sid_guardian | Focus on Guo Changcheng: especially ordinary

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type: character discussion

Focus on Guo Changcheng: especially ordinary

Zhao Yunlan: If we weren't a little special, how could we be the Special Investigation Department? Being fit to be recruited here means you're also very special.
Guo Changcheng: No, no, I'm not special at all. I'm especially ordinary.

I love non-powered characters being brave in the face of super-powered situations. Guo Changcheng (24yo, human) is as non-powered as you can get, and from the very start, he gloms onto the SID as an institution/ideal, despite some questionable lollipop action from its chief, the team's going out of their way to Halloween-scare him, and being dangled perilously out of a crime-scene window for no obvious reason.

None of that deters him! In episode 1, after he escorts Li Qian's grandmother home, the shadow man comes looking for the Longevity Dial, and Guo Changcheng, although understandably terrified, hurls an apple at him. At the end of the episode, he questions the procedure for dealing with Dixing detainees in front of the awe-inspiring Black-Cloaked Envoy. And by episode 2, he's doing his utmost to protect Shen Wei and Li Qian at the hospital. Even the bad guy looks bemused and/or moved by his tenacity.

Changcheng's parents were killed in a car accident when he was young. His grandmother raised him, and when she died, his uncle and aunt took him in. Maybe that's why, when Zhao Yunlan says at the start, "From this day onwards, we [the SID] are your family," Changcheng takes that so much to heart. He uses -ge (brother) and -jie (sister) with just about everyone, but (I think?) keeps calling Zhao Yunlan "Chief Zhao" as a mark of respect, when nearly everyone else says "lao-Zhao".

Guo Changcheng embodies huge amount of goodness and compassion. He's respectful to strangers. He has a strong moral compass. He's really kind. (The peptalk he gives Ji Xiaobai in episode 5, when Zhou Weiwei is missing, is both super-dorky and effective.) He doesn't let his anxiety, awkwardness or fear get in the way when it counts. (He stands up to Zhao Xinci!) I adore and find it hilarious that his custom-made weapon is a zapper for turning fear into electricity. I love that he's goofy and innocent. And I love that he keeps a diary and a list of Zhao Yunlan's sayings, and tries to make sense of and learn from everything that happens.

There is so much more I could say about him, but the moment I most want to highlight is in episode 5, after the water kidnapping case when, faced with Butler Wu dying and his son's grief, everyone in the SID stands around feeling helpless. Zhao Yunlan looks to Lin Jing, who shakes his head: there's nothing they can do.

It's Guo Changcheng who goes and fetches the Longevity Dial from its case. He's the one who thinks outside the box and summons the determination to risk and to sacrifice. In that moment, he is more heroic than any of them, and Zhao Yunlan immediately learns from Changcheng and takes over, setting a new course for the SID and paving the way for a closer relationship with the Black-Cloaked Envoy. Guo Changcheng's actions -- and his belief in the SID as a force for good -- are pivotal.

Quotes:

We... we have the spirit. We don't care if we have to sacrifice ourselves to protect the people around us. Chief Zhao, the Deputy, Chu-ge, Hong-jie... even Sang Zan who joined us recently. They all have this kind of spirit. They are my role models. Although I'm a coward, I still know that even if I hide somewhere, how long can that last? If danger is going to come, someone has to stand in front of everyone else. (ep 13)

Uncle, you're right, I'm useless, but at the SID everyone looks after me. Although I always need help, they still take the trouble to take me on cases, teach me fighting skills, and when there is danger, they protect me. It's the SID people who give me courage and confidence. It's them who help me find my own value and my future path.(ep 14)

And of course, there's the arc of his relationship with Chu Shuzhi, from being respectively intimidated and annoyed to primary partners/family/lovers.

For me, what I love most about Guo Changcheng is the idea that even if you're inexperienced, scared, klutzy, and prone to motion sickness, you can still be a hero!

