Focus on Da Qing: king of the cats

[lannamichaels]

[Da Qing leaning on Zhao Yunlan on the couch]

This is Da Qing. As a sensible cat, he owns a human named Zhao Yunlan, who he is teaching the ways of being a cat. (for all pictures, click to embiggen).



Da Qing is the character who has been wandering around the longest without getting impillared or buried alive, except for maybe Zhang Shi. He's been active for 10,000 years and has kept the necklace given to him by Kunlun. His memory isn't so great, but that may or may not be a recent development.

I haven't read the novel, so all my knowledge comes from the show.


The requisite cat pictures because this is the internet:

Da Qing doing community outreach to the local youth:


[Da Qing with kittens]


Some kind of Hallows-related incident where Da Qing got doubled so he posed for this picture before spending the rest of the time either both as human or both as cat:


[Da Qing cat and human]


Claiming the table to sit on so Zhao Yunlan can't do it:


[Da Qing on the table, Zhao Yunlan on the couch]




Discussion starters for Da Qing:

1. Cats have nine lives. What other lives has Da Qing lived?


2. What's he kept and what has he lost? We see him with the necklace from Kunlun, and we see that he's lost memories. What sort of things does an ancient cat keep around and where does he keep them?


3. What are his relationships like with other cats over time? We see Da Ji, who else is there or has there been? Does he have parents or siblings or cousins or children?


4. What are his relationships like with other Yashou? He's been around for a while, has he gotten into any feuds or friendships?


5. What are his relationships like with other humans? Has he claimed any humans other than Zhao Yunlan?


6. What's next for him? Is he going to stick around law enforcement or is he going to try an exciting new career as a comfort animal to children?


7. And finally, how many videos of Cat Da Qing have gone viral?

Fic recs:

• ready, set, game on by synonemous, a gamer AU featuring both human and cat Da Qing


• In the Customary Manner by Teaotter, in which Da Qing ends up as Zhao Yunlan's matchmaker

So - come and talk about Da Qing! Share links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, new or old! Self-recs whole-heartedly encouraged. Basically, this is the place for anything you want to say or link to about Da Qing.

Important: If you're commenting with meta/discussion/thoughts, please say whether you're coming from a novel perspective, a drama perspective, or a blend of the two, so we don't end up talking past each other. Thanks!

Comments

[wrote_and_writ]

I don’t have any coherent thoughts to share except the more content I see about Da Qing, the more I adore him (although I only know Drama DQ).

[trobadora]

Will have actual thoughts tomorrow (hopefully!) but here are some fic recs:

Awl Things, Bright and Beautiful by china_shop, Da Qing-centric fix-it fic

Lost Kittens by rheasilvia, Da Qing and Zhao Yunlan backstory

when the --- is away, the ---- will play by aozu, Da Qing and Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, and a conspiracy

A Cat's Discretion by xparrot, Shen Wei and Da Qing friendship (with secrets and poison)

[melannen]

RE: 2: Okay, where is it that he has batted and lost the 10,000 years' worth of dusty mousies and bottle-tops?

[teaotter]

Recs!

Paw prints on your heart, by spinningthreads
Da Qing is not losing anyone else.


Five Times Home, by marcicat
Five times Zhao Yunlan ran away from home.


Get You A Man Who Can Do Both, by marycrawford
The first time Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei met was while they were both petting Da Qing, so it was only reasonable that Da Qing got invested into their relationship right from the start.

[china_shop]

Such a great post, yay! ♥

What's he kept and what has he lost? We see him with the necklace from Kunlun, and we see that he's lost memories.

He's also lost language: he used to speak Cat, and now he doesn't. I like to think he has a memento of Fu You somewhere too, even if he's forgotten what it is and why he still has it.

What are his relationships like with other cats over time? We see Da Ji, who else is there or has there been? Does he have parents or siblings or cousins or children?

Oh, I thought he was the only remaining Cat Yashou? In YOHE, when he first meets Kunlun, he says, "Humans, Yashou and Dixing have allied together, sending me, Haixing's one and only Cat Tribe Yashou, to ask you to join us." (Ep 34.) And when Da Ji dies, she says, "From now on you'll be the only one left in Cat Tribe again." (It's really not clear where she came from or how long she's been around! I was so surprised when she first showed up.)

What's next for him? Is he going to stick around law enforcement or is he going to try an exciting new career as a comfort animal to children?

Hee! I think he sticks with the SID, maybe lives in the flat with Lin Jing, and continues pushing Zhao Yunlan's agenda of peace between the different peoples. And/or finds a way to save the day and bring everyone back so they can all live happily ever after! :-)

I love writing Da Qing. I love how not-human he is, and how proud. My favourite things about him are:

• His irreverence and teasing. ("Black-Cloaked Highness, lao-Zhao misses you!")
• His protectiveness of Zhao Yunlan. (The pinky-swear!! ♥ ♥ ♥)
• Gluttony! When he looks at ancient writing, he's all lip-licking and "Don't you think this word looks like a dried fish?"
• Miaowing and tickling Zhao Yunlan's armpit, in human form, to wake him up.
• Any time Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing are lounging around all over each other. *hearts their friendship so much*

People have already mentioned most of the fics I was going to rec, but I'll add:

The Day Before You Came by naye was one of the first Zhao Yunlan & Da Qing fics I read. I just love their relationship in it, and it's probably informed a lot of my Da Qing & Zhao Yunlan characterisation.

