Gillian is a female character in the domestic animation "Divine Soldier" series. She is a young general of the Divine Soldier of the Jade Island Country, one of the pilots of the Nuwa Starship, and the elder sister of the Spirit Sword Twins. She has long purple hair tied into a high ponytail, and often appears with her sister and Zijian Beast when the protagonist Nangong Wentian and his party are in danger.
Gillian has a mature and stable personality, and often serves as a think tank and navigator in the team. For me and many of the viewers of "Soldier Boy", she is a likable and impressive character. But for a long time, we didn't know her name was "Gillian" - her name was never revealed in the anime this story. In the original comic book "Divine Soldier Xuanqi", there is her prototype "Murong Jiao", but because the animation changed her father to a sect master with an unknown surname, this name is also untenable; most of the time, everyone calls her and her sister "Spirit Sword Twins", she is the "sister of the twins", and sometimes, a name is used that is rumored to be in itself.
Gillian in "The Divine Soldier".
What's the name of this character? A lot of people, myself included, don't really care about that. "Divine Soldiers" premiered on CCTV Children's Channel in 2007 and was once very popular among teenagers. But 16 years later, very few people are still paying attention to this work. What's more, Gillian is not the protagonist of the story, she is just a supporting character with a limited number of appearances, an "unpopular character".
But now, many people remember this work and this character again, and they also know her name for the first time - Gillian.
The cause of the incident is a small thing.
perimeter
It was a "life-changing" day, as Jim put it. After liking and drawing Gillian for 3 years, Jim finally bought this merch: a toy produced before 2008 called "Divine Soldier Commander Spirit Sword Twins (Sister)" - also the toy of "Gillian" that she had in mind, although this official merch also does not have Gillian's name on it. The size of the toy is relatively large, and it is very rough from the current point of view, strictly speaking, it cannot even be called a "figure", it can only be said to be a "plastic figure".
But for Jim, it's the best and hardest to find of all Gillian peripherals. She has an obsession with Gillian, so she wants to collect all her merchandise: the non-sale figure that comes with the book, the small vinyl doll in a bag, the medium doll in a box, and this "collector's edition" large doll. "Relatively speaking, this [doll] is the largest in size and has better workmanship, although it still requires a thick fan filter. Jim said to me.
It's very difficult to buy an old domestic animation merchandise.,Or rather,It's a problem to even confirm what it looks like.。 Jim confirmed the existence of the toy on the packaging of the other characters, and began to search for images—at first only searching for an unavailable prototype image. She continued to search, and finally found a relatively clear picture of the product - it is also the only picture of this toy on the whole network, and now, even this picture can no longer be found, only Jim has preserved.
The picture that Jim searched for at the time
Despite the physical drawings, Jim was unable to get the toy, and she tried a lot but got nothing. In the past 3 years, she has searched for many domestic trading websites, well-known and unknown, but there is no result. She went to the old campus, which had been open for many years, large and small toy wholesale cities, and scattered second-hand toy stores, rummaging for toys at the bottom of the boxes in the store, and turning all the way from her hometown to the university. The company that produced the toy was in Shantou, so she went to work in Guangzhou after graduation and continued to search.
Jim even planned to join the company that produced the toy, and really chose toy designer as a career. "I thought that one day in the future, I would work in this company and find an opportunity to rummage through their warehouse, so I would find this Gillian toy. The company that produces this toy is called "Huawei Toys", and there is very little relevant information on the Internet, and there is no public recruitment information. Jim thought that he might have to work in a small studio for a while, wait for a few years of qualifications, and then go down to Huawei to ask if they could accept it.
Jim, on the other hand, never gave up searching online. In the past few years, she has habitually searched for keywords on Xianyu every day, arranging and combining "Divine Soldier Boy", "Gillian" and "Spirit Sword Twins" to see if there are any private sellers selling this toy. This incident does not need to be reminded by anyone, and it naturally integrates into life, "like having to eat at the point".
That's how it happened, one day, she used to click on familiar software to search, didn't have too much hope, and casually browsed through it - and then saw the item.