A few fanworks:

Gen
- So Brave! by teaotter
  Wherein a second Chief Zhao arrives via wormhole just as the team summons Hei Pao Shi, and Guo Changcheng is very confused.
- Conduits of Meaning by nnozomi
  So the final candidate for interpreter, at the reception for the SID and the Lion City visiting governmental delegation, was Guo Changcheng and his good high school grades.
Guo Changcheng/Chu Shuzhi
- By Any Other Name by trascendenza
  Changcheng meets Chu-ge's brother.
- a litany of firsts by cosipotente
  More than anyone else, Guo knows his own faults, his shortcomings, and what he is and isn’t worth. It’s taken time, but Guo accepts himself for who he is. Sometimes, though, he reaches for things he knows he shouldn’t; things that aren’t meant for him.
- That tender moment by maggie33
  They’re alive and Changcheng doesn’t want to wait another second to do what he wanted to do for some time now. (post-canon fixit)
- maggie33's Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng fic recs post and fanworks recs post

So -- what do you think? Is xiao-Guo admirable, embarrassment-squick pinging, or both? What are your favourite/the most telling xiao-Guo moments or scenes? What do you like best about xiao-Guo and lao-Chu's relationship? How is Changcheng different in the novel?

Please share links to related meta, picspams and fanworks, new and old! Self-recs are whole-heartedly encouraged. :-)

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And here's my gen fic, which kicked off my time travel series:

the life you save
If Changcheng changed anything — if he stepped on a butterfly, or said the wrong thing to the wrong person — it could bend the course of history and undo their hard-won victory. (Spoilers for the whole show.)

(Apparently I read this story before I knew it was okay to leave kudos even if you didn't comment, but I loved it then and I love it now. He's so smart! Or just kind! It's hard to tell, but the result is the same, and isn't that a wonderful idea, that kindness is just as valuable as intelligence. ♥ )

♥

and isn't that a wonderful idea, that kindness is just as valuable as intelligence. ♥

Yes! I mean, ideally one has both. *g* But I think Guo Changcheng does have both. We see his intelligence and thoughtfulness in his journal entries. It's when he's interacting with others, when he's intimidated (which happens easily), he lacks confidence and constantly second-guesses himself, so everything gets a bit tangled up. *pets him* ♥

He annoyed me so much at the start (and later on in moments where the script call for him to be annoyingly stupid), but by about the mid-point of the show, I adored him. He's just so *earnest* about everything, and the way he believes 110% in Zhao Yunlan and the rest of the team is heart-warming.

And I love his relationship with Chu Shuzhi, sometimes even more than Zhao Yunlan/Shen Wei!

I've read somewhere that he was supposed to be the one stuck in the lantern, but they changed the ending. Is that right?

He annoyed me so much at the start (and later on in moments where the script call for him to be annoyingly stupid)

Heh, he is the very opposite of competence porn, isn't he? Especially in the first half of the show.

He's just so *earnest* about everything, and the way he believes 110% in Zhao Yunlan and the rest of the team is heart-warming.

Yes, I love that! :-)

I've read somewhere that he was supposed to be the one stuck in the lantern, but they changed the ending. Is that right?

I don't know about that. Maybe someone else will have the answer. :-)

What I heard is that he's the wick in the novel, but I don't think he was ever actually meant to be the wick in the drama. There's foreshadowing with Zhao Yunlan: he has multiple lamps in his flat! (Original thread here.) And a lantern fruit as his lock screen! So I'm convinced Xiao-Guo was only ever meant to be a red herring in the drama.

In the novel, Xiao Guo's accumulated karmic merit (he's done so much good over so many lifetimes that his soul is very pure) is enough to fuel the Guardian lantern indefinitely, with no harm to him. So he's the reason the lantern is lit, but he doesn't suffer for it. It doesn't affect his life in any way (the lantern burns while he continues working for the SID as usual), except that everyone who knows looks at him strangely, with some amount of uncertainty over how to treat this apparently simple person who turns out to be so noble and important. ♥

Oh, that's good to know -- thanks! ♥

oh that's really cute actually! Good job novel!Xiao Guo

Is xiao-Guo admirable, embarrassment-squick pinging, or both?

