Shen Wei Deserves Nice Things...

[trickytricky]

OK, inspired by a sudden random burst of Feelings during a throw-away scene in the Guardian Watch-along of episode 37 tonight... here, have this nonsense!



No, Zhao Yunlan! Bad boyfriend!!!

That kind of terrible, no-good, Wrong thinking is what leads to this!!!!


And why would you make me look at that kicked!Puppy face with these two eyes???!!!

You have NO excuse for this, you monster. You know better!



This man clearly exists on the highest, fluffiest peak of Romantique that it is possible to ascend to...

Just look at him getting all filled with wonder and wistfulness at the sweet thoughtfulness of the gift he passes along to Sha Ya!



LOOK AT HIS FACE


LISTEN TO THAT WISTFUL LITTLE SIGH


Seriously, Zhao Yunlan, you'd better step up your boyfriend game, STAT!

Shen Wei deserves nice things and he deserves to get them from you. You better get right on that.

Comments

[ratbones]

Oh no, you're 100% correct. Shen Wei's little face when Da Qing gets necklace'd and he doesn't! Wahhh! I...I really want to defend Zhao Yunlan, but no, he goofed this one up. *bonks him*

[trickytricky]

"Oh no" is exactly the proper response to that trying-so-hard-to-be-stoic-little-broken-hearted FACE. You truly have a way with words.

DO BETTER ZHAO YUNLAN. WE ALL KNOW YOU CAN, AND WE ALL KNOW YOU'D WANT TO.

[extrapenguin]

Exactly! He wore a piece of literal trash around his neck for YEARS because it reminded him of Zhao Yunlan. Please ply your space alien with gifts; I guarantee he will respond positively to bribery.

[trickytricky]

Is it too much to ask of Fandom-at-Large to produce dozens upon dozens of fics featuring nothing but Zhao Yunlan absolutely showering his earnest, hard-working little space alien with thoughtful gifts? Is it??

Considering that we'd all get to absorb the collective endorphin-inducing buzz that imagining his sweet little duck-head-and-smile reaction as an end-product of said fic-production...

I think not!

[china_shop]

Oh, no, you're so right! I'm generally not a fan of that kind of romanticalness (I'm with ZYL), but if Shen Wei wants gifts, I suppose I really should make an exception... *g*

ETA: Please feel free to link this on sid_guardian, if you'd like to. Meta and shiny picspams and, really, anything Guardian or Guardian-adjacent is welcome there. :-)

[trickytricky]

Right?? I'm the same way about romanticalness, so I 100% feel you, but omg, looking at the pure wonder and wistfulness written all over his face in those seconds when he thinks no one is looking while he took in the lovely and heartfelt gift Sha Ya got... eugh, wow, way to break my heart with acting choices, Zhu Yilong. He'd never in a thousand years actually ask for something like this, but just imagine that moment of absolute joy that would briefly overtake him if someone he cared about took the time and effort to craft something that special and touching just for him.

(I'm imagining it right now, and it's a good brain-place to be.)

[china_shop]

but omg, looking at the pure wonder and wistfulness written all over his face in those seconds when he thinks no one is looking while he took in the lovely and heartfelt gift Sha Ya got.

Yeeah, except (to counter that for just a mo) it's also possible he's rapt at the beauty and scientific marvel of it. I mean, Lin Jing's gift is thoughtful and all, but it also makes Sha Ya say ILU when she isn't ready and says she doesn't feel that way, so there's a hint of coercion there too, which I can't imagine Shen Wei would be on board with?

Which is not to say he doesn't care deeply about gifts and symbols (cf the lollipop wrapper), but I don't know if the Sha Ya gift scene necessary applies. Idk. :-)

[trickytricky]

Hmmm, I get what you're saying. I, too, suffered some strong second-hand 'Oh hell no, I would be deeply uncomfortable myself in that position' feelings during the ring scene with Sha Ya. But I also think there's more than a bit of audience-projection going on if we try to super-impose that feeling onto the characters themselves.

Because like, whereas in that situation, I would have probably reacted with an eye roll and an 'Okay, no thanks then, keep the icky coercive present, I really don't want it enough to say something I'm not fully comfortable with', that's demonstrably not how Sha Ya reacts... she squirms a little, but she is also clearly smiling, and willingly plays along, and is really obviously emoting delight, acceptance, and is deeply touched by the thoughtfulness of the gift. Shen Wei is similar, he's clearly a little uncomfortable in one specific moment, but it's pretty obviously because of the intimate nature of the message he was asked to pass along for her to say, which is why he leans over to whisper it privately rather than boldly announcing it in 'public'... and he's the one who points out that maybe the reason the gift wasn't activating was because she was speaking too softly at first, prompting her to sincerely smile again and yell it out exuberantly the second time because she wants to see what Lin Jing has given her. If he was inwardly cringing about the hints of coercive/uncomfy elements to it, I don't know why he would have proactively prompted her to try speaking louder when she clearly still wanted to activate it, rather than just letting it pass.

TLDR: While I, personally, would have been uncomfortable in that situation and would have rejected a gift that came with strings like that outright, I really don't see anything to indicate that any of the characters actually involved in the scene feel that way about it.

But, hey, that's just my take, I'm certainly not trying to dictate how you interpret it yourself!