If Caleb can’t have an evil wizard bf then let caduceus have one!!
GOD the potential of this. I’ve been yearning for Matt to have an NPC get the hots for Cad, and I’ve specifically prayed for it to be some musclebound idiot...and yet I never considered this...
Upon close inspection, this is not Swamp Coat, but a different loose trench coat in Swamp color. What the fuck, Shen Wei! Borrow one of your boyfriend’s coats again, pretty please?
Both times this tunic/coat outfit has appeared on Shen Wei, Zhao Yunlan was wearing this gorgeous tailored denim number, with perfectly fitted shoulders and a nipped in waist. Sigh.
Anyway, Swamp Coat 2.0 is nicer than 1.0, and Shen Wei is wearing it with a with an immaculate super-casual loose white tunic with a band collar, so he looks beautiful even though this ensemble is decidedly meh.
As Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan get closer, Shen Wei’s wardrobe becomes looser and more casual, which is probably good for his psyche so...okay.
In addition to layers of loose fabric, this look features a checkered nosebleed hanky and the angriest face he has ever turned on Zhao Yunlan.
Along with definitely not kissing
(More behind the cut!)
And definitely not having a massive grope session like the last time Shen Wei got between Zhao Yunlan’s knees on this lab table.
Once the anger passes, however, this is a very good look for making out in a taxi with a boy who has excellent taste in coats.
Bonus Look 2: ZY’s Turn to Be Angry
This look belongs to Zhao Yunlan, who is wearing a single soft layer with a wide exposed neck so he can have an intense argument and hand touching with Shen Wei. This is Zhao Yunlan’s at home look, without the extra layer (vest or jacket, in a tough fabric) he always wears except when he’s alone with Shen Wei.
Shen Wei is like, no it’s fine honey, slicing my arm open is just a thing I do so I can eventually die spectacularly. Also I drained my life force for you, don’t make a big deal of it you know I hate when you make a big deal of things.
For once Zhao Yunlan gets to be the overprotective, upset partner in the relationship and also maybe the big spoon for a change. In keeping with his personality, he expresses himself explosively...
...while Shen Wei quietly leaks out emotions like the black smoke leaking from his wrist.
This is Zhao Yunlan without his armor, his swagger, his smile; this might be the only time he is as vulnerable with Shen Wei as Shen Wei (always) is with him.
Look 31
Shen Wei wears his blue double-breasted wedding crasher suit to begin his long, long relationship with this pillar.
This look features chains, more chains, and long conversations with ridiculous smoke effects.
Bonus Look 3 - ZY Rescue Trench
Now THAT is a trench coat. Do you hear me, Shen Wei's Swamp Coats?
Hilariously, we are meant to believe this superbly fitted coat with its itty bitty waist and this perfectly sized gun belt are what Zhao Yunlan took off of this schlubby guard. Zhao Yunlan DOES have magic powers!
This is a good outfit for convincing your lover to give up his relationship with a malevolent pillar and come home with you.
Did I hastily photoshop Smoke Dude out of that rescue picture? I did.
Is this just a gratuitous picture of freshly-unchained Shen Wei looking upset and Zhao Yunlan comforting him? It is. Shout out to all the H/C fans!
Look 32
This look is a grey suit with a white grid pattern, and striped red and blue accent fabric on the pocket and under the collar. This was briefly featured way back in the trauma cake arc. Here Shen Wei is also wearing a fresh cravat in grey tones.
Shen Wei had been wearing a narrower range of outfits lately because he doesn't have enough drawers at Zhao Yunlan's place, so he must have made a brief stop at his apartment to get some more things.
At home with Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei wears this look with a bare face and neck, chilling in his white shirt with the collar stiffeners. I'm going to call them that forever; you can't stop me. Note how the shirt has darts (the vertical seams from his shoulder blades to his waist) so that it fits perfectly across the back.