Both, absolutely. At the start I could barely look at him, he hit my embarrassment squick so hard. But he definitely started showing off his admirable qualities very early on, and when he threw himself bodily at an attacker to protect Shen Wei and Li Qian, he won me over - at least in the abstract. He still has some cringeworthy scenes after that, but thankfully nothing as bad as the beginning.

I need to think more about favourite moments ...

At the start I could barely look at him, he hit my embarrassment squick so hard.

Do you think it's his awkwardness/nervousness, his incompetence, or the slapstick that hits your squick?

I know we've talked about this before -- my embarrassment squick is more tied to people saying the wrong thing; I don't mind awkwardness and slapstick -- or, at least, not GCC's flavour of awkwardness. So it tends to be the others' behaviour around him that I find embarrassing, rather than him himself. :-)

I need to think more about favourite moments ...

... :-)

So it tends to be the others' behaviour around him that I find embarrassing, rather than him himself.

This times a hundred. ♥

He is a favorite of mine and was from the beginning. I sure do love me a Neville Longbottom. LOL

Hee! ♥ I'm too HP illiterate to get the reference, but... Hufflepuff?

No! Neville is a Gryffindor, too. But he starts off with a broken wand, and he's terrible at everything at first, but he's so so brave despite everyone seeing him as ineffectual. By the end of it, he's one of the big damn heroes.

Aha! That sounds totally on point! Maybe Neville and Changcheng should be penpals. *g*

I would read the hell out of that crossover.

Excellent summing up. I adore Xiao Guo. He can be annoying and embarrassing (especially in the first few episodes when the broad comedy of his inexperience clashes with the more subtle portrayals around him), but he is such a sweetheart--consistently kind, thoughtful, caring with regard to everyone around him, whether he's defending Zhu Hong to her snake family, castigating himself over not doing more to help Wang Xiangyang, or treating Ya Qing as a bereaved auntie to Dong Nan. And he's so brave in the sense of consistently stepping up despite his fear.

I have a sticky note over my desk reading 保持鎮静, stay calm, the thing he writes in his diary when he's getting ready to face Zhao Xinci.

I especially love when he gets to play against type and be the calm one--when he takes Chu Shuzhi to lunch with his uncle and auntie, for instance, and Lao Chu is visibly tense and threatened and Guo Changcheng puts a hand on his arm--calm down, it's okay, they won't hurt anything. And it works. More directly, in the scene in episode 34(?) after they come back from Dixing, with Lao Chu in tears, Xiao Guo (even pretty well out of it still) is comfortable with the love between them (I read it as romantic, but you don't have to), and can ease Lao Chu through it. That's one way I feel they do balance each other well as partners in whatever sense, Chu Shuzhi's physical and active competence and Xiao Guo's emotional strength, and having achieved this balance means that in the very late episodes Chu Shuzhi can help him get through the struggle of his new power.

(my Guo Changcheng fic, kindly linked above, was written way too early in my canon watch and makes some dumb mistakes, but it was fun to write. I also made a short Chu/Guo post in this week's kissathon to go along with maggie33's lovely one.)

but he is such a sweetheart--consistently kind, thoughtful, caring with regard to everyone around him

Yes! That's such a good point. And I wonder if that's part of what he sees in Zhao Yunlan too, and why he admires him so much. Zhao Yunlan's kindness is a bit cooler and more offhand on the face of it, but it's definitely there.

I have a sticky note over my desk reading 保持鎮静, stay calm, the thing he writes in his diary when he's getting ready to face Zhao Xinci.

♥ ♥ ♥

Chu Shuzhi's physical and active competence and Xiao Guo's emotional strength, and having achieved this balance means that in the very late episodes Chu Shuzhi can help him get through the struggle of his new power.