Jim still remembers her mood at the time, she was trembling all over, and took a picture for the first time, "I usually don't talk to send voice messages to my good friends." The seller had a dispute with others before, and she swiped a related post, in which a buyer accused the seller of sitting on the ground and asking to bypass the platform to use WeChat payment - the product that had the dispute was this Gillian toy, which was increased from the initial 25 yuan all the way to 160 yuan. Jim couldn't help but start thinking: what if the seller is a liar? What if he doesn't want to go with me? What if he also goes with me layer by layer?
"Even if he really wants to trade on WeChat, I can only go on it. Jim stressed, "Money is a small thing, toys are a big thing." That night, she thought about it all night, and she calculated that if the other party increased the weight, she would follow at most two or three thousand, "At that time, I only had this money in my hand." ”
However, things did not take such a turn for the worse. The seller sent the goods early the next morning, and after 3 days of waiting, Jim got the toy.
This toy is placed alongside other merchandise from Jim's collection
The transaction price of the toy was 160 yuan, and after receiving the actual product, Jim transferred an additional 160 yuan to the seller. She said that she was actually a person who was a little cold to strangers, but she was so excited that day that she couldn't help but say a lot more:
"Brother, you really changed my life, you don't know how much I like Gillian and how much I want this box of toys. ”
"Because I like it, I have been painting Gillian for 3 years. You can know that her name is Gillian, and it's also because her encyclopedia was written by me, and her name doesn't appear in the animation, so many people don't know, and it's also me who popularizes science everywhere, so everyone can call her Gillian well. ”
Jim's words to the seller
There was only one "good" word in reply, and after calming down, Jim also felt a little embarrassed, but she didn't take it to heart. But she didn't expect that on November 25, the seller sent her another message - "He posted my story on Douyin, and it became popular." ”
Soon after, this video was screenshotted and reposted on Weibo, and many people told the story of themselves and their favorite unpopular characters in the comment area. More people were surprised to find that they also had an impression of this character and had a good impression of this smart and mature sister, but they never knew that her name was "Gillian".
Jim himself retweeted the Weibo: "If a person is forgotten by everyone, it means the complete death of TA, so I will keep drawing and painting - the stage of the Spirit Sword Twins is created by me alone." I can be found on most platforms, and it is my duty to promote the Spirit Sword Twins. Don't worry about me, just remember the Spirit Sword Twins. Then he added in the comment section, "My reason tells me that it's too crazy to do this for a virtual character - but I just can't help it." Don't learn, everyone. ”
One month after the incident, the other night, Jim changed his profile on the creative platform back to the way it was - a fiercely swear against those who gave Gillian Lalang (referring to the combination of two characters who did not intersect into a pair of CPs) - she explained this: "I feel that the Internet celebrity experience card has expired, and I can be myself again." At around 2 o'clock in the morning, she sent me a message: "I remembered one more thing, in fact, I was not welcome in the small circle of "Divine Soldiers". ”
However, this passage was quickly blocked by the platform's censorship. In the past two days, Jim changed his profile to another sentence: "Since you are in the cold circle, turn it into a campfire." Melt the ice for her. She exclaimed to me, "Woohoo, that's cool!"
name
If you look at the encyclopedia pictures of all the characters in "Divine Soldier", you may have a strange discovery: Gillian and the related pictures of the Spirit Sword Twins are far superior to other characters in terms of number and clarity, and even not inferior to many popular characters at the moment. The reason for this is that these illustrations have long been redrawn by Jim by collecting peripherals.
Jim repaints Gillian
Gillian and the Spirit Sword Twins encyclopedia entries, even now, Jim will "patrol" from time to time to ensure the accuracy of the content, especially the name. "Now that it's suddenly popular, many people feel that her name is Gillian, and popularizing her real name has always been my purpose. Previously, the term was a mess of things, with a lot of unknown content, until Jim couldn't take it anymore and started writing his own revisions.
Gillian has a name that has been widely misunderstood, "Zong Mengling". Jim resented the rumored name.
