Focus on Li Qian

[extrapenguin]

(I, and consequently the details mentioned in this post, are drama only.)

Li Qian! Shen Wei's PhD student* who quit, only to join Professor Ouyang's serum research half a year later. Raised by her grandmother alone, she sacrificed something of herself with the Longevity Dial to bring her grandmother back after a stroke – only for the grandmother she got back to not be the same one who raised her.

* Given that Shen Wei is officially 32 and already a professor, he's almost certainly just started. In the experimental sciences, professorial group building starts with a PhD student or two before expanding into postdocs. Li Qian's age bears this out as well.

When we first saw her, she was run down and tired trying to earn money to pay the medical bills by e.g. handing out leaflets. As a result, she's at the end of her rope, doubting whether it was all worth it, and when her grandmother commits suicide by overdosing on Li Qian's sleeping pills, Li Qian tries to follow her by jumping off a roof. Later, at the Department of Supervision's secret lab, she's much less ground down, and seems happy in her rolse as Institute Director a bit over a year later.



Questions!
1. What do you think the effects of the Longevity Dial are on her?

2. Do you think she has other family beyond her grandmother? (In episode 6 at about 38:25, Shen Wei mentions contacting her parents before letting her drop out.)

3. How do you think the Longevity Dial came to her family?

4. What do you think is her opinion of Dixingians? Multiple ones tried to kill her, and she was happy enough to join Professors Ouyang and Zhou for the serum research. However, she appeared conflicted later on – did she acquire ethical qualms?

5. Had she known what would happen when she held the Longevity Dial in her hands when her grandmother was in hospital, do you think she'd have done it?

6. Do you think she ever found out that Shen Wei was Dixingian?

7. How much do you think she knows about the Longevity Dial's operation? What about the other Hallows? How do you think she found out – experimenting with the Longevity Dial in the year between her activating it and canon starting, research in Professor Ouyang's lab, something else?

Fanwork recs:
[Fanvid] Let Them Eat Cake by reishiin – this is a Li Qian/Science vid, with excellent scene choices, and is a tribute to all the mad science going on. Be sure to turn on the subtitles!

Diverging Paths by spinningthreads – this is a canon divergence set in episode 1, where the SID doesn't turn up at the end. It's short but savoury, and

Every Other Solemn Life by draconicsockpuppet – this is a series of short snippets of Li Qian's life, pre-canon to post-canon happy ending AU, that really make up a nice arc for her.

So - come and talk about Li Qian! 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 Li Qian.

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

[nnozomi]

Thank you for the nice post! I have a lot of Li Qian feelings. As usual, drama only and kind of orthogonal to your very good questions…
For me, as with Lin Jing but even more so, the absolute pivotal fascinating Li Qian moment is the brawl in the serum lab and its before and after. Li Qian has been uncomfortable with the project before then (see: sending anonymous emails of warning), but she hasn’t walked out or deliberately sabotaged its work. My ideas on why: a) it’s the only thing she’s had since she left the university and she is reluctant to have her life knocked out from under her for the second time in, what, a few months?; b) she may still think of Dixingren as terrifying murderous shadow-people, meaning there’s some point in creating a serum to counter them; c) like Lin Jing, she has an interest and investment in doing the pure science and not thinking too hard about the underlying ethical issues.
During the fight in the lab, however, it’s very forcefully brought home to her that things have gone beyond that point: she sees the serum turning her boss into a supervillain, who attacks Lin Jing, a friend and colleague (I wrote 10K of fic about Lin Jing & Li Qian friendship and I still want more of it) and Guo Changcheng, obviously an innocent and possibly also a friend. (I always notice that Li Qian calls Xiao Guo “Changcheng” there, which seems pretty intimate. My theory is that they’ve spent more than a few quiet hours together on their respective grave visits; does canon support this anywhere?)
The next time we see her is when she turns up in Zhao Xinci’s office to start setting things to rights in episode 38; she is absolutely glowing, full of self-possession and fulfillment like we’ve never seen her, and I think it’s because she’s finally free of all kinds of doubt and worry and fear and feels able at last to take control of her own life? I find it even more satisfying than the glimpse of her doing well at the end. It also kind of makes me cry that Shen Wei never got to see her that way.

[extrapenguin]

My ideas on why: a) it’s the only thing she’s had since she left the university and she is reluctant to have her life knocked out from under her for the second time in, what, a few months?; b) she may still think of Dixingren as terrifying murderous shadow-people, meaning there’s some point in creating a serum to counter them; c) like Lin Jing, she has an interest and investment in doing the pure science and not thinking too hard about the underlying ethical issues.
Wrt a), she quits her PhD less than a month after the first episode, and only joins Professor Ouyang's team 6-ish months later; the final showdown happens about 3 months after that. (The timeline cues are there, just sort of downplayed.) So within the year, and she'd definitely be feeling the effects of her primary parental figure dying, but not immediately-immediately. Agreed on b) and c).

I always notice that Li Qian calls Xiao Guo “Changcheng” there, which seems pretty intimate. My theory is that they’ve spent more than a few quiet hours together on their respective grave visits; does canon support this anywhere?
Ooh, I didn't notice that! We do see Guo Changcheng visit Li Qian's grandmother's grave, but no meetings. I suppose they could've bonded a bit with offscreen grave meetings?

The next time we see her is when she turns up in Zhao Xinci’s office to start setting things to rights in episode 38; she is absolutely glowing, full of self-possession and fulfillment like we’ve never seen her, and I think it’s because she’s finally free of all kinds of doubt and worry and fear and feels able at last to take control of her own life? I find it even more satisfying than the glimpse of her doing well at the end. It also kind of makes me cry that Shen Wei never got to see her that way.
It's a very good look for her, yes. And now you made me sad as well! (Fixit fic? Fixit fic.)

Also, I have your 10k Li Qian & Lin Jing fic open in a tab, but what even is reading, /o\, etc

[trobadora]

I always notice that Li Qian calls Xiao Guo “Changcheng” there, which seems pretty intimate. My theory is that they’ve spent more than a few quiet hours together on their respective grave visits; does canon support this anywhere?

Oooh, that's an interesting observation! I don't remember any canon corroboration, but it seems very plausible to me.