rheasilvia | Mark Stewart and the case of the invisible foreigners

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Just happened to look at the first meeting in Ep 1 again (as you do) and noticed something that - no doubt - everyone else has already noticed long ago. Namely:

Mark Stewart??

Chief Zhao's Business Card

Chief Zhao's Business Card

Dude. You are not a Mark Stewart. Take it from me, I know lots of Marks *and* Stewarts.

There appear to be a large number of invisible foreigners in Dragon City given the prevalence of English, and the fact that even a police section chief needs a name that is easily pronounceable by English speakers. How much contact is he expected to have with people who can't speak the language? (Also, so far I have only met Chinese people with alternate first names in English... I didn't realize alternate last names were also an option.)

ETA: Aha! The answer appears to be that the Guardian grapic designer was in a great hurry when adapting Zhao Yunlan's business card from a different show - maybe they were late for their date? ;-) Anyway, I now have a wonderful new headcanon!

Namely: When the Dragon City Police Department had new business cards made, they went with the lowest quote. The graphic designer forgot to change the placeholder text for the English names, and now the entire police department is called Mark Stewart - including the women. Zhao Yunlan, of course, finds this hilarious.

And to increase this post's attractiveness quotient, have some images of the actors looking in-character. ;-)

Bai Yu sexily selling luggage

Bai Yu sexily selling luggage

Zhu Yilong pretty in glasses

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From:

solo

Yep, I noticed that a couple of re-watches ago. :) I have no idea if it's just a common thing in China for important officials, or what it is. Like you I have come across Chinese and Taiwanese people who have adopted English first names, but no idea about surnames.

He's definitely not a Mark. >_<

That is a very very nice pic of Shen Wei...

LOL wait, it also says SDI... fail!

Edited Date: 2019-02-03 02:03 pm (UTC)

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He is so not a Mark. Maybe Lin Jing could be a Mark, but not Zhao Yunlan. :-)

It's a pic of Zhu Yilong, which is why the glasses are a bit different... but he looks so Shen Wei-ish here. I know I am biased, but I honestly think he is prettiest as Shen Wei. :-)

ETA: Chu Shuzhi could be a Mark! I could see that...

Edited Date: 2019-02-03 02:24 pm (UTC)

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I don't know anything about Chinese names, so I wonder if there are real people named Zhao Yunlan? In that case having a fake name on the business card would be the equivalent of US TV shows where the phone number on the business card is always 555-5555 (an impossible phone number) because if they used a real number the people who had that number always got pestered by TV viewers calling them up.

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It is evidently a copy-and-paste fail... which is sad, because there are so many other explanations that would be more fun! My new headcanon is that it is a graphic design fail within the fictional universe, and that every single person in the Dragon City police department bears the English name Mark Stewart on their business cards. ;-)

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I read about it on tumblr - apparently it's some random name used in Chinese dramas? :)

The tumblr post is here:

http://foxghost.tumblr.com/post/181356686893/completely-random-thing-zhao-yunlan-guardian-and

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Haha! Looks like whoever designed that prop just grabbed a default template!

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Hee, that is so odd - although I tend to think the other drama nicked it from Guardian. It looks as though they pretty much copied it. :-)

Thank you for the link!

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popping in here to say SCI was filmed ~1/2 a year before Guardian, so it's the other way around, which is probably why the Guardian ones says S.D.I. They literally just replaced the C with a D and changed the background colour.

*graphic designer facepalm*

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Oh dear. That does explain the SDI mistake - I hope Mark Stewart is at least a better fit for the SCI character who uses it...

But: Maybe this is how it happened in the Guardian 'verse, too. The graphic designer was doing so many business cards that day that they just forgot to change the placeholder for the English names. And now all of the police department in Dragon City is called Mark Stewart, including the women. And Zhao Yunlan finds the entire thing hilarious. :-)

From:

naye

There was a brief round of meta about it on this Tumblr post - apparently other shows also default to "Mark Stewart" for the English name on a business card?

Though I thought it was a very interesting choice of name, had it been deliberate and tied to Zhao Yunlan's character. To save you going over to Tumblr:

As English names go, it’s not a bad one! I wonder if someone on staff actually thought about the meaning of the name? Because if they’d gone to Wikipedia they would have seen:

Stewart is a Scottish surname (also used as a masculine given name) possibly of pre-7th century Old English origin, derived from stigeweard, the genitive prefix stige meaning “hall”, and the suffix weard meaning “guardian” or “warden”. Alternative spellings are Stuart and Steward.

Then Mark has its roots in Mars, god of war - and while Zhao Yunlan isn’t “warlike” at all, he does rather serve as a soldier of sorts…

And of course, English names are ones you pick yourself, so it would mean that Zhao Yunlan himself decided on Mark Stewart. It’s definitely no match for 赵云澜 for sheer poetry, but it certainly isn’t a bad fit?

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Oh, I've only seen the post I linked above, but not that one. That's interesting. And funny. :) But I like your interpretation a lot.

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Interesting! Thank you for the info! :-) It seems the name is only used on two shows that we know of - one of which is copying Guardian in a few ways *g* - so I am wondering: is it really a generally used English name, or did SCI just crib it from Guardian?

