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]