30 Days of Guardian

[extrapenguin]

10. Favorite rarepair
Wang Zheng/Zhu Hong! I never expected it to become canon, but absolutely loved all their interactions in the early episodes, and Zhu Hong being all "jiejie will take care of you" at Wang Zheng. Then Sang Zan turned up. >:( However, fic lets us fix undesireable aspects of canon, and I wrote A Cottage Outside the Woods for my ship! (It's a fluffy ficlet.)

But just ... the way Zhu Hong held onto Wang Zheng for the Hanga roadtrip. Catnip for my id!


Of course, we can also argue about what is the definition of "rarepair", or define it differently, or be interested in multiple ones, so, a list of some other rarepairs I enjoy!
Canon: Wang Yike/Zhang Ruonan
Slash: Ye Zun/Zhu Jiu
Poly with bonus debate on the definition of rarepair: Shen Wei/Ye Zun/Zhao Yunlan; let didi have some fun, too
Current canon divergence shiny: Shen Wei/Zhu Jiu
World's worst sedoretu: Shen Wei, Ye Zun, Zhao Yunlan, and Zhu Jiu in any configuration
...but I'm a multishipper at heart, and enjoy most rarepairs I've encountered. 100% willing to chat about rarepairs!

1. Favorite episode
2. Favorite case
3. Least favorite case
4. Favorite Holy Tools arc
5. Least favorite Holy Tools arc
6. Which character would you resurrect?
7. Favorite SID member
8. Favorite guest character(s)
9. Favorite piece of worldbuilding
10. Favorite rarepair
11. Favorite headcanon
12. Least favorite headcanon
13. Favorite main villain
14. Favorite case villain
15. Villain you’d like redeemed or whose redemption you liked
16. Favorite conversation between Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei
17. Favorite Dixing power and/or power you want to have
18. Least favorite villain
19. Least favorite character
20. Most appealing point for a canon divergence AU
21. Favorite character moment
22. Favorite badass moment
23. Favorite soft moment
24. Favorite team moment
25. Thoughts and feelings on the ending
26. Rec a fanfic
27. Rec a vid
28. Rec a fanart
29. Rec a meta post
30. Prompt for a fanwork

Comments

[solo]

I must give the caveat that I only ship the threesome in canon divergence scenarios, not as some post-canon thing.

Ahh, okay. I could be more on board with that - depending on how and when it diverges - though I fail to find it particularly interesting. :)

I don't think he's a psychopath, however.

You're right, I was using the word lazily. IDK what a good word would be. Evil creep? Yes, unhinged is about right, too.

And given that this is Shen Wei's family, Zhao Yunlan would at minimum be perfectly willing to arrange therapy somewhere.

Oh, agreed, even in a post-canon scenario. I just think that's as far as he'd want to go.

Ye Zun and Shen Wei both being bad at boundaries in different ways

Okay, if we're going canon-divergent, I just can't judge how divergent would make this work. I think Zhao Yunlan, given his current position and personality, would make sure that Shen Wei learns about and enforces that particular boundary. I should add that I'm not against incest in fic as such; I used to read Wincest, but in my head that's different. And while Ye Zun is definitely interested in Zhao Yunlan, I don't think Zhao Yunlan would reciprocate the compliment. After all, he has Shen Wei. Why be interested in an inferior version of him?

So basically, if you go canon-divergent enough that some of these issues just don't exist - maybe they are Arctic explorers stuck in a Canadian shack, and Shen Wei is the more reserved and Ye Zun the more outgoing twin and they have to find creative ways to keep warm or not die from boredom - then sure! But the more of the canonical stuff you bring back, the more limited I would personally think the scope for a threesome becomes.

Do you have recs for any canon-divergent 3some fic I could give a try, just to see what I think?

[extrapenguin]

Oh, agreed, even in a post-canon scenario. I just think that's as far as he'd want to go.
I'm pretty sure that, should he know they're brothers a bit earlier/before it's 24/7 crisis mode, he'd at least try to go "Hey so why do you hate your brother, anyway?" at a convenient opportunity to chat.

After all, he has Shen Wei. Why be interested in an inferior version of him?
Fic so far seems to have taken the "Shen Wei and Ye Zun are a package deal" route where they reconcile before Zhao Yunlan meets them. OTOH, there's not that much fic in the first place. I was going to hunt you up some canon-divergent fic to rec, but that doesn't really exist. (Guardian is still a smallish fandom, and most fic output is for the juggernaut.) Instead, have my general threesome rec list:

Haixing-Dixing Interstellar Cultural Exchange Program (series) is setting change AU, but it's space opera, so I can forgive it, and it has hot xeno porn in addition to a nice Ye Zun characterization and generally tries to keep close to canon.

