starandrea: (beach heart)
starandrea ([personal profile] starandrea) wrote in [community profile] sid_guardian2020-03-06 08:52 pm

Focus on Lin Jing: Villain or hero?

Lin Jing in Episode 1





Lin Jing is a monk in the novel, and a scientist in the drama. The novel is based on a creative interpretation of folk religion, where the world is filled with magic and supernatural beings. The drama is based on a creative projection of scientific discovery, where the world is filled with aliens and advanced technology. Lin Jing’s character fills the same role in both: he’s the expert in the foundation of their world, the one with answers to whatever questions they face.

Zhao Yunlan: “三年. 三年啊! 你一直都在装吗?” (“Three years. Three years! Were you pretending the entire time?”)
Lin Jing: “有些是. 有些不是.” (“Sometimes yes. Sometimes no.”)

Like many of the Guardian characters, Lin Jing is morally ambiguous at best. Like Chu Shuzhi, Sang Zan, Wang Xiangyang, and Sha Ya, he’s portrayed as both a criminal and a hero, sometimes at the same time. Like Zhao Xinci, Ya Qing, Cong Bo, Professor Ouyang, and Minister Gao, he justifies his actions as a means to an end. He questions Zhao Yunlan when he tries to separate those who are with the SID from those who are against it. “If not loyalty, then betrayal?” Lin Jing asks. “Is it really that simple?”

Lin Jing in Episode 40





In the final showdown with the Haixing government and the Dixing rebellion he chooses a side, but it’s never clear that he chooses the SID because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. Instead he refers to his relationships with the team as the best part of his life, arguably joining them instead of joining their cause. This is consistent with the majority of Guardian characterizations, driven as they are by their relationships as much as (if not more than) their morality.

Lin Jing: “我,林静, 生是特调处人死是特调处的尸体. 值了.” (“I, Lin Jing, lived for the SID and I died for the SID. It was worth it.”)

Questions about Lin Jing

1 - Is his character more often a hero, a villain, or a neutral force for progress? He helps and he hinders, but his most consistent contribution is technology (or magic, depending on the narrative).

2 - Is he human? He never self-identifies, nor do the other characters label him, aside from Xiao Guo comparing him to an alien from Dragon Ball Z when they first meet. (I had to look up “Saiyan,” apparently it's the hair.)

3 - The nightmare master sends him a dream that causes him to lower the SID shield in order to fix it. Was he more upset at the idea that he'd let his friends down (he has several nightmares about being called a traitor), or by the idea that his inventions aren't reliable?

4 - What are he and Da Qing doing during the SID’s year without cases? He isn't wearing his lab coat and he mentions working with the SID, even though Da Qing seems to tell him things he would have known if he were on-site with the rest of the department (like the name of Xiao Guo’s dog).

Lin Jing Fanworks

(Just a few of the excellent stories I've read featuring Lin Jing. I know there are many more, and I hope you'll share what you've seen, heard, created, or otherwise enjoyed!)

unexpected problems with the protocol, fic by [archiveofourown.org profile] Teaotter
Lin Jing is good at his job.

Quantum Immortality and the Timeline Convergence, fic by [archiveofourown.org profile] china_shop
“There was a climactic showdown. We won, but at high cost. We can definitely do better.”

Turn Your Watch Back, fic by [archiveofourown.org profile] demitas
Lin Jing, Li Qian, and Professor Ouyang get stuck back in Ye Olde Haixing Era and have to find a way back, while trying not to mess up the timeline too badly.

Do you have other thoughts or stories about Lin Jing? Pictures, meta, fanworks, about the novel or the drama or any AU in between? Please feel free to recommend yourself or others, in any medium! Anything you want to say or link to about Lin Jing is welcome. ♥
undeadrobins: (Guardian: Lin Jing)

[personal profile] undeadrobins 2020-03-07 03:16 pm (UTC)(link)
I adored Lin Jing at the start, for reasons I didn't even know how to articulate.

But I was so disappointed in him when he started lying and stealing from the SID. If he'd been doing it for *love*, I'd probably have understood it, but there just didn't seem to be any real reason for his betrayal.

He redeemed himself in my eyes a little at the end, but I just lost so much of the love I had for him.
undeadrobins: (Guardian: Lin Jing)

[personal profile] undeadrobins 2020-03-07 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Although in hindsight, I'm looking forward to rewatching the show, now I know where things are going (I literally finished ep 40 a couple of hours ago), to see if I have a different opinion of any of the characters.
trobadora: (Guardian - SID team)

[personal profile] trobadora 2020-03-07 06:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Heh. I think we may be polar opposites here because when he turned out to be a double agent he immediately became much more interesting to me! But I also really love that kind of conflicted loyalty, and it does resolve in favour of the "right" side in the end. :)
china_shop: Three-quarter profile of Shen Wei being unimpressed (Guardian - Shen Wei srsly?)

[personal profile] china_shop 2020-03-07 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
If he'd been doing it for *love*, I'd probably have understood it, but there just didn't seem to be any real reason for his betrayal.

It kind of suffered from them not being able to show us the mentor-mentee dynamic between him and Professor Ouyang earlier, didn't it? If it had been Li Qian spying for Shen Wei, we totally would have understood it.