Yes, I think that's very true. Chu Shuzhi is so isolated in Haixing and remote even within the SID, and Changcheng basically adopts the whole world as family -- it's the converse of their physical strengths (or lack thereof). :-)

And awww, I really love your translation fic! It's adorable, and your xiao-Guo voice is great!! (I just re-read it. *gives you another kudos*)

*goes to check out your kissathon ficlet, yay*

I wonder if that's part of what he sees in Zhao Yunlan too, and why he admires him so much. Zhao Yunlan's kindness is a bit cooler and more offhand on the face of it, but it's definitely there.
Yes, ABSOLUTELY, excellent observation! The word that always comes to mind for me to describe that aspect of Zhao Yunlan is decency--doing the right thing in the truest and most compassionate sense--and I think Guo Changcheng does see it and does admire it. I feel as if it's more consciously enacted on Zhao Yunlan's part, especially because it's part of his schtick to look as if he doesn't really care about much while actually caring a LOT about everyone and everything, while for Guo Changcheng it's just who he is and how he naturally expresses himself; but it's definitely a point in common. (I'm sorry, that sentence was incredibly incoherent, I might need to go to sleep.)

Changcheng basically adopts the whole world as family
Very true and very touching.

(and you are such a sweetheart to track down various fics. I need to start giving back as much lovely feedback as I've gotten in this fandom, honestly.)

I feel as if it's more consciously enacted on Zhao Yunlan's part, especially because it's part of his schtick to look as if he doesn't really care about much while actually caring a LOT about everyone and everything, while for Guo Changcheng it's just who he is and how he naturally expresses himself

You're so right, on both counts! Guo Changcheng has zero guile. *pets him; noogies Zhao Yunlan*

(I had such fun looking through the archive. I particularly love gennish team fics. ♥)

(I loved your kissathon fic, by the way! ♥)

♡

I love Guo Changcheng. Yes, I did find him very annoying in the 1st episode when I was watching Guardian for the first time. But his optimism and his goodness and compassion won me over very quickly. During that peptalk scene in episode 5 I was looking at him with the same hearts eyes as Chu Shuzhi. :)

And I really love that quote from episode 14 when he explains to his uncle what SID means to him. It’s one of my favorite scene of his. Another one is that time when he was able to resist Ye Zun’s mind control in Dixing.

And of course I ship him with Chu Shuzhi a lot and their relationship is the unending source of inspiration for my writing. :)

I posted the fic on AO3 here, so you can update the link with the version free from SPAG errors. :)

Yay! I've updated the link. ♥

During that peptalk scene in episode 5 I was looking at him with the same hearts eyes as Chu Shuzhi. :)

Aww, yes! ♥

And I really love that quote from episode 14 when he explains to his uncle what SID means to him. It’s one of my favorite scene of his. Another one is that time when he was able to resist Ye Zun’s mind control in Dixing.

Yes, he's surprisingly strong-willed, isn't he, given his diffidence? And respectful of authority but still willing to challenge and question -- with Zhu Hong's uncle, with the Envoy, and with Zhao Xinci.

(I love when he tells lao-Chu to support Zhao Yunlan, during Zhao Xinci's test. It takes guts, but he can't not say it! ♥)

Embarrassment squick, SO MUCH. My competence kink wants to go and die in a corner when I watch him. It's obviously not so bad after ep 20, but still, I found him really hard to warm to.

Which means that it's been salutary for me to read this post and notice just how good he is even early on. I may still go 'aaarrrrrrghhhh' viscerally, but I have greater awareness now that that's not entirely fair. :)

Ha, same. So much embarrassment squick and also I discovered that incompetence was a rage button, even in fiction. :P

My competence kink wants to go and die in a corner when I watch him.

Hee! See, I think he's just competent about different things -- feelings, being polite to his elders, keeping comprehensive written records... *g* (No, I do know what you mean. He is ridiculously klutzy at times, especially physically. It doesn't bother me, but I get that it's difficult for a lot of people.)

I may still go 'aaarrrrrrghhhh' viscerally, but I have greater awareness now that that's not entirely fair. :)

*hearts*

His emotional intelligence is certainly far higher than mine. Just... yeah...

Admirable, all the way! To my own surprise, I was never embarrassed by him, and only sometimes embarrassed on his behalf.

