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sid_guardian2020-07-17 05:35 pm
maggie33) wrote in sid_guardian2020-07-17 05:35 pm
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Focus on: Tan Xiao & Zheng Yi
We meet them for the first time in episode 11. I like both of them a lot. Tan Xiao is one of my favorite minor characters. And I feel for Zheng Yi, that poor girl suffered so much. I’m glad that they both got their happy ending.
Tan Xiao is employed at the scientific research institute ran by Zheng Yi’s stepfather Zheng Zhongyuan. He probably studied physics at the university since he got hired by the institute doing research on sound waves.
Zheng Yi is Zheng Zhongyuan’s stepdaughter. I think we can safely assume that her mother was Dixingren and that she’s probably dead, since she’s not around and Zheng Zhongyuan is Zheng Yi’s sole guardian. Her stepfather is a horrible, abusive parent, who beats her and screams at her, and forces her to play violin, because it’s the only thing he can show-off about his stepdaughter. He consider her worthless otherwise and clearly resents having to take care for her.
Zheng Yi’s power is controlling people’s emotions and actions through her voice. We find out that she doesn’t speak and people consider her to be mute.
I admit I’m not really sure how her power works. It seems it’s just sound waves in her voice? When she kills Zheng Zhongyuan we hear the voice saying “You deserve to die. Are you ready?” But when she compels Zhu Hong she doesn’t say anything. And later at the wedding when she makes people fight, she only shouts Tan Xiao’s name.
And now I have to mention Zheng Yi’s age. I know it’s canon that she’s 15. Chu Shuzhi says in episode 12 “She’s 15 years old and mute.” And IMO Zhu Jiu’s comment to Tan Xiao, suggesting that Tan Xiao’s interest in Zheng Yi is sexual, makes more sense if she’s 15. But no, seriously no. She doesn’t look 15, and she doesn’t behave like it. Zheng Yi’s actress was born in 2005, so during the making of Guardian she was around 12. And I always thought that Zheng Yi was more or less that age.
Tan Xiao says that when he first joined the institute all he thought about was the research. But his boss only assigned him trivial chores, like cleaning up the lab. And it seems Zheng Zhongyuan also ordered Tan Xiao to do private chores for him, because that would explain why Tan Xiao was in his house and saw him beating Zheng Yi.
Tan Xiao had a little sister who died. We don’t know how and when. But he clearly sees something of her sister in Zheng Yi. And he treats Zheng Yi as his little sister that he wants to take care for. That he wants to protect at all cost. He tries to stop her when her stepfather orders her to play violin at the lab, because he knows it’s a source of misery for her. He doesn’t hesitate when it comes to taking the blame for Zheng Yi’s crime. And he falls for Zhu Jiu’s manipulative tactic and tries to steal the Hallows from the SID, because Zhu Jiu lies that he can cure Zheng Yi. Tan Xiao promised Zhu Jiu that he would do it alone, so Zhu Jiu wouldn’t use Zheng Yi and her power. Zhu Jiu does it anyway, after Tan Xiao fails.
Zheng Yi’s power manifests for the first time due to years of abuse culminating in the outburst of rage that makes her kill three people. A little bit similarly to Ye Zun, if you think about it. But definitely in a more controlled way. She doesn’t seem shocked or surprised about her power. And she seems to know what she’s doing when she kills her stepfather. Maybe she doesn’t talk because she knows what her power is (her mother told her?) and she’s afraid to use it.
And it seems to me as is she uses her power for the first time to protect Tan Xiao, and not herself. He was fired and beaten and she saw it. And then she’s left in the car in front of the institute, because her stepfather went back inside for a forgotten wallet. And she sees Tan Xiao lurking outside the institute, his face bruised. Maybe she was afraid he would try to get revenge and he would be caught and beaten again?
When Black-Cloaked Envoy comes for her in episode 14 it looks to me as if Zheng Yi is prepared to be punished for her crime. She looks at Tan Xiao as if she is saying goodbye to him. But Black-Cloaked Envoy shows leniency and he doesn’t take Zheng Yi to Dixing. He lets her stay in Haixing, and she and Tan Xiao get their happy ending.