Play Along by starandrea is a conversation between Da Qing and Shen Wei during episode 1. It made me laugh and broke my heart.

This art by mekare

And from my own fic:

Catastrophe -- Da Qing & Zhao Yunlan swap bodies during ep 11
Principles of Disaster Management -- Da Qing & Zhao Yunlan dealing with the state of the apartment in ep 9
One Fish, Two Fish -- Da Qing & Zhao Yunlan search Shen Wei's office at the university, set during or just after ep 6
Everyone's compass points to home -- Da Qing POV team fic set near the end of ep 4

And in non-fic, my "Favourite SID member" 30 Days of Guardian meme answer was about Da Qing.

[nnozomi]

Da Qing doing community outreach to the local youth:
Love it :)

Nice post, nice comments. I had a note to myself from back when we were all talking about Lin Jing, I haven't gone back to check on who said what, sorry, but people were talking about the general tendency of the SID to have weird boundary habits (by other people's standards), and this really seems to me to be a thing with Da Qing, because of his catness (which has obviously spilled over a LOT to Zhao Yunlan too). Very few physical boundaries (sitting on tables, draping himself all over Zhao Yunlan...), very few boundaries of etiquette (he says what he feels like saying to whom he feels like, gobbles down fish as he will, etc.), definitely existing boundaries of territorialism... . In some ways Da Qing's catness and his relationship with Zhao Yunlan set the tone for the SID in general, making it easier for everybody to have their own weird boundaries.

(I think I actually like Da Qing in cat form better than in human form, because his overalls drive me up the wall. My absolute favorite Da Qing moment is when he's letting Zheng Yi cuddle him, doing his best to be a cute soothing therapy animal while also giving Zhao Yunlan how-could-you-do-this-to-me eyes.)

[laireshi]

Da Qing!!! I love him. I love all of his cat mannerisms in his human form (and how Zhao Yunlan shares some of them, and also how both of them have zero concept of personal space ... okay, honestly with anyone, but especially with each other and are so comfortable together). I wish we'd gotten some more comfort for him after he'd gotten mind-controlled, I felt so bad for him :(

Da Qing doing community outreach to the local youth
Perfect <3

What are his relationships like with other humans? Has he claimed any humans other than Zhao Yunlan?
I like to believe he claimed himself a Dixingren too :) Especially since said Dixingren is Zhao Yunlan's, so really it's only proper. I would like to see more Da Qing and Shen Wei, especially talking about YOHE and their shared memories once Da Qing remembers.

[maggie33]

I love Da Qing. H’s my second favorite SID team member (after Chu Shuzhi). I love that he behaves like a cat even when he’s in human form – he sits on tables, he drapes himself over Zhao Yunlan, he meows to wake him up. His relationship with Zhao Yunlan is wonderful and unending source of joy when I watch the drama.

But I wonder what Zhao Yunlan’s neighbors think. Do they only see Da Qing in cat form? Or do they think that Zhao Yunlan lives with a fat black cat and a young man wearing overalls most of the time? :D

[trobadora]

I adore Da Qing so much, and especially how much of a cat he is in human form. And how much his cat behaviour clearly has rubbed off on Zhao Yunlan. These two are wonderful together. ♥

(I also have no clue about the novel, but I gather he spends most of his time in cat form there. It's probably budget-related that he doesn't in the drama, but I really love how his portrayal turned out.)

His memory isn't so great, but that may or may not be a recent development.

I think his first instance of losing his memory is back in the past, when he forgets Kunlun, but after that his memory is fine until he gets hit on the head by Lao-Li.

Da Qing doing community outreach to the local youth

Hee! :D

What's next for him? Is he going to stick around law enforcement or is he going to try an exciting new career as a comfort animal to children?

I think he'll stick with the SID for now. Once he inevitably outlives the current crew, it'll depend if he got attached to any of the newer SID members, and what the situation is like in general. (And if Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei come back. Of course!)

[schneefink]

I love Da Qing :) I got a bit frustrated that the show was so vague about his background and timeline and amnesia, but, well, what did I expect from Guardian ^^

I heard that in the novel Da Qing has an instagram account with cat pictures of himself and it's very popular :D

[onemuseleft]

I love Da Qing! It actually kind of took me by surprise how much I ended up liking his character. His relationship with Zhao Yunlan has been one of the best parts of the show imo, and my only regret is that we didn't get more with him and Shen Wei as well. Or all three of them as a team/family. Or Da Qing playing with more kittens. I also really love that he's such a cat, even when in human form.