Part of that I think is the way he serves as the audience POV in the drama - he represents the ordinary person encountering, observing, and then participating in the SID for the first time, and I have a lot of respect and empathy for that representation - and part of it is what you and I talked about, that embarrassment doesn't exist in isolation: like so many human emotions, it's a two-way street, so if other people don't think poorly of Xiao Guo then he has little reason to be embarrassed (and we don't have to be embarrassed for him).

The rest of the team seems to treat him with only a small amount of initial disrespect, hazing him in a way that Zhao Yunlan reprimands them for. (Not that he doesn't participate in it himself, which basically sums up Zhao Yunlan's character: "do as I say, not as I do.") As the show continues, the team's acceptance of Xiao Guo makes it easier for him to be himself without cringing, but I don't think he was ever in danger of not being himself: he doesn't let other people's reactions stop him from doing what he thinks is right. He's the antithesis of peer pressure (or peer pressured), and I love him for it.

From the beginning, Xiao Guo consistently overcomes his own hesitance and anxiety to do what he thinks needs to be done, whether it's showing up for work at a strange place at a strange hour, trying to reassure people who are scared or hurting, or trying to physically protect people who appear to be in life-threatening danger. That's amazing. I look up to him and only hope I can be as good as he is in my daily life, let alone in crisis circumstances. ♥

From the beginning, Xiao Guo consistently overcomes his own hesitance and anxiety to do what he thinks needs to be done, whether it's showing up for work at a strange place at a strange hour, trying to reassure people who are scared or hurting, or trying to physically protect people who appear to be in life-threatening danger. That's amazing.

It's so beautifully said. And I agree. And that's why I grew to love him so much. :)

Part of that I think is the way he serves as the audience POV in the drama - he represents the ordinary person encountering, observing, and then participating in the SID for the first time

Yes! That really helped me empathise with him at the beginning. I was like, "Terror is a totally reasonable reaction in this situation!!" And it showed vividly how not-mainstream the SID is, and how little is known about Yashou and Dixingren in Haixing generally. (I love that xiao-Guo's reference, when he first sees Lin Jing, is Dragon Ball Z -- I didn't know that until your Lin Jing post.)

He's the antithesis of peer pressure (or peer pressured), and I love him for it.

Oh, yes! He even stands up to Chu-ge, when he needs to.

From the beginning, Xiao Guo consistently overcomes his own hesitance and anxiety to do what he thinks needs to be done, whether it's showing up for work at a strange place at a strange hour, trying to reassure people who are scared or hurting, or trying to physically protect people who appear to be in life-threatening danger. That's amazing. I look up to him and only hope I can be as good as he is in my daily life, let alone in crisis circumstances. ♥

+100. ♥

Edited (because icon) 2020-03-14 21:45 (UTC)

I read this post two days ago but couldn't think of anything to say because it basically points out everything I like about Guo Changcheng. (I find it easier to write long comments when I'm being contrary, it seems ^_^)

I think GCC is a really good kid. And I place equal emphasis on all the words in that phrase, including "kid." He still has a long way to go and a lot to learn (even in the epilogue, where apparently the thing he has to learn is how to tell blind dates set up by his aunt and uncle, "No, I have a boyfriend already!" XD) but he's a lot braver than he appears and he's always willing to learn, which are both rare and commendable traits.

I didn't find him all that embarrassing, honestly. For one thing, his early-episode shenanigans cracked me the hell up, and for another, I watch anime on a regular basis so I'm unfortunately very used to characters who're a hundred times more inept and/or annoying, so... But I'm still very glad he became less clumsy, awkward and prone to mishap as time went on - that was some good character development!

As for CSZ/GCC - I rarely read it myself, because I'll admit that I'm a shallow, shallow woman who can't read/watch romance-focused stories - especially of the explicit variety - if she doesn't find both characters involved physically attractive. And I really don't find either of them attractive, so. (Anyone who does and who reads this comment - I hope you won't take offence!)

That being said, I'm very fond of their canon relationship, and was happy that the epilogue made them a pretty straightforward established couple. To the point where I sometimes find myself nodding along in agreement with people who note that they seem "more canon" (in the drama only) than Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei ever did. And I'll admit to a tiny bit of jealousy over that, haha.