The name "Dream Spirit" first appeared in the character card attached to the Little Golden Monkey Crispy Noodles, but in fact, the manufacturer of this Crispy Noodles has not been officially authorized. On the character card, not only is the pinyin of "Dream Spirit" written as "Ling Meng", but the vertical painting is also pieced together - the head and left hand directly copied 2 different official pictures, the red dress and the right leg are all wrongly drawn, according to the details of the right hand, it can be seen that the whole picture is "tracing". But despite this, it has become a childhood memory for many people. At the beginning of Jim Kopp's "Gillian", some people always asked suspiciously: "I remember this character, isn't she called Dream Ling?"
At that time, there were quite a few mistakes in the "character cards".
"Zong Mengling" is a derivative of this basis, "Zong" refers to the title of "suzerain" of the twin fathers, and was later used as a surname on the twin sons, which was once more widespread and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people than Gillian's real name. When Jim himself first learned about the character, he mistook it for Gillian's real name, "and the more he thought about it, the more angry he became".
"Very disrespectful to Gillian. Jim said, "You're the first person to use that name, you're damned." ”
And the real name "Gillian" comes from the research of Jim and other fans. For this reason, Jim specially wrote an article """Gillian" or "Dream Spirit"? The Research of the Real Name of Sister Gemini", which tells the process of their restoration of Gillian's name: everyone first found the name of Gillian's prototype character in the original work "Murong Jiao", combined with the name of the sister in the animation "Asha", and preliminarily speculated that "it is very reasonable and logical for my sister to be called Gillian"; Later, some netizens got a reply from the screenwriter of "Divine Soldier 3", confirming the accuracy of the name "Gillian"- Although this season's animation has been full of twists and turns in the production process, it will not be launched until the summer vacation of 2024.
"Because the name is not mentioned in the animation, many people don't know, she is called 'Dream Spirit', I didn't care at first, but then I liked it to a certain extent, and I felt that I had an obligation to do something for her, so I promoted it while popularizing science. Like I said – being forgotten equals death. Jim said, "In fact, I can't say that I like Gillian, let alone that I love Gillian, I have deeper feelings for her, which can be said to be an obsession." I had to do something for her. ”
Compared with other characters in the hit "Little Soldier" that year, Gillian is a character with a lot of scenes, but a little flat, which may be one of the reasons why she is "unpopular".
She is mature, smart, calm, and has almost no shortcomings, and has been silently helping the protagonist Nangong Wentian and his party, only when facing the demonized father, she briefly showed her indecisive side, and it can even be said that she is "too perfect". Many of the characters in "The Warriors" have a "personal return" (referring to a separate drama episode that revolves around a certain character's main plot), and they will all show their flaws in some aspects to a greater or lesser extent in their personal return, but Gillian does not have her own personal return. She became the sensible character, but she was often ignored intentionally or unintentionally.
"When I was a child, I saw Gillian in the animation, and I have been interested in this mature and sensible character since I was a child, and I have always been thinking about it. Jim still remembers Gillian's first appearance, which is also one of her favorite animated scenes, in which Gillian folds her hands on her hips and frowns slightly, "It's very sassy, I like it." ”
Gillian makes her first appearance in the anime
"(Everyone) likes mature and sensible people, but a full role will not be summarized so easily, but it's a pity that Gillian is summarized like this. Jim said. Even if she is also a Spirit Sword Twins, her sister Asha's personality is more lively and prominent, and she also has her own personal back, and her popularity is higher than that of her sister Gillian. "I really hope that the screenwriter of the year can give Gillian an episode of personal reply, so that we know that she also has shortcomings. ”
In real life, Jim has relatively enlightened parents, and on the premise that she can support herself, there is no control over her hobbies. She has been obsessed with painting since she was a child, since she was a dormitory student in junior high school, Jim is a loner character, rarely relying on others, she has many netizens, and she is famous in the field of painting that she is good at; now working as a toy designer, she also adapts quickly and is familiar with the road - to some extent, she never needs Gillian, but without her, maybe Gillian will "disappear".
