30 Days of Guardian

[extrapenguin]

28. Thoughts and feelings on the ending
I was mostly detaching from the narrative emotionally to go "oh wow, they added yet another romantic trope!". (I do think I benefited immensely from having watched Nirvana in Fire first – Chinese dramas where the protagonists died and the love stories ended unhappily weren't a huge surprise. Also, I think I was familiar with the basics of a bunch of the greatest Chinese love stories, like the Butterfly Lovers, which end with both of them dying, so.) My reaction to Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan dying was thus "wow, the censors really were sleeping on the job!" and I think I missed some tragedy.

As for the other things – they really didn't explain why the SID had grown and recruited people despite the portals supposedly closing. Did the portals reopen? And Dixing was a trap of misery, according to Shen Wei, which won't be fixed just by fixing the lights; they'd need to overhaul the system. The Regent was hinted as being a major contributor to Dixingians' plight yet was still there at the end of the day. I guess Zhu Hong revitalized the Yashou offscreen. Guo Changcheng's blind date was just bleh, just like the rest of him.

The bit I liked most was Ye Zun's post-death scene where he reconciled with Shen Wei, because that recontextualized pretty much all of his actions, and a villain who does things out of abandonment issues (plus being left to stew in them for 10k years alone) is much more interesting than a villain who does things for the sake of being evil. The pendant reveal was also heart-stabbing.

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 minor character relationship
15. Villain you’d like redeemed or whose redemption you liked
16. Favorite conversation between Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei
17. Favorite bit missed on first watch but picked up on rewatch
18. Least favorite villain
19. Least favorite character
20. Most appealing point for a canon divergence AU
21. Sluttiest dresser award
22. Favorite science moment
23. Which two characters who didn't meet should have, and how might that scene go?
24. The one thing you most wish they'd expanded on because it was a cool idea and needed more details
25. Favorite point of characterization
26. What Dixing power do you wish would've existed in the show?
27. What minor plot arc should have gotten another episode, and why?
28. Thoughts and feelings on the ending
29. Favorite interpretation of why the Hallows do the things they do
30. Favorite unanswered question (and what you want the answer to be)

Comments

[clevermanka]

Chinese dramas where the protagonists died and the love stories ended unhappily weren't a huge surprise. Also, I think I was familiar with the basics of a bunch of the greatest Chinese love stories, like the Butterfly Lovers, which end with both of them dying, so.
That's how I expected to react (I even spoiled myself specifically for this show) and I still cried Real Actual Tears. I was shocked. My partner was so taken aback he demanded to watch the show just to see what could have affected me like that and now we're a third of the way through my third time, his second.

[extrapenguin]

Yeah, different stuff affects different people differently. I'm generally not a crier (save for Nirvana in Fire); my reactions tend more towards book hangovers. Though I must say your recruitment methods are admirable! *g*

[clevermanka]

The only way I ease my emotional pain is by spreading it around as much as possible. =D

[extrapenguin]

Ah yes, sadism as a coping method. I approve! :D

[clevermanka]

[jo_lasalle]

The pendant reveal was also heart-stabbing.

I sometimes forget how very very late we really got the explicit info on what was in the pendant. Oh, Shen Wei, honey.

and I think I missed some tragedy.

That's interesting - I can totally see a lot of your points re: flaws, and yet I was absolutely riveted (and traumatized). I have a much better reaction to the ending now but that'll have to wait until the question comes around for me on the meme...

[extrapenguin]

I sometimes forget how very very late we really got the explicit info on what was in the pendant. Oh, Shen Wei, honey.
Same. The show really was good with some of the suspense-reveals and introducing things early on.

I mean, first time around, I didn't pay that much attention to the flaws, as I was too busy boggling at how much they got past the censors. *g* The flaws are obvious in retrospect, but the sibling reconciliation and pendant toss scene was amazing from first watch onwards.

[phyrry]

Yeah, I was also not at all surprised by the ending, between spoiler gifsets and a basic grasp of tropes. On my first watch, I was pretty disappointed by all the loose ends - Dixing just got locked away forever, so what's the point of SID? The Yashou meeting was cute but I'd rather have something with actual information beyond 'Zhu Hong plays diplomatic tea party, everyone smiles.' Etc. etc. etc.

The brotherly reconciliation was great - it did a total 180 degree turn on my opinion of Ye Zun, although there was a fair amount of screaming at my screen over 'WHY COULD YOU NOT TALK TO EACH OTHER'. And the pendant was both sad and a lightbulb moment - sometimes I just want to wrap Shen Wei up in fluff and submerse him in kittens until he stops being so tragic.

The closing wormhole scene was a great kickoff into fixit fic, and there were a lot of untied plot threads to play with, so overall, I'm quite satisfied with it from a fannish perspective. And they did do a lovely job with all the fake blood.

[extrapenguin]

The brotherly reconciliation was great - it did a total 180 degree turn on my opinion of Ye Zun, although there was a fair amount of screaming at my screen over 'WHY COULD YOU NOT TALK TO EACH OTHER'.
Yup, same. They should've talked to each other and had an actual conversation, even if they're both canonically bad at it.

I just want to wrap Shen Wei up in fluff and submerse him in kittens until he stops being so tragic.
Braintwins! Da Qing can pile kittens on top of him until he stops running away and Zhao Yunlan can ruffle his hair appreciatively.

And they did do a lovely job with all the fake blood.
My biggest complaint is that they didn't get more fake blood for Zhu Yilong to cough. Surely we could've done with a scene of Ye Zun coughing up blood? Or even more Shen Wei aesthetically hacking up blood?