This is a good look for lovingly preparing fresh fruit for your candy-addicted beloved and then watching him while he sleeps.
Shen Wei’s ass is now chainless, alas, but these trousers are doing yeoman’s werk work.
While Zhao Yunlan sleeps, Shen Wei takes the opportunity to check up on his special pendant necklace that he bought at a bong shop when he was in college.
Back in the full ensemble, Shen Wei is ready to have a haberdashery throwdown with his jerkass father-in-law, who normally has serious game in a plum coat and patterned vest.
Today Pop Zhao has unexpectedly said “fuck it” and worn a brown sweater and beige trench.
Don’t encourage Shen Wei’s boring taste in coats, Pop Zhao!
After easily winning the best-dressed award at tea, Shen Wei accessorizes his look with cheekbones that could cut glass, and his best “oops, busted” face when Zhao Yunlan sees him hanging out with the parent ZY hates so much that he has the same job and facial hair as him.
That leads to a wonderfully layered interaction, in which Shen Wei just kind of stands in front of Zhao Yunlan refusing to engage with his need for control, while Zhao Yunlan roasts Shen Wei for being untrustworthy...and then offers him a ride back to the office.
Guardian is so good at capturing the constantly-fluctuating state of a deep relationship, in which you can be fighting on one level and totally fine on another level; where you’re going to have a donnybrook with your lover but first you’re going to get a decent meal into them.
Skipping!
We’re skipping over the increasingly bloody tee-shirt ensemble that appears in the final episodes. That look says, “anti-gay narrative tropes suck.”
Instead, check out this beauty that Shen Wei wore for one poorly-lit scene early in the show. This is the only time he wears a fully-matched 3-piece suit and he SLAYS in it. And then puts it in mothballs forever.
I guess when you’re wearing an outfit the first time your sweetheart breaks into your apartment and disorganizes your panty drawer, you only want to wear it for the most special occasions after that.
Look 33
After a bunch of unnecessary yet compellingly-acted death, Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan meet up outside of time and space in a Windows 95 screensaver.
[That is a Gen X joke. OP is old.]
Shen Wei’s look for this meeting is the same one he wore the day they met in the modern world - the double-breasted 10-button vest, with arm garters and now also (SIGH) tears in his eyes. Instead of that, here is an infinite loop of Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan talking over dinner in their kitchen, because screw Episode 40.
Look 34
Exiting the screensaver, Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan fall out into the AU of your choice, because they realize that they left the wormhole together last time so it shouldn’t be too difficult to leave it together this time. They can just hold hands while they leave, for fuck’s sake.
In the AU of your choice they get married in these beautiful suits, as seen in Bazaar magazine.
Shen Wei’s look here features tousled hair and the glasses-free look he prefers when he’s with his true love. This is the first black suit we’ve seen him in, and he’s doing fine work in it, particularly with the gold bola thingy he’s wearing at the collar. Zhao Yunlan is so hot here that only Shen Wei dares to touch him.
Look 35
For the beach party they throw for their AU friends and neighbors a month after the wedding, (also courtesy of Bazaar’s photoshoot) Shen Wei chooses this short-legged suit with white canvas shoes, a lovely display of calf and a sprinkling of leg hair.
This look says, I love you forever and I'm pretty sure I can give you a spinal adjustment using only my leg muscles.
Shen Wei has replaced his bong-shop pendant with a tasteful diamond bar necklace, which was an apology gift from Zhao Yunlan after ZY intentionally accidentally set fire to Swamp Coats 1 through 4.
Near his heart Shen Wei is wearing a tie pin (sans tie) that’s made out of a lollipop stick.
Preview
The next post features Shen Wei’s cosplay looks including Black Robe Envoy and Ye Zun!
did I say something way too honest 📝 made you 🏃🏻♂️ and 🙈 like a scared little 👦🏻 I looked into your 👀 thought I knew you 😬 for a minute, now I’m not so sure 🤔
