps with J'accuse! Ye Zun, or a Shen Wei. Or I'll iconify the scene where Shen Wei reaches out his hand and Ye Zun accepts so it's a .gif, or so it's Shen Wei's hand.)

They both look SO different (and so beautiful) with those wigs. It totally transforms their faces and I am 100% on board.
Ahh yes they do! Zhu Yilong especially looks very different in his Shen Wei garb vs Shen Wei with wet hair vs bb Shen Wei vs Ye Zun wig. And Bai Yu looks much better when one can see his forehead – I did not see the appeal until the hair-parting, lol. (Another thing I noticed is that compared to Shen Wei, Ye Zun's always wide-eyed, and very often :o as well. Even when Ye Zun is pretending to be his brother.)

[asya_ana]

Oh gosh, I haven't even gotten to the scenes in the show where they are in vague!dynasty gear, and I'm so looking forward to it. I'm mostly just staring at gifs and be like...HOW are they the same people. At least Bai Yu looks like Bai Yu + additional gorgeousness. Zhu Yilong OTOH doesn't even look like the same person. I would never have guessed it was the same actor, and even now when I stare at him I struggle to see Shen Wei. You're right though, it is that wide-eyedness in part. I hadn't really conceptualized it like that, but I totally see it.

And also like, I'm just relying on other people's word to believe this is Zhu Yilong:


In sum, they are amazing in period pieces.

[mekare]

HOW are they the same people.

RIGHT? Zhu Yilong is a CHAMELEON. He changes his face so much! Not just when he is one character (you can always always tell what he's feeling as Shen Wei/Black Cloak) but playing three different roles in Guardian. It is excellent.

[extrapenguin]

With Zhu Yilong, he is actually playing a different character for the Ye Zun scenes, while Bai Yu is still playing Zhao Yunlan except with long hair, so of course there'd be a difference in how, well, different they tried to be. Baby Shen Wei is still recognizable as Shen Wei, for instance. (And also adorable.)

Yeah Zhu Yilong is a very dedicated actor – AFAIK he went and gained weight for that role, which of course shows on his face, in addition to the fact that the wig people gave him a different hairline.