Various and Sundries

[lunabee34]

1. I just realized something about Captain Marvel.

So, the first thing Carol does in the morning is wake up at the ass crack of dawn and go pester her boyfriend to do something adrenaline fueled. Which is exactly the story Maria tells about Carol. I love that nothing the Kree did to her fundamentally changed her.

2. Sexy Sci-Fi Heroes Shitpollst Round-up:

John Sheppard wins sexiest male hero; Jack Harkness and Jeffrey Sinclair tie for the write-in category.

Aeryn Sun wins sexiest female hero (with Zoe Washburne in a close second); Kara Thrace and Sarah Connor tie for the write-in category.

Thank you all for answering this poll so symmetrically!

3. Episodes 3-4 of Guardian:

Episode 3

I did not love this episode, especially for its implications that after being raped, Teacher Zhang may as well just go ahead and die. :( I can't decide if they were trying to go for an erotic or a familial bond between Zhang and Yike (?), but I'm glad that Shen Wei saves Zhang and lets them go off together.

Little Guo warmed my heart again. His diary entry where he defines guarding as greater than love and family got me in the feels.

Episode 4

Love Shen Wei getting the best of them all in interrogation. Love that Zhao believes in his innocence. Love that Zhao wants to take him to get a tetanus shot. LOL I will be very surprised if the h/c is not strong in this fandom.

The flashback that Zhao gave Shen his name has us hooked; Emma is just as into figuring out their back story as I am. We both also agree that the facial hair works on flashback Zhao but not Dragon City Zhao. Official confirmation that he's the Black Cloaked Envoy!

Little Guo once again flinging his scrawny body in front of danger. *smishes him*

I think I don't understand the set up of the show. So, Shen is Dixing and so are the rest of the SID except for Zhao who is Haixing? I'm not quite following.

Comments

[kore]

So, the first thing Carol does in the morning is wake up at the ass crack of dawn and go pester her boyfriend to do something adrenaline fueled. Which is exactly the story Maria tells about Carol. I love that nothing the Kree did to her fundamentally changed her.

YESSS

AND ALSO, when Maria is giving Carol shit about "cheating" by getting there first in her Mustang on the day of the explosion, they show Maria beating the other pilot during the dogfight....by taking a shortcut and winding up in front of her. Symmetry!

[lunabee34]

I love that! Thanks for pointing it out.

[kore]

I love the idea of Maria and Carol racing each other in their muscle cars and cheating and fake-bickering about it. Carol was such a speed junkie and risk-taker, it was great.

[goss]

The non-regular-humans:

Shen Wei is Dixing. So is Chu Shuzhi (puppet dude) and Wang Zheng (ghost lady).

Zhu Hong (snake lady) and Da Qing (cat) are animal shifters, and of the Yashou people.

The regular humans:

Zhao Yunlan, Little Guo and Lin Jing (tech dude) are Haixing.

[trobadora]

Wang Zheng isn't from Dixing, though - she's an energy person, but was originally born a normal human.

[lunabee34]

I look forward to getting that back story!

[lunabee34]

Thank you! I'm getting it now. :)

[trobadora]

I think Zhang Ruonan and Wang Yike were definitely implied to be a lesbian couple. (And I'm glad they both survived and got to stay together, too!)

That interrogation scene is such fun! I love it to pieces. :D

(And yes, the h/c is definitely strong in this fandom.)

Hard disagree on the facial hair - I think it's great in the present day. (I love Zhao Yunlan's scruff, and I the actor doesn't look at all attractive to me without it.)

I think I don't understand the set up of the show. So, Shen is Dixing and so are the rest of the SID except for Zhao who is Haixing? I'm not quite following.

There are three species/groups of people: Haixing people (aka normal humans) who live on the surface, Dixing people (generally with mutant powers) who live underground, and Yashou people (shape shifters) who live on the surface but mostly stay away from the humans. Yashou and Dixing are both descended from aliens who arrived via spaceship ages ago. (That's in the opening narration at the beginning of the first episode.) On top of that, there's lots of weird stuff, such as Wang Zheng being an energy person, but that's not a matter of species, just something that happened to her.

Of the main cast, Shen Wei and Chu Shuzhi are Dixing; Zhao Yunlan, Guo Changcheng and Lin Jing are Haixing, and Da Qing and Zhu Hong are Yashou. You'll find out about Wang Zheng's origins later in the show. :)

[lunabee34]

Aha! Okay, I think this is my problem; I misunderstood the opening information. Haixing is just regular human. I had misunderstood the two alien people to be Haixing and Dixing. I see. So regular humans can use the magic powers? I think that's what was throwing me; I assumed Zhao Yunlan had to be an alien because he was using the black smoke power.

Thank you so much for explaining!

[trobadora]

Where did you see Zhao Yunlan using black power? He doesn't - he's a regular human without powers. What he does do on occasion is use an artifact like the Sundial - those can work for anyone.

[lunabee34]

Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought he was using it in episodes 3 and 4. I assumed that he threw the little black smoke trap that caught Shen Wei at the scene of the crime in episode 3. I also thought he threw the black smoke trap that caught Shen Wei in episode 4 when they're walking in the park and Shen Wei goes after the guy who's been trying to be a vigilante.

[trobadora]

Oh! No, that was Zhu Jiu, the purple-haired bad guy Shen Wei is hunting down.

[lunabee34]

Ah, okay. Thanks for clearing that up!

I think I'm on the right page now.

[china_shop]

Aww, I love Zhao Yunlan's facial hair. That was a big draw for me. :-)

Little Guo once again flinging his scrawny body in front of danger. *smishes him*

I know, right? *smishes him too*

(I'm so enjoying watching you watch it. \o/)

[lunabee34]

I am sadly not attracted to facial hair. But I can totally see that he is a very attractive man underneath it! LOL

Emma is so hooked. I haven't posted the last two reviews, but I think we just finished episode 6 with the muggers, and Emma and I have had the most delightful time speculating about how that is going to be resolved.

[mecurtin]

When Bai Yu (the actor who plays Zhao Yun Lan) is clean-shaven, his chin is so large as to be distracting for me. A little facial hair balances it out to perfection, imho.

[lunabee34]

Fair enough.

I tend to like clean shaven more than facial hair, but Zhao Yunlan's little beard/stache combo is growing on me. :)