I like the etymology approach, although I am not convinced Zhao Yunlan would go in quite that direction - at least not with Mark. As the OP already noted, I don't think he sees himself as war-like; he is a protector.

Also I just have a very hard time seeing him as a Mark. :-)

From:

naye

Just wanted to point out that it's my own meta from Tumblr! I'm for-the-flail on there.

I think Mark is maybe a little biblical... But at least it's better than "Johnny", which is Bai Yu's chosen English name. :/

From:

Oh, I see! I didn't catch that - thank you for clearing it up.

Based on the copy-and-paste mistake, I have now decided on a headcanon for this, BTW: The police department's graphic designer was in a hurry and forgot to change the placeholder for the English names. And now Dragon City's entire police department is called Mark Stewart, including the women. And Zhao Yunlan finds the entire thing hilarious. :-)

Since you mentioned 赵云澜 is poetic, might I ask what it means? This discussion has reminded me that I don't actually know!

From:

naye

Hah! That is brilliant. Do any of them switch it up and go by "Stewart Mark", you think?

赵 is a common Chinese last name - it's the first name in the Hundred Family Surname (note: there are more than a hundred).

云 is the simplified form of 雲, meaning "clouds"
澜 is "billowing" or "swelling water"

Those are just the dictionary definitions, though - you need a native speaker to actually break down what impression the characters all give in context together, and also how there's sexual innuendo buried in them. (I swear I've seen that meta around, but I can't find it right now.)

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Quite possibly! I see Little Guo as more of a Stewart than a Mark, for one. ;-)

That is certainly a lovely first name, although I am somewhat disturbed at the thought of sexual innuendo being hidden in it (his parents chose it for him, after all!). If you do happen to come across that meta again, I would definitely be interested!

I'd come across 赵 in the Hundred Family Surnames before, but unfortunately I still don't know what it means. Perhaps in this case it is more a call-back to the name of emperors, though.

I will probably ask on the comm at some point. Wow, I have so many things stored up to ask on the comm! :-)

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:/

RIGHT? Damn it, Bai Yu, WHY.

(Sorry for butting in here, but I just HAD to. At least Wikipedia has stopped redirecting Bai Yu to Johnny Bai ...)

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Well, as to the why: It does have the considerable advantage of being easy to pronounce for everyone, including Japanese people. I assume Japan is an important market for the Chinese entertainment industry.

Something like Mark (to which the closest approximation would probably be "Maruku" for Japanese speakers) might sound better to English speakers, but would defeat the purpose in Asia.

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I found Stewart quite fitting, though it amuses me that they went to the trouble of making this, but it never shows up in the show at all.

I'm character pics are lovely! Shen Wei's student look? ^^

Edited Date: 2019-02-03 02:23 pm (UTC)

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Really? LOL - I don't know, I suppose there are worse names he could have, but to me Mark Stewart is... just not right for him. ;-)

Shen Wei's student look?

Maybe! :-)

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Damn, those two pictures are great. ♥ ♥ ♥

ETA: Damn, hit "post" too soon.

There appear to be a large number of invisible foreigners in Dragon City given the prevalence of English, and the fact that even a police section chief needs a name that is easily pronounceable by English speakers.

Yeah, that really makes me wonder about the worldbuilding. All this English signage, and t-shirt slogans, and whatnot, but zero people actually speaking it ...

Edited Date: 2019-02-03 02:18 pm (UTC)

From:

Aren't they pretty? I am not exactly unbiased, but I do like it best when those two look like Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei. :-)

The English scattered all around the cityscape is definitely strange. When even the gravestones have English text on them, you would expect there to be an actually noticable need for it! Maybe it's the alien language the Dixingians and Yashou spoke when they first arrived...? And it's just a tradition at this point to keep everything bilingual?

OTOH, I don't find it odd as t-shirt slogans - random English (and Chinese, and Japanese...) words do crop up as decoration on shirts, jackets and various clothing items all around the world. ;-)

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Yeah, I would just shrug off the t-shirt slogans if it weren't for all the English elsewhere, but it just accumulates.

ETA: Btw, you should totally link this on

sid_guardian!

Edited Date: 2019-02-03 03:39 pm (UTC)

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I will link it gladly! Thank you for reminding me. :-)

From:

extrapenguin

Perhaps Dragon City University is a hotspot for foreign students? (Or one of its programmes on the other set of buildings it owns on the other side of the city is, at any rate.) Or it was meant to be a hotspot for foreign students, but foreign students have yet to come and bring funding with them...

From:

Possibly! And/or they might be preparing to burst onto the international scene as a science hotspot. They certainly do have a lot of labs around.

From:

yantantether

I feel like their international office should feature Shen Wei in all their marketing materials: students would be signing up in droves!

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They absolutely would! Especially the female ones. :-) (I just rewatched an ep where *every single one* of the students in his class is female. *g*)

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There are at least two shows that fit the description "When a cop and an academic love each other very, very much and a bunch of occult weirdness goes on around them"...one is called The Guardian and the other The Sentinel. Is there a third to fit the maxim "once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action"?

