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branchandroot) wrote2019-06-03 05:43 pm
branchandroot) wrote2019-06-03 05:43 pm
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Something must be done
Okay, so we are at the stage in my fanning of Guardian where I need to put in some serious worldbuilding thought. Because the world /as given/ in TV canon makes zero sense of the way Shen Wei responds to Zhao Yunlan. Zero. If I take TV canon at face value, Shen Wei is at psychotic-stalker-levels of emotional and relationship development, and the way he acts the rest of the time contradicts that. (...usually)
So. We need some plausible rationale in here.
1: The entirety of canon is actually a cycle of the whole nightmare sub-plot towards the end. There is, actually, nothing to contradict this, but it leaves me on the hook to decide the /entire/ backstory.
2: Just accept the epilogue and write novel canon instead. A possibility for the future, but the novel canon actually doesn't have much room for ficcing, of the sort that I do.
3: The wormhole timey-wimey bit lasted, not a day, but more like weeks, possibly months. This has the benefit of giving an actual basis for Shen Wei's intensity of response to Zhao Yunlan, but does require some serious hammering of a wedge into canon. Strong possibility, though, since canon is so loosey-goosey about the time issue anyway.
4: A little of column A, a little of column B. Assume that the novel backstory is true for Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei (and likely the Dixingren, how the hell else do we explain a race that can survive with zero, mark it, zero sunlight?). Gods and demons and whatnot are totally historical fact. But! Because of the relative hands-off-ness of supernatural creatures in the last 10K years, humans have decided that there must be a scientific explanation for all this, and feel mythological pre-history should not, /of course/, be taken /literally/. The wormhole bit was, therefore, an illusion produced by Shen Wei in a last-ditch effort to keep his bargain with Shen Nong, and what /really/ happens after wormhole-ending is that Zhao Yunlan has awakened as Kunlun and calls bullshit, and then gods them both out, as per novel ending. So far, I'm most inclined to this one, as the length may show. It has the extra advantage of explaining the weirdness of the whole back-in-time bit--it's because Shen Wei is still not always very good at humaning and had to make this up off-the-cuff. I imagine Yunlan is going to laugh quite a lot over that, in addition to his general indignation.
So. We need some plausible rationale in here.
1: The entirety of canon is actually a cycle of the whole nightmare sub-plot towards the end. There is, actually, nothing to contradict this, but it leaves me on the hook to decide the /entire/ backstory.
2: Just accept the epilogue and write novel canon instead. A possibility for the future, but the novel canon actually doesn't have much room for ficcing, of the sort that I do.
3: The wormhole timey-wimey bit lasted, not a day, but more like weeks, possibly months. This has the benefit of giving an actual basis for Shen Wei's intensity of response to Zhao Yunlan, but does require some serious hammering of a wedge into canon. Strong possibility, though, since canon is so loosey-goosey about the time issue anyway.
4: A little of column A, a little of column B. Assume that the novel backstory is true for Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei (and likely the Dixingren, how the hell else do we explain a race that can survive with zero, mark it, zero sunlight?). Gods and demons and whatnot are totally historical fact. But! Because of the relative hands-off-ness of supernatural creatures in the last 10K years, humans have decided that there must be a scientific explanation for all this, and feel mythological pre-history should not, /of course/, be taken /literally/. The wormhole bit was, therefore, an illusion produced by Shen Wei in a last-ditch effort to keep his bargain with Shen Nong, and what /really/ happens after wormhole-ending is that Zhao Yunlan has awakened as Kunlun and calls bullshit, and then gods them both out, as per novel ending. So far, I'm most inclined to this one, as the length may show. It has the extra advantage of explaining the weirdness of the whole back-in-time bit--it's because Shen Wei is still not always very good at humaning and had to make this up off-the-cuff. I imagine Yunlan is going to laugh quite a lot over that, in addition to his general indignation.
no subject
...crossover might be about the level of what's currently percolating, yes. Or possibly I should just tag it "you don't really think someone that beautiful is mortal, right?".
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Hmm, well. If you're working within the setting of the drama, and using the alien background for Yashou and Dixing, and the only elements you're changing are that supernatural things can happen and Zhao Yunlan is actually a god, I think tagging it "novelverse elements" would be enough, and getting more specific if you want. I'd say use crossover if you're throwing out the alien explanation and using whatever the novel uses for Shen Wei on top of making Zhao Yunlan Kunlun, though. Is that helpful?
They are both ridonkulously beautiful, it's true.
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