A few questions for discussion:
What do you think happens after Black-Cloaked Envoy pardons Zheng Yi? Do they stay in Dragon City? Does Zheng Yi learns to control her power? Did Black-Cloaked Envoy help her with that? Or maybe he found someone who could help her?
Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi come back to help the SID during the final showdown with Ye Zun. Zheng Yi uses her power to fight Ye Zun’s people, so I think she did learn how to control it somehow.
Did Tan Xiao and her stepfather knew that she was Dixingren?
I think Tan Xiao knew after the incident in the institute, but probably not before. He says in episode 12: “Does she deserve such treatment just for being born different?” But her stepfather could know, if he knew that his wife was Dixingren. Or he could just resent being forced to take care for a stepdaughter he didn’t want.
There isn’t much fanworks about them. But there is some, so here are my recs.
I found a few lovely icons of Zheng Yi & Black-Cloaked Envoy made by tassosss here.
I wrote a ficlet about Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi – a missing scene from episode 14 from Tan Xiao’s POV:
Someone who holds out a hand
And I really like these two fics:
floating worlds by nnozomi
The Influence of Mountains by Branch
So, what is your opinion about them?
And if you have any recs or links for more fics, picspams, icons or fanart they are very much appreciated.
Tan Xiao is employed at the scientific research institute ran by Zheng Yi’s stepfather Zheng Zhongyuan. He probably studied physics at the university since he got hired by the institute doing research on sound waves.
Zheng Yi is Zheng Zhongyuan’s stepdaughter. I think we can safely assume that her mother was Dixingren and that she’s probably dead, since she’s not around and Zheng Zhongyuan is Zheng Yi’s sole guardian. Her stepfather is a horrible, abusive parent, who beats her and screams at her, and forces her to play violin, because it’s the only thing he can show-off about his stepdaughter. He consider her worthless otherwise and clearly resents having to take care for her.
Zheng Yi’s power is controlling people’s emotions and actions through her voice. We find out that she doesn’t speak and people consider her to be mute.
I admit I’m not really sure how her power works. It seems it’s just sound waves in her voice? When she kills Zheng Zhongyuan we hear the voice saying “You deserve to die. Are you ready?” But when she compels Zhu Hong she doesn’t say anything. And later at the wedding when she makes people fight, she only shouts Tan Xiao’s name.
And now I have to mention Zheng Yi’s age. I know it’s canon that she’s 15. Chu Shuzhi says in episode 12 “She’s 15 years old and mute.” And IMO Zhu Jiu’s comment to Tan Xiao, suggesting that Tan Xiao’s interest in Zheng Yi is sexual, makes more sense if she’s 15. But no, seriously no. She doesn’t look 15, and she doesn’t behave like it. Zheng Yi’s actress was born in 2005, so during the making of Guardian she was around 12. And I always thought that Zheng Yi was more or less that age.
Tan Xiao says that when he first joined the institute all he thought about was the research. But his boss only assigned him trivial chores, like cleaning up the lab. And it seems Zheng Zhongyuan also ordered Tan Xiao to do private chores for him, because that would explain why Tan Xiao was in his house and saw him beating Zheng Yi.
Tan Xiao had a little sister who died. We don’t know how and when. But he clearly sees something of her sister in Zheng Yi. And he treats Zheng Yi as his little sister that he wants to take care for. That he wants to protect at all cost. He tries to stop her when her stepfather orders her to play violin at the lab, because he knows it’s a source of misery for her. He doesn’t hesitate when it comes to taking the blame for Zheng Yi’s crime. And he falls for Zhu Jiu’s manipulative tactic and tries to steal the Hallows from the SID, because Zhu Jiu lies that he can cure Zheng Yi. Tan Xiao promised Zhu Jiu that he would do it alone, so Zhu Jiu wouldn’t use Zheng Yi and her power. Zhu Jiu does it anyway, after Tan Xiao fails.
Zheng Yi’s power manifests for the first time due to years of abuse culminating in the outburst of rage that makes her kill three people. A little bit similarly to Ye Zun, if you think about it. But definitely in a more controlled way. She doesn’t seem shocked or surprised about her power. And she seems to know what she’s doing when she kills her stepfather. Maybe she doesn’t talk because she knows what her power is (her mother told her?) and she’s afraid to use it.