"Gillian has never been my spiritual support, painting is, if I can't paint one day, I will kill myself on the spot. Jim explained to me, "From this point of view, I am a very realistic person, but Gillian needs me." ”
In recent years, in order to find more evidence of Gillian's name, Jim bought a lot of official illustrated books and formula books in the early years of "Divine Soldiers", and finally she finally found the introduction picture printed with "Sister Gillian" in the "Divine Soldiers and Junior Battles Big Illustrated Book 4" published in September 2008. She happily updated in that research article: "It has been confirmed that in the official illustrated book published in 2008, it has been stated that my sister's name is Gillian. For 2 words, I bought 8 books, which is worthy of me. ”
wrath
In the circle of "Divine Soldiers", Jim has some very "hated" people. These people have one thing in common: they believe that Gillian and several other characters from the original are CPs (pairings), even though they don't know each other at all. In Jim's view, this is "unforgivable" and "rumor-mongering is the original sin".
From time to time, she openly expressed her opposition to these people. She won't go to the other party's comment area to quarrel, but it has been written in the introduction. Because of this, she also felt the dissatisfaction and exclusion of the "other side". But Jim doesn't care, she can't get used to these people at all, and even has some resentment, "(They) purely treat Gillian as a tool to satisfy their desire to 'knock CP'." Especially the name - the name "Zong Mengling" was first spread through those fandoms, and these people, "they (to Gillian and Zong Mengling) all accept it, you see, to them the name actually doesn't matter." ”
Jim is still most concerned about Gillian's "name", "the right name, the real name", which is too strict and faintly aggressive. She described herself as "teaching" on the Internet, and someone casually said: "(Gillian) is surnamed Zong, isn't the sect master called the sect master in "Divine Soldier General"?" Jim immediately replied: "Gillian is not surnamed Zong, change her name quickly, and the sect master is just a title." According to what you said, the Lord of the Heaven and Earth Alliance is surnamed Tian, and the Xuantian Evil Emperor is surnamed Xuan. It's a very serious matter, but don't be ashamed, especially if you're using my painting as your avatar. ”
Jim's real name in online science popularization
Similar situations have occurred several times in the past few years. I can probably understand what she's doing, but I have some doubts: what does a character's name — the correct name, the real name — mean? If a person remembers the name "Dream Spirit" but also likes the purple-haired girl with a high ponytail in his memory, is that person's liking worthless?
"It's wrong at the root. Jim replied, "Actually, I have very low requirements for people who like Gillian, don't spread rumors, just know what her name is." "But a lot of people can't do that, or rather, don't care about it. In the past 2 years of her popular science, basically no one will really argue with her over a name, and she often quickly obeys - "listen to you, my single pusher".
"Because no one cares about the role, it's the underdog. Jim said, "If there is a fan like me, she will not be called 'Zong Mengling' for 15 years." ”
That's right
Under the "Sword Twins" and "Gillian" tags on the Lofter platform, Jim's work is featured on every page. Jim told me that when she first fell in love with Gillian, she had a strong sense of pity for her: "It was because she (Gillian) was extremely low in popularity and didn't have fanfiction. Later, she changed this situation through her own efforts by painting a lot. At the end of 2021, Jim posted a post, "In the future, if no one produces food for the Spirit Sword Twins for 7 days in a row (creating fanart), then I'll draw one." The fire will not be extinguished, for I will be firewood". This is also her consistent publicity strategy: "Regarding publicity, it is to send my own works everywhere, impress others with absolute numbers, and let others create them, usually this is a 1 in 10,000 chance, but I will also work hard for this." ”
Jim has drawn Gillian and the Spirit Sword Twins
On August 23, 2020, Jim drew her first Gillian art, which was a normal scale (non-Q version) illustration. And now, she can almost perfectly restore the original painting style of "Little Soldier", "Unlike others who do whatever they want, I will be very good at how she should draw various details, how big the painting is, how long the painting is, and what color to paint." ”
Just like those pictures redrawn by Jim in Baidu Encyclopedia, they are consistent with the original painting in all aspects, with brushstrokes, coloring, head-to-body ratio, and even the slightly wider shoulder drawing method that is not very popular now, without any personal color, completely faithful to the original. But in fact, there is a slight fallacy in these pictures - in her painting, Gillian's soles are red, and in the original work, although they look very close to the naked eye, a closer comparison will show that Gillian's soles should be pink.