Then there are some WIPs by starandrea – Call us home, we'll be a family, which is the only threesome work that fits your specs, though generally I think an earlier divergence would work better
and Reweave Our Lives, which is post-canon and interesting, though it's sort of on the edge of what I'm buying.

[solo]

Fic so far seems to have taken the "Shen Wei and Ye Zun are a package deal"

Um, perhaps in accepting that Ye Zun is around but surely not in terms of having to have sex with both?

Thank you for the links; I love space opera so will try that, and xeno porn is one of my kinks.

starandrea is one of my favourite writers in this fandom, so I'll definitely try the first link of hers, too.

Maybe the second one day I feel daring. :)

[extrapenguin]

Um, perhaps in accepting that Ye Zun is around but surely not in terms of having to have sex with both?
I mean, I'm talking about the threesome fics; I'm sure the Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & Ye Zun fics will have taken the non-sex route. (And if Zhao Yunlan encounters a pair of hot twins, it's not "Shen Wei and inferior copy of Shen Wei" to his eyes, it's two hot twins with different personalities.)

I'm glad you found the fic recs interesting! For the fic by starandrea, I really recommend reading the first fic in the series first before delving into the one where the threesome is set up.

[solo]

So, while I was sick on my vacation #lifeissounfair I read some of these stories. :)

The The Dixing-Haixing Interstellar Cultural Exchange Program I enjoyed greatly - removed enough from canon, TENDRILS, what's not to like! Ye Zun is kind of... well, he's fun to use as an observer, the kind of snark and brattiness people tend to give him can work well with that. So that was fun.

I also read Reweave our lives, and that went well enough (brattiness, snark, attitude) and I'm just so fond of starandrea's stlye... until I got to the actual sex and that, I'm afraid, was really not my thing.

I'm intrigued by how the idea of what Ye Zun might be like *as a person* under all the insanity seems to be fairly well established in fandom? Or maybe there's an 'annoying little brother' trope people just like?

Will still read the long stories and get back to you! :)

[extrapenguin]

Being sick on a vacation is the worst fate, it is true.

TENDRILS, what's not to like!
Exactly! It is the best. Spaaace!

I also read Reweave our lives, and that went well enough (brattiness, snark, attitude) and I'm just so fond of [personal profile] starandrea's stlye... until I got to the actual sex and that, I'm afraid, was really not my thing.
Wait, the actual sex – where did that happen? Did I miss a chapter? Zhao Yunlan volunteered to be a clothed blanket for Ye Zun, but that's as far as anyone's gotten, save for Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei smooching.

I'm intrigued by how the idea of what Ye Zun might be like *as a person* under all the insanity seems to be fairly well established in fandom? Or maybe there's an 'annoying little brother' trope people just like?
I mean, we do get glimpses of him on several occasions, and there is a baseline that must be maintained? Unless you're diverging from over 10 000 years ago, he's a traumatized mind control victim, so he has trauma and some effects from that. He's also canonically obsessed with Shen Wei and jealous of Zhao Yunlan. I disagree with others over how dramatic and theatrical he is innately vs as a reaction to his mind controlled youth, but, well, we do have things to build upon, and there will of course be an intersection between likely truths and things that appeal to people's ids. Though now I'm intrigued whether you're only basing this on the Ye Zun threesome fics, or all Ye Zun fics in the fandom.

[solo]

Wait, the actual sex – where did that happen?

Huh. Did I read the wrong story in my delirium? I shall investigate!

Must also think more about Ye Zun and what I've encountered of him in fic. It just seemed enough of a baseline that I noticed, somehow.

Will get back to you on this!!!

[extrapenguin]

Neither of starandrea's stories have gotten to any sex yet, so either you misclicked or misread. *g*

[solo]

I'm really, really intrigued now (but not currently in a position to check)! IDK how I'd have misclicked, I didn't go looking for OTHER Ye Zun fic, and yet...

Maybe I had a fevered dream. >.

[extrapenguin]

Maybe I had a fevered dream. >.
Obviously your subconscious ships it now! *g*

[clevermanka]

canon-divergent 3some fic
I just finished FayJay's Guardian Gothic series that (eventually) incorporates a threesome in the part 5 DVD extra. I...really enjoyed it? And I generally avoid threesomes at all, especially when there's incest involved. It wouldn't have worked for me without the ~90k words leading up to the last installment, but the previous four stories sold it really well, imo.

It helped that I have a well-established love of fairy tales and Gothic romance. If those aren't your bag, the series might not work as well for you.