katikat | Reading

china_shop posting in

Zhao Yunlan sprawled on a couch, grinning at his phone. The background shows a purply sky with stars. Text reads "Slo-Mo Rewatch. Guardian - half an episode per week @ sid-guardian.dreamwidth.org."

Hi, and welcome back to the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch. Watch half an episode a week, at your leisure, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!

Here are the previous weeks' rewatch posts.

Episode 13, up to 21:44

Summary
Zhao Yunlan & co. break Da Qing out of his frenzy with the help of Lao Li's dried fish. Looking for Tan Xiao, Zheng Yi causes mayhem at the wedding, and Shen Wei arrives and stops it. Zhao Yunlan arrives and intervenes before Minister Gao can blame Shen Wei for any of it, but in fact, Minister Gao is grateful. Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei go head-to-head about Shen Wei's secrets again, neither able to concede. They're called out to the street, where Da Qing and Lin Jing are trying to calm a frenzied Cong Bo. From him, they learn Zhu Jiu and the Crow Yashou have a boss. Zhao Yunlan hints again that he wants to work with Shen Wei, but Shen Wei leaves. Human-form Ya Qing and Zhu Jiu fight in front of Zheng Yi, who just wants her Tan Xiao. Chu Shuzhi stomps through the Snake forest and rescues Guo Changcheng. Tan Xiao has a nightmare and wakes up in the lab, where Zhao Yunlan finds him.

Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei facing off in the Li family's parlour.

Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei facing off in the Li family's parlour.

Quote
Shen Wei: Did I bring you trouble?
Zhao Yunlan: If you are the trouble, I'll take it by the dozen to bother my whole life.

Detail
Ya Qing delivers a message from Ye Zun to Zhu Jiu. Does that mean she's travelled to Dixing as their go-between?

Questions
Dried fish brings Da Qing back to his senses: what would work for some of the other characters? During Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei's standoff in the parlour, who do you sympathise with the most? Is Zhao Yunlan demanding answers in his capacity as chief of the SID or on the basis of their personal relationship? Is it okay for the SID to go around sedating members of the public without first checking their medical histories? What is Zhao Yunlan thinking as he watches Shen Wei leave the alley? (He looks so serious!)

Did you see any parallels in these scenes with other parts of the drama? If you're familiar with the novel, any thoughts about how the drama adaptation compares, if at all?

(As usual, these are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in. We'd love to hear your thoughts!)

And here is our schedule -- if you can, please sign up to host a post!

trobadora posting in

sid_guardian

Guardian Reverse Exchange 2026. Image shows Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan facing each other, gripping the Sundial between them.

Sign-ups are still open for the 520 Day Guardian Reverse Exchange, a multimedia exchange covering the Guardian drama, the novel and RPF.!

This is a reverse exchange with a two-part sign-up process: first you make your offer, and then you choose from everyone else's anonymised offers to make your requests.

General info/rules/schedule

Come and join us - sign up with your offers! Sign-ups are open until 11:59pm UTC on Friday 27 March 2026. (What time is that for me?)

And if you're on Discord, Twitter, Bluesky, Tumblr or elsewhere for fandom, please help get the word out by promoting the exchange there. We have a tumblr post you can reblog, a promo graphic and text on the General info post, or you can make your own.

china_shop posting in

sid_guardian

Poll #34373 Clothes

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 13

View Respondents

How emphatic are your opinions on Shen Wei’s Haixing clothes?

View Answers

Not (clothes are clothes)
1 (7.7%)

Not with a few exceptions (accessories)
0 (0.0%)

Not with a few exceptions (outfits)
1 (7.7%)

Somewhat
2 (15.4%)

Very
6 (46.2%)

Extremely
3 (23.1%)

I will fight you!
1 (7.7%)

I didn't use to, but fandom has made me care
1 (7.7%)

How emphatic are your opinions on Zhao Yunlan's clothes?

View Answers

Not (clothes are clothes)
1 (7.7%)

Not with a few exceptions
1 (7.7%)

Somewhat
5 (38.5%)

Very
5 (38.5%)

Extremely
1 (7.7%)

I've papered my bedroom with screencaps of him in that grey sweater and distressed jeans
2 (15.4%)

What does Zhao Yunlan find sexiest about the Envoy? (check all that apply)

View Answers

mystery
9 (69.2%)

super-strength
5 (38.5%)

other powers
3 (23.1%)

authority
7 (53.8%)

mercy
8 (61.5%)

mouth
8 (61.5%)

eyelashes
7 (53.8%)

those slight, faint-hint-of-amusement smiles
10 (76.9%)

weapon
2 (15.4%)

the fact that Zhao Yunlan's father would strongly disapprove
5 (38.5%)

other (please specify in comments)
1 (7.7%)

Which of these best describes you?

View Answers

I speak/read Mandarin well / It's my first language
0 (0.0%)

I'm learning Mandarin
4 (30.8%)

I'm learning Mandarin because of Guardian
2 (15.4%)

I've picked up a few words
6 (46.2%)

I don't know any Mandarin but I'd like to learn
1 (7.7%)

Don’t know anything, languages are haaard
2 (15.4%)

No Mandarin, but I know (an)other Asian language(s)
2 (15.4%)

Other
1 (7.7%)

trobadora posting in

sid_guardian

What is the 520 Day Reverse Exchange?

General info/rules/schedule post - please go there to ask questions if anything isn't clear.