Jim considers herself to be the type of person who "thirsts for the answers to the universe", and her favorite thing to draw is iron - mecha, and it is this quality that makes her a leader in this area, she can draw specific mechanisms, every part of the steel is logical, and every structure is connected in accordance with the law.
"I am a person who pursues and believes in the truth, and I believe that there is a single and definite answer to many things. Jim said to me. Just like in the case of Gillian, she has always believed that she is the "right person".
It wasn't until May last year that Jim discovered the fallacy of coloring the soles. This was the moment when her "faith collapsed." There is no excuse for this fallacy, it is not a mistake in the original painting, it is not due to the fading of old pictures, but simply "drawing it wrong". In the original painting, the shadow color of Gillian's sole is very similar to the basic color of the red dress, and the edge of the gloves is also red, which makes it easy to mistake people for the bottom of the skirt is also red.
In short, Jim drew wrong, not only for nearly 3 years, but even with other people - "Those who were led by me to draw Gillian, "The Divine Soldier" is already a distant memory for them, (when painting) It is more convenient to refer to my drawings than to take screenshots in the play. "The red soles became a collective mistake.
This incident hit Jim hard, "What I have always believed in is actually false, and the efforts of 3 years have been flawed." She has strict requirements for herself: "Since she is committed to popular science, this kind of mistake cannot be forgiven." ”
"I feel uncomfortable looking at my previous paintings. I know a lot of people don't care about this triviality, but I've always been trying to do the 'right thing', and suddenly it's not right. Jim said to me, "I don't know if you have noticed, but I draw the whole body in every picture, because I think the weak stop at drawing the big head, and I want to draw better." ”
Because of this pursuit, that "mistake" spared none of Jim's paintings. She urgently "punished" herself for drawing a page of Gillian's legs, and then posted an explanation to remind others to pay attention to it later and not to draw it wrongly. "As for Baidu Encyclopedia...... My little selfishness, I haven't changed it, this little mistake can be regarded as my signature, proving that I drew this picture. After this incident, she became more demanding of herself.
"It's relieved now, although it's still uncomfortable to see the old paintings. Other people don't care, after all, they don't have deep obsessions like me, but I'm still lamenting that I haven't done enough. Jim said to me.
"What is this obsession?" I asked.
"Draw the right Gillian. "In the early days, there were cases of the wrong color, and then there was a problem with the sole. Now I think I'm pretty much perfect—but it's just a little bit closer, how the hell is the knot in her purple belt tied up? ”
"Probably artistically. She finally said, "I'd love to find out." ”
Gillian's purple belt
oblivion
Some time ago, at a readers' meeting in Guangzhou, Jim met cartoonist Huang Yulang, who is also the chief director of the "Divine Soldier" series. She got a photo of Huang Yulang and Gillian, and asked the other party to sign Gillian's name in the autograph book - "It can be regarded as gilding Gillian, and this time it even slapped the faces of the stupid × who shouted 'Dream Spirit'." ”
Jim described the scene to me: she rushed up, excited, gushing, and emotional, "Mr. Huang Yulang, this is the character in your animated Divine Soldier Junior Sword, the twin sisters are called Gillian, I like her very much for more than 3 years——"
"People, when you are nervous, you will be suspicious of acting, a little, but in fact, it is also from the heart, not to mention that I push (the role I like) is still in his hands, of course, I have to be enthusiastic. Jim said.
Huang Yulang's signature
"And how did he react? Was he moved?" I asked.
"I don't know, he looks completely frozen, the CPU is overloaded, but I don't care to me, seriously, I forgot about anything that had nothing to do with Gillian. Jim said.
Jim said a few more words to Huang Yulang's assistant: "Can you make some toys out of "Divine Soldier 3"?" The other party replied perfunctorily - it will come out, it will come out.
I haven't found anyone to take over the development. Jim complained in his heart, and couldn't help but say: "There are no toys in the second season, it's really not good, it's good to reproduce the first season......"
(Jim is a pseudonym in this article.) ）