For science

[branchandroot]

I feel a need to poll Guardian extended fandom about something.



When you look at this image from that hotel photo shoot, your first response is:

Poll #22994 Honestly...

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

View Respondents

My first thought is...

View Answers

Hands, hngh.
5 (33.3%)

Oh hey, bondage.
2 (13.3%)

What's that flower-print thing behind him?
0 (0.0%)

Blue-screen, ask me later
6 (40.0%)

clicky!
7 (46.7%)

Comments

[winter_blossom]

Can I say "none of the above"? ^_^ Because my first thought was, and I kid you not, "Why on earth is Zhu Yilong sitting in a closet while pulling a tie from the bar?" XD (It might not actually be a closet: just that my first impression was of one of those nooks with a sliding door they have in generic hotel rooms to hang up clothes)

But from the given options, I'd go with "hands." Because, yes, those hands are magnificent. Also, the faux-curious facial expression and the artfully-messy hair <3

[winter_blossom]

Why on earth is Zhu Yilong sitting in a closet while pulling a tie from the bar?

And I just now realised that this sounds like the premise for a PWP O_o

[branchandroot]

*snerks* Absolutely. And I'd bet on a closet, because I'm /fairly/ sure the flowered thing is an ironing board. Which I find absolutely hilarious, in between the "good lord, warn a person first".

[edenfalling]

Mine is more like, "What (or who) is he looking at?" because, you know, there's an implied story in that pose and outfit and gaze. :D

[branchandroot]

There totally is, and it's one of the things I find really interesting about his photo shoots; he's so /often/ looking away from the viewer, or facing away even when he's looking, so that it's sidelong. For someone who makes a living being looked at, his body language is commonly very reserved.

[glymr]

Yes! This! I keep thinking about this. Even when he's looking at the camera (and he's usually not) there's a barrier there. tinny posted a whole bunch of ZYL pics on their journal in response to some of my thoughts, in fact.

(There may, at some point, be fic about this concept. Just saying...)

[branchandroot]

*takes a moment to drool over the pic collection*

Ahem. But yes! He's not... forthcoming, on film. Very definite boundaries, that man, which I honestly admire.

[mekare]

That was my reaction too!

[dancing_serpent]

Mine was "is that some five o'clock shadow or just the light?". *g*

[branchandroot]

[cackles] He does seem fairly prone to shadow, unless he's /heavily/ foundationed. Which, to be sure, the more fluffy ads and younger roles tend to do.

[umadoshi]

The whole "has to shave twice a day to stay on top of it" is HARSH, given how much time he has to spend in makeup. Poor lamb.

[branchandroot]

For real, right? I'm honestly impressed by how not-sardonic-and-jaundiced he can be in all those makeup commercials, considering.

[umadoshi]

I honestly wonder why he hasn't taken to epilating or waxing his face, since it just sounds like such a hassle to be constantly shaving. It's not like he has Bai Yu's habit of switching up his facial hair status all the time.

[krait]

My first thought was, "What is he holding?" At first glance it looked almost like someone's tie; the shape wasn't quite right, though, and it didn't line up with his own tie and there wasn't the parts of a figure where a figure should be if the tie was around someone else's neck, and frankly I still don't know what he's holding.

[branchandroot]

To be one hundred percent honest, I think it's the wrap-around strap of some luggage, and the photographer pretty much went "we need something that'll foreground your hand, here hold this!".

You really have to wonder how often, on these impromptu-location shoots, they have to pause for Zhu Yilong to finish laughing and manage to look appropriately serious again.

[ranalore]

To be honest, my first thought was "Cheekbones!" The chiaroscuro lighting plays up his bone structure beautifully.

[branchandroot]

It so does. Admittedly, it's hard to /not/ show that he has amazing cheekbones.

[ranalore]

You speak truth.

[mekare]

I chose clicky, because I couldn‘t stop looking at his face and wondering who he was looking at or who he was hiding from.

[branchandroot]

Some of these shoots really do kind of beg for narrative.