(even in the epilogue, where apparently the thing he has to learn is how to tell blind dates set up by his aunt and uncle, "No, I have a boyfriend already!" XD)

I feel like he's trapped by blind date etiquette on that particular front (but that's me extrapolating from Kdramas, so possibly entirely wrong). Either way, more to the point, he could tell his uncle and aunt, "No, I have a boyfriend already! Please don't set me up on blind dates!" :-)

but he's a lot braver than he appears and he's always willing to learn, which are both rare and commendable traits.

Ha, yes!

For one thing, his early-episode shenanigans cracked me the hell up, and for another, I watch anime on a regular basis so I'm unfortunately very used to characters who're a hundred times more inept and/or annoying, so...

Hee! But yeah, I found some of his early shenanigans pretty charming, actually.

To the point where I sometimes find myself nodding along in agreement with people who note that they seem "more canon" (in the drama only) than Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei ever did.

I... don't see it that way. I think they're both pretty damn canon! (Plus I'm pretty resistant to the idea of turning it into a competition! ;-p)

Either way, more to the point, he could tell his uncle and aunt...

True, that, but I feel like if he can't even turn down a pushy date without CSZ's help, he might be a long way away from coming out to his aunt and uncle! Though I suppose that depends on what Dragon City/Haixing's attitude towards the LGBTQIA community is, and that really could be anything from as extreme as the Middle East to as liberal as...I dunno, Finland? for all we know.

I'm pretty resistant to the idea of turning it into a competition!

Oh, yeah, me too. But if someone wanted "on-screen evidence," as it were, (as some fans do, which I think is pretty valid in its way) then there's no doubt that CSZ/GCC has SW/ZYL beat. CSZ's complete 180 when in GCC's company, all that embracing and neck-grabbing/stroking, plus the strongly implied HEA...

It also depends on whether he finds it easier to be rude to a stranger who hasn't really done anything to deserve it or confide in his uncle. Which, that's very much dependent on the person. Both of those are hard.

then there's no doubt that CSZ/GCC has SW/ZYL beat.

Still resistant! :-P (And can you please not use phrases like "there's no doubt" when talking about something so arguable?)

Coming back to add a couple more fic:

Don’t Sweat It!, 200w, Guo Changcheng/Chu Shuzhi
Summary: Changcheng and Chu-ge are called in to work in the middle of the night.

Sharpen Up, 1170w, gen, Guo Changcheng makes sense of the Mirror Girl case with Chu Shuzhi's help
Summary: “I don’t understand.” Changcheng tried not to sound as aggrieved as he felt. Why was everyone being so cryptic about this case?

I really enjoyed reading this and the comments, too! What an awesome community this is. ♥

I love non-powered characters being brave in the face of super-powered situations.

Yes! And Guo Changcheng has that in spades, bless his adorkable heart.

I was doing some rewatching today and I had forgotten that Ya Qing told Lin Jing at one point that she agreed with the rumor she had heard, that he (Lin Jing) was the most useless person at SID. Which means that even the Yashou rumor mill knows that Little Guo ISN'T!

I love the arc of his relationship with Chu Shuzhi (I TOTALLY ship them), and I definitely agree with the "moral of the story": even if you're inexperienced, scared, klutzy, and prone to motion sickness, you can still be a hero!

Recommendation: The first time I saw this MVD vid, I was kinda "meh" because I was expecting Chu/Guo from the description and there wasn't a lot. The next time I saw it, I forgot to read the description--and as a GCC-centric vid that happens to include his interactions with CSZ, it's really well done! The Name of the Game. She also did another gorgeous Chu/Guo vid from CSZ's POV that touched my heart: As It Seems.

Yay! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :-D

I had forgotten that Ya Qing told Lin Jing at one point that she agreed with the rumor she had heard, that he (Lin Jing) was the most useless person at SID. Which means that even the Yashou rumor mill knows that Little Guo ISN'T!

LOL! I'd totally forgotten that.

Thanks so much for the recs! I think those vids came out after I made this post, and it's great to have them linked here. :-)

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Focus on Guo Changcheng: especially ordinary

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