And it seems to me as is she uses her power for the first time to protect Tan Xiao, and not herself. He was fired and beaten and she saw it. And then she’s left in the car in front of the institute, because her stepfather went back inside for a forgotten wallet. And she sees Tan Xiao lurking outside the institute, his face bruised. Maybe she was afraid he would try to get revenge and he would be caught and beaten again?
When Black-Cloaked Envoy comes for her in episode 14 it looks to me as if Zheng Yi is prepared to be punished for her crime. She looks at Tan Xiao as if she is saying goodbye to him. But Black-Cloaked Envoy shows leniency and he doesn’t take Zheng Yi to Dixing. He lets her stay in Haixing, and she and Tan Xiao get their happy ending.
A few questions for discussion:
What do you think happens after Black-Cloaked Envoy pardons Zheng Yi? Do they stay in Dragon City? Does Zheng Yi learns to control her power? Did Black-Cloaked Envoy help her with that? Or maybe he found someone who could help her?
Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi come back to help the SID during the final showdown with Ye Zun. Zheng Yi uses her power to fight Ye Zun’s people, so I think she did learn how to control it somehow.
Did Tan Xiao and her stepfather knew that she was Dixingren?
I think Tan Xiao knew after the incident in the institute, but probably not before. He says in episode 12: “Does she deserve such treatment just for being born different?” But her stepfather could know, if he knew that his wife was Dixingren. Or he could just resent being forced to take care for a stepdaughter he didn’t want.
There isn’t much fanworks about them. But there is some, so here are my recs.
I found a few lovely icons of Zheng Yi & Black-Cloaked Envoy made by tassosss here.
I wrote a ficlet about Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi – a missing scene from episode 14 from Tan Xiao’s POV:
Someone who holds out a hand
And I really like these two fics:
floating worlds by nnozomi
The Influence of Mountains by Branch
So, what is your opinion about them?
And if you have any recs or links for more fics, picspams, icons or fanart they are very much appreciated.
no subject
She could simply have been adopted by Zheng Zhongyuan, no mother involved (in which case, how did she get from him to her birth parents? Is there an underground Dixingren illicit adoption thing going on, with Zheng Yi and Zu Ma too?); or maybe Zheng Zhongyuan married her mother, who was Dixingren, or maybe her mother was Haixingren and her birth father Dixingren. So many possibilities and all sad.
I refuse to believe that she's 15--I think maybe that's a slip from a pre-revision version or something, that's the only thing that makes sense to me. Ten or eleven at most by me. Given that, the thing that gets to me about Zheng Yi is her air of fatalism right from the start--she's already resigned to bad things happening, and not having any good options. Tan Xiao is an unlooked-for blessing for her.
Given that they step in to fight for the SID at the end, I figure she does learn to control her power--maybe Tan Xiao's technical knowledge helps?
It's kind of an ongoing theme, that it's not the power itself that is bad but the way you use it (early vs late Zheng Yi, Wang Yike, Zhu Jiu vs Wu Tian'en and their teleporting, Shen Wei vs Ye Zun, in terms of temporal power Zhao Xinci vs Zhao Yunlan even).
(And thank you for the fic rec! ♡)
no subject
Like I wrote in the comment to china_shop above: " Chu Shuzhi says to Zhao Yulan in episode 11 that Zheng Yi is the victim's stepdaughter. He also says: "Her mother brought her into the family when she married the victim.” Maybe he gave Zheng Yi his name when he married her mother." I re-watched this episode twice lately, so it's still fresh in my mind. :)
I thought that Zheng Yi's both parents were Dixingren. But I really like the idea that her mother was Haixingren, and Zheng Yi has her power from her father.
I refuse to believe that she's 15--I think maybe that's a slip from a pre-revision version or something, that's the only thing that makes sense to me. Ten or eleven at most by me.
Yep, I think that she was 15 in the script, and then they hired 12 years old actress and didn't think of changing that line, or forgot to change it.
Given that, the thing that gets to me about Zheng Yi is her air of fatalism right from the start--she's already resigned to bad things happening, and not having any good options. Tan Xiao is an unlooked-for blessing for her.
That's very well said and I agree. That's why I like them bot so much.