30 Days of Guardian

[extrapenguin]

(Sunday Six/general writing update coming up later today)

13. Favorite main villain
Ye Zun without question! He is unhinged and wants to make the whole world burn to make it pay for the suffering he's undergone. He was also subjected to inhumane conditions (10 000 years confined to a pillar? WTF, Hallows) and raised by an abusive xenophobe, so my personal inclination is to place him in a secure psychiatric facility so he can deal with his shit and reform.

I didn't appreciate him on the first watch (beyond critique of Dixing's prison system), but then I got to episode 40, where he reveals exactly why he hated his gege and – this is the important bit – when told the truth, accepts it, and doesn't try to argue against it or claim he wasn't wrong. (I would be more annoyed at the entire thing being solvable had they spoken to each other, but given that Shen Wei is terrible at communicating anything, Ye Zun's monologues weren't exactly informative, and misplaced revenge was an entire theme of the show, I can let it go.) That, plus the frankly terrible life, means I really want to see him realize he was wrong before he starts blowing up the world. (It would also be hilarious if the SID went on a heist to free Ye Zun from his pillar because Chief Zhao wanted his boyfriend the Envoy to be happy. Plotbunny free to good home!)

He's also very expressive! He keeps smiling, shows his (adorable) teeth, and pouts adorably. Someone give him a cuddle and headpats.


Behind the scenes GIFs that would well fit some reformed Ye Zun AU:



Please forgive the nonstandard aspect ratios, the rewatchalong screencaps haven't gotten to Ye Zun yet so these are just my icon caps:







...and the fanmix-perfect song is Halsey - Control.

I'm bigger than my body
I'm colder than this home
I'm meaner than my demons
I'm bigger than these bones

And all the kids cried out, "Please stop, you're scaring me"
I can't help this awful energy
Goddamn right, you should be scared of me
Who is in control?

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

[jo_lasalle]

I'm not quite as into Ye Zun than you are, but also a lot more interested in him than I ever expected to be. It's been an interesting process having him in a fic initially because "I guess I kind of need him there" and then finding myself liking the canon character more because I kept poking at him in fic. (If you'd told me nine months ago that I'd get myself a Ye Zun icon...)

I would be more annoyed at the entire thing being solvable had they spoken to each other, but given that Shen Wei is terrible at communicating anything, Ye Zun's monologues weren't exactly informative, and misplaced revenge was an entire theme of the show, I can let it go.

I am on the one hand quite annoyed by this, but I think as part of my Ye Zun mellowing process I started looking more at "the gist of what happened with Ye Zun" rather than "how what happens with Ye Zun is presented (which is sometimes not very well written)", and then I end up with more of an emphasis on the "subjected to inhumane conditions and raised by an abusive xenophobe" part.

[extrapenguin]

finding myself liking the canon character more because I kept poking at him in fic
This is a very common path of development! In MDZS, any and all positive sentiment I have for Xue Yang is because I made him the protagonist of a fic. *g*

If you'd told me nine months ago that I'd get myself a Ye Zun icon...
It is a very nice Ye Zun icon. His grumpy expression is very characteristic and also adorable.

I end up with more of an emphasis on the "subjected to inhumane conditions and raised by an abusive xenophobe" part.
One interesting point about Ye Zun is that the people who most hurt him were all Dixingian (plus the Hallows, which are not people), yet he goes after Haixingians instead. The whole raised by a xenophobe bit is ... very apparent.

[clevermanka]

I love that someone else thought of Control as a Ye Zun song! I have a Ye Zun playlist in the works, but it's slow going. I'm only up to six and I would like at least nine songs for a playlist...

[extrapenguin]

I actually first encountered it in the context of an amazeballs Monstress vid that I spent a few days enthralled by. I sort of want to make another Ye Zun playlist just for that song, but I promised myself I'd make solo playlists for Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan first. (I already have a Ye Zun playlist! Brain, please!)

[clevermanka]

I would like to go back to my other two playlists and separate them out into Shen Wei songs, Zhao Yunlan songs, and Weilan songs. Hm. I guess nobody's stopping me...

[phyrry]

As you know, I too didn't have much sympathy for Ye Zun until ep40, and then... oops. I find the conversation he has with Shen Wei in the whipping scene in 38 illuminative, and it's one scene that people don't seem to discuss much (probably because of the uncomfortable context). The whole declarative, "I am the master, you are the slave," thing seems to me like Ye Zun is trying to pass the treatment he was subjected to by the rebel leader onto Shen Wei, who stuck him there (in Ye Zun's mind, anyway).

Meanwhile, Shen Wei's "WTF are you doing" thought bubble finally gets voiced, not that it helps because Ye Zun is so caught up in his own issues. Sometimes I just want to shake them both and make them sit down and talk with Dr. Cheng there to mediate and prompt when they start wandering off into poor communication land.

[extrapenguin]

The whole declarative, "I am the master, you are the slave," thing seems to me like Ye Zun is trying to pass the treatment he was subjected to by the rebel leader onto Shen Wei, who stuck him there (in Ye Zun's mind, anyway).
Yeah. He's ... someone get him to therapy for his issues. Please. Make him communicate with gege!

[maggie33]

I love Ye Zun, mostly because his complicated relationship with Shen Wei is like catnip for my id. And he looks great in white. :)

[extrapenguin]

His complicated relationship with gege is, indeed, very nice. And he does look good in white.

[tinny]

Awesome! Very cool song, too. I never expected to like Ye Zun as much as I did (do).

[extrapenguin]

Ye Zun has all the expressions, which I find good for iconing – so much to choose from!