If you're on Discord, Twitter, Bluesky, Tumblr or elsewhere for fandom, please help get the word out by promoting the exchange there. We have a tumblr post you can reblog, a promo graphic and text on the General info post, or you can make your own.

How do I sign up?

You will find the sign-up form below. Fill in something for each point, giving as much info as you like. All comments are screened so only mods (

china_shop and

trobadora) can see them.

Please read this post, including the 2026 sign-up form, fully before you sign up. You will need to check back at this community between Saturday 28 March and Friday 3 April to make your requests. This sign-up form is the first of two steps.

Sign-ups are open until 11:59pm UTC on Friday 27 March 2026. (What time is that for me?)

What happens next?

On Saturday 28 March, mods post the info from the sign-up forms as anonymous participant ads on this comm.

You choose 3 ads from the list and make a request for each. (We'll remove each ad from the list when we've received 3 requests for that offer.)

Mods assign one of your requests to the relevant writer/artist/creator.

You receive one request made for your offer. This is your assignment.

The sign-up form

( under the cut! )

All comments here are screened (i.e. only visible to mods). If there is a problem with your sign-up, for example if you've missed any important info, we will reply to your comment or email you to sort it out.

Go forth and sign up!

Current Mood: excited

trobadora posting in

sid_guardian

520 Day Reverse Exchange General Concept

As the name says, this is a reverse exchange, also known as a Choose Your Writer/Artist/Fanwork Creator exchange. Instead of making your request and that request being assigned to a writer/artist/fanwork creator, here:

You sign up with the kinds of things you enjoy creating - media, ships, tropes, etc.

You choose three writers/artists/fanwork creators based on anonymised ads, and you make a request of each of them based on what they enjoy creating and what you want to receive.

You are assigned one request to create for, based on your offers.

You receive a gift from one of the creators you chose.

The 520 Day Reverse Exchange covers the Guardian drama, the novel, and real person fanworks about the actors. You can offer and/or request fanfic, fanart, icons, vids, podfic, meta, a remix of an existing fanwork, or fanart for an existing fanwork. Or any combination of the above! If there are other media you'd like to offer, please discuss with the mods by commenting on this post.
(Note that meta will need to be sufficiently transformative to meet AO3's rules, i.e. not simply a collection of canon facts.)

Hopefully this means you get an assignment that fits you like a glove, and just the gift fanwork you're looking for!

Participants who are under 18 must request and offer works rated General or Teen And Up only.

( How it all works )

( Schedule )

( Promotion )

Any questions? We're here to answer them. Ask in the comments to this post!

mark posting in

dw_maintenance

Happy Saturday!

I'm going to be doing a little maintenance today. It will likely cause a tiny interruption of service (specifically for www.dreamwidth.org) on the order of 2-3 minutes while some settings propagate. If you're on a journal page, that should still work throughout!

If it doesn't work, the rollback plan is pretty quick, I'm just toggling a setting on how traffic gets to the site. I'll update this post if something goes wrong, but don't anticipate any interruption to be longer than 10 minutes even in a rollback situation.

china_shop posting in

sid_guardian

Poll #34345 Sang Zan's cave, naming the Hallows, and Zhu Jiu's revenue stream

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 15

View Respondents

Who else has found their way into Sang Zan's pillar cave in the last hundred years (assuming another entrance)?

View Answers

Da Qing (he doesn't remember)
8 (53.3%)

a family of hibernating bears (they had very strange dreams)
12 (80.0%)

Wu Xie, Zhang Qiling, and Pang Zi
8 (53.3%)

Jill Pole, Eustace Scrubb, and Puddleglum
3 (20.0%)

Gollum
5 (33.3%)

other
2 (13.3%)

When Ma Gui and Fu You created the Hallows, why did they call them "sacred"/"the Hallows"?

View Answers

hubris
4 (26.7%)

psyops
2 (13.3%)

the inventions turned out a whole lot more powerful than expected, and they named them as a warning
10 (66.7%)

the Hallows announced how they wanted to be addressed, singularly and collectively
4 (26.7%)

other
1 (6.7%)

How does Zhu Jiu pay off the fight club manager/afford his visits to the hair stylist?

View Answers

Dixing currency/gold
5 (33.3%)

busking
1 (6.7%)

part-time job in the service industry (he’s always late, but no one dares dock his pay)
2 (13.3%)

he mugs ordinary people
7 (46.7%)

he mugs muggers (not on principle; it just cuts out the middle man)
10 (66.7%)

he has a Givealittle and/or Patreon
2 (13.3%)

other (please specify in comments)
1 (6.7%)

Guardian the drama is

View Answers

glorious, oh my heart!
10 (66.7%)

the gift that keeps on giving
11 (73.3%)

shut up, it’s perfect!
8 (53.3%)

the fandom is also made of sparkles *blows kisses to everyone*
10 (66.7%)

LOLLIPOPS FOR ALL!!
10 (66.7%)

don't be dull, be fannish

Reading

Navigation

Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 13, part 1

Sign-up reminder: 520 Day Reverse Exchange 2026

Poll: Opinions on clothes & other things

520 Day Reverse Exchange 2026 Sign-Ups Part One: OFFERS!

What is the 520 Day Reverse Exchange?

How do I sign up?

What happens next?

The sign-up form

The Eighth Annual Interdimensional Haixing-Dixing 520 Day Reverse Exchange

520 Day Reverse Exchange General Concept

Performing some traffic maintenance today

Sang Zan's cave and other poll questions

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