From:

LOL! You're right, I hadn't even noticed that parallel. Hmm, I will think about it - can't think of a third show right off the bat, but...

So have you watched more Guardian? You did watch the first few eps, if I remember correctly?

(Your icon! *g*)

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Still just 1-3.

I wrote a Blakes7 daemon AU where Avon's daemon is a hare named Aletheia, and she does look just like Durer's illustration.

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I think everybody already said everything I know, but it also made me really want Guardian crossovers with other detective or paranormal canons in other countries!

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YES, where are all the weird crossovers? Guardian would make a great fit for a lot of other shows.

For one thing, it's a natural Highlander crossover. It used to be that every fandom had Highlander crossovers, but sadly they seem to have fallen out of fashion!

(I... did write a short crossover with X/1999, which is at least a paranormal canon...? Maybe I should post it at some point. *g*)

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Ooh, Highlander would be cool! And a lot of buddy detective shows, too.

I don't know X/1999 but yes, totally you should!

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YOU WROTE A CROSSOVER WITH X/1999 AND HAVEN'T POSTED IT YET? WHEN DID YOU STOP LOVING ME

From:

I NEVER STOPPED! I simply hadn't realized you were also an X/1999 fan - how did I not know this??

But you are absolutely right, I should definitely post this. I will get on that tonight, or tomorrow at the latest! :-)

I honestly hadn't thought there was any overlap, and that anyone but me and

solo (who already read it because she betaed for me *g*) would be interested. Do young fans these days even still know X/1999...? *sigh*

Edited Date: 2019-02-05 01:42 pm (UTC)

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I can think of at least one other person who knows both of these fandoms so on behalf of both of us, tag me if you post it lol

You could be a catalyst for bringing the youths into X/1999 with this crossover, you know!

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The English name didn't even ping my radar, it's so common for Chinese people to have alternate English names. Everyone learns English, and when they do, they come up with an English name. Later, I think it gives an impression of sophistication. So, ZYL being an important person, it may have made sense that he would have one.

What's less common is that the last name is also English. I would expect more "Mark Zhao"

Also personally I find the idea that ZYL would think it important for himself to go full English name to impress people is adorable in the extreme and kind of shows his hand *sob*

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For me, the oddness comes from A: the fact that the surname is also different (I have only ever met Chinese people with alternate first names), and B: the fact that the name in question is MARK STEWART.

Because. Seriously. That man is not a Mark. And that man is not a Stewart. :-)

I find the idea that ZYL would think it important for himself to go full English name to impress people is adorable in the extreme and kind of shows his hand

This seems very plausible! Perhaps Mark Stewart is a symptom related to the fact the man drives a fire-engine-red hummer. Maybe his alternative would have been something like Rock Wilder, or Butch Hunter or seomthing. ;-)

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You're absolutely right. ZYL is not a Mark Stewart. LOL

We are so blessed by this show.

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I’m glad you brought this up because I was super weirded out by the English on the gravestone? The 'Come visit Dragon City/art exhibition' posters I didn’t mind so much, I assumed they were for supposed tourists. But I remember the hospital also having English letter over the door . again, could be explained as being for tourists, but I like the idea of the international students too. The university does play a huge role in the series after all.

Re poetry of Yunlan's name, what does it mean? They walk about Shen Wei in canon but Idk anything about Zhao Yunlan?

Btw my obsession has reached the point where I’ve ordered books on Chinese calligraphy, history of painting and the annotated and translated 千字文 . I briefly considered joining a Chinese course which starts next week but chose to go with Tai Chi instead.../headdesk

From:

It really is weird! The gravestones in particular are just bizarre. Everything else could be more or less explained by Dragon City making a push to attract international tourism / university students / scientific research projects - but the gravestones of people like Li Qian's grandmother and the greengrocer's wife...?

Unfortunately, I also don't know what 赵云澜 means! But we will find out. It is bound to be much nicer and more fitting for the character than Mark Stewart. :-)

Btw my obsession has reached the point where I’ve ordered books on Chinese calligraphy, history of painting and the annotated and translated 千字文 . I briefly considered joining a Chinese course which starts next week but chose to go with Tai Chi instead.

Heee! Oh yes, I know how that goes. So far all that has happened to me is that I have a lollipop lying on my desk and am seriously contemplating eating it, even though I do not like lollipops. I expect other symptoms daily... And since I've already taken a course on Chinese calligraphy ages ago, Tai Chi might a good choice for me, too! ;-)

Edited Date: 2019-02-04 12:58 am (UTC)

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and now the entire police department in Dragon City is called Mark Stewart - including the women. At least until new business cards can be slipped into the budget.

*dies* THIS IS THE BEST HEADCANON EVER! I LOVE IT!!!

(And thank you, because I kept noticing that business card too, and wtf-ing?)

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He is just not a Mark! And not a Stewart either! I stand by my convictions. ;-)

If there's a chance at some point, I think I will include the proliferation of Mark Stewarts in a story or two. ;-)

From:

tinny

Muahhahaa! I noticed that too and the promptly forgot about it again. I like this headcanon!

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